US-based Raytheon Company said it has received a $145 million foreign military sales production contract for Patriot guidance enhanced missiles – Tactical (GEM-T) to augment Kuwait's air and missile defence.
The US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alaska, issued the contract to complement Kuwait's Configuration-3 radar system upgrade work already underway at Raytheon.
'The GEM-T missile production contract highlights the efforts by Kuwait Air Defence to maintain readiness and effectiveness of the Patriot Air and Missile System to counter evolving regional threats,' said Sanjay Kapoor, vice president of Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS).
'We continue to modernize the Patriot system and are committed to providing Kuwait and our 11 other partner nations globally with increased system reliability and reduced life-cycle costs,' he added.
The work under this contract will be performed by Raytheon IDS at the Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, Massachusetts.
Raytheon IDS is the prime contractor for both domestic and international Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems and is the system integrator for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles
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The Gulf state of Kuwait is to test Rafale jets in June before making a final decision on buying the French-made warplanes, the defence minister was quoted as telling MPs on Sunday.
"The defence minister told MPs that the deal is so far in the early stage of offers and making the technical assessment by the ministry," government spokesman Mohammad al-Baseeri told reporters outside parliament.
"These will continue until June when the plane will be tested in Kuwait," Baseeri, also communications minister, said after Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah had talks with parliament's interior and defence committee.
"The defence minister also pledged that the deal will not be signed before completing all constitutional and legal requirements and after the deal passes through the Audit Bureau," Baseeri added.
The meeting came after a number of opposition MPs last week threatened to grill either the prime minister or the defence minister if the multi-billion dollar deal was signed.
The opposition MPs claimed that technical assessment by the Kuwaiti air force has recommended against the deal, saying Rafale was technically inferior to other international aircraft and more expensive.
The chief of staff of the French armed forces, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, who was in Kuwait last week, defended the Rafale as one of the best jets in the world, saying talks over the deal are proceeding in complete transparency.
He said that France has proposed that Kuwait replace its old Mirage jets with the advanced Rafale and the Kuwaiti government asked to study the offer.
Last month, Sheikh Jaber said the Rafale deal remained a priority.
In October, Kuwait and France signed a new defence agreement and discussed details of the Rafale deal.
During a Gulf tour in February 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said discussions had begun with Kuwait on the sale of between 14 and 28 Rafales, which are made by Dassault Aviation.
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Kuwait's decision whether to modernise its fleet of M-84 main battle tanks (MBTs) could spur the revival of production of the vehicles by Serbia and Croatia, Serbian media reported on 17 June.
Senior defence ministry officials from Serbia and Croatia met to discuss possible modernisation strategies for the vehicles, which could be at the core of a significant defence collaboration between the two republics.
"Tank production can be revived if there proves to be a need," said Stevan Nikcevic, general director of Jugoimport SDPR, which co-ordinates the domestic defence industry. "I cannot say anything about the details of the commercial contract with Kuwait. We have transported the M-84 AB1 tank there and thus the modernised version and demonstrated its capabilities. The Kuwaitis were pleased with what they saw."
The M-84 main battle tank is a Yugoslavian version of the Soviet T-72. Some changes from the T-72 include a domestic fire-control system, improved composite armor, and a 1000-hp engine. The M-84 entered service with the Yugoslav People's Army in 1984. The improved M-84A version entered service a few years later.
There were about 240 factories from ex-Yugoslavia which directly participated in production of the M-84 MBT plus about 1000 of them which participated indirectly. Main factories were:Ðuro Ðakovic, Slavonski Brod, final tank production
FAMOS, Pale, engine
Iskra Fotona, Ljubljana, lasers and electronics
Zrak Sarajevo, Sarajevo, optics
Slovenske Železarne, Ravne, steel and armour
Prvi Partizan, Užice, ammunition
Pretis, Vogosca, ammunition
Prva Petoletka, Trstenik, hydraulics
21 Maj, Rakovica, manual turret traverse Bratstvo, Travnik, main gun
Metalski zavodi Tito, Skoplje, multiplicator
11 oktomvri, Prilep
Ruen, Kocani
Rudi Cajevec, Banja Luka, electronics
Sever, Subotica, autoloader
Jugoturbina, Karlovac
Radoje Dakic, Podgorica
Industrija lezajeva Kotor, Kotor
In the late 1980s, a project for a replacement tank called the M-91 Vihor (Whirlwind) was started. Unlike the M-84, the Vihor was not a copy of a Soviet tank, but a new design from scratch. However, due to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Vihor project was abandoned.
The latest Serbian version of the M-84 is the M-84AS, unveiled in 2004. It features a new fire control system, Kontakt-5 ERA armor, AT-11 Sniper anti-tank missiles, Agava-2 thermal sight, and the Shtora defensive suite. It is very similar to the Russian T-90S, both in appearance and in capability.
Croatia developed a highly modernized prototype version of the M-91 Vihor under the designation M-95 Degman. The M-84D, which is a Degman standard upgrade package for M-84 tanks, will be the series production version to which standard all Croatian M-84s will be brought.
About 150 M-84 tanks have been exported to Kuwait. About $500 million was earned from the sale in 1990-91, representing the Yugoslav military industry's most successful export at the time. The disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 prevented all further exports. Kuwait in fact ordered 215 tanks but the whole number never came. ASELSAN of Turkey was chosen by Kuwaity officials to modernize the M-84's
Libya ordered ~200 M-84 MBTs from Yugoslavia, which were manufactured but not delivered due to the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia. During the 1990s, the Pakistan Army was interested in buying a number of M-84 main battle tanks from Yugoslavia. One tank was sent to Pakistan for testing and Pakistani commanders seemed satisfied with the tank, but the deal was never made because of the situation in Yugoslavia during that period.
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