Triumph Awarded Engine Component MRO Contract For International Chinook Fleet

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  4 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Poland, Romania tee up helicopter tenders, target 2 percent defense spending

  By: Jaroslaw Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — A number of Eastern European allies aim to maintain their defense expenditures at 2 percent of their respective gross domestic products despite the current economic downturn. Poland and Romania are at the forefront of the region's military modernization efforts, and both plan to spend billions of dollars on helicopters in the near future. However, local observers say the countries' defense acquisitions are facing delays due to organizational limitations. In a sign of commitment to modernizing its military with Western-made gear despite budget cuts, Poland decided to host the MSPO defense industry show in Kielce this year. The pandemic has forced the event's organizers to cut the show to three days, Sept. 8-10, as travel restrictions forced the majority of foreign defense companies to skip the event. Over the past years, Warsaw has increasingly focused its efforts on large procurements by foreign manufacturers, such as the $4.75 billion deal to to buy Raytheon's Patriot air-and-missile defense system and the $4.6 billion contract to acquire 32 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from Lockheed Martin. Due to this, some observers claim Poland's defense industry is in urgent need of orders, or partnerships with foreign producers, to stay financially afloat. “A situation in which Poland only buys ready weapons off the rack is a bad one,” retired Gen. Mirosław Różański, president of the Stratpoints Foundation and former General Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, told Defense News. “Developing the defense capabilities of any country cannot solely consist of acquiring the most modern types of weapons, but also enabling its local industry to service and repair, and preferably to produce, or at least jointly produce them with foreign partners.” “As long as Polish officials will claim that we can build submarines or tanks on our own, this won't lead us anywhere. We must build partnerships, just like the rest of the world does. The flagship F-35 project is driven by an elite group of nine countries,” Różański said, adding that past plans to integrate Poland's leading, state-run defense group PGZ within a large international defense group represented a missed opportunity. Slawomir Kulakowski, the head of the Polish Chamber of National Defense Manufacturers, told Defense News most of Poland's defense companies supply their products to the country's military as export sales have lagged. Their increased cooperation with foreign players could pave the way for the introduction of various new weapons, according to Kulakowski. “In some foreign defense contracts, the Polish government includes the requirement for foreign companies to cooperate with the Polish industry. Other deals include offset requirements, but these are often criticized for boosting the weapons' prices without generating comparable benefits,” Kulakowski said. “Better contracts foresee transfers of technology to Polish plants, allowing them ... to modernize their offer, expand to new markets.” Some of the country's much-awaited defense tenders include the planned acquisitions of new helicopters for the Polish Air Force. These include the 32 multirole copters under the Perkoz program, with the first squadron to be delivered by 2026, bolstering the military's transport, combat support, command, and reconnaissance capacities. They are to replace the Air Force's outdated Mil Mi-2 and W-3 Sokol copters. The ministry also aims to buy 32 combat helos under the Kruk program, with the first squadron to be supplied until 2026, and a second one after 2026. The aircraft are to replace Poland's Soviet-designed Mil Mi-24 helos. With the two programs facing delays, though, the ministry has turned to smaller acquisitions. In January 2019, Warsaw signed a contract to buy four S-70i Black Hawk copters from Lockheed Martin's subsidiary Sikorsky for some 683.4 million zloty (U.S. $186 million). Three months later, Poland signed a deal with Leonardo to acquire four AW101 helicopters for some €380 million (U.S. $454 million). Kulakowski said the much-awaited transformation of the Armament Inspectorate, the ministry's unit that handles acquisitions of military gear, into an Armaments Agency, fitted with broader competencies and increased workforce, could accelerate procurements. According to Różański, to reform Poland's defense acquisition system, the potential Armaments Agency should be established as a government entity, and not a unit subordinated to the ministry. “Two conditions must be met for such an endeavor to be successful. Defense acquisitions must be taken out of party politics, and they must be delegated to a team of competent, politically neutral experts that will be responsible for long-term planning and execution of our modernization programs,” Różański said. Contenders in Romania In Romania, the country's defense establishment has been mulling plans to purchase new copters since 2015, but a decision to launch a tender has yet to be made. George Visan, the coordinator of the Black Sea Security Program at the Bucharest-based think tank Romania Energy Center, told Defense News the Defense Ministry “would like to acquire two types of military helicopter: an attack helicopter and medium-size transport type helicopter. Before the pandemic, a helicopter procurement program was to start this year or in 2021.” With these purchases in mind, Romania has filed a request for information with the U.S. government for a potential acquisition of 24 attack helicopters and 21 medium-size transport helicopters. There are three U.S. and European helo producers that are expected to compete for the order. This said, Bucharest will most likely select an offer that brings manufacturing jobs to Romania through partnerships with local businesses. Eyeing the contract, Airbus Helicopters has shifted its assembly line for the H215M copter to Romania, and established a partnership to make medium-size helicopters with local aircraft plant IAR Brasov, according to Visan. “Airbus wants to sell its H215M and build it here in Brasov, the company is also offering the H145M which is presented as an attack helicopter. The second contender is Bell with the AH-1Z Viper and the UH-1Y Venom,” Visan said. “Finally, the third contender is Lockheed Martin with the Sikorsky UH-60M.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/09/03/poland-romania-tee-up-helicopter-tenders-target-2-percent-defense-spending/

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  8 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  Next-Generation Tanker Set To Enter Key Analysis Phase

  February 08, 2021 As the U.S. Air Force continues receiving 179 KC-46As (pictured), Air Mobility Command is seeking to define the options for a new generation of tankers. Credit: Staff Sgt. Daniel Snider/U.S. Air Force Little has changed about the U.S. Air Force's basic approach to inflight refueling since the days of Gen. Curtis LeMay, but change is coming. In fiscal 2022, the Air Force is set to begin an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for the Advanced Air Refueling (AAR) program, says Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost... https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/next-generation-tanker-set-enter-key-analysis-phase

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  19 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  A $17 Billion Pot of National-Security Stimulus Aid Goes Begging

  By David McLaughlin and Anthony Capaccio There's a $17 billion pot of money in the pandemic aid package for companies vital to national security -- and no one seems to want it. The $2 trillion rescue package Congress adopted in late March includes loans and loan guarantees specifically for companies “critical to maintaining national security.” The funds at first were seen as largely directed at Boeing Co., which at the time had been pleading for a government bailout. But after selling $25 billion in bonds to investors, the aircraft maker turned down the aid, which would have come with strings attached that it didn't like. With the $17 billion up for grabs, the U.S. defense industry is asking the Trump administration to change the criteria for getting some of it, arguing that the terms are too strict. The Treasury Department, which has sole authority over the $17 billion, has limited the companies that qualify to those whose work is designated DX, which means it ranks highest on the military's list of national priorities, or to companies that have facilities with top-secret security clearances. Only about 20 companies applied by the May 1 deadline, according to the Defense Department. There are about 300,000 companies in the Pentagon's contractor supply chain. Earlier: Defense Firms to Vie for Virus Aid With Boeing Weighing Options “What we're hearing across the board is that the restrictions and requirements on the money are pretty onerous, and a majority of companies just can't apply for the money,” said Hawk Carlisle, president of the National Defense Industrial Association, which represents defense contractors. It's another example of the Trump administration's struggle to help businesses that have been decimated by the pandemic. The initial round of $349 billion aimed at small businesses sparked outrage after large restaurant chains, a professional basketball franchise and numerous publicly traded companies were able to get money while mom-and-pop businesses were shut out. Treasury has approved about $25 billion out of the $35 billion that Congress allocated for payroll assistance to airlines and cargo carriers. Earlier: American Gets Most as Biggest Airlines Win Bulk of U.S. Aid On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to broaden the criteria for qualifying for loans and reopen the application process. “Treasury's implementation of the loan program has not adequately addressed the needs of the aerospace supply chain and its workforce, which is fundamental to America's industrial base,” she wrote. It's not just the defense industry raising concerns. Ellen Lord, the Defense Department's top acquisition official, told reporters last month that Treasury's criteria may have prevented companies with the greatest need from qualifying. “We have talked with them several times; they have reached out to us,” Lord said. “I am not sure companies with DX-rated contracts are perhaps the ones that have the most critical needs.” She said suppliers already have been giving DX programs priority, which they are required to do under Pentagon rules. The Treasury Department didn't respond to requests for comment. Congress stipulated that companies receiving the national-security loans must provide the government with warrants, equity or senior debt securities and agree to limits on dividends, stock buybacks and executive pay. But it's Treasury's additional criteria that defense firms say are too narrow. It restricted loans to two groups: those with a contract with the DX rating or those with facilities that have top-secret security clearances. Eric Fanning, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, whose members include Lockheed Martin Corp. and BAE Systems Plc, said the criteria should be broadened to cover more companies. A Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, said in an email that the Defense Department has determined that only a few programs required a DX rating, but opted to stop releasing their names as of December 2018. Before that, the Pentagon had said there are about a dozen DX programs, including those for the Minuteman III ICBM program, the B-2 bomber, presidential aircraft, missile warning satellites and nuclear-missile submarines. Some of the major companies involved are Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. The Pentagon doesn't track the number of companies that possess top-secret clearances, but only the number of facilities cleared at that level, spokeswoman Cynthia McGovern said in an email. Like Boeing, the large companies that might qualify for the Treasury loans are able to tap the capital markets to meet their financing needs, especially now that the Federal Reserve is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into debt markets by buying corporate bonds and bond funds. Earlier: Here's Where $881 Billion in U.S. Aid Went in Month of Spending The Pentagon is helping by increasing progress payments by $3 billion and speeding up those payments to contractors, which range from the biggest makers of weapons systems to the more numerous, lower-tier suppliers of everything from software to uniforms. But many contractors also rely on commercial deals to supplement their government work. With the airline industry facing a sharp and lengthy contraction, aviation suppliers could see a greater need for rescue financing in the near future, said Fanning of the aerospace industry group. Boeing, for example, in late April said it's shrinking its workforce by about 10%, or about 16,000 jobs, to conserve cash. General Electric Co. is cutting about 13,000 jobs in its jet-engine operation. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., a supplier to Airbus and Boeing, is also cutting jobs. “We don't have a sense yet of where the stress points are in the industrial base,” Fanning said. “The health of supply chains can take a while to sort out and show where there are problems.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-14/a-17-billion-pot-of-national-security-stimulus-aid-goes-begging