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Avon Protection Awarded UK MoD General Service Respirator Contract Worth Up to £38m

Friday, May 10th, 2024

The contract will see Avon Protection continue to supply and support the General Service Respirator (GSR) for all branches of the UK military’s forces from its facility in Melksham, Wiltshire.

9 May 2024, Melksham, UK: Avon Protection, the leader in innovative CBRN personal protective equipment, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the continued supply of the General Service Respirator (GSR) and associated in service support contract by the UK Ministry of Defence.

The contract, over four years, with five further 12-month option periods is valued at up to £38 million.

The twin-canister, single-visor GSR is the standard issue respirator for all UK service personnel across the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. Designed and manufactured to the UK MoD’s precise specifications, it provides high-performance filtration protection for users operating in CBRN threat environments.

Avon Protection was first awarded the contract to supply and support the GSR in 2018. Since then, it has supplied over 90,000 GSRs to UK MoD users from its facility in Melksham, Wiltshire. This new contract will sustain many highly skilled jobs at the Melksham facility as well as in the supply chain that is primarily based in the United Kingdom – ensuring the nation maintains sovereign CBRN protection capability through domestic production and R&D.

“We are proud to have secured this new contract with the UK MoD, reaffirming our commitment to providing sovereign capability and unparalleled protection for those who tirelessly defend our nation,” Steve Elwell, President of Avon Protection, said. “We remain dedicated to delivering excellence so our protectors can complete their mission and come home safely, every time.”

“We welcome the award of this contract, which will ensure continued support of the respiratory protection available to our armed forces. We have worked with Avon on supporting GSR for the past 6 years and look forward to continuing this relationship, offering high levels of protection to our troops across the world,” Richard Bloomfield, Head of Electronic Warfare and CBRN at Defence Equipment and Support, said.

“This award demonstrates the strength of our technology and our commitment to protecting those who protect us by providing a world-leading sovereign CBRN protection capability from our facility in Wiltshire,” Jos Sclater, Chief Executive Officer, Avon Protection plc, said. “As we have seen with the reported deployment of chemical agents in Ukraine and in other recent conflicts, the highest grade CBRN protection is critical to operational capability for warfighters in the evolving reality of near-peer, hybrid warfare. We are very proud to have won this tender with the UK MoD and to continue support the UK’s objectives of providing the highest quality, most reliable and trusted protection equipment for our service men and women.”

Posted in CBRNE, Contracts, International, Press Release | Comments Off on Avon Protection Awarded UK MoD General Service Respirator Contract Worth Up to £38m

Bounce Imaging Releases New TSM-Enabled 360° Cameras Powered by TrellisWare; Part of $11M in New Contracts with DoD

Tuesday, May 7th, 2024

Several Hundred Mesh-Radio-Enabled 360° Cameras to Fill Situational Awareness Capabilities Gap for US and NATO Allies

BUFFALO, N.Y., May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bounce Imaging and TrellisWare Technologies, Inc. are pleased to announce the release of two new camera systems integrating TrellisWare’s Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) radio modules into Bounce Imaging’s 360° tactical cameras for a longer-range and more inter-operable situational awareness solution. An order for several hundred of these systems to U.S. special operations units represents the largest part of $11 million in new DoD contracts awarded to Bounce Imaging, with shipments beginning this month.

By integrating Bounce Imaging’s Recce360TW throwable camera and its Land Shark TW K9 camera with TrellisWare’s robust TW-650 TSM Shadow® Core Board Module, operators can continue to leverage the combat-proven cameras to maintain situational awareness, now with enhanced resilience against electronic warfare. The incorporation of this communication pathway facilitates seamless collaboration with other unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) platforms as a long-range payload. Deployable by tossing, tethering, or mounting, warfighters can evaluate environmental circumstances from all angles simultaneously before engaging.

“We’re proud to offer cutting-edge tools that easily fit into an operator’s drop pouch, rapidly deploy in even the most contested environments and deliver crucial context on field conditions directly to ATAK devices, supporting our servicemen with the decision quality necessary to execute successful operations,” said Mark Fargason, Bounce Imaging COO. “We remain committed to delivering systems at low cost and high inter-operability with existing platforms like TrellisWare to provide intelligence that keeps soldiers safer.”

“TrellisWare is proud to team with Bounce Imaging on the integration of our TW-650 TSM Shadow Core Board Module into their Recce360 TW Ball camera system,” said George Roesch, director of Global SOF for TrellisWare. “The Recce 360 TW Ball is one of the most unique solutions to leverage our TSM® waveform to deliver a highly impactful capability to our combined users. It is great to have Bounce Imaging join the powerful TSM Ecosystem!”

In addition to the above contracts, the company has also recently delivered its first shipment of TrellisWare-enabled K9 cameras to one of several NATO allies pursuing Bounce Imaging technology deployments, and its cameras are in active use by U.S. partners in conflict zones.

The company recently won $5M in development contracts with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to continue to address the most pressing challenges faced by the USAF and broader DoD. This includes next-generation systems that incorporate fully panoramic thermal video and 5G communications modules.

Over the last four years, Bounce Imaging’s technology has been extensively validated in the Army Expeditionary Warrior Equipment (AEWE) and 10X Platoon exercises, as well as multiple U.S. and NATO ally deployments abroad. Bounce Imaging tactical cameras support domestic operations every day with over 600 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, CBP, NYPD and others across the United States.

Posted in Contracts, ISR, Optics, Press Release | Comments Off on Bounce Imaging Releases New TSM-Enabled 360° Cameras Powered by TrellisWare; Part of $11M in New Contracts with DoD

FLAIM Systems Awarded Contract for Immersive Countermine Training Solution

Monday, May 6th, 2024

Tampa, Florida – May 2024

FLAIM Systems has been awarded a contract from the Australian Army to further develop the FLAIM Sweeper, an immersive countermine and explosive hazard awareness training system. The contract incorporates the purchase of multiple systems to conduct an extended trial and user evaluation across the Army’s School of Military Engineering and its Combat Engineer and Special Operations Engineer Regiments. The FLAIM Sweeper enables defence combat engineers to undertake land mine detection and clearancetraining and offers explosive hazard awareness training for all deploying personnel in a fully immersive ‘feels-real’ training environment.

Complementing traditional counter mine/IED field training, the FLAIM Sweeper combines high-resolution, high-fidelity virtual minefields and explosive hazard training lanes with the performance of industry standard mine detection equipment. Embedded haptics delivers a feels-real kinesthetic mine clearance learning experience in a safer environment. With a ‘reps and sets’ approach, the system helps build procedural muscle memory and tactical proficiency, while facilitating the delivery of an After-Action-Review following each training session.

The contract is the result of a successful demonstration that concluded the 2023 Phase 1 Proof of Concept initiated through the Defence Innovation Hub. The demonstration highlighted how immersive learning complements existing training protocols, while mitigating skills fade in high-risk roles. The benefits of replicating the conduct of mine clearance operations were evident and thus the FLAIM Sweeper was integrated as a core test within the Royal Australian Engineer Corp’s annual Skills Competition, The Steele Cup.

“We are humbled to have been awarded a contract to continue to develop and deliver the FLAIM Sweeper for use by the Australian Army” said Dr James Mullins, Head of Innovationat FLAIM Systems. “Immersive learning is an effective solution for skills acquisition and maintenance for environments that are too dangerous or difficult to replicate in real life”.

Immersive learning provides the closest experience to a real-life event, offering an environment where trainees can practice without the danger, cost, and logistical burden of physical training to complement existing training protocols.

“At FLAIM, we strive to deliver solutions that enhance the readiness of those on the front line” added Simon Miller, CEO at FLAIM Systems. “The contract with Australian Armydemonstrates FLAIM’s partnership approach in delivering purposeful solutions that complement our customers’ training protocols. This is a fantastic opportunity to enable a prepared defence force, while demonstrating the crucial role immersive learning can play in offering safer training solutions.

FLAIM Systems will be hosting private demonstrations of the FLAIM Sweeper on the Team Defence Australia pavilion (Booth #721) at SOF Week from 6-10 May. FLAIM invites attendees to contact info@flaimsystems.com to book a demonstration.

Posted in CIED, Contracts, International, Press Release, SOF Week | Comments Off on FLAIM Systems Awarded Contract for Immersive Countermine Training Solution

Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) Contract Cancellation

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD – The U.S. Army recently announced the cancellation of the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) task order competition under the RS3 Enterprise contract. The decision was prompted by evolving requirements and a strategic realignment within the program.

As part of this realignment moving forward, the U.S. Army continues to prioritize its service specific EWPMT fielding of current capability and will also focus on EWPMT software architecture modernization. Program Executive Office – Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) is working on a pilot as part of the architecture modernization in collaboration with the United States Marine Corps (USMC), shifting EWPMT’s electromagnetic warfare and spectrum management capabilities to the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) framework. This effort is being led by the Electronic Warfare Integration (EWI) product management office.

TAK-X is a framework on which applications for presenting situational awareness data and geospatial visualizations can be built. Transition to the TAK framework is consistent with ongoing efforts to deliver capability at speed by leveraging common technologies across the Services with a similar user experience. The TAK user community collaborates across the EW user space and presents opportunities for technology advancement and integration across the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and the Joint Communities of Interest.

This strategic move aims to ensure that EWPMT is a relevant capability at the forefront of emerging operational requirements. The results of the U.S. Army-USMC collaboration on the TAK-X foundation will provide for microservice-based, modular software architecture satisfying Joint and individual Service requirements. It will enable agile development, integration, and ability to rapidly adjust to evolving operational requirements.

The initial releases of the modernized architecture, EWPMT-X, will be piloted and demonstrated over the next year to gain EW operator feedback. If the pilot effort proves successful, EWPMT-X will replace the current version of EWPMT in Fiscal Year 2026, ushering in a new era of Joint electronic warfare and spectrum management capabilities.

The U.S. Army program office is assessing future contract efforts based on operational and support requirements. Updates on future contract opportunities will be released via SAM.gov and PEO IEW&S – hosted Acquisition Lead Time (ALT) Industry events.

Posted in Army, Contracts, EW, Press Release | Comments Off on Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) Contract Cancellation

DCMA Launches Radars and Sensors as Newest Systems Command

Tuesday, April 30th, 2024

FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. –

Defense Contract Management Agency established its newest contract management office, Radars and Sensors, during a standup ceremony at agency headquarters April 17.

The new CMO consolidates contractor oversight activities of six disestablished offices and is intended to more closely align the agency’s work to the requirements of the military services.

Navy Capt. Nicola Gathright, commander of DCMA Eastern Regional Command, expressed her excitement for the new effort and said the official ceremony was a long time coming.

“We started the planning in the first week of October 2023, and I have personally witnessed the collaboration and communication that went into it,” she said. “There was a good amount of communicating with the workforce and getting them comfortable with change.”

Gathright labelled the change as an opportunity and said a workforce that embraces change becomes stronger as fresh ideas and fresh perspectives are shared with employees from multiple offices now under a single organization.

“I’m excited about the future. I’m excited for the future of DCMA Radars and Sensors,” Gathright said.

Radars and Sensors is the first CMO established that is described as a systems command: an organization that provides a focal point for all contract management and surveillance activities of a class of systems for which DCMA maintains responsibility.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Masiello, DCMA director, expressed his excitement for the warfighter support the new office will provide.

“This is a broad portfolio in technology and all the things that go into,” he said. “I think this is an ideal (opportunity).”

Masiello said DCMA Radars and Sensors, which will be headquartered in Boston, is an example of the future of the agency and how it is adapting to fulfill warfighter needs while meeting the challenges of budget constraints.

“This is a good thing. We’re evolving here at DCMA,” Masiello said. “As we talk more in our portfolios, we’ll see the interconnectedness of the supply chains.”

Army Col. Jonathan Patrick, DCMA Radars and Sensors commander, thanked the teams and individuals who helped make the establishment of the new CMO possible.

“Together, we traversed through numerous milestones to get here to the establishment of DCMA Radars and Sensors today,” Patrick said. “It’s a privilege to lead this remarkable team.”

DCMA’s ongoing reorganization is part of an aggressive plan to build an organizational structure that matches the agency’s specialized skills with the unique needs of customers across product aligned and geographic offices.

The contract management agency’s current continental United States structure is primarily organized with three regional commands overseeing 45 subordinate contract management offices. When the reorganization is fully realized, these offices could be consolidated to as few as eight geographic offices and 10 product offices.

By Jason Kaneshiro, DCMA Eastern Region Public Affairs

Posted in Contracts, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

GA-ASI Selected to Build Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Advanced Aircraft Division

Friday, April 26th, 2024

SAN DIEGO – 24 April 2024 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has been selected to build production representative flight test articles of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Advanced Aircraft Division. This option contract award by the Advanced Aircraft Division exercises the critical design, build, and flight test on the existing CCA contract with GA-ASI following an initial 6-month phase that culminated in a successful CCA preliminary design review (PDR) earlier this year.

The CCA program aims to be a force multiplier, developing a low-cost, modular, unmanned aircraft equipped with advanced sensors or weapons and operating in collaborative teams with the next generation of manned combat aircraft.

In February 2024, GA-ASI successfully conducted the maiden flight of the XQ-67A CCA protype aircraft validating the “genus/species” concept pioneered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as part of the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Platform Sharing (LCAAPS)program. This program focused on building several aircraft variants from a common core chassis. Since then, this prototype for CCA has successfully completed two additional test flights, laying the groundwork for a successful production and flight test program. GA-ASI’s CCA production representative design is based upon the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station developed by GA-ASI for the AFRL.

“The CCA program redefines the future of aviation and will shape the USAF acquisition model to deliver affordable combat mass to the warfighter at the speed of relevancy,” said Mike Atwood, Vice President of Advanced Programs for GA-ASI.

“Throughout our 30-year history, GA-ASI has been at the forefront of rapidly advancing unmanned aircraft systems that support our warfighters,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “The USAF is moving forward with GA-ASI due to our focused commitment to unmanned air-to-air combat operations and unmatched UAS experience, ensuring the production of the CCA aircraft at scale to deliver affordable combat mass for the warfighter.”

To complement the CCA contract, GA-ASI will continue to conduct a series of autonomy and mission system tests on the MQ-20 Avenger® UAS and XQ-67A to accelerate the readiness of operational autonomy. These live flight tests will continue to demonstrate the readiness of the full mission capability to support the emerging U.S. Air Force Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP).

Posted in Air Force, Aviation, Contracts, Press Release, UAS | Comments Off on GA-ASI Selected to Build Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Advanced Aircraft Division

NP Aerospace Extends Ukraine Support with Norway Contract

Thursday, April 25th, 2024

Ukraine soldiers wearing NP Aerospace body armour (image copyright NATO)

NP Aerospace is continuing its support for Ukraine with the delivery of a further 2,000 sets of body armour and carrier vests via Norway and the UK Ministry of Defence.

This takes the total number of ballistic plates sent to Ukraine from NP Aerospace to over 180,000 since the start of the war. In addition to NP Aerospace ballistic helmets and bomb disposal suits which are being used on the frontline.

The latest delivery is in support of Operation Ellisiv a Norwegian Ministry of Defence operation. Previous deliveries have been in support of Operation Interflex, aBritish-led multinational military operation to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and part of the UK’s commitment of £3 billion in military aid for this year. The 2,000 sets of body armour (4,000 plates and 2,000 vests) were contracted and delivered from Coventry in the UK in less than three months.

Peter Hardisty, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of NP Aerospace’s Composites and Armour Systems business, said: “Our team in Coventry are honoured to continue to support Ukraine with life-saving body armour and associated military equipment. We have expanded our facilities and team to deliver NATO programmes and will continue to do so for as long as the war continues.”

Posted in Armor, Contracts, International, Press Release | Comments Off on NP Aerospace Extends Ukraine Support with Norway Contract

Tactical Communications for the Bundeswehr: Rheinmetall Wins Framework Contract with a Potential Order Value of €400 Million

Thursday, April 25th, 2024

Intercom with hearing protection function for cross-sectional force equipment

Rheinmetall has been commissioned by the Bundeswehr in a key project for tactical communications which is of cross-sectional importance for the entire force. The technology company has been contracted to supply up to 191,000 sets of the “intercom with hearing protection function”. The framework contract has a seven-year term and a potential order volume of up to €400 million net.

The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag had imposed conditions on the project. 30,000 sets including connection cables with delivery in 2024 have been firmly ordered. A call-off for the delivery of a further 30,000 sets for 2025 is expected. These two delivery batches financed from the special fund will have a net value of up to around €140 million.

The intercom with hearing protection function (abbr. SmG in German, for “Sprechsatz mit Gehörschutz¬function”) includes modern active capsule ear protection that attenuates harmful impulse noise and amplifies quiet sounds. It also has a microphone and can be connected to various radio devices so that radio communication is possible. In addition to the combined headset, the scope of supply includes various push-to-talk (PTT) buttons and different cable sets for connecting to a range of radios and on-board communication systems. Rheinmetall has involved two leading manufacturers as subcontractors for the project: 3M Peltor with the ComTac VIII headset and CeoTronics AG with CT-Multi PTT 1C and 3C. The SmG is compatible with the Rheinmetall-supplied new combat helmet as well as with other Bundeswehr helmet types.

This order underlines Rheinmetall’s leading role in the field of military equipment. The technology company is the prime contractor for the System Infantry Soldier of the Future – Expanded System to the Bundeswehr. Rheinmetall markets various configurations of its Gladius soldier system internationally.

Posted in Comms, Contracts, International | 1 Comment »