Rapid Fire Dec. 19, 2012: British Reform, Nuclear Deterrent

Dec 19, 2012 10:20 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

• The British government submitted its 2012 report [PDF] to parliament on the future nuclear deterrent, noting the ramp up in public and private resources via an Integrated Programme Management Team (IPMT).
• Lord Levene, a former chief of defence procurement now at the UK’s House of Lords and Chairman of General Dynamics UK, submitted a report [PDF] that notes strong progress from the Ministry of Defence against recommendations [PDF] made in favor of defense reform 18 months ago.
• General David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff [UK MoD] in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute:

“[A]s spending has tightened, we must be ruthless in our requirements and getting the most from them. Effectively targeting limited resources is, in large part, the art of military command in war and in peace through force design.

The new UK Joint Expeditionary Force is an expression of this. The JEF promises much greater levels of integration than previously achieved especially when combined with others, as is already happening with our French allies in the Anglo/French Combined JEF. [...]

Though more conceptual work is needed, given the importance of the region and clear Prime Ministerial intent, I envisage two or more adaptable brigades forming close tactical level relationships with particular countries in the Gulf and Jordan.”

• Dassault Aviation appointed Eric Trappier to replace retiring Charles Edelstenne as Chairman and CEO. A former French Navy officer, Trappier, 52, has been involved in numerous international negotiations over his carrier at Dassault. Loïk Segalen, also 52, was appointed COO.

• Raytheon announced they completed a Full Rate Production (FRP) review by the US Navy for the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT; DOTE report | SAR).

• A huge backlog of unaudited contracts has built up at the Defense Contract Audit
  

Agency (DCAA) in recent years. This year the agency started implementing a triage system based on high dollar value and/or high risk assessment. The GAO reviewed that initiative and thinks it’s too early to tell whether DCAA is on its way out of the woods.

• Brazil and Peru have set up a bilateral working group to assess potential joint defense programs or sales. Ministério da Defesa [in Portuguese] | Ministerio de Defensa [in Spanish]