Dean Vlahopoulos, principal deputy general counsel, and Jorge Aguilera, weapons policy analyst, both from the DSCA, maintained that the US viewed offsets as "inefficient and market-distorting”, at the same time admitting the irony in its involvement in administering offsets, when domestic industry indulged in such transactions. However, Vlahopoulos remarked that there is a “new sort of wind” in the US, propelling a new look at offsets.
Malaysia has moved from a credit value–based industrial collaboration policy to an outcome-based one. Under the new approach, Malaysia will not measure the offset projects in terms of its credit value but, rather, on the outcome the project creates for its local industry.
South Korea and Peru have signed several MoUs to enhance bilateral defence industry collaboration. Hyundai Heavy Industries and Peru’s state-owned shipyard, SIMA, signed an MoU for joint submarine development, while Korea Aerospace Industries signed an MoU with SEMAN, for the joint production of KF-21 fighter jet components. Furthermore, Hyundai Rotem signed an agreement with Peru’s Army Weapons and Ammunition Factory to strengthen cooperation on ground equipment.
India and Japan inked a Memorandum of Implementation on 15 November in Tokyo to jointly develop Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) masts for the Indian Navy. Once implemented, the agreement will be the first case of co-development and co-production of defence equipment between India and Japan.
Embraer established partnerships on 21 November with Fokker Services Group, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre, and Multisim to enhance its industrial and research cooperation relating to the Netherlands’ procurement of the C390 Millennium aircraft.
Germany’s Rheinmetall has won a USD232m contract to supply the Canadian Armed Forces with 85 HX 8x8 heavy recovery vehicles under Canada’s Enhanced Recovery Capability project. An additional in-service support contract, worth USD21m, has also been awarded to the German prime.