The State Department has approved possible military sales, to Denmark and Poland, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said this week.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is continuing an initiative that offers a $500 discount for certain registrants with DDTC, the agency announced last week.
The State Department has approved possible military sales to Denmark and Spain, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
The State Department last week approved a possible $136.1 million military sale to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. The sale includes "Stinger Service Life Extension Program Components, Parts, and Services" and related equipment, and the principal contractors will be PTI Technologies and L3 Harris.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the DDTC Response Team and the agency's help desk will be closed beginning Dec. 24 because of the federal holiday, the agency announced this week. The Response Team will resume normal operations Dec. 29 at 8 a.m. ET, and the help desk will be back Jan. 2 at 8 a.m. ET. During this time, users can submit a support ticket using DDTC's virtual AI agent (see 2512160059) or through the agency's contact page. "Please be aware that, due to the holiday closure and a potential increase in inquiries, response times may be longer than usual and could extend into the following week. Processing of classified provisos for delivery may also be delayed."
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection related to “miscellaneous" licensing, reporting and enforcement activities associated with exports. BIS said it's revising the title of the information collection to include certain reporting activities.
The State Department this week approved eight possible military sales to Taiwan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. The sales are valued at more than $10 billion combined and include tactical mission network software, equipment and services; certain helicopter parts; M109A7 self-propelled Howitzers; rocket systems; missile systems; a Javelin missile system; harpoon missile repair and support; and "ALTIUS-700M and ALTIUS-600 Systems." The principal contractors haven't yet been chosen.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is launching an AI virtual agent Dec. 19 to provide DDTC site users with information technology support and to "enhance the DDTC experience for defense industry users." The agent, which will be "available 24/7," will use AI to "answer common IT questions instantly and guide users to helpful IT resources, making it easier and faster to resolve routine IT issues." For more complex questions, users can use the agent to connect with a human Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, DDTC said.
The U.S. will use its newly created Pax Silica initiative -- an effort alongside Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the U.K., Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia to strengthen the silicon supply chain -- as an opportunity to harmonize economic security tools, said Jacob Helberg, the State Department's undersecretary for economic affairs.
Mouser Electronics, one of several firms sued this week in a Texas state court for allegedly not doing enough to ensure the semiconductor parts they sell don't end up in Russian or Iranian hands (see 2512110054), said they will respond to the matter in court. “We deeply respect the legal process and will respond to this matter in court, versus the media,” said Kevin Hess, senior vice president of marketing at Mouser Electronics.