Eurofighter Typhoons are deployed by the Spanish Air Force in air defence and air interception roles; having protected and defended national air space continuously since January 2008. Morón air base operates with two Squadrons. Squadron 113 is an operational conversion unit, providing among other roles training to Typhoon pilots, whilst Squadron 111 is the main front
line unit to provide the Spanish Air Force with the necessary offensive and defensive capabilities to execute international missions and fulfill the Spanish defense policy.

The Spanish Air Force has so far received 28 out of the 87 Eurofighter Typhoons ordered. Another two Squadrons will be equipped with the C.16 in the future: 14 Wing located on Albacete Air Force Base will see the Eurofighter replace the Mirage F-1 and 112 Squadron which will be the second operational squadron in 11 Wing.

The contract covers:

* A long-term order for 3,400 AASMs, including an initial firm order for 680 units.
* Development and integration of a latest-generation GPS module.
* Qualification and production engineering for the inertial/GPS/laser terminal guidance version.

Developed and produced by Sagem, the AASM weapon comprises a guidance kit and range augmentation kit integrated on a standard 250 kg bomb. The AASM family also includes 125, 500 and 1,000 kg bombs.

Fired from standoff distance day or night and in all weather conditions, the AASM offers a range exceeding 50 kilometers. The AASM can be released at low altitude, and can also be fired off-axis, in relation to the aircraft’s flight path. It offers very high precision and strikes its target vertically, a feature suited to asymmetrical conflicts. This makes it the perfect weapon for combat in difficult terrain or urban environments, for both planned missions and opportunity fire.

The new inertial/GPS/laser-guided version expands the AASM family, which already includes two versions qualified on the Rafale multirole combat aircraft, with inertial/GPS or inertial/GPS/infrared guidance. In particular, the new version enables precision strikes against moving targets.

This latest order follows the initial contract won by Sagem for 750 AASMs to be delivered to the French air force. The AASM has been deployed on Rafale fighters in Afghanistan for the last two years.

The AASM is also marketed by MDBA as part of its broad offering of weapon system meeting the requirements of armed forces in international markets.

This contract builds on Thales UK’s relationship with BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, and is a demonstration of the success of the Performance Partnering Agreement jointly put in place.

The ‘Stage 5 Inboard Replacement’ (Stage 5 IR) contract is the latest in a series of developments to improve the capability, efficiency and through-life cost of the system to ensure that Sonar 2076 retains its reputation as the world’s most advanced, fully integrated, passive/active search and attack sonar suite.

Stage 5 IR achieves the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) requirement for reduced through-life costs and the need for rapid capability insertions of new hardware, software functionality and new algorithms to meet the RN’s changing mission requirements.

The upgrade also delivers an open architecture that allows a high degree of commonality with the future Astute and Vanguard-class replacement (Successor) submarines, and supports the MoD’s vision for the evolution of a common sonar and combat system across the RN submarine flotilla.

S2076 Stage 5 is currently being deployed on the ‘first-of-class’ platform and this is scheduled to complete by the middle of the year. Work on the Stage 5 IR contract will start immediately with equipment procurement and manufacture, with the platform upgrades planned for later this year through to late 2011.

The systems delivered this year will contribute to the safety of French troops deployed in very hostile theatres of operation and will improve the efficiency of their missions.

As far as its design is concerned, the DRAC system combines highly advanced technology with flexibility in its implementation and use, providing the forces with enhanced military capabilities in its function as a short-range, cost-efficient drone adapted to the requirements of modern armies.

DRAC is based on the TRACKER system developed by EADS in collaboration with the French SME SurveyCopter in compliance with extremely strict specifications laid down by the French customer. SurveyCopter is supplying the aerial vehicle and the daytime and night-time cameras. EADS, as prime contractor, is integrating the system with a special ground station and a secure, high-speed, digital datalink with an automatic tracking function, which gives the system a genuine long-range capability even in severe weather conditions. DRAC’s high level of security will make it eligible for type certification as of this year.

The DRAC system is packaged in two separate rucksacks so that missions can be carried out fully autonomously.

TRACKER is among the mini-UAV systems that offer the best cost-performance ratio available in the market. In this way, the DRAC can operate by day or night for up to 90 minutes and at distances of more than 10 km from its user, transmitting in real time the images and data it has gathered through the precision of a miniaturised GPS code P(Y) receiver on board the UAV.

The Seastar and Gatekeeper sensors provide the vessels with the capability to detect small targets encountered during missions, and to counter frontier-running, pollution, drugs trafficking and piracy. The two new sensors will be matched with the tried-and-true SMART-S surveillance radar and the STIR weapon control radar that are on board of the M-frigates.

Based on the cooperation between the Dutch and the Belgian Navy, this contract was already an option in the contract that Thales concluded in 2008 with the Royal Netherlands Navy, and that provided for the delivery of the Seastar and Gatekeeper sensors to the two M-class frigates of the RNLN.

The avionics support agreement with Thales flows from the comprehensive Rafale throughlife support contract awarded to Dassault Aviation by SIMMAD in late 2008 under a similar arrangement, with an initial five-year tranche followed by five further optional tranches of one year each. SIMMAD is the Defence aircraft joint in-service support organisation. It is the maintenance arm of the French Air Force with responsibility for joint forces operations, and receives its directives from the Chief of the Defence Staff.

Pierre-Eric Pommellet, Thales Senior Vice President in charge of aerospace businesses, stated: “The contract is the first of its kind for this type of equipment, with a fixed price per hour of flight adding new extended services such as obsolescence management”.

This new contract is part of Thales’s innovative approach to service provision, based on endto- end support solutions with guaranteed levels of operational availability. “We are continuing to tailor our services to match the evolving requirements of the armed forces while reducing the overall cost of support,” Pommellet added.

Thales is also drawing on its experience with the French armed forces to serve export customers. The company’s comprehensive support solutions are meeting with increasing success in these markets.

“This is very positive and it further proves the capability of the RBS 70 system which until now has been exported to 18 countries located on all five continents,” says Tomas Samuelsson, Head of Business Area Dynamics.

RBS 70 is a complete missile system with the potential for being integrated with most wheeled and tracked vehicles.

Photo: Saab

Because of its long intercept range in the head-on sector 8 km, RBS 70 really belongs to a class other than the VSHORAD.

ABE is a gyro-stabilized, electro-optical angular measurement system designed to align aircraft subsystems. Under these new awards valued at more than $1.8 million, AAI will deliver an additional ABE AH-64D Apache Depot Boresight System to align various sensor, weapon and sighting systems, as well as an additional ABE AH-64D Apache Maintenance Aircraft Survivability Equipment (AMASE) Boresight Kit for AMASE alignment. AAI’s ABE boresight solution has supported the AH-64D Apache for the Royal Netherlands Air Force since 2004.

In addition, AAI’s ABE system has been selected as the harmonization solution for the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s CH-47F Chinook aircraft survivability equipment. Under these awards, AAI will design, develop and deliver adapters, platform-specific firmware called a Personality Module, training and manuals.

“AAI is committed to creating reliable, cost-effective test solutions that provide confidence to warfighters. ABE is the boresighting solution of choice for dozens of platforms in several countries,” says Vice President of Test & Training Systems Robert Peters. “Not only is it a proven, accurate and repeatable resource, it minimizes harmonization time and required manpower. The Royal Netherlands Air Force will now use our common ABE Model 310A alignment system on both of these helicopter platforms.”

The scenario involved three exercises that tied together the EDITH helicopter crew tactical trainer platform at Le Luc and the Leclerc main battle tank crew simulators at Canjuers. The exercise comprised a patrol of two Tiger helicopters and an armoured platoon of three Leclerc MBTs and three VBL light armoured vehicles. A Thales team of high-level experts coordinated the simultaneous operation of these sophisticated technologies.

The exercise was conducted within a very short timeframe to minimise disruption to normal instruction programmes at the two training centres. After the exercise, the simulators were immediately made available again to users, with regular instruction programmes able to continue as scheduled.

This exercise showed how remote simulation facilities can be coupled in a distributed multi-site network configuration to enable different elements with different operational functions to cooperate in a combined forces exercise.

Feedback from the users involved and observers from infantry and artillery academies was particularly positive. This first exercise was used to propose descriptions of network configurations for virtual distributed simulation exercises, in accordance with the types of units under instruction; define the associated organisation and assess the timeframes needed to plan and conduct this type of exercise; identify requirements for regular combined forces training in terms of execution (detachment of combined forces); and envisage the use of this type of capability for doctrine-related studies, in particular as part of the Scorpion programme

Through this exercise, Thales has demonstrated its ability to add considerable value for military training establishments as they prepare units for operational engagements in a combined or joint forces context. This capability will be further optimised with the addition of specially adapted databases, designed to allow units to train collectively in readiness for the theatre of operations.

Typhoon Team Leader Air Vice Marshal Chris Bushell said “Today’s announcement of a 10-year engine availability service with Rolls-Royce is good news for us all; the service will maximise aircraft availability by using the most cost-effective solution. Typhoon has now been operational in the air defence role for well over two years and a multi-role capability was integrated and declared combat ready by the RAF in July 2008. The signature of the Partnered Support Operational Phase 3 contract builds on this success and will underpin Typhoon’s growing capability and utilisation.”

Rolls-Royce undertakes all aspects of EJ200 engine support, including the provision of replacement engines to meet customer demands, and technical support both on-base and from the Rolls-Royce Operations Centre in Bristol. Rolls-Royce support operations are centred at the Typhoon Propulsion Support Facility at RAF Coningsby, where the RAF’s Typhoon squadrons are based. From there, a team comprising both Rolls-Royce and RAF personnel manages the engine support for aircraft operations in the field and also carries out some engine repairs. This will be augmented in 2010 by a second Main Operating Base at RAF
Leuchars where Rolls-Royce will also have a support team. The majority of engine repairs are undertaken at the Rolls-Royce facilities at Ansty, near Coventry, and Bristol.