Americas
Lockheed Martin won a $22.7 million modification to exercise an option for industrial post-delivery availability support for the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Cleveland (LCS 31). Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Green Expert Technology won a $13 million cost-plus-fixed fee task order for cybersecurity support for Arleigh Burke-class integrated bridge control systems. This task order includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this task order to $67,669,637. Work will be performed in Haddonfield, New Jersey (81%); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (19%), and is expected to be completed by May 2025. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.
Middle East & Africa
Kenya and Somalia have signed a cooperation agreement in the field of defense. According to reports in the Kenyan press, Kenyan Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Somalia Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed Muallim Fiqi met in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. In the statement made after the meeting, it was stated that a cooperation agreement was signed between the two countries in the fields of defence, health and education.
Europe
The Netherlands announced plans to update the self-defense systems of its NH90, Apache, and Chinook helicopters in response to the effectiveness of Netherlands-donated air defense systems in Ukraine. The announcement was made by state secretary Christophe van der Maat at the House of Representatives, highlighting the need to counter potential threats such as infrared and radar-guided missile systems and other guided anti-aircraft artillery.
Asia-Pafic
The Singapore Army has begun equipping its infantry units with a new light machine gun (LMG) better suited to close-quarters combat. The service recently announced on social media that it has been progressively introducing the 6940E-SG infantry automatic rifle since last month to enhance soldiers’ lethality. Developed by American firm Colt Manufacturing, the weapon reportedly comes with many features tailored to the needs of infantry troops, including ambidextrous fire controls.
