Americas
Raytheon won a $74.1 million contract modification that procures pre-operational support for the Next Generation Jammer-Mid Band pod through the completion of the engineering, manufacturing and development phase as well as development, test and evaluation activities. Procured support includes organizational-level maintenance, repair, supply chain management, and material support for equipment delivered under the EMD contract, and associated peculiar support equipment/test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment to support DT&E. According to the company, Raytheon’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band is an advanced electronic attack system that denies, disrupts and degrades enemy technology, including communication tools and air-defense systems. Raytheon delivered the first NGJ-MB pod to the US Navy for testing in July of 2019. The technology can also be scaled to other missions and platforms. It was the first of 15 EMD pods to be delivered to the USN for mission systems testing and qualification. The company will also deliver 14 aero-mechanical pods for airworthiness certification. Under the contract modification, Raytheon will perform work in Mississippi, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Indiana. Estimated completion date is in December 2021.
The Navy tapped General Dynamics with a $44.6 million modification for low-rate initial production of the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SMCM UUV) or Knifefish. The Knifefish program is an ongoing effort to provide a UUV that detects and classifies undersea volume, bottom and buried mines in high-clutter environments. It is part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Countermeasures Mission Package and can also be deployed from vessels of opportunity. The Knifefish system, which consists of two unmanned undersea vehicles along with support systems and equipment, uses cutting-edge low-frequency broadband sonar and automated target recognition software technology developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and successfully transitioned to industry. It acts as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the mine field boundaries. The low-rate initial production effort will provide the initial systems for the Navy to test and operate. Work will take place in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia, and Michigan and is expected to be finished by August 2021.
Middle East & Africa
The US Navy contracted Physical Optics Corp. with a $27.2 million contract modification in support of the Super Hornet and Growler aircraft for the Navy and the government of Kuwait. The deal exercises an option for data transfer unit production support, 160 data transfer units, 160 ground data transfer units, 14 maintenance access cables, 600 mission data transfer devices, and 459 maintenance data transfer devices in support of the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G program. In addition, this option exercise procures 37 data transfer units, 35 ground data transfer units, 11 maintenance access cables, 122 mission data transfer devices, and 90 maintenance data transfer devices in support of the Kuwait Super Hornet program. Boeing Super Hornets are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The EA-18G Growler is based on the Super Hornet airframe. It is an electronic attack aircraft, which is capable of disrupting, deceiving or denying a broad range of military electronic systems, including radars and communications. Work under the contract modification will take place in California and estimated completion is in August 2021.
Europe
According to local reports, a Spanish Air Force C-101 crashed on August 26, killing the pilot on board. The crash took place at La Manga del Mar Menor and was witnessed by the public. At around 9.38am, emergency services were flooded with hundreds of calls from La Manga, reporting that a plane had fallen into the sea. The aircraft was a two-seater C-101, a model used by Spain’s Patrulla Águila aerobatic display team. The pilot was later reported dead by the Spanish Defense Ministry.
Asia-Pacific
Northrop Grumman won a $9.9 million contract modification, which procures eight E-2C compatible AN/APX-122A Mode 5/S interrogators for the government of Japan. The primary role of the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft supplied by Northrop Grumman is as an all-weather airborne early-warning aircraft to the naval task force. In April, Northrop Grumman won a $51.8 million deal for identifying friend or foe technology compatible with the E-2C Hawkeye. It enabled the company to provide services for the delivery, installation and testing of one Japan E-2C Hawkeye compatible AN/APX-122A Mode 5/S interrogator and transponder. Under the modification, Northrop will perform work in Greenlawn, New York, and Melbourne, Florida. and is expected to be completed in September 2023.
The Sri Lanka Navy commissioned a frigate that was formerly in service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The vessel, which has been renamed SLNS Parakramabahu, was commissioned on 22 August in Colombo in the presence of the Sri Lankan and Chinese governments and military leaders. It was previously in service with the PLAN as the Jiangwei I (Type 053 H2G) Class frigate, Tongling (542). An official video of Parakramabahu ‘s commissioning ceremony indicates that the vessel has been handed over to Sri Lanka with its primary weapon, a twin 100 mm naval gun system, intact.
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