16 May 02. Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) has been selected by Lockheed Martin of Fort Worth, Texas, to supply 104 GAS-1 anti-jam GPS antenna units. This is the largest single US contract won by the company’s Navigation Systems Group outside of the primary production contract held with the GPS Joint Program Office in the US.

The contract is worth around $4m and includes the equipment, warranty provision, and project management. Delivery of the units is phased over the period 2002 to 2006. A parallel complementary contract has also been placed by Lockheed Martin on Raytheon in St Petersburg, Florida, for 26 GAS-1 Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas.

15 May 02. ITT Industries, Inc. (NYSE: ITT – News) announced that the Chilean Air Force has selected ITT’s high technology electronic self-protection suite for that country’s F-16 Block 50 aircraft. The ITT system, AIDEWS (Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite), will provide Chilean F-16s with an internal, fully integrated radar warning and RF countermeasures capability.

15 May 02. Saab Training, a U.S. unit of Sweden ‘s Saab AB (S.SAA), was awarded a 10-year contract to upgrade a series of gunnery and training ranges for the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command. The estimated total value of the range improvement program is in excess of $100m.

The contract will provide the U.S. Army with the newest generation of targetry for both infantry and armor units. The targets are produced by Saab Training Systems of Huskvarna, Sweden .

10 May 02. Oxley has developed its expertise in Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible cockpit systems into a complete range of NVG compatible systems for a range of military vehicles from the SUPACAT HMT, Australian Bushmaster thru the Land Rover Series to Special Forces motorbikes.

The Oxley vehicle NVG system will be demonstrated on the SUPACT HMT at this year’s DVD on Stand 1 being held at Long Valley, Aldershot from May 27-28th.

15 May 02. Thales Underwater Systems (TUS) announced today that it will partner with two Nova Scotia-based companies, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) and Hermes Electronics Inc. for the Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP).

Under The “Team Atlantic” banner, Thales Underwater Systems (TUS) is offering its FLASH (Folding Light Active Sonar for Helicopters) Dipping Sonar and Sonics System for the program announced by the Department of National Defence (DND) for the replacement of its fleet of CH 124 Sea King Helicopters. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) of Halifax will provide TUS with Sonobuoy processing and HMI (Human Machine Interface) expertise, while Hermes Electronics Inc., also of Halifax, and part of the Ultra Electronics Group, will manufacture and integrate the FLASH dipping sonar. In conjunction with Thales, the two companies will provide a full in-service support capability for the life of the program, which is expected to create new jobs and maintain existing jobs and expertise in the Dartmouth area.

14 May 02. L-3 Communications (NYSE:LLL – News), announced that its Communications Systems-West division was recently awarded a significant contract for the development of an airborne communications package for the Navy’s Naval Battleforce Network program.

The initial value of the contract is $1.5m and, when fully executed over a 48-month period, the contract will have a total value of $8.7m.

8 May 02. The junior Defence Minister said that the nations participating in the A400M programme were “in the process of implementing a jointly agreed mechanism designed to activate the [development and production] contract at the earliest opportunity.”. The Minister went on to say that design work on the A400M was expected to be completed by mid-2005, with assembly of the first aircraft starting in 2006.

Comment: The development and design contract signed on 18 Dec 01 was subject to Bundestag funding approval, which was only partially achiev