EUROPE
LAND
30 Mar 12. ITT Exelis has been awarded a $33m Foreign Military
Sales (FMS) contract to provide the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence with the latest Generation 3 night vision technology. Under this FMS order, the U.K. MoD will receive the Head Mounted Night Vision System (HMNVS), a variant of the U.S. military AN/PVS-14 monocular. Deliveries are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012 and be completed by 2016 in accordance with a phased delivery plan. (Source: Yahoo!/BUSINESS WIRE)
27 Mar 12. On February 3, 2012, the U.K. MoD awarded Sagem (Safran group) a major contract for JIM LR (Long Range) multifunction infrared binoculars for its “Long Range Thermal Imager Programme”, worth a total of £5m (6m Euros). Developed and produced by Sagem, JIM LR incorporates in a single portable optronics package a number of advanced features, including day/night (infrared) vision, rangefinding, laser pointer, North seeker, GPS and data transmission. Used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance missions, JIM LR binoculars will significantly expand the capabilities of British infantry units. The decisive factors in the DE&S’s selection were the JIM LR proven operability in severe combat environments, detection and identification performance, and a complete multimedia service designed to support a real-time intelligence cycle. The JIM LR binoculars for the British army will incorporate new functions enabling users to successfully carry out their missions, in particular when facing asymmetrical threats:
– Image fusion between the infrared and visible channels, to penetrate camouflage during the day, along with all-weather vision (through smoke, etc.).
– Ability to record images and videos via a USB port.
Sagem will also provide training for users and maintenance staff.
Several NATO forces deploy JIM LR binoculars in their infantry, artillery, intelligence, special-mission, border and coast guard units. With this latest international contract, there are now nearly 5,000 JIM LRs in service or on order worldwide, including 2,000 with French armed forces. Winning this coveted program award also confirms Sagem’s leadership in portable optronics equipment for front-line combat units.
SEA
26 Mar 12. Babcock awarded contract for three year submarine refit. Babcock has been awarded a contract by the MoD for a £350m three-and-a-half year refit of the Trident missile carrying submarine HMS Vengeance, to be undertaken at Babcock’s Devonport Royal Dockyard. HMS Vengeance is the fourth and last of the Vanguard class submarines to undergo a Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)). The submarine is now at Devonport ready to dock down this month, and will remain in dry dock until flood up in late 2014. The contracting agreement between Babcock and the MoD to undertake the LOP(R) on Vengeance reflects the successful ground-breaking arrangement established on Vigilant, with a focus on joint working and fully embedded partnering, greater transparency of information including financial data, cost-reduction while improving safety and quality standards, and incentives to achieve or better the agreed schedule. Work to be undertaken during the LOP(R) includes fitting Vengeance with the latest reactor core, as used in the new Astute class submarines, fuelling the submarine for life, and a number of updates and upgrades to her tactical and strategic weapons systems, as well as surveys, hull & structure preservation and overhaul of all the submarine’s major components, systems and equipment. The work scope includes some first-of-class fits, with the intention to install main static converters to replace the high maintenance motor generators for essential electrical power conversion, a significant package of work to upgrade the propulsion system instrumentation, and upgrades to the tactical combat systems.
30 Mar 12. Sagem (Safran group) has signed a contract with French naval shipyard DCNS