Americas
Lockheed Martin won an $98 million deal to provide for the development of production engineering change proposals, retrofit engineering release reports, investigations and subcontractor support for investigations and qualifications in support of increasing the life of F-35 aircraft parts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; El Segundo, California; and Samlesbury, United Kingdom, and is expected to be completed in February 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.
US-President Joe Biden has reportedly told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States will provide a small number of long-range missiles to aid the war with Russia. For months, Ukraine has asked for the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, which would give Kyiv the ability to strike targets from as far away as about 180 miles, hitting supply lines, railways, and command and control locations behind the Russian front lines.
Middle East and Africa
The US State Department has approved a possible sale to replenish Saudi Arabia’s stocks of spare and repair parts for the country’s fleet of combat vehicles, at an estimated price tag of $500 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, announced on September 21 that a possible foreign military sale to that effect is pending, though the notice to Congress doesn’t mean a contract has already been concluded.
Europe
The defense ministers of France and Germany expect to begin negotiations for their next-generation tank project with industry leaders KNDS and Rheinmetall in 2024, after which other European countries could join the initiative. Italy, the Netherlands and “many others” expressed an interest in joining the project to develop the Main Ground Combat System or MGCS, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at a press conference at Evreux airbase west of Paris on Thursday.
Asia-Pacific
The Biden administration is currently engaged in discussions with Vietnam that could potentially lead to the largest arms transfer in history between these former Cold War adversaries. This historic agreement, if successfully concluded within the next year, has the potential to mark a significant milestone in the ever-evolving partnership between Washington and Hanoi. At the heart of these negotiations is the proposed sale of a fleet of advanced American F-16 fighter jets to Vietnam, a move that comes amid escalating tensions between the Southeast Asian nation and Beijing, particularly in the hotly disputed South China Sea.
On September 21, the navies of India and Singapore began their annual maritime military exercise, which will involve drills in the southern South China Sea. According to an Indian Ministry of Defense statement, the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) has been undertaken since 1994 and is “the longest continuous naval exercise that Indian Navy has with any other country.”
Today’s Video
WATCH: US to give Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles: What it means for the war | DW News
