Meggitt has been awarded £10.2 million in contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to upgrade British Army Dismounted Close Combat Trainers (DCCT) - small arms trainers.

The three contracts, awarded in June and July 2015, upgrade existing trainers with the FATS® M100 system architecture, provide DCCT portable configurations, and add Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST) Phase 4 Fire Control System (FCS) simulation training onto the DCCT platform as a complement to live-fire FIST equipment.

Meanwhile, Meggitt Defense Systems, Irvine (MDSI), California, announced that it has been awarded a $42.1 million contract by Lockheed Martin UK (Ampthill) to produce 40mm Case-Telescoped linkless Ammunition Handling Systems (AHS) for the Scout armoured vehicle programme.

The AHS will be designed and manufactured at the Irvine facility with production deliveries starting in 2016 and continuing through to 2021.

The Meggitt cased telescoped ammunition handling system will be incorporated within Scout's 40mm cannon. Rounds are translated laterally about one metre at high speed and handed off to the gun for loading into its unique rotating breech and firing. The action is based on Meggitt's "linear linkless" technology in which a round travels from the magazine along a linear track until it reaches the gun's breech. Each round is handled individually, with no belt or link to snag or jam. Despite the 'linear' part of the name, which implies rounds are stowed in a straight line, they are actually stored in a serpentine configuration to maximise utilisation of available space.

The Scout's weapon system showcases another of Meggitt's specialities: volumetric efficiency—packaging an ammunition system in such a way that it takes up the minimum possible amount of internal space.

MDSI's President, Dr. Roger Brum said: “We are extremely proud to be associated with the UK Scout programme through our colleagues at Lockheed Martin UK and believe our innovative ammunition handling system solution will serve the British Army well for many years to come.”

Meggitt Defense Systems Inc, a subsidiary of Meggitt PLC, specialises in the design, development and production of ammunition handling systems, radar and digital processing systems, and environmental control systems.

Meggitt Defense Systems products are in use on virtually all US military training ranges and on many of the world’s leading military platforms, including the Abrams main battle tank, the Stryker Mobile Gun System, the F-16 Falcon, the F/A-18 Hornet, the AC-130 Spooky Gunship, the AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopter, the AH-1 Cobra Helicopter and many others.