Day: January 29, 2024

The figures underpin expectations of stronger sales for the likes of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, whose shares are forecast to rise amid growing global instability. 

Arms sales and transfers are viewed as “important U.S. foreign policy tools with potential long-term implications for regional and global security,” the State Department said in a statement. 

Sales approved in the year included $10 billion worth of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Poland, $2.9 billion worth of AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-To-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Germany, and National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine. 

Lockheed makes the HIMARS, and RTX, formerly Raytheon, makes AMRAAM. RTX and Norway’s Kongsberg produce NASAMS. 

Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics expect existing orders for hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, hundreds of Patriot missile interceptors, and a surge in orders for armored vehicles will underpin their results in coming quarters. 

There are two major ways foreign governments purchase arms from U.S. companies: direct commercial sales negotiated with a company, or foreign military sales in which a government typically contacts a Defense Department official at the U.S. embassy in its capital. Both require U.S. government approval. 

The direct military sales by U.S. companies rose to $157.5 billion in fiscal 2023 from $153.6 billion in fiscal 2022, while sales arranged through the U.S. government rose to $80.9 billion in 2023 from $51.9 billion the prior year.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Armenia is ready to sign a nonaggression pact with Azerbaijan and give other “guarantees” to Baku, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday.

The Azerbaijani government dismissed the proposals on Monday.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded safeguards against Armenian “revanchism” in December, saying that an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty would not be enough to preclude another war between the two countries. Pashinyan expressed on January 20 readiness to meet this demand if Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity through that treaty “without any reservations.”

“We are ready to give such long-term and irreversible guarantees but expect the same guarantees from others,” he reiterated during an official event to mark the 32nd anniversary of the official establishment of Armenia’s armed forces.

In that context, Pashinyan pointed to a mutual withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops from the border between the two countries which has been proposed by Yerevan and categorically rejected by Baku.
“We have also proposed to Armenia a demilitarization of the border and also a mutual mechanism for arms control and the also signing of a nonaggression agreement if it turns out that the signing of a peace treaty takes longer than expected,” he said.

Pashinyan tried hard to negotiate the peace treaty after explicitly recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh about a year ago. He kept pressing for such an accord even after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh and forced its entire population to flee to Armenia last September.

“The Republic of Armenia should identify itself with the territory on which it was recognized by the international community … We must state clearly and unequivocally that we do not and will not have any claims to any other territory, and this should become the strategic basis for ensuring Armenia’s external security,” Pashinyan said on Sunday.

The premier signaled on January 18 plans to try to enact a new Armenian constitution for that purpose, prompting scorn from opposition groups.

Commenting on Pashinyan’s latest statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry claimed that the current Armenian constitution contains “encroachments on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.” Instead of taking concrete steps to eliminate them, the Armenian government is voicing “proposals that make no practical sense,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that Yerevan is not serious about normalizing Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Azerbaijan remains reluctant to formally recognize Armenia’s current borders. In early January, Aliyev renewed his demands for Armenia to open an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. He also demanded Armenian withdrawal from “eight Azerbaijani villages” and again dismissed Yerevan’s insistence on using the most recent Soviet maps to delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Pashinyan rejected those demands, saying that they amount to territorial claims to Armenia. His foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan again spoke last week of “significant regression” in Baku’s position on the peace deal with Yerevan. Armenian opposition leaders insisted, for their part, that Pashinyan cannot prevent another Azerbaijani attack on Armenia with what they see as additional concessions offered to Aliyev.

Lilit Galstyan, a parliament deputy from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, said on Monday that the latest Armenian proposals to Baku revealed by Pashinyan are further proof of the failure of his declared “peace agenda.”

“Nikol Pashinyan … constantly throws out thoughts, new ideas which once again subject our society to further stress,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Not only has the peace process failed but we keep hearing aggressive rhetoric by Azerbaijan.”

Pashinyan’s government is engaged in “inadequate behavior” in the face of Azerbaijani war preparations, she said.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili officially resigned from his post on January 29.

Earlier in the day, local media reported that Irakli Garibashvili and Irakli Kobakhidze were expected to switch the posts of Prime Minister and Chair of the Georgian Dream party. The cabinet reshuffle is also expected as the Georgian Dream party holds its Congress on February 1.

Civil.ge has collected reactions from across the Georgian political spectrum to Irakli Garibashvili’s resignation:

Ruling Party

Archil Talakvadze, Deputy Speaker of Parliament: “Like the whole team, I would like to thank Irakli Garibashvili for his work. In three years, he has managed to achieve difficult and important goals. These were Georgia’s progress towards European integration, ensuring economic development, reforms carried out in the regions, infrastructure projects and, in general, the renewal of the country’s strategic infrastructure”.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, GD faction leader: “The meeting of the Political Council was held on January 24, where we discussed the issues that the society and the media have received today. Among them was an offer from the Political Council that Irakli Garibashvili should stay in office before the beginning of the active electoral phase, and after that, this change should have been made on some kind of, let’s say, rotation principle… But he [Garibashvili] made this decision himself because, as he said, the new prime minister should have the opportunity to use all this time to form a new team, visions and approaches…”.

Opposition

Paata Manjgaladze, “Strategy Aghmashenebeli”: “Georgian Dream” had to admit the economic collapse in the country, and now it offers us another facade change… Now they tell us that Kobakhidze will take the driver’s seat and Garibashvili will take a back seat. It is a sort of a game… Of course, for [either of] Iraklis, something will change, but nothing will change for the people. Even worse, because Kobakhidze has never had anything to do with the economy, jobs, or employment… Bidzina Ivanishvili is having fun… he needs this game for the elections to fool the people as if the new broom sweeps clean, but Kobakhidze is an old broom”.

Levan Khabeishvili, “United National Movement”: “These changes have nothing to do with the well-being of our citizens… All this is connected with the so-called political intrigues of Bidzina Ivanishvili, and we should well understand that today’s government does not serve the people; it is motivated to make Bidzina Ivanishvili richer, to make themselves richer, to build new residences, villas, not to serve the people.”

Teona Akubardia, parliamentary faction “Reform Group”: “Changing the pawns on the chessboard is the tactic that Bidzina Ivanishvili has used before to win the game, and he has always done it successfully.”

Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of “Lelo”: “No matter who Bidzina appoints as Prime Minister, he will not be able to save the sinking Russian ship of the “[Georgian] Dream.” Garibashvili should sit in the dock, not in the chair of the party leader. Bidzina [Ivanishvili] has confirmed [by replacing him] that he is the main figure of corruption, nepotism, and unsuccessful governance. [Ivanishvili] was making all the decisions before and he does so now. Georgian Dream knows that its days are numbered. Society wants real changes. The Georgian people will soon get rid of the government that serves Russian interests.”

Beka Liluashvili, “Sakartvelostvis” [For Georgia]: “The government of this country is in the hands of Ivanishvili. It does not matter at all who will be the voice of this government, who will be the avatar, be it Kobakhidze or Garibashvili”.

On December 30, Bidzina Ivanishvili officially returned to politics for the third time, becoming “honorary chairman” of the “Georgian Dream” party. Speaking at the GD party congress, Ivanishvili said that the reason for his return was “to protect the excessively strong team from human temptation.”

In his first comments after the party congress on December 30, Ivanishvili said that the country’s Prime Minister would not be replaced. Ivanishvili also said at that time, there would be no changes in the cabinet or within the ruling party.