Rapid Fire: 2010-09-22

* Sweden signs a contract to begin production of MBDA’s Meteor air-to-air missile, with a significantly longer reach than available Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAMs. The UK MoD manages the Meteor project, on behalf of 6 nations.

* Iron Dome Plans: Israel could deploy IAI’s Iron Dome rocket/artillery defense systems in north of country when they become operational in November, says IDF chief.

* Supersonic Sale: US, Israel voice opposition to Russian sale of P-800 Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria – but Netanyahu admits he cannot stop it.

* Missile Enhancement: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard gets first batch of home-grown surface-to-surface Fateh-110 ballistic missile with enhanced guidance to hit ground targets.

* Caterpillar gets contract [PDF] worth up to $641.2 million to supply 621G wheeled tractor scrapers, used in building roads and airfields, to the US Marine Corps and US Army – the largest military contract ever secured by the Peoria, IL-based company.

* Kaman, a Bloomfield, CT-based supplier of aircraft and missile and bomb components, raises up to $350 million through an “accordion” revolving credit line.