Rapid Fire August 5, 2013: TCI Wants EADS Out of Dassault

Aug 05, 2013 12:40 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), an hedge fund known for its “shareholder activism”, wants EADS to sell its 46% stake of Dassault Aviation. They’ll need the French government to agree.

The US Navy’s information-centric SPAWAR acquisition command presented their budget outlook [PDF] at an industry day last week. Their R&D spending has lost more than 50% in 2 years, as their focus is shifting towards modernizing and sustaining existing platforms.

Kelly Ortberg, Rockwell Collins’ new CEO, thinks sequestration is here to stay and is “almost to the point where I’d rather get to the bottom quickly.”

ITT Exelis’ Q2 2013 sales were down by 7% to $1.3B. However their orders bounced back from a year ago. By the end of the year they’ll be known simply as “Exelis.”

The US Army Research Laboratory is testing a device that tries to offload the weight of a helmet – and whatever might be affixed to it – onto the shoulders. They’re not showing them with anyone wearing a backpack though.

The US military is still flush with enough money to have not just one but two teams paid to worry about the Army’s marketing and branding. Their latest output: Army Regulation 601–208 [PDF], which we hereby rename as “The Army Furlough-Begging Program.” Self-assessed as “cost effective” of course.

Helicopters in Israel’s Air Force will soon have electronic manuals onboard instead of printed material. The US Air Force is testing similar changes in some of its aircraft.

Indian manufacturing and infrastructure giants such as L&T, Tata, or Mahindra, are looking at the defense home market with interest. SKIL Group subsidiary Pipavav Defence is aiming to raise at least $150M in the London Stock Exchange.

Chinese troops seem to continue their shenanigans along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) separating them from India.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shook up the top ranks of Turkey’s military over the weekend, while today Ilker Basbug, a former Chief of the General Staff, was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to stage a coup – alongside many other suspects – against Erdogan 11 years ago.

The death of an army conscript a month ago led to massive protests in Taiwan and the replacement of its defense minister.

Cyprus’ former defense minister was sentenced to 5 years in prison for negligent manslaughter as a gunpowder explosion killed 13 people in 2011.

Germany’s Bundeswehr calls its withdrawal from Afghanistan a Mammutprojekt (video in German). The video below released last month by Mabe gives a much longer overview of the logistics involved (it’s also in German but Youtube provides automatic translated subtitles in the language of your choice):

Categories: Airbus, Asia - Central, China, Corporate Financials, Daily Rapid Fire, Europe - Other, Germany, India, Industry & Trends, Israel, Logistics, Marketing & Advertising, Official Reports, People, Scandals & Investigations, Soldier's Gear, Turkey, USA

Rapid Fire August 5, 2013: TCI Wants EADS Out of Dassault

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