EUROPE
AIR
10 Dec 09. CAE announced a series of military contracts with the Netherlands, Germany, and other global defence forces. The contracts, valued at more than C$100m, include a major contract with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) to expand CH-47 Chinook helicopter training at CAE’s Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility (MSHATF) in the United Kingdom.
Dec 09. The French Navy is set to spend $450m to modernize its 10 oldest Rafale Marine fighters, according to Defence-Aerospace website. Initially delivered in 1999 to F1 standard – meaning suitable for air-to-air combat – a retrofit expected to take between 12 to 18 months is meant to upgrade the fighters to F3 standard, which will make them multirole, the industry site notes. The 10 newly-upgraded aircraft will gradually replace the Modernized Super Etendard (SEM) fighters now in operation and set for retirement. French Naval Command currently only has 16 Rafales in navy service, with two originally delivered to F3 standard while the others have been upgraded from F2 – meaning suitable for air-to-ground missions – to F3. (Source: Google)
08 Dec 09. Eurocopter announced the purchase of two EC225s by the French Defense Ministry for the country’s navy. The two EC225s ordered by the French DGA will be the first to be operated by the French Navy. The helicopters, which will be used to perform search and rescue (SAR) missions
04 Dec 09. QinetiQ receives £37m Typhoon support contract. QinetiQ has been awarded a three-year contract by the MOD’s Defence Equipment &
Support operation worth £37m, to continue support for the Typhoon programme. Covering release to service recommendations, crew protection and performance, mission system software support, technical and business support plus airworthiness and safety clearance, this seamlessly follows on from the original £52.5m contract, signed with the Typhoon Project Team in August 2006.
02 Dec 09. Czech Air Force launches L159 upgrade programme. The Czech Air Force’s (Vzdusn Sily Armdy Cesk Republiky – VSACR) fleet of Aero Vodochody L159 light attack aircraft are to have their cockpits modernised with a Quantum3D human-machine interface (HMI), as part of a wider upgrade contract worth approximately USD4 million, the company announced on 30 November. Vdot Systems of California, a company that specialises in avionics systems integration for military aircraft and has overall responsibility for the L159 avionics upgrade, awarded Quantum3D the contract to provide its IData HMI toolset to upgrade the L159’s cockpit display system. (Source: Jane’s)
USA
LAND
10 Dec 09. The US Army has awarded a contract to Fort Wayne-based All Rite Distributing Corporation to supply 2,000 machine gun mounts.
Under the $14m contract the company will supply machine gun mounts along with the ammunition boxes which will be mounted on the roof of Humvee M998 combat vehicles used by the army’s special operations forces. (Source: army-technology.com)
03 Dec 09. The U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $203m contract to design the Stryker of the future. The Army announced an initial $42.6m increment of this award on Nov. 25. Under the contract, the Army and General Dynamics will develop designs and build a demonstrator to assess options for continuing to enhance survivability, power, suspension, mobility and lethality, and the integration of new technologies – core enabling capabilities – for the Stryker. Mobility enablers include analysis of adding a 450 horse power diesel engine, upgrading the suspension system and driveline to carry a 60,000-lb. payload, larger tires and a new braking system. Work also includes design of a digital architecture system that connects new command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies, to ensure soldiers continue to have access to the best available situational-awaren