Americas
Austal won an $8 million deal to provide advance planning, material procurement, and accomplishment of work for emergent availabilities in support of the littoral combat ship USS Kingsville (LCS 36). This effort is to develop and provide planning, engineering support, planning and logistics technical documentation, funds and man-hour expenditure data, projected costs, cost estimates, material and labor for the accomplishment of post-delivery work items during emergent availabilities and to accomplish all testing required. Work will take place in National City, California, and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2025.
The US Navy has chosen BAE Systems to develop the Dual Band Decoy (DBD), a new radio frequency jammer based on the combat-proven AN/ALE-55 Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy to be used by fighter jets to counter enemy attacks. The DBD will consist of a towed unit connected to electronic warfare equipment onboard the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets by fiber-optic cables. It will utilize its jamming capabilities to disrupt enemy radars and lure missiles away from the aircraft. The decoy can be launched manually and automatically and will have the ability to be updated in the future to counter emerging threats.
Middle East & Africa
According to Military Africa, images have surfaced online showing members of the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) equipped with Iranian-made Saeghe anti-tank guided missile systems (ATGMs). These visuals have sparked discussions about the proliferation of such weaponry in the region and its implications on the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The Saeghe ATGM, a derivative of the United States M-47 Dragon ATGM provided to Iran during the Shah’s era, is an optically directed, wire-guided missile designed to target armor with an effective range of up to one kilometer. The system is noted for its portability and ease of operation, making it suitable for infantry use. The Saeghe 2 variant, in particular, boasts a short-range SACLOS guidance system, requiring the operator to maintain the target within the reticle’s cross-hair until impact.
Europe
Babcock has been chosen by Saab to support the development of the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration’s Luleå-class Surface Combatant program. The partnership comes after the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement in September 2023 highlighting the joint work needed to design four ships for the Swedish Navy. Saab is set to develop a basic design for the new ships, while Babcock will oversee the program’s engineering phase.
Asia-Pacific
The Philippines has agreed to buy five coast guard patrol ships from Japan in a deal worth more than $400 million, Manila said Friday, as the Southeast Asian country faces growing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea. Japan will loan the Philippines $413 million to buy the five 97-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels and pay for the “development of the required support facilities,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
