Americas
Kaman Precision won a $57.3 million contract for joint programmable fuze-152. The deal provides a cockpit-selectable bomb fuze employed in MK-80 series warheads (both guided and unguided variations). The Mk 80 series of bombs are a group of heavy, high-explosive weapons, weighing between 500lbs and 2,000lbs. The largest in this family is the Guided Bomb Unit-10 (GBU-10). The GBU-10 consists of an Mk 84 bomb fitted with a Paveway II laser guidance system. Work will take place in Orlando, Florida. Expected completion will be by July 2024.
The US Air Force Global Strike Command announced on August 14 that military construction activities to support the initial beddown of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) will start as early as 2023. F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming is the first site followed by Malmstrom AFB, Montana in 2026 and Minot AFB, North Dakota, beginning in 2029. The GBSD will replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
Middle East & Africa
Israel’s Elbit Systems announced that its THOR multi-rotor Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) mini Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) successfully completed a series of environmental durability tests ahead of the delivery of more than 1,000 units to an army in Southeast Asia. As announced on October 6, 2019, the company was awarded a $153 million contract to provide a networked multi-layered UAS array to a Southeast Asian army, including more than 1,000 THOR drones. The tests measured the operational durability of the THOR VTOL mini-UAS under a range of extreme environmental conditions and its capability to withstand the physical stress requirements under the MIL-STD-810, a US Department of Defense equipment testing standard.
Europe
Hungary says it intents to conclude a multi-part deal to purchase the National/Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS). The purchase is worth approximately $1 billion and is a mixture of Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sale packages. The systems’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) will be bought under the Foreign Military Sales route with the United States.
A chartered Ukrainian An-124 airlifter delivered British Army Foxhound armored patrol vehicles to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, ahead of the start of the annual reinforcement exercise by the EU Force (EUFOR) peacekeeping force in the Balkan country, dubbed ‘Quick Response 2020’. The deployment, based on A Company, The Parachute Regiment, is the first time British Army troops will have participated in the event since the United Kingdom left the EU earlier this year.
Asia-Pacific
Elbit Systems announced that it won a $27 million deal to supply air-to-air combat training systems for the Navy of a South Asian Country. The contract will be performed over a two-year period, to be followed by three years of availability-based maintenance. The contract calls for the supply of EHUD Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (“EHUD ACMI”) systems, to be operated from the Navy’s shore bases as well as onboard aircraft carriers. According to the company, EHUD ACMI offers advanced air-to-air combat training capabilities, including features such as real-time hit notification and removal, real-time electronic warfare and air-to-air weapons delivery, simulation and advanced debriefing.
Today’s Video
Watch: This Is America’s Deadly AC-130 Gunship on Steroids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Y4pQJutdM
