Defence

General Dynamics UK picked for ASTOR communications upgrade

By Craig Hoyle

The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded General Dynamics UK a contract to provide connectivity between ground elements of its Airborne Standoff Radar system and the British Army's Bowman battlefield communications infrastructure.

Worth over £710,000 ($1.4 million), the contract award comes as ASTOR prime contractor Raytheon Systems says it is on track to complete deliveries of the Royal Air Force's five Sentinel R1 aircraft by early next year. One of these has been supporting training activities involving 5(AC) Sqn personnel at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, since earlier this year.

The programme's next three aircraft are scheduled to arrive at Waddington by year-end, with the fifth to follow within the next few months, says RSL. The UK is preparing for possible deployed operations involving the type from late 2008, although ground station elements also compatible with other surveillance assets could be sent overseas ahead of availability of the Sentinel airframe (Flight International, 19-25 June).

GD UK's award will cover the provision of core communications equipment for ASTOR ground stations, with manufacturing activities to take place at the company's Oakdale site in south Wales, which is also the hub for its work to provide Bowman connectivity for army land vehicles.

The MoD has meanwhile announced its intention to award Raytheon a contract to support the Starwindow mission system aboard the RAF's fleet of three British Aerospace Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft until March 2011, with options in place to extend the deal by a further two years. The work will be valued between and £685,000 and £5 million, it says.

The Nimrod R1 fleet is scheduled to undergo a Project Helix mission systems upgrade, with L-3 Communications Integrated Systems having earlier this year been named preferred bidder for the £400 million deal. Modifications to the first aircraft should be completed in early 2013.