EUROPE

LAND

14 May 10. France’s defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded a contract to Panhard General Defence for the supply of 187 petits véhicules protégés (PVP) light protected vehicles. Deliveries began in late 2007 under the PVP programme and will run until late 2012 at a rate of 200 vehicles a year. To date, the French Army has received 506 PVP vehicles while the deliveries of the current contract are scheduled for 2011. In late 2009, the French Army deployed PVP in Lebanon and has deployed in Afghanistan since February 2010. (Source: armytechnology.com)
SEA

05 May 10. Astute Class Submarines: Programme Progress. BAE Systems confirmed (5 May 10) that the Company has received orders worth £360m for the start of construction of Astute Boat 5 and long lead procurement for Boat 6. (On 25 Mar 10, the Defence Secretary announced this order as being worth “over £300m”.)First of Class ASTUTE has successfully completed her first phase of sea trials, which are continuing. Testing of second of Class AMBUSH continues ahead of her launch later in 2010. Third of Class ARTFUL has received her command deck module, while construction of major steelwork for fourth of Class AUDACIOUS continues.
Comment: The names of the final three Astute Class SSN have not been officially announced but the Commanding Officer of HMS TURBULENT let slip that Hull 5 is to be AGAMEMNON, Hull 6 ANSON and Hull 7 AJAX. If confirmed, this would be the RN’s fifth AGAMEMNON, tenth ANSON and ninth AJAX. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/18, 10 May 09)

AIR

13 May 10. BAE Systems has been awarded a five year contract worth in the region of £150m by Eurofighter GmbH to provide an avionic equipment repair support service on the Typhoon fleets for the air forces of Germany, Spain and the UK. The contract changes the current repair contracting method on Typhoon by placing an incentive on BAE Systems to provide resolution to technical problems more quickly and to continue to reduce the volume of repair activity undertaken. Under the contract BAE Systems will provide a range of repair services leading to much reduced support costs, improved reliability of the equipment and the transfer of risk to industry that traditionally was held by the customer. As with every contract undertaken by BAE Systems there will be no compromise on safety. BAE Systems has equipment design responsibility for a number of avionic equipments within the Typhoon fleet and will work closely with seven key suppliers to deliver the repair support service within guaranteed turn-round times.

06 May 10. Chinook Mk2/Mk3 Helicopters: Defensive Aids System (DAS). Selex Galileo, a Finmeccanica Company, announced (6 May 10) the award of contracts worth over £10m as part of an Urgent Operational Requirement to provide an integrated DAS for RAF Chinook Mk2/Mk3 helicopters. The ‘Baker’ integrated DAS is derived from the HIDAS (Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System) equipping Army Air Corps Apache helicopters in Afghanistan.
Comment: The RAF currently operates 28 Chinook Mk2/2A which are being joined by eight Mk3 during 2010. An additional 24 Chinook are on order, including replacements for two lost on Operations in Afghanistan during 2009. The aircraft are used for a variety of roles including carrying up to 55 troops or 10 tonnes of freight. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/18, 10 May 09)

USA

LAND

07 May 10. AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 5 a $54,264,735 firm-fixed-price contract to add 500 Humvees to contract. Work is to be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM Warren, CCTA-ATA-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).

10 May 10. Alliant Techsystems’ Eagle Industries, Unlimited subsidiary has received a delivery order from the US Army to produce Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment (MOLLE II) kits