Defense contractors are reopening despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but a slowdown is still expected for the next several months, a top Pentagon official said on Monday.

"Out of 10,509 companies [the Defense Contract Management Agency] tracks, we are down to two closed, and 267 companies having closed and reopened," Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters at a press briefing.

"Out of 11,413 companies DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] tracks, 31 are closed with 661 having closed and reopened," Lord said.

Those still closed tend to be smaller contractors, she added, with the weapons programs sector most impacted in the April-to-June time frame.

In April, Lord said that the aviation, shipbuilding and small space launch sectors have been most impacted by the pandemic.

"We see an enormous amount of recovery in the defense industrial base," she said on Monday. "It depends on location and what type of work is being performed, but there is enormous progress coming back."

Through the Defense Production Act, $472 million in funding has been allocated for civilian medical resources, and another $320 million in allocations was announced to help strengthen essential defense industrial base capabilities.

"We don't know what that new normal will be on speed, but we see an enormous amount of recovery," Lord said.

She added that the Defense Department is tracking a potential three-month delays which could negatively impact major defense programs, but did not offer examples.

Air Force rolling out new Sig Sauer M18s to replace M9 pistols
Washington DC (UPI) Jun 23, 2020 - The U.S. Air Force announced on Monday that it has started fielding the M18 Modular Handgun System to its security forces, replacing the last of its M9 pistols.

The new, 9mm semi-automatic handgun will be distributed to all Air Force groups which have a handgun requirement. Deliveries will be completed by August 2022, the Air Force said in a statement.

The Air Force Life Cycle Small Arms Program Office will receive 125,000 M18s from weapons maker Sig Sauer Inc. in a $22.1 million contract, which it started issuing last March.

"It is important for the U.S. Air Force to move forward with improvement and replacement of weapon systems to keep pace with potential adversaries and field the best technology and equipment available for our warfighters," Brian Lautzenheiser, lead small arms program manager, said in a press release.

The M18 will become the standard sidearm for all U.S. military branches, and cost the Air Force one-third that of an M9.

The new pistols are largely made of polymer, replacing all-metal pistols. With 17-round and 21-round magazines, it marks the ends of military six-shooters, formerly the primary sidearm of military police units.

The new handgun will also supplant the remaining Smith & Wesson M15 in use by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.The bulky M15, a relic from the Cold War, is harder to conceal than the M18.

"The USAF Small Arms Program Office has worked with the Army to get these new weapons on contract and in the hands of the warfighters," Lautzenheiser said.

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
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French court orders jail terms for six over 1990s arms deal kickbacks
Paris (AFP) June 15, 2020
A Paris court on Monday found three former senior French government officials and three others guilty on charges involving millions of euros in kickbacks from arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in 1994. The court handed the men prison sentences of two to five years over the so-called "Karachi affair" which has dogged former prime minister Edouard Balladur, facing trial separately on charges he used the kickbacks to help fund his failed 1995 presidential bid. They were the first convi ... read more