EUROPE
LAND
15 Sep 11. The Spanish Council of Ministers has approved the acquisition of 76 Lince squad version armoured all-terrain vehicles and 20 platoon version RG-31 armoured vehicles for better protection of Spanish armed forces personnel. The estimated value of the two acquisitions is €24.6m and €15.3m respectively, as reported by Defense-Aerospace. The vehicles will protect Spanish forces against threats that include improvised explosive devices (IEDs), conventional small arms and anti-tank grenade launchers (RPGs). The acquisition of the vehicles is to ensure safety and security of troops while conducting patrols in the area of operations during international peacekeeping missions.
09 Sep 11. Barco has been selected by defense company MBDA for its first (MPCV) Multi Purpose Combat Vehicle system. Barco will provide its TL-248 and TX-243 rugged displays, mission recorders and Fiber Optic Link for these armored ground vehicles. MBDA is the European leader and a world leader in the missile systems sector. Four years after launching its self-funded development of MPCV (Multi Purpose Combat Vehicle), a new generation of mobile, quick reaction ground based air defense systems, MBDA has signed a contract with an export customer, for whom MBDA will be integrating its air defense system onto high mobility armored vehicles.
12 Sep 11. Barco announced that General Dynamics UK, the prime contractor for the British Army’s Scout Specialist Vehicle (Scout SV), has selected Barco’s 13” rugged extreme displays for the program, following a competitive bid. SV is one of the British Army’s most important vehicle programs for the next decade. Barco has developed the TX-335S, a 13” crew station display, especially for it. Based on Barco’s existing offer of TX rugged extreme displays, the TX-335S provides operators with a visualization technology that is ideally suited to extremely demanding environments.
13 Sep 11. The CORMORANT service contract between Cassidian and the UK MoD has been extended to December 2012. This deployable, modular LAN / WAN voice and data solution was originally delivered to two Royal Signals Units for use at the strategic command level. Since this initial delivery, demand for CORMORANT has seen other Units take delivery of CORMORANT. Not only has the footprint expanded but importantly CORMORANT is now being used for tactical command purposes by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Army. CORMORANT has been deployed to Iraq where it gained a reputation for being a trusted and secure communication system. Following on from that success, CORMORANT has been extensively used by the RAF to support operations in Libya and Afghanistan. This Through Life Support (TLS) contract includes Cassidian resident field engineers, 24/7 technical helpdesk and a dedicated repairs centre to assist the MoD with the operation and maintenance of the system.
13 Sep 11. ITT Corp. has, pending the final contract signing, been selected for a four-year framework contract, with an estimated total value of up to US $50m by DALO (the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization) to provide High Capacity Data Radios, ancillaries, training and support to Danish Army units. The announcement was made at the DSEi 2011 event. The selection marks ITT’s first-ever sale to the Danish Army. The High Capacity Data Radio (HCDR) is a combat proven, self-managing, ad hoc networking UHF radio providing a secure data backbone between mounted and dismounted headquarters and warfighters. Initial deliveries will begin in 2011with more than 100 radio deliveries anticipated by the end of the year. The selection culminates a robust and transparent procurement process, including an extremely rigorous evaluation trial involving 25 radio nodes under highly mobile operational environments at the Danish Army Communications School in Frederica. The radios will be manufactured at ITT’s Defence Limited facility in Basingstoke, U.K. ITT Defence Li