Industry News

United Kingdom Awards Lockheed Martin US$212 Million Contract

Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract valued at approximately US$212 million for Arrowhead, the  Army’s Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) program, for the United Kingdom’s (UK) Apache AH Mk I helicopters.

The contract was awarded by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) to prime contractor AgustaWestland and authorizes production of Arrowhead kits by subcontractor Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL.  The Arrowhead kits include a new design called the TADS electronic and display control (TEDAC) unit for the United Kingdom’s fleet of Apache helicopters. 

The first UK Arrowhead kit will be delivered in April 2007.  Flight testing is scheduled to begin in late spring 2007.  The integration of Arrowhead on the first four UK aircraft is scheduled for completion in January 2009, and retrofit of the entire fleet is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010. 

Lockheed Martin’s Arrowhead provides a new electro-optical targeting and pilotage system to Apache crews that will maximize safe flight in day, night and adverse-weather environments, continuing a 20-year legacy of the Apache’s current TADS/PNVS first fielded in 1983. Arrowhead’s forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensors use advanced image processing techniques to give pilots the best possible resolution to avoid obstacles such as wires and tree limbs during low-level flight.  The roll-out of the first Arrowhead system under the U.S. Army’s Lot 1 contract comes almost twenty-three years to the day of signing the first TADS/PNVS production contract.

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U.S. Army Awards Raytheon US$16.5 Million to Provide Multi-Sensor Payload for UAV

Raytheon Company has been awarded a $16.5 million U.S. Army contract to provide the electro-optic/infrared/laser designator (EO/IR/LD) payload for use on the Army's Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is responsible for the ERMP multi-sensor payload, which will be manufactured and managed by its Precision Attack and Surveillance Systems (PASS) business area based in McKinney, Texas.

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Huawei Technologies Open UK Customer Training Center

Huawei opened its newest training center at Unit 3/4, Faraday Office Park, Rankine Road, Basingstoke, RG24 8QQ, United Kingdom, an optical network (ON) course for British Telecom (BT) as the initial course.

This inaugural opening marks the beginning for Huawei Technologies to be able to conduct quality training services in the UK, for customers and partners in Europe and other regions.  

The UK Training Centre teaching facilities include a training lab featuring Huawei product lines relevant to the UK and European markets. There are also training areas and rooms dedicated to technical courses regarding theory and practice with lunch facilities that accommodate over 30 students.  Major Huawei equipment product lines currently represented within the UK Training Centre include: 

• Datacomms
• Broadband
• Next Generation Networks (NGN)
• Intelligent Networks (IN)
• Optical Network (ON)

The UK Training Centre is the newest addition to Huawei's training center portfolio that currently includes customer training centers in 3 countries throughout Europe with a total of 10 Training Centres around the world.  Huawei has also developed Huawei Authorized Training Partner (HATP) relationships throughout Europe for key markets.

This latest training centre in the UK will enhance Huawei's training delivery ability throughout the European region with cooperation with the France Training Centre in Paris.  Huawei Technologies will be able to provide innovative and flexible training solutions to customers and partners from these facilities.

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SAMSUNG Ranks No. 1 In Customer Satisfaction In Two Leading Indexes

Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) was recognized for an unprecedented fourth year in a row as the wireless phone manufacturer whose devices consumers are most likely to purchase during the next 18 to 24 months, according to the results of an independent national survey by Brand Keys, Inc.

Separately, Samsung also was named for the second successive year the leader in customer satisfaction among cell phone manufacturers according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a study conducted by the University of Michigan and the American Society for Quality. The ACSI tracks trends in consumer satisfaction and how their actual experiences with products and services impact buying preferences and brand loyalty.

In the Brand Keys survey, consumers chose Samsung (along with Blackberry and Treo) as the number one brand in the mobile phone category. Consumer preferences were based, in part, on wireless phone design and performance. Samsung was awarded the 2005 Brandweek Customer Loyalty Award powered by Brand Keys and continues to be the only wireless phone manufacturer to receive this honor in consecutive years. Findings from this year’s ninth annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty IndexÒ highlight that while consumer expectations overall have increased each year, consumers in the wireless phone category now have some of the highest brand expectations.

Number one ranked brands in each of the 32 Brand Keys categories were those brands that consumers felt best met or exceeded their expectations and were most likely to demonstrate the highest levels of consumer loyalty and profitability over the coming two years.

Since its U.S. debut in 1997, Samsung remains the fastest growing brand among wireless manufacturers, has demonstrated steady market share growth year-to-year and currently holds the number two position in revenue among wireless phone makers. The company’s distinguished products and innovative technology have allowed Samsung to develop lasting relationships with consumers.

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Nortel, IBM Sign Strategic Development Agreement to Establish Joint Development Center

Nortel and IBM announced the signing of an agreement designed to support customized products across a range of market segments. As the first step in this technology, research and services relationship, the companies will establish a Nortel-IBM Joint Development Center in Research Triangle Park, NC to collaborate on the design and development of new products and services.

At the Nortel-IBM Joint Development Center, personnel from both companies will:

• work together to enhance and extend current products, drawing from various divisions within Nortel and IBM, to drive new revenue growth while reducing R&D costs
• collaborate on focused research on a project-by-project basis, enabling a new level of product creation by tapping the deep skills of each firm to introduce solutions more rapidly
• work together on technology, initially, a new class of blade servers – bringing together IBM’s Server Technology and Nortel’s carrier-grade communications expertise – that would meet the specific and demanding data flow, reliability and security needs required by the network equipment marketplace embracing next generation network solutions.

Nortel representatives expect to utilize IBM engineering and technical services, for a number of projects, all aimed at broadening Nortel end-to-end broadband, Voice over IP, multimedia services and applications and wireless broadband offerings.

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Fujitsu and Cisco Deliver Next-Generation High-End Routers Based on Strategic Alliance

Fujitsu Limited and Cisco Systems, Inc. introduced the first product to be delivered under the strategic alliance announced on Dec. 6, 2004, a Fujitsu and Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System built on the Cisco IOS XR next-generation operating system.

In December 2004, the companies reached a fundamental agreement to form a strategic alliance in the field of routers and switches. The companies have since worked together to customize the Cisco IOS XR operating system for high-end routers, and focused collaboration on enhancing product functionality and the support structure needed to respond to the demanding quality requirements of Japanese telecommunications carriers.

The newly introduced product is expected to become the core routing platform of choice for Internet Protocol Next-Generation Networks (IP NGNs), enabling service providers to converge their costly and complex service-specific networks to deliver the services and applications demanded by their customers.