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06 Feb 13. AmSafe Bridport Limited has won a contract for the UK MoD’s requirement for Improved Rocket Propelled Grenade protection for its military vehicles. AmSafe’s Tarian® Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Armour System has been selected for the requirement. The Contract Award follows an international competition for the MoD’s requirement where Tarian was one of three solutions down-selected for a programme of rigorous testing and trials, including live firing and vehicle field trials. The contract includes the supply of several hundred Tarian RPG Armour System kits for a number of vehicle types that are currently in service in Afghanistan. The contract is valued at £10.6m ($17m) and will be completed by the end of 2013.
06 Feb 13. iXBlue contracted to supply leading French defense and security company CILAS with POS-NEOS high-precision, two-axis PAN & TILT systems. The POS-NEOS turrets will form an integral part of CILAS’s SLD500-LR sniper detectors, which employ active laser imaging and high-definition camera technology to pinpoint threats at long distances. The POS-NEOS system is an extremely precise, military-standard pointing/tracking device capable of supporting and targeting optoelectronic instruments or antennae or other payloads weighing up to 40 kg. iXBlue’s extensive mechatronics know-how has been used to design a system that combines both high performance and precise control. (Source: ASD Network)
06 Feb 13. QinetiQ to continue test, evaluation and training support for UK MoD. The UK MoD and QinetiQ have agreed a third five-year term contract worth £998m to continue providing test, evaluation and training support services, as part of an existing 25-year long-term partnering agreement (LTPA). The extension of the support services is an option of a contract originally signed in February 2003, which is to be reviewed regularly every five years. Valued at £5.6bn, the 25-year LTPA contract runs through to 2028, while the UK MoD intends to save £700m over the course of the contract. Under the recent extension, QinetiQ will manage 17 key MoD sites and administer test and evaluation non-tasking services, training support capability, maintain associated equipment, land and buildings. The company will also be responsible for an investment programme to ensure development and maintenance of the capability to meet the growing requirements of the UK MoD. (Source: army-technology.com)
08 Feb 13. Bundeswehr fields new Gladius soldier system – €84m order for 60 more systems placed with Rheinmetall. Moves by the German Bundeswehr to equip its infantry forces with the state-of-the-art Gladius soldier system are gathering pace. In January 2013, the Düsseldorf, Germany-based Rheinmetall Group was awarded an order to supply a further sixty systems. The procurement programme began in 2012 with an initial order of thirty systems, enough to equip 300 troops. This follow-up order is worth €84m, and encompasses equipment for 60 infantry sections with a total of 600 soldiers. Delivery of the new systems will take place in two lots consisting of thirty systems each, the first one in the middle of 2013, another at the end of the year. This will ensure that the next two contingents of Bundeswehr troops due to deploy to Afghanistan will receive the new equipment well in advance. As planned, the Bundeswehr is currently taking delivery of the thirty Gladius systems it ordered in 2012. The troops will have until June 2013 to train with the new system before going to Afghanistan.
04 Feb 13. The German Bundeswehr has contracted with Rheinmetall to supply it with seven Fuchs/Fox armoured vehicles specially configured for detecting and identifying roadside bombs, mines, etc. This new Fuchs/Fox variant is called the KAI, short for its official Germany designation, “Kampfmittelaufklärung und –identifizierung”. The order is worth around €37m. The vehicles reinforce the Bundeswehr’s “Route Clearance System” for reconnoitri