4 février 2019 | International, Naval
By: David B. Larter
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has signed a $14.9 billion contract with shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls for two Ford-class aircraft carriers, the Navy announced Thursday evening.
By buying two carriers simultaneously, the Navy expects to save $4 billion, according to a Navy release.
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer hailed the deal as a team effort and said the contract will create stability for the skilled workforce and create savings as a result.
“Focusing on optimizing construction activities and material procurement, the team was able to achieve significant savings as compared to individual procurement contracts," Spencer said in the release. “One contract for construction of the two ships will enable the shipbuilder flexibility to best employ its skilled workforce to design once and build twice for unprecedented labor reductions while providing stability and opportunities for further efficiencies within the nuclear industrial base.”
The carriers were previously reported to cost about $24 billion, and the the Navy projected it would save about $4 billion by contracting for two Ford-class carriers.
A release from the office Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee Seapower subcommittee congratulated the Navy for closing the deal.
“This dual buy means even larger savings than projected for taxpayers and the certainty that our industrial base needs to retain and hire the employees who create the highest quality products for our sailors," Wittman said. "For Virginia it means thousands of reliable jobs and community development for the next decade and beyond. As one of the largest Navy shipbuilding contracts ever, I am proud to have led this effort and look forward to its success.”
25 août 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France over content moderation issues. Platform faces scrutiny for alleged facilitation of cybercrime and illegal
3 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
By: Pierre Tran PARIS – U.S. defense officials are in detailed talks with French counterparts on a request for the sale of American components built into French cruise missiles, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. Asked by a French journalist about Washington blocking the sale of the Scalp long-range weapon to Egypt and Qatar, Mattis said American and French staff were meeting on that very issue even as a press conference was being held. “We discussed this,” he said. “We also have our staffs meeting. We have an invitation out to France to answer two final questions. The meetings are going on as we speak.” Mattis, on his first visit to Paris as defense secretary, was speaking at a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, held at Brienne House. The two issues to be resolved target “certain technologies” that the United States only shares with its closest allies, including France, and whether that technology can be further transferred, and how France can protect that technology, he said. “Right now we don't have a final answer but it is all going in the right direction,” he said. “And it was a very fruitful discussion today. Our staffs are working this forward right now.” The conundrum stems from the French sale to Egypt and Qatar of Scalp cruise missiles to arm Dassault Rafale fighter jets. The weapons include U.S. parts, leading Washington to evoke the International Traffic in Arms Regulations regime. Parly, meanwhile, thanked Mattis, for help in gaining U.S. authorization for arming French Reaper drones, cleared for fitting by the end of the year. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to come to Paris to mark the Nov. 11 Armistice Day, she said. That date is highly significant for France, marking the end of World War I, in which millions of troops died in the trenches. Mattis said he was not concerned about a drive by France and Germany to build a stronger European defense, as there were some issues which were “of interest only to Europeans.” As long as the European drive would not duplicate NATO or compete for alliance forces, “we see this in a positive direction,” he said. Mattis earlier met French President Emmanuel Macron and would go on to Brussels for a NATO ministerial meeting. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/02/mattis-offers-easing-of-us-export-limits-on-french-cruise-missile
14 mars 2023 | International, Naval
Experts are warning that, as the U.S., Britain and Australia move ahead on an expanded military pact, Canada's omission from that group suggests a larger problem with how this country is perceived by its friends.