OTTAWA, Ont. -- Foreign Affairs Minister and local Member of Parliament John Baird today announced that important government investments in the Canadian Armed Forces’ fleet of Light Armoured Vehicles will not only keep Canada’s men and women in uniform safe; they’re creating jobs right here in Ottawa.

On 7 February, in Kiev, the representatives of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Iraq and those of the State Company “Ukrspecexport” signed the document that confirms the acceptance of another batch of Ukrainian-made BTR-4 armoured personnel carriers. The batch consists of 40 vehicles.

The German Bundeswehr has contracted with Rheinmetall to supply it with seven Fuchs/Fox armoured vehicles specially configured for detecting and identifying roadside bombs, mines, etc. This new Fuchs/Fox variant is called the KAI, short for its official Germany designation, “Kampfmittelaufklärung und –identifizierung”. The order is worth around €37 million.

Germany’s Bundeswehr has assigned Rheinmetall an important role in modernizing many of its vehicles with new electro-optical sensor technology.

Textron Systems Canada Inc., a Textron Inc. company, Rheinmetall Canada Inc., and Kongsberg Protech Systems (KPS) Canada today announced a $100 million CAD contract for work to be performed by KPS Canada on the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) project. This is a sub-contract within the $205 million CAD contract between Textron Systems and Rheinmetall that was announced in October 2012.

The Attica thermal imaging device from Cassidian Optronics significantly enhances the fighting capabilities of tanks as well as crew safety.

Elbit Systems Ltd.’s (the “Company”) subsidiary, Elbit Systems Land and C4I Ltd., was recently awarded a contract by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (“IMOD”) to supply Cardom artillery systems (known in the Israel Defense Forces as "Keshet"). The contract, to be performed over six years, was part of the Company's December 31, 2012 announcement regarding a total of approximately $315 million in IMOD awards for several contracts in different areas. The Cardom award is a follow-on to a contract for the Israeli Defense Forces (“IDF”) awarded in September 2011.

Supacat, partnering with a team of Australian companies, was selected in April 2012 as preferred bidder to provide a prototype vehicle for the Special Operations Vehicle element of the Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO)’s JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) program.

BAE Systems received a $37.6 million contract from the Letterkenny Army Depot to provide spare parts and kits for 250 Medium Mine Protected Vehicles, a 6x6 state-of-the-art wheeled military vehicle.

Lorica Systems UK Limited (Lorica) today announced it has been chosen by Lockheed Martin UK for final negotiations as the preferred turret armour supplier for the demonstration phase of the UK MoD Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP) and is now in final negotiations with Lockheed Martin.

The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, announced today that the Government of Canada has awarded a contract modification valued at $133.5 million to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to upgrade an additional 66 LAV III vehicles. This award modifies a contract previously announced in October 2011 to upgrade 550 LAV III vehicles, valued at $1 billion.

London, United Kingdom – Specialist Vehicle (SV) is already pulling more than its weight as the core of the British Army’s future Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) programme. The Mobile Test Rig (MTR) for the SV programme, which was rolled out by General Dynamics in June, has towed a total of 92 tonnes train weight over 300km providing early confidence in SV’s ability to deliver the full-load power-pack performance required to meet the vehicle’s anticipated growth path over the next 30 years.

Honeywell has been awarded two contracts worth a combined $221 million to continue its highly successful support of the U.S. Army’s M1 Abrams main battle tank program.

Textron Systems Canada Inc., a Textron Inc. company, and Rheinmetall Canada Inc., today announced a $205 million CAD contract for work to be performed by Rheinmetall Canada on the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) project.

Haifa, Israel -- Elbit Systems Ltd. ("Elbit Systems") announced today that Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa S.A. ("Ares"), its Brazilian subsidiary, was awarded an initial production order valued at approximately $25 million to supply 12.7/7.62mm Remote Controlled Weapon Stations (RCWS) to the Brazilian Army. The RCWS, named REMAX, a unique development of Ares, will be supplied within two years.