Americas
Boeing won a $27.8 million deal, which procures integrated logistics support for the Boeing P-8A Poseidon warfare aircraft for the Navy, the government of Australia, and the government of the United Kingdom. The P-8A is a proven long-range multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. A military derivative of the Boeing 737 Next-Generation airplane, the P-8 combines superior performance and reliability with an advanced mission system that ensures maximum interoperability in the battle space. The P-8A is militarized with maritime weapons, a modern open mission system architecture and commercial-like support for affordability. The aircraft is modified to include a bomb bay and pylons for weapons. It has two weapons stations on each wing and can carry 129 sonobuoys. The aircraft is also fitted with an in-flight refueling system. Work will take place in Washington, North Carolina, Italy, Japan, Bahrain Hawaii and various locations within the continental US. Expected completion will be by March 2023.
Three US senators called on the Government Accountability Office on May 22 to investigate delays keeping the KC-46 military aircraft from use in missions. In a letter James Lankford, Janne Shaheen, and Maggie Hassan demanded “periodic assessments” of the progress made by builder Boeing to fix longstanding problems of the cargo and refueling plane, notably its refueling boom and its rearward-facing remote vision system. In addition, the plane was prone to cargo locks becoming unlocked while mid-flight. Also, inspections have found tools, rubbish, leftover parts and loose fittings in planes delivered by Boeing since January 2019.
Middle East & Africa
Small US-based company Integration Innovation Inc won an $8.3 million contract modification by the US Army under the International Apache Technical Lifecycle Support program. Work will take place in Huntsville, Alabama. Estimated completion date is June 4, 2021. FY2020 FMS funds for the following countries (all of which operate variants of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter) were obligated at the time of award: Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the UK.
The Moroccan government signed an export loan agreement with France’s BNP Paribas for the acquisition of a new ground-based air defense system. The loan agreement was given formal approval on May 11 through Decree 346.20.2. The loan, valued at $210.6 million will be used to support a commercial contract between MBDA’s French subsidiary, and the Moroccan Department of National Defense. The VL MICA system in its land-based configuration consists of a series of truck-mounted elements, including a tactical operations centre, Sagem SIGMA 30 radar, and launcher vehicles that can carry between three and six multi-round launchers with the missiles in clusters of four rounds.
Europe
Tass reports that a contract to build two helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy has been awarded to Zaliv shipyard. The shipyard is located in the Black Sea. An anonymous source said the contract is worth $1.4 billion. Universal landing ships, also known as helicopter carriers, have never been built in Russia and the USSR before. No official comments are available.
Asia-Pacific
China announced Friday a 6.6 percent increase in its $178 billion defense budget, down from last year’s increase of 7.5 percent, local media reports. The announcement was made at the opening of the National People’s Congress, the country’s national legislature. Despite the slowing of the defense budget’s growth, the lowest increase in years, it remains the world’s second-largest defense budget, behind that of the United States at $738 billion. China’s defense budget remains below 2 percent of its GDP, while that of the United States is 3.4 percent.
Today’s Video
Watch: SB-1 Defiant Vs V-280 Valor: Inside the Head-to-Head Helicopter Battle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiCGQdXPD5o
