Americas
* Brazilian prosecutors will investigate the country’s $5.4 billion Gripen deal, signed with Saab in October last year. The probe is reportedly focused on a $900 million disparity between Saab’s 2009 bid price and the final contract value. Saab beat out competitors Boeing and Dassault in the FX-2 competition, which should see the initial batch of 36 fighters delivered in 2018.
* A group of four firms are positioning to offer the US and others training on rented AgustaWestland helicopters, simulators and other equipment, as well as expertise and training to reduce costs in the long-term for the military and mitigate somewhat the fall in demand for hardware procurement. The US has traditionally performed poorly at recovering value from disused hardware it owns, in part due to concerns about who might ultimately acquire the assets if left to the market.
* The Navy needs more missile defense assets, according to the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert. The number of BMD ships required in 2016 to meet operational demand is expected to double, to 77.
* BAE Systems received a $26.1 million contract option for 250 Combined Interrogator Transponders, with a portion of these forming part of Foreign Military Sales programs to Finland and Switzerland.
* The Army awarded a $17.5 million contract to Navistar Defense for seven MaxxPro Dash hardware refit kits.
* The Air Force handed a $486 million IDIQ contract to BCF Solutions for multiple force protection site security systems worldwide.
Europe
* Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday to allow the export of Russia’s S-300 air and missile defense system to Iran. The Kremlin cancelled a similar export contract in 2010 in response to UN sanctions. For the better part of a decade, Russia has threatened to deliver S-300 systems to Iran, creating an appearance of using the threat as a bargaining pressure mechanism for various diplomatic tussles with the west.
* Russian state defense export agency Rosoboronexport has stated that the French and Russian governments have two more contractually-stipulated months in the $1.5 billion Mistral contract to work out an agreement before Russia makes a decision based on the “terms and conditions set forth in the contract.”
Middle East
* Turkey has received the last of its upgraded F-16 Block 40 and 50 fighters, modernized through a $1.1 billion program signed between the US and Turkish governments in 2005. The upgrades saw 177 F-16s fitted with new avionics, IFF transponders, Link 16 communications, a new EW system and AN/APG-69(V)9 radar.
Asia
* India is renewing its push to acquire 22 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing, according to Indian media Monday. Following the demise of the Indian Light Utility Helicopter competition in August last year. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) effectively cleared the procurement, with the $2 billion program having been in limbo since 2010.
* Australia is executing a previously-announced contract to acquire an additional two C-17A Globemasters, bringing the total number in its inventory to eight.
* The Australian Defence Force (ADF) also successfully test-fired ten APKWS rockets from a Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter, scoring ten from ten in a live-fire exercise. See Today’s Video below.
* China is set to open some of its defense development and manufacturing to the open market, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense announced Monday.
Today’s Video
* The APKWS…
