HelpRenault Trucks Defense offers spec ops vehicle to Middle East country
February 25th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Pierre Tran
Abu Dhabi – Renault Trucks Defense, a business unit of the Volvo automotive group, is in discussions with an undisclosed Middle East country for a sale of its Sherpa 3 special forces tactical vehicle, senior vice president Serge Perez said Feb. 25 at the at the IDEX show.
The potential sale would be for a few dozen vehicles, he said. The Sherpa 3 is armored to protect against mines and IEDs. The company developed the Sherpa vehicle range from its own funds over four years. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: armored vehicles, IDEX 2009, Renault, special forces, VAB, VBCI
Dassault, MBDA partner with Baynuna
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Baynuna Aviation Technology has been the focus of attention for French fighter maker Dassault Aviation and missile builder MBDA in the last 48 hours as the European companies announced joint ventures with the Abu Dhabi-based concern.
First up was Dassault with the Feb 23 announcement it was joining with Baynuna to create a jointly owned operation called Dasbat Aviation.
The venture is being interpreted by some as preparation for a decision by the United Arab Emirates on whether to buy Dassault’s Rafale fighter. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: co-operation, Dassault, MBDA, Rafale, UAE
Saudi Arabia nears Tornado weapons package
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Saudi Arabia is poised to order an array of new weapons to equip upgraded Tornado strike aircraft. The package will include the potent Storm Shadow cruise missile already operational with the Royal Air Force.
The deal, worth hundreds of millions of Euros, was expected to be signed last year but has now slipped into 2009.
Delivery schedules will be led by the cruise missile. That will be followed by the ASRAAM short range air-to-air weapon and Brimstone anti-armour missile said sources familiar with the deal.
The source said the deal is ready to be signed.
All the weapons are made by leading European missile builder MBDA. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: IDEX 2009, MBDA, missile, Raytheon, Saudi Arabia, Tornado
UAE confirms C-17, C-130J orders – this time for real
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Pierre Tran
Abu Dhabi – The UAE confirmed on Feb. 24 the biggest open secret of the IDEX arms show — that its armed forces have ordered four Boeing C-17 and 12 Lockheed Martin C-130J transport aircraft. The Defense News Show Scout broke the story even before the show opened.
The total deal was worth AED 10.7 billion ($2.78 billion).
Major General Obaid Al Ketbi told a press conference the UAE armed forces were buying the C-17s and C-130Js in a bid to “upgrade its strategic and tactical air transport.” The planes would be used in rescue and humanitarian missions worldwide, he said.
The purchase of Boeing aircraft was worth AED 4.3 billion ($1.3 billion), while the Lockheed Martin deal was valued at AED 5.9 billion ($1.6 billion).
The armed forces gave a mandate to Waha Capital, a quoted local company, to arrange and manage a financing facility of AED 11 billion for the aircraft purchase. Read the rest of this entry »
Presidential support
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Sheila Vemmer
Trying to answer the question posed to President Obama: More ballistic protection (weight) + the engines needed to lift (thrust x 3) = $$$$ (keeping our President safer than the current 30 year-old fleet)
The Plane
The Engine (one of three)
Tags: economy, life during wartime, Lockheed Martin, spending
Six European countries to work on software radio
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Pierre Tran
Abu Dhabi - The OCCAR European defense agency has signed with a joint venture in a six country collaborative effort to develop common international standards for software defined tactical radios, marketing director Valéry Rousset of the land and joint division at the IDEX arms show.
OCCAR will manage the contract, signed in December and dubbed Essor, on behalf of Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden. National champions from each of the countries, such as Thales for France, will work together in the cross-border cooperation, Rousset said Feb. 24.
A common international standard would allow different militaries to operate together while using different makes of software defined radios, Rousset said.
Under the contract, industry will develop over three or four years a software communication architecture standard and build a high data rate coalition, said Thales marketing director Philippe Lardilleux. The work would take a lot of engineering, he said. No financial details were available. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: battlefield networks, IDEX 2009, Industry co-operation
Marte gets nod for UAE warship use
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
MBDA has secured its first customer for the ship launched version of the Marte missile in a deal with the United Arab Emirates.
Unfortunately though the European missile builder is sworn to secrecy by the military here and is unable to use the IDEX defense show taking place this week to publicise it’s selection.
A spokesman for the company said he was unable to comment on yesterday’s Defense News Show Scout story that the weapon had been selected as the main armament for 24 fast patrol boats being built for the UAE navy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: MBDA, missile, Procurement
Northrop Grumman waits on UAE to pick AEW eye in the sky
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Pierre Tran
Abu Dhabi – Northrop Grumman highlighted flexibility in slotting in export customers into its production schedule for the Hawkeye E2-D as the company anxiously awaited a decision from the United Arab Emirates on its international tender for airborne early warning aircraft.
At stake is a sale worth hundreds of millions of dollars of seven or eight Hawkeyes to the UAE, a mix of the current E2-C and the new E2-D model, also known as Advanced Hawkeye.
Against Northrop Grumman is ranged Boeing’s Wedgetail and Saab’s Erieeye aircraft. The head of the Hawkeye’s international division, Tom Vice, told journalists Jan. 24 at the IDEX show that “international customers could dovetail into production,” as Northrop Grumman gets ready to start turning out the first of 75 Advanced Hawkeye E2-D ordered by the U.S. Navy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: IDEX 2009, Northrop Grumman, UAE
EADS signs Abu Dhabi JV deal
February 24th, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Pierre Tran
Abu Dhabi – EADS Defense & Security France CEO Hervé Guillou signed on Feb. 21 an agreement with local partner C4 Advanced Solutions with set up a joint venture company aimed at boosting the European company’s sales of systems and networks in the region.
C4 Advanced Solutions is a subsidary of Emirates Advanced Investments.
The deal was intended to “open a long term relationship between EADS Defense & Security and Emirates Advanced Investments,” EADS said.
The joint venture company would be a cornerstone of EADS’s strategy to transfer technology to the United Arab Emirates and pursue a policy of local “citizenship” in the regions where it seeks to boost business. Read the rest of this entry »
Ships, radar and comms in big UAE purchase
February 23rd, 2009 | IDEX 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Just as the IDEX defense show was winding down for the day Feb. 23, the UAE military sprung a surprise with the announcement that it intended to spend more than AED 3 billion ($815 million) on a string of projects.
Maj. Gen. Obaid al-Ketbi, chairman of the IDEX 2009 military committee, told a press conference the UAE intended to buy weapons and other equipment ranging from artillery-spotting radars through to warship, communications equipment and helicopters.
Taken together with the selection earlier in the day of Lockheed Martin C-130′s and Boeing C-17 aircraft, this latest batch of announcements will go some way to validating the government’s insistence that defense spending here will not be affected in the short-term by plummeting oil prices.
The general even suggested there was a least one more big-ticket deal to come before the show closes Feb. 26.
Asked whether the UAE intends to announce a winner for the long-running jet trainer battle between the Korean Aerospace T-50 and Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346, the general replied: “We are trying to do our best. Hopefully, we will announce something in the next two or three days.”
Tags: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Procurement, Thales