DID - Raytheon Receives $171 Million Tomahawk Missile Contract Upgrade | Saab To Upgrade Gripen | Lithuania Ordered 18 Caesar Mark II

Americas

General Atomics won a $65.5 million order, which provides for the procurement, transportation, and installation of Ground Control Stations (GCSs), materials, support equipment, as well as associated training, engineering, non-recurring engineering, and integrated logistics support. Additionally, this order procures 18 mission kits, spares, ground support equipment, and communications gear for site setup in support of the operational capability of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Unmanned Aircraft System Expeditionary Medium Altitude Long Endurance MQ-9A Block 5 Reaper air vehicles and GCSs for the Navy. Work will take place in California. Expected completion will be in November 2024.

US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Raytheon a $171 million contract modification to a previous Tomahawk missile deal.  The modification exercises the option to deliver 111 full-rate production Tomahawk Block V missiles to the US military: 50 to the US Army, 48 to the US Navy, and 13 to the US Marines by November 2025. This army and the marines will receive the missiles for the first time.

Middle East & Africa

Turkey has developed a supersonic missile called the TRG-230-?HA, which was produced by the defense company Roketsan. It was launched from Baykar’s Ak?nc? unmanned air vehicle and successfully struck its target with full accuracy at a range of over 100 kilometers The TRG-230-?HA is the air-to-surface version of the TRG-230. The TRG-230 is designed to be launched from tubes that are 230 millimeters wide and can travel a distance of between 20 and 70 kilometers.

Europe

Saab and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) inked a contract on December 16 for Saab to conduct upgrades to Swedish JAS-39C/D fighters. The contract is valued at approximately $414 million and will run from 2023 to 2029. The contract also includes options for FMV to place additional orders for capability enhancements during 2023. The upgrade to the JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighter aircraft will include installing a new engine version to improve flight performance and a more effective electronic warfare system.

Lithuania has ordered 18 Caesar Mark II wheeled artillery guns from Nexter, French news outlet La Tribune reported. A formal announcement is expected shortly, according to the outlet. The development comes after the Baltic nation inked a letter of intent in June, joining the Mark II development program with France.

Asia-Pacific

Since 2015, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has had 92 of its P-3K2 missions intercepted by foreign jets in the Middle East and East Asia regions, according to information provided by the RNZAF’s Chief of Staff, Air Commodore AJ Woods. The exact locations and identities of the foreign powers involved in the intercepts have been withheld by the RNZAF due to national security concerns under the Official Information Act. In June, the Herald requested information from the New Zealand Defence Force (Defence) about all intercepts of their aircraft in recent years. The request was prompted by an incident in May when a Chinese J-16 fighter jet intercepted a Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft in international airspace, leading to a deterioration of relations between China and Australia. In July, Defence denied the request in full, citing national security concerns. The Herald appealed the decision to the Ombudsman and asked for at least some broad details to be released, even if the exact locations were withheld. The Ombudsman conducted an investigation, but ultimately upheld Defense’s decision to keep the information confidential.

Today’s Video

WATCH: The Best JAS 39 Gripen Demo I’ve Ever Seen [4K]

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