08 Apr 15. Boeing extends deadline for Indian Chinooks, Apaches again. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) secured a commitment from Boeing on 1 April to extend for another three months its offer of 22 AH-64E Apache and 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters for the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a price negotiated in late 2013, say industry sources. This is apparently the ninth occasion Boeing has met MoD requests to keep the deal available at this price. Both Boeing and the MoD declined to comment on the issue, but industry sources told IHS Jane’s that Boeing is believed to have informed IAF it would not agree to any further extension of the original pricing of both helicopter types. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
02 Apr 15. US Army to start new watercraft procurement in FY 2015. Key Points:
* An RfP for new watercraft is slated to emerge in late FY 2015
* The Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) would supplant 36 LCM-8s and mark the first new watercraft in 20 years
The US Army expects to issue a request for proposals (RfP) later this year for a new Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) (MSV(L)) watercraft, meant for manoeuvre and sustainment missions, to replace legacy Landing Craft Mechanized-8 (LCM-8). An RfP is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 (FY 2015), and a contract award for an engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase awarded in second quarter of FY 2016.
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
31 Mar 15. Pentagon Shifts Approach to Speed Up Commercial Buying. The U.S. Defense Department is revamping its rules to speed up purchases of commercial items, part of a larger drive to attract new suppliers to the U.S. weapons market and drive down acquisition costs, the Pentagon’s pricing czar told Reuters. The Pentagon has set a new target of 10 business days for deciding whether items such as cockpit displays and other aerospace components are truly commercial, or if they need a more rigorous cost analysis used for items exclusive to the military, according to a previously unreported memorandum dated Feb. 4. Director of Defense Pricing Shay Assad shared the memo and outlined the changes in an interview with Reuters, conceding that some reviews were taking “far too long,” ranging as long as nine months in some cases. The Pentagon buys $60 billion of commercial items each year from various industries, ranging from office supplies to items built for commercial use but modified for the military. Industry and the Pentagon have been at sparring for years about which of the modified items should be considered military, and how much internal cost data companies should provide about those. (Source: glstrade.com/Reuters)
02 Apr 15. Airbus completes Polish C295 offset obligation. The Polish Ministry of Economy (MoE) announced on 1 April that Airbus had completed its offset obligations for the procurement of Airbus C295M aircraft that were first ordered in 2001. According to the MoE, the final value of the offset agreement totalled over USD385.7m, with 75% of the obligations being directed toward the defence sector via direct offset agreements. The order was initially valued at USD212m in 2001, with the final offset value representing a 181% return for the Polish government on the purchase price. Programmes that were established as part of the Airbus C295M procurement include the creation of a service centre to undertake maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) for the Polish Air Force’s aircraft, and the transfer of technology to help develop PZL-130TC-II Orlik turboprop trainer aircraft. In 2010, EADS PZL Warszawa-Okecie revealed that new wings had been developed from the C295M for the Orlik. Other programmes have seen Airbus invest in the country’s aerospace and defence industry, expand its supply chain to include Polish suppliers and created a design bureau in the country. The Polish Air Force first ordered eight C295M aircraft to replace the Antonov An-26 ‘Curl’ aircraft operated by the 13th Transport Squadron based at Kra