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The article focuses on a report from the 2008 Farnborough air show in Great Britain, which identified key themes and issues that will be on the agendas of industry executives, government officials and senior military leaders. As the F-35 testing program ramps in the fall of 2008, Lockheed Martin and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) partner nations are in the midst of a complicated situation to improve the pricing of the fighter before the Defense Department steps in with a stabilizing multiyear purchase beginning in 2014.

The article focuses on Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica SpA. When he took the helm in 2002, this Italian company seemed destined to operate in the shadows of the global aerospace/defense industry's industrial juggernauts. Guarguaglini will be the first to admit his work is far from over, despite the already considerable accomplishments. These include making Great Britain another "domestic" market for the Italian company by becoming the second-largest defense contractor there, and by winning competitions that at times seemed unwinnable.

The article examines the space programs of Italy and Great Britain. Italian cabinet minister Mariastella Gelmini states that the country's space agency will be spared most of the spending cuts being imposed on other agencies by the government. David Willets, Great Britain's cabinet officer for space, says that his priority will be cooperation with other countries and with the aerospace industry.

The article presents information on the problems regarding the partnership in the aeronautic industry between Great Britain and the United States. It reflects that while Pentagon claims problems are close to resolution Great Britain finds fault in the U.S. handling of industrial partnership. It observes that the Anglo-American feuding over the Joint Strike Fighter threatens to spill over into the wider transatlantic relationship. Great Britain is leading the assault on Washington over the contentious issue of technology access on the Joint Strike Fighter with other program partners, such as Australia, in support.

The article reports that the British Defense Ministry and industry are pursuing a novel design of active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon. The work was undertaken as an element of the Advanced Radar Targeting System (ARTS) demonstrator project. Led by Qinetiq, with Selex providing the AESA, the radar was integrated on a Tornado GR4A, with trials carried out in Great Britain and using ranges in the U.S.

Lofty equipment aspirations and base financial reality will confront some of Europe's main defense players with critical choices over the coming months. Following in the wake of Germany's budgetary woes, Great Britain and Italy are now struggling with defense-expenditure dilemmas. Rome is being forced to curtail and delay acquisition programs, while in London, England, the ministry is grappling with both short-and long-term financial difficulties. In Great Britain, the government is trying to paper over a short-term defense funding problem, while the Defense Ministry faces considerable difficulty resolving a mismatch between available resources and requirements in its medium-to-long-term equipment program.

Rolls-Royce PLC is relying on naval and industrial versions of its Trent and RB211 aeroengine lines, until the commercial aerospace business recovers. Some relief is expected to come from the engine maintenance, repair and overhaul business, which accounted for roughly $2 billion in sales last year. Following a spurt of acquisitions, notably the purchase of Vickers in 1999, marine systems now represent 17% of group revenues and energy systems, 11%. In 2002, while both commercial engine and defense businesses declined, marine system revenues expanded to 984 million pounds from 827 million pounds a year earlier. In April 2003 Rolls formed a teaming arrangement with French naval shipyard DCN to jointly market the WR-21 and other marine propulsion systems in France, Great Britain and third-party markets.

The article discusses factors that could reduce exports by European defense and aerospace companies. Political unrest in Africa and the Middle East could result in governments imposing export restrictions for those regions. In Great Britain legislators have demanded that exports to Saudi Arabia be examined more closely.

The article discusses a proposal by international companies AgustaWestland and Thales to build a version of the AW101 Merlin to meet Great Britain's maritime surveillance and control aircraft requirement. An overview of the companies' plans to shift the Cerberus mission system from the Royal Navy's Sea King Mk7 airborne surveillance and control helicopter to the Merlin is presented.

The article reports on speculations that the next orders of the four Eurofighter nations for the Typhoon combat aircraft will be halved. Germany, Italy, Spain and the Great Britain are in the final stages of Tranche 3 negotiations, which was originally meant to total 236 aircraft for the four nations. In addition, the partner nations have tasked Eurojet to consider engine enhancements to reduce the overall lifetime cost on the aircraft.

The article considers the potential military projects of Finmeccanica in the U.S., Great Britain and Italy in 2009. The company expects the projects to continue driving strong growth. In March 2009, the Italian defense company posted a 19 percent increase in net profit to & euro;621 million in 2008. According to Finmeccanica Chairman/chief executive officer (CEO) Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and order guidelines for 2009-2010 will be adjusted upward.

The article reports that enhancing the multirole capability of the Eurofighter Typhoon is now a priority of the four partner nations, including Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Senior military sources suggest that an agreement could be reached early in the second quarter of 2009 between the countries. The Tranche 3 standard would provide the basis to further expand the aircraft's capabilities.

The article reports on the plan of Great Britain and Italy to send Tornado strike aircraft to Afghanistan to support combat operations. The Royal Air Force will use the GR4 at Kandahar to provide a period of respite and recuperation for Harrier units, which have been in theater since September 2004. Italy is considering sending a Tornado detachment in response to a NATO request for additional air capability for its International Security Assistance Force.

The article reports that Finmeccanica is starting to more closely integrate its defense electronics activities, but a single operating unit will not emerge for some time because of residual problems with some of the businesses. Selex Galileo will be the core of Finmeccanica electronics operations, although for now it serves this purpose in name only. Two entities, Galileo Avionica in Italy and Selex in Great Britain will remain as operating entities.

The article reports on the difficulty faced by AugustaWestland in choosing a location for a Boeing Chinook final assembly line. The company is facing a politically sensitive choice of where to locate the assembly line, driven by the need for additional special forces and heavy-lift helicopters in Italy and Great Britain. The authors state that a European line, either in Italy or Great Britain, could address other regional sales opportunities and function as a modification center for the Chinook.

The article reports on the funding of the Production Sustainment and Follow-on Development (PSFD) phase of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, which involves appropriations from the governments of Italy, Great Britain and Turkey. Italian defense sources suggest their country will invest around $1 billion over the 40-year PSFD period. Great Britain and Turkey are expected to allocate sizable budget for the U.S. project.

The article presents information on the upgrade program of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. With the development projects and fielding of aircraft moving ahead apace, industrial partners are now focused on charting detailed plans for the program's evolution. The British effort has been contentious because other partners didn't want to move those features forward. In the end, officials decided to let Great Britain go ahead on its own. It will introduce the added capabilities in late 2007 or early 2008 on a small number of Tranche 1 Eurofighters, which will be in the Block 5 post-full operational capability standard.

This article reports that the British military faces a sharp reduction in the number of helicopters it will be allowed to buy, with the Army's plan for a battlefield reconnaissance helicopter under the heaviest attack. Acquisition numbers for the so-called Land Find element of its Future Rotorcraft Capability will only be around half of the Army's original target. The initial plan called for the Army to procure 100 Battlefield Light Utility Helicopters. The Defense Ministry has been in talks with Agusta Westland to meet both the Land Find and companion Maritime Attack requirements. The Future Lynx has been earmarked to fulfill both roles. The total procurement would be for about 70 helicopters, British and Italian industry officials suggest, about 30 of which would go to the Navy for the Maritime Attack role. The Defense Ministry has been forced to delay and rewrite elements of its helicopter acquisition plan on a number of occasions, primarily for budgetary reasons.

The article informs that as the last of Italy's Panavia Tornado air defense aircraft are back in Britain, this role is being met solely by Lockheed Martin F-16s. The first of the 24 Tornados leased from Great Britain entered service in 1995, and the Italian air force accumulated 22,500 hr. During the Kosovo conflict in 1999, Italy flew 233 combat sorties using the type (pictured below). In total, 34 aircraft have been delivered. F-16s was flown to Italy in late November 2004, with the type beginning to be flown operationally from December.

The sale of 10 aircraft to European charter carriers furthers the Boeing 7E7 sales team's drive to identify the medium-sized long-haul aircraft as a choice for those seeking low operating costs. Boeing said orders by Italy's Blue Panorama and Great Britain's First Choice Airways for four and six aircraft, respectively, carry a combined list price value of $1.2 billion and raise the aircraft's order total to 62. Boeing expects to bolster that number with major orders from Europe's better known brands, such as Lufthansa German Airlines AG and Aer Lingus. But these orders underscore the value of new engines and a lighter airframe that Boeing's sales pitch emphasizes when the 7E7 is compared to current-generation competitors, including its own 757/767 models and the Airbus A330-200.

Private financing of defense contracts is proving a considerable headache for EADS, which has seen negotiations over one multibillion-dollar German contract suspended, and the fate of another, this time in Great Britain, hanging in the balance. The German government last week suspended negotiations with EADS on the multibillion-dollar Herkules defense communications program. The suspension follows a big squabble over Great Britain's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program — based on the Airbus A330-200 — for which the British Defense Ministry is also threatening to end negotiations. Discussing the collapse of the German negotiations, EADS officials said the two sides were unable to come to financial terms, primarily because of" legal restrictions" in German procurement law.

Eurofighter partner nations are struggling to trade off weapon and system integration, cost and schedules as they try to agree on the most important phase of the program so far. With Elements of Tranche 2 negotiations, covering 236 aircraft, certain to drag on into the second half of 2004, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain are not now expected to ink a contract until the end of the year. The initially determined EOC 1, planned for introduction in 2008, includes integration of the Raytheon Enhanced Paveway II GPS/laser-guided bomb, along with a designation pod.

Bringing to a close a fractious interdepartmental debate, the British government has finally opted to purchase a next-generation Hawk jet trainer from BAE Systems PLC, but the costs will have to be met by an already overstressed equipment budget. The government announced on July 30 that it was to go ahead with buying up to 44 Hawk 128 jet trainer aircraft, only the day before BAE Systems PLC was to start the process of laying off employees at the production site that manufactures the aircraft.

The British Defense Ministry is scrutinizing future combat aircraft numbers, including the Eurofighter Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter in preparing a key policy document to be released toward the end of 2003. Negotiations among the partners, Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, covering the Tranche 2 production run, should also see a contract sealed before the turn of the year. Britain is the largest participant in the Typhoon program, with 232 of the total of 620 aircrafts. The emphasis on Typhoon is now on its development as a genuine multirole platform, rather than as an air-superiority fighter with a secondary air-to-surface competence.

The British Defense Ministry is set to decline any French overture to collaborate on a Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle(UCAV), a move that may mark a watershed in Europe's development of next-generation combat platforms. France is looking to place an unmanned combat air vehicle at the very heart of a multinational military air combat systems effort, the European Technology Acquisition Program (ETAP). The remaining ETAP partners, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, are highly unlikely to be given similar access to the U.S. technology, with political and industrial imperatives propelling the development of a European UCAV, but without British participation at the national level.

The article presents the highlights of the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in February 2011. General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Inc. was able to finalize a deal with United Arab Emirates-based defense firm Golden Group for its Predator and Predator B/Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). ITT Defense showcased its model of a surveillance satellite. Great Britain launched its Light Protected Patrol Vehicle project, the Force Protection Ocelot and the Supacat SPV400.

The article reports on the prudent approach adopted by some European countries to reducing defense budgets. Exceptional measures are being taken by Great Britain, Spain, Greece, and Portugal as they are facing the most pressure to reduce national deficits. The number of European military personnel has been reduced from 3.5 million in 2001 to 2.3 million in 2009.

The article reports on the strength of marine forces of various countries worldwide. Marines are amphibious, that is, they are able to operate in land and water, assault armed forces that act as first responders when governments extend power, says the article. Great Britain maintains a brigade level Royal Marines force and an amphibious naval force. Taiwan has a marine force of 35,000 troops whose mission is to repel an invasion by China. South Korea has a 25,000 naval infantry that would defend the country or attack North Korea.

The article reports on the move of the British Defense Ministry to start deploying the first airborne thermal-imaging cameras from Selex Galileo with advanced Albion technology. During an upgrade in June 2010, the Royal Air Force (RAF) Chinook helicopters were equipped with Titan 385ES-HD airborne turrets containing high-definition SLX Merlin medium-waveband, that is, 3-5-micron, infrared (IR) cameras that use Albion detectors, says the article. The cost of the contract is £10-million contract for 21 new turrets and four upgrades, adds the article.