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Americas

MilTrain II JV won an $84,.6 million contract for MQ-9 Aircrew Training Support. This contract provides for all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and all other items and services required to perform and support MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft aircrew academic instruction; courseware development; and air and ground intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance test and training support; and major command certified approaches/supplemental recovery procedures. Work will be performed at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Creech AFB, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and 556 Test and Evaluation Squadron, Nevada; March Air Reserve Base, California; and Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, and is expected to be completed by July 30, 2030. This contract was a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $833,476 are being obligated at time of award. Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Hampton, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon has secured a $646-million contract to produce four more SPY-6(V) radars for the US Navy. With other agreements already in place, the latest procurement brings the total number of units under contract to 42, with deliveries expected by 2028. “SPY-6 enables the US Navy to see further than they’ve ever seen before, providing sailors with more time to respond to detected threats,” said Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon.

Middle East & Africa

Indonesia reached an agreement with Turkey for the acquisition of 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets, marking the first major international sale of the Turkish fighter. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an announced the deal on X and said that the aircraft will be produced in Turkey with support from “Indonesia’s local capabilities,” but he did not share an order value.

Europe

BAE Systems Australia has tested the VANTAGE Automated Turret System (ATS), demonstrating target engagement at an initial range of 750 meters (2,461 feet). Developed in collaboration with Slovenia’s Valhalla Turrets, the VANTAGE will be mounted on the BAE ATLAS autonomous combat vehicle unveiled last year. The test results exceeded expectations, said BAE Systems Australia’s director of Integrated Defence and Autonomy Systems, Kisa Christensen.

Asia-Pacific

China’s navy is expanding the range of its aircraft carrier strike group operations at an unprecedented pace, confounding neighbor countries, like Japan. On June 10, Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen said at a press conference that the Liaoning, the first aircraft carrier of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), was spotted for the first time operating in the waters east of Iwo Jima, a remote island in the Pacific, on June 7. This marked the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier has crossed the so-called Second Island Chain, which stretches from Japan to Guam and to Indonesia.

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