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18 Aug 16. F-35 test fires AIM-9X Block I. The US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN) and Raytheon have successfully test-fired three AIM-9X Block I missiles from an F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The demonstration was the first time the AIM-9X Block I has been fired from the F-35.
The AIM-9X Block I is the first short-range, air-to-air missile to be used on the F-35, Raytheon confirmed in a statement. “We’re currently firing Block I missiles, which will be certified on Block 3F aircraft. Block II [missiles] will be used in the next stage of integration tests for Block 4 aircraft,” Mark Justus, AIM-9X programme director for Raytheon Missile Systems, told IHS Jane’s on 16 August. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
17 Aug 16. Air Force Considers Opening JDAM Competition to New Suppliers. Boeing has held a monopoly on the dual-mode bomb market, but the US Air Force may be gearing up to widen the playing field to other potential competitors. The service on Aug. 5 released a “sources-sought” notification indicating its interest in finding alternate vendors for Boeing’s joint direct attack munition (JDAM) that could potentially enter the market as a second supplier of the heavily-demanded weapon. Boeing’s JDAM kit upgrades “dumb bombs” into guided munitions that use an inertial guidance system and GPS to locate and destroy targets. Demand for the munition among Air Force, Navy and foreign governments is expected to ramp up to an expected 36,500 units per annual lot, starting with a contract expected in February 2019, the sources-sought notification indicated. That contract could include up to a decade of JDAM acquisition, valued at $400m annually. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
17 Aug 16. Raytheon Poised to Offer Next-Generation of Anti-Ship Missiles. Raytheon is positioning itself to offer key missile defense assets that fill coverage gaps on the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships and new frigates, including upgraded surface-to-air missiles and new anti-ship and land attack missiles. The defense contractor is in talks with the service to field the sea version of their rolling airframe missile (SeaRAM) on multiple ship classes, and will begin developing a new anti-ship strike missile with Norwegian contractor Kongsberg in 2017, officials told reporters Aug. 15. The naval strike missile is one of three weapons expected to compete in the Navy’s over-the-horizon missile program for the LCS and future frigate program. The SeaRAM, which was originally developed for littoral combat ships, was recently installed on four Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyers stationed at Naval Station Rota, in Spain, as part of the Navy’s 6th Fleet. The systems were outfitted for the destroyers after Raytheon received an “urgent operational request” in 2015 by the Navy to outfit the ships with more defense capabilities, Raytheon officials said. (Source: glstrade.com/NDIA)
17 Aug 16. Inmates Made Defective Combat Helmets for U.S. troops — And No One Was Prosecuted. Federal inmates made thousands of defective combat helmets for the U.S. military at a prison facility that was rife with problems, including the use of degraded armor and the submission of preselected helmets for inspection to make sure they would get approved, according to a newly released investigative report. A Justice Department Inspector General summary report released Wednesday said faulty helmets were made by Federal Prison Industries (FPI), for both the Army and Marine Corps. The U.S. government-owned company operates under the trade name UNICOR and served as a subcontractor for ArmorSource, an Ohio company that was one of four defense firms to win an estimated $30m contract in 2006 for the Army’s then-new Advanced Combat Helmet. Separately, ArmorSource won multimillion-dollar contracts for the Marine Corps Lightweight Helm