Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Javelin have won a $175 million+ modification contract to provide the US Army with more Javelin Weapon System, including sales to Lithuania and Taiwan, the US Department of Defense announced in a press release.
“Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin [in] Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $175,936,936 modification …contract for the Javelin Weapon System, the release said on Tuesday.
Javelin is a versatile, man-portable, fire-and-forget weapon system. It is an anti-tank-guided munition that can be carried and launched by a single person. It is made by the Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership between Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Lockheed Martin.
Work on the contract will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of November. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales funds for Lithuania and Taiwan and 2021 missile procurement, Army funds in the amount of $175,936,936 were obligated for the deal, the release said.
The US Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal in the state of Alabama is the contracting activity, the release added.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have spoken for peace and security in the Taiwan Strait, the joint statement published by the White House had stated.
Biden and Suga held a meeting in the US capital of Washington DC. Suga has become the first foreign leader, who met with Biden since the latter headed the United States.
“We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” the statement said
According to Japan’s Kyodo news agency, this is the first mention of the word “Taiwan” in the joint statements of the US and Japanese leaders since 1969.
In the joint statement, Biden and Suga also expressed serious concern over alleged human rights violations in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
“The United States restated its unwavering support for Japan’s defense under the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, using its full range of capabilities, including nuclear,” the statement reads.
The United States also stressed that Article 5 of the Japan-US Security Treaty, which guarantees the protection of Japan by the United States in case of a foreign attack, applies for the contested Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu Islands in China) in the East China Sea.
“We oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea. We reiterated our objections to China’s unlawful maritime claims and activities in the South China Sea and reaffirmed our strong shared interest in a free and open South China Sea governed by international law, in which freedom of navigation and overflight are guaranteed, consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the statement said.
