UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Strong US Dollar Makes Rolls-Royce Holding plc And BAE Systems plc More Attractive

The US dollar is flying high against most currencies around the globe and has remarkably appreciated against the British pound since early July. If current trends persist, companies such as Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR) and BAE Systems (LSE:BA) are set to benefit over the short term, although long-term value resides in their investment strategies and productivity.​

British Army tests Mastiff MRAPs in mechanised infantry role









Key Points​

British Army units are carrying out a trial to test the tactics and procedures of operating the General Dynamics Land Systems - Force Protection Mastiff mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle in the mechanised infantry role.

Exercise 'Wessex Storm' involved units of 12 Mechanised Brigade operating across the Salisbury Plain Training Area using the Mastiff MRAPs in conventional war scenarios. The British Army bought 400 Mastiff's with urgent operational requirement (UOR) funding for counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan.

The British Army has decided to keep the Mastiff in its order of battle to equip three protected mobility battalions, which will be assigned in its three Army 2020 Reaction Force armoured infantry brigades. The first two of these brigades will stand up in 2015 and the third one will fully operational in Salisbury Plain by 2017, after relocating from Germany.


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NEW INTELLIGENT EW SYSTEM TO COUNTER EVOLVING RADAR THREATS

Our work innovating next-generation EW technology will provide a major battlefield advantage.BAE Systems today announced its selection by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase 2 of its Adaptive Radar Countermeasures (ARC) program, aimed at developing technology to counter threats from adversaries’ air defense systems.

Currently, electronic warfare (EW) systems must rely only on known emitter databases to characterize emerging threats. As part of ARC Phase 2, BAE Systems will deliver a prototype system that will feature software algorithms capable of detecting and countering emerging radar threats, providing a major capability enhancement without the need for costly hardware upgrades.

“Our work innovating next-generation EW technology will provide a major battlefield advantage and help create a smarter and safer environment for our warfighters,” said David Logan, vice president and general manager of Technology Solutions at BAE Systems. “Technology that adapts to overcome our adversaries’ digitally programmable air defenses is an important part of BAE Systems’ wider portfolio in cognitive programming for military systems.”

This award follows BAE Systems’ work in Phases 1A and 1B to develop technology that leverages advancements in EW systems to rapidly characterize emerging radar threats, synthesize electronic countermeasures, and assess the effectiveness of the response. Together, Phases 1 and 2 of the ARC program represent a three-year, $21.6 million opportunity for BAE Systems.

Drawing on its more than 60 years of experience designing and fielding the nation’s most advanced, BAE Systems continues to evolve capabilities to counter emerging Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) threats. Final implementation of the ARC program is projected to occur by 2018, with demonstrations through live flight tests on an existing EW system.

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Construction begins on new Royal Navy warships



Production of the UK Royal Navy’s new Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) has started today, with the first steel cut at BAE Systems in Glasgow. Bernard Gray, the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Chief of Defence Material, formally started construction by operating the plasma steel cutting machine that began shaping the steel for the first of three new ships to be built at the company’s facility in Govan.

The 90 metre OPV is based on a proven BAE Systems design which is already in service with the Brazilian Navy and Royal Thai Navy. Engineers at BAE Systems have modified the design, ensuring it meets the requirements of the Royal Navy in support of UK interests both at home and abroad.

The vessels will include a modified flight deck capable of operating the latest Merlin helicopters, larger stores and more accommodation for embarked troops. They will also be the first ships to be built with a BAE Systems designed, new state-of-the-art operating system called Shared Infrastructure, which will be rolled out across the Royal Navy’s surface fleet over the next ten years. Shared Infrastructure revolutionises the way ships operate by using virtual technologies to host and integrate the sensors, weapons and management systems that complex warships require. By replacing multiple large consoles dedicated to specific tasks with a single hardware solution, the amount of spares which are required to be carried onboard is reduced, significantly decreasing through-life costs.

The manufacturing contract for the three ships was announced in August. The OPVs will be globally deployable and capable of ocean patrol with a range of 5,000 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 24 knots. The first of class is expected to be delivered to the Royal Navy in 2017.​

Britain and France have awarded a service contract to Airbus Defence and Space for support of the A400M airlifter flown by the and French Air Force, the British and French defense ministries said.“The first common in-service support [ISS] contract has been awarded for the initial maintenance and support of the A400M Atlas military aircraft,” the ministries said in a statement.The British contract is worth €213 million (US $261.6 million) and runs for two years, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. The French contract is worth €115 million and runs for 20 months, a French government source said.France signed its deal Dec. 4, a spokesperson for the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) procurement office said.“The signature of this joint contract for the support of the A400M Atlas fleet is the achievement of successful British-French discussions over a number of years, and is an important milestone of increasing mutual collaboration at the heart of agreements made under the Lancaster House Treaty for defense and security cooperation,” British Defence Minister Philip Dunne said.

A Typhoon aircraft has successfully completed the first in a series of live firings of the MBDA Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile. This continues the series of trials we lead to demonstrate integration of the Meteor missile with Typhoon's weapon system.

Following contract signature in 2013 for the full integration of Meteor onto Typhoon, the trials continue to demonstrate that the weapon operates effectively with the aircraft.

Led by ourselves with support from MBDA, Selex, Qinetiq and MOD, the trials were conducted in November 2014 at the MOD’s Hebrides firing range in the UK and further developed and tested the integration of the missile with the weapon system as well as expanding the jettison envelope by conducting firings at different altitudes and speeds. The trials also tested the interface of the missile with the weapon system for both pre-launch priming and post launch datalink functions between the missile and radar.

Test pilot Nat Makepeace flew the sortie and said: “The aircraft and the weapon performed exactly as expected. It’s very easy and intuitive to operate, and the trials demonstrated that we can operate in an expanded envelope safely and accurately. This is a significant step forward for the full integration of the Meteor missile onto the Typhoon aircraft.”


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