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Defence & Security Industry News - MBDA
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Thursday, May
1, 2014 08:01 AM |
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United
Kingdom to order MBDA land version of FLAADS Future Local Area Air Defence
System. |
A
£36M contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been placed
with MBDA for the Land
variant of the Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADS Land).
This will fund an Assessment Phase that will demonstrate the adaptation
and evolution of core weapon system subsystems (e.g. command & control)
for the land environment, and prepare for the transition from Rapier Field
Standard C (FSC) in British Army service. |
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The FLAADS Land
system will provide the British Army with a world leading Ground Based
Air Defence (GBAD) system that will be one of the most advanced and
capable in its class, providing operational, logistical and cost benefits.
At the heart of the FLAADS Land system is MBDA’s Common Anti-air
Modular Missile (CAMM) and its weapon command and control system, contracted
for installation onto the Royal Navy’s (RN) Type 23 Frigates as
Sea Ceptor. This approach leverages the existing investment to deliver
the UK MOD with an affordable but highly capable air defence system
for both the Army and Royal Navy, with a shared support and future upgrade
path across both services.
The opportunity to exploit a CAMM-based
air defence system on land and sea also provides potential
international customers with the opportunity to share in the benefits
that the UK is reaping from the multi-service adoption of the missile.
MBDA is delivering the FLAADS Land programme under the Portfolio Management
Agreement (PMA). The PMA provides the UK Armed Forces with Freedom of
Action and Operational Advantage thereby allowing them to maintain an
edge over adversaries now and in the future. The PMA also ensures the
skills and technologies critical for this are maintained in the UK.
Antoine Bouvier, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA, welcomed the news
saying, “This new contract further demonstrates the value of the
partnership strategy that MBDA is advancing with its domestic customers.
By extending the FLAADS programme to land applications, the British
MOD is showing that MBDA continues to be its Complex Weapons company
of choice and recognises its ingenuity in maximizing cost benefits through
modularity and the re-use of existing technologies. Made possible through
the PMA framework established with the British MOD, CAMM-based
missile systems offer advantages in terms of capability
and through-life costs which I’m sure will interest many armies
and navies around the world”.
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