June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates’ formal request for 5 UH-60M Black Hawk VIP helicopters. The move will bring the UAE’s UH-60M fleet to 45 helicopters, which breaks down as at least 17 standard transports, up to 23 modified and armed AH-60M Battlehawks, and 5 VIP helicopters. It will also keep pace with Jordan’s monarchy, which recently bought a pair of UH-60M VIP machines. With nearby Bahrain as a UH-60M customer, and Saudi Arbia submitting a major buy request for the type, the UH-60M is quickly becoming the Gulf Cooperation Council’s referenceable standard.
The estimated cost is $217 million, but actual costs will depend on negotiated contracts. The complete request involves…
June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] Morocco’s official request to buy 8 AN/MPQ-64F1 Improved Sentinel radars, 8 M1152 HMMWV Sentinel transports, 8 accompanying AN/VRC-92E SINCGARS Vehicular Dual Long-Range System Radios, plus Sentinel Software, HMMWV support equipment, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical data, and U.S. Government and contractor support.
The DSCA says that “The Government of Morocco is modernizing its armed forces and expanding its air defense architecture.” They could certainly use that…
The Lakeshore TolTest JV, LLC in Detroit, MI recently won a $64.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to design and build a brigade garrison at “Deh Yak Ghazni”, Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Ghazni, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Jan 30/13. It is not immediately clear whether the garrison is for Afghan government use, under the ANSF program, but that is likely. Bids were solicited through the Internet, with 8 bids received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Afghanistan Engineer District in Kabul, Afghanistan (W5J9JE-11-C-0130)
Deh Yak is a district about 30 km east of Ghazni city in Ghazni Province, which is located in eastern Afghanistan. The province has served as part of the trade route from Kabul to Kandahar for many centuries, and was recently discovered to have incredibly rich lithium deposits. Those discoveries will likely add to Ghazni’s interesting history. It was a thriving Buddhist center before its destruction by Muslim conquerors in 869 AD, and the area’s subsequent historic legacy still shapes it via the number of resident Hazaras among the Pashtun population. The Deh Yak district is majority Pashtun, however, with some ethnic Tajiks.
At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on President Obama’s unilateral decision to engage US forces in Libya, State Department Advisor Harold Koh stated that Congressional approval was not required due to the ‘limited’ nature of military operations. Ranking Member Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) responded that the United States’ roles in Libya are significant as it provides the majority of intelligence and air refueling.
The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a confirmation hearing for the commander chosen to replace General David Petraeus in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General John Allen.
The US Army issues a Request for Information (RFI) to support the development of the Medium Range Multi-Purpose (MRMP) Vertical Take Off and Landing UAS acquisition strategy. The RFI also covers the Army and Navy Medium Range Maritime UAS (MRMUAS) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) program.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) orders 12,500 rugged encrypted tablet personal computers from Software Box Ltd. The £30 million ($48 million) five-year contract also includes maintenance support and forms part of the Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solutions (JAMES) project.
Northrop Grumman signs a Global Supply Chain (GSC) Deed with the Australian Ministry of Defence. The deed forms part of a program designed to increase the presence of Australia’s defense industry within global supply chains.
Italy takes delivery of its first NH90 NFH naval helicopter, making it the 2nd delivery customer after the Netherlands. But when will the type be fully operational?
The US DoD announces that recruitment and retention levels for all four active services and five of six reserve components met or exceeded their year-to-end accession goals.
ASDReports’ latest publication says that the value of the Russian defense market in 2010 was $47.1 billion. The Russian Defense Market 2011-2021 also predicts that President Medvedev’s economic liberalization plans will encourage greater investment in the domestic defense sector.
The Government Accountability Office publishes its report [PDF] on the military buildup on Guam. Despite making savings to program costs, the report raises concerns over the timeline of the project, as well as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) failure to develop cost estimates for air and missile defenses. The failure to develop the Guam Joint Military Master Plan is also a concern, prompting Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) to press the DoD for its finalization.
Almost 24 hours after Defense Secretary Robert Gates called upon NATO’s European members to pool resources, Germany announces that it is ready to provide military ordnance to the mission in Libya. However, the announcement means that Germany will still not be taking a direct part in operations.
