General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman Compete for JOC System in Brunei

21 Agustus 2009

US Northern Command - a modern Joint Operation Centre System (photo : Northcom)

General Dynamics UK & Northrop Grumman picked as suppliers for Brunei Joint Ops C41

Brunei’s Ministry of Defence has zeroed in on two candidates – General Dynamics United Kingdom (GD) and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems International Inc (NG) – after assessing their pilot systems, for setting up the Joint Operations Centre C41.

This was announced yesterday by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, at the 2nd Brunei Darussalam International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Bridex) held at its centre in Jerudong.

He said, in line with the Brunei Government’s Defence White Paper Update 2007 entitled “Shaping the Force Today” and its strategic objectives, the Ministry of Defence invited interested vendors to submit their proposals to design, develop, manufacture, procure, assemble, install, integrate, test, deliver, provide and successfully commission a Joint Operations Centre (JOC) based on the concept of a Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C41) system, collectively known as the JOC C4I, which is fit for purpose and meets the requirements of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

With this, a total of 14 potential vendors from around the world participated in the tender. Three of the candidate vendors have just completed a demonstration of their pilot systems in Brunei.

The defence permanent secretary added that the Ministry of Defence intends to enter into contract negotiations with GD and NG with a view to announcing a contract award in the third quarter of this year.
According to General Dynamics UK Limited, the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) will provide the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) and Ministry of Defence (MinDef) with a facility to deliver command and control capability for military commands and civil organisations at both a national and international level and be interoperable with its NATO and Asean allies and coalition partners.

General Dynamics is committed to providing an enduring capability based on Brunei’ Vision 2035, said Andrew Browne Vice President C4I Systems of General Dynamics UK for C4I.

General Dynamics UK is the Prime Contractor and Systems Integrator delivering the UK’s flagship C4I system across the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force; and the latest enhanced version was used successfully in a British exercise in Brunei recently. General Dynamics UK is also delivering similar systems to other customers worldwide.

The core of the General Dynamics solution for the Brunei JOC is a low-risk Microsoft Windows based solution using best-of-breed products enabling ease of use and local sustainability. General Dynamics will provide both support and training packages tailored to meet the needs of the RBAF.

General Dynamics UK is teamed with Systematic UK for the Brunei JOC. Systematic UK recently won the contract to provide its SitaWare product to be the core software around which the United Kingdom’s JOC will operate over the coming years, thus providing a single unified Common Operating Picture (COP). This same product is at the core of General Dynamics UK’s Brunei JOC proposal.

Welcoming the announcement, Andrew Browne, Vice President C4I Systems, said: “General Dynamics UK is very pleased to have been selected for the next stage of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces’ JOC programme, after a rigorous demonstration and assessment of our technical solution and capabilities. Customers worldwide trust us to deliver. We are confident that our bid, which offers both technical excellence and superb benefits in knowledge transfer for the Bruneian ICT business sector, and also leverages our experience in developing international education partnership programmes, will provide Brunei with the best JOC solution. Our unique experience as the UK MoD’s premier communications partner supports our proven track record, delivering interoperability for key programmes of national importance for Britain and its military partners globally.”

Northrop Grumman Information Systems Europe said it is proud to be selected as one of two companies to enter into negotiations for supply of Brunei’s JOC.

A press release from Northrop Grumman Information Systems Europe stated that this is an important enhancement to Brunei’s defence capabilities, providing not only protection to its people and natural resources, but also allowing RBAF to become a lead nation in regional and coalition activities.

“Our C4I system (I-JOCCS) is deployed and will support international operations. We are proud to work with local companies and emerging technologies and are fully committed to working with the RBAF for the full life cycle of this program,” it further stated.

Paul Davison, vice president and managing director for Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector in Europe said, “We are strongly committed to growing our business in South East Asia and Brunei is an important market in which we have considerable capabilities to offer.”

Their proven range of information system solutions across the company are well matched to meeting Brunei’s defence and national security requirements and Bridex provides an excellent platform fro building alliance, forging partnerships and capturing new business opportunities in this fast growing region, he added.

(Brunei FM)