Issue 9 Jan 2009.indd - Ministry of Defence

Bulldog is top dog!
DE&S programme’s performance
and leadership is highly praised
DE&S’ PROGRAMME to deliver the Bulldog armoured vehicle – the so-called
‘battlefield taxi’ – to the front line has won an award against some of the best equipment
programmes.
The programme took the programme excellence award from Aviation Week and
Space Technology magazine with high praise for its Urgent Operational Requirement
work and ‘game-changing leadership’.
Bulldog, the first land systems programme to be honoured at such an event, finished
runner up in the overall programme excellence award to the Joint Strike Fighter first
flight programme of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft.
The awards were made at a performance excellence seminar in San Diego,
California.
The £150 million Bulldog programme is managed by a joint team of DE&S’ Light
Armoured Systems team and BAE Systems, supported by the Defence Support Group at
Bovington together with more than 50 equipment suppliers.
The programme has transformed the ageing FV430 series of vehicles, significantly
improving performance and reliability with a new engine, and delivering enhanced
capability with the up-armoured version deployed in Iraq since November 2006.
“Through partnering, DE&S and industry has successfully delivered a war-fighting
capability providing confidence to the front line user to fulfil their mission,” said DE&S’
Lieutenant Colonel Andy Teare.
“This award is really good for the Bulldog team and UK industry as a whole. This is
international recognition to the contribution made by the Bulldog programme and the
partnering arrangements between the MOD and BAE Systems on this project.”
BAE Systems team leader Ian Mogey added: “The MOD project team, Defence
Support Group, which carried out the upgrade at Bovington, and our supply network
worked quickly and flexibly together to deliver more reliable vehicles with life-saving
modifications to troops in Iraq.”
Keeping an I-Ball on the enemy
TROOPS will be able to get an eye on the enemy
with development of new I-Ball technology.
The concept comes from the MOD’s
Competition of Ideas and is being developed
by Edinburgh company, Dreampact.
If successful the I-Ball could help troops see
into the battlefield before they risk their lives.
It is a portable, wireless, projectile camera
that provides 360-degree video coverage even
in flight after being thrown. Soldiers get highvalue,
high-quality images in realtime video.
The ball could be fired from a grenade
launcher or thrown into a room to give troops
information on what is on the ground.
Director of the Defence Technology and
Innovation Centre, Professor Andrew Baird,
said: “The technology behind I-Ball is an
exciting new development that has significant
potential across a range of military equipment
and operational scenarios, particularly in
difficult urban operations.”
Paul Thompson from Dreampact said: “We
have overcome some significant technological
challenges in developing the I-Ball technology
and it’s fantastic that the MOD is working with
a small company like us to help develop its
future capabilities in battlefield technology.”
news 11
Explosive safety process
is set to be withdrawn
A LEGACY safety assurance process
for mature ordnance, munitions and
explosives (OME) is to be withdrawn by the
end of this June.
The legacy process was established in
October 2003 to deal with the signifi cant
in-service inventory, providing teams
at DE&S with a streamlined, statementbased
assurance route for mature OME
systems. Suffi cient time has elapsed to
enable this process to be withdrawn.
After June 2009, all OME systems will be
subject to the full safety case report-based
assurance process.
I-Spy: the I-Ball will enable troops to get
an eye on the enemy
© Crown Copyright, image from www.defenceimages.mod.uk