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19 Jul 18. More Boxers, is Warrior threatened? The announcement in the Contracts Bulletin (See CONTRACT NEWS) of an option for a further 600+ Boxers with the contract stretching for 24 years could herald the final nail in the coffin for Warrior WCSP or indeed reduce Warrior numbers significantly? The UK MOD intends to purchase, via the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), an initial procurement of batched quantity 400-600 protected 8×8 BOXER vehicles in 4 variants plus driver training vehicles, reference vehicles and support. The batched quantity may be revised if the demands of any UK strategic direction impacts on MIV. Support covers spares, consumables, technical publications, tools, test equipment, training systems and support; project, safety, quality, security, configuration, obsolescence management services (throughout design, development, manufacture and in-service); repair and maintenance activity; and Post Design Services (e.g. future development of different vehicle variants), upgrades and new capabilities or requirements determined by any new defence priorities (e.g. security threat based); requirement based (e.g. medium calibre cannon); changes to legislation; introduction of new systems; emergent safety / environmental issues; and standardisation with a value excluding VAT: £11.50bn.
The contract will contain options to:
— increase the quantity of vehicles by up to an additional 900, potentially taking the overall quantity to 1 500 vehicles,
— increase the Authority’s capability in the future,
— increase the contract duration by up to 9 years, potentially giving an overall contract duration of up to 24 years,
— increase the contract value by an additional current estimate 8Bn Ex VAT, depending on future government priorities/spend, potentially giving an overall contract value estimated to be £11.50bn Ex VAT.
It is possible that the Authority will exercise none, some or all of the options. The options to extend the Contract duration may increase the Contract duration in stages as directed by the Authority and as such, the 24-year duration and Contract value is an indicative figure.
Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
* The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
Explanation:
The Secretary of State for Defence (the Authority) proposes to award a contract to the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), without prior publication of a contract notice, for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) requirement and associated services described in this Notice.
The Secretary of State for Defence is entitled to do so by the application of Directive 2009/81/EC, Article 12(c) (and Regulation 7(1)(e)(iii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011). Article 12(c) states: ‘This Directive shall not apply to contracts governed by specific procedural rules of an international organisation purchasing for its purposes, or to contracts which must be awarded by a Member State in accordance with those rules.’ OCCAR is such an international organisation for these purposes.
Purchasing BOXER via OCCAR provides the UK the most economical means of procuring this military capability now, creates economies of scale and interoperability with the partner nations, and strengthens the European defence industrial base. The UK has already contributed to the original design, development and testing of the BOXER vehicle and will be able to assume the rights it had secured in its development. (Source: Europa TED)
18 Jul 18. PLAN possibly equipping marine corps with new lightweight battle tank. An image posted on Chinese online forums suggests that China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) may be equipping its marine corps with a locally developed lightweight battle tank that has commonly been referred to as the ZTQ-15. Published in mid-July on the fyjs.cn website, the image shows the tank, which is believed to be in service with the PLA Ground Force (PLAGF), painted in marine corps camouflage and being driven on what appears to be a public road at an undisclosed location. The ZTQ-15, the designation of which has not been confirmed by China’s Ministry of National Defense, is designed to operate in mountainous areas and over terrain that requires a low track pressure, according to Jane’s Land Warfare Platforms: Armoured Fighting Vehicles. It is armed with a 105mm gun, protected against handheld anti-tank weapons and believed to be fitted with a powerful engine that provides strong off-road mobility. According to Chinese reports, the tank weighs about 35 tonnes and has a crew of four, although there is speculation that an autoloader for its main gun may dispense with one crew member. The gun is thought to be capable of firing an armour-piercing, fin-stabilised, discarding sabot (APFSDS) round that is likely capable of penetrating 500mm of armour from typical combat ranges. According to Jane’s World Armies, the tank’s wedge-shaped turret features detachable reactive armour blocks and laser detectors, while the turret bustle can also carry smoke grenade launchers. The tank may have a liquid-gas suspension, enabling it to crouch to better exploit terrain for concealment and to assist with rail and air transport. Due to its wide tracks, the tank reportedly has a ground pressure rating similar to that of the Type 62 light tank, which is low enough to overcome rice paddies. Detachable armour can reduce its weight even further. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
18 Jul 18. Iran to manufacture, upgrade up to 800 tanks – deputy minister. Iran intends to manufacture or upgrade up to 800 tanks, the Tasnim news agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Reza Mozaffarinia as saying on Wednesday. He did not specify the type of tanks he was referring to, or how many would fit into each category.
“The upgrade and manufacture of 700 to 800 tanks has been planned,” he was quoted as saying. “Annually there are 50 to 60 tanks manufactured and a sufficient budget has been allocated because the army and Revolutionary Guards have a great need.”
While the United States and European powers have long sought to curb Iran’s ballistic missile programme but its conventional military forces are thought to be weaker than its main regional rival Saudi Arabia. According to the CIA factbook, Iran’s military expenditure as a percentage of GDP was 2.69 percent in 2015 and Saudi Arabia’s 9.86 percent in 2016. In a December report, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Iran would modernize and rebalance its conventional forces “to reflect lessons learned in Syria.” Iran has been fighting in Syria in support of the government of president Bashar al-Assad since 2012. (Source: Reuters)
16 Jul 18. Russia to test Sprut-SDM1 SPATG at end of 2018. Russia plans to test the 2S25M Sprut-SDM1 air-droppable amphibious self-propelled anti-tank gun (SPATG) at the end of 2018, an industry source has told Jane’s.
“State trials of the Sprut-SDM1 are scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year. Prototypes of the system are ready for trials, and the state customer remains interested in the SPATG,” the source said.
Like the T-72B3 main battle tank, the Sprut-SDM1 is fitted with the Sosna-U multichannel gunner sighting system. “The SPATG has the Sosna-U sight and the PDT back-up sight. The system is armed with a 2A75M 125 mm smoothbore gun, the specifications of which are almost identical to those of the 2A46M5 gun,” the source said. He went on to say the gun is coupled with an autoloader, which stores 22 rounds. “The Sprut-SDM1 carries an ammunition load of 40 rounds, including 20 high explosive fragmentation rounds and 14 armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabots, as well as six anti-tank guided missiles,” he added. The SPATG’s secondary armaments consist of a Kalashnikov PKTM 7.62 mm coaxial medium machine gun and another PKTM integrated with a roof-mounted remote controlled weapon station. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 Jul 18. Pindad on track with tank production plan. Indonesian firm PT Pindad has announced that it expects to start mass-producing the Kaplan MT Modern Medium Weight Tank (MMWT) it is currently developing in collaboration with Turkey’s FNSS Savunma Sistemleri in 2019.
The tank programme is currently at an advanced stage of development, with PT Pindad having carried out ballistic and mine explosion tests featuring a MMWT hull prototype in Bandung, Indonesia, on 12 July. Following the trials, PT Pindad said that the MMWT would now be prepared for certification tests with the Indonesian Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Darat: TNI-AD). The company added, “[The programme] will then proceed to the production stage to meet the modernisation needs of the TNI-AD and export markets.”
Ade Bagdja, PT Pindad’s director of technology and development, expects that the company will produce at least 100 MMWT units for the TNI-AD. The new tank will replace the service’s depleted fleets of French-made AMX-13 light tanks, which originally numbered more than 300. Bagdja also said that in the initial production stage about 50 local companies will be involved in the production of the MMWT, although this would increase to at least 100 firms as the programme matures. He added that through the arrangement with FNSS – a joint venture between Turkey’s Nurol Holding and the UK group BAE Systems – PT Pindad will have responsibility to market the MMWT to export markets in the Asia-Pacific, while FNSS plans to export the product to markets in Africa.
The MMWT programme is supported by an inter-government agreement between Indonesia and Turkey that was signed in November 2014. Work on the project started shortly after, with two prototypes and one hull for mine testing being produced by 2017. FNSS unveiled the first MMWT prototype at the IDEF exhibition in Turkey in May 2017. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
————————————————————————-Millbrook, based in Bedfordshire, UK, makes a significant contribution to the quality and performance of military vehicles worldwide. Its specialist expertise is focussed in two distinct areas: test programmes to help armed services and their suppliers ensure that their vehicles and systems work as the specification requires; and design and build work to upgrade new or existing vehicles, evaluate vehicle capability and investigate in-service failures. Complementing these is driver and service training and a hospitality business that allows customers to use selected areas of Millbrook’s remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.
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