EUROPE
LAND
08 Aug 17. Bittium Wireless Ltd, subsidiary of Bittium Corporation, and the Finnish Defence Forces have signed a Letter of Intent concerning the purchase of new software defined radio (SDR) based tactical radios and the preparations of the purchase. The Letter of Intent encompasses products belonging to the new Bittium Tough SDR product family: tactical handheld radio Bittium Tough SDR Handheld™ and tactical vehicular radio Bittium Tough SDR Vehicular™. The products are intended for renewing the Finnish Defence Forces’ existing stock of field radios with modern, SDR based broadband data transfer radios to support the reformed combat doctrine. The tactical radios are compatible with Bittium Tactical Wireless IP Network™ (TAC WIN) SDR based system already used by the Finnish Defence Forces. According to the Letter of Intent, Bittium will develop the products with their own R&D investments and the Finnish Defence Forces will support the development work by ensuring that the products are suitable for their purposes and by making preparations for the purchase of the products. The Letter of Intent does not bind the parties into making a purchase agreement. Making the purchase agreement requires that the Finnish Ministry of Defence first authorizes the purchase, based on which Bittium and the Finnish Defence Forces would then make a separate purchase agreement. Based on the Letter of Intent, if materialized in full, the total value of the purchase agreement would be approximately EUR 130m distributed over about 10 years. The Letter of Intent is in force until the binding purchase agreement comes into effect or until December 31, 2019. Should the purchase materialize in full, it would have a significant impact on Bittium’s net sales from the year 2019 onwards. The Letter of Intent does not have an effect on Bittium’s financial outlook for the year 2017, published on February 20, 2017 in Bittium’s Financial Statement Bulletin 2016. The Letter of Intent continues the long-term cooperation between the Finnish Defence Forces and Bittium in developing the performance of the command and control (C2) systems and the supporting software defined radio technology of the Finnish Defence Forces.
SEA
10 Aug 17. Atlas Elektronik has secured a £48m contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to construct and deliver up to 38 workboats for the British Royal Navy. The deal is expected to help boost the local economy and create additional job opportunities in the country, while the new fleet will support navy vessels from UK bases and during operations worldwide. The new workboats will be assigned to carry out a wide range of tasks, including transporting navy personnel to and from both of the UK’s aircraft carriers. Atlas Elektronik’s boats will have the potential to carry up to 36 passengers and can be stowed inside the naval vessels for convenience and easy deployment. This will enable the workboats to support the large aircraft carriers both in port and during operations.
The fleet will feature lengths ranging from 11m to 18m and will be able to carry out several other activities such as officer and diver training, Antarctic exploration and explosive ordnance disposal. The boats will be constructed at Atlas Elektronik UK’s site near Dorchester in Dorset, and roughly 15 new jobs will be created as a result, as well as a further 45 jobs throughout the supply chain. (Source: naval-technology.com)
AIR
31 Jul 17. UK MoD + Airbus’ Skynet 6 MILSATCOM Contract Awarded. Maintaining domestic space capabilities, the British MoD has awarded Airbus with a contract that will see the current Skynet 5 SATCOM constellation being replaced by Skynet 6, as the earlier satellites in this system are going to be reaching their end-of-life. The single source contract will have Airbus work on the manufacture, assembly, integration, test and launch of the new Brit MILSATCOM system, with Skynet 6 estimated start of life being mid-2025. Airb