EADS: "Infantryman of the Future" to be better protected on dangerous missions
* 70 million euro contract to equip soldiers of all services
* Technology permits increased performance in networked operations
Friedrichshafen, 03 December 2004
EADS will be supplying the Bundeswehr with a new Future Soldier System (programme name: Infanterist der Zukunft, IdZ) that aims to decisively improve the protection of individual soldiers on dangerous missions. The company announced on Friday that EADS Defence Electronics (DE) obtained a 70-million euro series order from the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) for 196 IdZ Future Soldier basic systems, which are envisaged for around 2,000 soldiers of all services including the NATO Response Force and the German ISAF contingent in Afghanistan. For the latter, the Bundeswehr already obtained 15 systems between July and November for rapid reaction forces in Kundus.
"The 'Infantryman of the Future' is based on an integrated system approach that combines aspects of self-defense, communication, orienteering or navi-gation, and arms,” explains Bernhard Gerwert, Head of EADS Defence Elec-tronics. “Thus the IdZ shows the kinds of increased performance that new technologies in networked operations bring for the protection of soldiers, for information superiority, as well as for mission effectiveness.”
As head of the consortium, EADS Defence Electronics has developed, with the companies of the Soldier System Team (Projekthaus System Soldat) and the German Bundeswehr, a new equipment concept, tailored to the new de-mands made on the armed forces. Accordingly, the individual infantryman will be equipped with a ballistics-protective vest made from the most modern ma-terials, nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection of the latest tech-nology, night vision equipment, and digital navigation and communication equipment with GPS, tactical voice and data communication, as well as im-proved armament.
EADS Defence Electronics manages the 'Projekthaus System Soldat', and thus also has the overall responsibility for ensuring that all requirements to secure improved performance through the help of new technologies are met. In this, civil components, which are modified and improved, are frequently used to comply with the tough demands made on them in actual missions.
EADS Defence Electronics, supplier of radar, avionics and electronic warfare systems, is an integrated part of the EADS Defence and Security Systems Division (DS). DS, with revenues of about € 5.2 billion in 2003 and roughly 24,000 employees across nine nations, forms the defence pole within EADS. It offers integrated systems solutions to the new challenges confronting armed forces and homeland security units. It is active in the areas of military aircraft, missile systems, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems with manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), battlefield management systems, defence electronics, sensors and avionics, and re-lated services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, the Group generated revenues of over € 30 billion and employed a workforce of more than 109,000.
Contact
Martin Billeisen
EADS Defence Electronics
Tel.: +49 (7545) 8-3144
mailto: Martin.Billeisen@eads.com
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