BAE SYSTEMS and THALES awarded targeting technology contract

BAE SYSTEMS and THALES have been awarded a contract with £20M of government funding to develop and assess the technology for the next generation of European electro-optical targeting systems. The technology demonstrator programme (TDP) contract was awarded by the SANS IPT of the UK Defence Procurement Agency on behalf of the UK and French Governments. BAE SYSTEMS' Sensor Systems Division in Edinburgh is Prime contractor and will run the programme together with THALES Optronique of Guyancourt, near Paris, through an Integrated Project Team.

The TDP is called JOANNA (Joint Airborne NavigatioN and Attack) and is a risk-reduction programme that will demonstrate, within 4 years, the in-flight use of the new technologies to allow targeting from greater stand off ranges and to reduce pilot workload.

The JOANNA Integrated Project Team has the overall responsibility for project management and system design. It has been established in BAE SYSTEMS' new Crewe Toll Engineering Building in Edinburgh and will make use of the new facilities there to test the system. Four years from the start of the development work, the JOANNA system will be transferred to Edinburgh's Turnhouse airport for installation in a BAG 1-11 aircraft operated by BAE SYSTEMS' flight trials department. The flight trials will be carried out from Cazaux near Bordeaux at the French DGA Flight Trials centre (CEV) and supported by THALES Optronique facilities in Cazaux. Data analysis and modelling will be done at THALES Optronique in Guyancourt.

The JOANNA Project Manager Dr. Allan Colquhoun of BAE SYSTEMS', said "Discussions are underway to extend the JOANNA programme to include the governments and industries of Italy and Spain. The additional funds available from wider collaboration would allow extensions to the functionality and flight testing, to reduce the risk for future European targeting requirements such as ASTRID"

The Project Manager of THALES Optronique, Vincent Gilbert, said "JOANNA ... forms the basis of a multi-purpose electro-optic airborne system that will address the new requirements for targeting and reconnaissance. Such a powerful system will also take more input from the other sensors on board the aircraft giving the pilot a much improved situational awareness."

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