Team MBT-LAW formed to chase UK contract

CHRISTOPHER F FOSS JDW Land Forces Editor
London

Saab Bofors Dynamics of Sweden has formed a partnership called Team MBT-LAW UK, headed by Thales Air Defence (previously Shorts Missile Systems) in Northern Ireland, to compete for the potential £300 million ($433.9 million) British Army Next Generation Anti-Armour Weapon (NLAW) to meet Staff Requirement (Land) 4098.

In an effort to secure this major contract, and significant potential exports, Saab Bofors Dynamics has now offered 100% Industrial Participation to UK industry as well as involvement in future projects.

Final assembly, testing and packaging of the MBT-LAW will take place at Thales Air Defence's purpose-built Multiple Ordnance Assembly and Test facility in South Down, Northern Ireland.

The high-tech facility is currently used for manufacturing and assembling a number of missiles, including Starstreak, Hellfire and in the future the VT1 surface-to-air missile.

Thales Air Defence would also be responsible for designing and supplying the training systems for MBT-LAW, integrated logistics support package and initial support.

Originally, some 100 companies were invited to attend detailed briefings to become partners in the programme and in the end 13 were selected. The other members of the MBT-LAW team include: Thales Missile Electronics; BAE Systems RO Defence (Rocket Motors); BAE Systems (BASE); Raytheon Systems; Leafield Engineering, Express Engineering; NP Aerospace; Portsmouth Aviation; RF-HiTEMP; Nobel Enterprises; Metalwebb; EPC Logistics Technology; and Skeldings.

These companies have a good spread of experience with most having a well-established track record for being involved with key UK Ministry of Defence contracts.

It is estimated that the UK selection of MBT-LAW would create up to 400 jobs, many of them high-tech, in the UK, of which about 50 would be in Belfast.

The UK is expected to take between 20,000 and 24,000 MBT-LAW systems, but under the terms of the Team MBT-LAW UK agreement it is expected that all production for other markets, including Sweden, will be undertaken in the UK.

Saab Bofors Dynamics and Thales Air Defence have identified a world market for the MBT-LAW system of at least 80,000 to 100,000 units with a total value in excess of £1 billion. MBT-LAW is an advanced top attack 'fire and forget' weapon capable of defeating the latest armoured vehicles.

The MBT-LAW was originally developed as a private venture by the now Saab Bofors Dynamics before winning one of the two product-definition contracts awarded in 1998 by the UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA). The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, which has a similar requirement, has provided additional funding.

It is expected that MBT-LAW would eventually replace the current AT-4/Carl Gustav anti-armour weapons used by the Swedish Army. These weapons have limited capabilities against the latest main battle tanks.

Saab Bofors Dynamics is probably the leading developer and manufacturer of manportable anti-armour systems in the West, having produced more than a million systems for sale to more than 50 countries.

MBT-LAW is one of the two contenders for the British Army's LAW-80 replacement programme, the other being Kestrel, headed by Matra BAe Dynamics UK teamed with Lockheed Martin of the USA. Kestrel is a further development of the US Marine Corps' Predator.