EQUIPMENT / BAE <<


(left) At Nordanås, Kjell Glorvigen is a delighted customer rep after getting to drive the vehicle for which he had signed a contract


(right) Rear-Admiral Marten Jakobsen and Tommy Gustafsson sign the contract for additional CV90s for Norway


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"We know from that regional distribution within the purchasing country is highly valued and so we sourced suppliers from all over Norway..."


began when Roy was the sub-project manager for upgrading the Leopard main battle tank, with the procurement authority for the Norwegian Armed Forces. “In 1994 Hägglunds was awarded the contract to supply Norway with the CV90. The agreement included a requirement for three Norwegians to be included in the project group, and I was selected as one of these three. As a result, I settled in Örnsköldsvik from 1994 to 1995,” explains Russ.


In 2004, an offer arrived from Örnsköldsvik to set up and run a local office in Gjøvik. “It helped that I’d had experience of project management, had worked in the defence industry and had a broad network of Norwegian customers,” says Russ.


The CV90 project started with an informal contact with Army Staff in Norway in November 2004 and the project took formal shape early the following year. “The project concept was based on the need for a family of vehicles that would meet the needs of the mechanised battalions. We were asked to bring along all of our experiences with the CV90 and to develop new variants,” says Russ.


In 2006 Army Staff reported their intention to proceed on to a concept phase. “In the reports from the concept studies that we submitted at the end of 2007 we proposed updating the existing vehicle, building some new chassis and producing a number of new combat vehicle variants in order to obtain the desired family of vehicles. This all helped to win the contract,” explains Russ. The industrial collaboration ended up rather differently from the usual set-up where GCS Vehicles Programmes outsources turret production to the purchasing country. In this case the concept was based


winter 2012_13 | globaldefencemedia.com


on re-using all the existing turrets.


Russ explained: “The Norwegian government made it clear that the industrial collaboration should involve Norwegian defence technology. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, leading a team of Thales Norway and Rheinmetall Vinghøg, therefore became central subcontractors in the integration of communications, sensors, information and computer systems,” Turrets and chassis that are not being newly manufactured are being upgraded in Norway, often for new roles - something which involves a lot of conversion work. “We know from previous projects that regional distribution within the purchasing country is highly valued and so we sourced suppliers from all over Norway, something which obviously was an extra positive element from a regional political perspective.


International cooperation


“The entire bid and negotiation team, including offset, was in Örnsköldsvik, and the United Kingdom provided us with expert help – not only with internal processing and bid approvals, but also with important customer meetings. We had fantastic support from Group Business Development and GCS leadership. We were also provided with help and support both from the British and Swedish embassies including a government relations adviser in Oslo. It was as a result of all this joint work that we were finally able to capture this order.” Russ will continue his involvement with the project, though now more as a local consultant with regard to Norwegian relations and customer relations. “I will also be providing support to other parts of BAE Systems that are interested in doing business in Norway. That should keep me busy!” n


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