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Contracts · Exports

India sells Akash air defense missiles to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Defense News reports

The two buyers sit in a region long supplied by Russia. India's Defence Secretary confirmed the sales but did not disclose their value.

· Updated

India has sold its homegrown Akash short-range surface-to-air missile system to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, gaining a foothold in Central Asia, Defense News reported Monday.1 Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirmed the sales earlier this month in a news agency interview, according to Defense News. Armenia became the system's first foreign customer in 2022.1

India's Akash air defense system gains two Central Asian buyers, Defense News reports

Akash short-range surface-to-air missile system; foreign customers named in a Defense News report dated Oct. 12, 2026

Tajikistan, Turkmenistanbuyers; India's Defence Secretary confirmed the sales earlier this month, according to Defense News
2022Armenia became India's first foreign Akash customer
Not disclosedcontract value for the Central Asian sales

Defense News named no manufacturer, quantity or delivery schedule for the Tajik and Turkmen sales.

Source: Reported by Defense News, Oct. 12, 2026, citing Indian Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. Data as of Oct. 12, 2026.

TGOs tgos.io

Export orders were a sliver of the order book at Bharat Dynamics, the Defence Ministry enterprise that lists the Akash Weapon System among both its products and its exports.2–4 Its June investor presentation put export orders at about INR 417 crore as of March 31, 2026. That was roughly 1.6% of its INR 26,176 crore order book.2 Defense News reported no manufacturer, quantity or delivery schedule for the sales, so it is not known whether the March figure includes these orders.1

Analysts say the two countries are turning to India to reduce their reliance on Russia, one of the region's main arms suppliers, whose defense resources are strained by its war with Ukraine, Defense News reported. Indian defense officials have said the armed forces used Akash effectively in the four-day 2025 conflict with Pakistan.1 Confidence in the system got a boost after it was "battle-tested," according to Aleksei Zakharov, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. He said that could encourage Central Asian buyers to consider other Indian hardware, such as artillery and radar systems.1

Zakharov said the sales "can be an important first step for India's entry into the defense markets of Central Asia," according to Defense News.1 Follow-on orders for the artillery or radar he named would test that. So would a contract value or quantity from India or either buyer and, if Bharat Dynamics is the supplier, its next reported export order position.1–2

Clarification, October 25, 2026: We updated the link to the Defense News report, dated Oct. 12, 2026. The brief is unchanged.

Sources (4)
  1. Defense News: India sells air defense missiles to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan in Central Asia push (Oct. 12, 2026) www.defensenews.com
  2. Bharat Dynamics: Investor Presentation (June 2026) bdl-india.in
  3. Bharat Dynamics: Products bdl-india.in
  4. Bharat Dynamics: Exports bdl-india.in
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Contracts · Cyber infrastructure

DISA seeks cloud identity and access prototype for Department of War

Responses are due Nov. 30 for a commercial identity-management prototype. It would operate across IL5 and IL6 environments.

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is seeking a commercial, cloud-hosted identity and access management prototype to modernize the Department of War’s legacy identity infrastructure.1

DISA seeks solutions to prototype a Next Generation E-ICAM capability

Enterprise Identity, Credential, and Access Management (E-ICAM)

modernize legacy identity infrastructuremodular, cloud-hostedplanned

This effort will modernize legacy identity infrastructure with a modular, cloud-hosted commercial off-the-shelf/software-as-a-service solution operating across IL5 and IL6 environments.

The prototype must address the Federated Identity Provider, Automated Account Provisioning, Master Entitlement Record, and Federation Hub core capabilities.

Response deadline is Nov. 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m. America/Chicago (Monday)

Source: SAM.gov. As of Nov. 7, 2026.

Sources
TGOs tgos.io

DISA is seeking the capability through a prototype Other Transaction opportunity linked to its competitive Commercial Solutions Opening.1–3

The Next Generation Enterprise Identity, Credential, and Access Management (E-ICAM) effort calls for a modular commercial off-the-shelf or software-as-a-service solution. The solution would operate across Impact Level 5 (IL5) and Impact Level 6 (IL6) environments. The prototype must address four core capabilities: Federated Identity Provider, Automated Account Provisioning, Master Entitlement Record and Federation Hub.1

Responses to the Area of Interest are due Nov. 30 at 5 p.m. Central.1

DISA’s Commercial Solutions Opening and any Other Transactions awarded through it are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation or its supplements.3

Sources (3)
  1. SAM.gov notice record sam.gov
  2. SAM.gov notice history sam.gov
  3. SAM.gov: DISA Commercial Solutions Opening (HC108425S0001) sam.gov
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Contracts · Space

Viasat wins contract for Space Data Network’s mission operations hub

The award includes a $115 million initial task order to design, field and scale the center, under a contract with a $450 million ceiling.

Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Viasat a competitive indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Space Data Network Backbone’s Mission Operations Center, the command announced Nov. 5, 2026. The contract carries a $450 million maximum ceiling and a $115 million initial task order to design, field and scale the center.1

Viasat, Inc. will serve as the network and mission system integration partner

Mission Operations Center (MOC) for the Space Data Network Backbone

maximum ceiling$450 millionactual

contract to Viasat, Inc., with a maximum ceiling of $450 million

initial task order$115 millionactual

to design, field, and scale the MOC

Source: Space Systems Command, Nov. 5, 2026

Sources
TGOs tgos.io

Viasat will serve as the network and mission system integration partner as SSC expands its open-architecture ecosystem across multiple space-segment providers. SSC plans to bring mission integration, network operations and data transport management together through the center.1

The effort builds on the multi-vendor acquisition strategy demonstrated in the Space-Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio’s earlier Delivery Order 2 and Delivery Order 3 work. That work involved Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems.1

Breaking Defense reported that the center will serve as the network orchestration hub for the backbone, a low Earth orbit constellation being built by SpaceX. The network’s near-term focus will be supporting the Golden Dome missile defense initiative, the outlet reported.2

DefenseScoop reported that earlier this year the Department of War awarded SpaceX a $2.3 billion contract to deliver a fully operational backbone prototype by the end of 2027.3

The center is intended to integrate mission systems across multiple constellations and providers.1 Breaking Defense described network orchestration as autonomously shifting data among satellite constellations and ground stations when congestion or jamming slows transmission.2

Sources (3)
  1. SSC release, Nov. 5, 2026 www.ssc.spaceforce.mil
  2. Breaking Defense breakingdefense.com
  3. DefenseScoop defensescoop.com
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