Archive: News & Articles

Greece has announced major arms purchases with “six emblematic decisions that multiply the power, functionality and effectiveness of Greek weapons,” in the words of Prime Minister K.Mitsotakis. These decisions include: The Hellenic Air Force will immediately acquire a squadron of 18 RAFALE fighter jets that will replace older MIRAGE 2000 fighters. The Greek PM said […]

FN Herstal, a Belgian subsidiary of the Herstal Group, and French group Nexter have signed a strategic contract in the framework of the Capacité Motorisée or Motorized Capability (CaMo) programme for the modernisation of the Belgian Army’s ground mobility capability. This contract covers the production and delivery by FN Herstal of the latest generation deFNder® Remote […]

Gerhard Heiming At the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) virtual exhibition in Washington from 28th to 29th August 2020, Airbus Helicopters announced the launch of the latest version of the LAKOTA helicopter, with an order for 17 aircraft. The UH-72 belongs to the widely used H145 family, whose military and civilian versions […]

The Spanish Ministry of Defence has awarded a €1.74 bn (US$2.06bn) contract to a joint venture of General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Bárbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS) and three other companies to deliver 348 8×8 Wheeled Combat Vehicles (VCR), their maintenance and life cycle support, as well as support their international commercialisation. The GDELS-SBS contract is for […]

Jack Richardson New hybrid technology is being tested on the British Army’s FOXHOUND and JACKAL 2 vehicles following a £3m investment from the MOD. Offering improved silent mobility, hybrid and electric drive systems will provide sustainability benefits and deliver potential military advantages, reducing noise and increasing stealth capability. Electric systems will also provide game-changing power off-board, […]

Jack Richardson Hungary yesterday signed a Joint Venture agreement with Rheinmetall to manufacture the LYNX Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) in the country. This programme is worth over €2bn and will modernise the country’s defence industry and military capabilities. Hungary is the first NATO and EU member state to choose the Düsseldorf-based Group’s innovative new IFV, a move […]

Waldemar Geiger and André Forkert The Hungarian Government and Rheinmetall have agreed to set up a joint venture for the production of LYNX Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) in Hungary, the state news agency MTI announced on Monday. This is the first procurement contract for the vehicle, which is currently competing in Australia, the Czech Republic […]

Arie Egozi GeoSpectrum Technologies, an Elbit subsidiary, has unveiled the C-BASS family of compact Very Low Frequency (VLF) long-range acoustic underwater transducers. According to the company, the system generates high power at very low frequencies from a small source which the firm claims is a technological challenge, with current high power underwater VLF sources available on […]

Gerhard Heiming As western Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) are not known to be capable of safely eliminating all potential threats such as the T14 ARMATA, one way to counter such vehicles is to increase the calibre of the MBT’s cannon. Following the first hardware presentation of a 130 mm/L51 cannon at Eurosatory 2016, Rheinmetall released […]

Gerhard Heiming A solution is currently being developed under an emergency programme for the German Army’s qualified anti-aircraft defence, which is to be available for use by the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2023 at the latest. The focus is particularly on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which is why the defence […]

Gerhard Heiming On 24th July 2020, the 25th Infantry Brigade (MH 25. Klapka György Lövészdandár) in Tata (75 west of Budapest) received the first four of twelve LEOPARD 2 A4HU Main Battle Tanks (MBTs). The ceremonial handover was attended by Hungarian Defence Minister, Tibor Benkö, the German parliamentary state secretary, Thomas Silberhorn, Commander-in-Chief of the […]

Jack Richardson Nexter has placed a major order with Eurenco, the European leader in energetic materials, for the supply of artillery modular charges. A total of 70,000 modules will thus be manufactured on the Eurenco Bergerac site and delivered between 2021 and 2022 to the French Army for use on the CAESAR© system. This contract makes […]

Gerhard Heiming The U.S. Army has published the draft tender for the preliminary design of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV), which is to replace the BRADLEY Infantry Fighting Vehicle from 2028, on the US government’s contracting website. In early 2020, the U.S. Army relaunched the programme with a five-stage approach. Phase 1 is currently […]

Gerhard Heiming The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is having a Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) installed in a BRADLEY Infantry Fighting Vehicle for test purposes. Based on a development programme, the Army wants to increase the effectiveness of combat vehicles and the supply of electrical power in the vehicle to expand […]

Jack Richardson The first official sub-contract for a UK company involved in the production of the MoD’s new BOXER Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme, has been awarded by a member of the ARTEC consortium to WFEL, a nominated Tier One supplier in the project. The contract covers the transfer of manufacturing technology from Germany to the […]

Jack Richardson COHEMO, a Madrid-based company, is to maintain the Spanish Army’s LEOPARD 2E (Leopard 2 A6E) tanks until 2021, with the agreement including the revision and repair of the stabilisation system in addition to the electronic equipment among others. This contract was assigned by the Army’s Logistic Support Command (MALE), which received several offers including […]

Gerhard Heiming After the successful completion of firing tests, the President of the Turkish Defence Industry (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı, SSB), Professor Ismail Demir, has stated that the SUNGUR Air Defence System has proven its readiness for deployment. Under Roketsan’s leadership, SUNGUR has been developed in cooperation with local companies as a national Man-Portable Air Defence […]

Gerhard Heiming Hungary is planning a defence budget of €2.2bn for 2021, a good quarter of which is earmarked for procurement. The major projects include H145M helicopters, Main Battle Tanks (MBT) and Self-Propelled Howitzers (SPH). This summer, Hungary will receive twelve LEOPARD 2 A4HU MBTs from Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW) for training purposes. Hungary intends to make […]

Jack Richardson Oshkosh Defence has announced that the U.S. Army Contracting Command has placed an order for 248 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) and associated kits, valued at US$127m. This includes vehicles for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of State. To date, Oshkosh has successfully integrated multiple weapons on the JLTV including Remote […]

Gerhard Heiming Acceptance tests of Sweden’s new RBS 98 air defence system have been successfully completed. According to the FMV procurement agency, only minor software changes are necessary before the system, which has been tested on the Vidsel firing range since 5th November 2019, can be introduced to the troops. The core of the air defence missile […]

Gerhard Heiming The U.S. Army has contracted BAE Systems to supply another 159 BRADLEY A4 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) for around €238 million until 31st March 2023. Since 2018, the U.S. Army has been looking for a successor for 4,700 BRADLEY’s under the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV). In a second attempt, the aim is […]