U. S. intelligence agencies believe China performed the anti-satellite
(ASAT) test January 11. During the test, a kinetic kill vehicle,
launched by a ballistic missile destroyed a target orbiting
earth at an altitude of 537 mi (864 km). The Chinese test was
similar to a test of a kinetic energy ASAT weapon carried by
the U.S. in 1985, destroyed a U.S. scientific satellite in orbit
at 326 mi (525 km) altitude. The destruction of the weather
satellite left considerable space debris in a heavily crowded
orbit around 900km, used by many commercial, scientific and
military satellites.
BAE Systems has received two US Army contracts totaling $412
million, supporting the reset of Bradley A3 armored fighting
vehicles. The awards announced last week, fund the processing
of 262 vehicles in FY 2007. Combined with the $1.16 billion
contract for the remanufacture and upgrade of 610 Bradley awarded
in November 2006, the total value of the Bradley upgrading and
reset contracts amounts to $3.5 billion for Fiscal Years 2005
– 2007. 620 A3 vehicles have already been processed, out
of a US Army requirement for the upgrading and remanufacturing
of more than 2,000 total Bradley A3s.
Finland Orders
RBS-70 Air Defense System
Saab Bofors Dynamics has signed a contract for the RBS 70 air
defense missile system with the Finnish army. The contract is
valued at 600 MSEK (US$85 million). The first delivery is scheduled
for the end of 2008. The order secures production of the RBS
70 until 2010.
Boeing [NYSE: BA] will upgrade (remanufacture) 126 AH-64D Apaches
for the US Army (96) and the army of the United Arab Emirates
(30), under a $1.15 billion contract signed last week. The first
helicopter in this Block II production will be delivered in
October 2007. Last week Boeing also announced
the beginning of deliveries of 12 new AH-64Ds to Greece.
Italian Offshore Patrol Vessels
for the Turkish Coast Guards
The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Turkish RMK Marine
shipyard will build four patrol vessels for the Turkish Coast
Guards. Fincantieri’s share of the program amounts to
approximately € 110 million. The vessels will be delivered
by the year 2011. The Turkish OPV will be based on the design
of “Sirio” and “Orione” OPVs, delivered
to the Italian Navy in 2003. The companies agreed to market
this design to other countries. The vessel measures 88.40 metes
in length, breadth 12.20 metes, and displacement at full load
1,700 tons. The maximum speed is 22 knots. Cruising at a speed
of 15 knots, it can reach 3,000 nautical miles.
Tadiran
Receives US$ 20 Million for new SDR Radios
Tadiran Communications reported last week it received an additional
order of $20.5M from Israeli Ministry of Defense, for the supply
of the new Software Defined Radio under development by Tadiran.
This order is follow-on to the first order worth $19.6 million
awarded in December 2005 for the development and initial supply
of next generation software defined radio (SDR) systems for
use by the various branches of the Israel Defense Forces. The
new radio will provide high-speed simultaneous voice and data
communications, and support multiple advanced communications
protocols.
