US Army $3B Contract With Eight Firms for New Missile Defense | GD Land Sys to Upgrade 141 LAV’s for Canada | Germany’s A400M Track Record 1-8

Americas

• The US Army has contracted eight defense firms to participate in a $3 billion contract to develop new missile defense solutions for the service. Those tasked with the work include BAE Systems, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Dynetics, QWK Integrated Solutions, Teledyne Brown Engineering, KBRwyle Technology Solutions and Science Applications International Corporation. Under the accord, companies will design, develop, demonstrate and integrate services for the Domain 1 – Space/High Altitude and Missile Defense Program. The effort aims to facilitate research on appropriate hardware and software components to bolster US missile defenses. Completion of the work is expected for February 8, 2026.

• Canada’s Light Armored Vehicle III (LAV III) Upgrade Program will see General Dynamics Land Systems upgrade 141 Light Armored Vehicles. Valued at $308 million, the upgrades will bring the vehicles up to the latest LAV 6.0 standard, improving the vehicles’ performance and survivability while reducing long-term maintenance costs. Based on the Swiss MOWAG Piranha III, the LAV III is the third generation of light armored vehicles used by Canada’s army.

• Those who suffered property damage as a result of last October’s rogue JLENS blimp rampage will have to sue in order to get any compensation. A US Army investigation decided that “no government employees, agencies or entities were responsible or negligent” in the incident and thus would not be paying out. Disgruntled residents of Maryland and Pennsylvania will instead have to either sue the Army in federal court or pursue a state lawsuit against Raytheon. The service received 35 property damage claims after the surveillance balloon broke free of its moorings while dragging its mooring line across the two states before deflating enough to be shot down by State Troopers.

Africa

• Manufacturer Embraer has been granted permission from the Brazilian government to sell pre-owned A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to Nigeria. The Nigerian Air Force said the light attack aircraft will boost their operational capabilities in tackling insurgents in the country such as Boko Haram. Three Super Tucano’s will be transferred between both nations’ airforces following the completion of legal procedures.

Europe

• Only one of eight A400M transport aircraft operated by the German military is ready for use. The disclosure comes just days after Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen was forced to switch aircraft in Lithuania due to the aircraft experiencing an engine oil leak. Of the seven out of action, three A400Ms have broken down, two are undergoing scheduled maintenance while one more is having a retrofit. The seventh has just been delivered and is having acceptance trials. Technical problems have plagued the A400M program, putting it years behind schedule, with Germany’s share of the costs having risen to $10.2 billion from an initial estimate of $8.6 billion.

• Defense ties between the Netherlands and Germany continue, with both governments agreeing to put a German short-range air defense unit under the command of the Dutch military. The change is based on a broader agreement for a mixed German-Dutch 414 Tank Battalion, which is expected to be fully formed by 2019, according reports. Both nations are planning to jointly develop a new short-range air defense system as part of the expanded cooperation, following Berlin’s announcement last week that it was replacing its aging short-range air defense systems in order to fill a gap in capabilities.

Asia Pacific

• Saab has offered to build the world’s most modern fighter aircraft factory in India if New Delhi selects the JAS-39 Gripen E to fill an upcoming 200-250 unit fighter requirement. The company has already been in talks with nearly 100 aerospace and defense firms in India to provide components for the production of the plane which would lay the industrial base for India to design, develop and build future fighters. Rival competitor Lockheed Martin has offered to transfer the production line of their F-16 Block 70 fighter to India if selected, even though President Donald Trump’s protectionist administration may want to take a fresh look at such plans.

• North Korea has conducted their first ballistic missile test since US President Donald Trump’s tenure. Believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan-class missile rather than an ICBM, the munition landed in the Sea of Japan early on Sunday morning. The test is being viewed as a provocation to the new US administration following President Trump’s vow to get tough on the isolated dictatorship’s nuclear ambitions. The White House response so far has been measured, avoiding a chance for potential escalation, however tensions are rising with China over the planned deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea, with Beijing reportedly expelling 32 South Korean Christian missionaries from the Chinese-North Korean border in January.

Today’s Video

• South Korea and US plan to run THAAD simulation: