Americas
Lockheed Martin won a $430 million deal for full-rate production of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and support services to satisfy an urgent need to support the Army and various Foreign Military Sales partners. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Brownsboro, Alabama; Camden, Arkansas; Boca Raton, Clearwater and Palm Bay, Florida; Whippany, New Jersey; Archbald and York, Pennsylvania; and Dallas and Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of December 31, 2025.
Boeing won an $8.7 million modification, which exercises options to provide continued integrated logistics support and engineering services in support of the Harpoon and Standoff Land-Attack Missile-Expanded Response Missile Systems and Harpoon Launch Systems for the Navy and various Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in St. Charles, Missouri (91.89%); St. Louis, Missouri (5.47%); and Yorktown, Virginia (2.64%), and is expected to be completed in February 2024.
Middle East & Africa
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense and Navantia have signed a memorandum of understanding to construct multi-mission combat ships for the Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF). The agreement will see the Spanish shipbuilder transfer related technologies to Saudi experts in support of the country’s Vision 2030 program, which seeks to enhance domestic construction, combat system integration, design, and ship maintenance.
Europe
The German government will send an additional seven Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) to Ukraine. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) in Munich is repairing the seven Gepards, which were initially intended for scrapping. They should arrive in Ukraine in Spring 2023. Government officials did not specify when the tanks would be delivered. They said the tanks had come from manufacturers’ stocks and deliveries were dependent on repairs or production still in progress.
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of 350 portable surface-to-air Stinger missile systems and related gear to Finland, the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on Thursday. The equipment deal is valued at an estimated $380 million. The FIM-92K Stinger Man Portable missile systems are manufactured by Raytheon Missiles & Defense, based in the US state of Arizona.
Asia-Pacific
Indian Navy chief Adm. R Hari Kumar said on December 3 that his service is happy with IAC-1 aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and could buy another carrier based on it instead of the newer IAC-2 CATOBAR aircraft carrier. “We are still working on what size it should be and what its capabilities should be. Right now, we have put a hold on it because we have just commissioned INS Vikrant (IAC-I). We are quite happy with the ship. The way the ship performed in the trial,” Adm. Kumar was quoted as saying. This aircraft carrier is known as the IAC-2 and is scheduled to be built by the Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy. This will be the second aircraft carrier to be built in India after the INS Vikrant (IAC-1) which was launched in 2013. The proposed design for the second carrier class will be a new one, featuring significant changes from Vikrant, including a significant increase in size and displacement over the INS Vikrant design.
Today’s Video
WATCH: Finland To Buy 350 Pieces FIM-92K Stinger missiles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6eBn7dr4ks
