Boeing

Continental DataGraphics (CDG), a subsidiary of The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA], announced that it recently secured a new contract agreement with Stork PWV to provide technical authoring and related services to support development of the Boxer multi-role armored utility vehicle program. The program is the collaborative development and initial production of the next generation of European armored utility vehicles.

The Boxer Program is a consortium that was originally split between a number of European companies including Alvis Vickers Ltd (now BAE Systems) in the UK, Stork PWV in The Netherlands and Krauss Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Landsysteme in Germany. Stork PWV now leads the Dutch development of the program. The initial production requirement is for 200 vehicles for Germany and 200 for the Netherlands. The Boxer will partly replace M113 and Fuchs Tpz 1 vehicles in the German Army and YPR and M577 vehicles in the Royal Netherlands Army.

CDG originalIy became involved supporting the ILS element in the Boxer program under contract with Alvis Vickers Ltd in 2001. When the UK Ministry of Defense announced in 2003 that it would withdraw from the program to pursue a new national program, Alvis Vickers Ltd took a position that it would no longer support the Boxer program. As Stork PWV took the lead position in development of the Boxer, CDG began a proactive campaign to demonstrate how it could support delivery of the program to the German and Netherlands armies, and was successful in securing the new contract.

"A key element of CDG's success in securing this project was our performance in terms of quality and delivery in the early phases of the program. Since the documentation is being written to the S1000D standard, CDG's expertise in this area was also a significant factor. The aerospace and defense industries are now rapidly moving to adopt this standard, because of the cost savings it promises for the future. There are a limited number of technical services companies that can support delivery of S1000D publications, and we are pleased that CDG's diligence in gaining expertise in this standard has benefited both us and our customers," stated Chris Moore, CDG's Managing Director for the U.K.