Honeywell Aerospace, the company that has made engines for the Abrams tank and Chinook helicopter for decades, is undergoing a "strategic change" to align more closely with the Army's modernization effort and changing budget priorities, according to a top executive.
Honeywell will seek to further assert itself in satellite communications, networks and navigation technology, among other areas, Ricky Freeman, president of defense and space at Honeywell Aerospace, told Inside Defense last week at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army.
“As we've shifted from the global war on terror to the great power competition, it's a fundamentally different operating rhythm, operating doctrine and a fundamentally different technology space that we have to address,” Freeman said. “Now, many of our core competencies will still inform that environment, but it also requires us to rethink where we invest, what we invest in.”
Army leaders have in recent years identified great power conflict as the primary focus for the service, and a newly released field manual formally pivoted the Army toward multidomain operations. As the Army seeks to rapidly modernize, and move money away from existing platforms to do so, defense contractors across the spectrum are seeking to adapt to the new environment.
One of Honeywell’s new investments was unveiled at AUSA. The company demonstrated the Honeywell 360 Display, a mixed-reality headset that taps into a network of external sensors and cameras to provide a 360-degree field of vision to combat vehicle operators.
Honeywell said in a release that the headset “won’t cause nausea like some other systems,” an apparent dig at Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, which causes nausea in some users, soldiers have reported.
Elsewhere in the modernization portfolio, Freeman said Honeywell is investing in precision navigation and timing systems that could be integrated into programs under the Army’s long-range precision fires priority. The company last year unveiled a new satellite communications capability for global in-flight broadband data connectivity.
Honeywell also has a strong presence in the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition as the engine provider for Sikorsky and Boeing’s Defiant X, giving the company a shot to become a key player in future vertical lift.
The investments Honeywell is making are intended to follow the Army’s Modernization Strategy and changes in the service’s budget, Freeman said.
“There's a shift that we are making: It’s a shift from the global world terror to the great power competition,” he said. “And with that, we've seen the president's budget reflect that shift. We must align ourselves to be where the puck is going to be not where it is.”
Freeman said the Army is beginning to recognize Honeywell’s efforts to pivot toward modernization. The company will continue to prioritize events like AUSA, as well as visits to Capitol Hill and the Pentagon to deliver its message. Those are efforts, he said, that have laid the groundwork for a shift in the “fundamental understanding of what we do and how we're doing it.”
The pivot toward modernization doesn’t mean Honeywell is abandoning its legacy programs any time soon. “I remain bullish on our legacy systems for a number of reasons,” Freeman said.
The company is testing the 714C version of the T55 engine, which has powered the Chinook cargo helicopter since 1961. Honeywell says the upgraded variant can be easily integrated into existing Chinooks.
Although the Army has in recent years decreased its budget requests for Chinook, Congress has on multiple occasions boosted funding for Boeing’s Block II upgrade. Germany earlier this year selected Chinook to serve as the heavy-lift helicopter for its military.
Foreign militaries will also provide a boon to Abrams, Freeman said, for which Honeywell manufactures the AGT1500 gas turbine engine. As the war in Ukraine proves the importance of ground combat vehicles, European countries are increasing defense spending and Sweden and Finland are likely to join NATO. Freeman said those forces are combining to keep Abrams demand strong.
“We're also engaging with all of these partners, and they're all looking for those kinds of land force capabilities . . . that all tie into what Honeywell provides,” he said.