Unfunded US Shipbuilding
* The Congressional Budget Office’s report [PDF] on the the Navy’s 2014-43 shipbuilding plan [PDF] notes that it is slightly less money-hungry than the previous year’s 30-year plan, but the plan remains about “one-third higher than the funding amounts that the Navy has received in recent decades.” The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces will hear its author Eric J. Labs at its hearing today (2pm ET). Ronald O’Rourke, the lead naval analyst at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), will be there too, here’s his latest meta report [PDF] on the plan. (All these documents and their predecessors are in our Google Drive repository.)
Unscheduled US Army Radios
* The US Army postponed until further notice its industry day to discuss Land Mobile Radio (LMR) acquisition.
Unwanted Innovation?
* Is increased use of lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) contract structures by the US federal government going to stifle innovation and reward the lowest bidder instead of the best value?
Prime Earnings
* Northrop Grumman’s Q3 2013 sales were down 2.6% Y/Y to $6.1B. Electronic Systems was the only growing division (+4%) while Information Systems continued to lose ground as they have done over the last 3 years or so (at NG and elsewhere). This puts IS quarterly sales at a level almost 25% lower than as recently as 2009/2010.
* United Technologies reported Q3 revenue up 3% to $15.5B, with strong commercial growth in China. Military aerospace sales however were down 14%. Sikorsky delivered 42 military aircraft, 10 less than a year ago, while Pratt & Whitney shipped 25 military engines vs. 39 in Q3 2012. Earnings conference call [PDF]. On background: An Uncommonly Cohesive Conglomerate.
Worst and Best of Russian Military
* 6 soldiers died and 2 were wounded on Monday in a shell explosion at a training range in Strugi Krasnye, in western Russia. A similar incident happened at the very same range in April 2011, among an alarming string of explosions at Russian bases and depots in recent years. ITAR-TASS.
* Today’s video shows aerobatics performed with a Mi-28N attack helicopter:
