Americas
Boeing won a $26.7 million order, which provides for the design, development, and test of software and ancillary hardware required in support of the retrofit integration of the MK 54 Mod 2 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo on the P-8A aircraft for the Navy. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington; Patuxent River, Maryland; and St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in October 2026.
Lockheed Martin won a $12.3 million deal for capability package development and fielding, system integration and fielding, and in-service sustainment in support of current configurations of the AEGIS combat system. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed by December 2023.
Middle East and Africa
The White House has asked Congress to pass a $105 billion supplemental spending package with most of the money allocated for a diffuse array of the Biden administration’s defense priorities, ranging from Ukraine to Israel to the Indo-Pacific region. Much of the money, announced Friday, is allocated to the defense-industrial base as the administration continues to send weapons to Ukraine and Israel from US stockpiles before backfilling that equipment.
Europe
Italy has revealed plans to bolster its military with new tanks, drones, and anti-ship weapons. A budget document released this week showed the country’s defense procurement budget will increase 43 percent by 2025. The document lists 21 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) as one of Rome’s top priorities. The US-made HIMARS are expected to cost 137 million euros ($145 million) over the next seven years, with total military expenditures reaching 960 million euros ($1 billion).
NATO is expected to adopt its first-ever counter-drone doctrine, which will in part advise member states on layered approaches to defend against unmanned aerial systems and the common training of operators. The ambition of establishing a counter-UAS doctrine within the military alliance by the end of 2023 has been in the works for some time, according to Claudio Palestini, a senior adviser at NATO’s emerging security challenges division.
Asia-Pacific
Japan has ordered over 300 Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifles from arms manufacturer Saab. The deal further increases Tokyo’s Carl-Gustaf inventory, a staple of the force’s multi-role weapon system capabilities since 1979 used in anti-armored vehicle and night reconnaissance missions.
Today’s Video
WATCH: The Very Lightweight Torpedo
