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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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www.millbrook.co.uk/military
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28 Jan 10. The Indonesian Ministry of Defence has received 33 Panzer armoured personnel carriers (APC) from Pindad. Of the 33 units received, 13 units will be used by the Indonesian military forces for peace missions in Lebanon. The Panzer APC-2 6×6 is specifically designed for military cavalry operations and other Indonesian military needs. The vehicle, which can accommodate ten personnel, carries a 12.7mm weapon capable of 360° rotation and attains a maximum speed of 92km/h.
Of the 150 APC-2 6×6 and four reconnaissance vehicles initially ordered, 93 units have been delivered. The remaining 61 units, with a contract value of $50.3bn, are scheduled to complete during 2010. (Source: army-technology.com)
15 Jan 10. Chilean Navy eyes Strykers for its marines. The Chilean Navy has declared an interest in procuring a number of General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) Stryker 8×8 armoured vehicles for its marines, sources in Santiago have told Jane’s . Interest in the vehicles comes after the navy concluded field tests in Chile’s northern territories of two Stryker variants: the M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) and the M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS). (Source: Jane’s)
26 Jan 10. The Indian Army has issued a request for information (RFI) regarding the purchase of a large number of all-terrain vehicles that can travel in snow-bound areas, marshes, creeks, beaches and deserts.
The RFI has already been issued by the Defence Ministry to domestic and foreign manufacturers for the procurement of an undisclosed number of high-utility vehicles that can accommodate ten fully-armed men.
The vehicles will be used by troops for patrol duties in difficult terrain operable in high-altitude areas with the ability to cross crevasses. Additional features of the vehicles include a GPS powered by its own electrical systems, wind and temperature tachymeter, fire extinguisher, external storage facility for rappelling ropes, ice aces, pick axes and shovels, and two 20l warming fuel jerry cans.
Other attachments to the vehicle would include all-way blades, a rotary snow blower, a snow cutter and a tilt trailer.
The RFI asked the manufacturers to transfer the technology for manufacturing the vehicles in India in the future.
The Indian Army is likely to procure both wheeled and tracked all-terrain vehicles, which are required to have convertible rack and seat system. (Source: army-technology.com)
15 Jan 10. UK looks to airdrop Jackal. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is seeking a parachute-based delivery solution to insert Jackal long-range patrol vehicles (LRPVs) into Afghanistan’s harsh terrain. The Main Stores Parachuting programme is intended to replace the ageing Medium Stressed Platform that currently meets only a “fraction” of existing requirements, an MoD spokesman told Jane’s on 14 January. (Source: Jane’s)
26 Jan 10. Former British Secretary of State for Defense John Hutton says it is “hard to imagine a worse procurement shambles” than the British Army’s Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) armored vehicle program. Hutton, appearing before the Iraq Inquiry Jan. 25, says the FRES program was a “pretty grim episode,” undersco