General Dynamics [GD] UK said the U.K. Ministry of Defense has confirmed Planning Round 2012 (PR 2012) funding for its future Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) pipeline, including the Specialist Vehicle (SV) program, as part of its core program of committed funding.
Chief of the General Staff Gen. Sir Peter Wall said, “I am delighted that £5.5 billion (nearly $9 billion) is secured for the Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) pipeline over the next decade. SV is a key program in this mix: It will provide the mobility, flexibility and protection to provide our commanders with critical battlefield information in the most demanding of environments.”
Sandy Wilson, president and managing director of General Dynamics UK, the prime contractor on the program, said: “We welcome the announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence confirming that the SV program is secure in the MoD’s future AFV pipeline and core program of committed funding.”
Wilson added that the committed funding also validates General Dynamics’ continued investment in the United Kingdom, Wilson said.
The SV program is a Modified-off-the-Shelf (MOTS) solution that brings economic and industrial benefit to the United Kingdom, and is expected to attract valuable export orders from overseas markets, the company said Monday in a statement.
General Dynamics UK said a recent audit study by Ernst & Young concluded that the SV program would generate total economic output of over £9.8 billion (US $ 15.7 billion, with a corresponding Gross Value Added1 (GVA) of £4.7 billion (US$7.5 billion) over the life of the program.
General Dynamics UK recently invested £12 million ($19 million) in state of the art facilities in Wales, establishing a Centre of Excellence for Land Systems, where the program’s intellectual property and the U.K.’s sovereign AFV capability will reside.
General Dynamics UK has signed a major subcontract with Lockheed Martin UK [LMT for the turret of the Scout variant. Thales UK is also contracted to provide a full optronics suite including the gunners and commander’s sights on Scout, using their latest Orion technology.
Contracts have also been signed with 12 other U.K.-based suppliers, as well as a number of European suppliers. Further contracts will be signed as the program progresses, bringing further economic benefits to regions around the United Kingdom.
The SV program will deliver an initial family of four vehicle variants to the British Army: Scout, a Protected Mobility Reconnaissance Support (PMRS) vehicle, plus Recovery and Repair variants, with possible future variants.
Also, the combination of SV’s Common Base Platform (CBP) and General Dynamics UK’s proprietary electronic architecture (EA) means that the British Army will be able to develop and grow its core medium-weight AFV capability much more easily than in the past. The open nature of the company’s electronic architecture design was a key reason why the MoD chose the General Dynamics solution in the first place, the company said.
Since signing the contract for SV in July 2010 the industry team has made all milestones set by the MoD on budget and on schedule.