CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
15 Jul 08. DRS Technologies, Inc. announced that Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn. Bhd. Executive Director Dato’ Norida Hamzah signed a letter of intent for DRS to furnish a complete Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) system to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in a meeting at the Farnborough Air Show, attended by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense Secretary General and the Royal Malaysian Air Force Chief of the Air Force. Aerotree is the prime contractor to the RMAF. The letter of intent reflects the parties’ mutual desire to enter into a definitive contract under which Aerotree would purchase the ACMI system for lease to the government of Malaysia. The contract would be managed by DRS Command, Control and Communication (C3) Systems in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Twenty two ACMI pods with associated spares, ground equipment, Air Combat Training Integrated Visualization Environment (ACTiVE) debriefing systems, training, maintenance and logistics support will be delivered within 18 to 24 moths after contract award. Options are expected to provide for six internal ACMI systems and follow-on logistics support. The system will be used on various aircraft including the SU-30MKM, F-18D, MiG-29N, F-5E, Hawk, and MB-339CM.
14 Jul 08. DRS Technologies, Inc. has been awarded an $11.4m follow-on contract to produce the Fine Track Sensor (FTS) kits used in Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) transmitters. The work will be carried out by the DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems – Infrared Technologies Division in Dallas, Texas. Designed and built by DRS customer SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica Company, in Edinburgh, U.K., the transmitters are a key component of Northrop Grumman’s Nemesis DIRCM system – a system used to protect a variety of rotary- and fixed-wing military aircraft from shoulder-launched, heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
15 Jul 08. DRS Technologies, Inc. has received $56m in follow-on contracts from the U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, for support of Mast-Mounted Sights (MMS) on OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopters. The contracts cover spares, field-service and general depot-maintenance support, as well as implementation of an Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) for updating the MMS on these aircraft.
14 Jul 08. BAE Systems has been awarded a $32m low-rate initial production contract by the U.S. Navy to build hundreds of countermeasures systems to protect the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft from enemy missiles. The AN/ALE-55 towed decoy is part of the U.S. Navy’s Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) radio frequency countermeasures system. This provides military aircraft with a highly effective electronic warfare defense against RF-guided missiles. The AN/ALE-55 consists of an onboard electronic frequency converter and the decoy.
15 Jul 08. Cobham’s Mission Systems Division has been awarded a three year, US$20m launch order for 4,000 systems for the US Navy and US Army for its new PHANTOM (Parachutist High Altitude Next Generation Technology Oxygen Mask) Parachutist Oxygen System. Deliveries will start in the third quarter of 2008. The PHANTOM system was developed specifically to meet the needs of contemporary HALO/HAHO mission requirements, and includes a mask and regulator assembly with a new 3,000 psi bottle. Equipped with a high flow, non-compensated exhalation valve, the PHANTOM mask also features an integral anti-suffocation valve to protect the user in the event of oxygen depletion.
14 Jul 08. EADS Defence & Security (DS) will modernise 40 German helicopters of the type CH-53 as part of a product improvement project. As a sub-contractor of Eurocopter Germany, Defence Electronics, an integrated Business Unit of EADS DS, is supplying important subsystems from the self-protection, avionics and logistics sector. As the company announced, the order is w