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United Defense Fires 1,000th Round from Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon Demonstrator Doug Coffey doug.coffey@udlp.com ARLINGTON, VA, April 19, 2005 - Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE:UDI) announced today it has fired the 1,000th projectile from the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD) at Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The NLOS-C is the lead indirect fire support system of the Army??™s Future Combat Systems (FCS) Program and one of eight Manned Ground Vehicles being developed for FCS. The CTD is a first look at what Army platforms of the future could be and it provides a starting point for the design and development of NLOS-C prototypes during the System Development and Demonstration Phase of FCS. The development schedule for FCS calls for the first NLOS-C Increment 0 prototype to be delivered by 2008. This latest firing milestone achieved by the NLOS-C Demonstrator confirms that the NLOS-C's development is on schedule. "Urban and open combat experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have reconfirmed that our ground forces depend on cannon artillery," said Jim Unterseher, director of Army Programs at United Defense. "The finger-tip firepower proven by the NLOS-C CTD is a leap ahead in cannon artillery responsiveness, lethality and mobility. This latest milestone is another indication that the next generation of cannon artillery has arrived and could be in the hands of our soldiers very quickly." United Defense designed and fielded the CTD in just six months by using Crusader technology and other existing components. The CTD consists of a BAE M777 39-caliber, 155-mm howitzer integrated onto a 20-ton class platform that features a fully automated ammunition-handling system. The CTD also features a magazine capable of holding 24 cannon projectiles, and a chassis that uses band tracks propelled by a drive system with a diesel engine and hybrid-electric propulsion system designed to improve mobility and reduce fuel consumption. Since the CTD's first round was fired in August 2003, the system has achieved numerous milestones and has proven the viability of integrating a 155-mm howitzer onto a 20-ton class self-propelled platform. In November 2003, United Defense incorporated tactical software into the CTD to integrate its robotic ammunition handling and auto-loading systems to create a fully automated 155-mm cannon system that enables a two-person crew to achieve what currently takes five soldiers to accomplish on the battlefield. Within a month following integration, United Defense used the tactical software to successfully complete an eight-round fire mission at a rate of six rounds per minute, marking the first time a fully-automated cannon had been fired using tactical software. Throughout 2005, United Defense will integrate new, lighter weight FCS cannon components and continue to refine and test the CTD at Yuma Proving Ground and incorporate data from the testing and development into the objective design for the Future Combat System NLOS-C. Singapore Military Mulls Using SUVs To Trim Costs AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Singapore??™s military is considering using commercial sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to replace its current fleet of custom-built Land Rovers in a bid to trim costs, the defense ministry (Mindef) said April 20. ???Mindef can confirm that there are plans to replace the existing Land Rovers with commercial off-the-shelf all-wheel drive vehicles,??? a spokesman told Agence France-Presse, confirming a report in the Straits Times newspaper. ???Many of such vehicles are able to negotiate difficult cross-country terrain and achieve remarkable off-road performance so this narrows the gap between commercial vehicles and military-spec vehicles in terms of maneuverability and mobility,??? he said. The spokesman added many of the commercial vehicles under consideration by Mindef are ???sold at very competitive prices???. To cut costs further, the military is considering a scheme under which the SUVs will be owned and maintained by the private sector but can be mobilized in times of emergency or war, the spokesman said. A second option being explored is leasing out the vehicles to the private sector, he added. The spokesman declined, however, to say how much the military could save by using commercial SUVs or how many Land Rovers it owns. The Straits Times report said the military has about 3,000 Land Rovers. Singapore??™s defense ministry has the biggest share of spending among all government ministries. In the current fiscal year to March 2006, it has a budget of 9.26 billion Singapore dollars ($5.6 billion) which accounts for 31.2 percent of the 29.68-billion-dollar national budget announced by the government in February. Armor Holdings, Inc. Awarded $31.1 Million for Heavy Truck Armoring Armor Holdings JACKSONVILLE -- Armor Holdings, Inc., a leading manufacturer and distributor of security products and vehicle armor systems serving law enforcement, military, homeland security and commercial markets, announced today that it has received a modification valued at $31.1 million to an existing contract to provide add-on-armor for various types of heavy trucks for the U.S. Army. The new award was made by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command for delivery of vehicle armoring in 2005, and includes an option for additional quantities. Work under this contract will continue to be performed by Armor Holdings` facilities in Phoenix, Arizona. Robert Schiller, President and Chief Operating Officer of Armor Holdings, Inc., said, "We are extremely proud of our success over the past six months in accelerating delivery of heavy truck armor kits which have contributed significantly to soldier safety in these vehicles. We are very pleased to receive this new order for additional quantities of add-on-armor to continue production in support of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan." |
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