AUSA Winter: US industrial base facing reductions
The defence land systems manufacturing base in the US is facing rapid downsizing as the wars, first in Iraq and now Afghanistan come to a close.
Speaking at the AUSA Winter 2014 conference in Huntsville, Alabama, Mark Signorelli, BAE System’s VP of combat vehicle systems, said that since the peak for wartime production ‘we have experienced a 75% reduction in staff’.
However, he noted that this was not all just because of the wartime peak and that ‘from 2013-14 we will see a 45% reduction in manufacturing hours and a 61% reduction in engineering hours’.
He said that the levels
Already have an account? Log in
Want to keep reading this article?
More from Land Warfare
-
![DSEI 2025: Polaris displays new all-terrain vehicle with Alakran mortar system]()
DSEI 2025: Polaris displays new all-terrain vehicle with Alakran mortar system
The Polaris Government and Defense’s Military RZR (MRZR) Alpha 1KW was displayed at the Modern Day Marine exposition in the US earlier this year and with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system at DSEI. The company outlined recent firing trials with the Alakran mobile mortar weapon system (MMWS) which was weeks after the company announced a major NATO deal.
-
![DSEI 2025: Thales creating new remote weapon station and Storm 2 counter-drone jammer]()
DSEI 2025: Thales creating new remote weapon station and Storm 2 counter-drone jammer
Thales launched Storm-H in 2012 as an EW system equipping individual dismounted troops, and a decade later revealed details to develop the improved and more powerful Storm 2.
-
![The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating]()
The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating
Drones and military ground vehicles are increasingly being designed to operate together as a single platform or even to convert crewed systems to automated ones.
-
![Denmark shuns US platform as it settles on SAMP/T air defence system]()
Denmark shuns US platform as it settles on SAMP/T air defence system
The acquisition, which is part of the country’s broader defence package worth DKK58 billion (US$9.2 billion), goes against the grain with many other European countries opting for the US’s popular Patriot platform.
