EUROPE
LAND
08 Mar 13. Italy purchases 40mm infantry ammunition from Rheinmetall. The Italian armed forces have awarded Rheinmetall a contract for more than 50,000 rounds of enhanced-performance 40mm x 53 war shot ammunition. Following Canada and Denmark, Italy is now the third NATO nation to equip its armed forces with this advanced Rheinmetall product. The order is worth €8.7m.
04 Mar 13. The European Defence Agency (EDA) has commissioned Thales to conduct a study of the main terrestrial and satellite communication network programmes in European Union countries: FUCOM (for future communications). The FUCOM project will compile, in the area of military communications, an inventory of the main member states’ existing and future assets, including military satellite communication systems, terrestrial tactical communications (software-defined radio), PMR (professional mobile radio) and LTE (long-term evolution) capabilities. On the basis of this inventory, the FUCOM project will then propose ways of combining available resources to provide European Union forces with the systems they would need to conduct various types of missions.
08 Mar 13. KBR contracts Vikoma for additional powerpacks supplies to UK MoD. Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) has awarded a contract to Vikoma International to supply rugged and portable powerpack equipment to the UK MoD. Awarded as part of the MoD’s joint operational fuel system (JOFS) project, the £2.5m contract covers production and delivery of rugged and portable hydraulic powerpacks to support ground vehicle and aircraft refuelling operations of the UK armed forces. The company will also supply an undisclosed number of fuel tanker rollover kits to the MoD. Vikoma managing director Peter Tyler was quoted by media sources as saying that the powerpacks have been designed to operate under extreme conditions, and have also completed rigorous testing prior to receiving approval from the MoD. (Source: army-technology.com)
AIR
05 Mar 13. UK Ministry of Defence awards A400M Atlas training service contract to Airbus Military and Thales. Airbus Military and Thales UK have signed an 18-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply training services for the A400M Atlas, the Royal Air Force’s next-generation military transport aircraft. The multi-million pound training services programme will be operated by A400M Training Services Ltd, a joint venture between Airbus Military and Thales UK. The training services will include the design, construction and management of the A400M Atlas training school, the installation and maintenance of full flight simulators and all synthetic training equipment, and support to the RAF’s own course design team and training staff. The training school will be built at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, with work planned to complete in spring 2014. The school will train a range of aircrew and groundcrew in how to operate and maintain the RAF’s 22 A400M Atlas aircraft. The contract and associated simulator orders are expected to sustain up to 300 long-term jobs, principally at RAF Brize Norton and at Thales UK’s facility in Crawley, West Sussex, where the simulators are being built, and also in Airbus Military.
05 Mar 13. Panavia Aircraft GmbH has signed a major contract with NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to upgrade the Tornado jets in Italy. On 21st February 2013 the MET 27 contract was signed between NETMA, represented by the General Manager, Jesus Prieto Pinillos, and Panavia, represented by the Managing Director, Dr. Welf-Werner Degel. The agreement demonstrates a commitment by all parties in achieving continued efficiencies on the programme; long-term support for the sustainability of aircraft and capability upgrades of the platform. The objective of MET Contract Annex 27 is the integration of the two new Weapons, namely the Advanced – Anti Radiation-Guided- Missile (AARGM) and the Small-Diameter-Bombs (SDBs) on the Tornado R