RWS for Italy’s LMVs

by Joe Katzman | Oct 28, 2009 | Contracts - Awards, Europe - Other, Finmeccanica, Remote Weapons Systems, Warfare - Trends

HITROLE Light(click to view larger) Finmeccanica subsidiary Oto Melara and the Italian Ministry of Defense recently signed a sole-source EUR 20 million (currently $29.7 million) contract to acquire 81 HITROLE Light turrets for Italy’s Light Multirole Vehicles...

Triple Canopy’s Catch-22 in Iraq

by Joe Katzman | Oct 27, 2009 | Food-related, Guns - Personal Weapons, Issues - Political, Legal, Middle East - Other, Policy - Procurement, Rockets, Scandals & Investigations, Security Contractor, Support Functions - Other, USA, Warfare - Trends

(click to visit) “Former Iraq Security Contractors Say Firm Bought Black Market Weapons, Swapped Booze for Rockets” says the ProPublica headline. They’re talking about a firm called Triple Canopy, a security contractor who replaced Blackwater (now...

Israeli-Turkish Relations Straining Defense Ties

by Joe Katzman | Oct 26, 2009 | Alliances, Israel, Issues - International, Issues - Political, Other Corporation, Policy - Procurement, Tanks & Mechanized, Turkey, UAVs

Turkish M-60T Sabra(click to view larger) Global weapon sales are always subject to political influences. For many years, Turkey and Israel have maintained a close defense relationship that extended to training in Turkey and large procurement deals. Turkey’s...

AJACS Load: US Begins (Another) Next-Gen Tactical Transport Effort

by Joe Katzman | Oct 22, 2009 | Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, Lockheed Martin, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Transformation, Transport & Utility, USA

A400M: The real target?(click to view full) From “C-130J Acquisition Program Restructured”: “[The C-130J Hercules] has since been deployed into theater by the USAF, where its vastly improved performance in “hot and high” environments has...

Interactive: C-5s vs. C-17s in Washington

by Joe Katzman | Oct 21, 2009 | Avionics, Boeing, Engines - Aircraft, Events, Force Structure, GE, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, Official Reports, Spotlight articles, Support & Maintenance, Think Tanks, Transport & Utility, USA

C-17, waiting(click to view full) A Washington think-tank has gone so far as to call the planned cancellation of C-17 heavy transport aircraft production “The Dumbest Weapons Decision of the Decade.” With heavy usage that is accumulating fatigue hours far...