CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
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19 May 09. EADS Defence & Security (DS) will equip the German Armed Forces with a new kind of ground surveillance radar (BÜR – Bodenüberwachungsradar) for detecting movements on the ground and at low altitudes with a precision unmatched in the world. As the company announced on Tuesday, Defence Electronics (DE), an integrated activity of DS, today handed over the first of two system demonstrators to the German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) for evaluation by the Bundeswehr’s Technical Centres. The delivery of approximately 80 BÜR systems is scheduled to start in 2012. They are intended to close the gap in capabilities of the German Armed Forces in the area of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. A modified version of this radar destined for civil applications such as surveillance of border regions or industrial facilities is currently under development.
18 May 09. Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded a contract valued at €25m to supply the Austrian Army with Elbit Systems’ new 12.7mm unmanned Electrically Remote Controlled Weapon Stations. The systems will be delivered over the course of the next four years. The contract for the Austrian Army was signed between Elbit Systems and IVECO S.p.A., a subsidiary of the Fiat Group, prime contractor for the program. The Weapon Stations provided by Elbit Systems will be integrated into IVECO Defence Vehicles’ Light Multi-role Vehicles (LMV) 4X4. Besides the day and night detection systems – Elbit Systems’ weapon stations include a Multi Threat Detection System (MTDS), capable of detecting, categorizing and pinpointing Laser, Radar and RF Sources. The MTDS provides a solution to threats caused by a variety of sources, from beam rider missiles and ground designators to laser guided bombs and missiles.
19 May 09. The Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) has commissioned Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to supply a light, air-portable reconnaissance vehicle for nuclear and chemical threats, in the form of the new MUNGO NC Recce. To this end, KMW will initially produce a reconnaissance vehicle which will start trials at the start of 2010. There are plans for a total of 25 of the MUNGO NC Recce in series production.
TECHNOLOGY
18 May 09. The defense ministries of the European Defence Agency’s member countries have approved a 100m euro ($135m) demonstrator project for force protection against biological agents, called the Biological Detection Identification Monitoring Equipment Development and Enhancement Programme (BIO-EDEP). So far five countries – the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain – are due to contribute 20m euros each. Two others have expressed interest; if they join, the cost will fall to 14m euros apiece. (Source: Defense News)
18 May 09. Specialist geospatial information exploitation consultancy, Helyx, has completed a strategic investigation for the UK Ministry of Defence into the future Aeronautical Information Capability (AIC), a critical enabler for all air operations and essential to flight safety. The investigation provided the MoD with an independent assessment of the capability against current and forecasted requirements and made a series of recommendations that would assist in developing UK capability. The final report provides, through clearly presented arguments, a sound basis for MoD policy, air force and procurement stakeholders to decide how the next generation AIC should be developed. It will be used as the basis for planning and prioritising, as well as supporting any business case activity if MoD decides to pursue the strategy it sets out.
21 May 09. RAF pilots will train alongside British Army forward air controllers and artillery personnel prior to deployment to the front line thanks to a contract just awarded by the MOD that covers the provision and running of a bespoke multi-million pound training facility at RAF Waddington. The