March 2021 News Global Defence & Security Industry - Military |
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The Ground Force of the French Army is expected to receive 90 VBL Ultima 4×4 light armored tactical reconnaissance vehicles in 2021. Arquus, its manufacturer, will progressively modernize 800 VBLs to the new Ultima standard, which means half of the current fleet.
According to Armadni Noviny, in 2020, work at Tatra Defense Vehicle (TDV) culminated in special command-staff and liaison versions of Pandur II CZ vehicles for the Czech Army. The last unit was handed over in the first decade of December 2020. For the coming years, one of the pillars of TDV's capacity is another order for the Czech Armed Forces: the development and production of new Nexter Titus vehicles (Tactical Infantry Transport & Utility System).
According to two pictures tweeted by an unidentified social network user from Qatar, Soviet-made T-34/85 tanks dating back to World War 2 are still used to fight in Yemen.
A tweet dated March 10 from ChevalDeFrise informs that trials have been conducted with a Boxer APC for potential heavier weaponry than a 12.7mm machine gun fitted on an EOS RWS: HK 40mm AGL and M230LF 30mm chaingun. Besides this, Microflown's Castle acoustic range and direction localization of mortars, snipers, gunfire etc. have been fitted on Milrem’s THeMIS UGV.
The Belarussian armed forces have received the first batch of 9M120 Ataka antitank guided missiles, the Belarussian Defense Ministry said : “The first batch of Ataka missiles was delivered in the framework of military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation”. It was earlier reported that Belarus planned to procure antitank Ataka missiles in 2020-2021.
Two contenders for the Infantry Fighting Vehicle project were unveiled in Canberra on March 12, as part of the biggest acquisition project in Australian Army history: Hanwha Defense Australia’s AS21 Redback and Rheinmetall Defence Australia’s Lynx KF41 were on display, dominating the M113 armoured personnel carrier they'll replace.
In the bright Japanese morning sun, stretched across the flight line, more than 500 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members talk, rehearse jump procedures and shimmy parachute packs onto their backs. All the while, U.S. Air Force Airmen prepare 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for a surge unlike any other on record.
A new type of vehicle-mounted anti-tank missile is now being deployed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), reports show. The new missile is more powerful than its predecessors due to the larger caliber and is highly mobile when mounted on an off-road assault. Liu Xuanzun reports on Global Times.
The U.S. 405th Army Field Support Brigade's Army Field Support Battalion-Mannheim (Germany) received about three dozen next-generation M109A7 Paladin Artillery Systems and M992A3 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles by railhead at Coleman Barracks, March 4. Cameron Porter, 405th AFSB Public Affairs Officer, reports.
Exercise Eagle Sokol is a bilateral training exercise with the Slovenian Armed Forces focused on the rapid deployment and assembly of forces and team cohesion with weapon systems tactics and procedures.
The Belarusian defense industry will unveil the Trio surface-to-air missile (SAM) system fitted on two Asilak armored vehicles, The Dead District reports.
On 10 March 2021, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) handed over the last five of 20 heavy vehicles and equipment to the Georgian Ministry of Defence, as part of the Substantive NATO-Georgia Package. The vehicles will join the Georgian MoD fleet and will be used as training support vehicles at the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Centre.
A batch of eight T-90M Proryv tanks has been delivered to the Sevastopolskaya motor rifle brigade of the Western Military District’s Guards armored army, the Defense Ministry’s press office said: “This month, we have received several T-90M tanks. The tank is the perfect vehicle in the family of T-90 tanks and is the most adapted to modern combat,” Armored Army Commander Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel said.
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has started the training of its officers who will operate the soon-to-be delivered SPYDER (Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) ground-based air defense system (GBADS) from Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Defense Studies reports. PAF is set to receive three batteries of SPYDER GBADS with delivery expected to begin this year.
The 402nd Army Field Support Battalion-Alaska spent the month of February testing, identifying and documenting the breaking point of equipment and systems used by units in Alaska in an extreme arctic environment. Katie Nelson, U.S. Army, reports.
India plans to buy 30 armed drones from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to boost its naval and land defenses as tensions persist with neighbors China and Pakistan, The Business Standard reports.
A vastly upgraded version of HQ-9 to counter ballistic missile and satellites (ASAT) on the lower end of Low Earth orbits, HQ-19 is the Chinese equivalent of the U.S. THAAD. HQ-19 is armed with a dual-purpose exosphere kinetic kill vehicle (kkv) warhead designed by a team led by Professor Zhou Jun, which can be used against ballistic missile warheads or satellites. Using its HQ-19 Anti-Ballistic Missile Interceptor, China carried out a 4th land-based mid-course missile interception test within its territory on 5 February 2018 and "achieved the desired test objective". As usual, the government announced that the "test is defensive in nature and not targeted against any country".
Thales has successfully conducted different trials, which have demonstrated the integration capability of its radio communication solutions with the Army’s command and control systems for use cases of a command network, both at brigade and lower echelons levels. The trials of the SYNAPS software-defined radios (SDR) and Line-of-Sight solutions showed full compatibility and new capabilities brought to the command and control and communications systems deployed and in use, such as BMS (Battlefield Management System) and PR4G radios, or will be in the near future by the Army.
Helicopters and equipment from the U.S. 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, began offloading March 6, 2021, at the Port of Dunkirk, France. The aviation brigade is home-stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas and its equipment arrived aboard the Endurance, a commercial vessel chartered by the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command. Staff Sgt. Benjamin Northcutt reports.
Avon Protection announces the launch of the CH15, a revolutionary, ultra-thin, single-size portable escape hood that provides a minimum of 15 minutes of respiratory vision and facial protection against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
AeroVironment, Inc., a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems, on March 9 announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Arcturus UAV, now operating under the AeroVironment brand, was awarded a competitive task order valued at approximately $7 million from the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The competitive task order is for a one-year period of performance, which started on February 3, 2021.
On March 10, Rafael announced that the two companies will cooperate on business opportunities and projects for the Brazilian Ministry of Defense and auxiliary forces.
Defenture, the Netherlands-based manufacturer of high-end tactical vehicles for both special forces and light infantry units, welcomes investment company Azur Investment Group as a shareholder. This financial injection enables Defenture to further develop three new modular tactical vehicles.
Nexter Munitions demonstrates its capability for innovation by presenting the 120 SHARD ammunition, a high-performance product available at short notice. SHARD, the new generation of APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) 120mm antitank ammunition, is compatible with all current and future battle tanks equipped with NATO standard 120mm smoothbore guns.
In February, in the formations and military units of the Russian Central Military District (CVD), more than 110 combat training events of various levels were held, commander of the Central Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, announced : “In the system of combat training, 35 exercises of various levels, 26 assembly events and 52 field exits of battalion-tactical groups, formations and units of combat arms were held”.
