23 May 05. Spanish aerospace engineering company EADS-Casa yesterday signed an agreement to collaborate on the Neuron Programme, a project led by French engineering and software group Dassault Systemes to build a demonstrational unmanned combat aircraft by 2010. EADS-Casa, a subsidiary of European aeronautic defence and space company EADS, will contribute its experience in systems integration, complex carbon-fibre structures, data networking and other areas to the project. A number of other major aerospace groups from other EU countries are also participating in the programme. (Source: Abstracted from Expansion/FT.com)
23 May 05. Raytheon Company has been awarded a $16.5m U.S. Army contract to provide the electro-optic/infrared/laser designator (EO/IR/LD) payload for use on the Army’s
Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP)UAV. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is responsible for the ERMP multi-sensor payload, which will be manufactured and managed by its Precision Attack and Surveillance Systems (PASS) business area based in McKinney,
Texas.
CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
25 May 05. PREVIEW reported that Penman Engineering is fulfilling a contract to supply 72 refurbished Armoured Patrol Vehicle Land Rovers. Penman has made the transition to left hand drive, provided refurbished armour and protection and an air-conditioned cab in just three months. The initial delivery of 17 vehicles was airlifted to Basra at the beginning of the month – the remaining 55 vehicles will follow over the next three months.
25 May 05. Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract valued at approximately $212m for Arrowhead(TM), the Army’s Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) program, for the United Kingdom’s (UK) Apache AH Mk I helicopters. The contract was awarded by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) to prime contractor AgustaWestland and authorizes production of Arrowhead kits by subcontractor Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL. The Arrowhead kits include a new design called the TADS electronic and display control (TEDAC) unit for the United Kingdom’s fleet of Apache helicopters. The first UK Arrowhead kit will be delivered in April 2007. Flight testing is scheduled to begin in late spring 2007. The integration of Arrowhead on the first four UK aircraft is scheduled for completion in January 2009, and retrofit of the entire fleet is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010.
20 May 05. The Spanish government had chosen its NH90 military transport helicopter and has ordered 45 aircraft. It did not provide financial details and did not specify a value for the deal. No contract had been signed. An order from the Greek government for 20 NH90 helicopters which was announced in September 2003 was then valued at €657m ($824.5m) by Eurocopter, while an order for 20 NH90s from Oman in July 2004 reportedly had a value of 600-800 million euros.
A spokeswoman for the Spanish government said earlier May 20 that the government had approved a €2.5bn modernization package for the Spanish armed forces which included procurement of 45 NH90 helicopters. (Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, PARIS)
May 05. Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS): Contract Placed. The Defence Procurement Agency announced that a contract had been placed with the tri-national consortium EUROPAAMS for the provision of five PAAMS. Contract value was given as being “in the region of £250m”, with the missile systems having been ordered for Type 45 destroyers 02 to 06 (the PAAMS for First of Class HMS DARING had already been ordered). Comment: PAAMS is a tri-national collaborative programme with France and Italy. The UK sub-contractor to EUROPAAMS is UKAMS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MBDA. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 05/20, 23 May 05)
20 May 05. The UK MOD has awarded a contract for human factors research for the UK military to the Haldane-Spearman Consortium led by Qin