Shortly thereafter, SABCA was joined with Sabena Aerospace under a new Belgium aerospace industry champion dubbed, Blueberry Group.

The new Blueberry Group sees uniting Sabena Aerospace and SABCA as the laying of a foundation of a Belgium centric aerospace ecosystem. Together the two firms now share complementary activities, market knowledge and an optimized industrial organization. SABCA, which specializes in manufacturing high-tech components for the aviation and space industry and in military aircraft MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul), strongly complements Sabena Aerospace’s offering, which is an international MRO player supporting passengers and cargo airlines and air forces in the maintenance of their fleets.

While combined under Blueberry, each company will maintain its independence with each firm being led by its own management team and business plan. The new structure was quickly put the test as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world in 2020. Here the operations are aiming to weather crisis thanks to the diversity of the commercial and military markets.

While commercial aviation has been hit hard by the crisis, defense has remained stable. In the defense sphere, SABCA is involved in the maintenance and overhaul of several aircraft, including the Mirage 5, Northrop F5, Fairchild-Republic A-10, Lockheed Martin F-16, and several helicopters. In fact, maintenance and overhaul work generates about 30 percent of the company's revenue. Looking ahead, Belgium has opted to procure the F-35, SABCA will share in any coproduction agreements.

The next few years will not doubt be difficult as commercial aerospace slowly rebounds. Nevertheless, to its credit, SABCA, has enough diversity to see it through this difficult period.

Source:  Forecast International Government & Industry Group
Associated URL: www.sabca.be/
Author: R. Pettibone, Gov't & Industry  

ARRC is NATO’s rapidly deployable headquarters that acts as a nerve center for operations and crisis response. CDW - the world’s largest IT technology enabler - and Viasat UK Ltd, a global leader in communication technologies, have partnered on the two-year program, which will enable a more survivable, maneuverable and deployable headquarters.

Program LELANTOS will involve regular technological innovation, as well as the wider digital transformation of HQ ARRC, and is part of a range of initiatives that demonstrate the U.K.’s continued commitment to the NATO alliance.

The program will exploit multiple streams of state-of-the-art and SME technology and will deliver enhancements to the battlefield both at home and deployed. Over the course of the program, decision-makers and technicians at the MoD, ARRC, CDW and Viasat will collaborate and develop integrated systems, making use of agile technical and commercial processes.

The program, originally referred to as ‘Agile C3 Experimentation’, was put out to open tender on the U.K. government’s procurement platform, the Crown Commercial Service. CDW and Viasat partnered to win the contract in a competitive tender.

Source:  CDW
Associated URL: Click here to visit
Author: CDW 

As an initial task under the MoU, Northrop Grumman will join Gilmour Space as an industry partner on a previously announced Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P) to develop composite rocket tanks for low cost space transport.

The CRC-P, which includes Griffith University and Etamax Engineering, will manufacture composite tanks up to two meters in diameter and trial them in rocket flights, in an effort to reduce weight and increase reliability.

Northrop Grumman recently sought expressions of interest from a range of Australian and New Zealand industry members, through the Industry Capability Network Gateway Portal, which included small businesses, with the goal to identify and collaborate with industry to develop Australian space capabilities.

Northrop Grumman has a strong customer base in Australia where it has been supporting numerous defense and civil programs for more than 20 years.

Source:  Northrop Grumman
Associated URL: news.northropgrumman.com