Lockheed Martin expands in Australia
Filed under: Acquisitions, Australia, IT, RLM Holdings, Tenix Group, logistics
Lockheed Martin has moved to buy a joint venture it had set up in Australia today. See a press release here. RLM Holdings was a company established by Lockheed Martin and the Tenix Group to manage the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) and provide other defense services. The JORN is a large array over-the-horizon surveillance system that can detect surface and aerial targets at very long range. RLM also manages other defense radar systems as well as providing services to the Australian defense forces. This acquisition will have to be approved by the Australian Government.
Australia seeks to save money on software
The Australian Ministry of Defence is reviewing ways to save money through improvements to its liscensing agreement with Microsoft. See a short article here. Like many large organizations, government and private, the MoD has invested in MS products - windows, office and project - to run things. They probably buy thousands of licenses and any efficiency there will save money in the long run.
Australia buys recruiting help
Australia has awarded a contract to Chandler Macleod for support of recruiting efforts. See an article here. While overall recruiting for the Australian Armed Forces is going well they are having a hard time attracting the highly sought after technical recruits they need. This 5 year, $400 Australian, contract will help in that effort. Interestingly since the Australians have been fighting since 2001 they have actuall
Boeing slips Australian AEW aircraft
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, IT, Military Aviation, development program
Boeing has been building a modified B737 aircraft to act as an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. Delivery of the first has now slipped four months according to this report. Any issues Boeing has with these types of contract only serves to reinforce the US Air Force’s belief that they could not meet the KC-45 timeline as well as Northrop-Grumman and EADS will. The contract is a fixed price one so a delay will eat into Boeing’s profits as well. The company is also building a similar aircraft for Turkey.
Looks like Australia will go with the JSF
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Military Aviation, development program
Australia had being going back and forth on wanting the F-22 instead of the JSF. China, I am sure, has a lot to do with this. According to this story, the decision has been made to go with the F-35. America has a law preventing the export of the F-22, but Australia had asked for it anyway. There was some desire from the USAF to sell it, as every FMS sale lowers the price and the Air Force would like some more. The only way that is going to happen is to get it cheaper. So it will have to be seen if any sales overseas are made. Certainly Australia and the UK would be the prime customers for the F-22.
Northrop Grumman wins BAMS SD&D contract
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, Contract Awards, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., U.S. Navy, development program
As reported yesterday the BAMS DAB was held. The Navy awarded the contract to Northrop Grumman for a version of the Global Hawk long range, large UAV. See a story here. Boeing and Lockheed Martin were the losing bidders. On top of the KC-45 contract this can be seen as a blow to Boeing by Northrop Grumman. Read more
Australia cuts bait
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, Contract Awards, McDonnell Douglas, Military Aviation, production program
The Australian government decided after all to go ahead with the purchase of the F/A-18 to gap fill until the JSF is available. An article is here. The new more liberal government had discussed canceling the contract to save money. Now they claim they have been able to reduce the total cost, so it is worthwhile. See a previous article here. Read more
Australian government cancels the SH-2 contract
Filed under: Australia, Kaman Corp, Military Aviation, Restructuring, production program
In 1997 Australia decided to buy 11 upgraded SH-2 aircraft from Kaman to outfit their Navy. Unfortunately the work required to integrate the helicopters with the newer generation of equipment that the Navy possessed was harder and more complicated then originally thought. Imagine that? Anyway ten years and millions of dollars later the program is still not complete. According to this article the new liberal government has decided to axe the contract. There will obviously be some termination costs involved, and now they are back to square one on the aircraft. Perhaps they will look at the US Navy’s MH-60?
Australian government now attacks F/A-18 buy
Filed under: Australia, Contract Awards, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Restructuring, production program
The Australian Defence Minister, Mr. Fitzgibbon, now has decided that the plan to buy F/A-18 and then JSF for the nation is a bad idea. Just a few days ago, here, he was applauding the F/A-18. He now states that the US aircraft were not necessarily the way to go to buy modern fighter aircraft. The options, though, were limited. Australia could have bought Russian, or the Eurofighter, or SAAB Viggens, I guess? But I don’t know if the cost would have been comparable. He continues to say that the country really wants F-22 aircraft, which is currently not allowable under US law, even though the US DoD have expressed some support for the idea.
Australian politicians snipe at each other over F/A-18 contract
Filed under: Australia, Contract Awards, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, production program
The opposing party to the current Australian government, who were the government until the last election, criticized the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, for his comments about their management of the Australian defense budget. See the article here on ABC News. He has ordered a review of the F/A-18 contract while stating that he hopes the review supports the contract. One of the main issues is that the termination costs would be substantial.
Australia awards IT contract to Unisys
Earlier, here, we had written about some concern in Australia about awarding Unisys a IT contract based on some issues they had with American contracts. According to AustralianIT they went ahead and awarded the contract worth $240 M (Australian) to the company.
US law prevents Australia from acquiring F-22
Filed under: Australia, Department of Defense, FMS, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, U.S. Air Force, production program
Australia has expressed an interest in procuring F-22 Raptor aircraft. Currently they are planning on buying JSF ultimately. Currently US law prevents the export of the F-22. In this article from News.com.au, the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, expresses the sentiment that Australia would be good stewards of the F-22 if they received them. Obviously the law is to prevent the transfer of what is considered the best technology that the US has, but there are certain allies in the past that have been able to share it. As previously discussed technical transfer laws have become very restrictive and have affected US programs.
—————-
Now playing on iTunes: Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (Album Version)
via FoxyTunes
New Australian government realizes there is a bill associated with cancelling F/A-18 contract
Filed under: Australia, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Restructuring, production program
The new liberal government in Australia has talked about canceling the contract to purchase 24 F/A-18 aircraft to be used as a gap fill until the F-35 JSF is available. See ABC News here for details. Unfortunately there is a termination fee of around $400 M (Australian) associated with cancellation. Read more
Unisys work in US comes back to haunt them in Australia
The Australian Defense Association (ADA) is asking the government to investigate Unisys’s ability to do the work in a recent contract. They point out that the company is being investigated in the US for failing to deliver on IT security contracts. See the article here. With the defense industry so small, and global, it is hard for a nation to find within companies able to do all that they require.
Australian company Austal awarded Navy contract for ship design
Filed under: Austal, Australia, Contract Awards, U.S. Navy, development program
According to this press release, Austal was awarded a $3.3 M Australian contract to do design and development for the US military under the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program. There may also be work related to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as well.
Boeing opens office to assist Australian companies compete in its business
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, commercial aviation, production program
According to Defensenews.com, Boeing has opened a office specifically to assist Australian companies to compete to provide components and services for its various commercial and defense products. See the article here. This is in response to an Australian Government initiative to expand the number of companies that participate in the defense industry. Boeing has significant aerospace contracts with Australia right now, including the sale of F-18 Hornets. This is a way for the company to offset some of that business with Australian companies. In the past, when a nation purchased foreign military equipment they would do an “off set” deal where the selling nation either had to build some parts of the system in the buying nation, or some amount of equipment was bought from the buying nation. These kind of deals have not necessarily provided the kind of economic gains either nation imagined.
-
Search This Site
Custom Search -
FREE Business Downloads
-
Latest Defense News
- First Choice releases anti-ballistics vest
- Spain contracts for armored trucks
- GD to support Afghan infrastructure
- Navistar contracted for new MRAP variant
- Fairway to develop threat detection system
- Turkey contracts for helicopter engines
- U.S. rolls back terror attacks in Baghdad
- Contracts for September 05, 2008
- Russia’s tanks revive old lessons about the nature of war
- U.S. Army smashes Iraqi insurgents’ weapons stores
- U.S., Russia on collision course over missile defense
- Military cargo protected by GE technology
- Lockheed Martin tests ICARUS technology
- Navistar’s contracts extended by Army
- Military robots to change warfare
- Defense Dept. approves Amcom technology
- Contracts for September 04, 2008
- British contract for locator beacon tech
- Georgia-Russia conflict shows tanks are still crucial in modern war
- Outside View: BMD blowback — Part 2
- Contracts for September 03, 2008
- GD to supply MRAP parts and service
- SNC successfully tests Black Hawk
- Sikorsky contracts for CH-53K winch tech
- L-3 to supply new wings for P-3 Orions
- LM completes Aculight purchase
- USS Bunker Hill gets new Aegis upgrade
- CACI contracted for NAVSEA IT upgrades
- Russia boosts Topol ICBM to beat U.S. defenses
- Russian admiral threatens NATO force in Black Sea
- BMD deployment may undermine European security
- Russia may put nukes on missiles in Kaliningrad
- Contracts for September 02, 2008
- Defense Dept. contracts for Ultralife tech
- Elbit awarded contract for UAV technology
- Upgraded Black Hawk completes test
- British announce new aircraft carrier tech
- Army invests in IED-detecting robots
- Russia’s old tanks can still dominate Eurasia
- Outside View: BMD dilemmas — Part 1
- Outside View: Russia’s war — Part 1
- Analysis: European defense contracts
- Contracts for August 29, 2008
- DLA contracts for Middle East distribution
- DRS acquisition deal moves forward
- Point Blank elects new chairman
- GD delivers sub ahead of schedule
- Draeger selected for Phoenix SCBA deal
- Russia’s older tanks still pack punch across Eurasia
- Russia, U.S. risk collision course on BMD plans
More Defense News -->
get your job site
at simplyhired.com
