• US Navy Receives USS Hawaii Virginia Class Submarine
• Denmark Orders ThalesRadar Systems for new Anti-Air Frigates
• Lockheed Martin Gets 240 Million for Mobile Rockets, Launchers
• Russia to Modernize Five Serbian Air Force MiG-29s
• US Army Orders New and Upgraded Chinooks
• Protector Remote Controlled weapon Stations for Swiss Piranhas

• Analysis:
  Lebanon War Assessment (part II): Israeli Intelligence Dilemmas

US Navy Receives USS Hawaii Virginia Class Submarine

General Dynamics Electric Boat delivered the latest Virginia class submarine to the U.S. Navy, ahead of schedule on December 22, 2006. Hawaii (SSN-776) is the third ship of the Virginia Class, the US Navy's first major class of combatant ships designed for operation in both littorals and the open oceans. Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News have received contracts to build the first 10 submarines of a planned 30-ship Virginia Class under a teaming agreement that splits the construction workload between the two shipyards.

Denmark Orders Thales Radar Systems for new Anti-Air Frigates

The Royal Danish Navy will receive three Anti Air Warfare (AAW) suites for the new frigates planned for the Danish Navy. Each system consists of the APAR Multifunction Radar, a SMART-L Volume Search Radar and a Fire Control Cluster. Similar systems are already operational with German and Dutch navy frigates. The new frigates, each displacing about 6,000 tons, will be built by the Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd. in Denmark. The vessel will be 138.7 meter in length, and beam of 19.8 meters. The three ships are scheduled to be handed over to the Royal Danish Navy and replace the Niels Juel class corvettes between 2011 and 2013.

Lockheed Martin Gets 240 Million for Mobile Rockets, Launchers

The US Army awarded Lockheed Martin $166 for the full scale production of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) Launchers. The company is expected to deliver the systems by September 2009. The company was also awarded additional $78 million for the production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

Russia to Modernize Five Serbian Air Force MiG-29s

Serbia is upgrading its fleet of five MiG-29A/UB fighters in Russia, under a $40 million overhaul program singed last week. The program also includes the modernization of eight Mi-8 transport helicopters. The overhaul of the initial two MiGs will be completed in October 2007, two additional aircraft will be refurbished by the end of 2007 and the fifth Mig-29 will be overhauled in 2008.

US Army Orders New and Upgraded Chinooks

Boeing was awarded over US$1 billion for the refurbishment and construction of Chinook helicopters into CH-47F model. Over $650 million will be allocated for refurbishment and modernization and while 400 million are assigned for the procurement of new helicopters.

Protector Remote Controlled weapon Stations for Swiss Piranhas

The Swiss Army decided to equip its Pirhana command vehicles with the protector remotely controlled weapon station from Kongsberg. The Swiss army awarded Kongsberg a NOK246 Million (about US$ 40 million) contract for the program. Switzerland is the seventh country to select the Protector system which sold over US$ 176 million orders in 2006.