MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS
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Web Page sponsored by MILLBROOK
Millbrook, based in Bedfordshire, UK, makes a significant contribution to the quality and performance of military vehicles worldwide. Its specialist expertise is focussed in two distinct areas: test programmes to help armed services and their suppliers ensure that their vehicles and systems work as the specification requires; and design and build work to upgrade new or existing vehicles, evaluate vehicle capability and investigate in-service failures. Complementing these is driver and service training and a hospitality business that allows customers to use selected areas of Millbrook’s remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.
http://www.millbrook.co.uk/
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21 May 09. DVD 2009 to host UOR demonstration. Defence Equipment & Support’s (DE&S) DVD event at Millbrook, on 24 and 25 June 2009, will feature a significant extra dimension, with the addition of the Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) demonstration hosted by Headquarters Land Forces. The demonstration consists of a mobile display of equipment to demonstrate the range of new or updated equipment that has recently been procured through the rapid-response UOR process. UORs are met through a fast-tracked version of the MOD’s acquisition procedure, delivering the speed and flexibility needed to adapt and respond to the most urgent requirements specific to particular operational environments. The UOR process utilises feedback from frontline operating personnel to inform the DE&S procurement team of emergent equipment requirements. Since the beginning of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Treasury has approved over £3.6bn of UORs, some 85 per cent of which have been related to the operating soldiers’ protection. The UOR demonstration will highlight equipment ranging from the latest personnel clothing for the frontline troops, to protected patrol vehicles such as Mastiff and Ridgback. Also included in the display will be a number of ground-breaking technology items utilised by frontline soldiers. Examples of these include the latest surveillance equipment, as well as targeting systems incorporating sophisticated thermal imaging sights and cutting-edge cameras. Lieutenant General Dick Applegate, Chief of Materiel (Land), noted: “DVD’s significance continues to increase and this year the addition of the UOR Demonstration will reinforce the event’s position as a pivotal date in the defence calendar. “The UOR is a highly effective mechanism, utilised to ensure that the urgent needs of our troops are met effectively. The process has enabled us to respond quickly to evolving threats, therefore saving soldiers lives through the provision of the correct equipment on operations.”
19 May 09. The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a contract for $601m to refurbish some of its heavy infantry vehicles. Through a public-private partnership with the Army’s Red River Army Depot, BAE Systems will repair and upgrade 606 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. This process, known in the military as reset, mitigates the effect of combat use, replaces battle damaged vehicles and provides the military with vehicles in pre-deployment conditions. “The Bradley plays an integral role in the Army’s Heavy Brigade Combat Team.” said Joe McCarthy, vice president and general manager, HBCT Systems. “By resetting these vehicles to pre-deployment condition, we will make sure that our troops are able to continue to execute the mission.” Under this award, BAE Systems will reset 346 Bradley A3 vehicles, 141 A2 ODS vehicles and 119 A2 ODS SA vehicles. Initial disassembly and subsystem rebuild will be performed at the Red River Army Depot, with final disassembly and structural modifications completed by BAE Systems in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Final assembly, integration and testing will be conduc