Britain has now signed a memorandum of understanding on the production and follow-on development portions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Despite sticky wickets earlier this year over the extent of technical cooperation the US would extend to Britain, the United Kingdom on Tuesday joined Australia (separately Dec. 12), Canada (Dec. 11), and Netherlands (Nov. 14) in signing MOAs to continue cooperating on the JSF. US defense officials expect the other countries—Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Turkey— in the original nine-member partnership to sign MOAs soon.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.