The British Army Programmes team last night announced via social media that the Foxhound Command Variant is undergoing basic field testing.
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Andover, 11 December 2023: The Foxhound Command Variant has moved from formal testing and validation to basic field testing with the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team. It is being used by the Brigade HQ to tactically move around the battlefield alongside the vehicles used by the other exercising troops.
The field testing will provide direct user feedback that will enable us to make small tweaks for eventual production, but also show users what type of capability we are bringing into service as part of the British Army’s modernisation program.
A joint team comprising our Rapid Acquisition Team, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), General Dynamics UK Limited and NP Aerospace have worked collaboratively to create the Foxhound Command Variant and it is already proving to be very popular.
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Background: On 23rd November 2023 the UK Ministry of Defence published the following Voluntary Transparency Notice:-
The Authority has identified a need to generate 50 Foxhound Command Variants. To accommodate this, Army commercial will seek to convert up to 50 Foxhound Light Protected Patrol Vehicles to Command Variant, via a single source contract with General Dynamics Land Systems UK.
The conversion will provide enhanced VHF, HF and UHF capability, whilst providing the users with a working environment suitable for operating BOWMAN data terminals. The conversion will also include vehicle performance enhancements, required to support the new variant and function on the platform, including mission battery improvement and crew display systems.
General Dynamics UK are the OEM and Design Authority of the Foxhound Platform and have developed the design for the modification using private venture funding As the Design Authority, and only contractor to have access to the design for the modification, General Dynamics UK is the only contractor which is able to perform the requirement, for technical reasons. Further, General Dynamics UK is the Design Authority for BOWMAN and are also the only UK Licenced company by US DOD, under ITAR, to install BOWMAN on a new variant of Foxhound.
It is our intention to award a contract in early 2024 for a period of 15 months.
This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority has decided to negotiate a contract with the named supplier on a single source basis, and is published for reasons of transparency. If you are interested in becoming a sub-contractor for this requirement, you should apply directly to the supplier named above.
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