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20 Jan 12. Oto Melara to complete Centauro 2 development, supply turrets for VTMM. Oto Melara is to complete development work on the evolved Centauro 2 armoured fighting vehicle for the Italian Army and provide the turreted weapon systems for the army’s new route clearance vehicles under two contracts awarded in late December. Work on the Centauro 2 is being funded by the Directorate of Land Armaments and will result in a prototype 8×8 vehicle armed with a 120 mm gun being built and certified in 2014. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)
02 Feb 12. Instrument Landing Systems in Afghanistan are being housed in shelters designed and produced by Marshall SV, part of Cambridge based Marshall Land Systems. Marshall SV has delivered the Instrument Land System (ILS) shelters as part of a new Air Traffic Control infrastructure which the MOD is establishing in Afghanistan. The units will increase the ILS and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) sustainment capability, primarily for the RAF’s fixed wing operations. The contract for four shelters was placed by Thales UK to support an order from the Air Defence and Air Traffic Systems (ADATS) IPT at the UK MOD. The ILS Shelters are manufactured to sustain constant environmental conditions when ambient conditions range from the -42°C to +49°C, typical of conditions in Afghanistan. The shelters house a range of highly accurate radio-navigation aids, provided by Thales, to determine an aircraft’s position by reference to instruments. Each shelter accommodates two air-conditioning units and an electrical infrastructure to thermally stabilise and power up the radio-navigation aids. The shelters can be transported by road, rail, sea and air and are compliant with the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) regulations for air transport.
25 Jan 12. Dragon Runner 10 set for US operations in Afghanistan. The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) has acquired QinetiQ North America’s (NA’s) Dragon Runner 10 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) for use on operations with the US military in Afghanistan. JIEDDO selected Dragon Runner 10 under a Joint Urgent Operational Needs requirement for a lightweight, throwable system. The platform is the smallest member of QinetiQ NA’s UGV family and its ’10’ designation stems from its weight – 10 lb (4.5 kg) – which includes the battery, throwable sprockets, treads and external antenna. (Source: Jane’s, IDR)
02 Feb 12. Kuwait Warriors. Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that a number of companies will be asked to present their proposals to the Kuwaiti MoD after which there will be a down-select to about three contenders. They believe that they will be given about 3-4 months to come up with a costed proposal. The winner will be announced in September time. We have no idea who that may be, though deductive logic suggests it would be between GDLS Canada, LM UK and BAE.
02 Feb 12. UAE 8×8 Requirement for 600 vehicles. The RFQ was issued in January 2012 with a result expected in the middle of March. One key Requirement is for the vehicle to mount a 100mm gun and a 7.62 co-axial or a 30mm and a 7.62 co-axial with the BMP turret.
02 Feb 12. QinetiQ is to provide its ‘game-changing’ E-X-Drive® transmission as the key component of a hybrid electric drive propulsion system to the BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman team that was recently awarded a $449.9m contract for the technology development phase of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) programme. The E-X-Drive® transmission for electric drive tracked vehicles marks a significant step forward from conventional hydro-mechanical transmissions in terms of efficiency, size, weight, reliability and flexibility. The E-X-Drive® based system for GCV offers improved acceleration, agility, fuel efficiency and maintainability co