9th Jan 2006 07:00
Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC09 January 2006 Embargoed until 0700 9 January 2006 Ultra Electronics Holdings plc ("Ultra" or "the Group") Ultra Awarded £15m Submarine Equipment Upgrade Contract Ultra announces that its Command & Control Systems business located in HighWycombe, UK, has won a contract to upgrade the weapon interfacing equipment forthe Royal Navy's submarines. The order, worth around £15m over five years, includes continuing support forthe currently installed equipment, originally supplied by Ultra about 30 yearsago and supported and upgraded since then. This is now becoming unsupportabledue to obsolescence. The contract therefore also includes the development,installation and support of a modern, replacement system which will be derivedfrom the equivalent equipment that Ultra is developing for the new Astute classsubmarines. These systems will then be installed on selected existing boatsduring routine maintenance periods. The weapon interface equipment manages the weapons whilst they are still in thesubmarine launch tubes, providing power and monitoring their condition. Itprovides the upload of data prior to weapon launch and controls and monitors thelaunch sequence. For a wire guided weapon, it also manages the data exchangeduring the attack. The system will support both the Spearfish heavyweighttorpedo and the Tomahawk land attack cruise missile. The Ultra solution uses off-the-shelf technology and provides an innovativestaged obsolescence management scheme to support the boats for the next 20years. Its adoption across the fleet will significantly reduce the MoD's levelof inventory and will deliver supply chain efficiency improvements. Douglas Caster, Chief Executive of Ultra commented:"This contract is the result of effective joint working with the DefenceLogistics Organisation in the MoD, looking for the best solution to obsolescenceissues whilst capitalising on the development work Ultra is undertaking for thenew Astute class submarines. It is a good example of Ultra working innovativelywith its customers to provide what they have characterised as being 'a worldclass level of service and support'." - Ends - Enquiries:Ultra Electronics Holdings plc 020 8813 4321Douglas Caster, Chief Executive www.ultra-electronics.comDavid Jeffcoat, Group Finance Director [email protected] Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Susan Ellis Notes to editors: Ultra Electronics is a group of specialist businesses designing, manufacturingand supporting electronic and electromechanical systems, sub-systems andproducts for defence, security and aerospace applications worldwide. Ultra, which employs 3,000 people in the UK and North America, focuses on highintegrity sensing, control, communication and display systems with an emphasison integrated information technology solutions. The Group concentrates onobtaining a technological edge in niche markets, with many of its products andtechnologies being market leaders in their field. Ultra's products and services are used on aircraft, ships, submarines, armouredvehicles, surveillance systems, airports and transport systems around the world.Ultra also plays an important role in supporting prime contractors byundertaking specialist system and sub-system integration using the combinedexpertise of the Group businesses. Ultra is organised into three divisions as follows: Aircraft & Vehicle Systems including miniature airborne compressors; highintegrity software and systems; aircraft system electronics; aircraft cockpitindicators; aircraft noise and vibration control systems; airframe protectionsystems, armoured vehicle electronic information and control systems; human/computer interface equipment and shared working environment solutions. Information & Power Systems including command and control systems equipment;weapons interfacing electronics; radar tracking; electro optical tracking;surveillance systems; naval data processing and distribution; airport andairline information management systems; ID card systems; naval power conversion;signature management of naval vessels; transit system power conversion andcontrol. Tactical & Sonar Systems including secure tactical line-of-sight radio systems,multiplexers and switches; voice communication systems; tactical data links;cryptographic equipment; active, passive and multi-static sonobuoys; sonobuoyreceivers and processors; distributed surveillance sensor arrays; ship's sonarsystems; acoustic countermeasure systems and ship's torpedo defence systems. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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