EUROPE
LAND
08 Dec 11. Germany’s Bundeswehr has contracted with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles to supply it with HX 81 tractors. Thus, for the first time ever, German troops will have a fleet of protected heavy equipment transporter vehicles at their disposal. Worth around €12m, the order encompasses twelve vehicles as well as a training package, tools and spare parts. By the end of 2013, the Bundeswehr will have taken delivery of all twelve of the new HX81 tractors from RMMV.
08 Dec 11. SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica company, has been awarded a €5m (£4.3m) contract from the UK Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Artillery Systems Team to upgrade the current Layers Display and Control Unit (LDCU) of the UK’s L118 Light Gun. The LDCU is the main man-machine interface of the LINAPS system, a self-contained, gun-mounted navigation, pointing and weapon management system that is already in active service with the British Army. LINAPS is a battle-proven system enabling rapid and accurate artillery deployment in all weather conditions, day and night while making minimal demands on the users. The upgrade involves replacing the existing LINAPS interface with a new 10 inch display. Key features of the system include a touch-sensitive, electro-luminescent display, powerful processing for fire control and ballistic calculations and the capability to interface with a full range of additional sensors and equipment. The system provides a navigation and fire control capability with minimal hardware content within a unique single box solution. LINAPS has been sold to customers including the UK, Canada, Thailand and Malaysia and was successfully deployed in current operations in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq during the second Gulf war. It confers a wide range of operational advantages, including continuous and accurate 3D self location with and without GPS and continuous determination and display of gun barrel direction and elevation.
SEA
08 Dec 11. Babcock has successfully secured a multi-million pound Fire Management Contract, awarded by the MoD Maritime Equipment Systems (MES) team, part of Fleet Wide Equipment, won in competition against other leading defence contractors and specialist manufacturers. Under the contract Babcock will be providing project management, spares and consumables provision, repair and refurbishment, and post-design activity for a wide range of critical firefighting and damage control equipment installed on the UK Royal Navy’s ships and submarines. Equipment covered under the contract includes fire extinguishers, hoses, fire detection sensors, fire fighting foam, and more. The equipment and services to be provided are essentially common to all classes of current surface ships and submarines, and the new Type 45 Destroyer and Astute Class submarine. In delivering this contract Babcock offers the MoD the important benefit of a single, trusted point of contact for all equipment and services, thereby facilitating reduced project, commercial and technical overheads for the MES team. Babcock is OEM independent and offers a one-stop facility, with valuable reach-back into project, waterfront support, design and consultancy areas within the company. Babcock will be working to stringent quality and performance criteria. All spares and repairs will be delivered within either 60 or 90 days from receipt of order. The company plans to work with the MoD to improve forecast demand to maximise operational capability and value for money.
09 Dec 11. BAE Systems, Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $58,238,299 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide Systems Engineering Integration support for the TRIDENT II (D5) Strategic Weapon System (SWS) Program and the SSGN Attack Weapon System (AWS) Program and Ohio Replacement Program and United Kingdom Successor Common Missile Compartment (CMC) Program. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $123,31