TEAM ATHENA WINS GROUND BASED AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT
PHASE CONTRACT
25 June 2003
LONDON, United
Kingdom – June 25, 2003 – Team
Athena, a consortium of British
and U.S. aerospace and defence
companies, today announced that
it has been awarded one of two
£38M Assessment Phase contracts
for the United Kingdom’s Ground
Based Air Defence (GBAD)
programme. The Assessment Phase
will run approximately 24 months
and is expected to begin later
this year.
GBAD, an Air Defence Command,
Control Communications Computers
and Intelligence (ADC4I)
programme, is a core element of
the UK’s plan to neutralise and
defeat air threats to its forces
and coalition forces in 21st
Century combat operations.
Team Athena comprises
Lockheed Martin, Electronic Data
Systems (EDS), INSYS Limited,
Systems Consultants Services Ltd
(SCS), Westland Helicopters Ltd
(WHL), an AgustaWestland
Company, Advanced System
Architects Ltd (ASA) and AMS
along with the GBAD Weapon
System Design Authorities, MBDA
and Thales. The team has been
specifically assembled to
harness the most complementary
talents from the UK and USA into
one team headquartered in the
UK.
Lockheed Martin, a leader in
21st century air and missile
defence technology on major air
defence programmes such as the
Theater High Altitude Area
Defence (THAAD) system, the
Patriot Advanced Capability-3
(PAC-3) Missile and the
transatlantic Medium Extended
Air Defence System (MEADS),
brings its unrivalled experience
in the integration of complex
weapons systems to Team Athena.
EDS, with a proven track record
in a wide range of related
technologies including air
defence, is a leader in the
development of synthetic
environments and operational
analysis. INSYS is one of the
electronics and communications
installations Design Authority
for MOD, covering installations
in over 90 percent of the land
platform vehicle in-service
fleet. SCS, an independent
consultancy, has GBAD-related
expertise in airspace control,
weapon systems, CIS, sensors,
UAV, studies and trials.
Westland Helicopters, the
Bowman supportability
contractor, provides more than
50 years experience in fully
integrated logistic support
programmes for highly complex
systems to demanding UK and
International standards. ASA
provides proven tracking, sensor
fusion and interoperability
experience to the team. AMS is a
multi-national electronic
systems company specialising in
the design, manufacture and
supply of radar and mission
critical command, control and
management systems to defence
forces and air traffic
management authorities
throughout the world.
The Team Athena solution for
GBAD will provide a fully
integrated and cohesive air
defence system for the UK armed
forces. Other benefits will
include greater situational
awareness, much improved weapon
effectiveness and enhanced
survivability and
interoperability to support high
tempo manoeuvre operations in
collaboration with allied
forces. Using tailored
Commercial-off-the-shelf/Military-off-the-shelf
(COTS/MOTS) hardware and legacy
software to reduce risk and cost
throughout the life of the
system, Athena will provide a
Tri-Service solution to the GBAD
programme that incorporates the
requirements of all the Services
and links to other tactical and
strategic battle management C4I
systems such as Bowman.
“Utilising the talents of
experienced personnel from the
UK and U.S., our proposed
solution brings together the
full strength of advanced
technology and integrates it
into an affordable package that
will have great potential for
enhancement in the future,” said
Ron Jones, Team Athena programme
director. “Team Athena is made
up of respected UK and
international partners that have
a proven track record of
providing cost-effective systems
that work. Athena represents the
transition between localised
area air defence of the past and
a fully integrated air defence
of the future.”
At the end of the Assessment
Phase, a single company will be
selected to continue with the
£1B Demonstration and
Manufacturing phase for GBAD,
the purpose of which is to
update and integrate the current
Rapier and HVM systems within a
new Air Defence Command,
Control, Communications,
Computing and Intelligence
(ADC4I) system. This next phase
of the programme is scheduled to
run between 2005 and 2010.
Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of
Lockheed Martin Corporation, is
a leader in systems integration
working on major programmes
spanning the aerospace, defence,
civil and commercial sectors
with significant capabilities in
the transport infrastructure
market. In the UK, Lockheed
Martin has annual sales in the
range of £400-600 million
working with more than 75
business partners. Lockheed
Martin employs approximately
1,000 people at over 10 UK
facilities including London,
Havant, Southampton, Yeovil,
Swindon, Hertford, Bristol and
Cornwall.
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Md., Lockheed Martin employs
about 125,000 people worldwide
and is principally engaged in
the research, design,
development, manufacture and
integration of advanced
technology systems, products and
services.
# # #
Media
Contacts:
Chris Trippick +44(0)20 7798
2856 (mob) +44 (0)7905 356 646
or email: chris.trippick@lmco.com
Mark Douglas
+44(0) 20 7798 2850 or
+44(0)7879 444 081 or email
mark.douglas@lmco.com
For additional
information on TeamAthena visit:
www.teamathena.co.uk
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