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Daily Rapid Fire

Remington secures funding to file Chapter 11 | BAE Systems adds financing deal to Malaysian Eurofighter offer | Finland’s Dragon Shield “operational”

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Americas * Firearms manufacturer Remington announced Monday that it has reached a deal with creditors that will allow it to file for bankruptcy to slash its $950 million debtload. The agreement grants Remington $145 million in bankruptcy financing to fund the company through the Chapter 11 process. Remington plans to file bankruptcy in US Bankruptcy […]
Americas

* Firearms manufacturer Remington announced Monday that it has reached a deal with creditors that will allow it to file for bankruptcy to slash its $950 million debtload. The agreement grants Remington $145 million in bankruptcy financing to fund the company through the Chapter 11 process. Remington plans to file bankruptcy in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, seeking to write off about $700 million in debt. Business operations including employee wages and benefits and payments to trade creditors will continue as usual through the bankruptcy, the company said. Colt, a well known competitor of Remington, emerged from bankruptcy in 2016 following a dip in sales after the loss of military contracts and falling sales in sports rifles. Remington was abandoned by some of its investors after one of its Bushmaster rifles was used in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.

* The US Navy awarded BAE Systems Friday, February 9, a $22.7 million contract to conduct repairs onboard USS Chafee. Under the terms of the agreement, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer will have its military and technical capabilities improved and upgraded, with a particular focus on the main engine intake and uptake compartment structural repairs, along with topside preservation. Work will take place at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, running until September 2018.

Middle East & Africa

* A USAF contract awarded by the Pentagon Friday, February 9, has tasked Spartan Air Academy Iraq with establishing an air training academy for the Iraqi air force. Valued at $45 million, the contract will see Spartan—based out of Addison, Texas—establish a flight training school at Balad Air Base, which is located about 40 miles north of Baghdad. The academy will be completed by February 2019. In April 2017, the US State Department named Spartan as the lead contractor in a $1.05 billion Foreign Military Sale that includes: pilot training; maintenance training; and contractor logistical services support for C-172, C-208, and T-6 aircraft for up to five years to include contractor aircraft modification; repair and spare parts; publications; aircraft ferry; and miscellaneous parts, along with training base operation support, base life support, security, construction, and other related elements of program support.

* Northrop Grumman received a $75 million contract from Saudi Arabia to deliver Joint Threat Emitter (JTE) support services. A Northrop statement says the JTE “offers realistic warfighter training and provides a modern, reactive battlespace environment that trains military personnel to identify and counter enemy missile and artillery threats. It is a robust and ruggedized system that is easily relocated, reactive to aircrew/aircraft for fast-jet, fixed-wing and rotary-wing defensive measures, and can be rapidly reprogrammed with new threat parameters.” According to the DoD release, work under the contract will be carried out in Buffalo, New York, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is expected to be completed by 21 September 2023.

Europe

* Documents seen by Reuters show an agreement between Airbus and seven NATO nations that allows the airframer to deliver the A400M without some of its promise features. The accord allows Airbus to negotiate deals with the individual buyers—which include Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey—so that some of the complex add-on features can be removed from the official specifications. However, it was unclear what complex add-on features—known as “permanent non-compliance” items—could be removed from the transport plane’s specifications as they were not listed in the document. In return for these concessions, the Airbus has pledged to provide “all necessary support and resources to the A400M program,” after delivery delays and issues with some technology has pushed the program’s budget beyond the original $24.5 billion. Both Airbus and the NATO purchasers were unavailable for comment.

* Dragon Shield, an airborne surveillance system developed by Lockheed Martin for the Finnish Defense Forces has been deemed operational, a Lockheed press release announced Friday. The platform achieved its final operational capability milestone after a series of flight tests that “evaluated compliance of the aircraft to civilian and military airworthiness requirements as well as system requirements verification,” Lockheed said. Work involved integrating a containerized surveillance system that rolls on and off on a Airbus CASA C-295 cargo aircraft and also features an open, modular architecture that enables future upgrades to be easily added. Dragon Shield will allow Finland to collect electronic intelligence, communications or signals intelligence capabilities in order to enhance situational awareness for the aircrew and provide command and control nodes with better imagery intelligence.

* The Austrian Defense Ministry has announced that the government has handed over its findings on suspect money flows related to its 2003 purchase of Eurofighter jets to international bodies including the US Department of Justice. “Foreign authorities were informed about the results of the defense ministry’s investigation in the context of the international fight against corruption. The Department of Justice has also been informed,” it said, adding that the documents were handed over two months ago. The sale is being investigated by Austrian prosecutors over allegations of fraud against Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium based on earlier complaints from the defense ministry. Austria is seeking up to 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in compensation, while the consortium dismiss any wrongdoing, calling the accusations politically motivated. Another investigation into the sale by German prosecutors, was closed after Airbus agreed to pay fines nearing $99 million.

Asia-Pacific

* BAE Systems has offered the Malaysian government a UK government-sanctioned financing deal, if Kuala Lumpur selects the Eurofighter Typhoon as its new fighter jet. “We have an offer on the table…It’s competitively priced and we have offered UK government financing so the Malaysian government can spread the payment over a longer period,” Alan Garwood, the Group Business Development Director for BAE Systems, said from the Malaysian capital. “We can offer training, local partnership and lots of jobs,” he added. Malaysia could buy as many as 18 fighters in a $2 billion program to replace its MiG-29 fighters, with Dassault’s Rafale also in the running for selection. However, a decision on the acquisition has been delayed until after elections, which much be held by August.

Today’s Video

* Russia tests PRC-1M (53T6M) anti-ballistic missile:

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