The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a possible foreign military sale (FMS) of TOW improved target acquisition systems (ITAS) and related equipment to Bahrain.
With an estimated cost of $80m, the potential deal requested by the Government of Bahrain involves the acquisition of 28 TOW ITAS systems and four TOW ITAS Floats.
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Approved by the US State Department, the possible sale also covers the delivery of support equipment, government-furnished equipment, technical manuals / publications, spare parts, tool and test equipment.
The US Government technical and logistics support services, in addition to contractor technical support and other related elements of equipment and logistics support are expected to be included in the possible deal.
In order to carry out the deal, up to ten US Government and contractor representatives are required to make several trips to Bahrain over a period of less than 16 weeks.
Focused on enhancing the security of Bahrain, the sale of the TOW ITAS and technical support is expected to support the country’s efforts to develop an integrated ground defence capability.
Once deployed, the ITAS system will enable Bahrain armed forces to increase target detection, acquisition, recognition and engagements ranges for TOW anti-tank missiles.
Raytheon Missile Systems will serve as the principal contractor for the FMS.
The TOW ITAS is a material change to the current target acquisition and fire control subsystem used by first-to-fight, light infantry forces.
The ITAS features a second-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR), which deploys standard advanced dewar assembly technology, an eyesafe laser rangefinder, and other digital components to address user-identified operational deficiencies, and improve detection and identification ranges.
