"We’re already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine in the UK, where we have more than 1,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS program and major infrastructure investment underway," BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said.
"Rheinmetall didn't build a Boxer factory in Australia as an act of charity. They did it because we paid them to do it," Marcus Hellyer, an Australian defense acquisition expert, told Breaking Defense. "That gives them the capacity to now build stuff for Germany and that will mean that there will be jobs in Australia."
"So that's one thing I would encourage the [Australian] government to do, is be transparent as possible on what the plans ahead are so industry can can respond and be ready," Northrop Grumman executive Tom Wears said.
"The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia and the AUKUS legislation actually sets that out quite specifically," former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.
The US Army chief, Gen. Randy George, offered an intriguing possible win for AUKUS Pillar 2: "a common controller" for unmanned systems, allowing the three allies to exchange systems.
"The reforms will deliver, in our judgment...a net decrease in regulatory compliance costs, and actually expand the amount of research that can occur internationally without a permit," Hugh Jeffrey, Australia's deputy secretary of strategy, policy, and industry, said today.
Pyongyang seeks "direct military assistance from Russia to include fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and ballistic missile production equipment," said Mira Rapp Hooper, the White House's top advisor on the Korean peninsula,
COVID-19 stalled defense programs, so money moves from last year to this, giving Singapore defense spending a single year bump of over 12 percent.
"From my last two years of work advocating for more military aid for Ukraine, it is evident that the biggest hand brake is hesitancy in the Department of Defense,” Kateryna Argyrou, co-chair of the main Ukrainian NGO in Australia, said.
Breaking Defense talks with Chua Jin Kiat, executive vice president for international defense for ST Engineering, about the company's foreign sales goals.
Partners are "looking for clear answers in a reasonable time,” DSCA Deputy Director Michael Miller told Breaking Defense.
Japan brought 14 companies to the Singapore Airshow, the first non-Japanese airshow the government has displayed arms at since loosening export controls.
“The US Marines have discussed our 10-seater,” Leon Tan, general manager at ST Engineering told Breaking Defense.
Negotiations with the US Air Force over the cost of the E-7 Wedgetail are still ongoing, a Boeing executive confirmed at the Singapore Airshow.
The aircraft has six hard points, two bays for sensors and a total carrying load, including fuel, of 260kg.