CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
LAND
05 Nov 08. Motorcycles: Tenders Issued. The Defence Contracts Bulletin (5 Nov 08) recorded the issue of tenders to five UK and one US company for the supply of an initial quantity of 50 motorcycles, with an option to supply “a further number”.
Comment: An earlier Bulletin (19 Dec 07) had noted an MoD requirement for some 394 general purpose motorcycles, with 50 variants for the Special Forces. The numbers now quoted indicate that the main requirement has been shelved, leaving only the 50 specialised machines. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0844, 10 Nov 08)
10 Nov 08. General Dynamics European Land Systems has entered a contract with the German Bundesamt fur Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung (BWB) for the delivery of 198 EAGLE IV protected Command and Function Vehicles, including 25 vehicles that were delivered earlier under an agreement reached in July. The contract has a total value of €106m (approx. $141m), including provision for development
of a logistics and service-support organization.
SEA
11 Nov 08. Goliath contract for Aircraft Carrier Alliance. The contract to supply the Goliath crane to Babcock Marine’s Rosyth facility for the final assembly of the future aircraft carriers (CVF) has been officially awarded by Babcock Marine to specialist crane and large steel structures manufacturer, Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co Ltd (ZPMC). At a height of 68 metres to the underside of the main beams, and with a span of 120 metres to cover the construction area of the new carriers at Rosyth, the Goliath crane will be largest in the UK. Selected by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) on the basis of its safety, efficiency and cost, the crane will lift and place the carrier modules, including the upper blocks and sponsons, as well as the bow block, islands and aircraft lifts. It does this without disrupting the dockside area adjacent to the ship.
AIR
12 Nov 08. Sofradir signed a €6.7m (approx. $10m) contract with Astrium SAS, a worldwide supplier of satellites and space equipment. Sofradir will supply a custom-made three-band Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) Detector for the Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI), an earth observation instrument onboard the Sentinel-2 satellite. The detector will be used to offer more discrimination of trees, crops, and other environmental elements, including the density of humid air. It is designed and screened to function for the in-orbit lifetime for each of the two Sentinel-2 satellites. Each will run for just over 7 years.
TECHNOLOGY
12 Nov 08. SEA wins major software programme in support of the Ministry of Defence Joint Battlefield Training and Synthetic Environments Integrated Project Team (JBTSE IPT). This key contract is for two elements of the software-based Common Simulation Framework (CSF) Project. Valued at circa £1.6m, the high-profile software project will deliver core-interfacing capability into Army training and simulation. JBTSE IPT is responsible for the acquisition and in-service management of Land and Joint Training Systems. The project encompasses legacy, current and future training systems that span the live, virtual and constructive simulation domains to provide a holistic approach for ‘Collective Training’.
USA
LAND
12 Nov 08. BAE Systems has received an order worth $17m for 4,702 Vehicle Emergency Escape (VEE) Window kits from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command. The kits will be used on the M1151 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The patent-pending VEE Window technology enables soldiers to quickly exit the vehicle in the event of an emergency, such as a rollover or accident, by releasing and pushing the front window out in seconds.
SEA
13 Nov 08. Austal USA, Mobile Ala., is being awarded a $185,433,564 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the firm quantity of one Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) with options for up to nine additional