General Dynamics [GD] UK, the prime contractor for the Scout reconnaissance vehicle, said it awarded the turret manufacture work to Lockheed Martin [LMT] UK-Ampthill.
This is the first of a number of supplier contracts General Dynamics UK will announce over the next few weeks as it moves forward into work on the demonstration phase of the Specialist Vehicle (SV) program for the U.K. Ministry of Defence.
Sandy Wilson, president and managing director of General Dynamics UK, said, “Hot on the heels of the recently announced SDSR, General Dynamics UK is demonstrating that it is fully committed to working in partnership with the MoD to achieve its goals in a new working environment. The General Dynamics UK-led SV team will not only deliver innovation to the British Army in the shape of Scout and other SV variants, it will innovate to ensure the British taxpayer and Government get the best value for its money.”
Under the contract, Lockheed Martin UK will deliver three turrets to General Dynamics UK for the Integration and Test program in the Scout Demonstration Phase. Thereafter, Lockheed Martin UK is expected to deliver the turret for the production phase of Scout. For the production phase, the turret will be assembled and integrated onto the Scout platform at the Defence Support Group (DSG) facility at Donnington in the East Midlands. The manufacturing contract for the Scout turret is likely to create about 500 jobs for Lockheed Martin and its supply chain partners in the United Kingdom.
The Scout reconnaissance vehicle will be a key variant in the British Army’s SV fleet when it goes into service. It will serve alongside other SV variants including Protected Mobility, Repair and Recovery vehicles, all based on the common-base platform developed by General Dynamics.
The General Dynamics UK innovation of a 1.7 meter turret ring meant that the Scout turret could be designed to maximize space for the soldiers inside thereby optimizing the ability to fight, the company said. The large turret-ring diameter is much wider than older vehicles such as Warrior. This gives soldiers considerable room for modern display screens, comfort for long periods inside the turret and ease of movement, even wearing full body armor and future wearable systems. With the need for military electronics ever- expanding on operations, the turret allows significant room for new systems to be fitted without compromising the design of the vehicle. The turret will also feature the CT40 Cased Telescoped Cannon System.