As part of the process of moving defence research into the market, the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has signed a collaborative agreement with Thomson-Thorn Missile Electronics (TME).
The agreement covers technology development for the warhead and fuze for the defeat of hard and buried targets, and joint marketing of the two organisations' capabilities in Asia and the Pacific Rim.
The agreement was signed at the show yesterday by John Chisholm, head of DERA, and Dr David Price, TME chief executive.
At the signing, Chisholm says: "This is, in many ways, a continuation of 10 years of working together.
"Our colleagues at Thorn have an expertise in fuzing which has been sustained even when defence funding was at a low ebb."
He says this was coupled with DERA's expertise and mathematical modelling facilities in the area of warheads in the technology collaboration.
The two have jointly offered these technologies through Hughes for a US programme for the defeat of hard and deeply buried targets such as communications bunkers.
Chisholm points out the agreement with TME was part of the DERA's current philosophy of collaboration.
"We want to lift value from our development expertise and put it in to UK-based companies for them to exploit."
The two companies have identified four main objectives to the deal in Asia and the Pacific Rim: to develop relationships for TME in the region for the development of new weapons systems; to obtain development funding for TME; to win non-government funding for DERA and to produce royalties for both organisations from the region.
Source: Flight Daily News