Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NSCIST) has hardened its approach to offsets and is continuing to draft new guidelines. The move heats up a long-simmering turf war between the Ministry of National Defence (MoND) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The MoND and the MOEA have until now managed offsets together in a relationship that is rarely affable...
South Korea's minister of national defence has announced that “a certain percentage” of the weapon system parts would have to use domestic products. The aim is to boost the level of SME participation in defence projects. A DAPA spokesman confirmed to us that “we do not expect significant changes.” The reply seems to rebuff the scope of policy changes we reported in CTO 10, which we obtained from a leaked official document.
The ongoing dispute between the U.S. and China over forced technology transfer appears to be having little impact on China’s demands of other nation states. According to a South Korean business newspaper, Hankyung News, the Chinese government is asking LG Display to transfer technology to local manufacturers before granting the necessary permissions for a factory to open.
Katerina Paton Colonia has replaced Catalina Puerta Hoyos to become acting director of science, technology and innovation at CODALTEC, Colombia’s military technology agency. Ms Paton was the deputy director and held the title of ‘offset coordinator.’
Rafael and Leonardo DRS have joined forces to sell TROPHY Active Protection Systems to the U.S. Army. The deal is worth $193m in its initial stage. The manufacture of the systems will take place in Israel and the U.S., however Rafael stated that it expects U.S. manufacturing to comprise the bulk of the work.