Sponsored by TEK Military Seating Limited
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16 Jul 24. Babcock supplies London Fire Brigade with vehicles to tackle wildfires. We have supplied four extreme weather response vehicles to the London Fire Brigade (LFB) which will be trialled this summer to respond to the growing threat of grass fires and wildfires.
The four new vehicles have off-road capabilities and technology that enables firefighters to tackle fires quickly and safely. Able to pump water while driving and carry approximately 500 litres of water, these unique vehicles are also equipped with wildfire beaters and leaf blowers that can control the direction of wildfire travel and help extinguish it.
Unveiled a simulated wildfire response training exercise on 11 July, the vehicles will now be located across London and mobilised to grass fires and wildfires around the capital.
David Reed, Technical Officer on the LFB Fleet contract said: “We’ve been delighted to support our customer LFB by sourcing vital assets and increasing their capability as part of dry weather preparations. In the event of hot weather, frontline stations will be able to make use of the extreme weather response vehicles to reduce the impact of wildfires, helping to create safer communities.
16 Jul 24. Australia to procure Bushmasters to provide C2 support for HIMARS. The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has signed a AUD45m (USD30.5m) contract with Thales Australia to build 15 additional Bushmaster 4×4 protected mobility vehicles (PMVs) for the Australian Army. The DoD said the vehicles – to be built at Thales Australia’s facility in Bendigo, Victoria – will be fitted with command-and-control (C2) systems to support the Australian Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) long-range fires regiment. Ordered from the US, Australia’s HIMARS capability is scheduled to be delivered to the Australian Army from 2025. Neither the DoD nor Thales Australia had responded to Janes questions about the contract at the time of publication. Australia has ordered two HIMARS batches from the US government. In May 2022 the US announced that Australia had ordered 20 systems through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract for about USD385m. In August 2023 the US announced a second batch of 22 HIMARS for USD975m, also through FMS. Australia’s Defence Strategic Review (DSR) – issued in April 2023 – recommended that the DoD accelerate the procurement of HIMARS. The DSR also recommended procuring additional HIMARS. The project is also scoped to procure the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is expected to have a maximum range beyond 500 km, the DoD said. Deliveries of both on-order batches are scheduled to be completed by 2027. (Source: Janes)
15 Jul 24. India unveils light tank designed for operations near the China border. India unveiled a prototype Zorawar light tank this month, as defense officials seek nimbler armored fighting vehicles suitable for the mountainous terrain along the border with China, where violence broke out in mid-2020. Delhi released a request for information for new light tanks in April 2021, and it is unprecedented for India to produce a prototype armored vehicle so quickly.
The Zorawar results from public-private collaboration, with Larsen & Toubro (L&T for short) cooperating with the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation, or DRDO. It was unveiled at L&T’s plant in Hajira, Gujarat.
The Indian Army has so far ordered 59 tanks, but Samir V. Kamath, DRDO’s chief, said the Zorawar would not be ready until 2027.
Kamath noted the prototype had been produced in just a two-and-a-half-year period. “And now the first prototype will undergo development trials over the next six months, and then we’ll be ready to offer it to our users for user trials,” he said.
First up are desert and high-altitude trials, before the Indian Army runs its own extensive tests.
Arun Ramchandani, executive vice President of L&T, said: “It has been a big effort, a joint effort between DRDO and L&T. … Nowhere in the world has a new product been deployed in such a short time.”
Despite these predictions, Indian defense procurements are renowned for being late. Neither DRDO nor L&T immediately replied to Defense News when asked about their confidence in the schedule.
Rahul Bhonsle, director of Delhi-based Security Risks Consultancy, said: “Although India’s mantra is defense indigenization, the Zorawar borrows much foreign technology. For example, it features a Cockerill 3105 turret from Belgium; Safran Paseo sights from France; and a foreign engine.”
It is unclear whether the prototype employs a Cummins VTA903E-series or MTU 8V199 TE21 engine, nor which type will be selected for production.
The 105mm main gun features an autoloader, meaning only three crewmen are required. There is also a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun and turret-mounted 12.7mm remote weapon station. Additionally, two antitank missiles are carried on the turret.
The vehicle runs on composite rubber tracks, and side-mounted sponsons indicate it is amphibious. It will apparently integrate drones and loitering munitions.
The Zorawar is far lighter than existing tanks of the Indian Army, meaning it is better suited to countering 36-ton Type 15 tanks of the People’s Liberation Army in mountainous areas.
Delhi’s December 2022 military project approval listed a requirement for 315 light tanks. (Source: Defense News)
15 Jul 24. US Army rehearses deploying Bradleys anywhere at a moment’s notice. A company-sized number of M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and approximately 60 personnel, along with fuelers, cargo trucks, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and tracked vehicle maintenance vehicles are headed from Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, to Fort Irwin, California, according to a spokesperson from the division.
After jointly working with the Air Force, the first element landed July 11, and the rotation will run through early August, they added.
The all-encompassing exercise tasks civilians and military personnel, who would participate in a real-world emergency deployment, with practicing their responsibilities on a compressed time schedule, during a training they didn’t necessarily know was going to occur, Lt. Col. Michael Hefti, battalion commander of the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, told Military Times.
“What makes this different is we’re going all the way across the country, and going straight into a tactical exercise at the National Training Center,” he said.
The C-17s transporting vehicles and troops also won’t land at a regular airport, but rather on an airstrip similar to those in real-world scenarios, he added.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Jay Reading, left, Senior Airman Jackson Foster, center, Staff Sgt. Colby Lash, right, secure gear on a C-17A Globemaster III. (Pfc. Camron Hicks/Army)
The exercise for troops in “America’s Contingency Corps” offers an opportunity to test and streamline processes to move large and lethal equipment in a division that is no stranger to rapidly activating and deploying to or near some of the biggest conflicts around the world.
The mission to prepare the tailorable and scalable package came down from the 18th Corps commander in 2022, Hefti said, adding that at his formation’s level, troops need to be prepared to go within 96 hours — a window that he said was practiced in this exercise.
Making each element for the exercise work fluidly, especially that quickly, involved interacting with liaisons to installation and garrison counterparts, as well as civilian agencies, so that proper resources were available.
“Due to those coordinations there were a lot of lessons learned and best practices on how to overcome [challenges] in a real-world activation,” said Capt. Denny Song, a troop company commander with the 7th Cavalry Regiment’s 5th Squadron.
“Repetition and building the relationships with our installation support agencies has been key with overcoming those [challenges], so we can just keep getting better and faster at the process,” he added.
Soldiers with the brigade combat team previously made their way to Europe as a part of the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 5-7 CAV has engaged in similar deployment readiness exercises in recent months, including a joint-training exercise with airmen in April that focused primarily on the timeliness of loading and unloading cargo, but that also allowed for rehearsing effective communication.
(Source: Army Times)
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TEK Military Seating Limited
TEK Military Seating Limited is a UK based designer and manufacturer of ProTEK military vehicle seating which offer the highest standards of safety and protection. The ProTEK brand is well respected across the globe for its robust construction, innovative design, built in modularity and cost effectiveness. Our superior products are supported by our experienced team who endeavor to offer unrivalled service to our customers from enquiry, through design and acceptance, to through life support.
From its inception ProTEK seats have been designed around a family of innovative seat frames onto which tested and certified modules can be fitted to create a bespoke solution for the user. These include Blast protection to Stanag 4569 standards, vibration reduction, head and body protection, seat risers and turntables, fore & aft adjustment, and seat back rake along with viable seat dimensions without the need for additional tooling costs.
Contact: Paul Fleming
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