Rockwell Collins has been selected to supply the US Coast Guard with Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) control panels for its short range recovery helicopters.
The $3.7 million contract was announced on 6 February.
The company will produce 140 AFCS control panels, which will be fitted on the coast guard’s MH-65E helicopters.
The panels are part of a planned initiative to improve the reliability of the AFCS.
Delivery of the panels is planned to begin in July 2017, with about three panels delivered per month.
As the Iran War draws US ships and marine corps units away from the Indo-Pacific, curtailed exercises and a temporary carrier gap are exposing tensions between Washington’s demand for more self-reliant allies and the joint training needed to realise that ambition.
With Canada committed to its River-class replacement and the USN pursuing a lower-cost frigate, Rheinmetall will need to demonstrate where the GMF 140 can fill a capability gap in the North American fleet.
Australian businesses can now bid to support Virginia-class submarine sustainment in Western Australia, as momentum around the Henderson Defence Precinct also builds.
Washington’s search for a foreign-built frigate could hand South Korea, Japan and Turkey a larger prize than a double-hull order: a foothold inside the US shipbuilding industrial base.
Japan’s FY2027 defence budget backs stand-off strike, a 17-aircraft MQ-9B buy and a declared bid to lead the world in uncrewed maritime assets, alongside new frigates, submarines and support ships.
Ukrainian intelligence has catalogued more than 20 Russian uncrewed surface vessels, revealing a portfolio weighted towards mine warfare and logistics, with implications for Western naval investment.
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