The latest round of awards for the U.S. military’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program has a total value exceeding half a billion dollars, including more than $70 million for software capabilities, according to a list of deals announced Tuesday.
Those totals do not include classified procurements, a Defense Department press release noted.
Author: Michael
On July 7-8, NATO held its 36th official summit in Ankara, Turkey. There were several consequential topics to discuss at this year’s meeting, chief among them the wars in Ukraine and Iran and the uncertain future of European defense and security. We asked five experts to assess the outcomes of the summit for the various parties involved.Liviu HorovitzAssociate Researcher at German Institute for Security and International AffairsThe key takeaway from Ankara is that even President Donald Trump is struggling to escape NATO’s strategic logic.
The first of three new H145 Jupiter HC Mk2 heli
The Space Development Agency has tapped L3Harris and Sierra Space to build 36 additional missile warning and tracking satellites in support of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome architecture.
Under the Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 (AMDT3) program, the companies will each develop 18 platforms for the Tranche 3 tracking layer of the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), SDA announced Monday. L3Harris and Sierra Space received $955 million and $798 million, respectively — making the deals worth a combined $1.75 billion.
Ukraine Seeking 300 Patriot Interceptor Missiles to Survive Winter: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed an agreement with the country’s NATO and other allied partners to participate in the design and production of a European-developed anti-ballistic missile defensive shield. The proposed system would be an alternative to the US-made Patriot system.
However, development of any such system – or even the already agreed participation of Ukraine in the Aster-30 program – will take years to become active hardware in Ukraine’s inventory.
U.S. Targets Iranian Military Sites Ahead Of Blockade: The United States launched a new wave of military strikes against Iran on Monday, July 13, this time targeting military infrastructure along the country’s southern coastline. The attacks took place just hours before Washington plans to reinstate its naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a statement, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) described a five-hour mission that concluded at 10:15 pm Eastern Time and struck Iranian coastal defense systems and missile and drone sites.
Russia and Ukraine have now been at war for almost four and a half years. And as pointed out this week in a New York Times op-ed, the state of play in the war has changed quite a lot, as have the weapons being used.
The op-ed, with the headline “The Ukraine-Russia War Reaches a New Phase,” was written by Serge Schmemann, the Times’ former Moscow bureau chief who won a Pulitzer Prize in the early 1990s for his coverage of the German reunification.
The U.S. and Iran continue to trade blows as they fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. carried out another round of strikes against IRGC military targets, with Iran responding by striking more tankers in the Strait.
STRAIT OF MALACCA (June 18, 2021) As seen from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67), the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) transits the Strait of Malacca with the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97).
Infanteers from 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha
President Trump has announced that he’s reimposed the naval blockade on Iran. The US has continued its air campaign against Iranian military targets.
He also formally notified Congress in a letter, on Monday, that military action against Iran had resumed. The administration sees the letter as starting a new 60-day clock to use the military in the region without congressional approval.
Iran Army Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it would “resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports,” beginning at 4 p.m.