CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
LAND
May 09. BMC, which says it is the largest fully integrated commercial vehicle manufacturers in Turkey has won a €300m deal to supply 1,859 military vehicles to the Turkish defence forces. The deal includes mine-resistant armoured vehicles and all-wheel drive two and three axle trucks rated at 2.5, 5 and 10 tonnes. The firm’s defence customers include Turkey and other Nato forces. (Source: Transport News Brief)
12 May 09. GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms secured an order worth $1.1m from Aselsan for a complete rugged signal processor subsystem to be included in a Synthetic Aperture Radio (SAR) system for the Turkish Armed Forces. The GE Fanuc solution which includes the GE Fanuc DSP230 VPX multiprocessor computer and XMCV5 VPX FPGA-based processor, was chosen by Aselsan for its ability to process significant quantities of information in close to real-time in a harsh environment. The combined requirement for high bandwidth processing and rugged reliability made VPX the architecture of choice. Immediate availability of the DSP230 and XMCV5 is allowing Aselsan to begin prototyping, testing and validating the solution immediately, enabling the company to meet the demanding timeframes that are vital to putting the SAR into production.
12 May 09. The Ministry of Defence is purchasing an additional 3400 HF and VHF radios in order to meet the demands of current operations and their associated training needs from General Dynamics UK Ltd.
05 May 09. Renault Trucks Defense has signed with Thales a contract for supplying 33 units of Sherpa 3 dedicated to the tactical stations of the Syracuse III military satellite communications program.
16 Sherpa will be delivered in 2009 and in 2010. Already known as a NATO reference, the Sherpa 3 will get the French reference and will be deployed within the French Army (land and air forces).
AIR
13 May 09. The Boeing Company and AgustaWestland signed a contract for the manufacture and support of 16 ICH-47F Chinook helicopters for the Italian Army. The contract makes Boeing the prime subcontractor to AgustaWestland for the new aircraft. The contract is worth approximately 900m euros ($1.23bn). Boeing will build the ICH-47F fuselage at its facility in Ridley Park, Pa. Prime contractor AgustaWestland will be responsible for design and systems integration, aircraft final assembly and delivery to the Italian Army. AgustaWestland is expected to begin deliveries in 2013.
13 May 09. The Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic has signed an agreement for the acquisition of four C-295 military transport aircraft from Airbus Military. The agreement extends to logistical support. These aircraft will replace the former fleet of Antonov An-26 aircraft. The first aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2009 and the last before the end of 2010. With these four aircraft, the order book for C-295 aircraft totals 72 units. This model is owned by nations such as Poland, Finland, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Jordan and Spain, among others. (Source: ASD Network)
USA
LAND
11 May 09. BAE Systems will provide thermal weapon sights to the U.S. Army under a $137m contract that continues production of the widely used infrared sensors. These second-generation thermal sights are lighter, quieter, and use less power than the first generation sights, reducing the load on soldiers and decreasing requirements for battery power. They are used on rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems to provide day and night surveillance and target acquisition, enabling soldiers to see deep into the battlefield to detect, identify, and engage targets at longer ranges.
12 May 09. CSC announces that the U.S. Army has awarded the company a task order to provide systems engineering, technical and programme support for the Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS). The task order was awarded under the Strategic Services Sourcing contra