EUROPE
15 Jun 05. MoAI and EADS continue their cooperation for the execution of the contract concluded on 12.08.2004, with the objective of developing and implementing an Integrated System for the Security of the Romanian State Border. Materializing the intention of the Romanian authorities to fulfill the commitments undertaken in the negotiation process with the European Union, in order to attain the goal of accessing to the European Union on the 1st of January 2007, in accordance with the established schedule, this provides for the procurement, installation and integration of effective surveillance systems, for the achievement of modern command and control centers, for the endowment of over 180 operational premises and training centers of the Romanian Border Police. As a prerequisite for the integrated approach, the project also provides for the extension and development of the IT and communication infrastructure necessary for the cooperation among all
16 Jun 05. EADS Astrium and Alcatel Space signed a contract with ESA (European Space Agency) and CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales of France) to begin full development of Alphabus, the new European platform for next-generation communications satellites. Under the contract, ESA and CNES will support the industrial development of Alphabus and production of a first flight model. For several years, a joint team from Europe’s two leading satellite manufacturers has been working with the support of ESA and CNES to define a platform to meet the needs of the upper end of the communications satellite market. EADS Astrium and Alcatel Space have decided to combine their technical and financial resources on a common development programme, contributing their respective new technologies and products. Alphabus is the European initiative to secure its position in the world market for high power satellites. The Alphabus platform is designed for communications satellites with payload power in the range 12 18 kW. This will meet future requirements for fleet renewal of operators of large satellites, offering a lower cost per transponder and the ability to reconfigure missions. It will also enable the development of applications including new-generation mobile and broadband services, digital audio broadcast and HDTV. Satellites based on Alphabus will have a launch mass of between 6 and 8 tonnes, and will make full use of the new-generation of 5 metre fairings on the latest commercial launchers. In order to satisfy the wide range of mission demands, the platform includes several options such as electric propulsion, and scalable resources (solar array, radiators for thermal dissipation, etc). The platform will be able to accommodate up to 190 high power transponders and a number of antennas, with considerable growth potential. Alphabus is jointly developed by EADS Astrium and Alcatel Space as part of a longstanding 50:50 industrial partnership. EADS Astrium is responsible for: electrical power, solar array, chemical propulsion, as well as the assembly, integration and test of the spacecraft. Alcatel Space is responsible for the mechanical and thermal subsystems, avionics, as well as electrical propulsion.
13 Jun 05. Rockwell Collins has been awarded a $16.5m contract to provide the Tactical Data Radio System (TDRS) to the Swedish military. Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration awarded the contract, which calls for Rockwell Collins to deliver 76 multi-channel radios, documentation and training. The radios will be compliant with Software Communications Architecture (SCA) standards to ensure functionality and expandability. TDRS will support the Swedish Armed Forces initiative to develop a Network Based Defense. The software-defined radio system will consist of modular, open architecture, hardware and software components and will host a customized, high-data rate, networked waveform. The new waveform will provide Swedish tactical forces with a wireless, mobile, ad-hoc network cap