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13 Jul 17. UK JLTV Update. We reported in BATTLESPACE ALERT Vol.19 ISSUE 09, 11 July 2017, UK FMS Request For JLTV, that the UK had requested a possible sale of up to two thousand seven hundred forty-seven (2,747) Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV). The figure quoted 2747 is the total amount including options. BATTLESPACE understands that the first tranche buy will be for around 750 vehicles as we reported in June 2106. The timing for the contract signature is likely late 2017 or early 2018 as the project has to go through Main Gate and the UK is awaiting a Letter of Authorization following the FMS Request from the US DoD. A UK Production Line is highly unlikely although there will be UK content and of course the vehicle will have to be made Road Legal for the UK.
13 Jul 17. Oman receives first Pars III IFVs. Turkey’s FNSS Savunma Sistemleri armoured vehicle manufacturer revealed on 12 July that Oman had ordered 172 8×8 Pars III armoured vehicles when it announced that the first ones had been delivered. The announcement included photographs of a Pars III infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) painted in the camouflage used by the Omani military, but revealed no further details about the vehicles or the delivery schedule. The IFV variant is fitted with FNSS’s one-man Sabre turret armed with a stabilised 25mm ATK Bushmaster dual-feed cannon and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun integrated with a laser rangefinder and fire control system. The vehicle has a combat weight of around 30 tonnes, can carry nine passengers, and has a crew of three, with the commander sitting next to the driver at the front of the hull. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
12 Jul 17. British Army to keep vehicle depot in Germany. A large armoured vehicle storage site is to be kept open in Germany by the British Army for at least four years after the withdrawal of the last UK combat units from the country in 2019. The sprawling site at Ayrshire Barracks, Mönchengladbach, in North Rhein-Westphalia, is currently the British Army’s sole whole fleet management centre in Germany, where more than 1,000 armoured and support vehicles are kept in climate-controlled warehouses ready to be issued to units deploying on major exercises or operations. Confirmation that the British Army would retain the site was made in a Freedom of Information (FOI) document posted on the UK Ministry of Defence website earlier this month detailing progress in withdrawing the last UK troops from Germany by 2019. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
12 Jul 17. Czech government approves DANA modernisation. On 10 July the Czech government approved a request by the ministry of defence (MoD) to provide CZK1.27bn (USD55.7m) in funding for the modernisation of 33 Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) 152mm SpGH DANA (ShKH vz.77) self-propelled howitzers (SPHs).
“The modernisation [programme] will provide the [Czech] army with a quality artillery capability that meets NATO standards,” Czech defence minister Martin Stropnický told media on 10 July.
Jane’s MoD sources say they expect the ministry to award a CZK1.27bn contract to Tatra Trucks – a division of the Czechoslovak Group – in September to undertake the modernisation programme, with deliveries of the upgraded platforms to take place in 2018–2020. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
12 Jul 17. Poland reinforces armour. Under its new strategic defence review, Poland plans to expand its armoured component by purchasing additional Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs), upgrading older T-72 and PT-91 tanks, and increasing the level of protection of other combat vehicles. The defence review, published in May 2017, sets as the main priority for Poland to prepare to defend its own territory and reinforce deterrence capabilities based on national defence capabilities.
It is planned for the Polish armed forces to reach a strength o