EUROPE
LAND
01 Jul 10. Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV): Demonstration Phase. The MoD announced (1 Jul 10) that a £500m contract has been signed with General Dynamics UK for the Demonstration Phase of seven prototype Scout vehicles and associated training equipment. The vehicle is to replace Scimitar in Army service. Trials of the prototype vehicles are expected to start in 2013, after which the MoD anticipates placing a production contract.
Comment: On 22 Mar 10 the then Defence Equipment Minister announced that the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) programme had been ‘recast’ into a set of constituent projects: the Specialist Vehicle (as above), the Utility Vehicle and the Manoeuvre Support Vehicle. At the same time, the then Defence Secretary announced that General Dynamics had been selected as the preferred bidder for the Demonstration Phase of the SV programme. The Minister had also anticipated that the first tranche of the SV programme “should deliver around 600 vehicles to the front line, with the possibility of further purchases in the future”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/26, 05 Jul 09)
05 Jul 10. The Swiss Government is looking to acquire 70 armoured troop carriers for its army at a purchase price of CHF122m ($114.5m). Mowag Duro is the tactical military vehicle that will be designed to improve military training and equipment to enhance the army’s operational readiness. The carriers will be procured under Armaments Program 2010 and will be used in six of the army’s infantry battalions, two fast-reaction infantry companies, the Swiss intelligence battalion and few units to infantry schools. Missions to be carried out by the vehicles include transportation of military supplies, and reconnaissance and surveillance of infrastructure. Switzerland is expected to invest a total of CHF529m ($496.2m) for the entire programme. (Source: armytechnology.com)
05 Jul 10. ThalesRaytheonSystems was awarded a contract by NATO’s Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) Programme Office to provide the alliance commanders with real-time interim ballistic missile defence capabilities for deployed forces by the end of 2010. ThalesRaytheonSystems will deliver the Air Command and Control System (ACCS) Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) component of NATO’s ALTBMD Interim Capability Step 2 Real-Time (InCa 2 RT). This programme will enhance the alliance’s command and control capabilities by integrating the alliance nations’ contributions in areas such as space-based Shared Early Warning, Early Warning Frigates and weapons systems.
AIR
01 Jul 10. To boost its firepower in its fight against Kurdish separatists, Turkey will obtain two AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters from the United States, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said June 30. Gonul said the U.S. Congress has endorsed the sale, and the helicopter gunships will be delivered to the Turkish Army by 2011, at the latest. (Source: Defense News)
29 Jun 10. Tornado GR4 Aircraft: Improved Weaponry. BAE Systems announced (29 Jun 10) the award of an £8.6m MoD contract to integrate improved weaponry onto Tornado GR4 in RAF service. Introduction of the Insensitive Munition variant of the Dual Mode Brimstone air-launched anti-armour weapon will provide “a low collateral, precision attack capability against manoeuvring and fixed targets”. Flight trails are to start in 2011 at BAE Systems’ Warton site.
Comment: The above contract is part of the Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) programme announced on 29 Mar 10 (and recorded in DNA 10/14). MBDA was awarded the original MoD contract for Brimstone in November 1996, with delivery to the RAF starting in November 2004. Dual Mode Brimstone was developed against an Urgent Operational Requirement and entered service in late 2008. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/26, 05 Jul 09)
02 Jul 10. EADS Defence & Security (DS) will equip the Finnish Defence Forces with a nationwide data fu