The Air Force’s $199.3 million foreign military sales contract to Lockheed Martin on July 24 was the second installment on the Iraqi air force’s first batch of 18 F-16 Block 52 fighters. The contract was not for the second group of 18 F-16s that the Iraqis would like to acquire to bring their Fighting Falcon fleet size to 36, as we reported in the July 25 column. Last December, the Air Force let the initial $835 million contract for the Iraqis’ initial 18 F-16s—12 F-16Cs and six two-seat F-16Ds. Deliveries of this batch are scheduled to take place between May 2014 and January 2016, Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Laura Siebert told the Daily Report. The White House notified Congress earlier this year of the possible sale of the additional 18 F-16s. Discussions between the US and Iraqi governments are ongoing for that follow-on purchase, said Siebert. We have corrected our original entry.
The Space Force recently awarded SpaceX $739 million to launch nine missions for the Space Development Agency and National Reconnaissance Office over the next three years. Five of the awarded launches will be to build out SDA’s constellation of missile warning and tracking satellites in low-Earth orbit.
