Why the NORAD inventory might be the US and Canada’s Achilles’ heel
Both the US and Canada operate Cold War-era capabilities which cannot defeat today’s and tomorrow’s threats.
Air Berlin has agreed with Boeing a plan to revise its order book to account for a change in market conditions and in order to meet Air Berlin’s specific operative requirements.
The pair have agreed on a reduction of the number of firm 787 orders from 25 to 15 and to reduce the number of 787 options from 10 to 5. The 10 aircraft order reduction has a current list price of approximately $1.7 billion.
The agreement also provides that the delivery of nine Boeing 737s will be rescheduled to 2015. These aircraft were originally scheduled for delivery in 2010 or 2011.
Ulf Hüttmeyer, Air Berlin’s CFO, remarked, "With a partnership spirit we have mutually agreed with Boeing to adjust the Air Berlin order book to meet Air Berlin’s operational requirements and the market conditions. The agreement with Boeing demonstrates that Air Berlin believes in the future of the 787 aircraft. We look forward to the first delivery in November 2015. For Air Berlin, the agreement means a significant reduction of its financial obligations due to lower and much more distributed investment profile."
Both the US and Canada operate Cold War-era capabilities which cannot defeat today’s and tomorrow’s threats.
Air defence systems are continuing to appear top of countries’ shopping lists but broadly across different capabilities it is a sellers’ market, as demonstrated by backlogs and double-digit percentage point growth.
Mike Moran, Director of US Government Business at Amazon Project Kuiper Government Solutions, highlighted the evolution of space as a critical warfighting domain at the Defence in Space Conference (DISC) 2025, held this week in London.
In May this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the government plans to position Germany as “Europe's strongest conventional army”. A new blueprint outlines how this is going to occur through massive investment.
Two of the concrete projects outlined in the readiness report, the European Air Shield and Space Shield, will aim to be launched by Q2 2026.
The country has allocated RM21.70 billion for defence spending next year, with some major procurements set to be initiated across the country’s army, navy and air force.