The week that was: Armoured vehicles

0

Rate this Article: (Be the First!)   Thanks for your rating!

With an armada-sized amount of news in armoured vehicles over the last seven days, Defence IQ wanted to keep you updated and give a snap-shot of all the key happenings.

FORCE PROTECTION ACQUISITION COMPLETES General Dynamics announced the successful completion of its tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Force Protection, Inc., for a price of $5.52 per share in cash. The offer and withdrawal rights expired, as scheduled, on Friday, December 16, 2011. The tender offer was launched on November 18, following the announcement on November 7 that General Dynamics and Force Protection had reached agreement on the terms of a merger agreement. The acquisition of Force Protection is expected to be accretive to General Dynamics' earnings in 2012.

AZERBAIJAN PROCUREMENT Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence Industry (MDI) will produce and hand over 60 additional Matador and Marauder mine-protected armoured vehicles to the Armed Forces, military sources told APA. Defence Industry Minister Yaver Jamalov said that the relevant body of the ministry and South Africa’s Paramount Group are currently working on this project.

BUSHMASTER’S RESERVED FOR AUSTRALIA Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Senator David Feeney, and Commander 2nd Division, Major General Craig Williams AM, announced major reforms for Army Reserve under Plan Beersheba at Simpson Barracks in Watsonia, Melbourne. “This Government will ensure that all Reserve Armoured Corps will receive Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles to provide protected transport for our troops,” said Feeney.

$150 MILLION KUWAIT DEAL Force Protection Industries, Inc., a FORCE PROTECTION, INC. group company, announced it has received two firm fixed price modification awards under contract M67854-07-D-5031 for the extension of field service representatives (FSR) in Afghanistan and Kuwait from U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, totalling approximately $150.3 million.

$7.5 BILLION PROJECT OVERLANDER Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced that the Government had taken the next step in the $7.5 billion Project Overlander that will provide the Australian Defence Force with around 7,500 new vehicles over the next decade. Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia has been down-selected as the preferred tenderer and will now enter into detailed negotiations to provide up to 2,700 protected and unprotected medium and heavy vehicles under LAND 121 Phase 3B. Thales Australia’s Hawkei has been selected as the preferred vehicle for the development and testing under Stage 2 of the Manufactured and Supported in Australia (MSA) option under LAND 121 Phase 4.

£1.1 BILLION SPENT, ZERO VEHICLES BOUGHT British Defence Minister Peter Luff responded to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), published last week on the delivery of armoured vehicles. Luff said: "Since the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the Ministry of Defence has attempted to acquire the vehicles it needs through a number of procurement projects. However, none of the principal armoured vehicles it requires have yet been delivered, despite the Department spending £1.1bn since 1998, including £321m wasted on cancelled or suspended projects. As a result there will be gaps in capability until at least 2025, making it more difficult to undertake essential tasks such as battlefield reconnaissance."

Photo: Richard Engle

Contributor:   Andrew Elwell

Andrew graduated from The University of Nottingham with an MA in History in 2003. After graduating Andrew started his career with a niche armour systems manufacturer, which provided ballisitic and blast armour products for the international defence market. His first major undertaking was to project manage a UOR up-armour programme for an in-theatre MoD vehicle. After completion of the contract, Andrew headed up the research and development department at the company. This involved designing, developing, testing and presenting new armour solutions to defeat customer specific threats to all major European and International ballistic and blast standards.

Following this Andrew moved behind the desk and became Senior Editor at a news and data provider, offering proprietary analysis, intelligence, market research and data on the global security and defence industry. The role offered the chance to write widely on the industry, exploring new technologies and getting to grips with corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity fundraisings.

You Should Check Out:

Armoured vehicle makers merge to shelter from economic tidal wave

Eastern European Countries Investing in Military Equipment