--US Industry Day for the UK-US future joint program of research into a ground-based system for the detection and countering of land mines on military routes

The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (MoD) and the Department of Defense of the United States of America (DoD) are discussing a future joint program of research into a ground-based system for the detecti on and countering of land mines on military routes. The end objective of the future program is to jointly develop and then evaluate a demonstration system prototype. The work will involve both MoD and DoD organizations plus industrial organizations in bot h the UK and US in a fully collaborative program that will pool and share all information produced. All work will be exploitable by either nation for future countermine and related work. The future program is expected to focus on countering buried and surf ace laid anti-vehicle land mines under the following conditions, (in priority order): Real time medium range (5m to 100m) mine detection and recognition from a ground vehicle. Real time short range (less than 5m) mine detection, recognition and identific ation from a ground vehicle. Countering the threat at short range (less than 5m) from a ground vehicle. The prototype system must provide a rate of advance broadly compatible with the tempo of military operations and be compatible with a medium weight fo rce. The prototype system must also offer the potential for enhancement to provide capability against a wider range of threats, more rapid rates of advance and other terrain. In late 2004, both the US DoD and the UK MoD will host an industy day in both th e UK and the US to provide further details of the program. Possible industrial and contracting arrangements will be discussed during the Industrial day. The US industry day will be conducted on 28 October 2004, 1300 hours at the Crystal City Hyatt in Arli ngton, Virginia. The UK industry day will be conducted in the UK on 9 November 2004. Individuals who plan to attend the US industry day meeting should provide the their name and company information (to include company name, street address, email address and phone number) to the US Army Contracting Officer, Peggy A. Melanson, email: contact@example.gov by 22 October 2004. Questions about the US industry day should be forwarded by email to the Ms. Melanson.