Americas
Mills Marine and Ship Repair LLC won a $48.5 million deal to support in-service Carriers Refueling Complex Overhaul fire watch support for the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Refueling and Complex Overhaul availabilities. This contract will include the identification of fire hazards and the safe response to potential fires during hot-work operations. This contract was competitively procured and solicited via the System for Award Management website with five offers received. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $48,497,928. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by October 12 2024.
Raytheon won a $11 million delivery order for the procurement of forty-eight parts in support of the active electronically scanned array radar system used on the F/A-18 aircraft. The delivery order does not include an option period. All work will be performed in Forest, Mississippi, and work is expected to be completed by November 2025. This effort involves the purchase under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. FMS funds (Canada) in the full amount of $11,089,493 will be obligated at the time of award.
Middle East and Africa
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have signed 24 framework agreements to bolster cooperation among their defense industries, Emirati conglomerate Edge Group announced Wednesday. The agreements follow several years of political disputes between the two nations, which decided to reconcile their differences in 2022. And the two countries in July 2023 signed 13 agreements valued at $50.7 billion, which saw the UAE invest in Turkey’s defense and space sectors.
Europe
The Norwegian government has promised $18 million in funding for mine and explosives clearance in Ukraine. The funds will be transferred through clearing organizations like Norwegian People’s Aid, the HALO Trust, and the UN system, under the country’s Nansen Support Programme. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Norway has provided Ukraine 164 million kroner ($15 million) for clearing operations.
According to Defense News, Finland’s 2024 defense budget is primed to include funds meant to strengthen the country’s 830-mile-long border with Russia as well as replenish military equipment and weapons supplied to Ukraine over the last two years. The budget, which is on course to be ratified by the end of October, puts defense spending at about $6.6 billion — a nearly 5% rise from 2023. The Defense Ministry approved the draft budget with amendments in September.
Asia-Pacific
Australian has developed an algorithm to protect unmanned military robots from “man-in-the-middle” (MitM) cyberattacks. MitM attacks occur when an undetected threat blocks communication between assets, such as network capabilities or unmanned systems, in an effort to eavesdrop, steal data, or gain control over the targets. For the project, experts from the University of South Australia and Charles Sturt University trained a robot’s operating system to learn the signature of a MitM eavesdropping cyberattack.
Today’s Video
WATCH: How Powerful is the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) Aircraft Carrier
