FIDAE was opened today by speeches of the National Minister of Defense Andrés Allamand and the Chief of Staff Air Force of Chile, General Manuel Quinones Sigala, who is also President of FIDAE 2012.
National Minister of Defence Andrés Allamand at the opening ceremony (Photo: Forkert)
Jeep displayed their J8 vehicle in two versions: One is the Special Operation Forces (SOF) version, that got some slight improvements last year. The second version is a J8 armoured vehicle with a certified ballistic protection by the German Beschussamt of VR7 and a blast protection of ERV 2010. The SOF version is already sold to different customers throughout South America. And an contract with the US Army is expected soon. These vehicles will then be used in Afghanistan. There is also a huge market for armoured and low profile vehicles around the world, used by diplomats and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Thales brought quite a few products to be shown for the first time in South America. One of the displays is the ThalesRaytheonSystems GROUND MASTER 400 Mobil. 32 of these radars are already sold to nine countries, Finland being the biggest customer (12), the German Air Force uses them (6) as a fixed radar, and Slowenia (2), Malaysia (1), and French Guyana (1) expecting their final tests soon. #
Another big theme at the Thales booth is Cyber Vision. These should be more than just cyber protection because the goal is to stay operational even if a threat occur. Therefore Thales is concentrating only on their own products under the guideline to detect and protect. So the operator can see what part of the systems is effected, what threat is the result and what to do to stay operational. Only parts will be taken of the system, while others go on working, instead of shutting the whole system down.
The GRAND OBSERVER 12 is a man pack radar with a range of 12km (tanks, 7km for soldiers). With the batteries it can be operational for up to six hours and also be used for cost operations. The system will start test in France after the Eurosatory and a contract of 100 is expected. The test will take around six months. The technology came from the Bora system, that is used for a long time, e.g. by the Bundeswehr. But the new one is much higher integrated.
Another product is the SOTAS (Digital Multimedia Integartion for C4IRS) to be used on vehicles. That will reduce the noise in the vehicles and can integrate different radios. The first batch is delivered to Brazil, the second under contract. Up to 3,500 could be needed by Brazil alone.
The new Sofware Defeined Radio in a handheld version could be shown at Eurosatory for the first time. At FIDAE the vehicle version is at display. Other products at display are CATHERINE MP (MV) thermal Imager with a range of 20km (tanks) and the camera of the ROTAS (Remote Operational thermal Operated System). A new product, launched last year for Special Operation Forces, is TYR Laser Target Designator. 100 of these are already sold to three different countries while Thales is expecting contracts by another three countries with the first contract by April for another 100.
ALENIA Aermacchi brought the C-27J SPARTAN medium-sized military transport aircraft to FIDAE. This should be a follow up of aging C-130 fleets around the world and is that way an competitor to the C-130J and A400M. The abilities of this aircraft can be seen daily in the flight program.
IMI displayed the MPR 500, that looks like a small bunker buster. It was developed from the MK82 and can be used as a penetration or air-burst weapon. Four walls of 20cm concrete (or one with 80cm) can be penetrated, as an air-burst it allows to send 26,000 fragments out to an area of 60x60m with the main fragments 30 by 30m. The selection of use can be done in the cockpit. The fragments path is controlled, so that collateral damage is reduced. This weapon is used by some few countries besides Israel. And this weapon as well as its bigger brothers are a high value in the crisis with Iran.
IMI MPR 500 (Photo: Forkert)
EMBRAER Defense & Security Devision is growing and reached a total of 14.7 % of the EBIT of the Embraer Group. Numbers for this year are expected to be the same than last year. 50 % of the sales are done in Brazil. Embraer Defense is growing by acquisition and partnership, building up a new and bigger portfolio. The goal is to achieve a leadership position and be the prime contractor of the Brazilian Defense Organization. There are two big projects in the tube, the border protection system SISFRON with a value of $ 4 Mrd. over the next five years and a $ 400 Mio. Satellite program. Embraer sold 158 Super Tucan until now, but the deal with the US Air Force was cancelled by the customer. One of the driver of their future growth will be the KC-390 with its contracts by six countries (Brazil, Argentine, Portugal, Czech Republic, Chile and Columbia). It will make its first flight in 2014 and be delivered by 2016. Embraer is responsible for the Brazilian Elbit deal of Hermes UAS. They would like to take that opportunity to develop their own capabilities to develop an own UAS in the future.
Atech won an contract for the delivery of an additionally three major flight control centres by the Brazilian Air Force with a value of $ 3 Mio. these will be replacements for older ones and it is to be expected that another 19 old centres will be replaced in the next 2 to 5 years. These centres are part of the SAGITTARIO flight management and control system. The Brazilian Air force is responsible for all flight moves in Brazil.
OrbiSat also got a new contract for three containerised Operations Centre Flak for the Brazilian Army, with six already under contract. These canters are used to receive data from the M60 radars and the total value is R$ 8 Mio.
IWI brought its UZI PRO submachine gun, 9x19mm for the first time to FIDAE. This weapon was gazed by a lot of visitors today.
Forkert
For more information about this technology, please see MILITARY TECHNOLOGY 3/2012, available at the show.
Forkert
For more information about this technology, please see MILITARY TECHNOLOGY 3/2012, available at the show.
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