28 Aug 02. Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) has been awarded a contract by BAE SYSTEMS for the supply of Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment to the first three Type 45 Destroyers being built for the Royal Navy. BAE SYSTEMS is the Prime Contractor to the MoD Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) for the Type 45 programme and is responsible for placing subcontracts with individual suppliers for selected equipment.
The IFF equipment to be supplied by RSL is the same as that being provided under separate contract to MoD/DPA for the Successor IFF (SIFF) which is being widely fitted in current RAF aircraft and Royal Navy ships. The work is based at RSL’s offices in Harlow, Essex and at RSL’s sister company in Baltimore, USA, with support from other companies in the UK.
Aug 02. Thales Underwater Systems (TUS) of Templecombe, UK, in partnership with Klein Associates, of Salem, New Hampshire, USA, have recently received orders from the US Navy for the supply of 15 Sea Guardian Diver Detection Sonar systems.
The Sea Guardian system is designed specifically to detect, classify and track, fully – automatically, divers at ranges suitable for response and countermeasures. These products are considered essential for deployment in underwater protection of Naval and Military assets in today’s hostile threat environment, and are vital to the underwater safeguarding of infrastructure in Homeland Defense and the war on global terrorism.
21 Aug 02. FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: “FLIR”) announced today that it has been awarded a contract from Modern Technologies Corporation, in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center HC-130 Program Office, valued at $3.5m to supply its Star SAFIRE IITM airborne thermal imaging system for the Air National Guard’s HC-130 search and rescue aircraft.
The HC-130 FLIR Integration Program is a multi-million dollar program for the procurement and installation of eight (8) Star SAFIRE II FLIRs over the next two years. The contract also provides for future delivery of up to 37 additional Star SAFIRE II systems through 2006, depending on future funding availability, for the Combat Air Force’s entire fleet of HC-130 search and rescue aircraft. If fully funded and exercised, this future delivery option is valued at approximately $16.0m. Air Combat Command, Air Education & Training Command (both active duty) and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) operate the HC-130 aircraft in addition to the Air National Guard. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2003.
22 Aug 02. Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) – formerly known as Brown & Root – and construction company John Mowlem & Company PLC have formed a joint venture known as Aspire Defence to compete for the £900m re-development of the British Army’s garrisons around Salisbury Plain and in Aldershot.
The schemes, named Allenby and Connaught, will be awarded as a private finance initiative (PFI/PPP) deal and the winning consortium will operate the facilities under a £3.6 billion, 30-year contract. The aim of the project is to improve the living and working environment of all personnel and is vital to the MoD’s delivery of the Strategic Defence Review.
Aspire Defence successfully prequalified for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Allenby and Connaught project in May, and has established a dedicated joint venture office to ensure the important early integration with suppliers and partners. The MoD will announce the preferred bidder in June next year before building works begin in 2004.
27 Aug 02. Engineered Support Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EASI – News) reported record third quarter net earnings from continuing operations of $6.9m, or $.64 per diluted share, for the quarter ended July 31, 2002, ($4.6m, or $.44 per diluted share). Net earnings from continuing operations for the current quarter includes an after-tax restructuring charge of $0.9m, or $.08 per diluted share, related to the Company’s previously announced facilities consolidat