Now CASR reports that the competition has taken an interesting twist. New C-130Js will apparently be unavailable for delivery until 2010, which would break the must-replace deadline of 3 years. Meanwhile, EADS Airbus Military is reportedly floating a trial balloon around acquiring and refurbishing C-130Hs within the deadline, then offering them later as trade-ins for the Airbus A400M. Will Lockheed now follow suit with a similar offer?
BAE Systems Land Systems Hagglunds has won a DKr 1.675 billion (about $258 million) order to supply 45 CV90-35 MkIII Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) to the Danish Army. The Danish ministry notes that the vehicles’ “main task will be international operations,” and that the purchase is intended to “increase firepower, mobility, ability to deploy, protection of the crews and the ability to operate in network centric warfare environments.” This contract also includes weapon systems, equipment for personal protection and a C4ISR system to be mounted on the vehicles.
This latest order brings the number of CV90 series vehicle customers to six (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland) and total orders and deliveries to 1,170 vehicles. The CV90-35 MkIII, in service with The Netherlands and soon Denmark as well, incorporates a number of improvements over previous CV90-30 export versions.