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15 Dec 16. Ukroboronprom inaugurates new production facility at the Kiev Armoured Plant. Ukrainian state-owned defence industrial holding group Ukroboronprom has announced that its Kiev Armoured Plant subsidiary has completed the development of a new production centre to permit the construction of bodies for BTR-3 armoured personnel carriers (APCs).
Ukroboronprom said on 15 December that the establishment of the assembly and welding plant will allow the group to increase production when required and to reduce costs.
The BTR-3 was originally designed and produced by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine-Building Design Bureau, which also sits under Ukroboronprom.
The Morozov plant was one of Ukraine’s primary heavy armoured vehicle plants, although Kharkiv itself in the east of the country near the border with Russia was subject to significant unrest from 2014 as a result of separatist activity. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 Dec 16. Kuwait Abrams tank upgrade package announced.t Kuwait intends to upgrade its fleet of 218 M1A2 Abrams tanks to significantly improve their crews’ ability to respond to infantry threats while remaining protected inside the vehicle by adding a remote weapon station (RWS) and a .50-calibre machine gun mounted externally on the main gun. The plan was revealed by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 13 December, when it announced that the Department of State had approved the sale of an upgrade package estimated to be worth USD1.7bn.
The package includes the Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station (CROWS) II and Counter Sniper and Anti-Materiel Mount (CSAMM) for the Kuwaiti tanks.
The M153 CROWS II is a version of the Kongsberg Protector RWS that replaces the .50-calibre machine gun mount above the commander’s hatch on the Abrams and can be fitted with a variety of weapons. Kuwait has requested the low-profile version that has less impact on the commander’s field of view.
The CSAMM is a stabilised mount that enables a .50-calibre machine gun to be installed above the barrel of the tank’s main gun to provide heavier firepower than the 7.62mm M240 coaxial machine gun fitted inside the turret.
The package outlined by the DSCA includes 240 .50-calibre M2A1 machine guns, 480 7.62mm M240 machine guns, and unspecified number of replacement barrels for the 120mm main gun.
The optics on the Kuwaiti tanks will also be replaced with the installation of unidentified gunner’s primary sights and second-generation thermal sights, and the package includes 1,085 sets of AN/PVS-7B night vision googles.
The DSCA listed “Special Armor” as part of the upgrade, suggesting it will include an applique armour kit to provide additional protection.
Other aspects of the upgrade include 240 AN/VRC-92E radios, embedded diagnostics, upgrade/maintenance of the tanks’ engines and transmissions, and an improved thermal management system. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 Dec 16. North America’s Top 7 Armored Vehicle Manufacturers – Annual Strategy Dossier – 2016 – AM General, BAE Systems Inc., GDLS, Lockheed Martin, Navistar Defense, Oshkosh Corporation, Textron Systems. Armored vehicles have been an integral & strategic element of the force structure of land forces globally since the advent & first realizations of the significance of armor for combat in World War I which followed rapid further developments & subsequent extensive utilization in the World War II. Armor’s role in providing mobility, troop protection and lethal firepower was further underscored & demonstrated effectively across the Iraq & Afghanistan war theatres during the allied war operations, which were the first military operations of the 21st century and witnessed a significant change in threat landscape underscored by IEDs, RPGs & ATGMs while combating asymmetric warfare with battlefield bou