USS Mobile To Be Commissioned | Poland Gets Two BBJ 2 Aircraft | BAE Launched Anson Submarine

Americas

Raytheon won a $243.2 million contract modification for one AN/TPY-2 Radar (Radar #13) to support Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Battery #8. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $1,244,567,329 from $1,002,297,329. The THAAD missile system is an easily transportable defensive weapon system to protect against hostile incoming threats, such as tactical and theatre ballistic missiles, at ranges of 200km and altitudes of up to 150km. Work will take place in Massachusetts. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2024.

The future USS Mobile, the US Navy’s next Independence-class littoral combat ship, will be commissioned on May 27, the Navy announced. The ceremony, restricted because of COVID-19 concerns but scheduled to be livestreamed, will be held in Mobile, Ala., where the ship was built by Austal USA. The vessel will be the 13th Independence variant in the Navy fleet. Littoral combat ships are fast, agile, focused-mission platforms designed for operation in near-shore environments but capable of open-ocean operation, Austral USA said.

Middle East & Africa

AITC-Fice Domains won a $27.4 million contract from the US Army to provide train, advise, assist and mentor services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Saudi Arabia with an estimated completion date of October 31, 2024. Fiscal 2021 Foreign Military Sales funds to Saudi Arabia in the amount of $27,375,117 were obligated at the time of the award.

Europe

The Polish Air Force will take delivery of two Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 2 aircraft in May and June, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported. The service had placed an order for two BBJ 2s and one 737-800 in 2017. The 737 was delivered that year. The first BBJ 2 will arrive home in end of May while the other one is flying home in mid-June.

BAE launched Anson, the fifth of seven Astute Class attack submarines it is building for the British Royal Navy, at its worksite in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, in Britain. The submarine was moved out from Devonshire Dock Hall and entered the water for the first time Tuesday, according to a press release from the contractor.

Asia-Pacific

An Indonesian submarine has gone missing with 53 crew members. The Indonesian government reported the disappearance of submarine KRI Nanggala during a torpedo live fire exercise earlier today, requesting search and rescue assistance from Singapore and Australia. The submarine, a 40-year-old German-built Type 209 boat, was carrying a crew of 53 when it went missing. An Indonesian navy task force has begun to search for the submarine, and Indonesia has called for assistance from both Singapore and Australia.

Today’s Video

Watch: Austal USA – USS Mobile (LCS 26) Sea Trials

THAAD: Reach Out and Touch Ballistic Missiles

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is a long-range, land-based theater defense weapon that acts as the upper tier of a basic 2-tiered defense against ballistic missiles. It’s designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight, flying at high altitudes within and even outside the atmosphere. This allows it to provide broad area coverage against threats to critical assets such as population centers and industrial resources as well as military forces, hence its previous “theater (of operations) high altitude area defense” designation.

This capability makes THAAD different from a Patriot PAC-3 or the future MEADS system, which are point defense options with limited range that are designed to hit a missile or warhead just before impact. The SM-3 Standard missile is a far better comparison, and land-based SM-3 programs will make it a direct THAAD competitor. So far, both programs remain underway.