RAH-66 COMANCHE: The US Army has decided to cut planned purchases of the Armed Recon helicopter known as Comanche from 1,292 to 1,096. Boeing-Sikorski has proposed a plan to begin the program with 13 pre-production aircraft built from 2000-2006; these would be used to test and further develop the design.--Stephen V Cole

Switzerland has picked the Swedish Hagglunds CV9030CH as its new infantry fighting vehicle and will buy 186 of them to equip three brigades (two battalions each). The Swiss have a contract option to buy 60 or 120 more of the vehicles (to equip a 4th and 5th brigade) but have yet to decide if their new Army 21 structure will include 3, 4, or 5 mechanized brigades. The CV90 is the standard Swedish IFV, but the Swedes fit it with a 40mm cannon. The CV9030 mounts a 30mm cannon and is essentially the same vehicle as used by the Norwegians. The CV9030 beat the British Warrior and German M12 vehicles. The M12 was judged too underpowered to keep up with Switzerland's Leopard 2 tanks, and the Warrior (while equal to the CV9030 in performance) was too expensive.--Stephen V Cole

Israel has picked the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW229 turbofan to power its new F-16I multi-role fighters.--Stephen V Cole

A new GAO audit found that the Navy had failed to bill several Foreign Military Sales client nations for their weapons purchases, amounting to $75 million during a ten-year period (1987-97).--Stephen V Cole

Northrop Grumman has received a $31 million contract to deliver new wings for 55 T-38 supersonic trainers, helping to keep the fleet of 500 such aircraft operational through 2040.--Stephen V Cole