* Another big Mideast sale is coming down the pipe that will include F-16E/Fs for the UAE, and cruise missiles for the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Israel to get V-22 tiltrotors, AESA fighter radars, and KC-135 aerial tankers. Choosing 707-based tankers is odd, given their growing support costs, and IAI’s cheap K-767 MMTT alternative.
* Embraer and AgustaWestland will not establish a joint venture in Brazil, despite indicating the intent to do so last January.
* Damen is building 9 vessels for the Bahamas , and helping them upgrade naval bases. “Project Sandy Bottom” involves 4 Damen SPa 4207 OPVs, 4 Damen SPa 3007 coastal patrol boats, a Damen RoRo 5612 for logistics and disaster relief, and upgrades to all 3 Royal Bahamas Defence Force naval bases.
* Amphibious ships in Asia/Pacific: a stagnant market?
* Thailand’s navy has chosen South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering as the provider of a frigate to be delivered in two years. DSME’s DW 3000H proposal was unveiled in Bangkok a little more than a year ago.
* In the latest Defense AT&L [PDF], LTC T.J. Wright, the US Army product manager for Precision Guided Missiles and Rockets, lists all the 70 documents (give or take) that have to be filed for a major Army program to hit Milestone B which authorizes the start of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase, and wishes that this daunting assignment could be pruned.
* Clay Jones will retire from his CEO position at Rockwell Collins on July 31. President Kelly Ortberg, 52, will replace him. Ortberg has been at the company since 1987.
* The latest report from the CSIS think tank showcases again budget modeling that is sorely lacking from most spending documents issued by the Pentagon: A Methodology for Making the Right Trade-offs in Defense for the Decade Ahead [PDF].
