Switzerland has selected the Raytheon AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile and has set aside SFr115 million ($84.5 million) in its 2003 defence budget for the acquisition. UK company Aerosystems International (AeI), teamed with Boeing, has received a US Army contract to demonstrate digital maintenance for the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow. AeI will supply its web-based Sapphire Maintenance Management System for the trial, which is due to conclude in mid-2004. The deal follows earlier contracts for trials of the system with the US Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinooks and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks. Hamble Aeronautics, part of Smiths Aerospace, has been selected by Lockheed Martin to supply F-35 Joint StrikeFighter canopies. The deal is potentially worth more than $90 million. The Royal Australian Navy has selected CAE's Medallion-S visual system to upgrade its Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk simulators. Harris has received a 30-month, $55 million contract extension to its five-year $71 million avionics engineering, manufacturing and development contract for the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche combat helicopter. Raytheon has won an $18 million US Navy contract for the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS). The deal is potentially worth more than $30 million. The AMNS will be integrated with the navy's Sikorsky MH-60S utility helicopters. Boeing has received an $18.9 million US Air Force contract to modify one Lockheed Martin C-130 transport to an AC-130 gunship. The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a consortium led by General Dynamics UK the first defence technology centre contract. Other members are British Telecommunications, Qinetiq, Imperial College and the universities of Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge and Southampton. The Data and Information Fusion Centrewill explore ways in which data and information from a variety of sources can be compiled into an easily accessible format.
Source: Flight International
