EUROPE
LAND
20 Dec 10. Elbit Systems Ltd. was awarded a contract valued at approximately $16m from the Polish Ministry of National Defense
to supply mobile multi-sensor monitoring and surveillance systems for the Polish Army. The project is scheduled to be completed in the next year. According to the contract, a consortium composed of Elbit Systems Land and C4I-Tadiran and the Polish Military Communication Institute, will provide a variety of sensors to be deployed onboard a ROSOMAK 8X8 vehicle. The systems onboard the vehicle will be comprised of a variety of visual payloads, TV, thermal vision systems, motion detection battlefield surveillance radar unit, encrypted communications systems, as well as an UAS system. The project will be performed in cooperation with the local Polish industries.
20 Dec 10. General Dynamics European Land Systems entered a contract with the Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung (BWB) for the delivery of 195 highly protected EAGLE vehicles as evidence of the close cooperation between the two entities and the good performance of the vehicle. The vehicles will be jointly manufactured at GDELS-Mowag and GDELS-Germany and also with the participation of numerous German subcontractors. The new order is in addition to orders awarded between 2008 and 2010, and increases the German EAGLE fleet to a total of 473 vehicles. The contract value for the 195 EAGLE vehicles signed on Dec. 20, 2010 is 125 M€ or 165 MUSD.
17 Dec 10. JCB has won a multi-million pound order for its high-speed military backhoe from the Swedish Army. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration is procuring on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces 10 High Mobility Engineer Excavators (HMEEs), which will be delivered by the end of next year in readiness to go into service in 2012.The deal signals another major success for the unique machine which went into production at JCB’s Savannah factory when, in 2005, the company won its largest ever military order – worth a total of $230m – for up to 800 HMEEs from the United States military.
16 Dec 10. Patria Hägglunds has signed an agreement to deliver 18 AMOS mortar vehicles to the Finnish Army. The contract includes extensive maintenance, overhaul and training equipment as well as an option for a further order. AMOS is a modern mortar system, providing superior mobility and ballistic protection, ensuring the readiness brigades remain highly mobile units capable of indirect fire in order to support the front squad. The system is capable of receiving and handling a fire command while on the move and can open fire in less than 30 seconds. The vehicle is a joint development project of Patria and the Finnish Defence Forces and the €120m ($160.9m) contract was originally signed in 2003. The Finnish Army will operate the mortar vehicles from 2013.
17 Dec 10. The German Armed Forces has awarded a follow-on contract to Smiths Detection to supply more than 550 lightweight chemical detectors (LCD) 3.3s. The LCD is a device which can be handheld or clipped to a belt to detect and identify chemical threats by determining the agent or type, class, concentration and dosage of exposure. The screening and survey device is currently used by UK, US, Canadian, Australian and Norwegian forces. Smiths business management group vice-president Mal Maginnis said the LCD will provide the German military an additional layer of protection against chemical exposure. The company has received orders for a total of 600 LCD units since 2007. (Source: armytechnology.com)
17 Dec 10. UK troops will be provided with armoured underwear for pelvic protection to offer protection from pressure-plate improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and bombs in Afghanistan. The combat codpiece is made of special ballistic material crafted from silk and synthetics, and is ultra-lightweight as well as capable of stopping or mitigating the effects of a blast. Based on the armour technology used by Genghis Khan’s Mongol warrio