The U.S. Navy commissioned an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, built by General Dynamics‘ Bath Iron Works subsidiary, at a ceremony held Saturday at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California. USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) was constructed to support the Navy’s crisis management, peacetime, power projection and sea control missions, the service branch said […] More

Orbital ATK has received a contract from Lithuania’s defense ministry to supply chain guns for integration onto the Vilkas infantry fighting vehicles of the country’s army. The company said Thursday it will begin to deliver MK44 Bushmaster chain guns in mid-2017 and help the Lithuanian army integrate 90 cannons wit the Rafael-built Samson MKII remote weapons station under the […] More

Ninety-nine student teams from high schools and universities in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Brazil and other countries will participate in NASA’s three-day Human Exploration Rover Challenge that will kick off March 30 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama. NASA said Wednesday the Marshall Space Flight Center will host the competition that will require […] More

India’s navy has issued a request for information for a program that seeks to purchase approximately $1.5 billion in short-range surface-to-air missile platforms in an effort to replace its Israel-made Barak-1 air defense systems, Defense News reported Wednesday. Vivek Raghuvanshi writes the Indian navy plans to release a tender after six months through the Make […] More

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has awarded Elbit Systems two contracts worth nearly $35 million combined to produce airborne laser designators for two Asia-Pacific countries. Elbit said Tuesday it will perform contract work for three years and provide miniaturized laser systems that will work to provide aircrews a precise target designation and closure of the sensor to shooter cycle. Elad […] More

William Lynn, chairman and CEO of DRS Technologies, has said partnerships with Israel-based firms have helped DRS facilitate the integration and deployment of Israel-made technology platforms in the U.S. market in support of the U.S. military. Lynn told Defense News bureau chief Barbara Opall-Rome in an interview published Monday that DRS has secured a potential $400 million […] More

A Technavio study, released by Research and Markets, forecasts the global market for tactical anti-tank missile systems will grow from 2016 through 2020 at a 3.98 percent compound annual growth rate. The 71-page market research report indicates that new updates to anti-tank missiles will fuel the market growth over the forecast period while thermal management of missile systems will present […] More

Approximately 50 percent of work that will result from U.S. missile defense funds for Israel will go to U.S. companies, Defense News reported Thursday. Barbara Opall-Rome writes Boeing and Raytheon as well as their U.S. subcontractors and suppliers will receive half of the production funds to support work for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile defense programs […] More

Raytheon will offer an Americanized version of an interceptor platform designed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems that will be used to support a U.S. Army program that seeks to defend against a threat spectrum, Defense News reported Monday. Barbara Opall-Rome writes Raytheon looks to locally produce and transform the Iron Dome platform’s Tamir interceptors to meet U.S. standards […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business will install an imagery reconnaissance pod created by Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems into a Predator B/MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle flown by Italy’s air force. The Predator B’s Multi-spectral Targeting System-B full-motion video system interoperates with the RecceLite pod to facilitate the production of geo-referenced, high-resolution digital stills, General Atomics said Thursday. The company added it […] More

The U.S. Army is testing a range of vehicle-mounted systems that feature radar, computer processing, fire control technology and interceptors to detect and destroy enemy fire, Scout Warrior reported Tuesday. Kris Osborn writes the Army is looking at both domestically produced and allied international technologies to take part in the Modular Active Protection Systems program. The service branch wants […] More

General Dynamics has been awarded a $644.3 million contract modification to build an additional Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer for the U.S. Navy. Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics unit Bath Iron Works, said Thursday  the company will use the money for the planning and construction of DDG 124. The modification comes under a potential five-ship, $3.4 billion contract that the company won […] More