Americas
ApiJECT won a $138 million contract action for COVID-19 response “Project Jumpstart” and “Project Rapid,” which will dramatically expand production capability for domestically manufactured blow-fill-seal injection devices. ApiJect also recently partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the RAPID Consortium to supply prefilled syringes to the US Strategic National Stockpile for public health emergency use. Work will take place throughout the US. Estimated completion date will be by may 8, 2022.
BAE Systems Land $42.8 million for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) canister production and ancillary hardware. The company will make Mk 41 Vertical Launching System canisters, renew Mk 13 Mod 0 canisters and produce Mk 13 Mod 0, Mk 21 Mods 1 through 3 and Mk 29 Mod 0 canisters under the modification. The Navy initially awarded a potential $954.5M contract to update and repair Mk 41 VLS canisters for the service branch and FMS customers from Denmark, Japan and South Korea. Work will take place in Minnesota and South Dakota. Estimated completion will be by July 2023.
Middle East & Africa
Two US Marine Corps AV-8Bs both encountered emergencies during a mission in Bahrain last year. One of the aircraft caught fire on a taxiway and the jet was armed. The other Harrier had taken off and encountered technical issues as well. Because of the other mishap aircraft on the ground, it had to circle while waiting for the clearance to land. It ended up landing with just five minutes of fuel remaining. Both pilots had to thank Air Traffic Controller 2nd Class Drey Aynes who was on duty in the tower and help direct the emergency crew to handle the situation. Although the article did not state which Harrier unit was involved, VMA-311 was assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command 19.2 in Bahrain last year.
Europe
TASS reports that Russian Air Forces have tested a new hypersonic missile on the Tu-22M3 bomber recently. The new missile is expected to be mounted on the upgraded Tu-22M3M. The anonymous source said the new missile is different from the Kh-32 missile that is part of the armament of the Tu-22M3. Earlier, the Russian defense industry developed two types of aircraft hypersonic missiles. The Kinzhal is the latest Russian airborne system that consists of a MiG-31K aircraft as a delivery vehicle and a hypersonic missile. Tu-22M3M supersonic bomber is a modification of Tu-22M3 with expanded combat potential.
The Hellenic Ministry of National Defense signed an agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Defense to lease an unspecified number of Israel Aerospace Industries Maritime Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), primarily for border defense missions. Under the agreement, the Israeli MoD will lease the Heron system in its maritime configuration to Greece over three years starting within a year, with an option to purchase it when the leasing period is completed, IAI said. The Heron system consists of platforms that can operate both day and night, and is equipped with maritime patrol radars and satellite communications, according to the Israeli company, which added that it offers extended operational endurance for missions including maritime patrol, marine and land border protection, search and rescue, and disaster management.
Asia-Pacific
Australian defense scientists are working with industry and academia on ways of integrating both laser-based optical and radio frequency communications technologies into a single satellite communications (satcom) user terminal, local media reports. Project CHORUS, which stands for Compact Hybrid Optical RF User Segment, is the first collaborative project to be launched by the DoD through the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Based at the University of South Australia, the SmartSat CRC is Australia’s biggest space industry research-and-development collaboration, and formally opened for business in February.
Today’s Video
Watch: French Navy’s Next Gen SSN Suffren Begins Sea Trials