Pakistan Shopping Chinese Subs | Estonia Looks to Raytheon for Cyber Defense | PAK-FA / T-50 Prospects Dimming

Apr 02, 2015 02:13 UTC

The Navy has allocated $610 million worth of funding for the construction of Arleigh Burke-class DDG-122, with the total value of the contract with Bath Iron Works now reaching $3.4 billion. In related news, Lockheed Martin and Austal have received contracts for the construction of more Littoral Combat Ships, with an option to procure an additional ship next year to bring the total number of Independence-class LCSs to thirteen.
The Army is expected to release an RFP in 2016 for the Small Airborne Networking Radio (SANR), with the program included in the President’s proposed 2016 budget. The SANR will enable better helicopter-soldier communication through a software-defined dual-channel system capable of relaying both voice and data information.
Raytheon was awarded a $517.3 million contract Thursday for the EMD phase of the Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM). The contract covers the work undertaken for several export customers, including Australia, Canada, Germany and others.

Estonia’s Ministry of Defense struck a deal with Raytheon today to facilitate improvements to the country’s cyber defenses through measures such as industry partnerships. Estonia has boosted its cyber defenses following three weeks of attacks in 2007.
Lockheed Martin has been handed a $31.1 million contract for engineering and support to the UK’s Trident II nuclear deterrent’s missile system.

Lockheed Martin received a $174.8 million contract for 124 Army Tactical Missile Systems T2K UNitary M57s, destined for the UAE. This follows a similar $132 million sale to Finland in 2012.

Pakistan will buy eight Chinese subs, although the precise model and cost remains unconfirmed. IHS Janes has speculated that it may be the Type 041 Yuan-class attack variant. Talks between Beijing and Islamabad date back to 2011, following the disintegration of a potential deal with Germany. China is Pakistan’s largest supplier of arms, according to SIPRI, with this current deal slated to be one of the largest transfers yet between the two countries.
India is reportedly stone-walling Russian requests to discuss the PAK-FA/T-50 project, with the Indian Defense Ministry failing to respond to Russian requests for negotiations in February and March. This is the latest in a series of frictions between the two countries, with New Delhi criticizing the Russians after having signed an Inter Governmental Agreement in 2007.
South Korea has requested the sale of Hellfire II missiles from the US for a sum of $81 million. The DSCA released the news of the potential sale today. This request follows successful exports to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Indonesia in 2014.