EUROPE
LAND
18 Feb 13. The Finnish Defence Forces awarded Raytheon Company a contract to procure PhantomIRxr® thermal biocular systems. The biocular uses thermal imaging to pinpoint targets through darkness, smoke and dust. The bioculars will be on display at IDEX. Since 2011, Raytheon has supplied Finnish Defence Forces with multi-role thermal devices for missions that require close-combat imagery. The PhantomIRxr thermal biocular, with the latest thermal imaging technology, improves range and has advanced image processing algorithms and image stabilization to provide crisp, clear, stable images.
18 Feb 13. Saab receives orders for upgrade of ground based air defence
Defence and security company Saab has received two new orders from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), to a total value of MSEK 600, for an upgrade of Sweden’s ground based air defence.
The orders include delivery of both upgrades of existing units and new units with functions for ground based air defence Command, Control and Communication (C3), based on the Giraffe AMB multifunctional radar and C3 system. The systems feature command units which can be coordinated with Nato’s tactical data link (Link 16), communication systems, combat management terminals, as well as an upgrade of existing radar and command units.
AIR
18 Feb 13. OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement), acting on behalf of France, and Airbus Military have signed the initial In-Service Support (ISS) contract providing an 18-month A400M support services package to the French Air Force. This is a key milestone in preparation for the delivery of the first A400M to the French Air Force.
19 Feb 13. Sagem received a new order from Thales Alenia Space for Regys 20 3-axis gyros for space applications. This latest order brings the number of hemispherical resonator gyros (HRG) produced by Sagem to over 100. The Regys 20 gyro is based on Sagem’s patented HRG technology, a high-performance solution that offers the outstanding reliability demanded in space. HRGs offer the only technology capable of guaranteeing several decades of continuous, failsafe operation in the harsh space environment, where spacecraft are subject to vacuum conditions and ionizing radiation. Developed with the support of the French and European space agencies, Regys 20 provides attitude control on satellites using the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 platform.
17 Feb 13. Thales has been tasked by the French defence procurement agency (DGA) with extending the full-IP network that supports convergence between French armed forces’ theatre networks to the entire Syracuse military SATCOM ground segment. The Syracuse system currently provides secure, interoperable services to information system users in the theatre and at all levels in the French armed forces chain of command, supporting several frequency bands, notably X band, Ku band and EHF. Work conducted by Thales will give the French armed forces a fast, secure, full-IP, multi-band unified theatre network capability, operating in the X, EHF, Ku and Ka bands. This totally interoperable, added-value network will guarantee users uninterrupted, flexible and complementary services. It will afford unprecedented end-to-end quality of service, encompassing tactical networks down to the lowest theatre levels, such as Venus and Astride.
TECHNOLOGY
22 Feb 13. QinetiQ consortia and Niteworks to support UK MoD’s ISCO programme. Three QinetiQ-led consortia and Niteworks have secured research contracts to support the UK MoD’s information superiority for contingent operations (ISCO) research programme. Awarded by the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in collaboration with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation, the £10m contract covers delivery of ISCO support for the next two years. The consortia include Enabling Secure Information Infrastructure (ESII), ISTAR
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