The US Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base has awarded a $240m contract to Lockheed Martin for the development of a prototype payload.

The company will develop the payload for SMC’s next-generation Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) capability that connects troops with agile and jam-resistant satellite communications.

The complete PTS system will provide protected communications to the US and coalition forces in a battlespace by deploying a constellation of dedicated geostationary satellites, commercially hosted payloads, and coalition partner satellites.

Len Industri and Thales have signed a contract to completely upgrade the mission system of the Indonesian Navy’s KRI Usman-Harun multi-role light frigate.

Thales has been supplying combat systems for all ships in service with the Indonesian Navy for the past 40 years. Len Industri is serving as the systems integrator for the frigate’s Mid Life Modernisation  programme.

The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 .

Len Industri and Thales will equip the frigate with the TACTICOS combat management system, the SMART-S Mk2 air and surface surveillance radar, the STIR EO Mk2 radar and EO fire control system, and the Vigile Mk2 tactical multi-purpose R-ESM system.

The US Army has awarded a contract to Raytheon to commence production of Patriot air and missile defence system for the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Awarded in January this year, the contract is valued at $551m.

Raytheon's Patriot defence system provides protection against advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and cruise missiles.

It is used by countries around the world, including the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Republic of Korea, the UAE, Qatar, Spain, Romania, Poland and Sweden.

Rheinmetall has signed a contract with Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) to supply VarioRay LLM laser light module to the Swiss Army.

The army’s order for VarioRay LLM is part of its 2019 defence procurement programme.

Under the contract, Rheinmetall will deliver 9,640 devices starting May this year, with completion expected by the end of 2022.

The company will also supply accessories, spare parts and offer training support to the Swiss Army.

Leonardo has been awarded a contract to deliver New Generation Identification Friend or Foe (NGIFF) systems to the Italian Armed Forces.

Under the six-year contract, NGIFF identification equipment will be installed on Italian land and naval platforms to upgrade them to NATO Mode 5 Baseline 3 standard. The contract is valued at around €75m.

According to minimum military requirements for air-to-air and surface-to-air identification, NATO allied forces are required to use Mode 5-capable systems.

The UK Defence and Securities Accelerator (DASA) has awarded a £1m contract to MSubs to develop an extra-large autonomous test submarine for the British Royal Navy.

The 30m-long extra-large unmanned underwater vehicle (XLUUV) is larger than the traditional autonomous submarines. It has a range of 3,000 nautical miles.

Constructed in a record 14 months, the vehicle known as Manta is a combined effort of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), industry and academia.

Palantir has been contracted to support the US Navy’s Naval Operational Business Logistics Enterprise (NOBLE) family of systems. The company will provide its commercial software to serve as NOBLE’s Integrated Data Environment.

It will support capabilities such as data ingestion, integration, management and analytics for navy’s ashore and afloat supply and operational maintenance communities.

Cubic Mission Solutions has been contracted by the US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to continue operating the Unified Video Dissemination System (UVDS) architecture.

The system is designed to improve access to live full-motion video 9FMV) for members of the US intelligence community.

Under the single-award contract, Cubic will also provide associated services to fulfil the needs of Airborne AISR FMV.

The Australian Government has extended the Boeing Defence Australia Air Combat Electronic Attack Sustainment contract.

Under the four-year, A$280m contract extension, the company will continue to provide sustainment services for the Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft fleet.

Boeing delivers logistics, maintenance, engineering and operational and capability upgrade management services under the contract.