06 Oct 14. US approves JASSM sale to Poland. Poland’s planned purchase of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) has been approved by the US. The US Congress approved a possible sale to Poland for 40 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) and Polish Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52 fighter aircraft upgrades on 2 October. Poland has requested a possible sale of 40 AGM-158A JASSMs with up to 370 km range; two AGM-158A with Test Instrumentation Kit (TIK) and Flight Termination Systems (FTS); two AGM-158A JASSM Inert with TIK and FTS; and two Flight Certification Test Vehicles. The agreement also includes: Operational Flight Plan upgrade to M6.5 tape for the Polish F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft to include JASSM integration, spares, logistics, and other elements. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of the possible sale on 17 September. The estimated cost of missiles, upgrades associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support is USD500m. Based on information given by Jacek Sonta, spokesperson of Polish Ministry of Defence, and Lieutenant Colonel Artur Golawski, spokesperson of Polish Air Forces, IHS Jane’s understands that Polish government representatives are currently negotiating in the US over the cost, contents and terms of the final package. “That high figure [USD500m] is unacceptable high for us. Our representatives are negotiating the price right now”, said Sonta.
The purchase of AGM-158 JASSM air-to-surface cruise missiles is part of expanding Polish striking power. The other parts of Polish planned deterrent capabilities are: two Kongsberg naval strike missile-equipped coastal defence missile battalions, the tender for second will begin in 2014; the 300 km range surface-to-surface missiles launched from a ‘Homar’ multiple rocket launcher currently developed by Huta Stalowa Wola; and sea-to-surface standoff missiles launched from three submarines planned to purchase under ‘Orka’ programme – Poland recently changed its requirements to include the cruise missiles as the armament of the future Polish submarines. The AGM-158A JASSM is a low observable standoff GPS/IIR (Global Positioning system/Imaging InfraRed) guided cruise missile designed to attack well-defended targets. The missile weight is 910 kg while the WDU-42/B warhead penetrator is 450 kg. The AGM-158A was introduced to the US Air Force in 2009 and is manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Poland would be the third foreign customer for the JASSMs following Australia and Finland. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Oct 14. Raytheon Company and its partner team have realized savings of $300m in the six years they have performed the $11.2bn Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support (FOCUS) contract, the company announced. As leader of the Warrior Training Alliance (WTA), a group of more than 150 partner companies that was awarded the contract in 2008, Raytheon has served as single integrator, eliminating redundancies and creating efficiencies to effect the savings. The result: $300m less spent by the customer on the core contract, which primarily covered maintaining training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations for the U.S. Army. “During the two longest wars in American history, Raytheon has provided proven, responsive and extremely cost-effective training support while helping to ensure the highest levels of U.S. Army readiness globally,” said Bob Williams, Raytheon Global Training Solutions vice president. The Warfighter FOCUS contract consolidates the U.S. Army’s live, virtual and constructive training domains to increase the effectiveness of training delivery and realize significant savings. In addition to reducing costs, Raytheon helped to make training support more predictable, collaborative and better coordinated through its proprietary Automated Tool for Lifecycle Analysis and Support (ATLAS) Management Information System, which provides the customer, end user