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BAE SYSTEMS TO LEAD SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INITIATIVE FOR MoD

28 Jan 2008 | Ref. 027/2008

BAE Systems’ Military Air Solutions business has been selected by the UK Ministry of Defence to lead a pan-industry and academic consortium which will provide research and guidance to embed a more coherent approach to the procurement and development of what is known as High Integrity and Safety Critical Software (HI&SCS).

Such software has been identified, by MoD, as ‘the critical enabling technology’ for modern platforms used for defence purposes, network enabled capability (NEC) and complex infrastructure. Concern that it often takes too long, costs too much to produce and does not always meet the requirement, has led to calls for a more coherent and efficient approach to its development.

The MoD has selected BAE Systems to join with other industry partners and academia to lead a new programme called the Software Systems Engineering Initiative (SSEI) – with the official launch of the new programme taking place in February.

BAE Systems will be the ‘contract holder’ on behalf of the consortium’s members - the MoD will be actively involved in a partnership capacity acting as the customer interface for the programme.

Management and research work is expected to take place across the UK in a range of organisations, including the University of York; IBM; MBDA; QinetiQ; Aerosystems International; YorkMetrics; the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre; Newcastle University; EDS, Selex Galileo, Oxford University and dstl.

The SSEI will be a ‘virtual team’ but the initial research work will have a strong presence at the University of York. Jane Fenn of BAE Systems MAS, the Programme Manager for SSEI, said: “This is a significant journey, but we expect the SSEI will build on an initial programme of research, creating a body of experts able to provide consistent advice to the MoD – in particular into procurement and support projects.”

It is intended that the SSEI will grow over time to include a range of other UK participants.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the premier global defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 96,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded £15 billion (US $27 billion) in 2006*.

*On a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings Inc for the whole of 2006

For further information please contact:
Simon Shrouder, BAE Systems
Tel: +44 (0) 1772 85 2995 Mob: +44 (0) 7793 423 453
Simon.shrouder@baesystems.com

Guy Douglas, BAE Systems
Tel: +44 (0) 1252 384841 Mob: +44 (0)7736 810490
guy.douglas@baesystems.com

Issued by:
BAE Systems, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6YU, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1252 384710 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 383947
24hr media hotline: + 44 (0) 7801 717739