USAF Awards Boeing Deal For 26 E-7s | DoS Approves Javelin Sale To UK | Singapore Acquires 8 Additional F-35s

Americas

Boeing won a $1.2 billion contract action for the E-7A Rapid Prototype program. This contract provides for the initiation of the development activities for the program. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be complete by August 2024. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. The E-7A Wedgetail “will provide advanced Airborne Moving Target Indication and Battle Management, Command, and Control capabilities, and advanced Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array radar that enhances airborne battle management and enables long-range kill chains with potential peer adversaries,” the Air Force said. The E-7A was originally developed for Australia, and has also been adopted by the U.K. By leveraging allied investment in the E-7A, the US aims to acquire the new AWACS replacements more quickly than would otherwise be possible.

Pacific Propeller International LLC won a $50.9 million deal for the overhaul support for the C-130 54H60 series propeller. This contract provides for the overhaul and repair of the C-130 54H60 series propeller for the Air Force and multiple countries. All work will be performed in Kent, Washington, and individual orders will be placed by the Air Force and Foreign Military Sales partners through February 27, 2028. This contract is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2023 working capital funds in the amount of $771,800 are being obligated at the time of award on an Air Force requirement to address the barrel cracking issue, with performance being completed within 90 days.

Middle East & Africa

The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed on Tuesday it had detected particles of uranium enriched up just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb. “Discussions are still ongoing” to determine the origin of these particles, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a confidential report seen by AFP. The report said that during an inspection “on 22 January 2023, the agency took environmental samples… at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, the analytical results of which showed the presence of high enriched uranium particles containing up to 83.7 percent U-235.”

Europe

The US State Department has approved a possible $125.2 million FGM-148F Javelin medium range antitank missile sale to the United Kingdom. Announced Tuesday, the new deal follows a request by London for 600 of the weapons and includes 12 “fly-to-buy” missiles, US technical assistance and logistical support, noted the State Department. “The proposed sale will improve the United Kingdom’s capability to meet current and future threats,” it added. “The United Kingdom will use the enhanced capability to build its long-term defense capacity to meet its national defense requirements.”

Asia-Pacific

Singapore’s Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) has exercised an option to acquire eight additional F-35B Lightning II Fighter multirole combat aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The update builds on a deal inked in 2020 for 12 F-35Bs to be delivered by the end of the decade for the Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has selected the MQ-9B SeaGuardian from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) for the former’s Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) RPAS Trial Operation Project. According to GA-ASI, the trials will begin in April this year. The MQ-9B will undergo rigorous testing to evaluate its adaptability to support manned-unmanned teaming missions and reduce the level of required manpower. The Japanese government has also announced an agreement for the exchange of data obtained from the MQ-9B drones operated by the Japan Coast Guard and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Today’s Video

WATCH: The Bizarre and Risky Future of Electronic Warfare – The E-7 Wedgetail

Australia’s Troubled E-7A “Wedgetail” AWACS Program

The island continent of Australia faces a number of unique security challenges that stem from its geography. The continent may be separated from its neighbors by large expanses of ocean, but it also resides within a potential arc of instability, and has a number of important offshore resource sites to protect. Full awareness of what is going on around them, and the ability to push that awareness well offshore, are critical security requirements.

“Project Wedgetail” had 3 finalists, and the winner was a new variant of Boeing’s 737-700, fitted with an MESA (multirole electronically scanned array) radar from Northrop Grumman. That radar exchanges the traditional AWACS rotating dome for the E-7A’s “top hat” stationary antenna. That design, and the project as a whole, have run into severe turbulence, creating problems for Boeing earnings, the ADF, and other export orders for the type. DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This one covers contracts, events, and key milestones within Australia’s E-7A program, from inception to the current day.

Pilum High: The Javelin Anti-Armor Missile

The FGM-148 Javelin missile system aimed to solve 2 key problems experienced by American forces. One was a series of disastrous experiences in Vietnam, trying to use 66mm M72 LAW rockets against old Soviet tanks. A number of replacement options like the Mk 153 SMAW and the AT4/M136 spun out of that effort in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until electronics had miniaturized for several more cycles that it became possible to solve the next big problem: the need for soldiers to remain exposed to enemy fire while guiding anti-tank missiles to their targets.

Javelin solves both of those problems at once, offering a heavy fire-and-forget missile that will reliably destroy any enemy armored vehicle, and many fortifications as well. While armored threats are less pressing these days, the need to destroy fortified outposts and rooms in buildings remains. Indeed, one of the lessons from both sides of the 2006 war in Lebanon has been the infantry’s use of guided missiles as a form of precision artillery fire. Javelin isn’t an ideal candidate for that latter role, due to its high cost-per-unit; nevertheless, it has often been used this way. Its performance in Iraq has revealed a clear niche on both low and high intensity battlefields, and led to rising popularity with American and international clients.