Americas
* Boeing has been awarded a $2.1 billion US Navy contract to produce 17 P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Under the agreement, the company will deliver 11 units to the Navy, and five for cooperative partners and as foreign military sales, with completion expected for December 2020. The sale also includes manufacturing orders for long lead parts, obsolescence monitoring, and integrated baseline program management reviews. While the destination of the foreign orders were not included, India and Australia are both primary operators of the aircraft.
* The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.5 billion contract to produce and deploy the AN/TPQ-53 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar System. Developed as a replacement for existing AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radar systems, the new radar is designed to detect, classify, track and determine the location of enemy artillery assets such as mortars, cannons and rockets. The service claims that once in place, the radars will provide increased mobility, reliability and performance.
* Leonardo has selected a site in Alabama as the destination for producing the T-100 jet trainer if chosen by the USAF as the winner of the T-X competition. Last Thursday’s announcement said that the company will work on the pending contract at their Alabama facility, adding that the move will help create jobs in the country in addition to providing the Air Force with a next-generation trainer. The trainer was initially intended to be built in partnership at one of Raytheon’s facilities, however that pairing was terminated in January, requiring a new location for final assembly.
Middle East & North Africa
* It’s been reported that the Trump administration has cleared the sale of F-16 fighters to Bahrain, having already notified Congress of the decision. The sale, for 16 units, does not include preconditions laid out by the previous Obama administration for Bahrain to improve their human rights issues, which have deteriorated sharply in the Gulf kingdom since the latter half of 2010. Valued at $2.7 billion, the notice also came the same day that the commander of US forces in the Middle East, Army General Joseph Votel, told a House committee that foreign arms sales to allies shouldn’t be burdened with preconditions tied to human rights because they could damage military-to-military ties. Votel, who heads the US Central Command, singled out Bahrain as an example. Read more here.
Europe
* Poland plans to proceed with the procurement of eight Patriot missile defense systems as contracts with manufacturer are expected to be signed by the end of the year. Valued at $7.6 billion, the purchase will go toward fulfilling the Wisla program — Warsaw’s plan for a multi-tiered defense shield — and is considered central to a thorough modernization of their armed forces by 2023. While approval still needs to be given by the US Congress, Raytheon’s head of Europe Bill Schmieder remains optimistic, saying that “It’s premature to say that it is all done, but we have very high hopes that the process will proceed normally.”
* Sweden’s procurement agency, the Defence Material Administration (FMV), has contracted Saab to develop and deliver the next generation of the RBS-15 anti-ship missile for use on both the JAS-39 Gripen E fighter and Visby corvette. Total orders for the new missile currently value nearly $357 million and include both air-launched and ship-launched configurations, with delivery expected to be completed by 2026. Features of the new missile include improved combat range, an upgraded target seeker, an all-weather capability, lower mass, as well as a design that allows for future growth.
Asia Pacific
* French officials have told media that the Malaysian government is in exclusive negotiations with Dassault for their MiG-29 replacement program, indicating that the company’s Rafale fighter has won out against BAE’s offering of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Malaysia is looking to purchase 18 new combat aircraft — likely to be in the region of $2 billion — to replace the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s squadron of Russian MiG-29 combat planes, nearly half of which are grounded. The decision to move forward with Dassault follows last week’s visit by French President Francois Hollande.
* Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has urged the government to look into acquiring a long-range strike capability capable of hitting North Korean ballistic missile sites to prevent repetitive attacks. While often considered controversial in Japan due to their pacifist constitution, LDP lawmaker and former defense minister Itsunori Onodera said that “the first (missile) attack can be met with our missile defense. But as for repetitive attacks, it is important to put under control the opponent’s launch sites and prevent second and further firing.” The LDP proposal also called on Tokyo to swiftly start examining the possible introduction of such advanced missile defense systems as Aegis Ashore and THAAD, the latter of which is currently being deployed in neighboring South Korea.
Today’s Video
* Saab’s RBS-15 Mk. 3 anti-ship missile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwIv_YcwbOU&feature=youtu.be
