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19 Feb 14. DVD2014 to showcase latest equipment and technology for UK land forces. On 25 and 26 June, DVD2014 will once again bring together industry and defence in the land equipment sector at Millbrook to develop ideas and generate an increased understanding of the dynamic defence environment. The theme and backdrop of this year’s DVD event will be showcasing the equipment and technology that might enable the Army of 2020, and how we can better support our equipment in the future. This is the second year that DVD will be jointly run by Army Headquarters and DE&S Land Equipment, recognising the new capability role taken on by the Army as part of Defence Transformation. It will bring together the military, industry and the acquisition community for two days of informal discussions, engagement with users, demonstrations and live displays. The focus of these discussions will be on innovative and efficient solutions for the support, upkeep and development of capable land equipment for contingent operations. As in previous years industry will have the unique opportunity to obtain feedback from military personnel who have used the equipment first hand on operations. DVD2014 will be attended by a number of military stakeholders, who will provide their valuable opinion on a wide-range of equipment used on recent operations in Afghanistan. DVD2014 will consider a whole variety of equipment and capabilities that may feature in the Army 2020 structure, not just vehicles.
Maj Gen Paul Jaques, Director Land Equipment at DE&S explains: “DVD2014 will be a great opportunity to showcase current equipment and vehicles, future technology and systems that could provide more cost effective support for the Armed Forces.”
Brig Mark Gaunt, Director Equipment at Army Headquarters commented: “We continue to work closely with our civilian and industry partners to deliver the very best equipment to our soldiers. This annual event attracts a wide audience and is a terrific opportunity for attendees to see what the Army of the future might look like on cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan.”
If you are an industry provider of land equipment for defence and would like to attend DVD2014, register now at www.theevent.co.uk.
14 Feb 14. Saudi Arabia places major order for GDLS vehicles. The latest variant of the LAV family is the LAV-H, with additional defensive upgrades at the IDEX 2011 show in Abu Dhabi. General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS-C) has won a major contract to supply vehicles to Saudi Arabia, Canadian International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced on 14 February. Fast’s office released a statement describing the deal as “a historic multibillion dollar contract win for vehicles and associated equipment, training and support services” and said it would last for 14 years. GDLS-C makes the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family, including the US Army’s Stryker, and has already supplied over 1,600 LAV variants to the Saudi Arabia National Guard (SANG) since 1992. The statement indicated that the Saudi vehicles would be a new design, although possibly based on the existing LAV platform. “The light armoured vehicles will be designed and manufactured [in London, Ontario],” it said. It quoted GDLS-C Vice-President Danny Deep as saying: “This latest contract confirms our position as a leading armoured vehicle designer and manufacturer in the world.” When asked by CBC News how many vehicles would be delivered under the contract, Fast said: “They are not sure yet because there are some details of the contract that they cannot share with us. What we can say is that it is a multibillion dollar contract.”
Other media organisations reported that the contract was worth USD10bn and could increase to USD13bn if all options are exercised. This would represent a major acqui