$80 Billion. After returning from Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian President Volodoymr Zelenskyy, other government officials and Ukrainian troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Nov. 22 held the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contract Group (UDCG). “Ukraine has regained 50 percent of the territory lost since February 2022,” Austin said in his prepared, opening remarks to the group—a reference to the Feb. 24 invasion by Russia last year. “We’ve gathered today because we share a vision for a world that is free, open, prosperous, and secure. So I’m proud that this history-making Contact Group has committed more than $80 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Kremlin launched its indefensible invasion…Our unity sends a clear message to Putin that he cannot outlast us or prevail in a contest of wills. As Putin continues his tragic, unnecessary war, he has been forced to look for support from Iran and North Korea. It was chilling to see a delegation from Hamas—led by one of the terrorist group’s leaders—brazenly visit Moscow on October 26 to meet with senior Russian officials. Both Ukraine and Israel are facing relentless foes out to annihilate them, and we see that Iran is fueling conflict in both Gaza and Ukraine by arming Hamas and Putin. Iran’s support to the Kremlin and Hamas harms Ukraine, stability in the Middle East, and the rules based international order.”
…Air Defense. Austin urged the UDCG, which includes the 31 NATO members and 23 other countries, to bolster Ukraine’s air defense as the country faces its second winter of war since last year’s invasion. “Just days before my visit to Kyiv, Putin’s forces launched a new barrage of missile attacks at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine to try to damage Ukraine’s energy grid. Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure could mean suffering and death for countless innocent Ukrainian citizens,” he said, adding that Germany just announced a new $1.4 billion defense package for Ukraine, including air defense systems and 155mm ammunition. This week, DoD announced a new $100 million aid package for Ukraine including another Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launcher and related ammunition, RTX Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, and other weapons.
B-21 LRIP. The time is nigh for the U.S. Air Force to award a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract to Northrop Grumman for its B-21 Raider stealth bomber. In an Oct. 26 Northrop Grumman third quarter earnings call, Dave Keffer, the company’s chief financial officer, said that “based on the strength of our year-to-date results, we now expect modestly higher sales in our Aeronautics business in the mid- to high $10 billion range” and that the figure “represents a return to growth this year at AS [Aeronautical Systems], a year earlier than expected, and continues to assume that we will be awarded the first LRIP lot on the B-21 program in the fourth quarter after first flight.” The aircraft test flew for the first time on Nov. 10 near Air Force Plant 42 where the company has been building six Raiders. After the flight, the Air Force said that the “flight testing is a critical step in the test campaign by the Air Force Test Center and 412th Test Wing’s B-21 Combined Test Force” at Edwards AFB, Calif. Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden has said that first flight was needed before an LRIP contract award.
Piasecki Flight Demo. Piasecki Aircraft Corp. said this week that the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX innovation arm has awarded the company a $37 million contract for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) hydrogen fuel cell propulsion development and flight demonstration of the company’s Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES), a tilt-duct VTOL drone. John Piasecki, CEO of the Pennsylvania-based Piasecki Aircraft Corp., said in a statement that the AFWERX funding will allow the company to demonstrate “ARES’ unique tilt-duct configuration, which enables seamless transition between hover and fixed-wing forward flight — a technological leap that would address critical aerial challenges faced by the U.S. military.”
…Triplex Fly-By-Wire Flight Control. DARPA funded the build of the ARES test drone by Piasecki and Lockheed Martin. “ARES is designed with a small landing footprint to enable shipboard and expeditionary operations as well as provide embedded multi-mission C4I, ISR, combat, and logistics support to small distributed combat forces operating over extended distances and in complex terrain,” Piasecki Aircraft Corp. said. “Rapidly-reconfigurable Mission Payload Modules deliver mission flexibility that significantly reduces overall logistics footprint and cost…With follow-on funding from the U.S. Air Force and Army, Piasecki and Honeywell are integrating a triplex fly-by-wire flight control system to initiate ARES flight testing by the end of this year.” Last year, Lockheed Martin closed its Sikorsky Heliplex plant in Coatesville, Pa., due to a lack of orders for its commercial S-92 and S-76 helicopters. On May 31, Piasecki Aircraft Corp. said that it had bought the plant for an advanced research and development and testing center for drones. The company, which paid $10.5 million for the Coatesville plant, said that it expects to hire about 400 workers for the center by 2028.
Rocket Lab Expanding. Rocket Lab USA is establishing its 113,000 square foot Space Structures Complex in a former Lockheed Martin Vertical Launch Building near Baltimore in Middle River, Md., to meet growing demand for space composite products and to further vertically integrate supply for its Neutron launch vehicle. Maryland’s Commerce Department is providing a $1.6 million loan for the project and Rocket Lab said it is eligible for additional incentives and tax credits from the state. Rocket Lab currently does composite work for launch vehicles and spacecraft at its facilities in California, New Mexico, and New Zealand.
SATCOM Contract. Satcom equipment manufacturer Cobham Satcom has received a multi-year contract with a U.S. prime contractor for multi-band antennas in its Tracker series. Cobham announced the deal with the unnamed prime on Nov. 21, and said the deal has a minimum value of at least $10 million, with annual renewal options. The deal is for land-based, 2.4-meter Tracking antennas. Cobham said these antennas can track multi-band, multi-orbit satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), Geostationary Orbit, and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO). The antennas will be used to support U.S. Department of Defense programs for improved operations and communications. The systems will be deployed globally, supporting assured battlespace awareness.
DHS PACTS RFP Ahead. Following an industry day on Nov. 9, the Department of Homeland Security says the request for proposals for its Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) III will not be posted until after Thanksgiving. The department says it is working on responses to 317 questions from the industry day. So far, DHS has issued three draft RFPs for PACTS, a small business indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract that will continue as a strategic sourcing vehicle for non-information technology professional services. The program has separate tracks for service-disabled veteran-owned, women-owned, HUBZone, and 8(a) small businesses.
Exostar with Arlington Capital. Arlington Capital Partners last week completed its acquisition of Exostar from the private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Deal terms were not disclosed. Exostar has 225 employees and about 60 percent of its customers are in the aerospace and defense industry. Exostar provides a cloud-based secure business collaboration software platform.
TSA Looks at New Scanner. The Transportation Security Administration has taken delivery of a HEXWAVE high-throughput, contactless scanner to detect concealed metallic and non-metallic objects on persons. Liberty Defense, which is developing and manufacturing HEXWAVE, says the scanner uses artificial intelligence to provide automated decisions to security operators to process people quickly. TSA in 2021 awarded the company a small contract to enhance detection and throughput of the scanner for potential use to screen airport employees instead of using walk-through metal detectors. The agency has mandated that aviation workers be screened. Liberty has been working with major U.S. airports, including LAX, Denver, and Oakland, on improving employee screening. “A significant number of airports will be required to improve their screening process over the next several months,” Bill Frain, Liberty’s CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to supporting the initiative and making it a seamless transition.”
Another Coast Guard FRC. The Coast Guard on Nov. 16 took delivery of its 55th fast response cutter, the Melvin Bell, which will be homeported in Boston. The 154-foot cutters are used for multiple missions including drug and migrant interdiction, ports, waterways and coastal security, fishery patrols, search and rescue, and national defense. The Coast Guard has ordered 65 FRCs from Bollinger Shipyards.