EUROPE
LAND
19 Feb 16. BAE Systems has successfully landed a Government contract to build bridges for battle zones at its Shropshire base, the company has announced. As BAE released full-year results showing an eight per cent rise in sales to £17.9bn, it revealed that it had won new work on developing land bridges at its base in Hadley Park, Telford, worth £7m. That is added to £50m worth of work to support tanks and bridging vehicles which BAE’s Combat Vehicles (UK) division, headquartered at Telford, had already won during the year. (Source: Google/Shropshire Star)
24 Feb 16. Bittium has received a purchase order from the Finnish Defence Forces for the development of a new software package (waveform) for the Bittium Tactical Wireless IP Network™ (TAC WIN) system that is used as the wireless broadband network by the Finnish Defence Forces in their M18 command, control and communications system. The purchase order is part of the renewal of the Finnish Army’s command, control and communications system, where the Software-Defined Radio based Bittium TAC WIN system forms the core of the Army’s tactical wireless IP network. Bittium TAC WIN provides a mobile broadband IP network connection for the combat troops. This supports the Finnish Army’s reformed combat doctrine, where mobility, leading the troops on the move and effective communications are playing a key role. The main objective for the development work of the new software package is to continue enhancing the performance, data transfer capacity and survivability of the software and the related radio platform. The development work is done based on the observations made during field testing and waveform research done by Bittium. The value of the received purchase order is EUR 2.8m (excl. VAT). The order has no significant impact on Bittium’s net sales, operating result or financial standing, and it has also no effect on Bittium’s financial outlook for the year 2016, published on February 18, 2016 in Bittium’s Financial Statement Bulletin 2015. The development work for the waveform of the Bittium TAC WIN system is continuation to the delivery contract signed in September 2011 between Bittium and the Finnish Defence Forces and to the related product deliveries that began in December 2012 and continued after additional purchase orders received in July 2014 and December 2015. In accordance with the delivery contract, Bittium is developing the Bittium TAC WIN system for the Finnish Defence Forces and delivers software-defined radios that are the basis for the Bittium TAC WIN system. The work package that was ordered now will be delivered to the Finnish Defence Forces during the year 2016.
SEA
24 Feb 16. Thales awarded Royal Navy Type 23 Communications Management Update Contract.
• Thales will perform a mid-life update to the external communications voice distribution and management system for the RN Type 23 Frigate Fleet.
• Replacing current analogue KMY system with a fully digital system.
• Confirms Thales’s position as a leading supplier of naval communications products and services.
As the outcome of an open competition, Thales has been awarded a £19M contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to perform a mid-life update to the External Communications Voice Distribution and Management System (called KMY) for the Royal Navy (RN) Type 23 frigate fleet.
22 Feb 16. Thales awarded contract for Minehunter upgrade in Estonia.
• Thales will be the prime contractor, with responsibility for the revised vessel design, system and platform integration and all acceptance events.
• Thales will be fitting its Sonar 2193 system as well as its latest generation M-CUBE command and control system (C2).
• The upgrade builds on Thales’s naval architecture and engineering expertise.
Following an international competition, Thales has been awarded the role of prime contractor in the upgrade of three Sandown Class Single Role Minehunters for the Estonian Ministry of De