The UK Ministry of Defence is to award two competitive study contracts to review platforms for the Royal Navy's Future Organic Airborne Early Warning (FOAEW) programme.
FOAEW will replace the RN's Westland Sea King AEW7 helicopters and will be a key component of the UK's future aircraft carriers' (CVF) air group.
The MoD has issued a request for tenders to BAE Systems, BN Group (formerly Britten-Norman), Boeing, GKN Westland Helicopters, Lockheed Martin UK Government Systems, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Systems UK and Thomson Racal Defence. Responses are due by 18 January.
The MoD says the nine month studies will assess cost and time implications of integrating missions systems into generic airframes, and will identify areas for more detailed analysis.
The size and shape of the CVF has not been defined so the FOAEW platform could be mounted in the EH Industries EH101/Merlin , the winner of the Support Amphibious Battlefield Rotorcraft - contenders for which include the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and the NH Industries NH90 - or the Northrop Grumman E-2.
Source: Flight International
