January 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Croatia urges Israel to overcome disagreement with the US by January 11 or says it will cancel deal.
Croatia has urged Israel to overcome a rare disagreement with the United States and to confirm it can carry through on a deal to sell 12 used American-made fighter jets.
Croatia's Defence Ministry said on Thursday it needed an answer from Israel by January 11 or the Balkan country's $500m order for a dozen F-16 aircraft would be cancelled.
Israel made a tentative deal to sell the upgraded F-16 Barak fighters to Croatia in March pending US approval for allowing the jets to go to a third party.
The deal ran into trouble after the US State Department hinted that Israel needs to strip off the upgrades that were added after Israel took delivery of the planes from the US some 30 years ago.
Israel upgraded the jets with sophisticated electronic and radar systems, which was crucial in Croatia's decision to buy the planes from Israel rather than from the US.
"If the planes are not in accordance with what we have agreed, the deal will not be carried out and we will have another purchase bid," Croatia's parliament speaker, Gordan Jandrokovic, said.
Relations between the Trump administration and Israel have been very close, particularly on defence issues. But the sale of the jets to Croatia appears to be an exception.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday in Brazil but didn't agree on a way to end the impasse.
"We are expecting final and clear stands from both Israel and the United States on this issue and then we will make a final decision," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.
Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic said Thursday that Israel provided guarantees during the contract bidding process that US officials would greenlight the sale.
The controversy over the bid has triggered calls for the defence minister's resignation.
The deal is Croatia's largest single military buy since it split from the Yugoslav federationduring the 1991-95 war.
NATO member Croatia faces a mini arms race with Russian ally Serbia, which recently received six used Russian MiG-29 fighter jets.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
November 1, 2023 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Epirus has delivered the first prototype to the U.S. Army to counter drone swarms as part of the service's Indirect Fire Protection Capability.
October 2, 2020 | International, Land, Security
Jen Judson WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Land Systems has secured a $1.2 billion contract at the close of the fiscal year to build and deliver the U.S. Army's Interim Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system, or IM-SHORAD. The Stryker combat vehicle-based system includes a mission equipment package designed by Leonardo DRS. That mission equipment package includes Raytheon's Stinger vehicle missile launcher. The estimated completion date of the contract is Sept. 30, 2025, according to a Defense Department contract announcement. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order. GDLS officials told Defense News on Oct. 1 that the initial order for the contract, worth $230 million, is for 28 vehicles, and that the company has begun ordering material and laying out production for those vehicles. The first vehicle under this contract will roll off the line in roughly 18 months, but the first platoon will be fielded in March 2021 and the first battalion (of 32 vehicles) will be fielded in September 2021 using prototypes already built to fill it out. A second battalion will be fielded in 2022. The Army wrapped up developmental testing for the SHORAD system after experiencing a minor “hiccup” that, when paired with complications due to the coronavirus pandemic, set the program back by a few weeks, Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch, the service's program executive officer for missiles and space, said Aug. 5. The production contract award came on time. It took just 19 months from the time the service generated the requirement to the first delivery of a platform for testing, answering an urgent call in 2016 from U.S. Army Europe to fill the short-range air defense capability gap. The service received the requirement to build the system in February 2018. After a shoot-off in the desert of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and subsequent evaluations of vendors, the Army selected a Stryker combat vehicle-based system with the Leonardo DRS mission equipment package. Training has already begun at White Sands in preparation for an early user assessment in the latter part of the year. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/10/01/general-dynamics-gets-12-billion-to-build-short-range-air-defense-systems-for-us-army/
March 30, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Après des mois de palabres au sujet des spécifications et des coûts, l'Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement a enfin notifié le