Aviation Week Events - Defense Technology And Affordability Requirements March 5-6 2013 Hilton Arlington Arlington, VA Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2014 budget and hear First-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs! Register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar
PARIS — Europe’s stealthy Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) completed its first flight Dec. 1 from the Istres test center in southern France, marking a major milestone for the technology demonstration project and paving the way for flight test campaigns in Italy, Sweden and France.
LONDON — The Spanish government has announced it will send a trio of Eurocopter EC665 Tiger attack helicopters to Afghanistan. The decision, which comes days after the German government gave the green light for the operational use of its own Tigers, was announced by the Spanish army’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Jaime Domínguez Buj. Three of the army’s fleet of six Tigers will be deployed to Herat in Afghanistan’s western region, where 1,500 Spanish personnel are currently serving.
BUYOUT APPROVED: Shareholders of commercial satellite imagery provider GeoEye approved a proposed buyout Dec. 3 that will leave the company’s chief U.S. competitor, DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo., operating the world’s largest fleet of high-resolution Earth imaging satellites. Under the terms of the merger, GeoEye shareholders can opt to take 1.137 shares of common stock and $4.10 per share in cash, a 100% cash payment totaling $20.27 per share, or 100% in stock, with each GeoEye share worth 1.425 shares of DigitalGlobe stock.
Contractors selling professional services and information technology to the federal government — particularly the Pentagon — should get used to meeting lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) requirements, contracting consultants at Deltek say.
French missile maker MBDA acquired the ramjet integration and testing activities of Roxel France on Dec. 1 following the signing of an agreement with propulsion company Herakles, a subsidiary of Safran and an equal shareholder with MBDA of the Roxel group. Specializing in tactical propulsion technology in France and the U.K., Roxel will continue to produce solid-rocket motors for MBDA missiles as well as other system suppliers, giving MBDA a leading position in ramjet technology in Europe.
Pierre Chao, a longtime aerospace and defense (A&D) industry sage and managing partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors, succinctly sums up what the outcome of the budget impasse in Washington between Republicans and Democrats should be. “Your taxes are going to go up, your benefits are going to go down, and spending is going to go down,” he said in a post-election address to Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference. “My six-year-old daughter knows this.”
LONDON — The defense division of EADS, Cassidian, has announced sweeping job cuts as it restructures in a bid to save a further €200 million ($259 million) a year by 2014. Nearly 850 personnel, many in management and administration positions, are to be let go as part of the restructure plans detailed in letters sent to employees on Nov. 30.
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To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Dec. 3 - 5 — Worldwide Business Research's Defense Logistics, Marriott Crystal Gateway, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.wbresearch.com/defenselogisticsusa/. Dec. 5 - 6 — Airports Council International-North America's International Seminar, Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.aci-na.org/event/564.
AgustaWestland contends the Danish government’s decision to buy Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters will cost taxpayers 1 billion kroner ($173 million) more than if Denmark had chosen the AW159 Lynx Wildcat.
WEAPONS POLICY: The Pentagon has issued a new policy that “establishes guidelines designed to minimize the probability and consequences of failures in autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems that could lead to unintended engagements.” The Nov. 21 policy, Directive 3000.09, also assigns responsibilities for development and use of autonomous and semi-autonomous functions in weapon systems, including unmanned platforms.
The leaders of the House Privacy Caucus blasted a response from the FAA about how privacy protections for UAVs in civilian airspace should be handled, amid conflicting pressures on the agency as to how quickly it should select six test sites and whether it should be considering privacy issues at all.
TIMING THE PAIN: Fiscal 2014 — not 2013 — will be the worst year for federal contractors, including defense companies, if the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration take effect in January 2013, says Alan Chvotkin, vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council. That is because the sharp drop-off in federal spending under sequestration, the second part of the Budget Control Act preoccupying policymakers in Washington right now, will not be felt via contracting opportunities until then.
The Senate did not close out action on the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill in three days as had been anticipated, instead shooting for an agreement to wrap up work early this week. As floor work continues, senators are already looking toward resolving the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Here’s a look at some of the outstanding issues:
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have settled on a price of roughly $3.8 billion for the next batch of F-35 fighters, after more than a year of negotiations, according to program sources. A few details remain to be worked out on low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 5 for the Joint Strike Fighter program, though the contract is likely to be signed in days.
