Army G uide monthly # 1 (28) January 2007 Canister Round BAE Systems Receives Contract for M113 Upgrade Kits for Norwegian Army Recon Optical Awarded Contract for Stabilized Remotely Operated Weapon Systems General Dynamics Awarded $29M to Produce Reactive Armor for Abrams Tanks Graticule Swiss Army orders new Armoured Engineer Vehicle from Rheinmetall GD Awarded USD $77M Contract to Supply Mine Protected Vehicles to the U.S. Army Patriot Antenna Systems wins Deployable Trailer Mount Antenna Development Contracts General Dynamics Awarded $425M for Missile Systems by Spanish Army German army receives new command and control information system Laser range-finder Pakistan, India discuss peace process Raytheon Successfully Tests New Solid-State Laser Area Defense System New section of the ARMY-GUIDE web-site QinetiQ wins GBP9.48M armoured vehicle 'survivability' contract SciSys To Play Role in Armoured Vehicle Survivability Programme Armoured Recovery Vehicle BAE Systems Receives Thermal Weapon Sights Orders U.S. Army Awards General Dynamics $40 M Tank Training Ammunition Contract General Dynamics Awarded $7M for Production of M2HB Machine Guns www.army-guide.com Army Guide Monthly • #1 (28) • January 2007 Term of the day Contracts Canister Round Recon Optical Awarded Contract for Stabilized Remotely Operated Weapon Systems Recon Optical has received a $5.5M production contract from Electro Optic Systems, Limited (EOS) of Australia to supply 44 of its RAVENTM R-400 Stabilized Remotely Controlled Weapon System for The canister round is intended for close-in defence integration on the Bushmaster infantry mobility of tanks against massed assaulting infantry attack vehicle under ADI/THALES Australia's Project and to break up infantry concentrations, between a Bushranger. range of 200-500 metres, by discharging large numbers of metallic balls from the main cannon. Recon Optical delivered all 44 systems to EOS by the The canister round has not yet found a universal end of December 2006. By completing deliveries a full acceptance of tank designers as a type of tank month ahead of schedule, Recon Optical demonstrates its ammunition. However, it might be very useful in 'tanks continued focus on the end user's urgent needs and its versus infantry soldiers' engagements, like those that ability to support rapid procurement programs. occur nowadays in the Middle East. The U.S. Army type classified the RAVENTM R-400 as the M101 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS), and through a series of urgent Defence Industry material requirements (UMR), over 560 units have been contracted to Recon Optical in less than 18 months. To BAE Systems Receives Contract for meet this demand, Recon Optical's new lean M113 Upgrade Kits for Norwegian Army manufacturing facility is capable of producing hundreds of units per month. Recon Optical fully supports the U.S. Army CROWS with field service engineers and maintenance facilities in the theater of operation and in Barrington, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona. With its stabilized remote operation, the RAVEN protects Soldiers by enabling gunners to operate safely from within their vehicle's ballistic armor. The Soldier is no longer exposed to hostile fire, inclement weather, or other hazardous conditions normally associated with BAE Systems has received a $29.7 million contract operating a pintle-mounted weapon system. The systems' from the Norwegian Defence Procurement Division stabilization greatly increases the accuracy of the for the development and delivery of M113 upgrade installed weapons while on the move or stationary. kits. RAVEN's one-shot, one-kill capability multiplies force The contract calls for the development and production effectiveness, lowers collateral damage potential, and of 72 power pack kits, air conditioning system kits, minimizes logistics resupply requirements in demanding suspension kits, and track system kits for Norwegian urban warfare environments. M113 vehicles, plus the provision of logistics support RAVEN accommodates a variety of small caliber and spare parts. (5.56 and 7.62-mm) machine guns, and the M2 .50-cal BAE Systems are pleased to be selected to work with and Mk-19 40-mm heavy machine guns. RAVEN the Norwegian Army to upgrade their M113 vehicles and mounts on the roof of HUMVEEs and other armored or will be working closely with the customer to field a un-armored vehicles. modern, low cost, commercial power train upgrade and The CROWS systems currently deployed in Iraq are other vehicle improvements. getting high marks from the Soldiers using them. Work will be performed at BAE Systems' facility Soldiers in combat are obviously pleased to be off the Santa Clara, Calif., and will continue through November roof and effectively firing their weapons from inside 2008. The contract also includes options for 34 their vehicles. They have been able to engage the enemy additional sets of kits, storage cases and additional in situations that would be impossible without the spares. The kits will be installed at the customer's facility CROWS' accuracy. in Norway. Recon Optical is also teamed with EOS, who provides www.army-guide.com 1 Army Guide Monthly • #1 (28) • January 2007 the critical fire control and sensor components, for the of graticule markings would be required, but such an U.S. Army's CROWS program. Together, Recon Optical approach is impractical since it would clutter the field of and EOS have spent years developing and refining their view and render the sight unusable. Therefore, most patented RAVEN technologies. graticules define the correct gun position for a number of target ranges, but they are only accurate for one particular set of circumstances. Contracts General Dynamics Awarded $29M to Produce Reactive Armor for Abrams Tanks General Dynamics Armament and Technical Conventional graticules are etched on to glass and Products, a business unit of General Dynamics has either positioned in the optical path or injected via a been awarded a $29 million contract from U.S. half-silvered mirror. If too much information is included Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) for the production of on the graticule, the operator's field of view can become reactive armor tile sets to equip Abrams tanks. cluttered. To overcome this problem, it is possible to have graticules which can be switched in and out or This award modifies a contract originally awarded in partially masked, although great care must be taken to August 2006 and brings the total contract value to $59 maintain alignment accuracy. As an alternative, million. graticules may be generated electronically and these can The reactive armor system is made up of tiles that easily be switched off or masked when not required. As fasten to the exterior of the vehicles. Equipped with the both etched and electronic graticules physically exist, General Dynamics' reactive armor tiles, combat vehicles they can provide a reflector for the radiation from a laser are better able to withstand a direct hit from a variety of sensor damage weapon. In the future, therefore, it is anti-armor munitions, including shoulder-fired rocket likely that sight graticules will be generated by propelled grenades that are prevalent in many of today's holograms, which present no reflector for laser light. regional conflicts. Similar reactive armor systems are currently being used in Iraq on U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicles Defence Industry and have been proven to prevent crippling damage to Swiss Army orders new Armoured those combat vehicles. General Dynamics has been a leading producer of reactive armor for the Bradley Engineer Vehicle from Rheinmetall Fighting Vehicle since 1995, with $417 million in Bradley reactive armor orders to date. The production program will be directed from General Dynamics' Vermont-based Burlington Technology Center, with tile production occurring at the company's facility in McHenry, Miss. Term of the day Graticule Rheinmetall AG of Dusseldorf has won an order from the Swiss Army for a new generation of The high magnification sight is normally equipped armoured engineer vehicles. Under the order, with a graticule (or reticule). The graticule, which Rheinmetall will supply the Swiss Army with twelve overlays the field of view, is a pattern of marks Kodiak armoured engineer vehicles, known in Swiss which can be used for alignment and gunnery military parlance as the "Geniepanzer". purposes. Based on well proven components from the Leopard 2 For each particular set of conditions (such as charge main battle tank, the Kodiak has clear market potential in temperature, air pressure and target speed) a different set all Leopard 2 user countries. A number of nations have 2 www.army-guide.com Army Guide Monthly • #1 (28) • January 2007 already expressed an interest in this state-of-the-art Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS), has awarded a system; some have launched procurement projects contract for USD$76.5 million to General Dynamics already. Land Systems-Canada to provide 169 RG-31 Mk5 Apart from its role as a heavy-duty combat engineer Mine Protected Vehicles, with an option for nine additional vehicles. General Dynamics Land tool - whether in military scenarios or disaster relief Systems, the Canadian company's parent operations - the Kodiak can be used to breach lanes corporation, is a business unit of General Dynamics through minefields, crucial for assuring the mobility and safety of friendly forces. The contract was signed through the Canadian Joining forces, Rheinmetall subsidiary Rheinmetall Commercial Corporation, a Crown Agency of the Landsysteme GmbH of Kiel and RUAG Land Systems of Canadian Government. Under this contract, General Thun, Switzerland have set up a consortium to develop, Dynamics Land Systems-Canada will provide the market and manufacture the Kodiak. The Swiss Army is program management while BAE Land Systems OMC of scheduled to start taking delivery of the new systems in South Africa will manufacture the vehicles. Deliveries 2009. will occur from June 2007 to January 2008.