Nouvelles

Par Michel Cabirol Comment et pourquoi l'organisateur d'Eurosatory ont pris la décision d'annuler l'édition 2020 du plus grand salon d'armements terrestres au monde. Voici les coulisses de cette décision. C'est bien la mort dans l''me que le Coges a dû annuler l'édition 2020 d'Eurosatory, le plus grand salon international de défense et de sécurité terrestres et aéroterrestres. Car jusqu'à peu la ligne tenue par l'organisateur d'Eurosatory était le déroulement normal du salon, qui aurait été "à l'équilibre" en dépit de quelques annulations d'exposants et de réduction de la voilure (annulation des démonstrations dynamiques...). Toutefois, cette position "n'est plus tenable", estime le Coges dans une note datée du 23 mars que La Tribune s'est procurée. Et de conclure qu'il recommande au bureau exécutif du GICAT l'annulation d'Eurosatory 2020 sans report du salon. Au final, il y avait plus de risques que d'avantages à maintenir le salon. Son annulation ne devrait pas coûter de l'argent au Coges. Ce denrier a dépensé au 24 mars près de 11 millions d'euros dans la préparation du salon. L'organisateur "fait tout depuis un mois pour différer ses engagements de dépense et a cessé tout engagement depuis le passage au stade 3", explique-t-il dans cette note. Il a également souscrit avec une grande sagesse en décembre 2019 une assurance annulation du salon comprenant une extension "maladies infectieuses", à concurrence de 13 millions d'euros sur un budget de dépense estimé à 20,6 millions. Au 30 avril, les prévisions d'engagement pour la préparation du salon doivent d'élever à 14,3 millions. Cela montre "bien tout l'intérêt d'annuler aujourd'hui", estime le Coges, qui devrait s'en sortir relativement bien au contraire du GICAT, qui ne pourra pas percevoir de dividendes. Les raisons de l'annulation Pourquoi Eurosatory ne peut plus tenir ? Après plusieurs annulations de salons comme Dimdex au Qatar (16-18 mars), LAAD Security au Brésil (14-16 avril) et ILA Berlin (13-17 mai), les premières annulations de salons prévues en juin aux mêmes dates que celui d'Eurosatory ont commencé à mettre sous forte pression les organisateurs : Viva Technology (11-13 juin) et Interschutz (salon mondial des pompiers à Hanovre). Mais l'annulation du salon britannique de l'aéronautique de Farnborough, prévu pourtant du 20 au 24 juillet, a été le coup de gr'ce. Mais là n'est pas la seule raison. Au-delà des quelques annulations d'exposants déjà reçues, le Coges recevait de plus en plus d'appels de sociétés exposantes qui ne souhaitaient plus engager de frais de préparation de leur stand et qui s'interrogeaient sur la présence de visiteurs au salon. Par ailleurs, des sociétés étrangères, qui représentent 65% des exposants à Eurosatory, avaient déjà commencé à annuler le transit de leurs matériels. Par ailleurs, le Coges ne recevait plus de demande de badge de visiteurs depuis plusieurs jours. Et en même temps, les fournisseurs qui permettent de réaliser le salon sont "quasiment tous à l'arrêt et auront des difficultés à redémarrer fin avril pour un salon début juin", explique le Coges. Il faut à minima cinq semaines de montage. Enfin, et surtout, le ministère des Armées qui invite les hautes personnalités étrangères venant de tous les pays du monde (240 délégations en 2018 représentant près de 1.000 VIP), a d'autres chats à fouetter en ce moment avec la crise du Covid-19 et le lancement de l'opération Résilience. "Nous sommes en contact avec le ministère des armées qui ne pourra sans doute pas lancer ces invitations dans le contexte actuel", estime le Coges dans sa note. "La tenue du salon en juin 2020 n'est aujourd'hui plus envisageable", conclut-il. La piste d'un report a été écartée Le Coges a étudié un report du salon à la condition de retrouver la disponibilité des exposants et d'un parc d'exposition. Pas facile quand la majorité des exposants sont aussi présents sur d'autres salons de défense dans le monde et très peu sont capables de mener de front deux salons. Des études lancées par le Coges ont trouvé une seule et unique solution : reporter Eurosatory au parc des exposition du Bourget, pendant Euronaval (du 20 au 23 octobre 2020). Mais cette piste a été abandonnée. Car d'une part, les exposants américains qui participent au salon AUSA début octobre risque de faire défaut, selon le Coges. Surtout, une cinquantaine d'exposants, présents sur les deux salons (Euronaval et Eurosatory), ne réaliseront plus qu'un seul stand. Pas sûr que le Gican voyait cette opération d'un bon œil... D'autant que le Coges estime dans sa note que "sur le plan financier, les chiffres d'affaires des deux salons ne vont pas s'ajouter". https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/pourquoi-le-salon-de-defense-eurosatory-a-finalement-ete-annule-843347.html

March 26, 2020 - Saab has performed the first metal cut for the two-seater fighter aircraft Gripen F, marking an important milestone in the programme. Gripen F is under development for the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and shares the same advanced design and features as Gripen E, but with seat, displays and controls for a second crew member. Gripen F has both a training mode for tuition of one crew member and a mode whereby the two crew members can share the workload with different display settings. The first part was manufactured recently at Saab's facilities in Linköping and is for the air duct section, just behind the cockpit of the aircraft. “This milestone is important for the Gripen project because it demonstrates that the development phase is proceeding properly. This signals the beginning of the production of the two-seater aircraft, Gripen F, which is much anticipated by the Brazilian Air Force,” says Colonel Renato Leite, head of the Monitoring and Control Group (GAC-Saab) at the Brazilian Air Force. The joint industrial programme on Gripen F is between Saab and the Brazilian partner companies Embraer, AEL Sistemas, Akaer and Atech. Currently, approximately 400 engineers are working with the development of Gripen F, mainly at Gripen Design and Development Network (GDDN) at the Embraer plant in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo State, Brazil. Manufacturing will take place both in Sweden and in Brazil. “Very effective teamwork among many dedicated people, both in Sweden and in Brazil, paved the way for this milestone on this new version of Gripen. These kind of milestones are special moments due to their rarity and that feels great,” says Jonas Hjelm, head of Saab business area Aeronautics. Brazil has ordered 28 Gripen E fighters that will be delivered to Brazil starting from 2021 and eight Gripen F fighters, starting from 2023. Gripen F is also being offered by Saab to Finland for their fighter replacement programme. Please click here to watch a short video about the first metal cut. For further information, please contact: Saab Press Centre, +46 (0)734 180 018, presscentre@saabgroup.com www.saabgroup.com www.saabgroup.com/YouTube Follow us on twitter: @saab View source version on Saab: https://saabgroup.com/media/news-press/news/2020-03/gripen-f-fighter-production-under-way/

Rome, March 25, 2020 - Leonardo is extending its training services capabilities to include rotorcraft unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to provide 360° training solutions to its growing customer base for maximised mission effectiveness and safety. The Company has recently obtained an Authorized Training Organization Certificate for UAS released by ENAC (Italian National Civil Aviation Authority). With this certification Leonardo is now able to supply training services for light and very light category remotely piloted systems (up to 25 kg) through its Helicopter Training Academy headquartered in Sesto Calende (Northern Italy). This certification heavily adds to the overall quality level and versatility of training services provided by Leonardo, making the Company the world's first rotorcraft OEM with this capability - it is expected to be recognised by EASA in 2021. This latest service addition allows Leonardo to respond to the evolving market demands by those helicopter operators who are increasingly using small UAS for their missions, including those carrying out disaster relief and emergency response tasks. Furthermore, Leonardo is also developing a comprehensive training package for the AWHERO 200 kg class RUAS. The AWHERO was also involved in the successful maritime surveillance capability demonstration performed in the framework of the European OCEAN 2020 initiative in the Mediterranean Sea at the end of 2019. The training syllabus will exploit solutions and methodologies available for piloted helicopters leveraging the long-established and rapidly growing training capabilities of the Company offered to operators worldwide through Training Academies and Centres in terms of technologies and simulation. Among the available services, a mission planning system tool based on the Leonardo SkyFlight system will allow customers to include one more operational service for the AWHERO. View source version on Leonardo : https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/2-03-2020-leonardo-extends-its-training-services-capabilities-to-rotorcraft-unmanned-aerial-systems

Fort Worth, Texas, March 25, 2020 – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has been selected to continue its work on the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. As part of the selection, Bell is designing, manufacturing, and testing the Bell 360 Invictus, a prototype rotorcraft designed to provide improved lethality, survivability, and extended reach for Army Aviation. This selection follows almost a full year of design and risk-reduction work by the Bell team as part of the initial contract phase. "The selection of the Bell 360 Invictus to continue in the FARA program builds on our decades-long legacy as an innovator in reconnaissance rotorcraft supporting the maneuver force," said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell. "Our team has applied innovative thinking with tested technology to give the Army a low-risk option to fulfill its requirements on an aggressive schedule." As part of the U.S. government's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) family of programs, the FARA competition seeks to test and acquire a next-generation attack reconnaissance aircraft to fill a critical capability gap identified by the Army on a rapid schedule. The Bell 360 addresses the requirements with a design optimized to achieve the performance, connectivity, sustainability, and reliability for soldiers to fight and operate in multi-domain operations. The aircraft is expected to meet or exceed the Army's requirements, using proven Bell technologies such as fly-by-wire flight controls, a proven articulated rotor design, and an innovative blade design to name a few. Additionally, Bell is partnered with industry leader Collins Aerospace to integrate a new generation of avionics hardware and software featuring cyber-hardened and digital backbone solutions to provide MOSA compliance in accordance with US Army FARA objectives. To ensure the team stays on schedule and on budget, Bell is using a digital design-as-built process. The team is able to connect and collaborate in a real-time digital environment to ensure alignment among all trades to facilitate smoother manufacturing, improve sustainability characteristics, and mitigate schedule risks. This process has been used and refined on Bell commercial projects, as well as during the recent U.S. Army Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program that produced the Bell V-280 Valor. "The Bell 360 Invictus will help the Army achieve and sustain overmatch against competitors with its new attack and reconnaissance capabilities," said Keith Flail, vice president of Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell. "Our aircraft builds on Bell's legacy of providing ultra-reliable scout rotorcraft by keeping our aircraft affordable with an emphasis on simplifying processes to achieve a sustainable and maintainable aircraft for the warfighters." Initiated following contract award in 2019, the Bell 360 program is producing an advanced, scout aircraft to fulfill requirements set out by the Army FARA program. The Bell 360 design was revealed last October. The next generation design highlights Bell's intent to deliver exceptional performance using proven technologies to preserve schedule and control cost. To learn more about Bell 360 Invictus and FVL, please visit the Bell 360 Invictus website, and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This research was partially funded by the Government under Agreement No. No. W911W6-19-9-0002. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Aviation Development Directorate, or the U.S. Government. ABOUT BELL Thinking above and beyond is what we do. For more than 80 years, we've been reimagining the experience of flight – and where it can take us. We are pioneers. We were the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. We were aboard NASA's first lunar mission and brought advanced tiltrotor systems to market. Today, we're defining the future of on-demand mobility. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas – as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., – we have strategic locations around the globe. And with nearly one quarter of our workforce having served, helping our military achieve their missions is a passion of ours. Above all, our breakthrough innovations deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Efficiently. Reliably. And always, with safety at the forefront. ABOUT TEXTRON INC. Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com. Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risk that the U.S. Army will not choose Bell's solution for the FARA program; the efficacy of research and development investments to develop new products or unanticipated expenses or delays in connection with the launching of significant new products or programs; changing priorities or reductions in the U.S. Government defense budget, including those related to military operations in foreign countries; changes in worldwide economic or political conditions that impact demand for our products, interest rates or foreign exchange rates; our ability to perform as anticipated and to control costs under contracts with the U.S. Government; the U.S. Government's ability to unilaterally modify or terminate its contracts with us for the U.S. Government's convenience or for our failure to perform, to change applicable procurement and accounting policies, or, under certain circumstances, to withhold payment or suspend or debar us as a contractor eligible to receive future contract awards; changes in foreign military funding priorities or budget constraints and determinations, or changes in government regulations or policies on the export and import of military and commercial products; and performance issues with key suppliers, subcontractors or business partners. View source version on Bell Textron Inc.: https://investor.textron.com/news/news-releases/press-release-details/2020/BELL-360-Invictus-Chosen-to-Continue-In-US-Armys-New-Scout-Rotorcraft-Competition/default.aspx

March 24, 2020 The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $339 million contract modification for the production of 48 vehicle sets of M109A7 Self-propelled Howitzer (SPH) and its companion, the M992A3 Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked (CAT) vehicle, and includes post-delivery support and spare parts. The M109A7 SPH and M992A3 CAT vehicle set is a vital program enhancement for increased combat capability and sustainment of the Army's Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs). The program offers enhanced indirect-fire artillery capabilities to the ABCTs with new technologies for power generation and survivability. The new M109A7 addresses long-term readiness and modernization needs of the M109 self-propelled howitzer family through a critical redesign and production plan that leverages today's most advanced technology. Its state-of-the-art “digital backbone” and power generation capability provides a more robust, survivable, and responsive indirect fire support capability for ABCT Soldiers. The M109A7 is a significant upgrade over the M109A6 as it enhances reliability, maintainability, performance, responsiveness, lethality, and crew survivability. The initial contract was awarded in 2017 for low-rate production. This most recent order brings the total number of M109A7 and M992A3 vehicle sets to 204, with a total contract value of $1.5 billion. The award follows the Army's decision, announced in February, to commence full-rate production of the vehicle. View source version on BAE Systems: https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/u-s--army-awards--339-million-contract-for-m109a7-self-propelled-howitzers-and-m992a3-carrier--ammunition--tracked-vehicles

BETHESDA, Md., March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At Lockheed Martin, we recognize that the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its wide-ranging impacts have caused severe disruption across society and tragic loss of life around the world. We also recognize that the global pandemic has created a need for urgent action by government, business, communities and citizens. In response to this crisis, our company will be guided by and operate with three clear priorities. First, we will continue to protect the health and safety of our men and women on the job and their families. Second, we will continue to perform and deliver for our customers because what they do for our national security, global communications, and infrastructure is critical to our nation and our allies. Third, we will do our part to use our know-how, resources, and leadership as a company to assist our communities and our country during this period of national crisis. In this regard, today I am announcing that Lockheed Martin will take the following steps as an initial contribution to the national COVID-19 relief and recovery effort: We will advance more than $50 million to small- and medium-sized business partners in our supply chain to ensure they have the financial means to continue to operate, sustain jobs, and support the economy. We will donate $10 million to non-profit organizations involved in COVID-19 related relief and assistance, with emphasis on veterans and military families. We have activated a $6.5 million employee disaster relief fund to assist Lockheed Martin employees and retirees impacted with COVID-19. These are our initial financial steps to help during this time of national need. In addition: We will offer Lockheed Martin's engineering and technical capabilities to help solve the most pressing challenges faced by federal, state, and local officials. We will donate the use of our corporate aircraft and vehicle fleet for COVID-19 relief logistical support and medical supply delivery. We will donate the use of our facilities for crisis-related activities including critical medical supply storage, distribution, and COVID-19 testing, where needed and practical. Finally, during this time of economic uncertainty, we will continue our planned recruiting and hiring. Given the requirement for social distancing, Lockheed Martin will deploy virtual technology and other techniques to sustain our hiring activity during this crisis period. Lockheed Martin understands that the shared effort to combat COVID-19 and recover from its effects will be a long-term one. We will continue to engage national, state, and local leaders to undertake additional measures as needed. And, throughout this crisis, Lockheed Martin remains committed to continuing to deliver critical capabilities for our nation and our allies, supporting job creation and economic recovery, and helping those in need wherever we operate. Marillyn Hewson Chairman, President and CEO Lockheed Martin Corporation About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2020-03-27-Statement-From-Lockheed-Martin-Chairman-President-And-CEO-Marillyn-Hewson-On-COVID-19-Response

By: The Associated Press WICHITA, Kan. — Aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems announced Tuesday that it is temporarily halting work for Boeing that is performed in Wichita, Kansas, and two Oklahoma facilities amid an outbreak of the new coronavirus. The move came after Boeing announced Monday that it was suspending operations at its Seattle, Washington, area facilities. At least 110 people have died from COVID-19 in Washington state, mostly in the Seattle area. Boeing employs about 70,000 people in the region. The company said 32 employees have tested positive for the virus, including 25 in the greater Seattle area. At Spirit, military, non-Boeing work and other programs will continue. In Oklahoma, the suspension affects facilities in Tulsa and McAlester. Spirit will continue to support 787 work for Boeing's Charleston, South Carolina, facility. Spirit did not say how many employees would be affected, but the suspension begins Wednesday and will last until April 8. Employees will continue to be paid during the two-week period. Deep cleaning of work spaces and facilities also is planned. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/03/24/spirit-aerosystems-temporarily-suspends-boeing-work-in-some-facilities

By: Mark Pomerleau In late January, Arlington, Virginia-based BAE Systems Inc. announced two acquisitions to bolster its electronic systems sector, a move that reflected a combined investment of $2.2 billion. The purchase included $1.9 billion for Collins Aerospace's GPS receivers business and $275 million for Raytheon's tactical airborne radios. Company leaders saw an opportunity. GPS receivers could provide secure and resilient position data that would help precision-guided munitions become more accurate. Airborne tactical radios, typically installed on rotary, fixed-wing aircraft and drones, would create a new business for BAE's electronic systems sector. The properties became available because of a proposed merger between United Technologies and Raytheon, and BAE's two top executives said they see the purchase as a way to more closely hew their businesses toward the Pentagon's long-term needs. Specifically, they point to the 2018 National Defense Strategy. A closing is dependent on the Raytheon-United Technologies merger and is expected in the first half of 2020. C4ISRNET's Mark Pomerleau spoke recently with Jerry DeMuro, BAE's chief executive, and Tom Arseneault, company president and chief operating officer, about the thinking behind the investment. C4ISRNET: How do you see these acquisitions fitting into BAE overall? What opportunities could this create? Jerry DeMuro: As we look at the National Defense Strategy and we look at the service modernization priorities and where we think customers are headed in our core markets, we think that these two businesses are very relevant. We have capabilities in those areas that these properties complement very well. Both of them happen to be very mature, well-established, strong technology-based businesses that are on the cusp of significant growth because of the relevance to the service priorities. [It's a] unique opportunity [that] only came about because of the UTC-Raytheon merger. We were very pleased to see it [and we were] opportunistic in going after them. Tom Arseneault: Precision and autonomy are two key things that run through the Defense Strategy and priorities in the services and the technologies that [Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering] Dr. [Mike] Griffin talks about. With autonomy, you need to know where you are. Position data is important. Secure, resilient position information. Military GPS is a critical underlying technology. With Collins, you've got a company that's been doing this for 40-plus years and a million and a half of these devices are out there going to M-Code [a new military signal used for GPS]. Autonomy, ditto. You need to know where you are ... certainly with precision-guided munitions. You're also relying on secure communications. You need to know where you are, and you need to be able to communicate with the systems around you. C4ISRNET: How do you see these new businesses complementing what you already have and allowing you to pursue contracts that you couldn't before? DeMuro: We've been working for a number of years now — most people don't know — but we have a precision-guided munitions business. We provide the seekers for the THAAD [Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense]; we provide all the smarts in terms of combining EW, precision locating and navigating in the LRASM [Long-Range Anti- Ship] missile. We just won the [Precision Guidance Kit] contract — precision-guided mortar. We are also the provider of the high-velocity projectile and putting these kinds of capabilities in there. It's a great fit for that business, but also in many of the other things that we produce. Combining this kind of capability gives us a whole new market that we can bring their capabilities to. And the same thing applies in the radio world, software-defined radios. We can take some of those waveforms and incorporate them in devices that we have today in our C4ISR portfolio. It's not about cost synergies; it's really about market synergies in those places where we're headed already. C4ISRNET: Obviously, some of those capabilities, such as THAAD, are dependent on a lot of disparate systems. Does this acquisition help BAE become more interoperable with a lot of other systems? DeMuro: Think about a product that we make today, the Link 16 [military tactical data link network]. Arseneault: We own the Link 16 waveform as part of the fundamental portfolio of our current communications business. Now we'll be able to add that family of waveforms, we'll be able to use it on these acquired radios and then vice versa. There's a number of waveforms — software-defined radio waveforms — that come with this portfolio, that we will be able to then market out through our existing communication devices. THAAD was more on the precision side. While THAAD, itself, is a seeker of a type, I think this is more applicable to some of the new next-generation seekers that will want to be multimodal. So it's [electro-optical/infrared], it'll be radio frequency and GPS. [We want to] have as many opportunities to get a really good sense of what's driving precision. With a million-and-a-half devices out there, there is a whole wide set of customers that these will continue to supply. But this will also be a good opportunity for us to incorporate that technology into some of our roadmaps. SECTR [Seeker Cost Transformation] is a DARPA program, a next-generation multimodal seeker. So, GPS will be a piece of that. The idea being where seekers are more modular and so you can use a seeker on multiple weapon types and reduce costs and have greater efficiency. C4ISRNET: Are you thinking of a card you can plug in? Or more software adaptable? DeMuro: Chip sets, right. Combined functionality ... because it's all about size, weight and power and cost as you get out there. But the presence of these two product families, and what has to happen to upgrade them in and of itself, supports the business case. We didn't really include a lot of synergies in the business case, but we see some real opportunity there. C4ISRNET: Can you expand on the autonomy side? I see how the GPS, and linking GPS to radio, can lead to greater precision, but where do you see opportunities on the autonomy side? Arseneault: Autonomous systems need to know where they are. Secure, resilient position information is critical ... DeMuro: Anti-spoofing. Arseneault: These sorts of devices are going to find their way into many if not all of the modern autonomous systems. Likewise, you need to be able to communicate with things around you. As we're headed to swarms, they want to know where they are. They want to know where all of their surrounding platforms are. Manned-unmanned teaming is another version of autonomy where you want to know, and you want to be able to communicate with your wingman as they call it. DeMuro: If you think about anti-access/aerial denial, doing all of this in a contested environment — it's got to be secure. M-Code is absolutely essential to that. These waveforms, low probability of intercept, low probability of detection and also software-defined radios are very agile in moving around to enable that in contested environments. Both of these properties help accomplish that. C4ISRNET: You mentioned the National Defense Strategy; what role do these non-kinetic capabilities play in future conflicts? DeMuro: They're foundational. If you don't have them, you can't operate in the future environment. https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/03/23/bae-execs-explain-the-thinking-behind-their-latest-acquisition

By THERESA HITCHENS on March 25, 2020 at 3:22 PM WASHINGTON: Congress is likely to approve almost $9.4 billion for the Defense Department to use to attack COVID-19 — a sum that includes direct operations and maintenance funding to the services, the National Guard and reserves. There is an additional $1 billion in the bill that may be made available for contracting under the TRICARE health care program — bringing the entire package to $10.4 billion. The DoD funding is part of the $2 trillion relief deal being beaten out between the White House and Congress, that includes significant assistance to the defense industry. “The administration's thinking about how to use the military has evolved substantially from the supplemental proposal the administration submitted just last week,” notes Mark Cancian, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “In that proposal, DoD's funding consisted of an $8.3 billion transfer account. DoD would later decide where to put the money. In this bill, the amount has grown to $10.4 billion, and the destination accounts have been specified, though there is still a lot of uncertainty and slushy-ness.” According to the draft bill obtained by Breaking Defense, the biggest chunk goes to the Defense Health Program “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally.” The program is allocated $3.8 billion, of which $3.4 billion is for operations and maintenance; $415 million is for research, development, test and evaluation. The funds will remain available until Sept. 30, 2020. The TRICARE funds are provided in a separate section, but will be available until Sept. 30, 2021. The Defense Working Capital Fund — which allows DoD to make investments in things like depot maintenance, transportation, and supply management in the near term and recoup the costs through future year pricing deals — gets $1.5 billion. The bill would add $160 million in O&M funding to the Army budget; $360 million to the Navy; $90 million to the Marines; and $155 million to the Air Force. Defense wide O&M funds would be pumped up by $828 million. The Army National Guard is set to receive $187 million in O&M dollars and the Army Reserve is allocated $48 million; the Air National Guard would receive another $76 million. The Army and Air National Guards also would receive a plus up of $750 million and $480 million respectively in military personnel funds. Apart from new funds, the draft bill would allow President Donald Trump to extend the tenure of Air Force Chief Gen. David Goldfein, Space Force Chief Gen. Jay Raymond, and National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel, among other military leaders set to retire — a move apparently made to avoid a change of hands during the current crisis. The extension can be for up to 270 days. Goldfein currently is set to retire in June. Raymond is doubled-hatted as chief of the Space Force and head of Space Command, but only for a year as mandated by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Further, while DoD is given wide latitude to move the new money around to where it is needed, it specifically bans any funds being moved to fund Trump's southern border wall by preventing any transfer to DoD “drug interdiction or counter-drug activities.” Finally, Cancian noted that the language gives DoD “flexibility on contracts and contract decision authority.” The bill would allow DoD Secretary Mark Esper able to delegate authorities for emergency transactions at his discretion. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/covid-19-congress-likely-to-slate-9-4b-to-dod-for-response