LOCATIONS
AIR
31 Jul 24. USMC hit operational status with second carrier-capable F35-C unit. A West Coast Marine F-35C Lightning II squadron has achieved initial operational capability.
The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 311, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, hit that key milestone Wednesday, 1st Lt. Madison Walls, wing spokeswoman told Marine Corps Times. The status means a unit can employ, maintain and train on the jet.
The Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, unit conducted its first independent live ordnance operations July 25.
“Initial operational capability is a milestone and achievement in readiness,” said Lt. Col. Michael Fisher, commanding officer of VMFA-311 in a statement. “It’s all on the backs of the Marines out there. What they do in their day-to-day actions is what made this possible.”
The squadron, also known as the Tomcats, flew more than 900 sorties, which equals nearly 1,700 flight hours and another 800 simulator hours and 2,400 maintenance actions to reach initial operational capability, according to a service release.
“The Tomcats have a storied history that includes legends such as Ted Williams and John Glenn, and participation in every major conflict since World War II,” Maj. Gen. James Wellons, commanding general of 3rd MAW, said in the release. “Today’s Marines add another chapter to that legacy with the introduction of the F-35C and fifth-generation capabilities to VMFA-311.”
In 2020, the squadron deactivated its AV-8 Harrier jets and then reactivated in April 2023 with 84 Marines and one F-35, reflecting the Marine Corps’ move to fifth-generation fighter aircraft. The transition has resulted in a gradual reduction in Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets.
The Corps’ two F-35C squadrons, VMFA-311 and VMFA-314, are both stationed at Miramar.
The VMFA-314, or Black Knights, reached initial operational capability in 2020, Marine Corps Times previously reported.
The F-35C is specifically engineered for carrier-based operations, featuring heavier landing gear and enlarged, foldable wings designed to facilitate catapult launches and arrestments on aircraft carriers. The foldable wingtips also facilitate easier storage on the carrier deck.
The “C” variant holds more fuel than other versions of the single-seat jet, with nearly 20,000 pounds of internal fuel capacity for long-range flights.
“The next step for VMFA-311 is full operational capability, attained when VMFA-311 receives its complete inventory of ten F-35C aircraft, projected for fiscal year 2025,” according to the release.
The Marine Corps has used the F-35B for years. The “B” variant, built to use short runways and flat-decked amphibious assault ships, is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings.
Currently, the Corps has eight operational F-35B squadrons and two training squadrons, totaling over 100 F-35B aircraft globally. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
PLANT CLOSURES, JOB LOSSES AND STRIKES
01 Aug 24. ‘Overworked, underpaid, undervalued’ Royal Fleet Auxiliary officers set to strike. Officers at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are to take strike action for the first time in the service’s history.
Nautilus International said its members will walk out on 15 August in a long-running dispute over pay.
It comes after officers have been taking action short of a strike since June.
It comes after the Government accepted the recommendation of the independent pay review body for a 6% headline pay rise for the Armed Forces.
The increase in military pay will be paid in September and backdated to April 2024, but did not include RFA personnel.
According to the union, RFA officers have experienced a real-term pay cut of more than 30% since 2010.
This includes a below-inflation pay rise of 4.5% imposed in November 2023.
Martyn Gray, Nautilus International director of organising, said striking is “always a last resort for us, but there is a palpable strength of feeling among our members at the RFA”.
“Over 14 years of cuts and pay restraint, despite the RFA undertaking increasingly complex operations, have taken their toll,” he said.
“Our members are overworked, underpaid and undervalued.
“The fact this is the first time RFA officers will take strike action in history is a scathing indictment on the state of the service that is experiencing a recruitment and retention crisis and rock-bottom morale across the workforce.
“Despite early engagement with the Ministry of Defence post the general election, we are yet to receive a new and improved pay offer for our members.”
He went on: “This is unacceptable and leaves us no option but to escalate from action short of strike to full strike action.
“Our message is simple. To avoid disruption at the RFA, who are vital to the UK’s naval capabilities, we need a pay offer that reflects the high rate of inflation and a pathway to pay restoration.
“We remain committed to working with government to achieve that.”
In response to the planned strike action, an MOD spokesperson said the RFA are “highly valued” and the department is “committed to listening to their concerns”.
The spokesperson also said the MOD will keep “a continued dialogue with them to address the issues they have raised”.
Ministers have met with the RFA twice in the first few weeks of the new Government, according to the MOD, who also said they are working to minimise the impact of any strike action.
(Source: forces.net)
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT
PERSONNEL
30 Jul 24. UK Armed Forces awarded largest pay increase in decades to ‘renew nation’s contract with those who serve.’
Government Armed Forces Pay Announcement confirms starting Armed Forces salary will be in line with National Living Wage for the first time
The government will “renew the nation’s contract with those who serve”, as it confirms that Armed Forces personnel will receive a 6% pay rise – the largest in 22 years.
This year’s pay award, recognises the extraordinary sacrifices made by Armed Forces personnel to protect and serve the UK – and will help address recruitment and retention challenges.
It will also see new recruits awarded the largest increase for more than 20 years, meaning that, for the first time, the starting Armed Forces salary will be in line with the National Living Wage.
It comes as the new government sets out a clear commitment to improving service life and making military careers more attractive. In the recent King’s Speech, the government announced the creation of a new Armed Forces Commissioner – a strong, independent voice for service personnel and their families.
The Defence Secretary has also pledged to bring the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. Taken together, these measures show a government getting on with the job of supporting Britain’s service personnel and tackling recruitment challenges.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “We will renew our nation’s contract with those who serve. Our new government’s first duty is keeping the British people safe. And the strength of our defence lies in the serving men and women of our forces. This pay award will benefit every member of the Armed Forces. It is an important step towards turning around the declining morale and recruitment crisis we have faced in recent years. A clear demonstration of our government’s commitment to improving service life. This is a first step and we know there is so much more to do. Our new Armed Forces Commissioner will be a strong, independent voice for service personnel and their families, and we will place the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. I want to attract the brightest and the best into our Armed Forces, because only with strong national security can we build a confident, prosperous country.”
Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said: “This year’s pay award is testament to the hard work and extraordinary dedication of the Armed Forces at a pivotal time for our security. Alongside a comprehensive benefits package, it aims to ensure our people feel properly recognised and rewarded. The significant increase in starting pay for new recruits underlines the enormous stock we place in those young people who step forward to serve their nation. As the world becomes more contested and uncertain, this Award will help us to recruit and retain the high calibre people we need to keep the country safe and help it prosper.”
The independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body and Senior Salaries Review Body recommendations for 2024 have been fully accepted by the Government and will be backdated to 1 April 2024.
Highlights from the 2024 Pay Award are:
- Initial Pay (payable to Other Ranks during their first six months or until completion of initial training; whichever is sooner) will increase to £25,200 from 1 April 2024.
- Most Service Personnel up to and including 1-star rank and others in the Armed Forces Pay Review Body’s remit group (including Medical and Dental Officers) will receive an overall 6% pay increase (against 1 April 2023 rates) back dated to 1 April 2024.
- The lowest paid personnel (OR2-01) have been awarded a higher level of investment. In April 2024 they received a 7.25% pay increase, both ensuring they received National Living Wage uplifts at the same time as other public sector workforces and providing a pay rise of c.£1,700 per year for around 6,700 personnel.
- The MOD had also implemented small increases to OR2-02/3 rates on 1 April 2024; This group will see a further uplift under the pay award, providing them with an overall 6% increase above 1 April 2023 rates.
- All members of the senior military (2-star rank and above) will receive a 5% consolidated increase to their base pay.
- The pay award will also see increases to other targeted forms of remuneration, representing an annual increase of c.£3,000 in the nominal average salary in the Armed Forces as well as an annual increase of c.£1,878 in the starting salary for an officer.
- Service Personnel receive a comprehensive benefits package including subsided food, medical and dental care, accommodation, and childcare. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
26 Jul 24. USAF MG Jennifer M. Short for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Short is currently serving as director, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS
29 Jul 24. Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has been promoted into the Australian federal cabinet under a series of ministerial arrangements. Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese announced the changes to the cabinet and to the ministry on 28 July. Under changes to security and defence industry, former assistant minister for defence Matt Thistlethwaite has been moved to a role as assistant minister for immigration. Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery and Minister for International Development and the Pacific, has been promoted into federal cabinet. Luke Gosling has been appointed special envoy for defence, veterans’ affairs and Northern Australia. (Source: Defence Connect)
28 Jul 24. Australia appoints new cyber security minister in cabinet reshuffle. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has appointed a veteran cabinet minister to oversee the Home Affairs and Cyber Security portfolios, following months of scrutiny into Home Affairs’ handling of the NZYQ ruling. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has appointed Tony Burke as Australia’s new Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, amid a raft of portfolio changes unveiled on Sunday (28 July).
He replaces outgoing Minister Clare O’Neil, who has taken the mantle of Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness
In addition to the Home Affairs and Cyber Security portfolios, Minister Burke will also oversee immigration taking over from the beleaguered outgoing Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles.
The removal of both Ministers from their respective positions comes following ongoing scrutiny over Australia’s release of immigration detainees as part of the NZYQ high court ruling.
Under the reshuffle, the Prime Minister also confirmed that Andrew Charlton would serve as Special Envoy for Cyber Security and Digital Resilience. (Source: https://www.cybersecurityconnect.com.au/)
INDUSTRY
PERSONNEL
26 Jul 24. Struggle for skilled workers in spotlight at Farnborough Airshow.
- Aerospace sector faces talent shortage
- If it were a country, it would have 4.4% unemployment -McKinsey
- Sees rising competition for engineers from AI sector
- STEM education, gender diversity seen key to addressing problem
Germany’s Lilium Jet has a queue of young engineers and students waiting to board thanks to the interest of a five-year-old boy.
The futuristic flying taxi is one of many high-tech projects on display as the Farnborough Airshow turns its attention to the aerospace industry’s urgent recruitment problem.
“We weren’t intending to open up the cabin today but a five-year-old boy came along and said ‘this takes off vertically and why can’t I get on board’ and since then we have had a queue of visitors,” said talent acquisition head Alex Jordan.
For the young boy, a job in aviation remains a distant dream, but the industry is hungry for skilled recruits to meet demand.
“Aerospace is always the high frontier… you see things flying and you want to work for them,” said Jeet Makadia, 27, a recent engineering graduate working on a project at Rolls-Royce (RR.
Visitors to the exhibition which ended on Friday will not immediately solve aerospace’s problem in replacing workers lost during the pandemic. But the threat from labour shortages to current production and future growth plans casts a long shadow over the show.
“There are very few people studying aerospace so there is a people shortage” said Tushar Subhash Dhulasawant, 26, a recently graduated engineer interested in control systems and UAV design.
Aerospace’s pitch to potential recruits includes visionary ambitions like space projects that few other industries can match.
But aerospace giants like Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA), face competition from nimble sectors like artificial intelligence that deploy many of the same engineering skills.
Big Tech boost U.S. stocks
“You have to assume that they are going to do something different,” and not stay in one assignment indefinitely, said Paula Hartley, a senior defence executive at Lockheed Martin (LMT.N).
HQW Precision UK in Plymouth, England, supplies super-precision ball bearings for items like starter generators for planes, directional fins for missiles or satellites in space.
The 75-year-old company, previously known as Barden, is moving to supply not just components but pre-assembled systems that can slot into place and be sold for a higher value.
But the “secret sauce” for the highly specialist design work is availability of application engineers, a sought-after niche of engineers who convert customer needs into specific products, said Mark Wakeham, business development manager.
“For us to move into this area, which we absolutely have to do, we just need more and more engineers in the future pipeline,” he told Reuters.
STEM EDUCATION
The company is not alone. The mismatch between supply and demand for jobs is imposing a broad cost on the sector.
If aerospace were a country, it would have 4.4 % unemployment, according to McKinsey – about the level that economists deem full employment, driving up wages.
According to the same data, the aerospace industry’s talent gap could cost an average-sized aerospace company $300 m to $330 m in lost productivity every year.
Recruiters say the answer to the industry’s people problem starts in schools, but won’t deliver an immediate fix.
“It’s not only about promoting the women we have (and) hiring more women… but also about making sure that we get more women into the system at the entry level with education,” said Arjan Meijer, CEO of Brazil’s Embraer Commercial Aviation (EMBR3.SA).
He and other executives acknowledged that the male-dominated industry had not yet achieved its diversity targets.
Education ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations last month voiced concerns about access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching, especially for girls and marginalised groups.
“It is about showcasing it, especially to girls and young women,” Kirsten McGuire, who promotes STEM in schools with British education charity SATRO, said in an educational area at the show designed to capture the attention of young visitors.
There have also been concerns that aviation’s record on greenhouse gas emissions may deter young entrants. The industry has pledged to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050, but has faced controversy over alleged greenwashing in northern Europe.
At the Lilium stand, tomorrow’s pioneers seemed undeterred.
“I don’t think it will put me off. Nearly every (company) here is worried about emissions. So probably by the time I am able to become an engineer there will be loads of engines I can use in my designs,” said 13-year-old Vincent Liao.
Asked what problem he would most like to solve, he said: “Probably something to do with emissions, a new concept… maybe an idea nobody has thought of to save as much fuel as possible”.
(Source: Reuters)
EUROPE APPOINTMENTS
29 Jul 24. At its meeting, the Supervisory Board of HENSOLDT AG extended the contract of HENSOLDT CFO Christian Ladurner by five years. Christian Ladurner has been responsible for the finance function on the Management Board of HENSOLDT AG since 1 July 2022. “Christian Ladurner has been doing an excellent job for HENSOLDT for years and has played a decisive role in the company’s growth in recent years. The early extension of his contract gives the finance function the security it needs to continue successfully on its chosen path,” said Reiner Winkler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HENSOLDT AG. “In its current composition of CEO, CFO and CHRO, the Management Board is well positioned and, together with the top executives on the Executive Committee, forms a stable basis for a sustainable and future-proof orientation of the company.” HENSOLDT CFO Christian Ladurner added: “Over the past two years, we have built up a lot together that I would like to develop further. The great trust that the Supervisory Board has placed in me is an incentive for me to successfully tackle the challenges ahead. It is a privilege for HENSOLDT to work together with a powerful Executive Board and management team.”
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
31 Jul 24. Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg as the company’s new president and chief executive officer, effective August 8, 2024. Ortberg will also serve on Boeing’s Board of Directors. He will succeed Dave Calhoun, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire from the company, having served as president and CEO since January 2020, and as a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors since 2009.
01 Aug 24. Elara Nova the Space Consultancy announced that Colonel (Ret) Pete Trainer, USAF, as the Managing Director of Industry Practice. In this new role, Trainer will oversee the execution and delivery of consulting services to Elara Nova clients across its portfolio. Mr. Trainer is uniquely qualified to serve at the cross-section of military and industry partnerships. With three decades of military and civilian leadership experience, he will leverage his expertise to facilitate new opportunities and secure client success within the national security space enterprise. In a civilian capacity, Mr. Trainer’s extensive leadership experience includes several senior executive roles at industry-leading companies such as BAE Systems, SAIC and Scitor Corporation. Retiring as a Reserve Colonel with the United States Air Force, Trainer served as the Senior Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) to the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), where he designed the NRO’s Corporate Decision Process and Secretariat. Pete Trainer’s proficiency in business strategy, as well as coordinating and implementing government contracts, will strengthen Elara Nova’s mission to elevate the strategic relevance of commercial space capabilities in military operations. (Source: PR Newswire)
01 Aug 24. General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) announced today that Kevin Graney, who currently serves as president of Electric Boat, has informed the company that he will retire at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Mark Rayha, who currently serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Electric Boat, effective December 1. Graney joined General Dynamics in 1995 and served in a variety of leadership roles at Electric Boat and NASSCO before becoming a general manager and then president of NASSCO from 2013 to 2019 and president of Electric Boat in 2019. (Source: PR Newswire)
01 Aug 24. 3M appoints Otis executive Maheshwari as its new CFO. Industrial giant 3M Co on Thursday appointed elevator maker Otis Worldwide executive Anurag Maheshwari as its chief financial officer, succeeding Monish Patolawala, who was in the role for four years. Maheshwari would assume the role on Sept. 1, while Teri Reinseth would serve as the finance chief in the interim. Maheshwari joined Otis in 2020 and spent two years in the Asia Pacific region as vice president, finance, information technology and chief transformation officer. He is currently the executive vice president and CFO at the company. Before joining Otis, he was the vice president, investor relations at defense firm Harris Corporation, now called L3Harris Technologies. Former top boss at L3Harris, Bill Brown, took over as the chief executive officer at 3M in May. According to some Wall Street analysts, Patolawala’s exit from 3M was expected as he was likely passed over for the role of CEO for industry veteran Brown. (Source: Reuters)
01 Aug 24. Ursa Major, America’s leading privately funded company focused solely on propulsion, today announced that industry veteran Dan Jablonsky has been appointed Chief Executive Officer effective August 5, 2024. He will succeed Ursa Major founder Joe Laurienti, who has led the company for the past nine years. Ursa Major’s co-founders and leaders remain in their current positions and are working to ensure a seamless transition. (Source: PR Newswire)