http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=871327&C=thisweek
Posted 06/06/05 12:00 Lockheed Converts Antitank Missile Responding to an urgent request from the U.S. Marine Corps, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin has expanded the capabilities of the company�s Predator antitank missile and delivered 400 to the Marines. The Marine Corps asked Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., to modify the shoulder-fired, short-range Predator into a direct-attack urban assault missile. Renamed the Short-Range Assault Weapon-Multiple Purpose Variant (SRAW-MPV), the new missile has a multipurpose blast warhead, enabling it to defeat a variety of targets such as buildings and bunkers. �The conversion ... was prompted by the need for fire-from-enclosure assault weapons, which has become paramount to support current actions,� said Andy Hawkins, the SRAW-MPV program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, in a company statement. �Other current short-range assault weapon systems cannot meet the requirement.� �The SRAW-MPV ... can be safely fired from buildings with single hearing protection, which protects the gunner by minimizing exposure to enemy counterfire,� he said. �In addition, its point-and-shoot, fire-and-forget inertial guidance system minimizes gunner operations and corrects for in-flight disturbances such as crosswind.� The SRAW-MPV passed an acceptance test at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., in November and other firings in December, the statement added. The flight tests included two rounds that breached a triple-brick target, leaving a gap wide enough for troop entry, and another round that disabled an armored personnel carrier. All of the shots were at a range of 200 meters. • U.K. Muscle Machine Unveiled Lord Drayson, the U.K. minister for defense procurement, recently unveiled a prototype of the Terrier, a combat engineer vehicle under development for the British Army by BAE SYSTEMS. The Terrier is being designed to be entirely operated by remote control, should the area it needs to work in be initially too dangerous for troops to enter. The London company is building the Terrier under a 300 million pound ($374 million) contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defense, said an MoD statement. Built to withstand mine explosions, small-arms and artillery fire while digging trenches or clearing obstacles, the Terrier is expected to enter service toward the end of the decade. It will be equipped with a machine gun for self-defense. The vehicle is designed to be transported on the C-17 or A400M airlifter. ASC To Build Air Warfare Ships An Australian state-owned defense supplier, ASC Pty Ltd., has won a 6 billion Australian dollar ($4.5 billion) government contract to build three air warfare destroyers, Defence Minister Robert Hill said May 31. The contract is the biggest single domestic construction program under Australia�s 10-year, 50 billion Australian dollar defense acquisition plan. The first ships are due to start service in 2013. The contract, run through a subsidiary known as ASC Shipbuilder, should boost the value of government-owned ASC, previously known as the Australian Submarine Corp., ahead of the company�s privatization scheduled for next year. Hill said the ships would be built at ASC shipyards in Adelaide and would have the U.S.-made Aegis air warfare system at the core of their combat systems. New MEADS Contract Signed On May 31, MEADS International (MI), a U.S.-European partnership, signed a design and development contract for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). The United States, Germany and Italy are partners in the approximately $2 billion program. �The D&D contract extends the period of performance of a previous letter contract that was awarded to MI by the NATO MEADS Management Agency in September 2004,� MBDA, one of the industrial partners, said in a June 1 statement. MEADS is a mobile air and missile defense system designed to replace the Patriot in the United States and Germany and the Nike Hercules in Italy. The United States has 58 percent of the work share in MEADS; Germany holds 25 percent and Italy 17 percent. MEADS International is a joint venture of MBDA Italia, Rome; EADS/LFK, Unterschleissheim, Germany; and Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Md. In September, the United States and Italy signed a contract to formally begin design and development, while Germany had a six-month transition period to obtain parliamentary approval. Germany�s parliament on April 20 signed onto the program. New Agency Turns to NATO The European Union�s fledgling European Defense Agency (EDA) has handed a small contract � its first � to NATO�s command, control and communications wing for an operational analysis of the union�s future peacekeeping force. Though the move is unprecedented, EDA officials stress that their agency acted only as the contracting authority for the EU military staff. �The military staff does not have the resources yet to do operational analysis nor the legal authority to let a contract, so we did it on their behalf, since we have a small budget for this kind of thing,� an EDA source said May 27. Awarded in early April to the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency, the contract calls for the agency to analyze the operational requirements for several scenarios, said the EDA source. They revolve around the capabilities and assets needed to meet the union�s revised so-called headline military goals for 2010. A key goal is the EU ability to deploy high-readiness forces in response to crises. The EU�s military staff will use the results of the analysis in compiling a capability catalog in November. The catalog will guide national defense ministries across the union when bidding to fulfill the headline capabilities required by 2010. Defense News learned about the unpublicized contract on May 26 from industry sources. The EDA source would not disclose the amount, but European industry executives suggested it was worth around 600,000 euros. L-3 System Picked for Trainer Pilatus Aircraft, Stans, Switzerland, has selected L-3 Avionics Systems� Tactical Airborne Navigation System (TACAN) for PC-9M trainer aircraft it is building for Bulgaria. Pilatus officials declined to comment on the contract�s value or number of systems ordered. The system consists of an RT-1634(V) receiver/transmitter. Its navigation data will be displayed on the PC-9�s primary flight and head-up displays. U.K. Buys Robot Minehunters The U.K. Royal Navy will take delivery of a set of unmanned underwater robots to help track down mines in shallow waters. Known as REMUS, short for Remote Environmental Monitoring Units, the battery-powered vehicles will scan the seabed in water up to 100 meters deep. Under the 2.75 million pound ($5 million) program, 10 REMUS vehicles will be bought by the U.K. Defence Procurement Agency and enter service early next year, according to a statement from the U.K. Ministry of Defence. The vehicle is made by Hydroid, Pocasset, Mass. Milestone for A400M Engine Officials of the four-nation consortium producing the turboprop engine for the A400M, Europe�s new transport plane, said May 31 they have conducted a successful test on the engine control and monitoring systems (CMS). EPI Europrop International (EPI) announced that the tests took place in Paris and were witnessed by officials from European procurement office OCCAR and Airbus Military, the unit that is building the plane. EPI comprises Industria de Turbo Propulsores, Bilbao, Spain; MTU Aero Engines, Munich; Rolls-Royce, London; and Snecma, Paris. Snecma and MTU Aero Engines are developing the CMS for the engine, dubbed the TP400-D6. �The first TP400-D6 CMS test has been successfully performed ... on a new CMS wet test rig, which closely duplicates real operating conditions. During the testing campaign, the CMS will be validated before the first engine test,� EPI said in a release. The TP400-D6 CMS includes an electronic control unit, an electronic protection and monitoring unit, the fuel pump and filter, a fuel metering unit and an oil cooler. The certification of the engine is scheduled for October 2007, with the A400M�s first flight taking place shortly thereafter. • ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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