Malaysia has awarded its first-ever open international tender for military aircraft to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), in what we are told will be one of Malaysia’s last-ever defence contracts to include countertrade requirements. From this year onwards, the new ICP policy [3rd edition] will not have countertrade requirements,” explains a senior manager at the Technological Depository Agency (TDA).
Dassault Aviation’s €14bn (c. US$15bn) contract to supply 80 Rafales to the UAE is stalling over offset negotiations. The French prime has reportedly made the unusual request to reroute its obligations to India, a move one expert says could work if the UAE receives higher-value local component production or systems assembly.
Nearly two years after it had dropped out, Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has reentered the race for Project-75 India (P75I), the programme to expand India’s submarine fleet by adding six attack submarines. The company put in a $52bn offer during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India on 25–26 February.
AUKUS, the trilateral alliance to manufacture Australia’s first-ever nuclear-powered submarines, has yet to overcome its biggest hurdle: transfer of nuclear propulsion technology. The programme came under intense scrutiny on 13 March, when officials issued the first major updates since AUKUS’s announcement in September 2021.
Australia’s ambition to create a domestic ecosystem for munitions took centre stage during Avalon 2023, Australia’s biennial international air show. BAE Systems, MBDA, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin used the occasion to showcase their latest initiatives under the Guided Weapons Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO)
Airbus has selected Boeing as its partner to supply the United Kingdom with a British-produced H175M, a medium-utility helicopter. Despite partnering with an American manufacturer, Airbus has assured CTO that it will keep the majority of production and assembly in-country.