The Chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, has announced Rear Admiral David Johnston will succeed Lieutenant General Ash Power as the Chief of Joint Operations Command.

Pratt & Whitney has awarded a contract to Levett Engineering to manufacture components that will be installed into F135 engines. The F135 engine is the propulsion system for the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II aircraft.

Defence's CDG last month awarded a contract to NIITEK, a Chemring company, teamed with Minelab Australia, for the RPDE of the Groundshark handheld dual sensor, under CDG's CIED handheld device detector prototype program.

Birdon managing director, Jamie Bruce has said the company may prioritise expansion in the US over Australia because it is easier for small businesses to participate in defence contracts in the US, and the cost of labour is substantially cheaper.

Assistant Minister for Defence, Stuart Robert has announced an extension of funding for the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC).

BAE Systems last week signed an AU$77 million, five-year contract extension with Boeing Defence Australia to continue support for the electronic warfare sub-systems aboard the RAAF's Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft.

DRS Technologies Canada has been awarded a subcontract by Selex to provide communications systems in support of the RAN's Anzac-class vessels.

With the ADF's fleet of ATVs moving towards the end of their life-of-type, Defence is seeking replacements in the form of 25 deployable 4WD ATVs.

As part of Northrop Grumman Corporation's effort to increase innovative thinking in engineering and technology among today's youth, the company is sponsoring the 2014 UAV Outback Challenge competition in Australia.

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German naval systems company Atlas Elektronik is showing a containerised anti-submarine warfare mission module to offshore patrol vessel operators in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reports that the US Navy's effort to develop and acquire mission packages for the LCS will cost some $7.2 billion emphasises what a disappointment this aspect of the LCS program has been to Australian industry.

The US Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft conducted its first training missions in the Republic of Korea March 27-31 in support of exercise Foal Eagle 2014.

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract to support the US Marines Corps fleet of KC-130J air-to-air refuelling tankers, worth more than $50 million.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.293 of 27 March 2014 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

Professional Engineers Australia has called for the Minister for Defence to urgently review and invest in Commonwealth engineering capacity on the AWD and the Future Submarine projects.