IDEX: UAE Requirement For APC Fleet Generates Interest

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A requirement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a fleet of new armored personnel carriers (APC), estimated at 600 units, has attracted strong interest from the European arm of General Dynamics, Nexter, Rheinmetall and Patria, which are on the bidding list.
Vehicles from each of the competing companies were on show at the IDEX arms exhibition here.

The planned purchase of 600 eight-wheeled troop carriers includes an undisclosed number of a fighting vehicle variant, industry executives said. The vehicles are intended to replace about 400 BMP-3 troop carriers dating back to the Soviet era, the executives said.
Amid official secrecy and cautious industry estimates, the companies are preparing their bids, which require teaming with local partners and meeting rigorous industrial offset requirements.
A high level of protection, mobility and modularity are priorities in the procurement. Tests of the vehicles were held last summer and more trials are due to take place this summer, when temperatures are expected to hit the 50s.
Once the vehicle is selected, the fleet will be plugged into a new command and control system.
EADS, through its Emiraje Systems joint venture with local partner C4 Advanced Solutions, was announced Feb. 22 as winner of a $550 million contract to supply a command and control system for the UAE armed forces.
Thales, meanwhile, is expected to deliver tactical radios for the new vehicle fleet through Thales Advanced Solutions, its joint venture with local partner Emirates Advanced Investments.
The bidders for the vehicle:
* General Dynamics European Land Systems is showing the Desert Piranha 5, a variant of the Piranha 5, at IDEX. A Piranha vehicle went through tests last summer, which led to modifications to be made to the present unit on display, a company executive said. The Desert Piranha unit will remain in the UAE after the show closes on Feb. 24 to take part in further tests. Production of the Pirnaha 5 has started in Switzerland.
* Nexter of France is proposing its Véhicule Blindé Combat d'Infanterie (VBCI). The French company is also leaving the unit at the show to take part in the upcoming field trials. The VBCI underwent tests last year. The VBCI has entered service with the French Army. Major Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi included Nexter in the Feb. 22 daily show announcement of deals, for a 423 million dirham contract for technical support for the Leclerc battle tank.
* Rheinmetall of Germany is fielding the Boxer, which went through summer trials here last year and entered production in Germany in September, a company executive said. The German Army plans to send the Boxer to Afghanistan in the second half of 2011. Rheinmetall has presented a fighting vehicle variant.
* Patria of Finland is bidding its Armored Modular Vehicle (AMV), which has been in service with the UAE since the Abu Dhabi authorities bought an undisclosed number of units in 2007. Patria understands the vehicle fleet has performed satisfactorily, a company executive said. That included the unit trials last summer, and which did not break down in the tests. The AMV is in local production in Croatia, Poland and Slovenia, which have bought the vehicle. Patria has a cooperation agreement with the Al Taif company, based here.

Arrow Test Hits Target, Validates New Software

TEL AVIV - The U.S.-Israel Arrow program passed another milestone Feb. 22 with the spectacular, nighttime, head-on intercept of a sea-based, long-range target off the California coast.

The joint U.S.-Israel Arrow Weapon System successfully intercepted a ballistic target missile on Feb. 22. (U.S. Defense Department)

Part of the ongoing, jointly funded Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP), the test validated new Block 4 versions designed to improve discriminating capabilities of the Arrow 2 interceptor, the Green Pine search-and-track radar and the Citron Tree battle management control system.

"To see that explosion off the shores of California was truly gratifying. It was a body-to-body impact that completely destroyed the target," Arieh Herzog, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization told reporters via teleconference shortly after the nighttime launch at the U.S. Navy's Point Mugu Sea Range.
Herzog said validation of the Block 4 software would provide the Israel Air Force "with a better system than they have now." The software upgrades, he said, improve detection capabilities and lethality needed to defend against "new and different threats."
In a Feb. 22 statement, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) noted that the Green Pine radar successfully detected and tracked the target, transferred information to the Citron Tree management control system and launched the Arrow interceptor, "which performed its planned trajectory and destroyed the target missile."
The MDA statement noted that the test "represented a realistic scenario" and involved operationally ready elements of the Arrow weapon system.

U.S. Navy: Cost of Ohio Class Subs Down $1 Billion

The Navy has been able to reduce the expected cost of its Ohio Class submarine replacement by more than $1 billion with an overall goal of trimming more than $2 billion per vessel, according to the Pentagon's top weapons buyer.
Pentagon officials have generated the extra cost savings by examining the drivers of cost in the vessel's design, according to Pentagon acquisition executive Ashton Carter.

Originally, cost estimators projected the SSBN(X) price tag at about $7 billion per submarine. The submarine's cost is now down to $6 billion with a goal of getting the cost down to $4.9, Carter said during a Feb. 22 presentation at a Center for New American Security event in Washington.
If the Navy were forced to pay $7 billion per submarine, it would not be able to afford any other ships, Carter said.
This same approach of looking at the drivers of cost in a weapon's design will be used during upcoming acquisitions, including the Air Force's new bomber, a Marine Corps effort to field a new helicopter for presidential transport and the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle, Carter said.

IDEX: KMW, Ashok Join to Produce Armored Vehicles

ABU DHABI - Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has struck a deal with Ashok Leyland Defence Systems to partner in the development of armored vehicles for Indian and other markets.
The two companies used the IDEX defense show here to announce they have signed a memorandum of understanding covering armored wheeled vehicles, recovery vehicles, artillery and combat systems, bridge layers, and other similar vehicles.

Ashok is India's largest military truck supplier, with more than 60,000 of its Stallion machines helping power India's military logistics effort.
The Chennai-based company recently formed a new company, Ashok Leyland Defence Systems, to spearhead its special military vehicles effort.
Germany's KMW said it would provide technology and technical assistance to develop products for the Indian market.
Ashok Leyland Defence Systems Chairman V. Sumantran, said the "strategic partnership seeks to harness the formidable skills of both companies, namely, the technological bandwidth of KMW and our approach to innovations aimed at cost advantage."
The German armored vehicle company follows European rival Bae Systems into the Indian market. It recently formed a joint venture with automotive maker Mahindra & Mahindra to develop artillery systems and armored vehicles for the Indian market.

Iran Warships Enter Mediterranean

JERUSALEM - Israel put its navy on high alert and said it would respond immediately to any "provocation" as two Iranian warships sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Feb. 22.
The Iranian vessels entered the southeastern Mediterranean after going up the canal for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reportedly en route for Syria, in a move taking them past Israeli territorial waters.

Suez Canal officials confirmed the patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Kharg had completed the crossing after entering the narrow waterway at dawn.
A senior Israeli security source told AFP that Israel would "not initiate any action" against the Iranian vessels, but if the Iranians deviated in any way that could be considered "a provocation," there would be an "immediate Israeli response."
The Israeli navy immediately went on high alert and the troops were briefed on how to respond in such an event, he said.
The 1,500-ton Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran's official Fars news agency has said.
Both ships were built in Britain during the 1970s for Iran, which ordered them before the Islamic revolution.
Neither ship is carrying chemical or nuclear material, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency has reported.
Their passage into the eastern Mediterranean comes as the Arab world and the Middle East grapples with a vast wave of unrest and protests that is radically changing the political landscape, and leaving Israel increasingly concerned about its security.
"We are talking about an unprecedented Iranian military presence in the Mediterranean, and that is a provocation to which the international community must react firmly," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP earlier Feb. 22.
On Feb. 20, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ships' arrival in the region as an Iranian power play, just days after his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, branded their voyage "a provocation."
"Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal," he said.
"Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative," his office quoted him as saying.
Animosity between Iran and Israel has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly spoken of the Jewish state's demise.
Israel also accuses Tehran of arming and funding Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program.
Tehran denies that charge and has in turn accused Israel of trying to sabotage its nuclear program and kill its nuclear scientists.
Israel has backed a U.S. policy of tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran while remaining open to dialogue.
But it has refused to rule out a resort to military action to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

IDEX: F-16 Upgrades, Leclerc Support Top UAE Deals

ABU DHABI - Reconnaissance pods for F-16 fighters, technical support for Leclerc main battle tanks and a command-and-control system were among the latest batch of contracts announced by the United Arab Emirates military at the IDEX defense show Feb 22.
Selection of Goodrich ISR Systems reconnaissance pods for UAE F-16 jets was the first of more than a dozen deals valued at about 2.5 billion UAE dirhams ($681 million) outlined by IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi.

Goodrich had beaten BAE Systems to the 297 million UAE dirham deal, the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Goodrich in the U.K. said the company has received a contract to provide its DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system for the Block 60 F-16s.
"The Direct Commercial Sale contract calls for Goodrich to provide six DB-110 reconnaissance pods and three ground-based, image exploitation systems. Work will be performed by the company's ISR Systems facilities in the U.S. and the U.K.," she said.
The DB-110 digital, real-time, tactical reconnaissance system captures images day and night using electro-optical/infrared sensor technology. Images can then be transmitted instantaneously to analysts on the ground.
Today's list of contract announcements followed 4 billion UAE dirhams worth of deals, the pick of which was a contract with Sikorsky to turn 27 UH-60 Black Hawks into air assault helicopters.
Some of the contracts announced here have been in place for several months and news of their selection was delayed for the IDEX show.
Notable contracts in the Feb 22 list include a 423 million UAE dirham technical support contract between Nexter of France and Al Taif Technical Services, its local partner, to provide maintenance for the UAE's Leclerc tanks and armored recovery vehicles. Al Taif is part of the state-owned Mubadala holding group.
French industry also landed a small contract to undertake a 112 million UAE dirham upgrade to the weapon systems of the UAE's Mirage 2000 fighters.
Emirates Systems was one of a number of local companies that secured contracts. It is providing a command-and-control system in the biggest domestic win of the day in a deal priced at 550 million UAE dirhams.

IDEX: France's Nexter Deals With Mideast Firms

Abu Dhabi - Nexter has signed a number of deals for munitions and local industrial cooperation aimed at boosting its business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Middle East region, an executive of the French land systems company said at the IDEX show here.
Among recent contract wins:

■ The supply of 30mm ammunition for the Dassault Mirage 2000-9 fighters of the UAE Air Force, a deal signed with the International Golden Group, based here, in early 2011.
■ Supply of a "very significant number" of Bonus 155mm, 52-caliber anti-tank artillery rounds for an undisclosed Middle East country, signed toward the end of 2010.
Nexter has sold its Caesar truck-mounted artillery to Saudi Arabia and Thailand, as well as the French Army.
■ A deal with the International Golden Group to supply the Azur up-armor kit for the UAE Army's Leclerc battle tank. The kit includes extra protection for combat in urban zones.
Nexter executives are looking to that recent sale of Bonus rounds to provide a sales platform for the UAE Army.
As part of its renewed sales effort in the region, Nexter signed Feb. 21 an agreement with the Burkan industrial group, based here, aimed at transferring to its local partner production of tens of thousands of the 120mm shell for the Leclerc tank fleet.
Burkan is a joint venture of German company Rheinmetall, the state-owned Mubadala holding group and the Al Jaber company.
Nexter also signed Feb. 21 a memorandum of understanding with Al Taif Technical Services for its local partner to provide maintenance for the UAE's Leclerc tanks and armored recovery vehicles. Al Taif is part of Mubadala.
Nexter is pitching its Véhicule Blindé Combat d'Infantrie (VBCI) in the UAE's competition for a fleet of armored personnel carriers estimated at 600, which includes a number of fighting vehicles.
A transfer of technology that allows local munitions production and a higher level of local tank and armored vehicle maintenance are intended to meet the UAE's drive to develop its defense industrial base, Nexter executive Bruno Burgon said.
Nexter is keen to be retained in any future modernization of the Leclerc, which was designed as a complete system. It fears third-party work might reduce the internal cohesion.
The signing of the "gentlemen's agreement" on local munitions production opens the way for talks to begin in April on work shares. The first batch of shells to be locally produced would be practice rounds before moving on to making combat munitions, which are expected to include new-generation high explosive and armor-piercing shells.
Nexter is also hoping to sell its Narwhal 20mm naval gun to the UAE Navy for mounting on fast patrol boats and the Baynunah missile corvette built by the Abu Dhabi-owned CMN shipyard in Cherbourg, northern France.
Nexter has signed up to the UAE's new offset agreement, which underpins the government's bid to strengthen its industrial base.