CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
LAND
16 Apr 08. QIOPTIQ has secured a multi-million pound contract to supply a major NATO force with its SniperVIPIR-S Thermal Weapon Sight. The contract involves working closely with an in-country partner to provide a significant number of SniperVIPIR-2 Thermal Weapon Sights and support services.
SEA
29 Apr 08. WFS receives SMART Award to revolutionise environmental monitoring. Thanks to new technology pioneered by WFS, the environmental industry stands to benefit from higher performance, cheaper, and more easily deployable wireless monitoring systems. With the support of a SMART Award from the Scottish Government, WFS will conduct an 8-month feasibility study into the development of the world’s first underwater and underground RF communication system designed specifically for environmental monitoring. The project represents groundbreaking work that will move Scotland to the forefront of emerging environmental technologies.
AIR
29 Apr 08. Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) delivers the first of two Beechcraft King Air B200GT aircraft to Serco Defence, Science and Technology for service in the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) as a multi-engine pilot trainer. The second King Air B200GT will be delivered this summer and both aircraft will join Number 45 Squadron at RAF Cranwell. These aircraft will strengthen the existing fleet of seven Beechcraft King Air B200s in service with the RAF, bringing the total to nine King Airs. The original Beechcraft King Air order was placed in 2003 when Serco announced it was awarded the prestigious €60 million Multi-Activity Contract for RAF Cranwell incorporating the Multi-Engine Pilot Training Interim Solution. The new aircraft are essential to meet an increase in the demand for military multi-engine pilots within the U.K. Ministry of Defence, along with a growing need for a modern, glass cockpit experience.
24 Apr 08. Saygrove Aerospace and Defence Group has won contracts worth £25m, which it says will safeguard 70 jobs. The company supplies key components to some of the biggest names in international aerospace, such as GE Aviation and BAE Systems. (Source: Google)
USA
LAND
28 Apr 08. DRS Technologies, Inc. has received an initial order of $36.4m on a five-year contract with a projected minimum value of approximately $101m to produce critical subassemblies for the Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) program. The contract was awarded to DRS by the Network Centric Systems business of the Raytheon Company, McKinney, Texas, the prime contractor and final integrator for the LRAS3 program. The work will be performed by DRS’ Sensors & Targeting Systems unit – Optronics Division in Melbourne, Florida. Manufacturing is expected to begin immediately.
30 Apr 08. DRS Technologies, Inc. announced the receipt of new contract orders totalling over $51m to produce Thermal Weapon Sights II (TWS II). The contracts were awarded by the U.S. Army’s Research, Development & Engineering Command’s (RDECOM) Acquisition Center at the U.S. Army Garrison Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, acting on behalf of Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Contract work will be performed by two of the DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems divisions – the Optronics Division in Palm Bay and Melbourne, Florida, and the Infrared Technologies Division in Dallas, Texas. These new orders are part of a five-year, $2.3bn Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) TWS II Bridge contract awarded to DRS in 2007. Additional ID/IQ contracts are expected as funding is available enabling the Army to order up to 150,000 TWS II systems to support fielding needs.
23 Apr 08. Alliant Techsystems has received a $9m contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF) under the Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program. The contract was awarded by the Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla. The