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06 Mar 25. Major military infrastructure upgrade completed at Leuchars. Construction has completed on a major infrastructure project to benefit soldiers based at Leuchars Station in Fife.
Upgraded facilities have been delivered for The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 2nd Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, including refurbished offices, garaging, a shared workshop, a central servicing and inspection facility and a new-build bespoke store.
At the formal opening of the new facilities on 5 March, Belinda Lunn, Defence Estate Optimisation (DEO) Army Programme Director, said:
I am delighted to see the result of this significant investment at Leuchars Station, which has delivered high-quality facilities for service personnel. This major upgrade in technical infrastructure has set the benchmark for our long-term programme to enhance the Army estate in Scotland. The £62m Leuchars Station project was delivered under the legacy of the Army Basing Programme by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), contracting to McLaughlin & Harvey Construction Ltd and Mott MacDonald. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
06 Mar 25. Rheinmetall demonstrates the capabilities of the Kodiak Armoured Engineer Vehicle in Poland. Whether deployed in combat in NATO alliance territory, on peacekeeping missions far from home or providing assistance at home, the engineer corps proves to be a guarantor of combat strength and operational effectiveness in all scenarios. For their wide-ranging tasks, they need high-performance and versatile special equipment. An out¬standing example of the best possible equipment is the Rheinmetall Kodiak, a genuine combat engineer vehicle.
On 26 February 2025, Rhein¬metall Landsysteme GmbH demonstrated the capabilities and versatility of the Kodiak armoured engineer vehicle at the commanders conference of Polish military engineer corps. Guests from the armed forces, procurement authorities and industry attended the event at the Ostrowo Krzyckie military training area.
In the first part of the event, the Kodiak demonstrated its high mobility, acceleration and speed in the terrain. It then proved its effectiveness in typical tasks of the engineer corps, which involve supporting friendly and inhibiting enemy movements. To do this, it used its excavator arm, which is mounted in the centre of the vehicle, and its dozer blade. The advantages of the design-defining centre-arm concept were also evident in the other parts of the demonstration. The Kodiak first dug an anti-tank ditch and then repaired a damaged flood dam. The highlight of the demonstration was overcoming the previously dug anti-tank ditch.
The Kodiak: a ‘real engineer’
The AEV 3 Kodiak armoured engineer vehicle is currently the only new armoured engineer vehicle based on the Leopard 2 chassis that has been specially developed for the needs of engineers. The well-balanced Leopard 2 chassis with its 1,100 kW drive system offers outstanding mobility.
Rheinmetall manufactures and sells the AEV 3 Kodiak. In addition to Switzerland, other users currently supporting their Leopard 2 main battle tanks with the Kodiak Armoured Engineer Vehicle 3 “Kodiak” and the Armoured Recovery Vehicle 3 “Büffel” (Buffalo) include Sweden, the Netherlands and Singapore. In spring 2021, the Bundeswehr also commissioned Rheinmetall to supply 44 Kodiak armoured engineering vehicles.
Conversion to the Keiler NG armoured breaching vehicle
The high degree of modularity and ultimately the convertibility of the Kodiak into an armoured mine clearance system known as the Keiler Next Generation (NG) was also demonstrated in Poland. Operational experience from the war in Ukraine shows that fighting with and around obstacles has become increasingly important on the battlefields of the future. At Eurosatory 2024, Rheinmetall presented the Keiler NG, a new heavily protected and mobile armoured combat support vehicle for quickly opening barriers in combat. This system, known as an Armoured Breaching Vehicle (ABV), meets all current tactical requirements and is highly future-proof.
Rheinmetall offers the customer two procurement options: either the mine clearance add-on kit for the AEV Kodiak is purchased, or a customised Keiler NG system is offered separately. The way in which the Kodiak can quickly and easily accept the following modular add-on kits of the Keiler NG was demonstrated by means of the exhibition of the add-on parts. These include the above-mentioned mine plough, the rocket-assisted detonation cord system ‘Plofadder’, a magnetic field duplicator and a mine lane marking system. This combination enables the Kodiak/Keiler NG to overcome even deeply laid enemy obstacles, even in difficult terrain.
More than four metres wide, the Pearson mine plough can clear mines at a rate of up to 250 metres per minute over loose ground. For firm soils, Rheinmetall Denel Munition offers the rocket-assisted detonating cord system Plofadder. In just a few minutes, it can cut a 160-metre-long and nine-metre-wide path through minefields and obstacles. When used together, the two Plofadder systems alone can clear a minefield up to 250 metres deep. The integrated lane marking system shows follow-on forces the cleared lanes, even in poor visibility or at night.
Instead of an excavator arm, the Keiler NG has an integrated crane so that it can carry out retrofitting, follow-on supply or tool changes independently. For self-protection, both the Kodiak and the Keiler NG carry the ROSY quick-fog protection system and the Natter 12.7 remote-controlled weapon station.
05 Mar 25. Storage facility for over 900 vehicles completed at MOD Ashchurch. An advanced storage facility with capacity to house over 900 Army vehicles has opened at MOD Ashchurch under the Vehicle Storage and
Brig Matt Wilkinson and VSSP Senior Responsible Owner Belinda Lunn cut the ribbon to the new building, accompanied by representatives of DIO, the Army, Skanska and Mace. Copyright Skanksa.
As the largest Army infrastructure programme currently in delivery, VSSP is enhancing operational readiness and future capability through provision of modern, sustainable storage and maintenance solutions for the Army’s vehicle and equipment fleet.
The programme is delivering dedicated inspection and maintenance facilities, essential office space and Controlled Humidity Environment (CHE) storage, which will reduce vehicle maintenance costs and unnecessary deterioration caused by extreme drops or rises in temperature.
The largest CHE storage building on site, which is equivalent in size to around five football pitches at around 25,300m, has now been handed into service, with the first vehicle rolling into the facility at an official opening ceremony on 3 March.
VSSP is being delivered for the Army by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) contracting to Skanska for construction and Mace as project manager. Overall, the programme will deliver 13 new buildings alongside demolition of 58 existing buildings and renewal of site-wide infrastructure. All buildings adhere to the latest sustainability standards and support the Army’s contribution to government net zero targets, with provision to generate solar energy on site.
Warren Webster, DIO MPP Programme Director – Army, said: “It is always gratifying to celebrate a significant milestone for a complex construction project. The excellent progress we’ve made at VSSP has been achieved thanks to the collaborative effort of DIO, Army, Skanska and Mace project teams, and their supply chain. We are proud to be delivering modern, sustainable infrastructure that will meet the enduring requirements of the Army’s fleet and benefit military personnel.”
Terry Muckian, Skanska Executive Vice President, said: “Working within a live military environment presents unique challenges, but through close collaboration with site personnel, we were able to maintain their operations while continuing to deliver this significant infrastructure project on schedule. Our partnership with DIO, Mace, and our supply chain was instrumental in achieving these results. Additionally, through meticulous design and construction efforts, we have ensured that the vehicle storage building not only meets but surpasses the required air tightness specifications, enhancing its durability and operational efficiency.”
Graham Seage, Director of Defence and National Security at Mace, said: “The completion of this state-of-the-art storage facility is a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term resilience of the British Army’s estate and assets. The level of collaboration across all partners to reach this milestone has been first rate and, importantly, has extended to teams working across the wider defence estate, drawing on lessons and experience from around the DIO portfolio to drive efficiencies and innovations.”
MOD Ashchurch is owned by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and VSSP is due to complete at the site in 2027. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
05 Mar 25. No Badger delivery dates yet known, Parliament hears. More than 13 years in the making and the SA Army still doesn’t have a replacement for its Ratel infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) in service, a Parliamentary questioner was told by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga. In Parliamentary terms that’s four ministers ago with then incumbent Lindiwe Sisulu in charge until June 2012 – a month after the phase one development order for Project Hoefyster was approved. Since Sisulu the Defence and Military Veterans Ministry has been headed by Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (2013 to 2021), Thandi Modise (2021 to 2024) with Motshekga now democratic South Africa’s fourth woman in the Defence Ministry suite in the Armscor building.
Seemingly not happy with what appear to be endless delays, termed “a deferment” by SA Army Chief, Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha at Exercise Vuk’uhlome last year, Democratic Alliance (DA) point man on defence and military veterans in the National Assembly (NA) Chris Hattingh sought clarity.
He wanted to know the original dates for the finalisation of Project Hoefyster, the dates of each extended finalisation, and reasons for the extensions.
The Ministerial reply makes known the Badger variants and phase one development completion date (November 2012) and Phase 2 (production) date (before 30 November 2023) but not the number of vehicles to be delivered. “The delivery date of the Phase 1 Development Order was extended to 30 November 2018. The delivery date of the Phase 2 (Production Orders) remained at 30 November 2023,” Motshekga stated.
She added that the delivery date of Phase 1 was extended “due to additional requirements included in the scope of the orders as well as non-compliance and default of Denel to execute the orders in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof.”
Clarifying the current delivery dates for each Badger variant, Motshekga revealed that the Section variant (SV) has a “proposed” Phase 1 completion date of May this year; July this year for the Fire Support variant (FSV); January 2027 for the Command and Missile variants (CV and MSLV); February 2027 for the Mortar variant (MV) and integrated logistics support (ILS) for all variants by August 2027.
While not included in the Ministerial reply, indications are the landward force will see 88 Badger vehicles – sufficient for a single battalion – delivered and not the three battalion 240 plus planned.
Dates for production deliverables remain outstanding “pending Armscor and Department of Defence (DoD) decision making forum decisions”.
Hattingh was also updated on the costs of phase one development. The initial cost, according to the ministerial reply, was R1.048 bn, excluding escalation and value added tax (VAT) with an original completion date of November 2012. Production orders at the same time were costed at R8.345bn, again excluding escalation and VAT. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
04 Mar 25. Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Acquires THeMIS UGV from Milrem Robotics. The U.S. Army’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has acquired a THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) equipped with the MIFIK Intelligent Functions Kit from Milrem Robotics. This cutting-edge technology will be used for further research in extreme cold environments in Arctic regions.
The THeMIS UGV is a modular and robust unmanned platform designed for various applications, including logistics, reconnaissance, and operational support. In its Cargo configuration, the THeMIS enables troops to effortlessly transport supplies, equipment, and extra weapons to the mission area, reducing soldiers’ cognitive load and the need for manpower.
The integration of MIFIK further enhances the platform with autonomous navigation, making it indispensable for operations in challenging terrain and climate conditions.
The THeMIS UGV is part of robotics programs or in service in 19 countries, making it the most widely used UGV in its size class.
“The THeMIS is the most mature UGV on the market. Its integration into multiple nations’ combat formations reduces customers’ overall integration and procurement risk,” said Patrick Shepherd, Chief Sales Officer at Milrem Robotics. “Milrem has the lessons learned and depth of experience to ensure a smooth integration into the military forces.”
The acquisition of this system aligns with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mission to advance technological innovation in support ofnational security and operational readiness. The THeMIS UGV will be deployed in various experimental and operational scenarios to assess its capabilities and contribute to ongoing research into autonomous systems for cold-weather operations.
CRREL is part of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and is dedicated to solving interdisciplinary challenges in cold and complex environments through engineering and scientific research. CRREL supports military and civilian operations by developing innovative solutions for infrastructure, mobility, and operational effectiveness in extreme climates.
03 Mar 25. US Army picks Carnegie, Forterra for autonomous logistics truck prototyping. DIU and the service want to make a final downselect by mid-2026 but ongoing budget uncertainty could derail that plan, says Maj Gen Michelle Donahue.
The US Army has quietly selected two companies to develop and test autonomous logistics trucks, with officials hoping to get them into the fleet as soon as 2027 — if budgets allow.
Officials from the Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) told Breaking Defense Tuesday that both Carnegie Robotics and Forterra have been selected to move forward with prototyping work on the Autonomous Transport Vehicle System (ATV-S) ahead of a mid-fiscal 2026 decision point that could narrow the field to a single winner.
The Army and DIU did not disclose how much funding each team received under the new deals or when those contracts were awarded. In fact, no official announcement was ever made, with the revelation that a downselect was complete only coming to light Tuesday during comments from Army officials, including Maj. Gen Michelle Donahue, the commanding general for the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command/Sustainment Center of Excellence.
“We must optimize the combinations of humans and machines to increase lethality, survivability and agility, while streamlining and reducing and anticipating those logistics burdens,” Donahue said at the National Defense Industrial Association’s tactical wheeled vehicles conference. “The integration of autonomous systems for resupply, maintenance and energy distribution will be a game changer.”
“We will capitalize on ATV-S autonomous replenishment of critical commodities to extend the division commander’s operational reach and his endurance, or her endurance,” Donahue later added. “We expect our divisional composite truck companies to increase sustained throughput by 50 percent while autonomously navigating varied and unpredictable routes while maintaining continuous movement.”
Getting to this point hasn’t been a direct line for the service.
After plowing ahead developing the Expedient Leader Follower (ExLF) for several years — an effort to outfit Oshkosh Defense’s Palletized Load System trucks with autonomy software — in 2023 the service began sunsetting work on that developmental initiative and returning the vehicles back to the fleet without the autonomy packages. The new aim was to find commercial solutions under an acquisition pathway dubbed ATV-S.
DIU began supporting that work, in part by standing up the Ground Expeditionary Autonomous Retrofit System (GEARS) project.
Then in 2023, DIU selected three teams — Carnegie Robotics, Forterra and Neya Systems — to spend a year developing and testing viable prototypes that could eventually be scaled for mass production.
“We made a lot of headway on this program, really, in the last approximately 18 months, we went from…experimentation, to let’s get it onto a program timeline to field to multiple units over time,” Kyle Bruner, the project manager for force projection under Donahue’s command, said on Tuesday.
Now with the downselect to two teams, the initiative is officially in phase two with the goal of eventually having PLA A2 heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks (HEMTTs) roll off the production line with a “digital backbone” ready for the autonomy suites.
As for picking a winner to provide that autonomy solution, the Army wants to begin phase two testing later this summer. However, Bruner and Donahue said the stalled FY25 defense bill on Capitol Hill could derail that plan. Since Congress has not yet passed a defense spending bill for this year, the department is operating under a continuing resolution that maintains FY24 spending levels, and that’s a problem for the ATV-S.
“I said 12 to 18 months [for fielding]. It could even be 24 months…if we can’t go forth with the final source selection for that capability,” Donahue said. Such a decision would be delayed if the service and DIU do not have funds to test out ATV-S prototypes as planned.
That testing roadmap, the duo separately explained, involves using some form of the autonomous trucks at the upcoming Project Convergence capstone event at Ft. Irwin, Calif. next month. Soldiers inside the 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart in Georgia, will also take their turn with the ATV-S prototypes as part of the upcoming transformation in contact 2.0 push. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
03 Mar 25. Supacat HMT 400/600 gaining traction over 1000 units. In an excellent live drive day at Long Valley, Aldershot, Phil Applegarth, Director, Head of Supacat and SC Innovation at Supacat, gave an upbeat brief as to prospects for the Supacat HMT 400/600 range of vehicles. Over 1000 Supacat vehicles are now in service across the world in UK, Denmark, USA, Norway, Australia and Estonia. New customers in the offing include Ireland and the Czech Republic and a longer term opportunity in Saudi Arabia is on the cards. 17 of the recent MoD Order have been delivered with 53 Extenda versions to be supplied by the end of December, when the line is due to close. Supacat showed its covered version with the Moog RIwP turret equipped with the new land based MBDA Hellfire missiles which it has submitted for the UK GBAD Requirement which appears stalled in the mire of the Defence Review. Jon Southgate of MBDA said that Brimstone is also being considered for the Mounted Close Combat Overwatch Requirement on the Boxer APC. Supacat also gave a brief on the BAE Australia Atlas 8×8 Autonomous Vehicle project with the baseline Supacat 8×8 driveline wit the Cummins engine and ZF gearbox which is slated for further dynamic testing in May and will be presented at the Operation Talisman Sabre Exercise in July. The Edito finished the day in an excellent cross country drive showing the new capabilities of the uprated HMT 400 Jackal 3 vehicle.
“It was an enormous honour to be able to showcase our vehicle capabilities, recent HMT developments, and the new Jackal 3 vehicle currently being delivered to the MOD at the MOD facility that is Combat Service Support Trials and Development Group last week. It was a remarkable day. We provided our guests with the opportunity to experience the Jackal 3 vehicle on the demanding Long Valley test track and engage in discussions about its significant upgrades from the Jackal 2. We also highlighted that our supply chain is 90% from the South West region and over 95% from the UK, reinforcing our commitment to local sourcing. We also successfully demonstrated our four-man armoured closed cab HMT, which is a core component of our Common Base Platform offering and opens up a far wider set of applications for the proven HMT chassis, including many of the systems in the LMP programme and the Ground-Based Air Defence (GBAD) programmes. The successful demonstration of this British-designed and developed chassis has the potential to greatly assist the British Army in its quest to reduce the number of chassis types that it has in service today. Furthermore, we assembled some of our key industry partners who complement our vehicle offering, including Babcock – Land sector, Saab Barracuda Mobile Camouflage System, Ultra PCS Electronic Architecture Kit (EAK), and the Moog UK – RIwP, Reconfigurable Integrated Weapons Platform. On the support side, we were pleased to be joined by Kognitiv Spark and their mixed reality (MR) technology, which allows vehicles to be supported and maintained in the field.” said Supacat CEO Nick Ames.
As a UK SME with a predominantly UK supply chain and regionally based, Supacat will continue to support the growth of the UK economy as it enhances and develops its business in response to increased demand. Equally, Supacat is pursuing three significant export orders, which would all bring significant revenue to the country. Supacat is an important regional employer that has undertaken several successful programmes (including Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships), with its local University being the University of Exeter. It is thereby growing and developing skills and knowledge in the region and providing highly skilled jobs. We extend our heartfelt thanks to CSS TDG for graciously hosting us and making this significant event possible!”
28 Feb 25. Milkor highlights private sector’s role in revitalizing South Africa’s defence capabilities. Milkor is ready to partner with others in the industry as well as government to secure South Africa’s current and future defence and security needs.
This is according to Milkor’s Marketing and Communications Director, Daniel du Plessis, who spoke to defenceWeb ahead of the company’s participation in the Public-Private Partnerships for Defence & Security conference, scheduled for 7 March 2025 at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria.
“I think that over the last 10 or 20 years we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) capabilities moving away from a state-owned entity towards the private sector. And I think a lot of the perceptions around the defence industry in South Africa is that we have lost a lot of skills,” du Plessis said.
He believes a conference like the PPP event is a good place to address some of those concerns and showcase the products being developed by privately owned South African defence industry companies as well as explore the options to revive some of the strategic capabilities that were once residing in South Africa.
“Utilising the strength and the skills that are still residing in the private industries along with the mandates which the public enterprises have, could be a very good combination and I think that those types of partnerships should be explored and it’s why we feel strongly about public-private partnerships, hence we sponsored this event as well.”
As the Platinum Sponsor of the 2025 conference, a central aspect of Milkor’s message to be delivered at the event is the company’s openness to engage and collaborate with the public sector in order to provide full defence solutions for South Africa, and Africa as a whole.
“We value a public-private partnership, we have seen some good examples in the commercial side apart from the defence industry that has yielded quite a valuable result for the country. So, as a company that is quite strong in innovation and has a very strong underlying capability when it comes to developing the manufacturing, we are very open to these kinds of discussions and would welcome any state-owned entity or organisation – not just in South Africa but around the continent,” du Plessis said.
He also emphasised Milkor’s commitment to South Africa and the continued importance of the South African market for the company. Although approximately 90% of Milkor’s products are exported globally, with Africa being a particularly important market, “the South African National Defence Force, the Border Management Authority, the South African Police Service, and the various other entities responsible for defence and security within the South African government will first and foremost always be our primary client.”
Du Plessis said that as a South African company, it is vital that Milkor does its utmost best to ensure that they have the equipment and capabilities and systems available to ensure sovereignty and stability in the country.
He added that “the export market is essential for survival, but I think the South African market as a whole is still our primary focus and still something that we would like to engage more in. Hopefully these kinds of conferences and conversations would help simulate some possible opportunities and collaborative efforts in developing sovereign capability within the country.”
Growth and innovation
While Milkor can trace its roots back to the early 1980s, since 1994, and especially since 2017, the company has significantly expanded it product offerings, both domestically and internationally. While Milkor remains headquartered in Centurion, South Africa, the company now has offices located in Warsaw, Poland; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Today Milkor offers a range of product solutions across the land, sea, air, and cyber sectors.
“Milkor is a company that specifically focuses on delivering a complete solution. Although we might be perceived as a platform supplier, meaning that we either provide the vehicles, the naval vessels, or the unmanned aerial vehicles, as a whole we typically focus on strategic partnerships, for reliable sensor and accessory integration, which we do ourselves.”
“I think our global footprint and our marketing efforts also showcase that from the South African perspective at least, that we are rapidly growing company. We have a well-established global footprint with more than 56 countries already listed as clients of ours and more than 62 000 different systems sold over the last 40 years,” du Plessis said.
Milkor is set to display a range of its callabilities at the Public-Private Partnerships for Defence & Security Conference, including the newly launched Frontier light tactical vehicle specifically developed for border surveillance and tactical operations.
“It’s applicable to police, border management authority, SANDF, special forces, Marine Corps,” du Plessis told defenceWeb. “It has a very high customisability. It’s a modular design so there’s actually quite a few applications and it comes in a 4×4 and 6×6 variant. It is based off of a Toyota Land Cruiser 79 series, so it is easy to maintain, easy to get spare parts for.”
Milkor will also be displaying a scale model of the Milkor 380, “which is the largest unmanned aerial vehicle ever to be developed manufactured tested and flown on the African continent.”
With a meticulously curated programme, high-calibre speakers, and unparalleled networking opportunities, the Public-Private Partnerships for Defence & Security Conference 2025 provides an invaluable opportunity to learn about the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities in public-private partnerships for defence and security in South Africa, as well as to network with key stakeholders in the sector. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
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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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