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Tuesday April 4, 2017

// April 4th, 2017 // Comments Off on Tuesday April 4, 2017 // Daily News

Report suggests US offers Lockheed ‘multi-year’ deal for F-35 joint strike fighter

CNBC.com

F-35 Bravo Lightning II stand ready on the deck of amphibious assault ship USS Wasp for day two of the first phase operational testing in the Atlantic Ocean in this handout photo taken May 19, 2015 and provided by the U.S. Navy.
Lockheed Martin is getting offered a multi-year block buy for its F-35 aircraft in exchange for not objecting to its rival Boeing getting new orders from the Navy for the F/A-18 fighter, according to a report.
“It is common knowledge within the defense industry that Lockheed Martin employees are not to complain about the Navy’s plans to purchase another batch of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets because of a deal worked out by the president to push for a multi-year block buy of Lockheed Martin F-35s,” Dan Grazier, a defense industry expert at the Washington watchdog group Project On Government Oversight (POGO) wrote in a blog post Monday.
A Lockheed spokesman called the report “100 percent false.” Boeing and the Pentagon declined comment for this story.
Analysts have previously said a multi-year block buy could help Lockheed change the economics on the aircraft and help improve margins and lower costs. It also would give the company more leverage with its partner companies and supply base by providing a steady flow of work over several years.
Yet Grazier said the F-35 joint strike fighter program “legally does not qualify for a block buy. That’s the big problem with this.
The POGO analyst said he hasn’t seen any figures on a block buy price for the F-35.
“If this [F-35] block buy goes through, the United States taxpayers will be committed to buying about 33 percent of the planned buy of F-35s,” said Grazier. “We’re talking nearly 800 aircraft.”
To date, more than 200 F-35s are in operation by the U.S. armed forces and its seven partner nations. Earlier this year, Lockheed estimated that more than 3,000 of the aircraft would be purchased, with about 600 jets going to international allies.
Up to now, the government has purchased F-35 stealth aircraft under a series of so-called low-rate initial production agreements.
“They’re moving beyond low-rate initial production, but they’re just not saying that they’re doing it,” Grazier said. “That’s kind of the fuzzy gray area of legality that’s going on here.”
The F-35A variant, a conventional takeoff and landing plane, is expected to represent the majority of the aircraft produced. There’s also the F-35B variant for the Marines Corps capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, while the F-35C for the Navy is a carrier variant.
Last month, Lockheed and the Department of Defense agreed on a deal involving the tenth batch of F-35 aircraft, resulting in a savings of $728 million — a nearly 8 percent reduction in the price on the F-35C variant of the joint strike fighter.
Even so, the F-35C Navy variant under the tenth batch deal still was priced at $121.8 million, while the F-35A, or Air Force variant, was $94.6 million.
Grazier said his source within the defense industry indicated that there’s been a “tonal change” due to “a much larger deal worked out by President Donald Trump with Lockheed Martin and Boeing.”
The F-35 joint strike program, the largest weapons acquisition program in Pentagon history, is expected to cost more than a $1 trillion over its life cycle estimated at just over 50 years. While Lockheed is the prime contractor on the F-35, one of the major partner companies is Northrop Grumman. In all, there are more than 1,300 supplier companies nationwide for the F-35 program.
Since December, Trump has met several times to discuss the F-35 program with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson. He’s also met with Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenburg to discuss the company’s F/A-18 fighter and Air Force One replacement contact.
“The decision to purchase weapons should be based solely on the performance of the system, not on backroom political and business deals,” Grazier said in his blog.
If Boeing secures a new deal for its F/A-18 or gets an update on the plane, it could be good news for the company because it would be a shot in the arm for its tactical aircraft business and extend production of the jet.
“Heavy F-18 use and F-35 delays are straining the Navy fighter fleet and so we could see the service seeking perhaps a dozen more F-18’s annually over the next couple of years,” JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman said in a research note Friday.
According to Grazier, the F-35 doesn’t legally qualify for a multi-year block buy because it fails to meet all the required criteria. Specifically, one area it falls short in is a “stable design” requirement, the analyst said.
The F-35 has not completed the development phase yet so the design “is inherently unstable,” Grazier told CNBC in an interview. As an example, he said the F-35C engineers are having to “redesign the nose gear” due to a “vertical oscillation problem” during carrier launches. “It bounces a whole lot …and gives the pilots whip lash.”
In January, Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered a review of the F-35 program and how the government can reduce costs and options it might have with the F/A-18 manufactured by Boeing. He also ordered a review of Boeing’s presidential plane replacement program.
Reports suggest an upgraded F/A-18 — sometimes dubbed the Advanced Super Hornet — could come in at a cost lower the F-35C and feature new sensor technology and more range, among other things.
But Trump’s Air Force Secretary nominee, Heather Wilson, last week in Senate testimony for her confirmation questioned whether the F/A-18 can provide stealth features such as the fifth-generation F-35.
“The real thing I don’t think you could do with an F-18 or a F-15 or a F-16 is give it stealth capability retroactively,” Wilson said.
The nominee pointed out that the Chinese are developing stealth capability in fighters and added, “I don’t see how we can stop modernizing and expect to win a near-peer fight. I’d rather have that fight be unfair and be on our side.”

Today’s Inspiration

Have You Talked to God Today?

by Joyce Meyer – posted April 04, 2017

In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].
—Psalm 5:3

I think some people don’t begin their day talking to God because they don’t realize what a great honor and privilege it is to be invited to do so. We hear so often that we need to pray that perhaps we tend to over-spiritualize the idea and end up seeing it as something that is a job or an obligation rather than an honor.

It doesn’t have to be eloquent, or even necessarily long, but trying to live without it is foolish. It’s asking God to meet your need or someone else’s. It’s praising Him and thanking Him. It’s about committing things to Him and honestly sharing your worries and concerns with Him.

There is no subject off limits with God—you can talk to Him about anything without the fear of being misunderstood, judged critically, or reproached for your faults.

When we talk to God, we open the door for Him to come into our day—into our problems and situations—and do what we cannot do on our own. We are actually inviting the power of God into our lives. Talking to God about your life doesn’t immediately change your circumstance, but it does change something in you and it gives you the strength you need go through your day with a smile on your face. It helps you believe that you are not alone, and that is important for all of us.

Tuesday March 28, 2017

// March 28th, 2017 // Comments Off on Tuesday March 28, 2017 // Daily News

Surge in oil hedging could worsen US supply gut: Wood Mackenzie

CNBC.com
Oil jack pumps are pictured in the Kern River oil field in Bakersfield, Calif.
A surge in oil hedges will spur drilling activity in the U.S., Wood Mackenzie said in a report released on Monday, likely keeping a supply response in place longer than expected even if spot prices fall sharply.
“Those hoping that recent oil-price weakness will prompt U.S. producers to pull back drilling activity and ease the glut of oil supply may need to keep waiting,” said the consultancy.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded around $48 a barrel on Tuesday, some 15 percent lower year-to-date because of concerns over rising U.S. production and uncertainty over whether OPEC and other key producers will extend production cuts totaling nearly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) into the second half of the year. Brent oil prices traded around $51 a barrel, about 12 percent lower year-to-date.
But according to recent disclosures, producers have rushed to hedge, or lock in, oil prices above $50 a barrel after OPEC’s November announcement to cut production.
In its analysis of 33 of largest upstream companies with hedging programs, Wood Mackenzie found that the companies have added an annualized 648,000 barrels a day of new oil hedges since the fourth quarter of 2016, an increase of 33 percent from the third quarter of the year and more than in any of the previous four quarters.
“Those producers – most of which are highly exposed to U.S. (shale) – will use hedging gains to help plug any budget deficits caused by sub-$50 spot prices,” said Wood Mackenzie research analyst, Andy McConn .
Most of the new oil derivatives were added at strike prices between $50-$60 a barrel, he added.
But hedging’s effect on oil-supply fundamentals should not be overstated as most of the hedges will expire by 2018, McConn said.
“Oil futures prices must recover before producers can lock in prices over US$55 a barrel for next year, which is what we think is needed to organically fund significant (shale) oil production growth,” he said.

Today’s Inspiration

I Understand

by Joyce Meyer – posted March 28, 2017

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
—Hebrews 4:15

As human beings, we have a deep need to be understood. When we don’t receive it, we feel lonely. In listening to people share their hurt and pain, I find that the words “I understand” have a very soothing effect. I have told my husband, “Even if you don’t have a clue about what I am talking about, just tell me you understand, and it will make me feel a lot better.”

A man could not possibly understand PMS, but it is better for him if he appears to have understanding of his wife’s plight. She needs to be understood. She does not want to feel alone in her pain and struggle. One day my husband came in from trying to play golf. He had not had a good experience because his leg was hurting and swollen. He was not too happy about it. His golf game is really important to him, so I said, “I understand how you feel.” I offered him whatever help I could give physically, but my understanding seemed to help more than anything.

There have been times in the past when my attitude has been, “What’s the big deal? It’s only one round of golf. After all, you play all the time.” That attitude has started arguments and driven a wedge between us. He wants me to understand his needs, and I want him to understand mine.

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Hebrews 4:15, which teaches that Jesus is a High Priest who understands our weaknesses and infirmities because He has been tempted in every respect just as we have, yet He never sinned. Just knowing that Jesus understands makes me feel closer to Him. It helps me be vulnerable and trust Him. It helps me feel connected rather than lonely.