Lockheed Martin Tapped For C-130J Center Wing Box Replacement | Mi-17 Myanmar Crash-Landed | Fiji Receives Guardian Class Boat From Australia

Americas

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $16.2 million contract for the C-130J center wing box replacement program. The deal provides for 14 enhanced center wing boxes and 14 component kits. The C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. C-130J is crewed by two pilots and a loadmaster. The new glass cockpit features four L-3 systems with multifunction liquid crystal displays for flight control and navigation systems. The C-130J is equipped with a Honeywell dual-embedded global positioning system/inertial navigation system (GPS/INS), an enhanced traffic alerting and collision avoidance system (E-TCAS), a ground collision avoidance system, SKE2000 station keeping system, and an instrument landing system (ILS). Work will take place in Marietta, Georgia, and estimated completion date is March 30, 2027.

Raytheon won a $108.3 million deal for the procurement of hardware, facilities, equipment, and all technical, planning, management, manufacturing, and testing efforts to include all incidental services to produce the PATRIOT Digital Sidelobe Canceler and Peripheral Enhancement Assembly box production kits. Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defense system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft. It is produced by Raytheon in Massachusetts and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Florida. Work will take place in Massachusetts, California, Connecticut and estimated completion date is July 31, 2022.

Middle East & Africa

Abacus Technology won a $21.9 million contract for support services, which provides for information technology sustainment support services at several locations. Performance locations are Al Udeid Air Base (AB), Qatar; Al Dhafra AB, United Arab Emirates; and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. The contract is the result of a set-aside for small business and five offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,767,312 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Estimated completion will be by March 2025.

Europe

The UK and France have completed the first qualification firing trial of the MBDA Sea Venom/Anti?Navire Léger Anti-Ship Missile, the Defense Equipment and Support agency. The missile, which will equip the Royal Navy’s AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat HMA2 and future French Navy Airbus H160M helicopters, was test launched from a French DGA procurement agency-owned Airbus AS365 Dauphin helicopter off the south of France. According to DES, the test at the DGA Essais de Missiles test site near Ile du Levant saw the missile reach its cruise phase while skimming low to the sea. The helicopter crew then used images from the infrared seeker to aim the missile manually, and it went on to accurately hit its target. Intended to replace the Sea Skua under the Royal Navy’s Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy) requirement, the Sea Venom/ANL is designed to safely engage hostile vessels amongst civilian ones and could be used on a range of targets from small, fast-moving craft through to larger ships.

Asia-Pacific

A Myanmar Mi-17 helicopter carrying foreign military attachés crash-landed on March 6 in Shan State. One military attaché from Thailand is said to be injured. The helicopter is part of a four-ship deployment bringing the diplomats and media to attend a press conference in Kaungkha Village. The Myanmar military helicopter carrying at least 15 people, including foreign military attachés to Myanmar, crashed shortly after it took off in Kaungkha Village, Kutkai Township in northern Shan State.

The Australian government has handed over a Guardian Class patrol boat to Fiji. The vessel, which is part of a 21-vessel donation by Canberra to 12 Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste, was handed over on March 6 at Austal Shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. The vessel will be in service with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces as RFNS Savenaca. The ship is the sixth vessel in the Guardian Class overall but the first of two boats that Fiji is receiving from Australia.

Today’s Video

Watch: US NAVY’s USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT SUPERCARRIER DOCKS IN VIETNAM !

Light Naval Strike: MBDA’s Sea Venom / ANL Missile

Britain needs to replace the old Sea Skua missiles carried by its Lynx naval helicopters. France could use a lighter missile than the 655 kg AM39 Exocet – one that could be carried by a wider range of helicopters, and offer a different attack profile. The answer to both needs may lie in a notional 110 kg missile under development by MBDA, as part of a broad 2006 “Team Complex Weapons” arrangement with the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

The tough part was getting Britain and France to come together and agree on the development framework for the Sea Venom / Anti-Navire Leger (ANL) / Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon – Heavy (FASGW-H) missile. Britain needs a strike missile to equip its new AW159 Wildcats, but France can already mount longer-range AM39 Exocets on its Super Puma helicopters, and didn’t feel a huge sense of urgency about its new NH90-NFH medium helicopters or AS565 Panther light naval helicopters. It took until 2013, but development is now underway.