07 Sep 04. Curtiss-Wright Corporation received a $7.3m award from United Defense Ground Systems Division to provide embedded computing systems for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The award covers the assembly, test and delivery of electronic subsystems and systems for the upgrades to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The Bradley upgrade program is designed to keep the fighting fleet current with technology enhancements.
30 Aug 04. The UK Defence Procurement Agency announced that an order had been placed with Accuracy International for 0.5 inch (12.7mm) AI50F rifles for use by EOD Operators of all three Services. “Around 70” of the new rifles are to be delivered “as part of a £5m contract” which includes telescopic sights, laser rangefinders and spotting scopes. Comment: An earlier round of tendering for 73 rifles having failed, a single invitation to tender (ITT) was issued to Accuracy International on 27 Feb 03. The requirement specified a 0.5 inch calibre for the rifle which was to “enable the rapid clearance of unexploded ordnance, particularly large air dropped munitions, at a safe distance by projectile attack” (a fairly controversial procedure!). (Source: DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 04/34, 06 Sep 04)
30 Aug 04. Northrop Grumman Corp. Sperry Marine unit will supply steering systems for three Navy guided missile destroyers under separate contracts totaling $12.5m.Northrop Grumman’s ship systems arm issued the contract for one of the destroyers, while Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics Corp., issued contracts for the other two vessels. Sperry Marine is also supplying ring-laser gyro systems, navigation radars and integrated bridge systems for the destroyers under separate contracts.
Aug 04. ITT Industries Avionics Div., Clifton, N. J., is being awarded a $63,677,442 firm-fixed-price contract for the first full rate production and delivery of 19 AN/ALQ-214(V)2 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasure (IDECM) Radio Frequency Countermeasure (RFCM) units and subsystems for the F/A-18E/F, including non-recurring engineering efforts to support follow-on production. In addition, this contract provides for the procurement of spares consisting of 3 receivers, 4 modulators, 4 processors, 7 low band amplifiers, and 15 high band amplifiers. Work will be performed in Clifton, N.J., and is expected to be completed in August 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity (N00019-04-C-0074).
Aug 04. AMS has been awarded a €9.2M contract change to implement an alternative tactical data link solution to be fitted to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyer.
The Tactical Datalink Server (TDLS) is based on the Aerosystems International (AeI) commercial off the shelf CAYMAN product and will be hosted on, and interfaced to, AMS’s Combat Management System (CMS) hardware. It will provide full multi link operations using Link 11 and Link 16. The implementation of this solution demonstrates AMS’s commitment to open systems, and the use of a core combat management system architecture which allows for the integration of third party applications. Pull-through of technology from other programmes is an integral part of this strategy and is illustrated in this case by the use of the CAYMAN system, which is also being implemented on the Royal Navy’s Astute submarine programme. The proper use of open systems architectures reduces integration risk, avoids supplier lock-in and allows for regular technology refresh and update.
27 Aug 04. Northrop Grumman Corp. on Friday received a $197m contract with the Navy for nine months of maintenance work on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. The defense contractor said it will modernize the carrier’s F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft equipment and weapons stowage systems, improve living areas, repair ship systems, and maintain prop