Americas
* The E-2D Hawkeye has passed a Critical Design Review for its air refueling capability, following a successful Preliminary Design Review in September last year and a $226.7 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract in 2013.
* Huntington Ingalls Inc was handed a $75 million contract Wednesday for repair support for CVN-68 and CVN-70, including work on the ships’ nuclear propulsion systems, with the contract set to run to 2017.
* The Navy also awarded a $29.1 million contract to Harris Corp. for 138 Distributed Targeting System Full Rate Production FRP 2 and FRP 3 B-kits for the Navy’s Super Hornets and Growlers. The DTS brings together data feeds from different sensors, and adds a pre-loaded, high-resolution imagery database to overlay on top of the sensor data. The idea is to be able to fire ground attack weapons with more certainty about the target.
* In other sensor news, Lockheed Martin’s Legion targeting pod has completed its first flight test on a F-16. The Legion Pod was unveiled in February and is designed as an affordable networked Infrared Search and Track capability for F-15 and F-16 aircraft, with the company also eyeing potential installation on B-1 and B-52 bombers.
Europe
* Saab has signed a $32.5 million contract with an undisclosed customer for RBS-70 Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), with these due for delivery by 2016. Previous customers include Finland and Brazil, with the latter signing a $12.2 million contract with the company last year.
* The UK’s Defence, Equipment & Support procurement agency announced on Wednesday a $234.2 million contract for the Scout SV’s cannon. The deal with CTA International (CTAI), a joint venture between the BAE Systems and France’s Nexter, will see the company supply 515 40mm Cased Telescope cannons for the British Army’s future fleet of FRES Scout SV and Warrior vehicles.
* The Netherlands has ordered twelve Bushmaster armored vehicles from Thales Australia, with these set to bring the total number of Bushmasters operated by the country to 98. The Dutch have ordered troop-carrier variants, equipped with Remote Weapon Stations and composite armor.
Middle East North Africa
* Kuwait has signed a contract with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Gmbh for twelve NBC reconnaissance vehicles. The model in question is the Fuchs (Fox) 2 APC-NBC-RS, with the value of the deal undisclosed. The vehicles will be delivered starting in 2017.
* Tunisia will receive modified Black Hawk helicopters from the US, with the four UH-60Ms being fitted out with weapons, possibly including 7.62 mm M134 Miniguns, 12.7 mm GAU-19 Gatling guns and 70 mm Hydra rocket pods, as per a DSCA request in July last year. Tunisia signed a contract for eight unmodified Black Hawks in March, with the modifications set to be undertaken through a $79.7 million modification to this contract, with a completion date set for June 2019.
Asia
* South Korea has selected Airbus’ bid to supply the country’s Air Force with four refueling tankers, beating competitors Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing for the $1.07 billion program. The winning bid – the A330 MRTT – dashed Boeing’s hopes of securing its first export order for the KC-46A, which saw a strong dollar raise its bid price compared with a weakened euro for the European bid. The four tankers are scheduled for delivery in 2019.
* In an additional boost for Airbus, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has ordered an additional pair of KC-30A refueling tankers from the company, to augment the five already in service. The two aircraft will be converted from Qantas airliners at a cost of $314 million and are due for delivery in 2018.
Today’s Video
* A demonstration of the RBS-70
