Nouvelles

Frappée par la crise aéronautique, Ratier-Figeac parvient à éviter un plan social et préserve l'emploi de ses CDI gr'ce à un accord sur l'activité partielle longue durée. Pour la Dépêche du Midi, le président Chanut fait le point sur l'état de l'entreprise. Entretien. https://www.ladepeche.fr/2020/10/16/grace-a-son-activite-militaire-ratier-figeac-resiste-a-la-crise-9142872.php

NAVY CAPE Environmental Management Inc.,* Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded a $90,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N62742-16-D-1807 for environmental remedial action services at various sites within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific area of responsibility (AOR). This modification brings the total cumulative contract value to $185,000,000. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, remedial actions such as removal actions, expedited and emergency response actions, pilot and treatability studies, facility operation and maintenance and performing other related activities associated with returning sites to safe and acceptable levels. Task orders and modifications will be primarily funded by environmental restoration (Navy); base realignment and closure; and customer-reimbursable funds. Work will be performed in Hawaii (65%); California (25%); Guam (4%); Washington (1%); and other locations within the NAVFAC Pacific AOR below 1% (5%), and is expected to be completed by July 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Schuyler Line Navigation Co. LLC, Annapolis, Maryland, is awarded an $11,406,250 modification under previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N32205-18-C-3508 to fund the second one-year option period. The option will continue to provide one U.S. flagged chemical and oil products tanker MT SLNC Goodwill in support of the Department of Defense Logistics Agency Energy for the transportation of clean petroleum products in the Far East region. The current contract includes a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods and one 11-month option period. Work will be performed in the Far East region, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 14, 2021. The option will be funded by working capital funds (Navy) for fiscal 2021. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: A contract awarded on Sept. 9, 2020, to Core Services Group Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00189-20-D-0020), to provide test and evaluation support services for Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force Aviation Warfare Division, was announced with an incorrect value amount. The correct amount is $42,000,000, and if options are exercised, the total amount will be $47,000,000. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY SecuriGence LLC,* Leesburg, Virginia, was awarded a $68,745,415 (excluding unexercised options) fixed-price-award-fee, firm-fixed-price, time and materials, labor hour task order for multi-network support services. This task order provides and manages the entire range of information technology (IT) services, support, engineering and infrastructure necessary to implement the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency IT operational, mission and research objectives. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of February 2022. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $4,500,000 are being obligated at time of award. This task order was a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (GS-35F-626GA HR0011-21-F-0006). ARMY Calgon Carbon, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $18,920,000 firm-fixed-price contract for activated, impregnated copper-silver-zinc-molybdenum-triethylenediamine carbon in support of M49 and M98 filter production at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2025. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-21-D-3002). General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $12,076,618 modification (P00013) to contract W56HZV-19-C-0062 for Utility Bus Interface Modules. Work will be performed in Tallahassee, Florida, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 revolving funds in the amount of $12,076,618 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY CORRECTION: The contract (delivery order) announced on July 7, 2020, for BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration, Greenlawn, New York (SPRPA1-20-F-C20G), for $26,305,633, was announced with an incorrect award date and incorrect delivery order number. The correct award date is Oct. 14, 2020, and the correct delivery order number is SPRPA1-21-F-C200. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2382161/source/GovDelivery/

Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Over recent months, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, but that's not necessarily benefitting the Defense Department's usual vendors. In fact, the Pentagon contracting arm is seeing fewer small businesses in its traditional supplier base competing for contracts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the director of the DLA's Office of Small Business Programs, Dwight Deneal, said Tuesday. “Our percentages [of small business involvement] are as high as they've ever been over the past five years, but we are recognizing that the participation level from our supplier base's standpoint has steadily declined,” Deneal said at a small business panel at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting, which was being conducted virtually. “So [the DLA is] looking at the gaps in there and how do we strategically attack those areas where some of our suppliers are just not participating in or winning some DLA contracts,” Deneal said, adding that the agency plans to roll out a new virtual outreach effort next month to reengage its small suppliers. The comments came as the Pentagon faces congressional scrutiny amid reports it awarded lucrative contracts for disposable medical gowns to a handful of unexpected and inexperienced companies despite bids from more than 100 vendors with track records of successfully completing federal procurement contracts. To boot, the Pentagon's allocation of $688 million to aid troubled suppliers of aircraft engine parts as well as shipbuilding, electronics and space launch services is facing anger on Capitol Hill because the money wasn't spent to increase the country's supply of medical equipment. Pentagon officials have denied any wrongdoing and stressed the need to support companies large and small that make up the defense industrial base. Without mentioning either controversy, Deneal said the DLA's dealings on personal protective equipment contracts reflected a commitment to small businesses and efforts to revive domestic supply chains for PPE, widely regarded as a necessity in the wake of the pandemic. “A lot of companies are starting to pivot their assembly lines to start to get into the business of producing PPE, and that has been quite clear from some of our last solicitations ... for gowns, where we had robust competition from small businesses ― companies that had traditionally never bid on government contracts,” Deneal said. “We were able to allow that competition pool and subsequent awards to be small business awards, and I think that speaks to the importance that DLA sees and [places on] the small business community,” Deneal added. “It goes to show how our acquisition community is forward thinking and forward leaning.” The decline in small business participation extends beyond the DLA. The director the Navy's Office of Small Business Programs, Jimmy Smith, said his data showed a similar and “troubling” trend in need of targeted contracting activity by the Navy. “We're spending about the same, equivalent money every year, but one of the things we're watching in our supplier base is a pretty steep decline in industry partners in certain areas,” Smith said. “I think [it's] incumbent upon us to understand what those shortcomings are and [offer] some solicitations, sources sought in a number of areas where we are seeing a decline in industry partner involvement.” Smith plans to address the gap in the coming year by pushing contacting officers to directly deal with small businesses and by enforcing agreements with large contractors that they flow work to smaller partners. “It's definitely troubling from our standpoint on making sure we've got a viable supplier base,” Smith said. “Having a fragile supplier base does us no good, and it actually impacts the war fighter in negative ways.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/10/13/pentagon-officials-see-troubling-small-business-decline-since-covid/

The U.S. Army is taking the next year to craft a transformation strategy that builds off a modernization plan the service issued in 2016, according to the service's acquisition executive. The 2016... https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/us-army-starts-work-transformation-strategy

ARMY Longbow Ltd., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $32,154,552 modification (P00001) to contract W58RGZ-20-F-0464 for generic spare parts kits for AH-64E Apache helicopters. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2024. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales (India, Morocco, Netherlands, and United Arab Emirates) funds in the amount of $32,154,552 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Spence Brothers, Saginaw, Michigan, was awarded a $19,304,000 firm-fixed-price contract to modify the Union Street Dam and a bi-directional fish passage. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Traverse City, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 2, 2024. Fiscal 2021 Great Lakes Fishery Commission funds in the amount of $19,304,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W911XK-21-C-0001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Altamira Ltd., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $11,875,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 130 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Pennsylvania, with an Oct. 12, 2025, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-21-D-0051). https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2380512/source/GovDelivery/

CBC News Trump and Biden have different ideas about trade, defence, China, energy and migration The fallout from an American election touches countries around the world — starting with its neighbours next door. And on some issues with clear implications for Canada, Joe Biden and Donald Trump offer contrasting positions. The CBC has explored a few of these topics, in stories summarized here with links to a deeper dive on each. Here are five areas where the Nov. 3 presidential election might affect Canada. Energy and the environment There are striking differences between the candidates. Trump promises more oil drilling, more pipelines — and less regulation. Joe Biden, on the other hand, says he'd cancel Trump's permit for the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. Biden wants to invest massively in clean energy; rejoin the Paris Accord; and, finally, name, shame and potentially punish countries with green tariffs if they fail to cut emissions. International trade Some irritants would remain no matter who wins. For instance, Biden promises more Buy American policies and perennial disputes like softwood lumber would not disappear. But Biden says he'd drop some of Trump's most aggressive moves against allies, like the steel and aluminum tariffs based on alleged national-security grounds. He has also hinted he might, eventually, try negotiating U.S. re-entry into the pan-Pacific trade pact now known as CPTPP. Trump's administration prides itself on a hard-nosed, transformative trade policy that includes lots of tariffs and duties, and has essentially paralyzed the World Trade Organization's dispute system. His trade team says it has a long-term plan; its critics say the results so far offer more chaos than benefits. Canadian defence policy has long rested on the assumption of an unshakeable partnership with the United States. Yet old alliances suddenly seem less sturdy. Trump has rattled old assumptions, repeatedly criticizing NATO allies for under-spending on their military. Past administrations have made similar complaints. But under a barrage of demands from Trump, allies have, in fact, upped their spending. Some defence analysts, and a top former aide to Trump, still fear he might withdraw from NATO in a second term. That uncertainty lingers over a deployment of Canadian troops in Eastern Europe. Biden is a staunch NATO advocate, and under his watch, Canada could face a different challenge: conversations about NATO's future role and missions. One major issue continues to hover over the continent: whether Canada will wind up spending billions to install new radar over the Arctic. China When the globe's two superpowers clash, Canada risks getting sideswiped. Just ask the Canadians in Chinese jail cells and the canola, pork and beef farmers punished by Beijing after Canada executed a U.S. arrest warrant against a high-profile Chinese telecom exec. China-U.S. tensions now loom over myriad global issues, touching the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, agriculture, educational exchanges, journalism, new technologies and sanctioned goods. Trump made these issues top priorities. And they're not going away. Biden, however, says he wants to approach things differently — for starters, by working more closely with allies. He plans to host a summit of democracies to discuss ways governments and private-sector companies like banks and social media platforms might push back against global authoritarianism. One thing Trump has not clearly articulated — and it's something Biden would be pressed to offer — is a sense of the long-term goal: How does the U.S. intend to coexist with China? Immigration Trump has indicated that for a second term, he would carry on with some of the more restrictive temporary work visa programs he established during his first term. Just recently, for example, he announced a major overhaul for H1-B visas. He is also seeking to end the temporary humanitarian protection of thousands of migrants who face threats back home, and decrease the overall number of refugees who come to the U.S. All this could put pressure on Canadian borders. Meanwhile, Biden has said he would reverse Trump's H1-B visa freeze, review the decision to end humanitarian protection for migrants, repeal Trump's travel ban and increase the number of refugees coming into the U.S. to 125,000. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/5-ways-the-u-s-election-result-could-impact-canada-1.5753574

NAVY Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $327,822,562 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2120 for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia class submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (92%); Newport News, Virginia (7%); and Newport and Quonset Point, Rhode Island (1%), and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and engineering (Navy) (41%); and fiscal 2020 (25%); 2019 (12%); 2014 (9%); 2017 (7%); 2015 (3%); and 2018 (3%) shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $134,585,918 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and engineering (Navy) funds in the amount of $55,000,000; and fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,792,469 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The statutory authority for this sole-source award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii); only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. D Square LLC & AU Authum KI,* Tucson, Arizona (N62478-17-D-4018); Hawk-Niking LLC,* Wahiawa, Hawaii (N62478-17-D-4019); MACNAK-BCP JV,* Lakewood, Washington (N62478-17-D-4020); and Tokunaga Elite JV LLC,* Pearl City, Hawaii (N62478-17-D-4021), are each awarded an $80,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award, design-build/design-bid-build construction contracts for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Hawaii area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, labor, supervision, tools, materials and equipment necessary to perform new construction, repair, alteration and related demolition of existing infrastructure based on design-build or design-bid-build (full plans and specifications) for infrastructure within the state of Hawaii. This modification increases the total cumulative value of the combined contracts to $178,000,000. No task orders are being awarded at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and miscellaneous federal and other facilities in the NAVFAC Hawaii AOR and is expected to be completed by July 2022. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy); and Navy working capital funds. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Tekla Research Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $24,405,000 commercial firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide test and evaluation support services for Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force Expeditionary Warfare Division. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 – to extend services, which if exercised, will bring the total value to $27,000,000. The base ordering period is expected to begin November 2020, and be completed by November 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by May 2026. All work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,500 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on beta.SAM.gov as a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business set-aside using commercial items procedures, with two offers received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-21-D-0001). ARMY SKE Support Services Gmbh, Goldbach, Germany (W912GB-21-D-0001); Sociedad Espanola De Montajes Industriales, Madrid, Spain (W912GB-21--D-0002); RCI Gulbene SIA, Gulbene, Latvia (W912GB-21-D-0003); Relyant Global LLC, Maryville, Tennessee (W912GB-21-D-0004); Tartu Bryan JV, Colorado Springs, Colorado (W912GB-21-D-0005); Infes UAB, Vilnius, Lithuania (W912GB-21-D-0006); and Mitnija UAB, Kaunas, Lithuania (W912GB-21-D-0007), will compete for each order of the $49,950,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide design-build and design-bid-build construction services in Latvia and Lithuania. Bids were solicited via the internet with 24 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 8, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Bren-Tronics Inc.,* Commack, New York (SPE7LX-21-D-0009, $14,817,852); and Mathews Associates Inc.,** Sanford, Florida (SPE7LX-21-D-0010, $9,758,182), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE7MX-20-R-0106 for lithium-ion batteries used in multiple communications platforms. These were competitive acquisitions with five responses received. These are three-year base contracts with two one-year option periods. Locations of performance are New York and Florida, with an Oct. 8, 2023, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio. Belleville Shoe Co.,* Belleville, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $9,939,099 modification (P00004) exercising the first one-year option period of one-year base contract (SPE1C1-20-D-1208) with three one-year option periods for temperate weather men's and women's coyote boots. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Illinois, with an Oct. 10, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Arcticom LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $9,950,000 maximum single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92240-21-D-0002) with an ordering period of up to five years for contractor-provided non-personal services for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training support. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated at the time of award. The work will be performed in various locations inside and outside the U.S. and may continue through fiscal 2025 depending on timing of orders placed by Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC). The contract was awarded competitively with four proposals received. NSWC, Coronado, California, is the contracting activity. * Small business **Woman-owned small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2378667/source/GovDelivery/

Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould Arms Control: U.S. President Donald Trump: The Trump administration has withdrawn the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and (almost) the 1992 Open Skies Treaty. It has loosened the Missile Technology Control Regime's restrictions on selling armed drones to foreign governments amid concerns about China's defense relationships in the Middle East. As of press time, administration officials have been unwilling to extend the 2010 New START nuclear pact with Russia, which expires in February, insisting that a new version include Russia's growing arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons and China, whose smaller arsenal is rapidly expanding and which appears unwilling to sign such an agreement. Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden: Favored by arms control advocates, Biden has promised to renew New START and would likely accept Russia's offer to extend it five years without preconditions. He also said he would rejoin the Iran nuclear deal if it returned to full compliance described in the agreement. While Trump has loosened restrictions on the use of landmines by the U.S. military in conflict areas, Biden has said the move unnecessarily puts civilians at risk and that he would reverse it. Nuclear weapons: Trump: It's expected the current president would stay on his path of modernizing all three legs of the nuclear arsenal — something that has bipartisan support in Congress despite growing budget pressure. Trump deployed the W76-2 submarine-launched, low-yield nuclear warhead to counter a similar Russian weapon, and he has plans for a submarine-launched cruise missile, or SLCM. Trump approved a $44.5 billion nuclear weapons budget request in fiscal 2021 — an increase of about 19 percent — meant for the W76-2, several ongoing nuclear warhead life extension programs, a future W93 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, and the expansion of the production of plutonium pits for nuclear warheads to at least 80 per year. Biden: Biden signaled he would scale back Trump's buildup. The Democratic nominee for president is opposed to the W76-2 and an SLCM. Biden would face pressure from the left to drop plans to build a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile force, replacing the Minuteman III fleet fielded in 1970, though he has not announced a position on it. Biden said he would review a policy reserving the option of using nuclear weapons first. Defense budget: Trump: The Pentagon's five-year defense plan indicates it will request flat defense spending after 2021, and — under pressure from coronavirus-related expenses — the budget is widely expected to stay flat regardless of who is president. Trump championed record national defense top lines of $700 billion in 2018, $716 billion in 2019 and $733 billion for 2020, and he created the new Space Force. He has also diverted billions of defense dollars to fund a southern border wall, and in 2018 he backed off a proposal for a $750 billion defense budget, calling it “crazy.” Biden: Biden said Trump “abandoned all fiscal discipline when it comes to defense spending,” and while he doesn't foresee major U.S. defense cuts if elected, he would face pressure from the left to make them. To affordably deter Russia and China, Biden said he would shift investments from “legacy systems that won't be relevant” to “smart investments in technologies and innovations — including in cyber, space, unmanned systems and artificial intelligence.” He also wants to boost neglected nonmilitary investments, such as “diplomacy, economic power, education, and science and technology.” Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran: Trump: Both candidates have railed against “endless wars,” and both have vowed to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. After engaging in peace talks with the Taliban, the U.S. cut its troop presence to 8,600 in June, with plans to go to 4,500 by November and no troops by the spring. For Iraq, Trump plans to go from 5,200 troops to 3,000 by November. On Iran, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal and reimposed crippling trade sanctions as part of a maximum-pressure campaign. The administration recently warned allies it may target leaders of Iran-backed militias that have targeted U.S. forces and diplomatic posts in Iraq. Biden: Biden has vowed to bring U.S. combat troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, likely leaving residual counterterrorism forces. His camp favors small-scale operations (maybe led by special forces) rather than large, open-ended troop deployments, which he agrees would require the informed consent of the American people. Biden, who voted for the Iraq War when he was a senator, said during his current campaign that he played a key role in the Obama administration's drawdown of 150,000 U.S. forces from Iraq. On Iran, he said he would commit to preventing the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon, offer a diplomatic path while maintaining targeted sanctions, and work closely with Israel to ensure the American ally can defend itself against Iran and its proxies. Arms sales: Trump: Increasing U.S. arms sales has been a central focus of Trump and his administration's foreign policy. He's moved to speed up the review process for major arms sales, made it easier to export firearms, eased the criteria for selling armed drones under the Missile Technology Control Regime and directed U.S. diplomats to advocate for American weapons purchases. He advanced several sales suspended under the Obama administration — which played into a clash with Congress over sales to Saudi Arabia and other parties to the war in Yemen. Though Trump has touted the economic benefits of U.S. arms sales abroad, the idea is also to provide partners with American alternatives to Russian and Chinese weapons in order to maintain American influence. Biden: While Biden hasn't made his views clear about arms sales overall, he said he would end U.S. military and other support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. As he reassesses the U.S.-Saudi relationship, he would end weapon sales to Riyadh (which has historically been the top partner for U.S. military sales). “We will make clear that America will never again check its principles at the door just to buy oil or sell weapons,” Biden said. On firearm exports, his campaign said he may reverse a Trump administration rule that moved jurisdiction from the State Department to the Commerce Department. NATO and Europe: Trump: Among Trump's earliest foreign policy stances was a pledge to “get allies to pay their fair share,” particularly by getting NATO members to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. That percentage of GDP is a NATO-backed goal. Trump often mischaracterizes that pledge as allies being “delinquent” in paying the U.S. funds. Trump has also pushed for tough trade rules with European nations, which has led to tensions with European capitals. Biden: Biden and his advisers have drawn a contrast with Trump, pledging to rehabilitate frayed alliances. Biden has hit Trump for straining relations between the U.S. and Europe. He said the next president must “salvage our reputation, rebuild confidence in our leadership, and mobilize our country and our allies to rapidly meet new challenges,” pledging that he would “take immediate steps to renew U.S. democracy and alliances, protect the United States' economic future, and once more have America lead the world.” Biden plans to review troop movements out of Germany if he takes office, according to a top foreign policy aide. Great power competition: Trump: The Trump administration's National Defense Strategy announced a new era of great power competition. But while that includes Russia on paper, the administration's economic and military focus has squarely focused on China; the rhetoric from Trump has only increased following the COVID-19 outbreak, which the Republican president has called the “China virus.” Militarily, the Pentagon is attempting to shift focus and investments toward Pacific priorities, while also withdrawing forces from Europe. Biden: While in the Senate, Biden pushed for better relations with China through increased commercial ties. But he now views China as “the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and our allies in Asia and in Europe,” one of the few areas in which he and Trump agree. Biden has called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “thug” and pledged “swift economic sanctions” against China if it tries to influence American companies or citizens. While Trump has bragged about having a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expect a different tone from Biden should he occupy the White House. The former vice president has described Trump as “subservient” to Putin," and has talked about telling Putin directly: “I don't think you have a soul.” Information about the candidates was compiled from a series of sources including: Defense News; Military Times; Al-Monitor; Arms Control Association; Center for International Policy; CNBC; CNN; Council for a Livable World; Defense One; Foreign Affairs; Forum on the Arms Trade; Los Angeles Times; Military Officers Association of America; New York Times; New Yorker Magazine; Reuters; Stars and Stripes; The Associated Press; Vox; Washington Examiner; and Washington Post. https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2020/10/09/find-out-where-trump-and-biden-stand-on-defense-and-security-issues/

Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — As NATO officials hash out reform proposals aimed at reinvigorating the alliance, there will be a dedicated push to enhance military technology development among member states, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced this week. “As part of NATO 2030, I intend to put further proposals on the table to maintain our technological edge, to develop common principles and standards for new technologies, and to enhance cooperation between allies in areas like joint research and development,” Stoltenberg said during a speech at the Globsec think tank's Bratislava Forum event. The NATO 2030 drill encompasses various strands of analyses by experts inside and outside the alliance command structure. The reform push goes back to a resolution from the 2019 London summit, which tasked the Norwegian prime minister at the time to lead a “reflection process” that would incorporate new threats like cyberwar, the rise of China, Russian saber-rattling, climate change and terrorism. Over the summer, Stoltenberg unveiled a new political tack emanating from the NATO 2030 study, postulating that the alliance would strive to increase its global reach, including in the Indo-Pacific. “Military strength is only part of the answer,” Stoltenberg said in a June speech. “We also need to use NATO more politically.” He reiterated that objective this week, saying the alliance would seek deeper ties with “like-minded” nations outside of NATO. Resilience is another key prong of the reform agenda, and Stoltenberg previewed a new push for member states to shore up their defenses against potentially hostile forces seeking to undermine the alliance through the back door. Such measures could come in the form of a common monitoring regime for keeping foreign investors from snapping up “critical infrastructure, companies and technologies,” Stoltenberg said. “And we should agree common principles and whether to export technologies that we rely on for our security,” he added. Also on the docket in the course of the reform process is a new strategic concept that would replace the existing version dating from 2010, Stoltenberg announced. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/10/09/nato-chief-seeks-technology-gains-in-alliance-reform-push/