Americas
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution Wednesday calling on the administration of President Joe Biden to immediately send long-range missiles to Ukraine. The resolution specifically mentioned Lockheed Martin’s Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which would allow Kyiv’s forces to strike Russian targets at distances up to 321 kilometers.
Raytheon Technologies won a $293.7 million modifcation, which increases the contract ceiling to procure F-135 propulsion system spare parts and depot lay-in material in support of the F-135 propulsion system requirements for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales customers and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana (79%); East Hartford, Connecticut (14%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (7%), and is expected to be completed in December 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.
Middle East & Africa
Elbit Systems announced that it received a first purchase order worth approximately $180 million to supply the first three out of a maximum of seven Watchkeeper X tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as part of a framework contract with the Romanian Ministry of National Defense with a maximum value of approximately $410 million (1.89 billion Lei). The purchase order will be performed over a period of two years.
Europe
The US state Department has agreed to a foreign military sale of Excalibur tactical projectiles to Spain from Raytheon valued at $48.2m. The M982A1 Excalibur is a 155mm precision-guided, extended-range projectile that employs GPS precision guidance to provide soldiers with accurate, first-round, fire-to-effect capabilities in any environment. These munitions are from Increment Ib, a full-capacity, reduced cost, mass production round that is fully qualified for use in a range of howitzer systems.
The US State Department has approved the sale of four MQ-9A Block 5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and related equipment to the Netherlands. The estimated $611-million sale includes “up to three UAV MQ-9 Mobile Ground Control Systems, up to 30 Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation Systems devices, up to eight AN/DAS-4 Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems, and up to 20 Lynx AN/APY-8 Synthetic Aperture radars,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency stated.
Asia-Pacific
Indonesia is turning to surplus combat aircraft and engines to fill a hole in its frontline air defenses. According to defense minister Prabowo Subianto, the government has no choice but to buy second-hand defense hardware until it finds more money.
Today’s Video
WATCH: AQUILA: new interceptor against hypersonic threats