EUROPE

LAND

09 Mar 10. The UK Defence Procurement Organisation has awarded a contract to Rheinmetall AG to continue the supply of general munitions to British forces.
Under the €150m ($205m) contract, Rheinmetall AG will continue to provide
ammunition cooperation until 2015. Over the last five years, Rheinmetall Defence has nearly doubled the volume of general munitions it supplied to UK troops.
The new contract was awarded by UK Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S). (Source: armytechnology.com)

09 Mar 10. The French defence procurement agency, the DGA, has awarded a contract to Thales to extend the French Army’s RITA (réseau intégré de transmissions automatiques) automated integrated communications network. Under the €240m ($340.6m) contract, Thales will provide the army with high-performance IP communication systems for battalion command posts. Thales will deliver the new variant of communications network RITA N4 for army level 4, or the GTIA (groupement tactique inter-armes) combined arms task force, a new level of command to be networked with higher ranks. The new communications network will provide GTIA with services including e-mail, attachments, voice over IP at all command levels, as the company had previously delivered RITA for the army command levels 1 to 3. The French Army has deployed the RITA network on several fields of operations to date. RITA N4 is an extension of the RITA 2G network. (Source: armytechnology.com)

SEA

26 Feb 10. Kockums finally secures contract to design Sweden’s next-generation submarine. Swedish shipbuilder Kockums AB, part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, has received a long-delayed contract from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) funding design definition and production engineering development activities for the Royal Swedish Navy’s (RSwN’s) next-generation A 26 air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarine. The undisclosed award announced on 25 February has in the short term allayed fears over the future of Sweden’s submarine intellectual and industrial base. (Source: Jane’s, IDR)

09 Mar 10. Northrop Grumman Corporation has won a contract to upgrade the inertial navigation systems (INS) for the Swedish navy’s submarines. Under the contract, awarded by Kockums AB, Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine unit will supply five MK 39 Mod 3C ring laser gyro systems for installation on two Gotland-class and two Södermanland-class submarines, with one set to be used for spares and training. The MK 39 Mod 3C systems will replace the existing spinning mass gyrocompasses currently fitted on the submarines. CA Clase AB, Sperry Marine’s sales and service representative in Sweden, was instrumental in securing the order. Kockums AB will perform the installations, which will be completed by 2011.

10 Mar 10. Northrop Grumman Corporation has won a contract to supply machinery automation systems for two mine countermeasures vessels being sold by the U.K. Ministry of Defence to the Lithuanian Navy, considerably enhancing their mine countermeasures capability in the most cost-effective manner. The contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine unit by Thales U.K., prime contractor for the refit and upgrade of the two ships prior to handover to the Lithuanian government. Each of the two ships will be fitted with Sperry Marine’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) machinery automation system, which will provide an integrated and flexible network for monitoring and controlling the ships’ propulsion engines and auxiliary systems. Sperry Marine will also provide supervision of installation, commissioning, testing and training for the ships’ crews.

AIR

09 Mar 10. U.K. Satellite Military communications new £400m contract to use a new satellite. The Skynet 5D which is the fourth satellite of its kind to be used by the MoD is roughly three times the length of a double decker bus and will be launched in 2013 playing a key role in gathering intelligence on operations. The sa