Americas
Kay and Associates won a $153.4 modification. which exercises an option to provide maintenance, operation, and management support services for the F/A-18 organizational level, intermediate level, and missile maintenance repair and storage facilities for the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in undisclosed locations in Kuwait and is expected to be completed in January 2025. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Textron’s Aerosonde drone has completed its first deployment from the US Navy’s Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28). The Aerosonde was developed to support maritime security, forward presence, sea control, and extended intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. It is designed to carry specific payloads required by users, including full motion cameras, electronic warfare, radar, three-dimensional mapping, voice communications relay, and networking capabilities.
Middle East & Africa
According to Military Africa, Nurol Makina, a Turkish defense industry company that produces armoured land vehicles, has signed a contract with Asisguard, a Turkish company that provides electro-optical and border security systems, to export 13 YÖRÜK 4X4 Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles to Nigeria as part of a larger border security project. The contract was signed at Nurol Makina facilities by Asisguard General Manager Bar?? Düzgün and Nurol Makina General Manager Engin Aykol. Düzgün said that the contract was the result of 2.5 years of ongoing work in Nigeria, where they have been awarded a $36.5 million project to provide an integrated border security solution for the country.
Europe
The French Armed Forces Ministry is seeking a long-endurance demonstrator with a length of more than 10 meters and weighing more than 10 metric tons, it said in a statement on January 30. The agreement with Naval Group, a French industrial company specializing in naval defense design, will allow for the development of technologies around energy autonomy, sensor integration and autonomous operation.
Boeing’s Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) is nearing delivery to the Ukrainian military. This long-range precision munition, capable of striking targets up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) away, underwent successful testing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida before its imminent deployment. According to Politico, the weapons could be delivered to Ukraine on the last day of January, 2024. On January 16, 2024, six GLSDB units were fired during rigorous tests at Eglin Air Force Base. These early morning trials, shrouded in secrecy, focused on evaluating the munition’s accuracy, range, and compatibility with Ukrainian launch platforms like the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The successful completion of these tests, the results of which remain classified, proved crucial in paving the way for the weapon’s deployment.
Asia-Pacific
The US will collaborate with Japan on a next-generation drone project, US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said. The collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) project will be developed solely by US contractors. However, “there will be other opportunities” to work with Japan, Nikkei Asia quoted Kendall as saying.
