Lockheed wins $2.4bn F-35 Deal | Elbit To Supply Portugal With EW Suite | HAL Slashes Price of LCA
Americas
Lockheed Martin won a $2.4 billion contract modification for F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter initial spares. The deal supports the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, non-US Department of Defense participants, and Foreign Military Sales customers. Spares include global spares packages, base spares packages, deployment spares packages, afloat spares packages and associated consumables. The F-35 Lightning is a supersonic, multi-role fighter jet that represents a quantum leap in air-dominance capability, offering enhanced lethality and survivability in hostile, anti-access airspace environments. The aircraft family is comprised of three aircraft variants. The Air Force’s F-35A variant will complement its F-22A fleet and is expected to replace the air-to-ground attack capabilities of the F-16 and A-10. The Marine Corps’ F-35B variant will replace its F/A-18 and AV-8B aircraft. The Navy’s F-35C variant will complement its F/A-18E/F aircraft. Lockheed will perform work within the US, the UK and the Netherlands.
The US Navy awarded General Dynamics a $1.1 billion fixed-price-incentive modification for the procurement of detail design and construction of Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) 6 and ESB 7, as well as definitization of ESB 6 long lead time material, pre-production and engineering support. Named after famous names or places of historical significance to US Marines, ESBs serve as a flexible platform and a key element in the Navy’s airborne mine countermeasures mission, with accommodations for up to 250 personnel and a large helicopter flight deck. The ship’s configuration supports special warfare and Marine Corps task-organized units. The ESB Class is based on NASSCO’s Alaska class crude oil carrier, and incorporates a number of changes that make it a highly flexible platform that can be used across a broad range of military support operations. The ESB is optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions and is designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets. Work will take place in California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Mexico among other places. Estimated completion date is in January 2025..
Middle East & Africa
The US Navy contracted Rafael with a $13.3 million contract for intermediate level and depot level test equipment, spare parts, fixturing, repairs, training, engineering services and material support services to establish organic US government I-Level and D-Level Toplite family of electro-optic sights. Toplite family of electro-optic systems (EOS) is an advanced multi-sensor, multi-purpose, highly stabilized EO/ISR solution for homeland security and defense applications. It is used for a variety of applications on different platforms for intelligence/data collection, surveillance, reconnaissance and weapon direction. Rafael will perform work in Haifa, Israel and expected completion is in August 2024.
Europe
Portugal chose Elbit Systems to supply a complete Electronic Warfare (EW) suite for the Portuguese Air Forces’ new KC-390 multi-mission aircraft. Elbit Systems said in a press release that the Portuguese Ministry of Defense selected the company and the complete EW suite to be supplied by Elbit Systems. The Air Force’s KC-390 aircraft will be comprised of a Radar and Laser Warning Systems, IR Missile Warning System, Countermeasures Dispensing System as well as the Directional IR Countermeasures (DIRCM) system and Active ECM (AECM) system. The Embraer KC-390 is twin-turbofan-powered and can be refueled in flight. It can be used for in-flight or on-ground refueling of other aircraft.
Asia-Pacific
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is reported to have slashed the price of each Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) from $62.9 million to as low as $34.9 million each. “HAL really has no choice. If we need to sustain our production lines and the employees, we need fresh orders,” an anonymous source was quoted saying in the Times of India. The HAL Tejas is a single-engine, delta wing, multirole light fighter. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s aging MiG-21 fighters.
Jane’s reports that Indonesia chose the BAE Systems 57 mm naval gun for four KCR-60M Class vessels. The country selected Bofors 57 Mk3 naval gun system. A contract for the weapon systems has been signed with state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL, which will be involved in the weapon’s installation. Indonesia’s Navy operates a class of four KCR-60M Class fast attack craft. The KCR-60M was originally conceived by Indonesian defense planners as a ‘hit-and-run’ platform that could swiftly deploy guided anti-ship missiles against larger surface combatants, before quickly receding into the archipelagic background. The Bofors 57 mm l/70 naval guns are a series of dual-purpose naval guns.
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