Thales UK awarded £700 million

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The Ministry of Defence and Thales UK have signed a £700 million contract for the full Development, Manufacture and Initial Support (DMIS) phases of the WATCHKEEPER programme.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Thales UK have signed a contract worth £700 million for the full Development, Manufacture and Initial Support (DMIS) phases of the WATCHKEEPER programme. WATCHKEEPER will provide the UK armed forces with an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability based on an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) system and will be a key component of the UK's Network Enabled Capability (NEC).

This programme will deliver equipment, training and facilities, with the capability coming into service from 2010.

According to Thales, WATCHKEEPER will provide UK Armed Forces with all weather day and night surveillance in times of war, tension or during peacekeeping operations, without the need to deploy troops into sensitive areas or harmful situations. The WATCHKEEPER system can provide continuous 24/7 surveillance when needed, using unmanned air vehicles able to stay airborne for more than 16 hours each.

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