* A recent survey of 340 defense acquisition executives showed there's a widespread sense of pessimism about how government acquisitions are run. Ukraine/Russia * Over the weekend Russian forces overrun Ukraine's military presence in Crimea: FT | Kyiv Post. The...
* Bombardier's top executives told investors that a plan to build Q400 turboprop aircraft in Russia was being delayed. A letter of intent signed in August last year envisioned the sale of as many as 100 planes for more than $3B. * Reuters: Vladimir Putin looks to Asia...
* President Obama is "standing up for principle" and by the Ukrainian people, though "obviously" there is no military option on the table. * Ukraine is reportedly planning to withdraw its military personnel and their families from Crimea. Russia is also welcoming them...
* Russia didn't wait to claim Crimea as its own and seize by force Ukrainian military assets on the peninsula. As these friendly videos from China-owned CCTV hint, you can bet China is watching how the Western reaction unfolds and taking notes. India is watching too....
* Bloomberg reports another month of weak contracting at the Pentagon, with February awards (of $6.5M+) down 48% Y/Y to $12B. The Evolving US Defense Industry * Congresswoman Kay Granger [R-TX]: How Women Are Reshaping the Defense Industry. Lesson from Ukraine: Get...
* The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) updated its database to include 2013 arms sales, and sees China's share of international arms exports above France's, as China gained the 4 percentage points that France lost from the 2004-2008 period to...
MvD's JSS concept(click to view full) In January 2010, Damen Schelde announced a contract from the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation to build a 28,000t "Joint Logistic Support Ship" (JSS), which will become the HNLMS Karel Doorman. The vessel is scheduled to launch...
* The Undecided States Air Force (USAF) is organizing an industry day on April 2-3 at Hill AFB, UT, to discuss high resolution display systems for A-10 aircraft... that the service say they're going to retire. But then the Air Force had a last-minute change of heart...
* Dassault Aviation reported 16.4% Y/Y growth with 2013 sales at 4.59 billion euros ($6.4B). Defense accounts for 31% of total revenue, though 87% of that comes from just France. The recent workshare deal with HAL in India, confirmed by Dassault CEO Eric Trappier,...