The State Department approved a possible $100 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) request to Tunisia for OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters and associated equipment, training, and support.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the potential sale on May 3.
Tunisia was previously approved to receive 24 OH-58Ds in the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program under a separate notification. The previous notification only included the rotorcraft airframes, with this new notice including all the major components and customer-unique requirements requested to supplement the EDA grant transfer, DSCA said.
The major defense equipment (MDE) in the new sale would include 25 Embedded GPS/Inertial (EGI) Navigation Systems (INS), 24 AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS), 10 AGM-114R Hellfire Missiles, and 82 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) Rounds. The MDE has an estimated value of $44.3 million.
The sale also includes a great deal of non-MDE such as several pieces of equipment to be installed on each of the 24 Kiowa Warriors: one SHP Rolls-Royce 250-C30R/3 Engine, one AN/ARC-164 UHF Radio, one AN/ARC-186 VHF Radio, one PC-DTS-V Data Recorder, two AN/ARC-201D Radios, one AN/APX-118 IFF Transponder, one AN/APR-39A(V)1/4 Radar Signal Detecting Set, one AN/AVR-2B Laser Warning Receiver, one M134 DH Mini-Gun, one M3P Aircraft Gun System, and two M260 Rocket Launchers.
Other general non-MDE equipment in the sale includes 50 AN/AVS-6 Night Vision Goggles (NVGs); 500,000 12.7mm rounds for the M3P Gun System; 2.3 million 7.62mm rounds for the M134DH Mini-Gun; the A965M1 Decoy Chaff Cartridges; M211 and M212 Advance Infrared Countermeasures Munition flares; 82 MK66 MOD 4 2.75 rocket motors and 82 M152 High Explosive (HE) warheads to support the APKWS; one EGI for the Combined Armament Avionics Electrical Trainers; six M279A1 Hellfire Launchers; associated test and support equipment; technical support; the Army’s Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aviation Program Manager’s Office (NSRWA PMO) technical support; Security Assistance Management Directorate’s (SAMD) program technical support; additional contractor support; Peculiar Ground Support Equipment (PGSE); Post Production Support Services (PPSS), Government Furnished Equipment (GFE); Retrofit Service Notice (RSN); Repair and Return (R&R); communication and navigation equipment; aircraft survivability equipment; displays; flyable storage; transportation of aircraft; publications; and training.
The prime contractor for the sale is unknown and set to be determined during contract negotiations. There are no known offset agreements connected to the sale.
Tunisia would use the Kiowa Warriors and support equipment listed in the notification to improve its capability to conduct border security and combat operations against terrorists including AL-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM); Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Libya; and Ansar al-Sharia, Tunisia (AAS-T), DSCA said.
The agency also highlighted “these helicopters will further modernize the Tunisian armed forces and increase its interoperability with U.S. forces and other coalition partners.”
Implementation of the FMS would require the assignment of about 10 additional U.S. government and 15 contractor representatives to Tunisia for about five years to support the fielding, maintenance, and personal training related to the sale equipment.