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BAE Talisman L UUV starts water trials
September 10th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington
BAE Systems started water trials on Thursday for its Talisman L unmanned underwater vehicle, five months after the new platform was conceived. The 1.4 metre long, 50kg Talisman L is a smaller version of BAE Systems’ 5 metre long, 1,200 kg Talisman M UUV.
Both UUVs are designed to carry cameras and sonars. The new ‘L’, which will undergo water trials at BAE’s UK Waterlooville facility, uses the same mission system as the ‘M’ but is two-man portable, said Andy Tonge, BAE Systems UUV product manager.
The ‘L’s reduced size would make it suited to close-up work in harbours, he added. The larger M version will be able to carry internally and deploy two of the L versions, as well as up to four Archerfish expendable mine neutralisers. Plans are also underway to allow the Talisman L to carry the Archerfish underslung.
“The M will be able to travel 20km to a harbour, for instance, and then deploy the Talisman Ls for a closer look,” said Tonge. “The L is a multiplier, but can also be used on its own, taking advantage of its lower cost and portability.”
BAE has created web based controls for the L, allowing users to control the platform from an I-Pod, he said.
The Talisman L will operate at depths of up to 100 metres for up to 12 hours and travel at a speed of over five knots.
DRS, Finmeccanica show off synergies in London
September 10th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington
A mock up vehicle crammed with sensors and communications equipment is being used at the DSEi 2009 show in London to show off the evolving synergies between Italy’s Finmeccanica and DRS Technologies, the U.S. firm it took over last year.
The mix starts with a Driver’s Vision Enhancer capability which features DRS cameras on the front and back of the vehicle and side cameras supplied by Finmeccanica unit Selex Galileo. “This vehicle is showing the significant synergies there are now between DRS and Finmeccanica,” said Jerry Sinn, president of DRS Tactical Systems Group.
Sinn said other DRS capabilities on the vehicle were onboard vehicle power solutions to help supply power for situational awareness, jamming, acoustic sensing and blue force tracking equipment. Some flat panel displays are also supplied by DRS, as is the system designed for monitoring vehicle performance. “We would do a different mix on a mock-up vehicle for the U.S. market, with a heavier DRS content,” said Sinn.
Sinn said he was also interested in opportunities to place DRS products on Finmeccanica helicopters. The AW149 being developed by Finmeccanica unit AgustaWestland and under consideration by Turkey could for example be equipped with DRS infra-red jamming capabilities, he said.
Finmeccanica’s stated policy is to find local partners and transfer technology as it competes for contracts globally, including Turkey, where it has scored a number of successes recently. According to Thomas R. Douglas, DRS corporate vice president, DRS products will form part of that drive, ITAR regulations permitting. “It is a strategy to leverage DRS technologies wherever ITAR permits it,” he said. “We will look at it case by case. If Turkey buys the AW149 and there is a DRS product that would give AgustaWestland an advantage, we would seek to sell it. But if we can’t, we can’t. There is no grey area.”
Tags: AgustaWestland, DRS, Finmeccanica
BMT helps bridge the gap for British combat troops
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Today’s British combat troops and their equipment wouldn’t look out of place in a science fiction movie thanks to advances in technology. One vital piece of kit they use though - light bridging equipment -has stayed more or less unchanged for centuries.Until now that is.
Light bridging equipment, or a ladder as it is more commonly known, is in the throes of a technology make-over to ensure it is more suitable for use by heavily laden troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Responding to an urgent operational request from the frontline to come up with a better method of crossing ditches and scaling walls than a conventional ladder the Ministry of Defence turned to BMT Defence Services to provide an answer.
In the space of five weeks this summer the Bath, England-based consultancy conducted a survey of possible solutions and completed a competition involving more than a dozen bidders from the U.K. and overseas.
Eugene Morgan, the director of systems at BMT Defence Services, says the consultancy team running the project spoke to designers ranging from a supplier of ship gangways to a Formula 1 racing team in order to find the best possible solutions.
Morgan said recommendations on the top three or four designs for the 3 metre bridge requirement was submitted to the MoD last month.
He said he was unable to talk about the designs recommended to the MoD until a decision had been made on the way forward.
BMT is best known as a leading naval consultancy but has been diversifying into the defense land sector over the last couple of years on the back of the rapid growth of urgent operational requirement work from the MoD
Morgan said the Defence Services arm of the company was currently assisting PA Consultancy in the acceptance of vehicles being acquired to equip the Talisman route proving and clearance system.
The urgent operational requirements procurement is set to be deployed to Afghanistan early next year to improve British anti-IED capabilities.
The MoD announced last year it was spending 96 million Pound purchasing heavily armoured Mastiff2 and Buffalo vehicles and other equipment for Talisman.
Tags: Afghanistan, BMT Defence Services, light bridging, Talisman
Italy to buy 64 Oto Melara gun turrets for LMV vehicles
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington
Oto Melara's Hitrole 12.7mm turret
Italian firm Oto Melara is to “imminently” sign a contract with the Italian government to supply 64 Hitrole Light remote controlled gun turrets for mounting on Italy’s Light Multirole Vehicles, an official said on Wednesday.
The order is worth 18.8 million euros said Oto Melara CEO Carlo Alberto Iardella at the DSEi 2009 show in London. A spokeswoman said full delivery could be made by early 2011.
Italy has deployed its Iveco LMV vehicles to Afghanistan with a roof hatch through which a soldier mans a machine gun. That policy was questioned in Italy in July after an LMV gunner was killed when the vehicle was hit by an IED in Afghanistan. A competition to find a remote controlled gun turret had previously been launched in May. On July 30, days after the attack, Oto Melara’s turret was given preliminary approval by the Italian government. The firm, which is a unit of Italy’s Finmeccanica, was the only company to enter the competition, said Iardella.
The company spokeswoman added that the orginal requirement had stood at 83 turrets, but based on the funding made available, Oto Melara offered 64 turrets, which was accepted. Each turret will come supplied with interchangeable 12.7mm and 7.62mm machine guns as well as a 40mm grenade launcher. The turrets also feature a thermal camera, laser range finder and TV camera supplied by Selex Galileo. Oto Melara expects to supply the first turret four months after a contract signing, with trials by the customer to follow. The firm then expects to conclude deliveries six to seven months after the first delivery.
An official at Iveco, which builds the LMV, revealed at DSEi on Tuesday that the firm had meanwhile received a separate, rushed order in August for around 60 protective guards for LMV vehicle gunners. The system consists of a cylinder of composite material to protect the gunner on a ring mount. Oto Melara CEO Iardella said that some LMVs would get the protective guards supplied by Iveco and others the remote control turrets supplied by Oto Melara. “There will be a mix of both solutions,” he said.
Separately, industrial sources said Wednesday that in July Oman ordered three Centauro wheeled tanks – built jointly by Oto Melara and Iveco — bringing its total order to nine. Oman ordered six Centauro tanks with 120mm cannons in 2008, plus an option for six more. The decision to order three of the options was made after successful trials of the vehicle, the source said. Deliveries of the first six vehicles will be completed in 2010 and the further three will be delivered in 2011.
Tags: Hitrole, LMV, Oto Melara
BAE looks again at military 146 airlifter sales
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Twenty years or more after it first tried to sell the BAe 146 regional jet as a military airlifter BAE Systems is attempting to revive the idea.
The original scheme floundered without achieving a sale.This time round the company may have a better chance of success with a second hand aircraft converted to a freighter configuration available for as little as $5 million and a passenger aircraft even cheaper at half that figure.
Those are the sort of price tags which could tempt even cash starved defense ministries to take a look at the second-hand aircraft being offered by BAE’s Asset Management arm, says sales director Andy Whelan.
The first time BAE attempted to sell new aircraft as military airlifter’s the asking price was between $20 million and $25 million.
Now though Whelan reckons the combination of budget pressures, increasingly stretched tactical transport assets, delays in new aircraft deliveries and aging aircraft fleets may see the cut-price 146M get a second chance.
“It’s the right time, the right price and it’s available now”, said Whelan talking to reporters at DSEi2009
BAE see the 146 replacing An-32s,Fokker F27′s, Boeing 727 and other old aircraft now running out of life. Another possibility is air force’s using the aircraft to complement overworked tactical airlift like the C-130 and C-160.
The 146 is hardly a spring chicken itself but Whelan says many of the aircraft available for sale have used less than half their flying hours.
The company is even touting the aircraft in either the freighter or passenger roles to fill part of the capability gap created by delays to the troubled European A400M program.
Industry sources say informal soundings have already been taken about the aircrafts use at the British MoD.
Whelan, though, denied there had been any approaches made yet to the Royal Air Force or other A400M partner nations.
The four engine jet in its 146QT freighter configuration features a large freight door, has a 11-12 tonne payload and a rough field capability.
In a brochure released at DSEi 2009 BAE says the 146-300QT version of over 1600 nautical miles. An extended range fit could take the range out to over 2200 nautical miles with a 12 tone payload.
Whelan said BAE Regional Aircraft Asset Management has 146QT and 146QC (quick change) aircraft available now and additional aircraft can be converted to order. The conversion takes up to seven months.
BAE unveils system to integrate manned and unmanned platforms
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Antonie Boessenkool
LONDON – BAE Systems said Wednesday at the DSEi show they have developed a mission control system to allow commanders to integrate unmanned platforms into missions effectively without interfering with the operations of manned platforms.
The system will allow commanders to plan and later revise missions that include air- and land-based unmanned platforms in real time as the situation develops.
BAE funded the development of the system internally and has carried out real-world and synthetic trials of the system, BAE said. The trials, which took place last year in the United Kingdom and Australia, used the system to command a convoy using a mix of manned reconnaissance vehicles, unmanned aircraft and an unmanned ground vehicle.
Under the system, as threats are identified during the mission, commanders pass control of the unmanned platforms to other commanders, BAE said. For example, control can be passed between the battlefield commander, convoy commander and drivers of the manned reconnaissance vehicles while real-time images are sent back to the commanders, allowing them to change the route of the convoy and unmanned vehicles to avoid threats.
Tags: BAE Systems, dsei, unmanned
Thales launches new naval radars for surface threats
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington
Thales launched two upgraded naval surface radars at the DSEi 2009 show in London on Wednesday, describing them as capable of picking out slow, small asymmetric threats against a background of sea “clutter”.
The Sea Watcher 100 is an export version of the Sea Star radar Thales has supplied the Netherlands for use on an ocean going patrol vessel and frigates, while the firm’s new Surface Scout radar is an upgrade of its existing Scout radar.
Both radars offer an enhanced ability to spot slow, small targets including swimmers or jet skis in choppy seas, even if they are partially concealed by waves, thanks to very high resolution Doppler capabilities, said A.P. Stegeman, Thales product manager for 2D radar sensors.
Stegeman said the new radars were capable of registering the minute difference in the speed of movement between a mine and the sea in which it is floating.
The Sea Watcher 100 is composed of four active phased array emitters giving a 360 degree coverage. The Surface Scout is a rotating, traditional array radar designed for smaller vessels.
Tags: naval surface radar, Thales
BAE expands vehicle vision system with Army order
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Antonie Boessenkool
BAE's Check-6 infrared or color camera is incorporated into a vehicle's taillight structure to give visibility outside the vehicle.
BAE Systems announced Wednesday a $10.7 million order from the U.S. Army for 338 camera and sensor systems for visibility outside armored vehicles.
The systems, called the Driver’s Vision Enhancer Family of Systems, are a combination of infrared sensors, color cameras, displays and vehicle integration kits that provide wider visibility outside the vehicle.
“We find that as vehicles become more armored, they have challenges with visibility,” said Gary Morris, business development manager of Soldier and Vehicle Solutions at BAE, in announcing the order at DSEi.
“We would like to be able to allow the troops to stay under that armor to the maximum extent possible, but while doing that we’d also like to be able to allow them to still sense that environment as if they weren’t under the armor.”
Several of the elements of the systems are already deployed on vehicles in theater. For example, BAE’s Check-6 vision system, an infrared or color camera mounted in the tail light assembly of vehicles, is on Bradleys and Strykers. But the family of systems extends the systems to four variations for 17 different Army and Marine Corps vehicles, including mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, medium tactical vehicles and high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, Morris said.
“In past years, DVEs were only allocated to the very high-value vehicles, the combat vehicles,” Morris said. “But as we’ve seen in theater … the vehicles that are always getting shot up is the lower-valued, let’s say more affordable (vehicles). So they need some of these capabilities at a very affordable level for vehicles aside from the very high-end combat vehicles.”
The program has a maximum value of $1.94 billion and a performance period of five years. DRS Technologies, part of Italian firm Finmeccanica, is the other contractor for the program. The contract comes from the Army’s Communications Electronics Command Life Cycle Management Center.
Tags: BAE Systems, driver's vision enhancer, dsei, vehicles
General Dynamics rebuts BAE ASCOD jibe
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
General Dynamics UK has hit back at BAE Systems over jibes that its rivals ASCOD vehicle is a loser when it is faced with the company’s CV90.
Earlier this week BAE executives told reporters at DSEi 2009 that its had a 100percent record in winning all the head-to-head competitions between the two.
The companies are currently engaged in a fight to secure a British Ministry of Defence order to supply the tracked platform for its Future Rapid Effects System (Special Vehicles) program.
“We are stronger in the tracked medium armour segment and we have already beaten them in Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands”, said a BAE executive.
Thales launches i-MAST 100 for 600-2,000 tonne vessels
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington
Thales has launched a naval mast, the i-MAST 100, for vessels between 600 and 2,000 tonnes.
The new mast, which was launched at the DSEi 2009 show in London on Wednesday, follows the introduction of Thales’ larger i-MAST 400, which the Netherlands has acquired for installation on a 3,500 tonne ocean going patrol vessel.