EUROPE
LAND
22 May 13. QinetiQ has been awarded a four year contract for the management of the Weapons Science and Technology Centre (WSTC) by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), a trading fund of the MOD which maximises the impact of science and technology for UK defence and security. The contract covers prime management, strategy, planning, tasking and delivery of circa £8M of research per annum into technologies for Complex Weapons, General Munitions and Energetic Materials. QinetiQ, working closely with Dstl, will lead a core team including representatives from MOD and the major Industrial Primes (MBDA, Thales, Chemring and BAE Systems) to deliver this contract. The WSTC takes a joint MOD and Industry approach to the identification of requirements and the planning of a coherent research programme which balances innovation and exploitation. The WSTC is a network of 50+ Suppliers that range from Academia and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to Technology Providers and Weapons Primes. The WSTC will build on best practises and supplier relationships developed under its predecessors, the Complex Weapons Centre for Defence Technology (CW CDT) and the Weapons Technology Centre (WTC). Future topics range from research into new energetic ingredients for novel propellants for rocket motors, warhead and fuzing designs to reduce collateral damage through to the development and validation of integrated weapon system concepts operating in the future battlespace.
22 May 13. Bundeswehr to get more high-protection Fuchs/Fox 1A8 transport vehicles from Rheinmetall – order valued at €36m. Rheinmetall will modernize 25 more Fuchs/Fox armoured transport vehicles for the Bundeswehr, substantially enhancing their level of protection. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz recently awarded the contract, which is worth €36m. To date, BAAINBw has contracted with Rheinmetall to upgrade a total of 152 Fuchs/Fox 1 vehicles to the new 1A8 version. By February 2013, 123 of these had been delivered. With the latest order the total number of Fuchs/Fox 1A8 vehicles in the Bundeswehr inventory is set to rise to 177. Delivery of the vehicles will commence in the fourth quarter of 2014, and is scheduled for completion in 2016.
SEA
21 May 13. On 13 May the Defense Materiel Organisation (DMO) of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Imtech Marine Netherlands to begin a life-extension programme for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN)’s four Walrus-class diesel-electric submarines. Imtech Marine Netherlands is the lead contractor for the ‘Instandhoudiingsprogramma Walrus-klasse’, or IP-W, programme: a project reported to be worth EUR94m (USD120.3m). HNLMS Zeeleeuw (S-803), which is being stripped down at the naval shipyard in Den Helder, will be the first boat of the class to undergo refit and upgrade under the IP-W programme. HNLMS Walrus (S-802) will be the last. Zeeleeuw is expected to return to operational service in 2015, with Walrus due to complete the process in 2019. The other two ships in the class are HNLMS Dolfijn (S-808) and HNLMS Bruinvis (S-810). The IP-W process consists of a number of elements. The boats will receive a bespoke Kollmorgen Model 86 non-hull-penetrating optronic mast system, with television/thermal cameras and processing features such as electronic zoom. As opposed to the Model 86 in use with the US Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, which uses separate consoles, imagery for the Walrus-class will be projected onto multifunctional display screens. (Source: Jane’s)
AIR
21 May 13. DoD/DSCA Notifies Congress of Possible FMS to The Netherlands. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DoD/DSCA) has notified the Congress that the Government of the Netherlands has requested a possible sale for the continuation of a Continental United States (CONUS)-based Ro