Australia wants to spend as much as $58 million on Modular Artillery Charge Systems (MACS) and CM982 Block Ia-1 Excalibur Projectiles, assoicated equipment and services.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress April 21 of the possible Foreign Military Sale, which would consist of 2,400 MACS, 250 XM982 Block Ia-1 Excalibur Unitary Projectiles with base bleed units, 43 Portable Excalibur Fire Control Systems (PEFCS), 43 AN/PRC-119 Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) without GPS, training ammunition, containers, support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical data, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. government and contractor representatives’ engineering and technical support services, and other related elements of logistics support.
The principal contractors would be: Raytheon [RTN] for Excalibur; ITT [ITT] for SINCGARS; and General Dynamics [GD] for MACS.
There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Australia is one of the United States’ most important allies in the Western Pacific. The strategic location of this political and economic power contributes significantly to ensuring peace and economic stability in the region. Australia’s efforts in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan have had a significant impact on regional, political, and economic stability and have served U.S. national security interests. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives and facilitates burden sharing with our allies.
The proposed sale would enhance Australia’s defensive capabilities and increase interoperability with United States and multi-national forces supporting coalition operations.
Implementing the proposed sale would require the assignment of eight contractor representatives and six U.S. government representatives.