Announced in March of 2015, Harman International Industries is poised to purchase Bang & Olufsen’s automotive sound-system business. Harman is the US maker of JBL audio equipment. An offer of $156 million USD was made to Bang & Olufsen to purchase B&O’s automotive business as well as the technology license fees. When the offer was made B&O’s stock jumped the most it has jumped in almost 25 years. Stock surged nearly 40 percent to 70 kroner, representing the largest intraday increase since April 1990.Bang & Olufsen will retain its brand and B&O PLAY for their consumer sound products. In the third quarter of 2014, the automotive division of Bang & Olufsen only made $5 million USD. Read more >>

In March of 2015, the Navy awarded a USD$604.3 million contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries for construction of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer DDG 121. This deal is in addition to a previously awarded contract to build the Arleigh Burke-class DDG 51. Manager of this project George Nungesser stated, “The DDG 51 program has been the backbone of Ingalls Shipbuilding for the past three decades.” In order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, Huntington Ingalls has decided to keep the production line in the shipyard where the shipbuilding crew can work in the same area. Furthermore, because five ships will be built in the span of a year, the company can purchase and produce in bulk, further reducing costs and conserving resources. Huntington Ingalls has embarked on a continuing business venture with the Navy, including the procurement of twenty-eight previous destroyers and four currently under construction, including John Finn (DDG 113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) and Delbert D. Black (DDG 119). These destroyers have earned the reputation of being highly dynamic and capable defense tools. Read more >>

The last Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship (LHA), the USS Peleliu, was decommissioned in March of 2015. The fleet has been getting a makeover and becoming more modern, with the first LHA of the new America-class coming just months before USS Peleliu decommissioned. The “Iron Nickel”, as it was called, was decommissioned in San Diego after nearly 34 years of service. It will be placed in a reserve status in Pearl Harbor, the site of the infamous bombing in 1941. It had a long, decorated history of conducting a wide variety of military operations. “Capable of launching a coordinated air and sea attack from one platform, Peleliu has conducted 17 deployments, 178,051 flight operations, served 57,983 personnel and steamed approximately 1,011,946 nautical miles since being commissioned on May 3, 1980, in Pascagoula, Miss.,” read a March 2015 statement from the service. This class of LHA was the first one to be known as a “big deck” amphibious assault ship, as it was larger than the Iwo-Jima class it succeeded. Read more >>

The United States Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has granted General Dynamics Land Systems a USD$22.7 million Buffalo vehicle upgrade contract. The Army is looking to upgrade its arsenal of armored vehicles, and General Dynamics has the ability to provide that. The contract entails a multitude of revisions to the Buffalo A2 M1272, a mine protection vehicle. The project will take about three years, as it has an estimated completion date of March 2018. “The US Army TACOM (Tank Automotive and Armament Command) Lifecycle Management Command awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $22.7 million contract for updates and revisions to all logistic requirements and data in support of the Buffalo A2 M1272 vehicle,” read the official release, issued in March of 2015. The armored truck’s main purpose is to protect its passengers from mines and other explosive devices. It is recognized as one of the top mine-protected vehicles in its class, with about 238 Buffalo A2’s delivered to US units throughout the world. Read more >>

The US Navy's newest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, might have a big problem with their power projection, according to a Bloomberg article published in March of 2015. The U.S. Navy’s top warplanes can’t be launched off the Ford if they are carrying fuel tanks needed to extend their flight range because the ship’s high-tech catapults cause too much wear. Read more >>