Artist’s concept of a Lockheed Martin Multi-Mission Surface Combatant. US Navy
This post has been updated with additioonal information on production of the Saudi frigate.
Lockheed Martin has been awarded the first contract for a quartet of frigates the company is building as part of a $20 billion foreign military sales package to Saudi Arabia, USNI News has learned. Read More
Artist’s concept of a Lockheed Martin Multi-Mission Surface Combatant. US Navy
Saudi Arabia is set to pull the trigger on a $6-billion deal to purchase four Lockheed Martin-built frigates based on the company’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship, as part of a major Foreign Military Sales case, USNI News has learned. Read More
Lockheed Martin Multi-Mission Surface Combatant model. USNI News Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The frigate Saudi Arabia will use as the backbone of its planned Eastern Fleet expansion will feature an expanded anti-air and anti-surface capability over the Lockheed Martin Freedom-class template, USNI News has learned. Read More
A Lockheed Martin concept for variations of the Freedom-class LCS design from corvette to Frigate sized hulls. Lockheed Martin Photo
Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-class ship variants are set to form the backbone of the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet as part of a $11.25 billion foreign military sales case presented to Congress on Monday. Read More
The following is an Oct. 20, 2015 Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification to Congress on a $11.25 billion, four ship sale to Saudi Arabia. Read More
A soldier with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) during the Rim of the Pacific 2014 Exercise. US Navy Photo
On Monday the United States and Japan agreed to the most sweeping changes to their bilateral alliance in more than fifty years. The so-called “2+2” Security Consultative Committee (SCC), consisting of the U.S. secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and Japan’s foreign minister and defense minister agreed to a series of initiatives that will draw the two allies even closer in defense and security matters. Read More
Adm. Bob Papp delivers the 2014 State of the Coast Guard Address on Feb. 26, 2013. US Coast Guard Photo
The recently retired head of the U.S. Coast Guard has been appointed as a special ambassador to the Arctic, according to a Wednesday announcement from the U.S. State Department. Read More
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Vietnam’s Vice Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh told Reuters on Monday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the country expects to receive patrol boats from Japan early next year. Read More
Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, meets with Hoang Binh Quan, Vietnam’s Chairman of External Affairs Commission of the Communist Party on Dec. 9, 2013. US Navy Photo
From the Dec. 16, 2013 U.S. State Department fact sheet: Expanded U.S. Assistance for Maritime Capacity Building.
On December 16, Secretary of State John Kerry announced an initial commitment of $32.5 million in new regional and bilateral assistance to advance maritime capacity building in Southeast Asia. Including this new funding, our planned region-wide funding support for maritime capacity building exceeds $156 million for the next two years. Read More
From the Nov. 8, 2013 Congressional Research Service report: Securing U.S. Diplomatic Facilities and Personnel Abroad:
The United States maintains about 285 diplomatic facilities worldwide. Attacks on such facilities, and on U.S. diplomatic personnel, are not infrequent. The deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, along with attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, drew renewed attention to the challenges facing U.S. diplomats abroad, as well as to the difficulty in balancing concerns for their security against the outreach required of their mission. Congress plays a key role in shaping the response to these challenges, such as by providing resources for diplomatic security and examining security breaches overseas. Read More
