Nouvelles

Routine operations and patrols within Canada will continue The Canadian military has banned all foreign travel and ordered non-essential personnel to stay home — part of its sweeping response to the global outbreak of COVID-19. A formal order — known as a CANFORGEN — was issued Friday after a preliminary warning order was issued to units across the country the day before. In an interview, the country's top military commander also said a handful of troops who recently returned from an overseas operation have voluntarily gone into self-isolation at the military airbase in Bagotville, Que., but they are not considered "presumptive cases." Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance confirmed that only one member of the military — a naval reservist — is in hospital in Spain after being formally diagnosed with the illness. 'Miltary operations will continue' He said those returning from deployment and leave outside of Canada will be ordered to self-isolate. "We're trying, at this point in time, to pause all things, but necessary military operations will continue," Vance said. The new travel ban will mean that the few thousand troops now serving on deployments, exercises and exchange positions will not be allowed to leave the countries where they are operating. Reservists, who serve part-time, are being encouraged to abstain from personal travel outside of Canada. Bases will be closed to visitors, including foreign delegations. Military training schools will restrict new entrants and those already on course will be confined to base. "While at home, or on leave, in Canada, I'm asking members to adopt an approach that protects themselves and their family from the virus," Vance said. "I expect our command and control headquarters to continue operations, albeit at reduced levels, and some units will be able to stand down to essential administration and command functions only." 'Ships will still sail and planes will still fly' Routine operations and patrols within Canada will continue, as normal. "Ships will still sail and planes will still fly," said Lt.-Col. Dave Devenney, a spokesman for the defence chief. "Our job is to stay healthy, preserve the force and be prepared to fight." Dave Perry, a defence analyst at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the orders are meant not only to halt the spread of the virus but to give the military flexibility to respond if the civilian health care system or vital infrastructure becomes overwhelmed. "The military is pre-positioning if they are called out to help the government in any significant way," he said. Troops could be deployed with transport and communications to help frontline health workers, such as the people doing virus screening. "People at the frontline of the pandemic could require a host of supports," Perry said. An order for federal government workers to stay home also could put a strain on some parts of the country's telecommunications grid. "The military has independent communications that can work around that securely," Perry added. The order follows on a series of measures the military has taken in response to the unfolding pandemic crisis. Travel to China was banned shortly after the novel coronavirus became a major issue in Asia. THE LATEST Coronavirus: Here's what's happening in Canada and around the world on March 13 Government warns against all international travel, limits inbound flights to stop spread of COVID-19 A week ago, Vance said the military had started "pre-pandemic planning" by issuing orders that gave base commanders the authority to cancel large public gatherings, restrict all non-essential travel and enforce higher standards of personal hygiene. At that time, Vance said federal officials, under a worst-case scenario, were prepared for an absentee rate among government workers of 25 per cent and that the military is looking at a similar number. He added that the best defence is to not get sick at all. The biggest issue the Department of National Defence has faced thus far has been the civilian travel restrictions, which have hampered the movement of personnel. It also has prevented the full resumption of the military training mission in Iraq, a senior commander told a parliamentary committee this week. There is concern for the forces operating in war zones like Iraq, where the health care system lies in ruins. As of Thursday, Iraq reported 74 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight fatalities. Approximately one-quarter of the country's cases are known to be in the northern Kurdistan region, where Canadian special forces troops have been conducting an advise-and-assist mission to help root out the remaining extremist holdouts after the fall of the Islamic State. The country's second-largest city, Mosul, was largely destroyed by the fighting. The Canadian measures differ from those being imposed by the Pentagon, which as of today is barring all troops, family members and defence civilian employees from traveling to afflicted countries, including Italy, South Korea, and China, for the next 60 days. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-travel-halted-covid-19-1.5496537

India was the world's second-largest importer of arms and weapons during 2015-2019, according to a report from Swedish-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI. Saudi Arabia ranked as the top arms importer. Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China accounted for 36% of all arms imports over that five-year period. However, while Russia remained India's most important source of arms, Moscow's share of the Indian weapons market has dropped from 72% to 56% since the 2010-2014 period. Still, India accounted for 25% of all Russian arms exports. After Russia, Israel (14%) and France (12%) were the top sources of weapons for India. The U.S. was India's second-largest arms supplier during 2010-14 as security ties between the two huge countries grew into a strategic partnership. “However, in 2015-19 India continued with its policy of supplier diversification, and imports of arms from the U.S. were 51 % lower than in 2010-14," the report said. India has received a bewildering and diverse array of military equipment from many sources, including Scanter-6000 naval surveillance radar from Denmark; Embraer ERJ-145 jets for early warning and control system from Brazil; ACTAS sonar systems from Germany; Super Rapid 76-mm naval guns from Italy; and K-9 Thunder 155- mm artillery guns from South Korea. Still, overall arms imports by India and Pakistan declined by 32% and 39%, respectively, between 2010-14 and 2015-19. "While both countries have long-standing aims to produce their [own] major arms, they remain largely dependent on imports and have substantial outstanding orders and plans for imports of all types of major arms," the SPIRI report said. https://www.ibtimes.com/india-increasingly-diversifying-its-arms-weapons-purchases-2939839

Aviation Week Network forecasts that over the next decade 888 new, Western-designed aircraft performing military transport missions will be built, while 634 will be retired. This figure includes aircraft of all sizes, everything from four-seat general aviation aircraft ferrying VIPs to the enormous C-5 Galaxy. It also includes aerial refueling tankers that perform transport missions, but not aircraft devoted full time to gunship, C4ISR, or maritime missions. The Lockheed Martin C-130 holds the number one spot for both deliveries and retirements over the forecast. The C-130 will make up 18.4% of deliveries and 34.9% of retirements as the ubiquitous prop transport sees many of its legacy models leaving military service at a more rapid pace than the newest J models enter. The Boeing 767-based KC-46 holds a solid second place in deliveries thanks to the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) planned acquisition of airframes over the next decade, making up 16.8% of the global delivery total. These aircraft are expected to replace the rapidly aging Boeing KC-135 and KC-10s in service with the USAF, which make up the fourth and fifth largest number of retirements. While the United States holds the top two delivery spots, the rest of the top ten is defined by a diverse array of transports from around the world. With over a quarter of transports in service in 2029 still undefined beyond requirements and open competitions, there is ample opportunity for the A400M, CN235/C295, C-27 or others to increase their market share, replacing both legacy western and Soviet-era transports. Source: Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) 2020 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast. For more information about the 2020 Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: http://pages.aviationweek.com/Forecasts https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/western-military-transport-aircraft-deliveries-retirements-2020-2029

Michael Bruno The COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest punch to the gut commercial aviation has taken since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. And coming on the heels of the Boeing 737 MAX crisis, Airbus and Boeing widebody production rate cuts, U.S. trade wars and the flight-shaming movement in Europe, the coronavirus emergency is challenging the aerospace manufacturing sector and its global supply chain. Is the historic upcycle of commercial aircraft orders over? Will orders be canceled and deferred? Will business aviation go out of favor? Only time will tell, but it has been interesting to hear what aerospace and defense (A&D) executives are worrying about. First, lost revenue from disrupted operations in China is not among their worries. Practically no one in A&D manufacturing has revised their 2020 financial forecasts—provided in January or February—because of COVID-19 alone. “To date, we have no reported cases of our employees having contracted the virus, and the direct impact to our trading activities has been minimal,” Senior Plc CEO David Squires said March 2. Likewise, GE CEO Larry Culp did not change the company's financial outlook because COVID-19 was already cited in a forecast given last month. “In our view, in all likelihood it is going to be temporary, but it doesn't mean it is going to disappear tomorrow,” Culp said at a March 4 shareholder briefing. To be sure, some OEMs and suppliers with Chinese operations had to shut down in recent weeks due to COVID-19. But those factories are back up, and the impact to revenue was limited. For instance, only 20 of Triumph Group's roughly 5,000 active suppliers are located in China or South Korea. All 20 remain operational, and no supply chain interruptions have occurred. On the supply side, the glancing blow could have a lot to do with the fact that not much in Western aerospace is sourced in China. According to U.S. Commerce Department data, the U.S. imports just $1.1 billion annually in aircraft, spacecraft and related parts. What is more, that figure has been dropping since 2016—before the U.S.-China trade war—and was expected to fall off a cliff for 2019 and 2020 regardless of the “Phase One” trade deal truce. China always was a twofold market for U.S. aerospace: Sell parts and services to existing Western-supplied fleets there, and partner for local production of nonproprietary parts and systems for emerging Chinese fleets. But China is ramping up efforts to get its own fleet into operation and is pairing with Russian suppliers more often. Any growth in overall aerospace trade likely would have to come from a jump in Chinese orders of Airbus or Boeing airliners, which was not widely expected in the wake of the Jan. 16 trade truce and is not anticipated now after the recent plummet in Chinese air traffic. Although collapsing demand worldwide for air travel could have a devastating effect on A&D manufacturing and supply, executives do not consider it likely. COVID-19 quickly turned into a short, sharp shock to the system, but industry leaders see the same underlying macro conditions driving long-term growth. Chief among them: expanding middle classes worldwide that spend more discretionary funds traveling by air for leisure. During the 2020 Aviation Summit in Washington, new Collins Aerospace President Stephen Timm was asked if the airliner-customer landscape could look a lot different in coming years due to the scare. “Frankly, we're going to see differences,” Timm said. “This will be a blip—a serious blip that we have to deal with today—but compared with the macro aerospace industry, we're in a really good place.” Where do industry insiders see change coming to the supply chain? For one thing, COVID-19 could help deepen resistance to business travel, said some attending Aviation Week's Annual Aerospace Raw Materials and Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference on March 9-12. That would exacerbate the ongoing drop in demand for widebodies. Still, the biggest change could come in accelerating a budding shift in A&D supply from globalization to regionalization. Executives and consultants at both the Wharton Aerospace Conference on Feb. 29 and Aviation Week's supply chain event discussed how COVID-19 cements a belief that just-in-time global supply chains are too risky and not worth the lower cost anymore. Instead, they look to capitalize on aerospace manufacturing hubs in Asia, Europe-North Africa and North America to supply themselves. The trend could start with aerostructures for future single-aisle airliners, especially as composite materials are increasingly incorporated. “From a colocation strategy,” says one supplier executive, “you will see it in the next-gen airplanes.” https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/how-covid-19-could-change-ad-supply-chain

By Steve Trimble Pratt & Whitney's F100 (pictured) is designed to be interchangeable with GE Aviation's F110 as the engine for the Boeing F-15 fleet. A jet engine maker is pressuring the U.S. Defense Department to scrap a plan to award a sole-source contract to a rival for a fleet of new fighters and investigate the opportunity for performance and cost improvements yielded by a competitive selection process. If that narrative sounds familiar, it is because it echoes a role GE Aviation played for more than 40 years, which included a successful bid in the 1980s to launch the “Great Engine War” over the F-15 and F-16 fleets and a failed campaign that ended almost a decade ago to establish the F136 as the alternate engine for the F-35. This time, however, the roles are reversed. Pratt & Whitney, which waged fierce lobbying campaigns against competitive engine policies for the F-15, F-16 and F-35, has switched sides in the debate. In response to the U.S. Air Force's decision to field the F-15EX into production powered solely by GE F110 engines, Pratt has filed two protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is scheduled to render judgments on both cases by early July. The Air Force sided with GE during the Great Engine War in 1984. Seeking to lower costs and motivate Pratt to resolve stall-stagnation problems with the original F100, the Air Force decided that year to split the engine contract for the F-15 and F-16 between GE's F110 and Pratt's F100. Thirty-six years later, the Air Force now worries about the schedule impact if the GAO sustains either or both of Pratt's protests of the F-15EX engine. Service officials decided to acquire the F-15EX after concluding the F-15C/Ds were too costly to sustain and because it would take too long for the Pratt F135-powered F-35A to replace all of them. Pratt's protests threaten to disrupt that schedule and erode the Air Force's original business case for the F-15EX. “If we have to do an engine competition, it will add time—2-3 years,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on March 10. Only a decade ago, Pratt welcomed a vote by Congress in 2010 to cancel funding for the F-35 program's alternate engine, along with a decision by GE and Rolls-Royce a year later to abandon a plan to self-fund the certification of the F136. But Pratt now embraces the potential benefits of an engine competition for the F-15EX. “Our government supports competition at all levels, and we're interested in providing the F100 as a competitive alternative,” Pratt Military Engines President Matthew Bromberg told Aviation Week. “If we're not competitive in terms of capability, schedule [and] price, I get it. But after the U.S. government spent all this money creating two engines for the F-15 and F-16 platforms, why would it then not compete a 450-engine program?” Asked if the existing F100 would require additional development to meet the Air Force's requirements for the F-15EX, Bromberg replied that he cannot answer that question in the absence of a competitive process that allows Pratt access to the specifications. He also noted that the F100 exclusively powers the Air Force's existing fleet of F-15Es. The F100 and F110 were designed to fit interchangeably in the F-15, although the heavily modified Saudi Arabian F-15SA and the Qatari F-15QA from which the F-15EX was derived are exclusively powered by GE's engine. The GAO does not release complaints filed by protesters up front, but it does release the full text of decisions. It is not clear why Pratt filed two separate protests on the sole-source decision for the GE engine on the F-15EX, but Bromberg advised not reading too much into it. “I'd like to obviously be able to discuss them, but I can't because it's a legal process,” Bromberg said. “I would really view them as a single protest on a single procurement action, and that is a lack of competition.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/possible-new-engine-war-recasts-pratt-champion-competition

By Antoine Gelain Behind the big aerospace and defense (A&D) primes like Boeing and Airbus and the “Super Tier-1s” such as United Technologies (UTC) and GE, a very different type of company is shaping the global A&D industrial landscape in a way that may be even more impactful than high-profile UTC-Raytheon-type mergers. Companies such as Teledyne, TransDigm and Heico are the spearheads of a breed of A&D players dedicated to “components and subsystems,” with explicit and perfectly executed “horizontal” external growth strategies. Their track records are impressive: These three companies—with combined revenues of more than $10 billion—have collectively made close to 200 acquisitions and delivered more than 20% average annual growth rate in either profitability or share value over the last 20 years. Thanks to such returns and skyrocketing market valuations, they are able to outbid most other contenders when going after an acquisition target by leveraging the so-called “accretive effect.” This effect boosts the acquiring company's earnings per share, as long as the price paid for the target as a ratio of the enterprise value (EV) over its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is lower than that of the acquiring firm. As it happens, the current EV/EBITDA ratio of the three above-mentioned companies stands at more than 18 (see graph). By comparison, most other A&D companies have an EV/EBITDA ratio in the 9-13 range. Such “buying power” is enhanced by operational synergies (for instance, in corporate overheads, sales and marketing), which immediately boost the profitability of the acquired company and can therefore be factored in the offer price. This gives them an additional edge against pure financial investors like private equity (PE) funds, which have historically been strong buyers of such component and subsystem businesses. Two recent deals in Europe (one still ongoing) illustrate this new balance of power. The first concerns Souriau-Sunbank, a $360 million-revenue specialist in interconnection technology for harsh environments. After being owned successively by two PE funds and bought by Esterline (now TransDigm) in 2011, it was again put up for sale last year. While expectations were that a PE fund would grab it, another industrial buyer, Eaton Corp., won the contest, paying the hefty price of $920 million (an EV/EBITDA multiple of 12). The second deal relates to a French company called Photonis, a world leader in night-vision technology for defense and space applications, for which Teledyne is apparently bidding—and offering a price 30% higher than the highest PE bid! These deals highlight the limits of the traditional private equity model (too short-term and too short-sighted) and why the “new predators”—all publicly listed companies—are in a much better position to continue to thrive. In fact, by combining “private equity-like growth in value with liquidity of a public market,” as TransDigm puts it, they are not only beating PE players at their own game, but they are also capturing a significant share of the A&D capital market by offering investors an attractive alternative to the traditional vertically integrated groups such as UTC, Thales or Safran. These groups are typically too busy focusing on large systems and equipment to realize that they would actually benefit from articulating a proper “component and subsystem” strategy. They would benefit not only because their portfolios are still full of such businesses, but also because their long-term competitiveness largely depends on their ability to nurture a strong network of strategic suppliers, in terms of both criticality for their own systems and national sovereignty. As it happens, Photonis seems to be such a strategic supplier, since the current French government just announced it would veto the Teledyne deal, hoping to give other French or European companies or investors time to make a competitive offer for the business. But because PE funds, at least in Europe, are somewhat faint-hearted when it comes to ambitious sector-specific “horizontal” portfolio strategies, and because Europe has no industrial player able to compete with the likes of Teledyne, the outcome of the process is still highly uncertain. In any case, Teledyne, Heico, Transdigm and similar companies are surreptitiously reshaping the A&D industrial landscape by buying technological nuggets and component businesses left and right, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the process, they are boosting their shareholders' returns and changing the balance of power with both traditional private equity investors and large vertically integrated A&D groups. As the saying goes: One man's meat is another man's poison. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/opinion-how-new-predators-are-reshaping-aerospace-landscape

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense company, will have a new top executive come June. The company announced Monday that James Taiclet, 59, has been selected president and CEO of the company, succeeding Marillyn Hewson in those roles. Taiclet, while a member of Lockheed's board since 2018, has not worked directly inside the company before; he has served as chairman, president and CEO of American Tower Corporation, a wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure company based in Boston, Massachusetts, since 2004. Previously, he worked as president of Honeywell Aerospace Services and vice president of engine services at Pratt & Whitney. Taiclet is also a retired U.S. Air Force officer, whose biography cites more than 5,000 flying hours, including as part of the first Gulf War. “I know it is the right time to transition the leadership of Lockheed Martin. The corporation is strong, as evidenced by our outstanding financial results last year and a record backlog of business. We have a bright future — particularly with Jim and our outstanding leadership team at the helm,” Hewson said in a statement. “I'm pleased the board agreed with my recommendation. As Lockheed Martin's next CEO, Jim will lead the company forward in its next phase of growth and value creation.” Hewson took over the company in 2013, the first woman to lead Lockheed. Her ascension came as a surprise, following the sudden removal of then-Chief Operating Officer Chris Kubasik, who had been in line for the top job. Since coming into power, Hewson successfully guided the company through the U.S. budget sequestration and a major acquisition of helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky, along with getting the F-35 fighter program largely on track. “I'm honored to be asked to succeed one of the most respected CEOs in America. While serving on Lockheed Martin's board, I've not only been impressed by the company's continued growth as a leader in aerospace & defense but also by the dedication and commitment of Marillyn and Lockheed Martin employees to deliver for its customers,” Taiclet said in a statement. “As a military veteran, I understand the mission of this great company to provide global security and innovative solutions for the brave men and women who protect our freedom.” Taiclet's rise to the role of Lockheed's CEO may have been enabled due to a leave of absence by Michele Evans, Lockheed's head of aeronautics, who temporarily stepped back from that position in September due to an undisclosed medical issue. Evans, age 53, was considered a rising star in the pool of Lockheed executives, having rose through the ranks of Lockheed's aeronautics, sustainment, and integrated warfare systems and sensors divisions. She was widely considered a possible successor to Hewson. As follow-on moves, Frank St. John, 53, was elected by the board to serve as chief operating officer of Lockheed; St. John is currently executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems division. Replacing him is Stephanie Hill, 55, the current senior vice president for Enterprise Business Transformation. All the moves are effective June 15. According to the Defense News Top 100 list, Lockheed Martin has been the top defense contractor in the world for 20 straight years. Lockheed's $50.5 billion in defense revenue in fiscal 2018 represented about 10 percent of the Top 100's total defense revenues, and dramatically outpaced the No. 2 company on the list, Boeing, which brought in $34 billion in defense revenue. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/03/16/lockheed-names-taiclet-next-top-executive

By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has outlined its research and development road map for its homegrown, standoff hypersonic weapons, confirming that it is seeking an incremental growth in capability and providing more details about the kinds of threats it is targeting with this new class of weapon. In a Japanese-language document published on the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency website, the government said two classes of standoff hypersonic systems will be deployed — the Hypersonic Cruise Missile (HCM) and the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP). The former will be powered by a scramjet engine and appears similar to a typical missile, albeit one that cruises at a much higher speed while capable of traveling at long ranges. The HVGP, on the other hand, will feature a solid-fuel rocket engine that will boost its warhead payload to a high altitude before separation, where it will then glide to its target using its altitude to maintain high velocity until impact. The agency also provided more details regarding warhead payloads, with different warheads planned for both seaborne and land targets. The former will be an armor-piercing warhead designed specifically for penetrating “the deck of the [aircraft] carrier,” while a land-attack version will utilize a high-density, explosively formed projectile, or EFP, for area suppression. Area suppression effects for the latter will be achieved via the use of multiple EFPs, which are more commonly known as a shaped charge. An EFP is made up of a concave metal hemispherical or cone-shaped liner backed by a high explosive, all in a steel or aluminum casing. When the high explosive is detonated, the metal liner is compressed and squeezed forward, forming a jet whose tip may travel as fast as 6 miles per second. Japan's road map also revealed the country is taking an incremental approach with regard to designing the shapes of warheads and developing solid-fuel engine technology, with plans to field early versions of both in the 2024 to 2028 time frame. They are expected to enter service in the early 2030s. The agency expects both systems to navigate via satellite navigation with an inertial navigation system as backup. Japan is seeking to establish a network of seven satellites to enable continuous positioning for its self-defense forces, which will enable it to provide continuous navigation data without relying on foreign satellites. Warhead guidance is achieved via either radio-frequency imaging converted from doppler shift data — which the government agency said will be able to identify stealthy naval targets in all weather conditions — or an infrared seeker capable to discriminating specific targets. Japan has been conducting R&D into various areas related to hypersonic weapons for a number of years, although most of it was to benefit other fields like satellite navigation and solid-fuel rockets. More work remains, however, in areas like hypersonic guidance systems, warhead and missile-body thermal shielding, and hypersonic propulsion systems in order for Japan to be able to field a viable standoff hypersonic weapons capability. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2020/03/13/japan-unveils-its-hypersonic-weapons-plans/

by David Donald Sikorsky Aircraft received a contract modification on March 10 worth $525.3 million for 40 UH-60M Black Hawks. The batch comprises 38 being procured for the U.S. Army as Lot 44 of the service's MY IX multi-year procurement program. The other two represent the exercising of an option for two Foreign Military Sales aircraft for an unidentified customer. Managed by the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, the work is due to be performed by the Lockheed Martin-owned company by the end of June 2022. The five-year MY IX program, the ninth such order covering H-60 helicopters for the Army, was awarded to Sikorsky in June 2017. Specifying 257 UH-60 medium-lift helicopters and HH-60M medevac versions, the initial deal was worth $3.8 billion, with options for up to 103 additional helicopters that would ultimately bring the value to $5.2 billion. At the end of February, the H-60 production line received another boost when the Department of Defense ordered 12 more HH-60W combat rescue helicopters for the U.S. Air Force. The Lot 2 batch is the second low-rate initial production tranche to be ordered, with a value of more than $500 million. The program of record covers 113 HH-60Ws to replace the aging HH-60G Pave Hawk. Initially known as the “Rescue Hawk,” the HH-60W has now received its official Air Force name of Jolly Green II. Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett announced the name at the Air Force Association (AFA) Air Warfare Symposium held in Orlando in late February. At the time of the order, Sikorsky had flown seven HH-60Ws, of which two are with the Air Force trials unit at Duke Field, Eglin AFB, Florida. The initial goal is to meet Required Assets Available (RAA) criteria by the end of 2020. In another DOD deal, announced on March 6, Boeing was awarded an $800 million contract by Naval Air Systems Command to procure long-lead materials associated with Lot 11 production of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. This batch comprises 18 aircraft, of which eight are for the U.S. Navy. The remainder comprises six aircraft for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) and four for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). South Korea decided in June 2018 to order six Poseidons as a replacement for the Lockheed P-3CK Orions that serve with the ROKN's 615 Squadron at Jeju air base, while New Zealand announced its intention to buy the P-8 in the following month. In RNZAF service the P-8 is expected to serve with No. 5 Squadron at Whenuapai, which currently flies P-3K Orions. Both nations placed their orders for P-8As in March 2019. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2020-03-12/new-production-contracts-uh-60s-hh-60s-and-p-8s