• British Industry Team to Develop UCAV Demonstrator
• TenCate Acquires the Danish Armor Specialist Roshield
• Raytheon, Viaspace to Pursue Intelligent Surveillance
• Boeing Tests SATCOM laser Relay Interoperability
• Dutch Army to Modernize Air Defense System
• British Forces in Iraq Field an Up-Armored Bulldog
• Bundeswehr Receives first EADS' TETRAPOL radios
• Analysis: The Golan Heights- remain a vital
  strategic asset for Israel

U.K. to Pursue UCAV Demonstrator- Project Taranis

U.K. Defence Minister Lord Drayson has awarded a £124millon contract to BAE Systems to develop a new Unmanned Combat Aerial vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstrator known as 'Project Taranis' (named after the Celtic god of thunder). About the size of a BAE Systems Hawk, the 8 ton autonomous stealth plane will be built by an industry team led by BAE systems including Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, and Smiths Aerospace. Taranis will be designed for autonomous recce and attack missions. Ground testing of Taranis are scheduled for in early 2009, at BAE Systems test facility at Woomera, Australia. The first flight trials taking place in 2010.

TenCate Acquires the Danish Armor Specialist Roshield

Another takeover is underway in the defense market, with the announcement that the Dutch TenCate group has reached agreement about the takeover of Denmark based Roshield, a specialist in vehicle armoring and personal protection. TenCate will pay €34.7 million for the acquisition. Integrating Roshield establish the TenCate Aerospace & Armor Composites group, which is gaining strength on the European market for personal protection and vehicle armoring. TenCate's advanced armor group currently includes the French based Ares Protection group and U.S. based Bryte Technologies. Roshield specializes in design and management of armor upgrading programs. Its 2006 sales amounts to €14 million, contributed primarily from vehicle armoring work.

Raytheon, Viaspace to Pursue Intelligent Surveillance

Raytheon, ViaspacRaytheon Company Network Centric Systems and Viaspace will jointly pursue emerging security and national defense applications built around Viaspace's expertise in real-time analysis of sensor information. The technology introduces a new level of "intelligence" in hardware, by processing inputs from multiple sensors to collectively process and fuse information.e to Pursue Intelligent Surveillance

Boeing Tests SATCOM laser Relay Interoperability

Boeing recently demonstrated communication capabilities between its Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) laser communications terminal and BAE Systems' Airborne Lasercom Risk Reduction Terminal (ALT) demonstrating interoperability between terminals built by Boeing, Ball Aerospace and BAE Systems. The demonstration used several optical waveforms to route TSAT communication signals through the Lasercom Terminal at data rates of up to 10 gigabytes per second. The test demonstrated the TSAT capability to switch laser communications links between TSAT and ATL satellites.

Dutch Army to Modernize Air Defense System

The Netherlands issued procurement contracts for its long awaited Ground Based Air Defense system. The work will be shared by three companies, including EADS Defence and Communications Systems, Kongsberg Aerospace & Defence from Norway and Swiss company Orlikon.

British Forces in Iraq Field an Up-Armored Bulldog

New armor kits have been fitted to the newly modernized British FV-430 Mk3 Bulldog Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) based at Basra, Iraq. The modified APC went through insensitive user trials in the UK and the Middle East prior to deployment.

Bundeswehr Receives first EADS' TETRAPOL radios

EADS Secure Networks has started to deliver the TETRAPOL bw to the German Army (Bundeswehr). TETRAPOL is a military communications system serving subscribers over a large area, similar to a commercial cellular (mobile phone) network. Unlike commercial phone services, the TETRAPOL system utilizes the TETRA standard, designed to serve law enforcement and first responders. The TETRAPOL bw system will support German Army forces in out-of-area operations. The €55 million procurement project includes the delivery of 30 mobile, fully autonomous digital radio systems for out-of-area operations by the end of 2007.