But if you’d rather sell equipment to Iraq’s police and Interior Ministry forces, this may be the event for you. Not quite sure how the likely presence of Belgian and Chinese firms fits into the “Victor, spoils” narrative, though.
Batman inspires BAE Systems’ Raider unmanned military ground vehicle.
US government’s rush to cut defense spending ignores the lessons of history, warns author Mark Helprin.
2010 was mixed year for defense and aerospace industry stocks.
Research and Markets: The French defense budget is expected to grow at an anemic 1.5% annually, dropping from 2.3% of GDP in 2009 to 2% of GDP by 2015.
Sometimes, an order request is just an order request. Sometimes, as seen in Singapore, it amounts to more than that. In September 2008, the US DSCA announced India’s official request to buy a package of 24 L-model Harpoon Block II ship-killing missiles, with added GPS guidance and littoral/ land attack capabilities, for up to $170 million.
India’s rival Pakistan is already arming its P-3 Orions with AGM-84Ls, so regional stability wasn’t an issue, but the exact match for India’s missiles remained a mystery for a while. The order seemed to presage a buy of P-8i Sea Control and Surveillance aircraft, and India did indeed end up choosing Boeing’s 737 derivative. In September 2010, however, reports indicated that the deal was really focused on India’s fleet of Jaguar IM strike aircraft. Now, in 2010, comes a request specifically aimed at India’s forthcoming P-8is…
Research and Markets: Japan’s defense spending is expected to increase at 3.22% per year, reaching $62.3 billion in 2015.
Portland, OR-based Vigor Industrial to pay $130 million [PDF] for Seattle, WA-based Todd Shipyards, a military and civilian shipbuilder.
The US government, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and the city of Moses Lake have agreed to spend $58 million to clean up the former Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, WA.
The Maritime Helicopter Support Co. in Woodbridge, VA recently received a $1.409 billion firm-fixed-price, performance based logistics contract to repair US Navy Seahawk helicopters, and many of their mission systems. The firm has received a number of contracts like this in the past, and is a joint venture between helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky in Connecticut, and mission systems integrator Lockheed Martin in New York.
The contract covers the full range of serving Seahawk helicopters, including older SH-60B & SH-60F Seahawk and HH-60H “Rescue Hawk” models, and new MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawk machines. It runs for 4 years, with no option periods. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (70%), and Owego, NY (30%), and is expected to be complete by January 2015. This contract was not competitively awarded by the US Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-11-D-003F).
The German Bundeswehr’s GFF program plans to replace the core of its wheeled and light tracked combat vehicle fleet with entries from 4 categories: the lightweight 5.3-tonne GFF 1, the 7.5-tonne GFF 2, the 12.5-tonne GFF 3 and a 25-tonne GFF 4 all-terrain utility vehicle.
In November 2008, General Dynamics’ Swiss MOWAG subsidiary announced that its Eagle IV wheeled vehicles had come out on top in one of Germany’s GFF Klasse 2 competitions for “protected Command and Function vehicles.” GFF Klasse 2 reportedly comprises over 5,000 vehicles, to go with an already-awarded contract for the Bv206S tracked all terrain vehicle from BAE and Rheinmetall. This GD MOWAG contract would be followed by additional orders.
UK MoD and Home Office launch a 3-month industry consultation on defense equipment, support and technology.
President Obama is expected to sign the FY 2011 defense authorization bill after the House passed the Senate version, which stripped WWII-related payments to Guam residents.
Lame duck Congress kicks the can on US government spending legislation to the next Congress; Pentagon stuck on new weapons systems.
Germany’s Wegmann Group acquires Siemens AG’s 49% stake in land vehicle leader Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW). They will become the sole shareholder, pending regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
Colombia sought aerial defense system from US to counter Venezuela, US documents from WikiLeaks show. Given Venezuela’s recent buys, that can’t be surprising.
Patria’s deal with Sweden for at least 113 AMV 8×8 wheeled armored personnel carriers has survived legal challenges, and become a binding contract.
US cautious about North Korean pledge to allow IAEA nuclear inspectors.
BAE Systems snags $14 million US Navy contract to supply 4 AN/SQQ-32(V)4 minehunting sonar systems that are replacing the Raytheon-supplied AN/SQQ-32(V)3 sonar [PDF] currently employed aboard the MCM-1 Avenger Class minesweepers.
DARPA launches programs intended to prevent cybersecurity Pearl Harbor.
Harris gets $5.5 million USMC order for additional vehicular amplifier adapters for the Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband tactical radios.
Elbit Systems Ltd. recently announced a $16 million contract from the Polish Ministry of National Defense to supply a testing set of mobile multi-sensor monitoring and surveillance systems for Poland’s Rosomak, a variant of Patria’s 8×8 AMV wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier.
The consortium of Elbit Systems Land, Elbit C4I-Tadiran and the Polish Military Communication Institute will give the APC with surveillance payloads that include TV, thermal vision systems, a motion detection battlefield surveillance radar unit, encrypted communications systems, and an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) which is presumed to be Elbit’s Skylark. The project will be performed in cooperation with the local Polish industries.
