BRUSSELS, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- LM clinches Norwegian fighter jet deal
Norway has selected Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Striker Fighter over the favorite, Saab's Gripen NG, to replace its current fleet of F-16s for multirole fighting.
The Swedish government is said to be surprised at the announcement, which came a month earlier than expected. Norway said Lockheed Martin offered a better deal. According to estimates, Lockheed Martin offered the 48 fighters Norway requested in its tender for $52 million per unit -- $2.5 billion for the whole package. The Norwegian government said Saab's offer was $836 million higher.
The deal was announced early to speed up production. The Swedish government and Saab are disappointed at Norway's decision. However, it is not expected to have any negative impact on Norwegian-Swedish talks to create a common Nordic, or Scandinavian, army.
However, Norway's decision had an immediate and serious impact on Saab's market value. Saab shares fell by double-digits after the Norwegian decision was announced.
The Eurofighter Typhoon pulled out of the competition earlier on when it became clear that Norway preferred Lockheed Martin's F-35 to that aircraft.
Alcatel-Lucent gets new bid on Thales shares
After previously receiving a bid from the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. for its 20.8-percent stake in Northern Ireland-based Thales Air Defense, France-based Alcatel-Lucent may now also consider an offer from Dassault Aviation in France for the share that it is willing to sell.
The EADS offer, made in October, was said to be worth $2.27 billion. Dassault Aviation's offer is worth $1.96 billion. Dassault's offer incorporates a 25-percent premium on the current value of the shares.
Alcatel made the shares available for purchase in October.
Lithuania to write out tender for new radar systems
The Baltic state of Lithuania has decided to stage a competition through the NATO alliance framework to award a contract for two long-range radar systems, Defense News said last week.
The Lithuanian government has approved a total budget for initial funding of $44.6 million. It hopes to have selected its contractor and closed the deal before the end of 2009 and to have the new radars operational by the end of 2015.
Lithuania currently operates Soviet-era P-37 and P-18 long-range radars that are extremely outdated.
No new Lithuanian air force radar sites will need to be constructed, as the new systems will be built on top of older ones. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will oversee the project to ensure the new equipment is up to alliance standards.
Britain hands out three vehicle contracts for Afghanistan
The British Ministry of Defense has awarded contracts to two American companies and one British company to urgently build a series of vehicles for upwards of $500 million, Defense News reported last week.
Force Protection will build a flatbed six-wheel-drive Cougar mine-protected vehicle, and NP Aerospace will carry out integration work on it. The ministry already has several hundred Force Protection vehicles operating in Afghanistan.
Navistar Defense was selected to build an MXT-MVA vehicle, to be named the Husky, the report said. Supacat will build a high-mobility Jackal-type vehicle to be called the Coyote.
The deals are pending on successful negotiation and will come within the ministry's program to urgently construct 700 vehicles within a total budget of $1 billion announced last month.
