The State Department on Thursday said it has approved a combined $308.6 million in foreign military sales (FMS) to South Korea for aerial targets, and Canada for satellite communications.
For South Korea, the proposed $170.6 million FMS includes five BQM-177A subsonic sea-skimming aerial targets that will be used to perform combat system ship qualification trials by the country’s new KDX-III Batch-II AEGIS-class destroyers. The sea skimming aerial targets, which will be supplied by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions [KTOS], will be used to demonstrated the destroyers’ ability to counter aerial targets and train their anti-air warfare teams, the State Department said.
The South Korean FMS also includes GQM-163A target drones that will be supplied by Northrop Grumman [NOC].
Canada is seeking tactical narrowband satellite communications access for its armed forces over the U.S. Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) service. The proposed FMS for satellite communications is worth up to $138 million.
The ultra-high frequency “MUOS access will increase Canada’s capacity to conduct operations in concert with U.S. forces for the defense of North America,” the State Department said. “Enhanced functionality in northern latitudes is integral to meeting Canada’s North American Aerospace Defense Command missions and makes MUOS particularly beneficial to continental air defense collaboration.”