PETER LA FRANCHI / BRUSSELS
The UK Ministry of Defence's Combined Aerial Target Service (CATS) project office hopes to select a preferred supplier for the £750 million ($1.3 billion) public/private partnership programme by January.
The requirement calls for an integrated threat system for training all three UK services 24h a day, 365 days a year, anywhere. The winner will be expected to support up to four simultaneous training exercises at various locations. The project has a baseline contract period of 10 years with options for a further 10.
The MoD had been hoping to complete source selection and "main gate" approvals by the end of November, and finalise a contract by March. Contract signature is now planned for April-May, with initial operational capability for the tri-service programme by December 2004.
Competing for CATS are BAE Systems, Qinetiq and the EADS-Serco joint venture "FireCats", all three having been shortlisted in August 2001. BAE Systems is offering a combination of the Schreiner pop-up helicopter, EADS Dornier DT-35 drone, EADS 3 Sigma IRIS Prop and IRIS Jets, and Kentron Skua targets as its baseline offering, with the BAE North America Evader derivative of the MQM-107 remotely piloted vehicle family as a potential high-level future target.
According to Martin Rowe-Willcocks, BAE Systems project manager for CATS, two Evader prototypes are flying in the USA. He told the Euro Unmanned Vehicle Systems Unmanned Target Systems conference in Brussels on 1 December that the USA has granted export licences for international sales of the drone.
Qinetiq is offering a Schreiner pop-up helicopter target, along with Meggitt Banshee and Voodoo targets for lower to medium end training and the Galileo Avionica Mirach 100/5 for high-end requirements. Qinetiq already operates 100/5s for the Royal Navy under an interim contract that expires in late 2004.
FireCats is offering Meggitt Banshees EADS Dornier pop-up helicopter emulation targets and DT-25 drones, and the EADS 3 Sigma IRIS Jet target systems.
Source: Flight International
