5 août 2020 | International, Terrestre

To keep weapon sales in place, US offers new options for payment

WASHINGTON — The United States is developing new options for arms customers as a way to ensure allies and partners don't drop planned procurements as the world economy remains in shock from the impacts of COVID 19.

Among the options, according to outgoing Defense Security Cooperation Agency head Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, are allowing foreign countries to finance arms procurement through U.S. bank loans and altering existing payment schedules to stretch the costs over time.

“The bottom line here is, we are willing to work with our allies and partners, when they raise the challenges that they have, to find ways for them to continue to buy American and to ensure that they can pay for the equipment along a payment schedule that reflects their own economic conditions,” Hooper said.

During an exclusive exit interview with Defense News, Hooper declined to say which countries have already approached his agency about economic impact from the disease, but said that there are “certainly” customer nations that have reached out.

“There are partners that, we're already seeing that they are having challenges. So we're standing ready to work with them. As soon as we can gain an appreciation and the understanding of the challenges, we can find ways to help them,” Hooper said.

Hooper talked with Defense News two weeks before his Aug. 3 retirement. He is succeeded by Heidi Grant, the head of the Defense Security Technology Administration, a move that marks the first time a civilian has led the office since a previous agency was recognized into the current DSCA structure in 1998. The general expressed no concerns over that move, in large part, he said, because of Grant, a fixture in the international security cooperation world.

Grant will have to hit the ground running, given the potential impact from COVID on the world economies. The good news, Hooper said, is that by March, DSCA had concluded that the global economy would be hurt by the disease and set up an interagency working group, called the Operations Planning Group, to study program-level impacts from global trends and develop solutions.

The first step Hooper's team took was to revise the collection process of foreign payment in order to make them “a bit more flexible, to accommodate those partners that may be having some economic difficulties or may have reprioritized their budgets towards for example, economic recovery and away from defense.”

Those options include delaying payments on planned procurements to future years, creating new payment plans for ongoing procurement efforts, and returning funds currently on deposit with the United States to the customer nations as well as new financing strategies.

“One of the things we did is we are allowing our partners to draw on standby letters of credit from foreign banks operating in the United States, according to U.S. banking rules,” Hooper explained. “That offers a nation an opportunity to draw, for example, in that case, a standby letter of credit on one of their banks that operates in the United States, under United States banking rules, which ensures that there's no fiduciary risk to the United States.”

DSCA officials had been considering adding such an option for some time, but the economic downturn pushed the agency to start offering it for customer nations, Hooper added. Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of the Arms and Military Expenditure Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said that option sounds different from funding plans that have existed for some time in Europe, where specific entities in countries are responsible for guaranteeing arms-recipient states' loans thanks to the state treasury.

“There are a number of economic factors globally, that we anticipate will likely have an impact on country's abilities to move forward,” Hooper said. “Obviously, energy prices are lower, and those countries all over the world that specialize in energy are going to see a fall in revenue. We see countries that, as a result of the pandemic, are having to shift funds from their defense budgets to more domestic missions like economic recovery and other things.”

In addition to oil-reliant nations in the Middle East, Béraud-Sudreau said to watch the Pacific region, where “many countries have already decided to cut their military spending for this year, and planning decreases for 2021.” Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, and the Philippines are among the nations that have already announced plans to cut defense spending, while Singapore is seeing delays in weapon deliveries due to supply chain issues.

“If there are limited orders in 2020-2021, there will be repercussions later on, as these companies work on long-term projects. Hence the pressure, on both sides of the Atlantic, for the defense sector to be part of economic recovery packages and high levels of military expenditure,” she said.

Over the course of his time at DSCA, Hooper oversaw almost 18,300 Foreign Military Sales actions, including 5,800 new agreements and various amendments and modifications to existing agreements, according to agency figures. He reduced three different surcharges on customers, saving customers millions of dollars as well. Also, timelines shrunk, with DSCA offering 50 percent of all new FMS cases that flow through the process to partner nations in 49 days or less by Hooper's exit.

And while Hooper did not want to preview what weapon sales totals for fiscal 2020 will be, he did say that the United States remains “on a very positive trajectory... We remain the global partner of choice. And I'm very optimistic that we're going to continue to see positive trends in our foreign military sales this year and in the years to come.”

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/08/04/to-keep-weapon-sales-in-place-us-offers-new-options-for-payment/

Sur le même sujet

11 janvier 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 08, 2021
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY US Foods Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $377,791,948 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a two-year base contract with one one-year option period and one two-year option period. Locations of performance are Virginia and North Carolina, with a Jan. 7, 2023, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-21-D-3313). Science Applications International Corp., Fairfield, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $95,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for facilities maintenance, repair and operation supplies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., with a Jan. 8, 2022, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E3-21-D-0005). Dispensers Optical Services Corp.,* Louisville, Kentucky, has been awarded a maximum $18,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for optical lenses. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a three-year base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Kentucky, with a Jan. 7, 2024, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-21-D-0012). NAVY Alberici-Mortenson JV, St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $359,738,706 fixed-price-award-fee modification to exercise the first and second options under previously awarded contract N69450-20-C-0016 for design-bid-build recapitalization of the dry dock at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. The work to be performed provides for concrete repairs in various locations throughout the dry dock; overhauling and repairing the steel caisson; and upgrading power distribution, chilled water and fire detection and alarm systems. The project will also repair corroded steel members of the dry dock superstructure, re-coat the entire superstructure and replace roof and wall panels. The project will remove one bridge crane and overhaul two other bridge cranes. The scope also includes rebuilding/replacing sluice gates and actuators, roller gate rails, flap valves and frames and all piping. This project will also upgrade control systems and electronic components and upgrade the auxiliary seawater system. This award increases the total cumulative value of the contract to $554,465,051. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia, and is expected to be completed by October 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $359,738,706 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. Oceaneering International Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $56,878,408 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-6413 for configuration changes, engineering services, material, maintenance and repair. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $131,895,943. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Atlantic Signal LLC,* Topeka, Kansas, is awarded a $45,128,388 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the purchase of up to a combined maximum quantity of 233,736 units inclusive of hearing enhancement devices, cables, push-to-talks, hygiene kits and helmet adapters. Work will be performed in Topeka, Kansas, and is expected to be complete by September 2025. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,999,420 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award and funds will expire on March 19, 2021. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with seven offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-21-D-1809). Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, is awarded $7,825,657 for a firm-fixed-price delivery order (N00383-21-F-PF03) under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-19-G-PF01 for the repair of 10 line items associated with the APY-10 radar system used in support of the P-8A aircraft. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (70%); and McKinney, Texas (30%). Work is expected to be completed by May 2023. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the full amount of $7,825,657 will be obligated at time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One firm was solicited for this non-competitive requirement in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), with one offer received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Hardwood Products Co., LP, Guilford, Maine, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $110,085,000 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract as a commercial contract for industrial base expansion of U.S. domestic production capacity for medical foam tip swabs. This contract is for the procurement of equipment and machinery to enable expanded production of foam tip nasal swabs. Work will initially be performed in Pittsfield, Maine, and is expected to be completed by October 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement funds in the amount of $34,220,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-21-C-0019). M1 Support Services, Denton, Texas, has been awarded a $77,369,924 firm-fixed-price contract for the back-shop and flight-line maintenance of multiple aircraft types. Work will be performed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2027, if all options are exercised. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $37,094,520 are being obligated at the time of award. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Langley-Eustis AFB, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-21-C-0002). iGov Technologies Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $30,906,705 firm-fixed-price modification (P00015) to contract FA8730-18-F-0061 to exercise options for Tactical Air Control Party - Mobile Communications System Block Two kits, training and support of the system. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional quantity of 142 production kits, along with the associated training Lot Two and second generation anti-jam tactical ultra-high frequency radio for the NATO licenses Lot One and Lot Two being produced under the basic contract. Work will be performed at various locations across the U.S., and is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the amount of $1,189,383; and fiscal 2021 other procurement funds in the amount of $29,717,322, are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $81,006,838. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $58,905,062 modification (P00006) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR0011-20-C-0038 to exercise the contract line item number 0003 option for development of the integrated OpFires system. This includes risk reduction testing to achieve a system-level critical design maturity. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $18,505,167 will be obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas (57%); Huntsville, Alabama (11%); and Elkton, Maryland (32%), with an estimated completion date of January 2022. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Pollock Research & Design Inc., Reading, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00007) on contract HTC711-19-CR001 in the amount of $7,954,311. This modification provides continued crane maintenance for the U.S. Army Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. Services provide maintenance to ship-to-shore and rail mounted gantry cranes. Requirements include scheduled maintenance and on-call unscheduled maintenance. Work will be performed at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, Southport, North Carolina; the Military Ocean Terminal Concord, Concord, California; and Naval Magazine Indian Island, Port Hadlock, Washington. The period of performance is from Jan. 9, 2021, to Jan. 8, 2022. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds were obligated at award. The U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2466843/
24 avril 2018 | International, Terrestre

Army researchers are developing a self-aware squid-like robot you can 3D print in the field
By: Todd South In case you weren't already terrified of robots that can jump over walls, fly or crawl, Army researchers are developing your next nightmare — a flexible, soft robot inspired by squid and other invertebrates. And they want soldiers to be able to use 3D printers to make them on the battlefield. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the University of Minnesota are developing materials that can be 3D printed based on the flexibility and nimbleness of invertebrates such as a squid, according to an ARL release. Traditional materials are too rigid and limit certain types of movement that robots might require to get into “confined or restricted spaces,” said Ed Habtour, an ARL researcher. The prototypes that Habtour and fellow ARL researchers developed gave 3D-printed actuators three times the movement as what's been tested before. The material that they've used in their testing will bend in any direction when hit with electricity. “In the initial phase of the project, our team began by investigating new methods for emulating the locomotion of invertebrates,” said Michael McAlpine, a professor at the University of Minnesota. That helped researchers learn how to apply the natural movement of invertebrates like squids to produce “high bending motions without skeletal support,” McAlpine said. Because the material doesn't have to be dried, heated or assembled, it would require little training and could be used for printable robots that soldiers could make and use whenever and wherever they're needed. “If we can understand these interactions, then we can use those insights to fabricate dynamic structures and flexible robots which are designed to be self-aware, self-sensing and capable of adjusting their morphologies and properties in real time to adapt to a myriad of external and internal conditions,” Habtour said. The material is still in early development stages, so don't expect to see a robot squid in the foxhole next to you tomorrow. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/18/army-researchers-are-developing-a-self-aware-robot-squid-you-can-3d-print-in-the-field/
29 novembre 2019 | International, Autre défense

Produire local, passage obligé des entreprises partant à l'international
Grandes et petites entreprises doivent se plier aux exigences croissantes des États de produire sur place une partie de leurs gros contrats. Y compris Dassault Aviation pour vendre son Rafale en Inde. Enquête. Difficile d'y échapper. Les exigences de compensations industrielles, ou offsets, occupent une place croissante dans la négociation des grands contrats. Elles sont presque autant l'apanage de pays émergents, qui cherchent à accélérer la montée en gamme de leur industrie domestique, que de pays développés. Dans le seul secteur de la défense, le montant global des offsets a progressé de 25 % entre 2012 et 2016, pour représenter près de 2,5 % des dépenses militaires. Pour décrocher le contrat de 36 avions Rafale en Inde, Dassault a dû s'engager à réinvestir 50 % de sa valeur dans le pays, sous forme de fabrication locale et d'approvisionnement auprès de sous-traitants indiens. Il a ouvert un site pour produire ses avions d'affaires Falcon et le Rafale avec l'indien Reliance. DCNS a consenti à transférer une partie de sa production et de ses compétences en Australie, dans le cadre du "contrat du siècle" de 12 sous-marins. Politique du "make in India" en Inde, "Buy american act" aux États-Unis, droits de douane exorbitants sur les importations de véhicules pour forcer les constructeurs à réaliser l'assemblage sur place... Au-delà de la défense et de l'aéronautique, le parapétrolier, le ferroviaire et la filière nucléaire font aussi face à des contraintes similaires, plus ou moins structurées. "La plupart des nouveaux contrats en Afrique prennent en compte la volonté de transférer des équipes et de produire localement ", remarque Pedro Novo, le directeur de l'international de Bpifrance. Accompagner les PME et les ETI "Les compensations industrielles étaient auparavant supportées par les seuls intégrateurs. Mais à mesure qu'elles augmentent et que les grands groupes externalisent davantage, elles descendent de plus en plus dans la supply chain", pointe Philippe Advani, un ancien d'Airbus, qui préside le comité sur les offsets des conseillers du commerce extérieur. Avec le groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (Gifas), il a publié en juillet un guide pour aider ETI et PME à naviguer dans les contraintes de transfert de savoir-faire ou de production – souvent complexes – fixées par les gouvernements. Pour les sous-traitants, l'opération n'est pas sans risque. En Inde, le spécialiste de l'ingénierie aéronautique Ametra, qui emploie 700 salariés, a sauté le pas l'an passé en créant une coentreprise avec un partenaire indien à Hyderabad, dans le sud du pays. "Cela demande du cash, et un pillage de propriété intellectuelle peut être plus dramatique pour une petite entreprise", reconnaît Philippe Advani. "Devenir indien en Inde, par exemple, implique d'accélérer la structuration de sa société, de revoir la logistique et la gestion des flux de données, d'impliquer le conseil d'administration. Il faut un accompagnement pour mettre ces contraintes à la portée des PME", énumère Pedro Novo, qui a lancé il y a un an le fonds Build-up International afin de co-investir dans des filiales à l'étranger d'ETI françaises et étudie une vingtaine de dossiers. Certains ont fait de ces contraintes un nouvel axe de leur stratégie. Depuis deux ans, le fabricant de c'ble marnais Axon'Cable surveille les obligations de compensations industrielles des grands contrats militaires pour implanter ses nouvelles usines. "Il est plus facile de vendre à nos grands clients car ils ne trouvent pas leurs fournisseurs habituels et nous en profitons pour démarcher des industriels locaux", pointe son président, Joseph Puzo, qui a ouvert en 2016 une filiale au Brésil et prépare un bureau en Australie pour 2020. L'ETI, qui possède déjà une usine low cost en Inde, a créé en début d'année une deuxième coentreprise, Dhruv, avec un partenaire local, afin d'obtenir le statut d'"offset indien partner", qui permet de répondre aux demandes de compensation industrielle. Produire localement ne supprime pas pour autant tous les échanges. Seul l'assemblage final est réalisé à proximité du client. Les composants les plus sensibles restent exportés depuis la France. Le meilleur moyen de protéger ses innovations. Latécoère suit Thales et Dassault en Inde S'implanter en Inde ne faisait pas partie des plans initiaux de Latécoère. "Je savais que l'Inde était un pays compliqué et bureaucratique. Nous serions certainement allés dans un autre pays d'Asie s'il n'y avait pas eu les contreparties du contrat Rafale", reconnaît volontiers Yannick Assouad, la PDG de l'équipementier aéronautique. Son usine de c'blage de Belagavi, dans l'État du Karnataka, a démarré sa production en septembre. Pour vendre ses 36 avions de combat, Dassault a dû s'engager à des compensations industrielles, dont l'ouverture d'un site à Nagpur, dans l'État du Maharashtra, pour produire des pièces pour le Rafale et le Falcon. En 2017, Latécoère a décroché auprès de Dassault la fourniture de harnais électriques pour le Falcon 2000 en s'engageant à suivre l'avionneur en Inde. "Se localiser dans un pays d'offset n'était pas suffisant pour remporter le contrat car il faut avant tout être compétitif. Mais c'était la cerise sur le g'teau", reconnaît Yannick Assouad. Dans la foulée, sa nouvelle usine indienne a permis à l'ETI de décrocher un deuxième contrat auprès de Thales, lui aussi tenu à des offsets, pour son système de divertissement à bord. De quoi atteindre plus vite que prévu le seuil de rentabilité de l'usine de 300 salariés. En attendant que Dassault implante sa chaîne d'assemblage du Falcon en Inde, Latécoère exporte toute sa production indienne vers la France et les États-Unis pour Thales et se fournit en France. "Nous allons progressivement démarcher des clients locaux et essayer d'évaluer la supply chain", précise la PDG. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/produire-local-passage-oblige-des-entreprises-partant-a-l-international.N907464

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