The US Army Contracting Command has awarded Lockheed Martin a $318 million contract to supply Hellfire II missiles, hardware and components to the armies of eight allies including Tunisia and Egypt.
In a contract notification published on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) register, the US Army identified the other foreign military beneficiaries as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, Pakistan and Indonesia.
“Work will be performed in Orlando and Ocala, Florida; and Troy, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2018. Fiscal 2015 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $56,590,878 were obligated at the time of the award.”
Elsewhere in Africa, the US Army has awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a $57 million Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) contract for its MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system in three global locations which include Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. The work, which will also be performed in California, Kuwait and the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, has an estimated completion date of June 15, 2016.
Last month, US logistical services company PAE announced that it had been awarded six more task orders to provide troop training, equipment, force protection and aviation services to six individual African militaries and the West African regional military alliance fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and four other countries in the Lake Chad Basin.
In a statement released on November 5, PAE chief executive officer John Heller said the new task orders will allow the company to continue ‘supporting the foreign policy objectives’ of the United States by providing a wide range of specialised services to African militaries participating in the Africa Peacekeeping Program (AFRICAP II) IDIQ program and the Africa Contingency Operations, Training and Assistance (ACOTA) programme.
“Under the AFRICAP II IDIQ contract, PAE was awarded six task orders in September to support African militaries and other end users with: construction projects, force protection, installation and configuration services, procurement, equipping and training troops, advisory services, aviation support and logistics. Under pre-existing task orders, PAE already provides the following: equipment and training; logistics and facility operations and maintenance support; equipment maintenance advisory services; administrative support and advisory services.
“PAE won additional task orders in September to support the ACOTA vehicle in Rwanda, Guinea, Benin, Benin Multidimensional National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Tanzania and Senegal. Under these task orders, PAE trainers will be directly responsible for enhancing the capability and capacity of these countries’ respective national militaries to achieve training self-sufficiency and increase battalion readiness to participate in multinational peacekeeping operations,” Heller said.
The company has been supporting US government efforts to enhance the capacities and capabilities of its African military partners through the provision of military training, military equipment and logistical support since 1995. The company provides services such which include military aviation, capacity building and stabilization, provision and protection of critical infrastructure, expeditionary operations logistics, integrated security solutions, test and training ranges and training support for complex missions.
