Last updated: Friday Apr 03, 2020 - 05:00 UTC ()
AGM-158 JASSM: Lockheed’s Family of Stealthy Cruise Missiles
Aging Aircraft: USAF F-15 Fleet Sees Renewed Interest
Rapid Fire | Friday, April 3, 2020, 05:00 UTC ()
Lockheed Martin Tapped For JASSM Production | Ivory Coast Gets Mi-8Ps | Tadmadaw Rejects Ceasefire Despite Coronavirus Threat
Americas
Lockheed Martin won an $818.2 million contract modification for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) Lot 17 and 18 production. The deal provides for 360 Lot 17 JASSM-Extended Range (ER) missiles; 40 Lot 17 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) JASSM-ER missiles; and 390 Lot 18 JASSM-ER missiles. The JASSM is a long range, conventional, stealthy, air-launched ground attack cruise missile designed for the Air Force and international partners with a range of 223-621.4 miles. JASSM was designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and re-locatable targets. The threshold integration aircraft were F-16, B-52, and F/A-18 E/F. Work will take place in Orlando, Florida. Expected completion date is October 31, 2024.
Boeing won an $11.1 million contract modification for F-15C and F-15E Mission Training Centers (MTC) services on contractor furnished, high-fidelity simulation equipment. Contractor will provide the simulation capability to train pilots and weapons system operators for F-15C and F-15E aircraft platforms. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.The F-15 Eagle has been the US Air Force’s primary fighter jet aircraft and intercept platform for decades. The Eagle’s air superiority is achieved through a mixture of unprecedented maneuverability and acceleration, range, weapons and avionics. Work will take place at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina; Mountain Home, Idaho; Langley, Virginia; Kadena Air Base, Japan; and Royal Air Force, Lakenheath, England, and is expected to be completed by December 31 2020.
Middle East & Africa
Ivory Coast Air Force has taken delivery of two second-hand Mi-8P helicopters. Their registrations are TU-VHL and TU-VHN. The country plans to use the helos to assist with coronavirus mitigation efforts. The aircraft were delivered to the Force Aerienne de la Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast Air Force) in mid-March and were seen transiting Palma de Mallorca Airport in Spain on March 14 during their ferry flight to Abidjan. The helicopters will be operated by the Groupe Aérien de Transport et de Liaison (Air Transport and Liaison Group), based at Abidjan-Port Bouet Airport. The Mi-8Ps were built before 1993 and are configured for VIP transport.
Europe
A pair of British Army Wildcat helicopters have been shuttling in and out of Derby on March 31. An army spokesperson confirmed that the helicopters were on “Covid-19 related tasking.” Derby Telegraph says the operation is given the code name Rescript. Aircraft from the Army Air Corps based at RNAS Yeovilton will provide assistance to the government where needed across the southeast and southwest UK. Additional helicopters from RAF Odiham and RAF Benson will also be mobilized. The twin-engine AW159 multirole helicopter has logged over 50,000 flight hours, with more than 70 being operated by the British Army, RN, South Korean Navy and Philippine Navy.
Asia-Pacific
The United States Department of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to South Korea for certain upgrades to the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (ROKAF) F-16 Block 32 aircraft. The approval covers the transfer of Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) packages and Link 16 Tactical Datalink (TDL) equipment. An IFF system allows military aircraft to use on-board radar to discriminate friendly aircraft; advanced IFF systems can also determine an aircraft’s bearing and speed. IFFs contribute to the prevention of friendly fire incidents and enhance command and control for large fleets of aircraft. South Korea is a US treaty ally and the US State Department noted that the “proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by meeting legitimate security and defense needs of one of the US’s closest allies in the INDOPACOM Theater.” The primary contractor on the sale will be Lockheed Martin.
Myanmar’s Armed Forces (Tadmadaw) have officially rejected calls from foreign governments and local ethnic rebels for a ceasefire to facilitate a response to stem the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the True News Information Team (TNIT), the Tatmadaw’s public relations wing, noted on April 2 that the ceasefire proposals were “not realistic,” adding that insurgent groups engaged in hostilities with the Tatmadaw “just have to follow the law”. The TNIT response came a day after the ambassadors to Myanmar of 10 European countries, the European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States issued a joint appeal for a cessation of hostilities, the resolution of grievances through dialogue, and a lifting of Internet and media restrictions. The Rakhine conflict is underway in western Myanmar in the Rakhine and Chin states since 2015 between the ethnic Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw.
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More In-depth Contract News & Updates
AW159 Wildcat: The Future Lynx Helicopter Program
| A pair of British Army Wildcat helicopters have been shuttling in and out of Derby on March 31. An army spokesperson confirmed that the helicopters were on “Covid-19 related tasking.” Derby Telegraph says the operation is given the code name Rescript. Aircraft from the Army Air Corps based at RNAS Yeovilton will provide assistance to the government where needed across the southeast and southwest UK. Additional helicopters from RAF Odiham and RAF Benson will also be mobilized. The twin-engine AW159 multirole helicopter has logged over 50,000 flight hours, with more than 70 being operated by the British Army, RN, South Korean Navy and Philippine Navy. More »
F-35 Lightning: The Joint Strike Fighter Program
| Lockheed Martin won a $4.7 billion contract modification for the procurement of 78 F-35 combat aircraft (48 F-35A combat aircraft for the Air Force, 14 F-35B combat aircraft for the Marine Corps, 16 F-35C fighter aircraft for the Navy) and associated aircraft red gear. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD. The majority of the work related to the deal will be carried out in Fort Worth, TX. The F-35 is a fifth-generation single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole jet fighter-bomber designed to perform ground attack, aerial reconnaissance, and air defense missions. It is one of the most advanced combat jets in the world. The order involves 48 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) jet aircraft for the US Air Force for operation from conventional long runways; 14 F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) jet aircraft for the US Marine Corps for operation from small ships and unimproved runways; and 16 F-35C reinforced aircraft with folding wings for the US Navy for aircraft carrier operations. Work will take place in Texas, California, the UK, Florida, New Hampshire and Maryland. Estimated completion will be by March 2023. More »
The C-130J: New Hercules & Old Bottlenecks
| The US Air Force Life Cycle awarded Lockheed Martin a $8.5 million modification for C-130J support. The deal is for long term sustainment for France's C-130J aircraft. The Lockheed Martin C-130 is US Air Force’s principal tactical cargo and personnel transport aircraft. The C-130J Hercules is the latest model, featuring a glass cockpit, digital avionics and a new propulsion system with a six-bladed propeller. Back in February the second of two Lockheed Martin KC-130J Super Hercules aerial refueling aircraft arrived in France. Work under the contract modification will take place in Marietta, Georgia and is expected to be finished by January 31, 2021. More »
Naval Swiss Army Knife: MK 41 Vertical Missile Launch Systems (VLS)
| BAE Systems Land & Armaments won a $99.4 million contract modification or MK 41 Vertical Launching System canister production and ancillary hardware. This modification combines purchases for the Navy and the government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales program. A VLS canister functions as a missile shipping container and a launch tube when loaded into system modules. The branch initially awarded BAE a $954.5M contract in February to manufacture and update canisters as well as provide spares and support equipment. Work will take place in South Dakota and Minnesota. Expected completion will be by April 2022. More »
Super Hornet Fighter Family MYP-III: 2010-2018 Contracts
| General Electric won a $215 million modification for the procurement of 48 F414-GE-400 install engines and engine devices for the Navy Super Hornet F/A-18 warfare aircraft. The F414-GE-400 combines the proven reliability, maintainability and operability of its successful F404 predecessor with advanced technologies to provide the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with up to 35 percent more thrust and significant improvements in aircraft performance, survivability and payload. F414-GE-400 engines also power Boeing’s EA18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, also operational with the United States Navy. Work will take place in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Kentucky. Expected completion will be by August 2022. More »
