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19 Feb 25. Kia unveils able Tasman pickup for military use. Kia Motors is the dominant provider of trucks and tactical vehicles to South Korea’s military, but it has also carved out important markets in regions such as Asia and the Middle East. At IDEX 2025, held in Abu Dhabi from 17-21 February, Kia Special Vehicle Division unveiled its militarised Tasman pickup to prospective armed forces customers.
The vehicle is based on the commercially available Tasman SUV, but it features modifications such as a snorkel, bull bars, antenna, winch, military-compliant electric power supply, troop seating, electronic locking differential and blackout lighting. Its twin cab accommodates five soldiers.
Kia displayed a pickup version at IDEX, but it will also become available in other configurations, specifically a cargo bed, van body (which could serve as an ambulance or repair shop van, for example), flatbed (with a single cab instead of the twin cab on other versions) and also as a bare chassis for other manufacturers to add their own custom bodies.
Charles Jang, from Kia’s Planning Team – Special Vehicles, told Asian Military Review that development of the military Tasman has virtually concluded. It was developed using the company’s own funds, and it will be offered to the South Korean military as well as to prospective international clients.
The Tasman is 5.41m long, 1.93m wide and 1.87m high. With a gross vehicle weight of 3.25 tonnes, the Tasman can move a payload of up to 1.1 tonnes. It can also tow a trailer weighing up to 3.5 tonnes, and it can negotiate water up to 800mm deep thanks to its snorkel.
A 210ps diesel engine of 2.2-litre capacity, coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, powers the military Tasman. Jang said that, while the civilian Tasman is available with alternative power plants such as a hybrid, only a diesel is planned for military operators.
Kia also displayed its KLTV and its next-generation 2.5-tonne truck chassis at IDEX 2025. The latter was shown for the first time outside South Korea at the VIDEX 2024 exhibition in Hanoi last December.
The KLTV is in mass production for the South Korean military, but the chassis has been widely sold in the Middle East. Many vehicles from UAE manufacturers such as Streit Group base their own armoured vehicles on the KLTV chassis.
(Source: AMR)
26 Feb 25. Budget delays to impact US Army Autonomous Transport Vehicle system fielding. Operating the federal government under a continuing resolution is hampering the US Army’s ability to field a new autonomous vehicle, a service official announced on 25 February. The Autonomous Transport Vehicle for Sustainment (ATV-S) is a “critical” capability to “extend the division commander’s operational reach”, said Major General Michelle Donahue, commanding general of Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), at the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle conference in Reston, Virginia. The system –made up of a Palletized Load System (PLS) vehicle with autonomous kits – is scheduled for fielding in the next 12–18 months, but this may be extended based on funding.
If the continuing resolution stretches on, “it could even be 24 months, depending on if we can’t go forth with the final source selection for that capability, and so that will then delay us in [20]26; it’ll then delay us for all those other things that we have to get after from a final testing and full materiel release perspective”, she said.
Three Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements were awarded to Robotics Research Autonomous Industries, Neya Systems, and Carnegie Robotics in December 2023, according to an army press release. Since then, the army has downselected to Carnegie Robotics and Forterra, Maj Gen Donahue said.
Despite the funding uncertainties, the army is “committed” to the system, Maj Gen Donahue said.
“We expect our additional composite truck companies to increase sustained throughput by 50% while autonomously navigating varied and unpredictable routes while maintaining continuous movement,” she said. (Source: Janes)
25 Feb 25. FNSS to produce PARS Alpha armoured vehicles for Turkish Army. Turkish defence manufacturer FNSS has secured a significant contract to produce the new generation PARS Alpha armoured vehicles for the Turkish Land Forces.
The contract, which includes an initial order of 25 units, entails the serial production of both 8×8 and 6×6 variants of the PARS Alpha armoured vehicle for the Mechanized Armoured Units.
The programme will include the production of 6×6 variants, with the PARS Alpha 6×6 command post variants being equipped with mission equipment.
The order for PARS Alpha 8×8 anti-armour squad and armoured recovery prototype follows field tests conducted by the Secretariat of Defence Industries (SSB) – Türkiye’s procurement and defence-industrial strategy agency and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The PARS Alpha vehicle offers operational endurance, capable of covering 5,000km on and off-road without the need for field maintenance.
It features protection systems resistant to mines, improvised explosive devices, kinetic energy threats, and artillery projectiles.
The design prioritises crew safety with mine blast attenuation seats and strategic positioning of the driver and commander for increased protection.
It can also be fitted with gunshot detection systems, laser warning, and both soft-kill and hard-kill active protection systems, depending on user requirements.
Incorporating CBRN defence measures, the PARS Alpha provides a sealed environment to protect the crew from contaminants, ensuring combat efficiency in hazardous conditions.
The PARS Alpha is designed for modern military logistics, being transportable on highways, railways, and by a fleet of strategic airlifters such as the A400M, C-17 Globemaster, C-5 Galaxy, An-124, and Il-76.
FNSS Board vice chairman Oğuz Çarmıklı said: “With this new vehicle, we have combined 35 years of knowledge, user experience and engineering to create the latest generation vehicle in its class.
“We rightfully earned our place with superior success from field tests carried out by SSB. And finally, we have reached the stage of launching the New Generation Vehicles Program, which we will produce PARS ALPHA vehicles for our Land Forces.”
The Turkish Land Forces plan to expand their fleet with more than 2,000 vehicles through additional orders, with the PARS Alpha vehicle orders expected to increase in number over time. (Source: army-technology.com)
21 Feb 25. Milrem Robotics and Vegvisir Sign MoU to Advance UGV XR-based Situational Awareness Systems. Milrem Robotics, the world’s leading robotics and autonomous systems developer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vegvisir, a mixed-reality situational awareness solutions pioneer. The MoU will enhance the integration of Vegvisir systems with Milrem’s cutting-edge unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
The two companies will collaborate on new projects, conduct testing and experimentation, and develop innovative use cases for their respective products and services through this agreement. This partnership aims to strengthen their technical capabilities and ensure seamless compatibility between Milrem’s autonomous ground platforms and Vegvisir’s advanced vision systems.
“This partnership marks an important step in advancing the capabilities of unmanned ground vehicles and situational awareness technology,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics. “By working with Vegvisir, we are reinforcing our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions that enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness in complex environments,” he added.
Ingvar Pärnamäe, CEO of Vegvisir, expanded, “Collaborating with Milrem Robotics enables us to further develop and integrate our vision systems into industry-leading UGVs, enhancing their operational effectiveness. Our goal is to empower operators with the capability to manage everything from individual machines to entire fleets. We look forward to driving innovation and delivering next-generation solutions to global markets.
The MoU, signed on Wednesday at IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi, sets the stage for long-term cooperation between the two companies. It will foster innovation and technological advancements in unmanned ground systems and vision-based situational awareness. (Source: ASD Network)
21 Feb 25. IDEX 2025: AM General disclose JLTV A2 plans and production.
The US Army will receive initial deliveries in Q2 2025 and upgrade previous A1 units later this year.
AM General has now entered low-rate production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) A2 variant following a surprising contest in which the company supplanted Oshkosh, the original contractor, nearly two years ago.
Ahead of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2025) in Abu Dhabi, the new manufacturer revealed that the US Army will receive initial deliveries in the second quarter of 2025.
In an exclusive interview with Army Technology at IDEX, John Chadbourne, AM General chief business development officer and government relations designate, fleshed out the company’s gradual approach to its new iteration of JLTVs.
“Right now it is very slow, which is a very typical thing. You get it right now versus having to try to force [the vehicles] through fast and then go back and have to [change things],” he said, emphasising quality over time.
“There’s not a tremendous amount of pressure on us,” he added: the full operational capability estimate for 20,000 vehicles and 10,000 trailers was pushed from 2039 to 2057 according to a Congressional Research Service overview of the programme.
officer and government relations designate. Credit: AM General
After the follow-on contract award in 2023, AM General began to build a new, 96-acre smart factory in Indiana specifically for JLTV production, which is now up and running and where vehicle construction has already begun.
The company aim to meet “what would be close to full rate production” – around 15 vehicles a day.
JLTV A2 engineering changes
There are 250 engineering changes in the A2 variant, “and when I throw that number out there,” Chadbourne remarked, “people are like, ‘oh my god, it’s a completely different vehicle.’”
AM General aim to optimise the layout of the A2 in a modular way. The complicated engineering of components in the A1 iteration, Chadbourne suggested, would cause maintenance prolbems.
“What that caused is if a soldier needed to fix one thing, they had to remove six things to get to that one thing out.”
He pointed to the need to re-design the A2 with maintenance in mind:
“Young soldiers have minimum maintenance training, and so they were having to basically bring in field service representatives to provide maintenance for fairly simple things that should be able to be maintained.”
Looking back and forward
Notably, as part of the follow-on contract, the supplier will also take on the responsibility of keeping the entire JLTV family of vehicles in shape for the Army – including the units built by Oshkosh. The former contractor has until November 2025 to finish all of its JLTV production.
Chadbourne confirmed that AM General will soon adapt legacy A1 units with A2 capabilities going forward.
“The US government hasn’t given us that list yet, but that’ll be because they’re going to wait and see what those changes are. But also, is the amount that we would have to pay to go retrofit all the A1s with this change worth the cost of doing that?”
Looking forward, it is also worth noting that this is the first time the JLTV A2 was displayed at a global defence trade show. “There is a lot of international interest,” he added.
“[Oshkosh] didn’t really sell a lot of A1s internationally. Around 1,000, it’s not major. We [AM General] have hundreds of thousands of Humvees all over the world.”
Most recently, Oshkosh continues to supply the third batch of JLTV A1s to Lithuania towards a total of 500 vehicles, besides other Nato partners: Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, Belgium, Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Romania. (Source: army-technology.com)
21 Feb 25. KNDS France: 30 Years of Expertise for the Emirates Armed Forces and the Local Industry.
• KNDS France, the leader in the French land defense industry, is working on the modernization of the Leclerc main battle tank.
• The BHE-KNDS France partnership continues its efforts to localize the Emirati defense industry.
• The LLEM (Leclerc Life Extension and Modernization) program enables significant industrial growth to support the Emirates armed forces.
The Leclerc main battle tank, the best of the world
For over 20 years, the Leclerc main battle tank has proven to be the best tank design in the world, offering unmatched mobility, protection, and firepower. Now at mid-life, France and the United Arab Emirates have clear plans for extending its operational lifespan and modernizing their respective fleets.
As the French Leclerc XLR (Leclerc-renovated) enters in service in the French Army, KNDS France is offering the UAE a highly ambitious national program. This initiative paves the way for a unique combat capability while preparing for future Franco Emirati industrial collaborations in land defense.
KNDS France has partnered extensively with local entities in the UAE to modernize the Emirati main battle tank fleet in Abu Dhabi.
The development and qualification of new standards will elevate this iconic tank to the highest level by integrating the latest electronic warfare, communication, protection, and offensive capabilities—without compromising its exceptional mobility and stealth. KNDS France aims to execute this program under the supervision of the UAE Ministry of Defense for the benefit of the Emirati armed forces.
A BHE-KNDS France partnership for a powerful industrial growth
The objective is to conduct the majority of industrial work for the program locally, while establishing a strong industrial footprint in the heavy armored vehicle sector in Abu Dhabi.
To achieve this, KNDS France has partnered with the local private company BHE (Bin Hilal Enterprises), which will carry out all maintenance and modernization activities within a unique Emirati industrial operation under KNDS France’s supervision. BHE will receive a major technology transfer, drawing on more than 40 years of expertise from the former Nexter and GIAT groups, which have produced over 3,000 heavy armored vehicles, including the renowned AMX-30 and Leclerc. A specialized partnership has also been initiated with EDGE Group companies, which will act as long term suppliers of technology and equipment.
A national program to strengthen the local industry
The program will create over 400 skilled jobs in Abu Dhabi, with a focus on complying with Emiratization regulations. KNDS Emirates Ltd., KNDS France’s subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, will host a joint program management office, bringing together the expertise and teams from all program stakeholders.
The LECLERC Life Extension and Modernization (LLEM) program will set a new benchmark for cooperation between European and Emirati industrial ecosystems in the defense sector. (Source: ASD Network)
21 Feb 25. GDELS to Supply PIRANHA 5 for German Army’s TaWAN Project. General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) has been selected by the German Army for their critical procurement of a vehicle-based, long-range telecommunications network as part of the modernization efforts of the German Bundeswehr. The order for the delivery of up to 256 modern PIRANHA vehicles has a volume in the three-digit m range for the initial batch of 58 vehicles. First series vehicles will be delivered in 2026.
For this project, GDELS is working with German defense company Rheinmetall, which is the prime contractor for the entire project.
The PIRANHA 5 will be equipped with a 15-meter telescopic mast system, which will serve as a highly mobile, armored connectivity point in the TaWAN network. The PIRANHA 3 KOMPAK, a similar long-range communication vehicle variant, has been in successful operation by the Swiss Army for many years. To ensure immediate technical and logistic sustainment and operative readiness, GDELS will set up a system support center in Neubrandenburg.
“We are very grateful and proud about the trust the Bundeswehr and our industrial partner has bestowed upon GDELS. We will deliver first PIRANHA 5 series vehicles already next year and establish manufacturing and sustainment capabilities in Germany,” stated Dr. Thomas Kauffmann, GDELS Vice President and Managing Director GDELS-Deutschland.
“The undertaken effort is demonstrating GDELS’ strong commitment as a reliable partner for the Bundeswehr and Germany. We look forward to this opportunity and to reinforcing our dedication to this important home market,” said Antonio Bueno, President of GDELS. (Source: ASD Network)
21 Feb 25. EDGE and FNSS Enter Partnership to Modernise UAE Armed Forces’ BMP-3 IFVs. EDGE entity AL TAIF to collaborate with FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.S. to enhance operational readiness and battlefield performance.
AL TAIF, an entity of EDGE Group and a leading provider of comprehensive lifecycle support for land platforms, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FNSS, a globally recognised land systems company that specialises in designing and producing wheeled and tracked armoured combat vehicles as well as combat engineering vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, military vehicle hybrid power solutions, turrets and sustainability solutions. The partnership seeks to update the UAE Armed Forces’ fleet of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to boost their operational readiness and battlefield performance.
The agreement was signed by Rashed Al Kaabi, Chief Executive Officer of AL TAIF, and Kadir Nail Kurt, General Manager and CEO of FNSS, at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2025, underway at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) until 21 February.
Under the agreement, AL TAIF and FNSS will work together in compliance with internal policies and procedures to enhance and upgrade approximately 615 units of the BMP-3 IFV fleet of the UAE Armed Forces, to ensure they meet the today’s demanding technological standards. The modernisation aims to improve the mechanical, electrical, and electronic systems of the BMP-3 IFVs, equipping them with cutting-edge capabilities for enhanced performance and operational readiness.
Speaking on the agreement, Rashed Al Kaabi, said: “By bringing together FNSS’s extensive expertise in vehicle modernisation and our proven track record in MRO, we are looking to integrate advanced technologies to extend the lifespan and effectiveness of the UAE Armed Forces’ armoured fleet, ultimately enhancing their mission readiness and performance. This collaboration underscores AL TAIF’s dedication to innovation and excellence in defence solutions, ensuring that the UAE Armed Forces is fitted out with best-in-market systems to meet evolving operational demands.”
Kadir Nail Kurt said: “FNSS has a history of success in completing modernisation programs for different armies such as Türkiye, USA, GCC countries and that of South East Asia. Leveraging our expertise in next-generation vehicle development, FNSS provides cutting-edge solutions for vehicle sustainability programs tailored to user requirements and specifications. The capability enhancement and life extension solutions from FNSS deliver substantial upgrades in reliability and durability, extending the vehicles’ service life and ensuring they remain effective and relevant assets for modern combat needs.”
Beyond BMP-3 modernisation, AL TAIF and FNSS will also explore broader cooperation opportunities to further support the UAE Armed Forces. This synergy reinforces the commitment of EDGE to the UAE Armed Forces and its efforts in supporting a technologically superior defence force. (Source: ASD Network)
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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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