Americas
Canada has awarded Bell Textron a $2.28-billion contract to deliver in-service support for its air force’s CH-146 Griffon multirole utility helicopters. The agreement will cover program management as well as technical, engineering, and design change services for the fleet.
The US Army has awarded Allison Transmission an $83.3 million contract to supply upgraded and new X1100 transmissions for the Abrams main battle tank. Under the agreement, the Indiana-based company will provide the transmissions to the service and foreign military sales customers
Middle East & Africa
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday opens a week-long tour of Africa’s west coast as he seeks to bolster US-friendly democracies with security deteriorating in the Sahel. The top US diplomat will start in Cape Verde before visiting Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Angola, his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa in 10 months as he takes a break from a time-consuming focus on the Israel-Hamas war.
Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday welcomed a new defense aid package by neighboring Poland. “We appreciate Poland’s unwavering support and the new military aid package for Ukraine, as well as a new form of cooperation aimed at larger-scale arms purchases for Ukrainian needs,” Zelenskyy said on X, following talks with visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the capital Kyiv. Noting that he and Tusk had “very productive negotiations” regarding all aspects of their bilateral relations, Zelenskyy said that the new form of cooperation between the two countries includes a Polish loan for Ukraine.
On January 23, Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, and Stacy Cummings, General Manager of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), will sign a contract for the purchase of 155-mm artillery ammunition. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western powers, including NATO members, have been faced with a shortage of artillery ammunition, with thousands of shells being fired on the battlefield every day.
Asia-Pacific
A record six Chinese balloons were detected around Taiwan, with one flying directly above the island, Taipei’s defense ministry said Monday. Five were seen near the northern coastal city of Keelung while one flew above the island near southern Pingtung county, a map released by the ministry showed.
