Archive: News & Articles

On 21 September 2022, Hanwha Defence unveiled a prototype version of their developmental K9A2 Self-Propelled Howitzer (SPH) for the first time at the DVD 2022 defence exhibition at Millbrook Proving Ground, in the UK. The vehicle was presented as part of the company’s bid for the UK’s Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) future artillery programme. The […]

In the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO has drawn up and announced its New Strategic Concept, which, amongst many things, reaffirms existing alliance values and its assurance of collective defence underpinned by credible and rapidly available reinforcements, enhanced command and control and, crucially, pre-positioned equipment. For any troops deploying to a distant theatre […]

France has long recognised the importance of a highly capable national defence industry as it provides France with ‘strategic autonomy’, meaning that it can meet a substantial part of its own defence needs without dependence upon external suppliers. This also provides a positive economic impact through expenditure in the domestic economy. The fact that aerospace and defence […]

Free-Space Optical (FSO) Wireless, or laser communications, has been in use in the commercial sector for years. It’s potential on the battlefield, though yet to be fully exploited, is now being taken evermore seriously. Imagine a means of line-of-sight communications that is totally secure, cannot be intercepted, eavesdropped, or disrupted by EW and jamming. Well, […]

This article was originally published on 26/08/2022 in ESD’s sister magazine, Europäische Sicherheit & Technik. Since Russia began their invasion on 24 February 2022, there has been a continued tendency on social media and in the press to hype up many Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, often after seeing limited footage of their employment in […]

This article was originally published on 25/07/2022 in ESD’s sister magazine, Europäische Sicherheit & Technik. Over the month of July, there have been a number of articles[1],[2] and social media posts[3] circulating online stating that S-400 has been failing to protect Russian armed forces arms caches and command posts from High Mobility Artillery Rocket System […]

Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) are troops who direct combat aircraft, helicopters or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles engaged in close air support. Previously known as Forward Air Controllers (FAC), their role today is often part of the Joint Fire Support Team (JFST) as they also make use of indirect fire weapons (artillery and mortars) and ship-borne […]

Based in Suhl in the German state of Thuringia, small-arms manufacturer C.G. Haenel still thinks it has a good chance that the MK556 will be the Bundeswehr’s future assault rifle. The company is still fighting for the contract, which was withdrawn from the company after it was awarded last September. Three lawsuits are currently pending […]

The Danish Government has launched a new 27 page strategy for the country’s defence industry including a four page initiative catalogue. This replaces a strategy paper from 1 July 2014. With the strategy, the Government sets the framework for a completely new and strengthened approach to future cooperation with the defence industry on defence and […]

Israeli developer of Airborne Missile Protection Systems (AMPS) and Airborne Surveillance, Information, and Observation (ASIO) solutions BIRD Aerosystems is to open an office in  Buenos Aires, Argentina. This forms part of the expansion of its activities in the Latin American market, the company said in a statement. The company already has offices across the world, […]

The French Navy has selected the SonoFlash new-generation sonobuoy from Thales. Three decades ago, only the superpowers had a true undersea warfare capability, but numerous countries now deploy modern submarine fleets. At the same time, forces increasingly operate in littoral waters, which are much more complex for sonar systems, rather than in the relative certainty […]

Elettronica GmbH and M3 Systems are to team up in order to provide Aerospace and Defense customers with system testing capabilities that cover Radar, Communication and Navigation domains. Key contributing products will be the M3 Systems StellaNGC GNSS signal simulator and Elettronica’s EW/Radar & COM simulation environment. “German-French industrial collaboration has always been an outstanding […]

Rheinmetall and Airbus Defense & Space continue their successful cooperation in training systems for the A400M transport aircraft with the new turnkey A400M Cargo Hold Part Task Trainer (CPTT) for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) having been used for training since February 2020. The A400M CPTT, an A400M Cargo Hold Trainer with controls that are […]

The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence has selected the Patria AMV XP and the PIRANHA V from GDELS-Mowag to take part in the second phase of the country’s 8×8 wheeled vehicle programme. This will involve field tests to measure the capabilities of the vehicles offered against Bulgarian military requirements and contract negotiations in order to verify […]

Just over a year after signing the procurement contract for 62 Tactical Infantry Transport & Utility System (TITUS) multipurpose vehicles, Nexter has delivered the first prototype to Tatra Defence Vehicles. Blast and direct fire tests, among others, will be carried out there in preparation for the acceptance tests in the Czech Armed Forces. This comes […]

JFD has announced that it has been awarded an extension to its contract for the provision of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) by the UK Ministry of Defence. The company has been at the heart of the NSRS since it came into service in 2008 as both an operator and equipment manufacturer. JFD was […]

Eavesdropping on smartphones and the hacking of messages and files is easier and more widespread than most companies think. Smartphone security is still an overlooked area in many businesses. Often, companies only recognise the need to secure their phones after a data breach has been discovered, that is, if the breach is discovered at all. […]

The annual International Exhibition of Rotorcraft Equipment (or HeliRussia) was held at the Crocus Expo Centre on the outskirts of Moscow from 15 to 17 September with 153 exhibitors (including 40 from the media) making it the smallest since 2009. Previously scheduled for May, it was moved to this new date due to COVID -19, making […]

The MSPO exhibition in Kielce, Poland, has just started. It’s a national show but this year its importance is not to be underestimated, as much of the defence world – politicians, industry, exhibition and conference organisers, the military, the media etc – will be looking to learn lessons about professional, large-scale exhibitions in the post-COVID-19 […]

Hungary has ordered 218 LYNX Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) from Rheinmetall in a deal worth more than €2bn, making the country the first NATO and EU member state to order the type. This important contract represents a major breakthrough in the global defence market for the Düsseldorf-based technology group’s innovative new combat vehicle. The contractual […]

Korhan Özkilinc The Turkish armaments company Roketsan has opened the Research Center for ‘Satellite Launch, Space Systems and Advanced Technologies and Explosive Raw Materials Production Plant’. The company will continue to work on its sounding rocket at the facilities where it has carried out successful tests in the past. The aim is to launch satellites […]