Sued from Orbit: SpaceX and the EELV Contract

SpaceX Falcon

On April 25/14, aerospace innovator SpaceX filed suit in US Federal District Court against the US government and the firm’s ULA competitor. Their legal challenge centers around the USAF’s multi-year sole-source, 36-core EELV contract with ULA, which was finalized on Dec 16/13. SpaceX claims that the USAF changed the rules for eligibility mid-stride, bent its own rules to remove planned competitive launches, locked in a contract with secret terms that further restrict competition, and made commitments that will cost the USA more than $6 billion.

The suit is significant enough that upon review, DID has expanded our coverage, and decided to dedicate a specific article to the suit as a single point of reference.

Thailand Nixes Second-Hand U206 Submarine Deal – But Stands up a Sub Squadron

German U206A

At the end of March 2011 Jane’s reported that the Thai government had agreed to buy 2 of Germany’s retired Type 206A diesel electric submarines, for a bargain price of about $220 million. There was reportedly an agreement in principle, with funding expected in the FY 2012 defense budget. Changes of government, and the real commitment needed to have a submarine force, kept that report from becoming a reality.

The Thais remained interested, but international competition has emerged for the German boats, and the deal finally unraveled entirely. That leaves an interesting asset on the global market. At just 500 tonnes submerged displacement, the 48.6m long U206 boats are among the world’s smallest attack submarines:

Modi Government Rolls Out First Budget, Wants Faster Procurement and Better Logistics

• India’s new government introduced its 2014-15 budget with a focus on economic growth and public deficit reduction. Defense sees a 12% increase to Rs 2,29,000 crore (about $38.2B). The Indian press was surprised by finance (and defense) minister Arun Jaitley‘s taste for small budget allocations to a high number of initiatives (Rs 100 crore means 1 billion rupees or less than $17M). Jaitley intends to speed up defense procurement, as well as improve logistical access to border areas. The government also confirmed the lift in the limit to foreign direct investment in defense firms from 26% to 49%.

• Britain’s foreign minister William Hague was in India earlier this week where he pitched the Eurofighter since the Rafale deal has still not been finalized. In the meantime the UK got a £250M ($428M) order for MBDA ASRAAMs to equip the IAF’s Jaguars. India is also equipping their Jaguars with GPS-guided tank-killing cluster bombs.

• India’s government announced a $100M line of credit to support the sale of defense items to Vietnam.