October 2018 Global Defence & Security Industry - Military News

 
 
 
 

Protection of military vehicles has become a priority for the Russian armed forces. The efficiency of weapons employment, logistics support and everyday activities of the troops depend largely on how well army military vehicles are protected. Russian experts have developed a family of the Medved-class protected military vehicles and later the Patrul-3A protected vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

RRS-MITCOS is the short form for a new joint venture which Rheinmetall and Rohde & Schwarz have set up to meet the German military’s requirement for integrated operational and communications systems. First and foremost, Rheinmetall and Rohde & Schwarz want to play a leading role in digitizing Germany’s ground forces. This major programme encompasses an investment volume of several billion euros.

On 27 October, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said the Nigerian Army would begin the production of combat vehicles in 2025 in the country. Buratai made this known at the 77 Regular Recruits Intake Passing-Out Parade at the Nigerian Army Depot in Zaria, Kaduna State, as reported on PM News.

India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile, local media reported on 30 October. The missile, launched from a test range off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha as part of regular training activities, hit the target area with accuracy, according to The Times of India newspaper.

On 29 October, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced it has won a tender for a “mega-contract” worth $550 million with the army of an undisclosed Asian country to provide its “Sky Capture” air defense system, as Shoshanna Solomon reports in The Times of Israel. However undisclosed, the country is believed to be India.

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to install 15 sets of the Samarkand electronic suppression systems and connect them to its data transmission system, a document published at the ministry’s state procurement website said. "A set of works to extend the prescribed deadlines of operation and current repairs, installation and adaptation of EW means in accordance with a list approved by the Russian Defense Ministry. The components of the Samarkand electronic suppression system should be installed and connected to the Russian Defense Ministry’s data transmission system," the document said.

In October, the Singapore armed Forces (SAF) and US Army held the most recent iteration of a military exercise. As commented by Prashanth Parameswaran on The Diplomat, the United States is a key supplier of defense technology and facilities for military training for Singapore, while the city-state is a valuable regional partner that across a range of issues from counterterrorism to maritime security while also hosting a U.S. Navy logistics command unit that coordinates regional operations.

SRC Inc., has been awarded a $26M contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, to deliver AN/TPQ-50 radar systems. The AN/TPQ-50 has a flexible architecture allowing for quick adjustment to address the emerging Army capability needs for air surveillance and counterfire target acquisition.

The United States Marine Corps has just contracted with Rheinmetall to produce and deliver 40mm practice ammunition. The ammunition, specifically the 40mm x 53 MK281 MOD3 High Velocity Practice Day/Night Marking Cartridge, will be produced in Camden, Arkansas and shipped from American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM), a Rheinmetall subsidiary based in Stafford, Virginia.

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew has announced a multi-million-pound deal to modernise and boost the British Army and Royal Marines’ very short-range air defence capability. The £93 million Future Air Defence Availability Project (F-ADAPT) was awarded to Thales UK during Minister Andrew’s visit to Belfast on 25 October.

South Korean Company Hanwha Land Systems confirmed that trials of the K9 Thunder 155mm self-propelled artillery system have also been undertaken in Australia, Egypt, Malaysia, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The K9 is now in service with South Korea, Estonia, Finland, Turkey, India and in Poland using the chassis with a Polish-made turret.

Russia will finance Cuba for the purchase of Russian military equipment for an amount of $50 million, according the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing two sources of Russian technical and military cooperation. An agreement will be signed by the two countries during the 16th intergovernmental commission on economy, trade and scientific-technical cooperation that will take place in Havana on October 29-30.

The Australian Army has been testing its latest range of capabilities during a land trial exercise in Townville over the last month. The Land Trial involved over 200 people from Army’s 3rd Brigade, 6th Brigade and 17th Brigade, Defence Science and Technology, Defence Industry Division and the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group.

The Belgian Council of Ministers of October 25, 2018 approved the signing of an intergovernmental agreement with France concerning the establishment of a strategic partnership in the field of land mobility under the CaMo program. French Company Nexter will deliver 382 Griffon 6x6 multi-role wheeled armored vehicles (VBMR) and 60 Jaguar 6x6 wheeled armored reconnaissance and combat vehicles to the Belgian army.

According to an announcement on Poland’s ministry of Defense website posted on Oct. 19, the country has provided the U.S. a letter of request for one M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, division as part of what it’s calling its HOMAR program. Poland had planned to buy the Lockheed Martin-made systems since 2015, but its original plans to share in production work for the HIMARS systems through PGZ, its state-run defense group, proved complex and ran up against several walls in the negotiation process.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami announced the country's plans to unveil several new home-made weapons and military equipment in the near future. "God willing, we will unveil numerous defense achievements on the threshold of the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution (February 11, 1979) and the start of its fifth decade," General Hatami told reporters in Tehran after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He said one of the achievements that will be unveiled soon will be related to the naval fields, but declined to release any further details.

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