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Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced the expansion of Patriot missile defense capabilities in the Persian Gulf. The advantages to the U.S. and allies are obvious. A strong missile defense system in the Gulf would serve to protect and defend nations threatened by Iran and send a message that the U.S. and its allies are serious about stopping the rogue state.

At the time, missile defense experts expressed concern that the system would defend against short-range missiles, not the long-range missiles Iran seeks to build.

In September, sources reported that the U.S. intended to sell Saudi Arabia fighter aircraft and defense weapons worth billions. This week, a spokesman from U.S. defense contractor Raytheon confirmed that those plans are underway. An excerpt:

“The United States said last month Saudi Arabia wants to spend as much as $60 billion on aircraft, helicopters and other arms, kicking off a spending spree in the Gulf anticipating an escalation of the West’s row with Iran over its nuclear plans.
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“Diplomats expect smaller Arab states in the world’s top oil producing region to follow with arms orders as they worry they might become targets for strikes. Kuwait was also interested in an upgrade of Patriots, while talks were also going on with Qatar, Culligan told reporters late on Saturday, declining to provide a price tag.

“Raytheon said it was in talks for another arms deal in the United Arab Emirates.

The firm was also hoping to sign homeland security and cyber security deals with Saudi Arabia, he added. ‘We’re working on proposals,’ he said.”

– National security consultant David J. Trachtenberg wrote an article for the Center for Defense Studies on stopping new START. An excerpt:

“Writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and AEI Senior Fellow John Bolton scores a direct hit on the New START treaty. He correctly notes that the treaty’s limits on launchers will force trade-offs that constrain the U.S. ability to deploy conventional prompt global strike capabilities. ‘We will pay for this mistake in future conflicts entirely unrelated to Russia,’ he warns.

“Indeed, while the Obama Administration is looking to develop prompt global strike capabilities to maintain American conventional military dominance and enable further U.S. nuclear reductions, the Nuclear Posture Review acknowledges that they ‘would be accountable under the [New START] Treaty.’”

– On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and others, and missile defense was one of the topics discussed. From Aviation Week:

“Rasmussen says the funding required is a ‘modest additional cost to achieve so much.’ He spoke with U.S. press during a Defense Writers Group breakfast Sept. 7 in Washington…A decision on whether and how to proceed on missile defense will be on the agenda during the forthcoming NATO summit in Lisbon in November. Rasmussen says that because of the shared potential enemy of Iran, NATO’s deployments of technology would be needed in line with the timeline laid out by U.S. President Barack Obama. He has proposed the Phased Adaptive Approach, which is incrementally fielding defenses through 2020.”

– U.S. defense contractor Raytheon was awarded a $165.3 million contract for work on the SM-3 Block IIA missile.

 
Defense contractor was awarded a $171.2 million by the Air Force to develop 500 AGM-65 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles. (Source)

The Air Force also awarded Raytheon a $57.4 million contract to develop the 750 Paveway III GBU-24A/B laser-guided bomb conversation kit, to be used with a MK-84 warhead. (Source)

Raytheon also received a $200,923,690 contract modification to continue developing 241 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles and 47 shipping containers for the NATO SeaSparrow Consortium. (Source)

Earlier this month, Raytheon won a $160 million contract extension to continue working on the Block IIA Standard Missile 3 for the Missile Defense Agency, as well as a $17.2 million contract modification to assist with upgrades to South Korea’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.

 
Defense contract Raytheon has won a $160 million contract extension to continue working on the Block IIA Standard Missile 3 for the Missile Defense Agency. (Source)

The U.S. Army recently awarded Raytheon a $17.2 million contract modification to assist with upgrades to South Korea’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System. Specifically, Raytheon will provide the country with an alternative power source for the Patriot system and communications equipment.

 
U.S. defense contractor SAIC won a $19 million contract to “provide measurement, prediction, and analysis support for evaluating the signatures of foreign missile systems and their support equipment” at Huntsville, Alabama. SAIC has worked with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center for the past 20 years. The center provides intelligence on foreign missile defense systems. (Source)

The U.S. Army awarded defense contractor Raytheon a $17.2 million contract modification to assist with upgrades to South Korea’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System. Specifically, Raytheon will provide the country with an alternative power source for the Patriot system and communications equipment. (Source)

Vice president for Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Sanjay Kapoor said, “This is an opportunity to further our working relationship with the South Korean industry. Raytheon’s major subcontract partner in South Korea, EHWA Technologies Information, has a robust and proven portfolio of products in power systems for the Republic of Korea Air Force and will be a key partner for these improvements.”

Contractor Lockheed Martin seeks to win a 10-year, $6 billion contact to take over Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD). Since the program began, Boeing has been the main contractor for GMD.

Retired Army Major General John Holly, a Lockheed vice president for missile defense, said his company “welcomes the opportunity to apply our talent and experience to a broader set of requirements for this important missile defense system.” (Source)

 
In September, sources reported that the U.S. was interested in selling $7.8 billion worth of Patriot fire units, missiles, and other weapons to Turkey. The arms would help Turkey, which borders Iran, defend itself against missile threats. Today’s Global Post reports that Russia and China also seek to sell missile defense systems to Turkey.

Defense contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will bid for the contract. If successful, the sale would be the “largest single Turkish purchase of military equipment to date.” However, Turkey’s military said it won’t pay over $1 billion for a missile defense system.

In light of the IAEA’s censure against Iran and Iran’s threat to build 10 more nuclear sites, the arms sale couldn’t be more timely. “It’s clearly not in Turkey’s interest to see a nuclear Iran; they don’t want to see a nuclear-armed competitor on their border,” said Ian Lesser, a senior transatlantic f’llow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “But they do fear that this can happen. And modernizing Turkey’s air defense system looks pretty important from that perspective.”

According to the source, Turkey denies its defense system sale is related to Iran. Why? Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, “We neither have a perception of threat from any of the neighboring countries, nor have any military- or security-related preparation against them.”

Whatever you say, Mr. Davutoglu. After all, Iran has claimed its nuclear ambitions are “peaceful” and “scientific.”

 
Raytheon’s on a roll.

Earlier this week, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. awarded defense contractor Raytheon two contracts worth over $100 million to design and develop the David’s Sling Weapon System. Yesterday the defense contractor announced that it won a $9.6 million modification to an existing Navy contract to provide services for the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS). (Source)

As the platform systems engineering agent ,Raytheon will make complex warfighting improvements and integrate them with SSDS for aircraft carriers and amphibious ships. Raytheon also will integrate the Dual Band Radar as part of the Zumwalt-class destroyer program, the Evolved.

Robert Martin, vice president and deputy of Seapower Capability, said: “The Ship Self-Defense System has clearly demonstrated the benefits that open architecture technology provides the Navy, including the ability to upgrade system capabilities with relative ease. The system’s high level of capability, affordability and modularity enables the Navy to defend against today’s threats while providing the flexibility to adapt to counter the threats of tomorrow.”

 
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1 billion contract to continue developing the Aegis ballistic missile defense system and create more Aegis-compatible warships. (Source)

Orlando Carvalho vice president and general manager of the company’s surface-sea based missile defense unit said: “This further supports the increasing demand for Aegis BMD capability worldwide, especially in light of the administration’s recent shift in policy in European Missile Defense.”

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. awarded defense contractor Raytheon two contracts worth over $100 million to design and develop the David’s Sling Weapon System, a joint program between the Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization. (Source)

The system is designed to defend against short-range ballistic missiles, high-caliber rockets, and cruise missiles in the terminal phase. Mike Booen of Raytheon said, “Large-caliber rockets and short-range ballistic missile threats are inexpensive, plentiful, easily concealed and largely exempt from international arms control accords. Stunner [interceptor] offers a near-term and affordable solution to this asymmetric threat.”

 
>> The Navy awarded defense contractor Raytheon $7.7 million to provide services for the Rolling Airframe Missile Guided Missile Weapon System, expected to be completed by August 2011. The missile defense system is designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. (MoneyCentral)

>> The Air Force awarded defense contractor Lockheed Martin an $827.4 million contract to develop three C-130J, four HC-130J ,and four MC-130J aircraft. (Forbes)

>> The Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is an Army system designed to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles using a hit-to-kill approach. The Army began a second THAAD battery at Fort Bliss, Texas. The system successfully blocked its targets in a recent test-firing. (MDA – PDF)

 
>> The U.S. and Israel will engage in a joint missile defense exercise called Juniper Cobra next month, and the Jerusalem Post reports that the U.S. may leave the systems in place afterward. (Source)

Called the largest joint exercise between the two countries, the event will involve testing three ballistic missile defense systems. The Obama administration has turned its back on deploying missile defense shields to Poland and the Czech Republic, and it’s speculated that countries like Israel and Turkey will be alternative sites.

An Israeli defense minister said, “There is some sense in deploying additional systems [in Israel] since the US already has the X-Band radar in the Negev, storehouses with equipment and close cooperation with the IDF.”

>> Defense contractor Raytheon has developed the AN/SPY-5, a multitracking naval radar system that can search, detect, and track surface and air missiles.

Raytheon’s Charles “Tom” Bush said, “SPY-5 is an affordable, effective and reliable radar system that provides critical capabilities for naval forces around the globe. The radar delivers the capabilities of multiple radar systems to counter a broad range of threats in a single, cost-effective solution.” (Source)

In other Raytheon news, the U.S. Navy awarded the contractor a $151 million contract to make 186 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSM) and a $210.3 million option to make 225 more missiles. (Source)

From the release:

“Deployed in the U.S. Navy and nine international fleets, ESSM defends the battlespace by delivering ship self-defense firepower against high-G maneuvering anti-ship cruise missiles as well as surface and low-velocity air threats.”

Finally, Raytheon has awarded a $55.7 million sub-contract to Intracom Defense Electronics, a Greek company, to make subsystems for launchers for Patriot air and missile defense systems. The projected completion date of the project is three and a half years. (Source)