1 Apr 03. Paradigm Services has now become a fully-fledged telecommunications operator (TelCo). Having successfully delivered the UK MOD’s Project WELCOME service for the past 3 years, Paradigm took the decision to invest in a switching system of its own. Project WELCOME provides welfare telephone and Internet services to UK troops on MOD-defined ‘entitled operations’ overseas. This service is also delivered to Armed Forces of other nations.

2 Apr 03. Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems, LP (TVS) in Sealy, Texas, has reached another significant milestone, production of the 20,000th vehicle in the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), marking the thirty-fourth consecutive month of perfect performance in delivering trucks to the schedule required by the U.S. Army. Further, in two years of production of 2.5- and 5-ton FMTV trailers, the company has delivered every trailer perfectly to schedule.

31 Mar 03. BAE SYSTEMS North America has formed a new operating sector that combines controls and avionics capabilities to serve a broad range of military and commercial platforms, from ground vehicles to airplanes to spacecraft. The new Platform Solutions Sector will include the existing BAE SYSTEMS Controls business and will have operational control of the company’s Avionic Systems Division in Rochester and Edinburgh, UK.

1 Apr 03. Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Integrated Systems sector and subcontractor teammate Schweizer Aircraft Corp. have successfully tested a four-blade rotor upgrade that will increase the payload capacity, speed, range, altitude and endurance of the U.S. Navy RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and
landing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) system.

1 Apr 03. General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) has acquired privately held Creative Technology Incorporated, a Herndon, Va.-based information technology and consulting firm; terms were not disclosed. With approximately 300 employees holding high-level security clearances, Creative Technology primarily supports thee intelligence community and the Department of Defense by delivering systems and network engineering, integration, software development, operations and technical consulting.

31 Mar 03. Lockheed Martin UK Ltd Integrated Systems has been selected as the European hub to provide a secure computer network infrastructure to support the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. It will allow companies across UK and Europe to share detailed information simultaneously – especially sophisticated design blue-prints – in real-time, across a secure network and with complete accuracy. The hub – also known as JSF EuroNet – allows rapid transmission of design data to and from the main Lockheed Martin JSF project office at Fort Worth in Texas. The service will reduce the costs of information supply and transfer to individual contractors whilst providing quicker access and improved levels of support. The JSF EuroNet deal is worth about £2m over three years and could lead to savings of upto £1 million over the same period. If, as projected, further British and European companies participate in the service greater economies of scale will generate even bigger savings.

1 Apr 03. L-3 Communications’s Communication Systems-West (CS-West) division delivered the first two super-high frequency (SHF) airborne Satellite Communication (SATCOM) terminals, the first Airborne Wide Band Data Link (AWDL), the first ground Wide Band Data Link and an associated set of spares to Raytheon Company in support of the UK’s ASTOR Programme. The systems were then supplied to the L-3 Integrated Systems division for integration and modification into the first ASTOR aircraft and ground station equipment.

31 Mar 03. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. announced its ImpactRT(TM) 3100, the first scalable, high-performance, signal and image processing system based on the open-standard RapidIO(r) interconnect architecture. Combining next-generation PowerPC(r) microprocessors with AltiVec(TM)