Mar 17, 2015 ASDNews Source : AFPS

This year, the Defense Department will move aggressively to reverse the trend of chronic underinvestment in weapons and capabilities, the deputy defense secretary said here today.

Bob Work spoke this morning about defense modernization and the department’s proposed fiscal year 2016 budget before an audience attending the McAleese/Credit Suisse Defense Programs Conference.

The bottom line, he said in prepared remarks, is that “because of budget uncertainty and restrictions imposed by Congress, and because of our unrelenting focus on the readiness of forward deployed forces, we're chronically underinvesting in new weapons and capabilities.”

Work added, “That should give all of us pause because our technological dominance is no longer assured.”

Modernization = Technological Superiority

The U.S. military’s technological superiority is directly related to its modernization accounts, the deputy secretary said, so this year the department is moving to redress the long-deferred modernization to stay ahead of competitors and potential aggressor nations.

Work said the White House has helped by approving about $21 billion in added requirements over the Future Years Defense Program.

“This came with added funding, which has allowed us to make targeted investments in space control and launch capabilities, missile defense, cyber, and advanced sensors, communications, and munitions -– all of which are critical for power projection in contested environments,” he said.

The White House also added funding to help the department modernize its aging nuclear deterrent force, Work said.

Supporting Ongoing Operations

The department’s fiscal 2016 base budget request is $534 billion, or $36 billion above the FY16 sequestration caps, he said, adding that it’s “only the first year of a five-year Future Years Defense Program. When considering fiscal years 2016 through 2020, our planned program is approximately $154 billion over the sequestration caps.”

The department also is asking for $51 billion in overseas contingency operations funding, Work said, “to support our campaign against the extremist [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant], ongoing operations in Afghanistan, and other operations in the Central Command area of responsibility.”

The global demand for U.S. forces remains high, particularly for deployable headquarters units, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, missile defense, and naval and aerospace forces. The global operating tempo also remains high, he added.

Together, the deputy secretary said, these requests provide funding needed to recover readiness over the next several years, invest in long-deferred recapitalization and modernization, and meet global demands placed on the military by the National Security Strategy.

The Ragged Edge

 “The leaders of this department believe firmly that any significant reduction in funding below what is in the president's budget, or a broad denial of the reform initiatives that we have proposed to Congress, would mean the risks to our defense strategy would become unmanageable,” the deputy secretary said.

 “Quite frankly,” he added, “we’re at the ragged edge of what is manageable.”

Adding to the pressure on defense systems, potential competitors are developing capabilities that challenge the U.S. military in all domains that put space assets and the command and control system at risk, Work said.

 “We see several nations developing capabilities that threaten to erode our long-assured technological overmatch and our ability to project power,” he added.

These include new and advanced anti-ship and anti-air missiles, and new counter-space, cyber, electronic warfare, undersea and air attack capabilities, Work said.

Erosion of Technical Superiority

In some areas, he added, “we see levels of new weapons development that we haven’t seen since the mid-1980s, near the peak of the Soviet Union’s surge in Cold War defense spending.”

The department, Work said, is addressing the erosion of U.S. technological superiority through the Defense Innovation Initiative, a broad effort to improve business operations and find innovative ways to sustain and advance America’s military dominance for the 21st century.

 “The DII’s leading focus is to identify, develop and field breakthrough technologies and systems,” he said, “and to develop innovative operational concepts to help us use our current capabilities in new and creative ways.”

The ultimate aim is to help craft a third offset strategy, he added.

Third Offset Strategy

After World War II the United States used nuclear weapons development to offset Soviet numerical and geographic advantage in the central front, and again changed the game in the 1970s and 1980s with networked precision strike, stealth and surveillance for conventional forces, Work explained.

Now, he said, “we will seek to identify new technologies and concepts that will keep the operational advantage firmly in the hands of America’s conventional forces, today and in the future.”

Central to the effort is a new Long-Range Research & Development Planning Program, the deputy secretary said.

The LRRDP was created to identify weapons and systems in the force that can be used in more innovative ways, promising technologies that can be pulled forward and long-range science and technology investments that can be made now for a future payoff.

Invitation to the Table

Technologies that might be associated with a new offset strategy are being driven by the commercial sector, he said.

These include robotics; autonomous operating, guidance and control systems; visualization; biotechnology; miniaturization; advanced computing and big data; and additive manufacturing like 3-D printing.

 “The third offset strategy is an open invitation for everyone to come to the table … to creatively disrupt our defense ecosystem. Because we'll either creatively disrupt ourselves or be disrupted by someone else,” Work said.

Game-changing New Technologies

Funding dedicated to the effort includes the department’s annual $12 billion in science and technology accounts, and the FY 2016 budget request creates a reserve account to resource projects expected to emerge from the DII, he said.

 “The FY 2016 budget submission also invests in some fantastic, potentially game-changing new technologies that we can more quickly get into the force,” Work added, “as well as longer-range research efforts.”

Over the Future Years Defense Program, for example, the department is investing $149 million in unmanned undersea vehicles, $77 million in advanced sea mines, $473 million in high-speed strike weapons, $706 million in rail gun technology, and $239 million in high-energy lasers.

And, he said, a new Aerospace Innovation Initiative will bring people together to develop a wide range of advanced aeronautical capabilities to maintain U.S. military air dominance.

Solving Operational Challenges

Work said the department’s innovation must be “broad-based and rooted in realistic war gaming –- a big priority of mine -– more experimentation, and new concept and leadership development to enable our people to adapt to situations we can’t yet imagine.”

The third offset strategy is looking to solve specific operational challenges, the deputy secretary said, using the electromagnetic spectrum as an example.

“Electronic Warfare is often regarded as a combat enabler, but more and more it is at the actual forefront of any conflict,” he said. “To ensure we remain ahead in this increasingly important space, today I’m signing out a memo that establishes an Electronic Warfare, or EW, Programs Council.”

Electronic Warfare Programs Council

The senior-level oversight council will have the lead in establishing and coordinating DoD’s EW policy and will be co-chaired by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., he said.

Compared to the platforms that carry EW suites, the deputy secretary added, it is a relatively small investment but has the potential for a very high payoff.

“Our potential competitors seek to contest the EW space, an area where we retain a decided lead,” Work said. “But that lead is tenuous, and we believe that there has been insufficient focus on EW across the department.”

Mar 18, 2015 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Bernama news agency; published Mar 18, 2015)

LANGKAWI, Malaysia --- French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation says Malaysia is being offered a financial package similar to that given to Egypt for procurement of its Rafale jet fighter.

Dassault Chief Executive Officer Eric Trappier said the package entails a ten-year repayment loan from a French commercial bank and guaranteed by the government of France.

Cairo recently acquired 24 Rafale combat aircraft and a multi-mission frigate and associated equipment from Dassault Aviation worth 5.3 billion euros.

"We are committed and looking forward to having a long term business deal here in Malaysia as we have the best fighter aircraft which can cover multirole missions," he said during a breakfast session with the media here Wednesday.

He said Dassault had already tied-up with a few local companies, namely, Zetro Aerospace, CTRM and Airod as part of a long-term plan to expand its business in the aerospace industry in Malaysia.

He said the company is also eyeing other local companies that have potential for collaboration, with the transfer of know-how and technology to Malaysia, in some aspects of the process to build aircraft.

"We are also looking at different types of industrial packages to offer to Malaysia, like the final assembly line of aircraft, production of some parts, development, maintenance and support which we see local industries as having the capability, if they collaborate with us," he added.

On the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Blueprint 2015-2030 launched yesterday, he said it was apt for fuelling the industry's development.

The blueprint was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in conjunction with the ongoing Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima 2015).

Trappier said Dassault sees the present as a good opportunity to collaborate with more Malaysian companies as it is not merely focused on selling aircraft. The Rafale is making its third appearance at the LIMA since 2011 and is the only company participating in an aerial demonstration this time.

"We believe we can succeed in Malaysia. We have a good aircraft to offer. and as far as I am concerned, good government-to-government relations as well," he added.

Paris, March 18, 2015 by Morpho (Safran)

Anne Bouverot has been appointed Chair and CEO of Morpho (Safran), effective August 1, 2015. She will replace Philippe Petitcolin, who is expected to be appointed Chief Executive Officer of Safran.

Anne Bouverot, 48, is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, with a telecommunications engineering degree, and holds a PhD in computer science (1991). She started her career as an IT project manager for Telmex in Mexico, moving to Global One in the United States in 1996. She was named Vice President, IT services business unit at Equant in 2002. Two years later she became Chief of Staff to the Orange CEO in the UK, then Executive Vice President, Mobile Services for France Telecom Orange. In 2011, she was named Director General and a member of the Board of Directors of GSMA, the global association of mobile operators. In addition, she is a member of the Boards of Directors of CapGemini and Edenred.

"Anne Bouverot brings to Morpho her very solid experience in the very dynamic and selective field of information technologies," said Philippe Petitcolin.

In line with the governance principle approved during its meeting on December 5, 2014, Safran's Board of Directors, meeting after the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 23, 2015, is expected to name Philippe Petitcolin as Chief Executive Officer of the Group.

17 mars 2015 Par Stéphane Frachet - Usinenouvelle.com

Le fabricant de munitions Nexter investit 10 millions d'euros sur son site près de Bourges (Cher). Le but : mieux réagir à la demande. Nexter lance un chantier de dix millions d'euros à La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin, près de Bourges (Cher), pour bâtir une nouvelle usine de 2 000 mètres carrés. Il s'agit de développer l'assemblage de munitions de moyen calibre. La nouvelle chaîne de production sera robotisée.

Cet agrandissement vient conclure un programme d'investissement de 40 millions engagés depuis 2011 sur les sites de Nexter munitions afin d'automatiser la production, depuis les gros calibres destinés aux chars et aux canons d'artillerie jusqu'aux dispositifs atténués pour le maintien de l'ordre. "Cet effort particulier a pour objectif de rendre l'outil industriel plus réactif", dit Eric Perronno, directeur des projets industriels de Nexter munitions, filiale de Nexter.

Suite de l'article

March 16, 2015 By Pierre Tran – Defense News

PARIS — MBDA expects Britain and France to sign an intergovernmental agreement by the end of the year to allow the legal transfer of technology and production, a key note in cross-border cooperation in a highly sensitive area, said Antoine Bouvier, chairman of the European missile maker.

"The intergovernment agreement allows a necessary convergence," Bouvier told journalists Monday as he announced 2014 financial results and set out the major issues for the company.

Airbus and BAE Systems each hold 37.5 percent of the company and Finmeccanica the remaining 25 percent.

The bilateral agreement reflects four years of detailed, discreet work since the 2010 Lancaster House bilateral treaty, with MBDA taking on the role of "laboratory" for industrial specialization in the defense industry, Bouvier said.

Under the specialization, four centers of excellence will be the base for research and development (R&D) and production of subsystems. For example, the Lostock site, near Manchester, has just produced the actuator fin for the Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP), a medium-range weapon to replace the antitank Milan for the French Army, he said. There is also a British center specializing on datalinks.

The Bourges factory, in central France, has a test bench for Brimstone, a British missile, he said. Another French site will specialize on weapons controller technology. Those are four of 12 centers of excellence that will handle the work share packages agreed on programs.

That specialization concept aims to curb duplication in research and development and production of missiles in Britain and France, which are already close partners in Europe. New programs, notably the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy), or Anti-Navire Léger, helicopter-borne missile, will be developed and built under that industrial specialization, while current programs will gradually be transferred to that system.

That European duplication, which reflects a national insistence on retaining a defense industrial capability, handicaps MBDA as it competes with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon in world markets, Bouvier said. The US companies did not have the overlap of competences commonly found in Europe.

The specialization accepted the principle of a certain level of "mutual dependence," he said. That goes beyond R&D and production, and includes a handover of export rights to the partner country and development of capability, which is a strategic issue.

That export accord has yet to be fully tested. For instance, would the UK agree if France granted export rights of missiles to Argentina? a defense source asked.

The missiles to arm the Rafale and multimission frigate for Egypt gave MBDA one of its biggest foreign sales in years, said Bouvier, who declined to give any details. The company expects a second large export deal this year.

MBDA seeks the foreign orders to offset the fall in spending in Europe, with 2014 marking a low point in the company's annual sales, he said.

The company posted 2014 sales of €2.4 billion (US $2.5 billion), down from €2.8 billion in the previous year.

Orders edged higher to €4.1 billion, with exports accounting for €2.5 billion. The foreign sales exceeded domestic orders as seen in 2013 and 2012. The company booked orders of €4 billion in 2013. The total of €8.1 billion signaled a recovery in future sales, and boosted the total order book to €12.6 billion from €10.8 billion.

MBDA hit its target of annual profit of about 10 percent of sales, Bouvier said.

Poland and Turkey are two major export prospects with their respective tenders for air defense systems, he said. Italy is expected to sign an agreement this year on the Aster New Technology weapon as the Italian Navy wishes to arm its new multifunction, 4,500-ton frigate. That naval interest compares to the French Army's interest in the Aster, he said.

The Aster NT would extend the reach of the current Aster block 1 weapon to hit ballistic missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers. That compares to the block 1's ability to intercept missiles with a range of 600 kilometers.

18.03.2015 Romandie.com (ats)

L'avion solaire Solar Impulse 2 a décollé mercredi d'Ahmedabad pour la ville sainte Varanasi (Bénarès), poursuivant dans le ciel indien son tour du monde sans carburant. De petits problèmes d'ordre migratoire ont retardé le départ, au grand dam de Bertrand Piccard.

Une fois réglées ces formalités de dernière minute avec les autorités indiennes, l'avion a décollé à 07h18 locales (02h48 heure suisse), indique l'organisation de Solar Impulse dans un communiqué. Le pilote André Borschberg était aux commandes.

Bertrand Piccard s'est plaint mercredi des lenteurs de la bureaucratie indienne. Le pilote a expliqué à la presse que le décollage de l'appareil d'Ahmedabad, dans l'Etat occidental de Gujarat, avait été retardé à cause de formalités administratives.

"Le retard est dû à l'administration, aux papiers, aux tampons", a-t-il déclaré. "Je ne suis pas là pour accuser qui que ce soit. Je dit juste qu'au cours des cinq derniers jours, on a essayé de réunir les tampons nécessaires et que tous les jours, on nous disait 'demain'". "Cela fait cinq jours qu'on essaye d'avoir les tampons et il nous en manque encore", a encore ajouté Bertrand Piccard.

Quinze heures de vol

La troisième étape du voyage de l'avion solaire, un vol de plus de 1000 kilomètres au-dessus de l'Inde, devrait durer une quinzaine d'heures. Après un arrêt de neuf heures à Varanasi, où l'atterrissage de Bertrand Piccard est attendu pour 22h38 (18h08 heure suisse), l'appareil devrait repartir jeudi pour Mandalay, en Birmanie, avant de continuer sa course vers la Chine.

Le brouillard avait empêché Solar Impulse de décoller d'Ahmedabad mardi comme prévu. L'appareil révolutionnaire devait même initialement repartir dimanche, mais en avait déjà été empêché par le mauvais temps.

En réalisant un tour du monde en douze étapes, les deux Suisses Bertrand Piccard et André Borschberg veulent démontrer que les technologies propres et les énergies renouvelables permettent d'accomplir des exploits considérés jusqu'ici comme "impossibles".

16/03/2015 Vincent Lamigeon – Challenges.fr

Un chiffre d’affaires en berne, mais des prises de commandes record. MBDA, le missilier européen codétenu par Airbus Group,  BAE et Finmeccanica, a présenté ce lundi 16 mars des résultats 2014 contrastés, mais encourageants. Le point négatif, c’est évidemment le chiffre d’affaires : à 2,4 milliards d’euros, il baisse de 14% par rapport à 2013, du fait de la contraction des budgets de défense européens. « Un point bas qui était prévu, et totalement conforme à nos objectifs, assure Antoine Bouvier, PDG du groupe. Le chiffre d'affaires devrait connaître une remontée significative dès 2015 sous l'effet des prises de commandes exceptionnelles enregistrées ces deux dernières années. »

Car, et c’est le point positif, MBDA a réussi deux superbes années en termes commerciaux, avec 4,1 milliards d’euros de contrats décrochés en 2014, dont 2,5 milliards à l’export, avec des succès en Inde (missiles air-air ASRAAM sur les antiques Jaguar, Exocet pour le Brésil, et le contrat de missiles Meteor pour les Eurofighter saoudiens, révélé par la Tribune début février). Le carnet de commandes atteint désormais 12,6 milliards d’euros, soit quatre ans de production. Et 2015 a commencé très fort avec la commande de Rafale et de frégates FREMM en Egypte, dont la part MBDA dépasse le milliard d’euros.

Le champion européen des missiles, un des trois géants mondiaux du secteur avec les américains Raytheon et Lockheed Martin, est donc en passe de réussir son pari : compenser la baisse des commandes des clients traditionnels (France et Royaume-Uni, notamment) grâce à l’export. « Pour la première fois, la part de notre carnet de commandes hors d’Europe dépasse celle des clients européens », souligne Antoine Bouvier. MBDA estime être à peu près à égalité sur les missiles tactiques avec ses deux rivaux américains, avec une part de marché de 20 à 25%. Et des compétitions majeures sont encore à gagner : système de défense aérienne en Pologne, en Turquie, contrat indien de missiles sol-air SRSAM…

L’autre pari du groupe était tout aussi osé : accepter, notamment en France, une baisse des livraisons sur les équipements actuels, pour privilégier les lancements de nouveaux programmes. Là encore, la recette semble efficace : douloureuse au départ (350 millions d’euros de crédits de paiements encaissés en France en 2014, contre 500 millions en 2013), elle a permis de lancer le successeur du Milan, le missile antichar MMP (missile moyenne portée), le missile franco-britannique ANL (anti-navire léger) ou encore le nouvel Aster Block 1NT, un programme franco-italien.

Mar 14, 2015 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Korea Herald; published Mar 13, 2015)

South Korea has postponed the introduction of aerial refueling tankers by about a year until 2018 due to a delayed process of selecting a successful bidder, government officials and industry sources here said Friday.

The 1.4 trillion won ($1.26 billion) project to purchase four refueling tankers has drawn interest from three aerospace giants: Europe's Airbus Defense and Space, Boeing of the United States and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), South Korea's state arms procurer, had planned to choose the winning bidder by the end of last year, but the process has been delayed due mainly to gaps in offsets of defense trade terms, according to industry sources.

Offsets in defense trade encompass a range of industrial compensation arrangements required by foreign governments as a condition of the purchase of defense articles and services from a non-domestic source.

"We will resume negotiations with the candidates next week," said a DAPA official, requesting anonymity. "After wrapping up the talks and bidding process by the end of next month, we will make a contractor selection in June."

The delay in the selection process has subsequently caused the military's schedule of putting the tankers into service to be postponed from 2017 to 2018, a defense ministry official said.

"But we are to deploy all four tankers by 2019 as planned -- two in 2018 and two in 2019," the official noted.

The use of tankers allows the fighter jets to stay airborne for an extra hour and carry more weapons. The greater payload is made possible because the jets can take off with less fuel, thereby lightening their weight. (Yonhap)

March 17, 2015 By Burak Ege Bekdil – Defense News

ANKARA — Turkish defense electronics specialist Aselsan, the country's biggest defense company, on Monday inaugurated a $157 million plant in Golbasi near Ankara.

The plant will specialize in radars and electronic warfare (EW) suites for land, air, naval, space and unmanned platforms, the company said.

The new plant, first planned in 2012, will feature integration and test fields and specialize in module designing and production for radar and EW systems.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz and chief of the General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel.

Speaking at the ceremony, Yilmaz said that a particular speciality of Aselsan's new production facility will be to produce "modules which are one of the fundamental parts of radar and electronic warfare systems whose procurement from foreign sources depend on strict restrictions."

Hasan Canbolat, Aselsan's board chairman, said the plant marks the fact that Turkey is one of the few countries that does not rely on foreign technology in radars and EW suites.

He said that Aselsan alone accounted for 34 percent of the research and development activity across Turkey's defense industry. Aselsan has invested in five plants in and outside Turkey over the past three years.

17 mars 2015 Lockheed Martin

Mar 14, 2015 defense-aerospace.com/

(Source: DoD Inspector General; issued Mar 13, 2015)

Objective
We inspected the F-35 Lightning II Program (F-35 Program) at Lockheed Martin, Fort Worth, Texas, for conformity to the contractually required Aerospace Standard (AS)9100, “Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations.”

We also evaluated corrective actions taken in response to nonconformities, findings, and recommendations identified in DoD Inspector General (IG) Report No. DODIG-2013-140, “Quality Assurance Assessment of the F-35 Lightning II Program,” September 30, 2013, to determine whether the actions taken were appropriate.

Findings
The F-35 Program generally conformed to requirements and showed improvement in quality management system performance since our previous evaluation; however, challenges still remain, as evidenced by 57 nonconformities to the AS9100 standard and 4 opportunities for improvement. The Joint Program Office (JPO) did not:

A. ensure the program made sufficient progress toward full compliance with Public Law 108-136, “National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004,” Section 802, “Quality control in procurement of aviation Critical Safety Items (CSIs) and related services,” and the Joint Service CSI Instruction (SECNAVINST 4140.2), “Management of Aviation Critical Safety Items,”

B. ensure that all system level requirements and capabilities were realized and verified,

C. create an independent quality assurance organization, establish its roles and responsibilities, and ensure it was adequately staffed to perform effective oversight for the F-35 Program,

D. ensure that Lockheed Martin was taking necessary steps to reduce the assembly defect rate in order to meet the full rate production goals,

F. ensure that Lockheed Martin’s software quality management processes were performed sufficiently to prevent software defects, and G. ensure that Lockheed Martin flows down all contractual requirements to its subcontractors, evaluates deliverables for contract compliance, and allows minor non-conformances to be approved only by the proper authority.

In addition, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) did not:

E. escalate unresolved Corrective Action Requests (CARs) to the next higher level as appropriate and required by its policy, for effective resolution.
 

Recommendations

We recommend that the Joint Program Office:

A.1. ensure that the F-35 CSI Program is compliant with Public Law 108-136, Section 802, “Quality control in procurement of aviation CSIs and related services,” and the Joint Service CSI Instruction, “Management of Aviation Critical Safety Items”;

A.2. conduct periodic CSI Program evaluations of Lockheed Martin and its suppliers to ensure compliance with public law and the Joint Service CSI Instruction;

B.1. clearly define contractual criteria for the acceptance of all future and fielded aircraft to ensure that aircraft capabilities are verified;

B.2 ensure that all 21 system-level requirements that may not be met, in addition to the risks associated with the failure to meet these requirements, are documented, tracked, and mitigated using the established risk management process;

C. realign the quality assurance organization to report directly to the Program Executive Officer, define the organization’s roles and responsibilities, and staff the organization appropriately;

D.1. ensure that Lockheed Martin implements quality improvement initiatives to reduce the assembly defect rate to meet full rate production goals;

D.2. coordinate with DCMA to implement an effective root cause analysis and corrective action process in order to reduce assembly defect rate;

F. work with Lockheed Martin to ensure software quality management systems are improved; metrics should be reported on a periodic basis (for example, monthly) to evaluate process improvement; and

G.1. ensure that all minor non-conformances are evaluated and approved only by DCMA.

 

We recommend that the DCMA:

E.1. review all unresolved CARs and escalate those that meet the criteria established in DCMA policies and instructions,

E.2. assess all CARs that were not properly elevated and assess any impact on the product, and

G.2. ensure that Lockheed Martin flows down the appropriate technical requirements to its subcontractors and receives and evaluates contract deliverables within the required time frames.

 

Management Comments and Our Response

On January 20, 2015, JPO and DCMA provided comments on our findings and recommendations. The Joint Program Office agreed with six recommendations and partially agreed with three recommendations.

JPO partially agreed with the recommendation to track 21 system-level requirements, which it acknowledged will not be met. However, JPO does not consider the 21 system-level requirements as risks and did not agree to track them in its formal risk management process. We disagree with this approach because a final determination of performance has not been made and failure to track the risks in the formal risk management process prevents an identification of the plans necessary for closure.

JPO partially agreed with the recommendation to work with DCMA to implement an effective root cause analysis and corrective action process to reduce assembly defects to meet full-rate production goals. However, JPO stated that no additional changes to corrective action processes were necessary. We disagree with JPO’s response because additional quality initiatives are required to meet full?rate production goals and DCMA’s involvement is necessary to ensure objectives are met. Our recommendation was for JPO to take actions to identify and correct the cause of the program’s inability to reduce defect rates to support full-rate production.

JPO also partially agreed with our recommendation to ensure all minor non-conformances are evaluated and approved only by DCMA. The actions that JPO is planning to meet the intent of the recommendation.

DCMA agreed with all three of our recommendations. The actions that DCMA is planning to take meet the intent of the recommendations.


Click here for the full report (88 PDF pages), on the DoD IG website.

17/03 Alain Ruello / Chef de service adjoint - LesEchos.fr

Engagés dans un projet de regroupement à parité, les champions français et allemand de l’armement terrestre clôturent leurs « due diligences » dans deux semaines.

Ce n’est pas une blague. C’est bien le 1ier avril que se tiendra la réunion de clôture des procédures d’examen approfondi des comptes (« due diligence » en anglais) de Nexter et de Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), a-t-on appris de source proche. Engagés dans un projet de regroupement à parité, chacun des deux industriels de l’armement terrestre donnera alors sa vision de la valorisation de l’autre, ce qui pourrait faire ressortir un éventuel écart.

Baptisé (de manière très subtile) « Kant » pour « Krauss-Maffei Wegmann And Nexter Together », le projet prévoit que les champions français et allemands du blindé soient regroupés dans une holding commune, dont le capital sera partagé à parité par l’Etat français et la famille Bode Wegmann. Ce co-contrôle doit durer cinq ans, avant d’enclencher une véritable fusion. Dans les cartons, les deux industriels imaginent de construire ensemble le futur char lourd européen .

Les deux entreprises ont une taille comparable. En 2014, Nexter a réalisé un chiffre d’affaires de 1 milliard d’euros, en progression de 33 % (25 % hors croissance externe), dont plus de la moitié provient de l’international. Le carnet de commandes fermes représente plus de deux ans d’activité. De son côté, KMW affiche 750 millions environ de revenus et a engrangé plus d’un milliard de commandes. Quand le Français peut compter sur un plan de charge national fourni avec le grand programme Scorpion , son concurrent allemand, lui, fait des étincelles à l’international où il est mieux implanté.

Le 1er avril prochain, on saura donc combien Nexter et KMW valent chacun. Si les conclusions des banquiers conseils sont adoptées par les deux parties et qu’elles font ressortir un écart de valorisation important, il faudra bien trouver une solution puisque la remise en cause de la parité de détention du capital est exclue a priori.

Si cet éventuel écart joue en défaveur de Nexter, l’APE pourra faire un chèque pour le compte de l’Etat. Si c’est KMW qui vaut moins que son concurrent français, on imagine mal que la famille Bode Wegmann fasse de même car ses moyens sont forcément limités. La solution, pour lui éviter de payer la soulte, pourrait prendre la forme d’un régime différencié de dividendes.

Période d’exclusivité repoussée jusqu’à l’été

Quand ils ont démarré leurs négociations en juillet dernier, les deux parties avaient convenu d’une période d’exclusivité de neuf mois, ce qui les amenaient jusqu’au 2 avril pour conclure. Cette date va devoir être prolongée car, du côté français, il faudra attendre la promulgation de la loi Macron pour que Nexter soit privatisé, ce qui devrait être le cas au début de l’été normalement. « C’est le seul point dur du calendrier », confirme-t-on aux « Echos ». Un temps virulentes outre-Rhin, les critiques du projet se sont tues.

March 17, 2015 By Aaron Mehta – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The KC-46A Pegasus tanker program director is "not comfortable" saying the tanker's first flight will happen as planned in April.

Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, program executive officer for tankers, told an audience Tuesday that he is now targeting a more general date of second quarter of this calendar year, which extends to the end of June.

"What I'm trying not to do is get fixated on days," Richardson said at the CreditSuisse/McAleese conference, held annually in Washington. "I feel more comfortable saying second quarter calendar 15. I feel more comfortable with that."

The KC-46A will replace the majority of the service's current tanker fleet with 179 new planes, based on a Boeing commercial design. The contract protects the Air Force from major cost overruns on the way to having 18 planes ready to go in 2017.

The first engineering, manufacturing, development (EMD) configuration flew in late December, while first flight of a full-up KC-46A had been scheduled for April. That now appears to be slipping.

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