Page 16 - World Airnews Magazine May 2020 Edition

MILITARY

that could be especially at risk. Many also Smaller manufacturers, which often into a component of the defence-industrial

depend on evaporating commercial sales to serve the automotive industry as well, are base,” said Mears.

supplement their defence work. most at risk, according to an analysis by Clark and Mears said they have heard from

Of 10,509 locations tracked or moni- Bloomberg Intelligence. suppliers that been adversely affected and

tored by the Pentagon’s Defence Contract “Lacking the financial wherewithal to survive may be interested in applying. But they are

Management Agency, 135 had closed at an extended downturn, a number of them will frozen until they receive Treasury’s guidance.

some point as of April 8. Of those, 49 had fail unless they get support from larger manu- The list potentially could go beyond even
reopened after an average of about 10 days. facturers or governments,” the report said. big contractors and their suppliers to include

The numbers, however, don’t reflect con- With aviation suppliers hit hard by coro- telecoms and utility companies, Clark said.

tractors that have cut back operations - or na virus outbreaks, knock-on effects could Pentagon officials said that they worry

the outsized effect of Boeing’s shutdowns. roil the defence supply chain, said Andrew that disruptions could force suppliers to

It has indefinitely halted assembly of the Hunter, the director of the Defence-In- turn to foreign investors to survive. The

KC-46 refuelling tanker and the P-8A Pose- dustrial Initiatives Group at the Centre for Defence Department didn’t respond to a

idon maritime patrol aircraft at its facili- Strategic and International Studies request seeking comment.

ties in the state of Washington, the initial in Washington. LOSING TECHNOLOGY
centre of the pandemic in the US. “Supply chains are like a web. When you

When national-security funding was have a disturbance somewhere it cans kind “It’s critically important that we understand

included in the stimulus package, some of ripple into other areas,” Hunter said. that during this crisis the DIB is vulnerable to
viewed it as earmarked for Boeing. The “If a company goes out of business, ev- adversarial capital,” Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s

money, however, comes with strings: com- eryone can be out of luck pretty quickly.” top acquisition official, told reporters, referring
panies must maintain 90% of their work- to the defence industrial base.
force and can’t buy back their own stock or PRODUCTION SLOWDOWNS “So we need to ensure companies can stay

pay dividends to shareholders. The National Defence Industrial Association in business without losing their technology.”
Publicly traded companies also have to said Pentagon contractors are experiencing Small defence suppliers could try to get

give up an equity stake or warrants to the production slowdowns due to stay-at-home loans through the (US) $349 billion pool
government, according to a Treasury out- orders and sick workers. the SBA oversees, but that programme has
line of the requirements. As a result, payments are delayed, been overwhelmed by demand and beset

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave though the Pentagon last month increased by glitches.

Calhoun has indicated the company won’t periodic payments to help contractors. Others may not yet know how much they

accept aid if it means giving the US an Samantha Clark and Zach Mears, who need because the effects of the virus are

equity stake. are tracking the rollout of the national-se- still playing out, said Robert Durbin, chief

curity money for aerospace and defence operating officer of the Aerospace Indus-
SUPPLY CHAIN companies at law firm Covington & Burling tries Association.

With Boeing also halting commercial jet LLP, said a broad array of companies could “It’s a very hard decision,” he said, “whether

assembly, the stoppage cascades through its potentially benefit. or not to make a move” and seek a loan. Q
supply chain, which includes General Electric, “It’s relatively open to those businesses

Spirit Aero Systems Holdings and Safran SA. that can make the justification that they fit Article courtesy: bloomberg.com

NEWS
SOMERSET ARMY HELICOPTERS
AID CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES
The Wildcats are undertaking Com- Royal Air Force helicopters from RAF
mand and Control support which entails Odiham and RAF Benson.

ritish army helicopters based in liaisons, moving and transporting small "The twin-engine multirole helicopter

BSomerset are at the forefront of groups of key personnel and small pack- is a high-performance platform with
the government's emergency responses ages of urgently required stores such as state-of-the-art systems."
to the coronavirus pandemic. medicines. Norman Bone, chairman of Leonar-
Three AW159 Wildcat helicopters, The helicopters are not only operated do UK, added: “Leonardo is proud to
based at RNAS Yeovilton, have been from Somerset, but they were also as- support the UK Ministry of Defence’s
deployed to support the UK Ministry of sembled in the county, at the Leonardo COVID-19 operations with its
Defence’s efforts in tackling the ongoing factory in Yeovilton AW159 Wildcat helicopters as the

spread of the virus. A Leonardo Helicopters spokesman country comes together to tackle
As the corona virus death toll in the said: "The Army Air Corps’ helicopters this pandemic."

UK increases, the local aircraft are pro- will be operating out of RNAS Yeovil- The Wildcat AW159 systems include

viding transportation in urgent response ton and will look to cover the South of a Leonardo Seaspray multi-mode elec-
missions across the south of England. England as required by the UK Govern- tronically-scanning (E-scan) radar, and
ment’s response to COVID-19 alongside integrated Defensive Aids Suite. Q
World Airnews | May 2020
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