Ladson, SC - Force Protection, Inc., manufacturer of the Buffalo and Cougar armored vehicles deployed with U.S. armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, today announced a services contract with Ricardo plc, a leading international automotive consultancy. Under the terms of the alliance, Ricardo will provide an integrated bill of materials including Spartan Chassis assemblies and subassemblies in the Cougar product line, automated drawings and model updates, design releases, and vehicle validation tasks for the Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle (JERRV).

The Thailand cabinet meeting on the 12th of July has had a resolution approving the encumbrance of 2,785,500,000 Baht in fiscal years 2005-2007.

Roush Technology’s new lightweight 6x6 all-terrain vehicle has been revealed at DVD defence exhibition.

ARLINGTON Va. -- Metal Storm Limited today released information regarding a successful firing of the Area Denial Weapon System (ADWS) Capability Demonstrator which was undertaken at the Port Wakefield Proof and Experimental Range near Adelaide, Australia.

BAE Systems has been down-selected as preferred supplier for the first increment of the FALCON information infrastructure programme.

TAUNTON, Mass. -- General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin today announced that they had held the U.S. Army`s preliminary design review (PDR) on the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program, the Army`s next-generation battlefield communications network.

SEVILLE, Spain --- General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas (GD SBS) presented last June 17th 2004 in its Seville factory the first Leopardo 2E Main Battle Tank (MBT) for the Spanish Army in an official ceremony chaired by His Majesty Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, with the presence of more than one hundred civil and military authorities as well as executives of the defense sector.

ATK'S Advanced Weapon Design Gives the Warfighter Unmatched Precision and Lethality. XM25 Ideal for Urban Combat Environments. Minneapolis – Alliant Techsystems (and the U.S. Army’s Project Manager-Soldier Weapons successfully demonstrated the XM25 advanced airbursting weapon system with developmental ammunition at the International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Systems Annual Symposium on May 19, 2005.

Tenix Defence has teamed up with Swedish company Bofors Defence AB to supply the Australian Defence Force with a new artillery system. The ADF is seeking tenders under the Land 17 Artillery Replacement Project for an indirect fire support system to succeed its 105mm Hamel Howitzer and 155mm M198 Howitzer fleet from 2008-10.

The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has appointed Thales as prime contractor for the Melchior programme, which will provide the French armed forces with a new-generation high-frequency (HF) tactical transit and access communication system. The contract, worth 252 million euros, calls for development and production of the system and subsequent through-life support.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. -- The U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, a $22.7 million contract modification for Abrams tank systems technical support (STS).

British soldiers will get even better logistics support for their AS90 guns and the MOD will save some Ј29 million over the next five years, thanks to a new partnering arrangement between the MOD and BAE Systems, Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson announced today. Levels of spares availability for the AS90, a 155mm self-propelled gun, will also be significantly improved as the result of the Ј60 million contract awarded by MOD`s Defence Logistics Organisation.

BAE Systems has been awarded a series of delivery orders and contract modifications worth $1.127 billion from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) to remanufacture and upgrade more than 500 Bradley Combat System vehicles.

U.S. special operations forces this summer will begin testing a new assault rifle, which is expected to be more accurate and less cumbersome than current weapons.

Army leaders have concluded that the service’s current inventory of small arms is ill suited to the guerilla wars that U.S. ground forces now are fighting.