Americas
Honeywell International won a $77.1 million contract modification for an additional three years of pricing in support of the F/A-18 aircraft. The F/A-18 “Hornet” is a single- and two-seat, twin engine, multi-mission fighter/attack aircraft that can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases. The F/A-18 fills a variety of roles: air superiority, fighter escort, suppression of enemy air defenses, reconnaissance, forward air control, close and deep air support, and day and night strike missions. The F/A-18 Hornet replaced the F-4 Phantom II fighter and A-7 Corsair II light attack jet, and also replaced the A-6 Intruder as these aircraft were retired during the 1990s. Honeywell will perform work in Arizona and estimated completion is in October 9, 2022.
Lockheed Martin won a $148.4 million order, which procures durability testing support for the certification of the F-35B aircraft variant to a minimum of 8,000 flight hours/30 year service life in support of the Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense participants. The effort includes the test article configuration, the test article build, the test plan, the testing itself, and teardown and analysis. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather, stealth, fifth-generation, multirole combat aircraft, designed for ground attack and air-superiority missions. The F-35B is the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the aircraft. Work will take place in Texas, California and Samlesbury in the UK. Estimated completion is in July 2032.
Middle East & Africa
Jane’s reports that a Patriot fire unit has been deployed for the first time at one of the sites being constructed for the air defense system in Qatar. Located at the southwest of Al-Udeid Air Base, the site has been under construction since early 2018. The AN/MPQ-65 radar and four launchers appeared on their pads between October 19-21. Raytheon has been awarded two contracts together worth $250 million to deliver an Air and Missile Defense Operations Center (ADOC) to Qatar. The Patriot system is in use with 16 countries for integrated air and missile defense.
Europe
The US Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $12.4 million undefinitized contract action contract for C-130J support. The deal will provide long term sustainment (LTS) for France’s C-130-J aircraft. Critical components of LTS support include program management support; spares, supply support services; support equipment; diminishing manufacturing sources, sustaining engineering services, sustaining engineering/technical services, field services representatives (FRS), logistics service representatives, contract field team, FSR deployment/travel, technical order updates; technical order print and distribution; country standard time compliance technical orders; depot maintenance; aircraft modifications; and data and configuration management programs. The global community of Super Hercules operators recently surpassed two million flight hours. Work will take place in Marietta, Georgia, and at French Air Bases and is expected to be completed by January 1, 2023.
General Atomics won a $17.9 million contract action for the France MQ-9 Block 5 weaponization and Foreign Military Sales Pod Integration effort. The deal provides for the weaponization of the French Air Force MQ?9 Block 5 aircraft and integration of the FMS Pod onto the French Air Force MQ?9 Block 5 aircraft. The MQ-9 Reaper is a UAV capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance. The UAV, which is sometimes also called Predator B, has an endurance of over 27 hours, a speed of 240 knots true airspeed, can operate at an altitude of up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850 pound payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds of external stores. Work will take place Poway, California, and estimated completion is in November 30, 2021.
Asia-Pacific
The Uzbekistan Ministry of Defense said on October 24 that it has tested the Chinese-made FD-2000 air defense missile system. The testing was carried out at the Kulkuduk training ground. The military unit of the Air Defense Forces and the Air Force based in the Kashkadarya province together with senior command officers took part in the first practical test of an HQ-9/FD- 2000 at the Kulkuduk training ground in the Navoi province. The FD-2000 is an advanced long-range air defense missile weapon system designed and manufactured by the Chinese Defense Company CPMIEC.
Today’s Video
Watch: Naval Group launches first digital defense intervention frigate FDI for French Navy Naval industry
