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14.08.2004 14:07:13
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Армия; ВВС;
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ПВО - типа первая продажа ПАК-3 готова почти
Здравствуйте!
очень краткий перевод нижеследующей статьи:
"Представители компании Локхид Мартин сообщают, что близок к заключению первый зарубежный контракт на продажу зарубеж Патриота ПАК-3 в Нидерланды...
Следующие потенциальные клиенты Япония и ... Тайвань (в 2005 г.)"
о КНР-то возрадуется
Ещебы тайванцам и/или японцам Иджисы толкнуть и савсем красота :))
C уважением, Марат
+++++++++++
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
August 13, 2004
PAC-3 Missile Nearing First International Sales, Contractor Says
Lockheed Martin Corp. says it is close to completing its first international sales of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile.
The Netherlands, which is on course to be the initial overseas buyer, is expected to award a contract to Lockheed Martin for PAC-3 missiles by year's end, the company announced Aug. 12. As a preliminary step, Lockheed Martin has received a $33.9 million contract to upgrade the Netherlands' existing Patriot systems so they can fire the PAC-3 missile. Those systems are currently equipped with Raytheon Co.'s PAC-2, an earlier version of the missile.
Although Lockheed Martin declined to say how many PAC-3s it expects to sell to the Netherlands, Dutch officials asked their parliament in February to approve the purchase of 32 missiles. Unlike PAC-2, whose blast fragmentation warhead destroys its target by exploding near it, PAC-3 collides with its target, creating a high level of energy that is supposed to improve the Patriot system's ability to destroy missiles armed with weapons of mass destruction.
The procurement of PAC-3 missiles and related equipment "aims to improve the defence against ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with nuclear, biological or chemical payloads," the Dutch defense ministry says on the English-language portion of its Web site.
Another selling point for PAC-3 is that 16 can be loaded onto a launcher, compared with four PAC-2s.
Lockheed Martin signaled in December 2003 that the Netherlands could be the PAC-3 missile's first international buyer (DAILY, Dec. 11, 2003). A company source said the Netherlands' first place in line has more to do with that country's budgeting process and the U.S. approval process than with which country is perceived to face the greatest threat from the aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles that PAC-3 is designed to destroy.
Other nations
Japan and Taiwan also are getting close to ordering PAC-3s, with an announcement expected in early 2005, a company source told The DAILY.
Several other nations have also expressed interest in the Lockheed Martin missile, including Germany, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. Army already is in the midst of buying hundreds of PAC-3 missiles for its own use.
The Lockheed Martin source said the Dutch purchase will occur long before the company finishes developing the Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE), which is expected to increase the PAC-3 missile's range and maneuverability (DAILY, Dec. 11, 2003). MSE, which also is designed to allow the missile to collect information on a target and transmit it to ground units, is not scheduled to begin flight-testing until September 2006.
Meanwhile, Raytheon, which continues to produce PAC-2 missiles and makes the Patriot system's ground equipment, including the radar, launcher and engagement control system, is in preliminary talks with Qatar and South Korea about potential Patriot sales to those countries, a company spokesman said.
John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, told The DAILY that the Patriot system's shoot down of friendly aircraft during the Iraq war has "definitely clouded" the case for the system, making it difficult for proponents to "run around and brag about it." But with the U.S. Army determining that a mix of PAC-2s and PAC-3s intercepted a series of ballistic missiles during the conflict, the "conclusion was that it worked pretty much as designed" in that area, he said.
--Marc Selinger