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10 Oct 24. NHI, Norway take NH90 dispute to court. NHIndustries (NHI) has been unable to resolve its disagreement with Norway over the country’s cancelled NH90 helicopter programme, with both parties taking the dispute to court.
Speaking to Janes and other defence media at the Marignane site of chief stakeholder Airbus Helicopters, NHI consortium president Axel Aloccio said attempts at mediation between the two parties have not been successful and that the matter will now be settled through legal channels.
“All I can tell you is that the mediation has failed, and that we are now going to the Oslo City Court,” Aloccio said. “We tried to find an agreement with Norway, we couldn’t, and now they are taking us to court and we are taking them to court – there are two claims, which are merged into one claim, so in the end it is just one big dispute.”
In June 2022 the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Bjørn Arild Gram, said that despite his country’s best efforts, the 14 NH90s were unable to fulfil the requirements of the armed forces, and that it could no longer persevere with the type. In cancelling its NH90 order, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that it intended to return the aircraft and demand the NOK5 bn (USD460 m) it had paid for its helicopters, plus interest and other expenses. NHI described this position as “legally groundless”, but later offered to fix the issues at no cost to Norway. (Source: Janes)
10 Oct 24. US requests information from Saab North America on Brazil fighter jet purchase. The U.S. Department of Justice has requested information from a subsidiary of Saab (SAABb.ST) over Brazil’s purchase of the Swedish firm’s Gripen fighter jets in 2014, which was the subject of a Brazilian corruption probe, Saab said on Thursday.
“Saab intends to comply with the request to supply information and to cooperate with the DoJ in this matter,” the company said of the U.S. queries to Saab North America.
Saab said in its statement that Brazilian and Swedish authorities’ investigations into Brazil’s fighter procurement process had been closed without indicating any wrongdoing by the company.
Brazilian prosecutors in 2016 formally accused Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – the country’s former president at the time and now its sitting president – of using his influence to help Saab win the tender for 36 fighter jets worth $5.4bn. Lula’s lawyers said the case amounted to “political persecution”.
The Brazilian Air Force in 2014 chose the Gripen to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets over Boeing Co’s F-18 Super Hornet, and the Rafale, made by France’s Dassault Aviation SA.
The deal with Saab also allows Gripens to be produced in Brazil in the future.
The first aircraft have already been delivered to Brazil and the remainder are expected to be delivered by 2027. (Source: Google/Reuters)
10 Oct 24. Sweden: Shooting at Israeli defence company is possibly linked to Iran; attack risks are elevated. Earlier on 10 October, the police confirmed that a shooting took place at the site of an Israeli defence company, Elbit Systems, in Gothenburg (Västergötland region). They have detained a 15-year-old individual and have not reported any victims. The company was attacked with a suspected explosive object in June, for which a teenager was arrested. Pro-Palestine activists regularly target Elbit Systems, especially in the UK. However, such attacks do not involve guns, explosives or minors. The characteristics of the incident in Gothenburg align with the modus operandi of Swedish organised crime groups (OCGs). The Swedish intelligence services (SÄPO) and their Israeli counterpart, Mossad, previously warned that Iran has co-opted OCGs to conduct attacks against Israeli targets in recent weeks and months. The incident is almost certainly linked to the escalation in the current Middle East crisis. We assess that Jewish and Israeli targets will highly likely face elevated attack risks in Sweden in the coming weeks. (Source: Sibylline)
04 Oct 24. Italy: Proposed windfall tax will possibly target defence sector; is unlikely to harm investment climate. On 3 October, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government announced that it plans to introduce an unspecified windfall tax to help reduce the budget deficit. Italy’s budget deficit of 3.8% is above the 3% threshold that the EU expects member states not to exceed. The EU has required all member states to present a plan on how to stay within this threshold. Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti indicated that defence companies could be among the organisations subject to the tax due to high profits in recent years. Meloni has, so far, resisted revisiting electoral promises that require extra spending, rendering some sort of windfall tax likely. However, the tax would almost certainly be a one-off and is likely to be as damaging to the economy as the proposed windfall tax on banks in 2023, which was announced with little prior warning, driving market volatility. This measure was eventually watered down. We assess that the windfall tax will likely remain modest and is unlikely to significantly impact Italy’s investment climate. (Source: Sibylline)
03 Oct 24. New pact boosts defense-industry goals in EU lending scheme. The European Union’s funding and defense branches are moving closer together in a bid to strengthen the continent’s military-industrial complex, with an updated agreement between the European Investment Bank and the European Defence Agency being concluded on Wednesday.
The European Investment Bank, which funds businesses and projects across the bloc to enhance Europe’s competitiveness, will now receive industry guidance from the European Defence Agency, a joint press release said on Tuesday. The partnership “aims to provide increased investments to strengthen the EU collective defense capabilities,” the statement further said.
The EIB has traditionally been strictly civilian. Restrictions on its lending and funding policies ruled out funding most military projects or procurements. Those rules have been weakened in the past half-decade, especially since the war in Ukraine.
A memorandum of understanding between the EDA and the EIB was signed as early as 2018, with the latest agreement as an update to the original document. While the watershed moment came in February 2022, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a collection of small moves aimed at steering the Brussels bureaucracy towards defense outcomes has effectively eroded a longstanding taboo, as Defense News has previously reported.
“The EIB Group is implementing its objectives outlined in the Defence Action Plan, and is committed to helping scale up this industry,” said EIB Vice President Robert de Groot.
By collaborating with the Agency, the EIB and its components are meant to be better informed about needs of the defense sector. This will “reinforce our shared goal of enhancing European security,” said Marjut Falkstedt, chief executive of the European Investment Fund, a part of the EIB tasked with supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises across the continent. The fund has played a significant role in the EU bank’s efforts to enter the security space.
European governments have allocated more funding to military matters since Russia invaded Ukraine and the resulting loss of a sense of security on the continent. Simultaneously, the EU has become more assertive in the defense space, a field traditionally considered a prerogative purely of the 27 member states’ national governments and NATO.
For the first time ever, the European Union this year will get a dedicated defense commissioner, nominated by Ursula von der Leyen after her re-election as the Bloc’s head and expected to be confirmed by November. While far from a traditional defense minister – national governments aren’t willing to give up that much power to Brussels quite yet – the new commission post will likely work to coordinate joint procurement and further European military integration. Both trends have increasingly entered the policy mainstream across the continent.
Simultaneously, some have called for the EU to play a more prominent role in defense procurement and funding. This is where the EIB and its subsidiary institutions come in. The bank has set itself a target of funding €8 bn ($8.8 bn) through its Strategic European Security Initiative until the end of 2027, of which it has already disbursed €2 bn ($2.15 bn) in the program’s first two years.
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
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