29 avril 2020 | International, Naval
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has paid defense contractors $600 million it had withheld to ensure contract performance, hoping the funds would shore up finances for suppliers ravaged by the coronavirus-driven economic downturn, a Navy official said on Tuesday.
The move, which follows a similar action taken by the Air Force that released billions of dollars in payments, is aimed at replacing revenue vital Pentagon suppliers have lost in their non-military businesses as the spreading coronavirus has halted business activity nationwide.
“We were immediately able to infuse about $600 million of funds that we had on withholds,” James Geurts, the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters on a conference call.
A Navy spokesperson said “for example, with the ship repair industry, withholds were reduced to one percent.” The Navy was unable to say whether a portion of the $600 million was withheld due to poor contractor performance.
The Department of Defense has also accelerated contract awards as it leverages its portion of the more than $700 billion annual defense budget to help keep suppliers afloat.
Geurts wrote a memo on March 24 to his staff directing them to release or reduce the withholds. It did not discuss rectifying the root causes.
Government waste watch-dogs criticized the move.
“This current emergency shouldn't be an excuse to avoid accountability for poor performance that predated this outbreak,” said Mandy Smithberger, of the Project On Government Oversight in Washington.
Earlier this month, Geurts said he had authorized “hundreds of millions” of dollars to be paid out to top suppliers like General Dynamics (GD.N) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N) which could flow to the supply chain.
Representatives from Huntington Ingalls and General Dynamics said the Navy was not withholding money from them for poor performance.
While the Navy did not name any companies that received payments, industry sources have said the biggest contractors have been filtering coronavirus-related funds to their suppliers and subcontractors who, because of their smaller size, are on much shakier financial footing.
The Navy's multi-layered supply chain is comprised of companies building out President Donald Trump's vision for a 350 ship here Navy. The funding will help pay salaries and ensure hard-to-replace workers are not lost to other industries or early retirement.
Geurts has said the Navy is pushing money into the defense industrial base by speeding up contract payments, hastening contract awards and releasing funds withheld for poor past performance.
The U.S. Air Force said it would release $882 million in payments to Boeing (BA.N) that were held back due to flaws in the KC-46 air refueling tanker.
18 mai 2021 | International, Naval
LONDON — The U.S. Navy has turned to global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin and enterprise applications company IFS to deliver an intelligent maintenance product that will help power its digital transformation of multiple legacy systems into a single, fully modernized and responsive logistics...
26 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial
By: Andrew C. Jarocki WASHINGTON — U.S. Air Force Space Command will send a new military satellite into space in 2020 with the help of SpaceX. The AFSC's Space and Missile Systems Center announced Friday a $130 million contract with the rocket design and manufacturing company. The relatively low-cost price tag secured the deal for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, beating out main rival United Launch Alliance (composed of Boeing and Lockheed Martin) by tens of millions of dollars and earning praise from the Air Force. Lt. Gen. John Thompson, program executive officer for the Space and Missile Systems Center, approved the contract, saying it “directly supports [the Center's] mission of delivering resilient and affordable space capabilities to our nation while maintaining assured access to space.” The agreement for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle service contract includes “launch vehicle production, mission integration and launch operations” from SpaceX, according to a news release. The Heavy Falcon can deliver a payload of 70 tons to low-Earth orbit. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell highlighted the price savings in a statement, saying her company's services offer “the American taxpayer the most cost-effective” and “reliable” services for national space missions. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2018/06/22/us-air-force-announces-rocket-deal-with-spacex-for-military-satellite/
29 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Le 28 mai 2020, Florence Parly, ministre des Armées s'est entretenue avec Bruno Le Maire, ministre de l'Économie et des Finances pour trouver les solutions les plus adaptées pour soutenir les PME de la défense. Dès le début de la crise, une task force a été mise sur pied, soit une mission interministérielle d'une cinquantaine de personnes pilotée par le ministère des Armées qui associe Bercy et Bpifrance. « Le principe est d'ausculter 1 500 entreprises, d'aller au contact dans les territoires, de visiter les lignes de production, les bureaux d'études, de discuter avec les dirigeants de ces PME et d'identifier la nature exacte de leurs faiblesses », précise le ministère des Armées à l'Usine Nouvelle. L'Usine Nouvelle du 29 mai 2020