August 2020 News Global Defence & Security Industry - Military

 
 
 
 
 

The European Defence Agency’s Steering Board has given its green light to the launch of a new EDA research project which aims to improve and harden Armed Forces’ communication and radar systems with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make them more resilient, even in contested electronic warfare environments. Three Member States - Germany, the Netherlands, Poland – will participate in the project.

In the framework of training to air assault operations, a Humvee has been loaded on to a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter assigned to Bravo Company, 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion, 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade at the 28th ECAB's mobilization station.

According to information released by the Taiwan News website on August 30, 2020, Taiwanese armed forces would like to develop a new short-range air defense similar to the American-made Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS). Taiwan has requested the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology NCSIST to study the development of a land-base CIWS.

Elbit Systems announced on Aug.31 that its U.S. subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (“ID/IQ”) contract by the Defense Logistics Agency Land to supply the U.S. Army with gunner hand stations, commander hand stations and circuit cards for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV).

According to information released by the Defesa Aérea & Naval website on August 28, 2020, the 7th armored infantry battalion of the Brazilian army has received the last modernized M113 tracked Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). Brazil has started the program to modernize its fleet of M113 in July 2010, for a total of 386 vehicles.

According to a contract released by the U.S. DoD (Department of Defense) on August 28, 2020, Lockheed Martin Corp., Sunnyvale, California, is being awarded a $911,765,000 modification (P00049) for existing sole source, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HQ0147-12-D-0001 for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) element development and support services.

On Aug.27, the Swedish army received its 100th Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90, in Swedish: Stridsfordon 90, Strf90). CV90 is a family of Swedish tracked combat vehicles designed by Sweden's Defense Materiel Administration (Försvarets Materielverk, FMV), Hägglunds and Bofors during the mid-1980s and early 1990s and entered service in Sweden in the mid-90s.

China, which had received the first batch of the S-400 missiles in 2018, saw Moscow suspend further deliveries with no set-date in mind, which according to Chinese press reports, was due to Russia’s concern of the deal coming in the way of the PLA’s anti-pandemic actions, Mansij Asthana reports on Eurasian Times.

High-precision complexes of the Russian State Corporation Rostec handed over the upgraded prototypes of the Sprut-SDM1 tank for state tests. Over the next year and a half, the vehicle will be tested in the field by military units of the Ministry of Defense. The new tank has been designed and developed by PJSC Kurganmashzavod, which is part of the High-Precision Complexes holding of the State Corporation Rostec.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana has signed the Contract Agreement and Notice to Proceed for the Horizon 2 Air Surveillance Radar System (ASRS) Acquisition Project of the Philippine Air Force, under a negotiated government-to-government procurement with Japan. The project, which has an Approved Budget for Contract of PHP 5.5 billion, was awarded to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO). The deal was initially due to be completed by May, but negotiations have stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of August, the last Estonian operators and most of their equipment arrived on the theater. The joint work and the first training of the French and Estonian special forces of Task force Takuba could therefore begin. Warrant Officer Christophe, FS group leader within Takuba, looks back on the first joint exercises currently taking place in Gao.

According to a press release published on August 24, 2020, the Company Jacobs is part of the team that was selected by the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence to devise a new system to help the British Army cross water in hostile territory. The ‘Map the Gap’ competition asked the private sector how crossings could be scouted and planned without the need for dangerous reconnaissance missions.

Taiwan's defense budget in 2021 should increase by 10.2 percent compared with the 2020 one. Needless to say that it is a reaction to China's repeated firm declarations concerning its claimed sovereignty on the island, accompanied by firm warnings to the U.S.A. not to « play with fire » in the Taiwan Strait, that leads to this decision.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on August 25 said it is placing an additional order of 21 CM-34 "Clouded Leopard" eight-wheeled armored vehicles, to be deployed to the country's Military Police Command, Chen Chun-hua and Ko Lin report on Focus Taiwan.

Another project involving SECANT, which offers turnkey solutions with its advanced engineering, design and production capabilities, has been completed successfully. The M4K 8X8 Mine-Protected Recovery Vehicles project was launched by the Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), with MPG as the prime contractor, to satisfy an urgent need of Turkish Land Forces Command.

On August 25, the Spanish Ministry of Defense awarded a €1.74 billion (USD $2.06 billion) contract to a joint venture of General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Bárbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS) and three other companies to deliver 348 8x8 Wheeled Combat Vehicles (VCR), their maintenance and life cycle support, as well as support their international commercialization.

The Portuguese soldiers, of the 7th Detached National Force, mainly composed of paratroopers, on mission in the Central African Republic in the service of the United Nations, carry out a joint operation with peacekeepers from Nepal, and also benefit from the support of helicopters from the United Nations. Pakistan and Sri Lanka, aimed at stabilizing peace in the region of Bocaranga, located in the northwest of the country, near the border with Chad and Cameroon.

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