Latest updates[?]: The US Army Contracting Command is awarding a contract modification to Longbow LLC. The contract, worth $8.9 million, provides for laser and longbow Hellfire engineering services. Hellfire missiles are the USA’s preferred aerial anti-armor missile, and are widely deployed with America’s allies. It is a combat proven tactical missile system using multiple launch platforms. The Hellfire is a 100lb class air-to-ground precision weapon delivering multi-target capability and precision strike lethality. The AGM-114L “Longbow Hellfire” adds a millimeter-wave radar seeker, which makes it a “fire-and-forget” missile. This missile’s distinctive name is a reference to the AH-64D Apache Longbow, whose sensor mast atop its rotor hub has the ability to detect, identify, and engage targets using the Longbow Hellfire. Work will be performed at the company's facilities in Orlando and Ocala and is estimated to be completed by November 7, 2019.

Latest updates[?]: Sierra Nevada will upgrade two aircraft as part of the Saudi King Air 350 program. The company will add an intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/synthetic aperture radar capability to the two King Air 350 extended range aircraft. The twin-propeller King Air 350 is an affordable, long-endurance option for effective manned battlefield surveillance and attack. US aircraft in their ISR configuration are equipped with signals intelligence (SIGINT) electronic interception capabilities, and carry L-3 Westar’s MX-15i surveillance turrets. One transportable ground station; one fixed ground station; and one mission system trainer are also included in the contract. The definitization modification is priced at $23.8 million and involves 100% foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia. Work will be performed at Sierra Nevada's facility in Hagerstown, Maryland and is expected to be completed by May 2020.

Latest updates[?]: The government of the United Arab Emirates is ordering more attack helicopters for its armed forces. Boeing will provide the Middle-Eastern country with a total of 17 Apache AH-64E aircraft. The $242.1 million contract modification covers the remanufacture of eight, and the production of nine newly build Apaches by Boeing. The AH-64E Guardian Block III is the platform's next big-leap forward. The upgraded attack helicopter incorporates 26 key new-technology insertions which keep his 1980s airframe at the leading edge of technology. Work will be performed at Boeing's factory in Mesa, Arizona. Production of the aircraft is estimated to be completed by February 28, 2023.

Latest updates[?]: The US Department of Defense is heavily investing in current and future MIDS-JTRS development efforts. Data Link Solutions LLC and ViaSat Inc are each being awarded with contract modifications valued at $386.9 million and $96.2 million, respectively. Both modifications increase the ceiling of existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts that provide for the production and engineering efforts related to the MIDS-JTRS program. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) program replaces numerous legacy radios, reducing the need for excessive spares and logistics support. The software-defined MIDS-JTRS is a 4-channel radio designed to run the complex Link 16 waveform and up to three additional communication protocols, including the Airborne Networking Waveform (ANW). Because MIDS-JTRS is a software-defined system, new capabilities can be added within the limits of a module’s on-board processing and storage capabilities. Both contracts combine purchases for the Navy, Air Force and the MIDS Program Office, as well as to the governments of Austria, Chile, Finland, Israel, Jordan, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. DataLink Solutions will perform all relevant work at its Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Wayne, New Jersey facilities, whereas ViaSat will perform its work in Carlsbad, California. The ordering periods are expected to be completed by June 15, 2020.

Latest updates[?]: The US Air Force is contracting Raytheon for materials needed to keep its AIM-9X infrared missile and Captive Air Training Missiles flying. The $24.7 million contract provides for the procurement of urgent spares, containers, and materials needed to repair and refurbish the missile systems. The AIM-9X is the USA’s newest short-range air-to-air missile, using an advanced array seeker that widens the missile’s “boresight” cone, and allows a TV-like “imaging infrared” picture that’s much harder to fool with decoys. The Captive Air Training Missiles is designed to simulate the weight and operations of the AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missile for training purposes. The contract includes the procurement of four active optical target detectors (AOTD) and radio frequency (RF) data links, four tactical guidance units, eight CATM guidance units, five AOTD containers, one Block I propulsion steering section (PSS), one Block 2 PSS for the Navy, and similar acquisitions for the Air Force. Work will be performed at multiple national and international locations including Cheshire, Connecticut; Tucson, Arizona and Heilbronn, Germany and is set to run through March 2021.

Latest updates[?]: Alsalam Aerospace Industries is being tapped to convert six mission capable Saudi F-15S aircraft to a F-15SA configuration. The contract has a total value of $59.6 million, of which $17.8 million will come from the US foreign military sales fund. Services include program management, conversion labor and storage. The F-15SA can be considered to be the most advanced production F-15 Eagle that is being built today. In 2015 Saudi Arabia ordered 84 new build F-15SAs and close to 70 kits to upgrade their existing F-15S fleet to the SA configuration. This configuration includes a full fly-by-wire control system, a new AESA radar, a digital electronic warfare and radar warning suite, missile launch detection system, updated flat-panel display cockpits with helmet mounted displays and an infrared search and track system. Work will be performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be completed by August 2020.

Latest updates[?]: Saudi Arabia will receive 17 unique UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, following the award of a $193.8 million US Army contract to manufacturer Sikorsky last Thursday. Under the terms of the agreement, eight UH-60Ms will be delivered to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, while the other nine will go to the Royal Saudi Land Forces Airborne Special Security Forces. Work will take place at Stratford, Conn., with a scheduled completion time of December 2022. Fiscal 2018 foreign military sales funds in the amount of $11,163,000 were obligated at the time of the award.

Latest updates[?]: Boeing has been awarded a $240.2 million US Department of Defense (DoD) contract for the provision of an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The fixed-price-incentive firm contract calls for the provision of AWACS mission computing, navigation and communication upgrades and enhanced target acquisition systems to rapidly distinguish between friend or foe. Work will take place at Oklahoma City, Okla., with a scheduled completion date of February 2019. The sale comes under the first phase of of the RSAF's AWACS recapitalisation program.

Latest updates[?]: General Dynamics has been awarded an $82 million contract to convert M1A2 tanks to the M1A2S configuration for the US Army. The M1A2S is a specialized configuration for tanks operated by the government of Saudi Arabia. GD design and manufacture the vehicles in the US, which are then sold to the kingdom through foreign military sales agreements.

Latest updates[?]: The United Kingdom has awarded a contract to Raytheon's UK subsidiary for the development of a penetrating warhead for the Paveway IV guided bomb. Intended to equip the Royal Air Force's fleet of Eurofighters, the new munition is scheduled to enter service in 2019 and replace the current penetration capability provided by the RAF's Tornado GR4s and Paveway III bombs. The new warheads will fit existing stockpiles, with BAE Systems handling the integration work. Raytheon UK has stated that the new warhead will likely equip the RAF's F-35Bs and could do the same with Reaper UAVs.