19 novembre 2023 | International, Naval
China, Pakistan wrap up naval drill featuring sub, high-tech destroyer
India is likely concerned about the submarine's presence, an expert tells Defense News.
7 mai 2020 | International, C4ISR
Pentagon reports boost in predatory foreign investment to US tech firms amid pandemic
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Defense Department has seen a small increase in predatory foreign investment in U.S. companies, such as small drone manufacturers, the Pentagon's head of industrial policy said Wednesday.
“In general terms, there has been of an uptick, but it's always been pretty high,” Jennifer Santos, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said Wednesday during the C4ISRNET Conference.
The Pentagon has become increasingly concerned about what it calls “adversarial capital” — a tactic whereby foreign nations, particularly China, make investments into U.S. technology startups that are part of the defense market. Once those countries make their investments, they could own or have access to unique American technologies, while the Pentagon loses its own access due to security considerations.
With the U.S. economy increasingly fragile due to COVID-19, the Defense Department must be vigilant about potential risk to American companies, Santos said. “We simply cannot afford during this period of economic uncertainty the loss of American know-how in critical tech.”
But Santos stopped short of saying the uptick in predatory foreign investment was a direct result of the pandemic, instead noting that the Defense Department recently expanded its existing tools to monitor adversarial capital.
One tool, known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, allows the government to block a foreign investment attempt on national security grounds. The jurisdiction of that tool increased in February, so the Defense Department has seen a boost in the number of cases it is tracking, Santos said.
“Twenty percent of our [gross domestic product] is foreign direct investment, which is fantastic. But there's some areas where there are threats associated with some of that capital, and we want to protect those industry partners,” she said.
Over the past eight weeks, the Pentagon hosted 25 teleconferences with industry to help guide companies that might be experiencing financial distress caused by COVID-19. Some of that outreach, such as a webinar held last week, centered around avoiding adversarial capital, Santos said.
While her comments on adversarial capital did not center specifically on the small drone industry, she noted that the pandemic has made supply chain vulnerabilities in that sector more apparent to the department.
“The market for UAS [unmanned aerial systems] in the United States is dominated primarily by foreign companies, especially Chinese companies,” she said, adding that Chinese firms hold 97 percent of the small UAS market, with about 75 percent of sales in the U.S. commercial market coming from Chinese drone maker DJI.
“U.S. firms have struggled to compete in this drone area,” she said. "Even commercial drones manufactured in the United States often use components made in China. We don't know what the exact effects of COVID will be on this small UAS sector, but I know one thing: We will emerge from this stronger.”
Brent Ingraham, the Pentagon's unmanned systems technical director, pointed to the American Drone Security Act currently under proposal by Congress. If passed, the legislation would apply the same security restrictions on UAS used by the Defense Department to the rest of the federal government, which would secure industrial opportunities for U.S. vendors that have a trusted supply chain, he said.
As the Defense Department looks to expand its base of small UAS manufacturers, one of the military's legacy providers offered a word of caution.
"We as a community are all in favor in faster, cheaper, better, but we need to have an exercise in caution when you do that,” said Gorik Hossepian, AeroVironment's vice president of UAS product line management. “Our past is full of examples of when we do those kinds of things, we tend to sacrifice one versus the other. We need to not lose sight that what we need is a balance.”
"At the end of the day, the war fighter at the edge of the battlefield ... needs to have a product that is trusted,” he said. “Members of some of our community, to some extent, have that as some of our DNA — the DNA of working with the end user to solve those problems.”
Sur le même sujet
-
-
6 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Six small simulation companies rack up $1M contracts after ‘Shark Tank’-style pitches to US Air Force
ORLANDO, Fla. — On Wednesday, six small businesses pitched U.S. Air Force acquisition leaders on unique training and simulation technologies, each walking away with a $1 million contract in as little as 20 minutes. The inaugural Simulators Pitch Day at the Interservice/Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference was the third “Shark Tank”-style event held by the service in the hopes of broadening its industrial base to include small companies, startups and other firms that don't typically work with the government. “I thought what they presented was awesome. But actually I felt a sense of accomplishment, which is something that we sometimes don't feel in acquisitions because it often takes forever to get something done,” said Col. Phillip Carpenter, the Air Force's senior materiel leader for the simulators program office. During a Thursday event that allowed the six companies to take a victory lap by pitching their products to an audience of Air Force and industry officials attending the conference, Carpenter recounted how he felt presenting each company with funding meant to help further develop their products. “The looks on their faces — I know the feelings that they felt about the opportunity to participate with us in our mission. In 25 years of doing acquisitions it was probably one of the greatest feelings I've ever had,” he said. Although the Air Force didn't limit the types of technologies that companies could pitch, it sought out several specific technologies including high-end weather effects for gaming environments, high-fidelity simulators that could be deployed to austere locations, cloud-based simulators and artificial intelligence-aided instruction tools. In the end, Perceptronics Solutions, Information Systems Laboratories, DTI, PlaneEnglish, Take Flight and King Crow Studios were chosen to present 10-minute proposals during a closed-door session with Air Force acquisition officials. The technologies presented by the companies covered a wide variety of niche gaps in the simulation industry. DTI pitched a stereoscopic 3D display that doesn't require specialized 3D glasses — something the company believes might one day be a useful upgrade for the remote vision system used by KC-46 boom operators. Plane English proposed an aviation radio simulation for aircrews to familiarize themselves with radio chatter. The other pitches were: Take Flight Interactive's virtual flight instructor. Perceptronics' assessment tool called Train DX, which brings together instructor evaluations, biometrics and data from simulators and other training tools to create a “report card.” King Crow Studios' virtual reality trainer to teach advanced tactics to pilots. Information Systems Laboratories' plug-and-play “sidecar” for flight simulators that better imitates the effects of radar and electronic warfare systems. “I want to let some of the small companies that might be in the room know that if you're thinking about doing Pitch Day next year, it really wasn't that terrifying,” said Greg Carter, vice president of Information Systems Laboratories. “I really didn't sleep the night before,” he said, joking that he had nightmares where Carpenter transformed into Shark Tank host Mark Cuban. “[After winning], I slept much better.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/itsec/2019/12/05/six-small-simulation-companies-rack-up-1m-contracts-after-shark-tank-style-pitches-to-us-air-force
-
28 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Is Dassault Aviation on Way to Another Rafale Jet Export Contract?
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier hinted at a new Rafale jet export contract in the making while speaking at his company's first half 2020 financial results conference in Paris earlier this week. “A potential new Rafale export contract is postponed,” he said while referring to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Dassault's performance without naming the country with whom his company was close to signing the contract with. This is the first official acknowledgement by Dassault Aviation of a new Rafale export order reaching the contract stage- the first since deals were struck with Egypt, Qatar and India starting 2015. Reports of India being in talks to buy an additional 36 Rafale aircraft have been going on for a while now, but nothing has been revealed officially as yet. In addition, Dassault Aviation is in talks with UAE and Malaysia. It is in competition to sell jets to Switzerland and Finland pitted against European rivals Eurofighter and Saab. Of these prospects, India appears as the most likely candidate even as the first five Rafale jets arrive in India Monday. Earlier this year, comments by the Indian Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat that a potential order for 114 jets would be “staggered” set off speculation of an additional order for Rafale fighters. A staggered purchase (of the Rafales) would ease financial burden by paying for the jets as they are manufactured. In addition, buying additional Rafales would ensure that the jets keep getting supplied to India uninterrupted beyond the end of the first contract for 36 jets. Several Indian media reports said that French aircraft manufacturer Dassault and India's HAL are in talks for possible cooperation in producing Rafale fighter jets in India for additional anticipated orders under a staggered procurement plan. The Economic Times reported in February this year that a few rounds of discussions have taken place between the two companies on possible work share for additional orders of the Rafale. In this context ‘work share' could mean local assembly of either the aircraft or some major components. It could also mean installation of some Indian components in the jet. Dassault and HAL are already implementing a contract to modernize India's Mirage-2000 jets. Additional Rafales could be cheaper than the 36 ordered in 2016 for Euro 7.8 billion. Of the total cost, Euro 195 million was spent on India-specific enhancements which will come down as the majority of the cost was for R & D, modification and certification. Besides, India had paid for setting up two bases for just 36 aircraft. These bases can easily accommodate more jets. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/27509#.XyCAdZ5KiUk