CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
LAND
12 Feb 08. Exmoor Trim Limited has been appointed the seat and interior trim supplier for the Tithonus project by ABRO. The contract will run for two years starting in March 2008, and will see up to 100 Land Rover Defender vehicles being up graded every month. Having successfully fulfilled the requirements of ABRO during the interim framework agreement which has seen 460 vehicles up graded between September 2007 and February 2008 Exmoor Trim demonstrated its commitment and competitiveness to support the Tithonus Project.
11 Feb 08. FLIR Systems, Inc. received a $1.3m order from Patria Weapon Systems Oy in Vammala, Finland, a subsidiary of Patria Group, for the new Remote Weapon Station Sight (RWSS). The systems delivered under this order will be integrated into Patria’s new 120 mm unmanned mortar turret, named NEMO, which can be mounted onto various tracked and wheeled chassis as well as boats. Work will be performed at FLIR’s facilities in Danderyd, Sweden. Deliveries will begin near the end of 2008.
06 Feb 08. Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) Programme: Initial Contract. The MoD announced (6 Feb 08) that Thales (UK) had been awarded an initial £4m contract to undertake the System of Systems Integrator (SOSI) role on the FRES programme. The contract was signed on 24 Jan 08 and follows the announcement of the Thales (UK)/Boeing team as the preferred SOSI bidder on 5 Oct 07.
Comment: The FRES programme is to equip the Armed Forces with a family of medium-weight armoured vehicles. As announced on 5 Oct 07, the SOSI role is to “help co-ordinate the complex procurement of over 3,000 vehicles of many different types”. There has been informed speculation that the programme has been subjected to financial constraints and could now only accommodate 1,300 vehicles. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0807, 11 Feb 08)
SEA
11 Feb 08. The Defence Secretary Des Browne today visited Babcock Marine in Rosyth to witness the start of a £50m investment project to the dockyard in preparation for the two Royal Navy super carriers. Des Browne witnessed the signing of a £35m contract by Babcock Engineering Services with Glasgow-based subcontractors Edmund Nuttall Limited to modify the docks in anticipation of the future carrier work.
12 Feb 08. Portsmouth-based Fleet Support Limited (FSL) has taken in hand the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS York ready for a £17m refit lasting more than a year. The ship was last dry docked at Portsmouth some four years ago but the project, possibly her final refit before she is decommissioned, will this time include major equipment upgrades, maintenance programmes and improvements to her accommodation.
AIR
06 Feb 08. The government of France awarded Raytheon Company a direct commercial sales contract Jan. 18 worth $22m for the combat-proven Enhanced Paveway™ II (EP2) dual- mode GPS/laser-guided precision munition and weapons integration for the French Air Force’s Mirage 2000D fighter aircraft. Raytheon’s Paveway II (P2) laser-guided smart bombs already equip the Mirage 2000D, which supports U.S. and other NATO forces in Afghanistan. EP2 first achieved initial operational capability on the French Navy’s Super Etendard fighter aircraft in 2007, which also benefited the French Air Force. The contract calls for Raytheon to provide the French Air Force with upgrade kits to convert 500-pound P2 laser-guided bombs into the more capable dual-mode GBU-49 and includes additional options for more EP2 systems. The GBU-49 is a precision weapon that has been extensively employed by U.S. and allied forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq. EP2 is already in operational use on several other U.S. and NATO military aircraft including the French Navy’s Super Etendard.
USA
LAND
11 Feb 08. DRS Test & Energy Management, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., was awarded on Feb. 7, 2008, a $5,565,561 cost-plus-fixed-fee-level-of-effort-delivery-order contract for systems tec