The U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded Thales U.K. the initial three-year support contract for the Watchkeeper Unmanned Air System (UAS) program. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Thales U.K. is also prime systems integrator for the Watchkeeper. The contract includes Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) service, providing spares and repairs, technical support and the availability of the Watchkeeper training facility. The contract covers the whole Watchkeeper system, comprised of more than 160 entities (including unmanned air vehicles, ground control stations and support vehicles), and includes operator/user training. Watchkeeper will provide enhanced all-weather, dual-sensor multi-mission and image-exploitation, and dissemination capability for the U.K. armed forces. The Watchkeeper Service Management Team will be based in the U.K., with Joint MoD/Thales Service Delivery and Training teams based in Abbey Wood, Bristol and Larkhill, Salisbury, assisted by service support organizations at Thales’s facilities in both Leicester and Crawley.
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