The US Army Contracting Command (USACC) has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to supply an undisclosed number of AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II missiles to Egypt and Tunisia as well as Iraq, Pakistan and Indonesia in a $357.8 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract.
In a notice published September 16 by the Department of Defense (DoD), USACC said Lockheed Martin Corporation was the sole bidder for the contract, which is due for completion in September 2017.
Although there is no specification on the number of missiles due for delivery to each country, a notification issued in April this year to the US Congress by the State Department solicited its approval of a “possible sale to Egypt of 356 AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II Air-to-Ground Missiles with containers, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and training equipment.”
The package sought also covered necessary publications and technical documentation, US government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services and other related elements of logistical and program support, at an estimated cost of $57 million.
The State Department said Egypt will use the enhanced (military) capability as a deterrent to regional threats and for strengthening its homeland defence capabilities.
Egypt already has two earlier versions of the Hellfire missile.
The Egyptian and Tunisian armies are battling an increasing number of militant groups spreading across the North African region from Libya and claiming allegiance to Islamic State.
