Americas
Bell Textron has been chosen as the sole contractor for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) high-speed experimental aircraft initiative, beating Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences out of the competition. Under Phase 2 of the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane program, Bell is expected to complete the detailed design, construction, ground testing, and certification of its X-plane demonstrator. The demonstrator is scheduled for completion by 2027, with flight testing to begin in 2028, a DARPA spokesperson shared with Breaking Defense.
Northrup Grumman won a $46 million modification, which adds scope to provide production attrition capability integration support to implement, analyze and evaluate the life cycle software and hardware updates encompassing a broad spectrum of software and/or hardware engineering, design, programming, integration, manufacturing and quality, and test activities with varying levels and periods of intensity for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft for the Navy. Work is expected to be completed May 2029. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Middle East & Africa
Negotiators from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 armed group were in Qatar Wednesday for talks on a broader truce, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told AFP. “Delegations from both the DRC and… M23 are currently in Doha, with the Qataris facilitating the talks,” the diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. The Rwanda-backed M23 had called last week for more talks to address problems left out of a peace agreement between Kigali and Kinshasa inked in Washington in June.
Europe
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) has delivered the first Eagle 6×6 medium protected medical vehicle to the German Armed Forces as part of a contract signed in 2020. The system was accepted by the service’s Medical Training Regiment in Feldkirchen, Bavaria, during an ongoing field response drill. Berlin’s investment in adopting the platform amounted to $159 million and covers the supply of up to 80 units.
Asia-Pacific
LIG Nex1 has launched a new facility in Gyeongsangbuk-do to expand advanced Close-In Weapon System (CIWS-II) manufacturing in support of South Korea’s air defense capabilities. The site, located in Gumi-si, houses an assembly building, a proximity evaluations laboratory, and the company’s third primary radar system proving area. Work at the complex will encompass mass production cycles, system integrations, live simulation tests, and performance verification.