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10 Sep 25. KHAN ballistic missile system to position Indonesia ahead of ASEAN neighbors in precision-strike capability, says GlobalData. Indonesia’s recent induction of the Turkish-origin KHAN tactical ballistic missile system marks a pivotal milestone in its ongoing defense modernization efforts. This development not only enhances the Indonesian Army’s strike capability but also signals an accelerating arms race among Southeast Asian countries. The KHAN system’s capability positions Indonesia ahead of many of its ASEAN neighbors in precision-strike capability, a domain traditionally dominated by regional heavyweights like China and India, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. GlobalData’s latest report, “Indonesia Defense Market Size, Trends, Budget Allocation, Regulations, Acquisitions, Competitive Landscape and Forecast to 2030,” reveals that the Indonesian government allocated $11.8 bn to its total defense budget in 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% from 2021 to 2025. The country’s defense budget is projected to grow at an estimated CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period, reaching $16.9 bn by 2030. This growth is anticipated to support all of Indonesia’s defense modernization ambitions throughout the forecast period. The KHAN system, capable of delivering precision strikes up to 280 kilometers, provides Indonesia with a long-range precision strike capability that it previously lacked. Mounted on an 8×8 Tatra vehicle, the system ensures high mobility, allowing for rapid deployment across the diverse geography of the Indonesian archipelago. The mobility aspect of the missile system significantly enhances survivability and complicates adversaries’ prospects for counterattacks. Moreover, the KHAN’s ability to operate in electronically contested environments, leveraging the integrated GPS and GLONASS-aided inertial guidance, ensures high accuracy.
Gone Sai Kiran, Aerospace and Defense Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The delivery of this missile system comes at a time when the Asia-Pacific (APAC) defense industry is experiencing rapid growth, largely driven by heightened tensions due to China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. For Indonesia—whose strategic position astride critical maritime chokepoints like the Malacca Strait makes it a key stakeholder—such capabilities are vital for safeguarding its sovereignty and sea lanes.”
This delivery also underscores the deepening defense partnership between Indonesia and Türkiye. As the first foreign operator of the KHAN missile system, Indonesia is looking to diversify its defense procurement sources. Additionally, this acquisition opens avenues for joint development, technology transfer, and potential naval missile acquisitions, such as the Atmaca anti-ship system. This aligns with Jakarta’s long-term strategy of developing a more self-reliant and technologically advanced defense sector.
Kiran concludes: “Indonesia’s induction of the KHAN system is more than a simple procurement; it signals that more countries in Southeast Asia are aiming to acquire advanced missile systems amid rising territorial disputes. This year, the Philippines also received BrahMos missile batteries from India, while Vietnam has expressed interest in purchasing similar missile systems. As territorial disputes and armed conflicts continue to arise in the region, more Southeast Asian countries will likely arm themselves with advanced missile systems throughout this decade.” (Sourfce: GlobalData) Media Centre
09 Sep 25. KNDS Deutschland and EuroTrophy declare the completion of the successful integration of the Trophy® Active Protection System (APS) onto the BOXER Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). Following a joint industry initiative, the two companies had recently completed the integration of the Trophy® APS on a first pre-serial prototype BOXER in an APC configuration. The engineering efforts included design reviews, surveys and adaptation work to a first of its kind BOXER Mission Module, to be able to carry the APS and enable the full scale of its capabilities. Most recently, the integration was completed by successfully conducting all system tests on the platform, including calibration of the APS, thus making it ready for live firing. As a result of the successful integration and the creation of a first prototype, the companies also announce that a series of live firing tests will be conducted in Germany during the upcoming months. This will serve as a ‘risk mitigation’ activity for all current and future BOXER users who are currently seeking to enhance the protection capabilities of their platforms. The BOXER is one of the world’s leading 8X8 Armored Fighting Vehicles, and offers unmatched modularity. The first of its kind integration of a mature and combat proven APS, makes it combat ready, and enables unparalleled protection from ATGMs, RPGs, drones and other ‘Anti-Tank’ threats.
Ralf Ketzel, CEO of KNDS Deutschland, had stated: “With the successful integration of the Trophy® system on Boxer the three Companies EuroTrophy, Rafael and KNDS continue the way started with the LEOPARD 2 A8 to provide advanced technology to protect the lives of soldiers.”
Meir Ben-Tzook, Chairman of the Board at EuroTrophy added: “These integration efforts between the BOXER and Trophy® stems from a deep understanding that the mission of the BOXER had changed profoundly, it will now have to be used in the frontlines, where Trophy’s capabilities play a major role. We are pleased with the progress of the activity so far and are looking forward to continue the good cooperation with all parties involved.” 2 | P a g e
About EuroTrophy
EuroTrophy is the European hub of the Trophy® APS. Based in Germany, the company is the only provider of a European made, combat proven, NATO fielded Active Protection System. The company also provides a wide range of services such as vehicle integration support, maintenance and related introduction
09 Sep 25. MBDA launch CROSSBOW™ the ONE WAY EFFECTOR HEAVY at DSEI.
- ‘Battle ready’ deep fires response to the current threat environment
- Rapidly developed capability: Design to demonstration ready in months
- Production at scale possible as early as 2026
MBDA is presenting its latest ONE WAY EFFECTOR (OWE), an affordable heavy deep fires solution named CROSSBOW™ the OWE HEAVY at DSEI UK this week, 9-12 September 2025. CROSSBOW™ the OWE HEAVY has been designed to be a deep fires capability able to operate in high intensity conflicts and notably in complex electromagnetic environments, at a cost that enables significant combat mass. , With MBDA responsible for the overall weapon system, together with a team of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large businesses from across Europe, CROSSBOW™ the OWE HEAVY has gone from design to demonstration in seven months. Helped by a modular design utilising military and commercial “off the shelf” subsystems, production at scale is possible as early as quarter two (Q2) 2026. MBDA has brought its high-end complex weapons understanding to deliver a credible solution, with options for spirally developing the capability across survivability, range/lethality, navigation, and platform integration as the customer or the evolving threat dictates. CROSSBOW™ the OWE HEAVY is ground launched from the back of a vehicle, delivering multi-role kinetic and non-kinetic payloads up to 300kg out to ranges in excess of 800km, destroying static targets, among which high value assets.
Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “This project exemplifies the spirit and values of MBDA. It shows that we understand the context of the world today and are adapting, not just to the threat environment, but the procurement environment too. We are demonstrating we are ‘Battle Ready’ with our confidence in our understanding and anticipation of requirements. Our people are also showing their strengths through this project. Cooperation with partners, agile working with a rapid decision mind-set and a tolerance of risk. We are showing we can be different, in what are now different times.”
CROSSBOW™ the OWE HEAVY was designed in parallel to the OWE launched at the Paris Air Show 2025, with a similar mind-set but applied to a different threat set, providing a different solution. The similarities also extend to the sovereignty of the capability with ‘off the shelf’ production mentality lending itself to easy reconfiguration for customers wishing to use domestic supply chains, as well as the options for spiral development.
About MBDA
MBDA is a unique multi-national European group, a world-leader in the field of complex weapon systems, playing a key role in keeping nations safe. Created in the spirit of international co-operation, MBDA and its 18,000+ employees work together to support the national sovereignty of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and their allies worldwide. As an accelerator for innovation, MBDA is the only European group capable of designing and manufacturing complex weapons to meet the full range of current and future operational requirements of the three armed forces (land, sea and air). Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%) and Leonardo (25%) jointly own MBDA.
09 Sep 25. Raytheon UK completes Paveway IV integration trials. The trials were carried out at Royal Air Force Marham and MoD Aberporth in July this year. Raytheon UK, which is part of RTX’s Raytheon business, has concluded integration trials for the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb on the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet. The trials, facilitated by Rheinmetall company RWM Italia, were undertaken at Royal Air Force Marham and MoD Aberporth in July 2025. The successful trials encompassed a series of exercises including weapon and platform training, mission planning simulations, live-fire drills, and cross-force tactical integration. Combat Air Deputy Force commander captain RN Deavin said: “This collaboration underscores the strength of Nato partnerships and our shared commitment to maintaining a technological edge on the battlefield.” Paveway IV, a dual-mode precision-guided bomb developed by Raytheon, features a warhead manufactured by Rheinmetall Italia. It has been an integral part of the Royal Air Force’s arsenal since 2008.
Raytheon UK CEO James Gray said: “The successful completion of these trials is an important milestone in allied defence cooperation. Our work with RWM Italia and the Royal Air Force exemplifies how industry can enable greater interoperability, lethality and capability across Nato forces, helping them maintain air superiority.”
In 2008, Raytheon’s UK-based subsidiary secured the contract for integrating Paveway IV onto the UK Royal Air Force’s Tornado GR4/4A. The bomb incorporates an enhanced Mk82 500lb warhead and an all-electronic fuse to ensure precision in various operational scenarios. Paveway IV employs advanced second-generation GPS-aided inertial navigation technology, enhanced with anti-spoofing and anti-jamming features. During Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Unified Protector operations, Paveway bombs represented more than 50% of the precision-guided munitions deployed for air-to-ground combat, said the company. The Paveway IV export contract was awarded to the company in 2014 to an undisclosed international customer. According to reports, the customer was believed to be the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The contract, exceeding $200m, marked the inaugural international sale of Paveway IV bombs. The agreement stipulated the supply of several hundred units of these advanced precision-guided munitions. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
09 Sep 25. Israel’s Rafael touts Iron Beam antimissile lasers at DSEI fair. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems brought replicas of its laser-powered Iron Beam missile shield to the DSEI 2025 defense show in London, lifting the veil on a defensive technology used recently in the Gaza War. The portfolio includes the mobile Iron Beam-M, the Naval Iron Beam, the Lite Beam and the latest addition to its laser defense systems family, the Iron Beam 450. The Iron Beam is a laser-based defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets, missiles, mortar bombs, unmanned aerial vehicles and drones. It became operational during the ongoing Gaza-Israel war and has been implemented in a variety of applications including use on naval vessels and among maneuvering forces. The Iron Beam and Naval Iron Beam are equipped with a 100 kW laser weapon, the Iron Beam-M with a 30–50 kW laser weapon, the Lite Beam with 10 kW. Additionally, the company states that the Iron Beam 450 extends Rafael’s laser portfolio with greater range, speed of interception, and more cost-per-engagement effective model. A company representative at the DSEI booth claimed the per-shot cost of an Iron Beam engagement would amount to single-digit dollars. The Iron Beam is an emerging component of Israel’s layered defense layout operated by the Israeli Air Force. (Source: Defense News)
09 Sep 25. DSEI 2025: Latest MBDA weapons systems revealed. Europe’s foremost missile maker will showcase several new weapons systems, some of which will be unveiled for the first time. The pace of innovation, iteration, and evolution of defence technologies is rapid, and European suppliers such as MBDA, pressed by the growing military demand on the continent, still unveil new concepts while augmenting existing programmes. To begin with, MBDA has a new One-Way Effector (OWE) in development which will progress – from design to demonstration in Q4 2025 – over a period of seven months. One executive said that the new system will be ready for production by 2026 at the earliest. Crossbow is said to be an affordable, long-range strike solution (+800km), designed for rapid development and mass production. The heavy system has a modular payload that can carry a 300kg (kinetic or non-kinetic) warhead. Users can launch the OWE from a standard 20-foot ISO container – reminiscent of Ukraine’s lauded Operation Spider’s Web – and the system is scalable to different platforms. This capability meets the British Army goal of increasing lethality through a new crewed-uncrewed teaming doctrine that preserves 20% crewed platforms with two layers, 40% each, with either attritable or disposable – as in the case of Crossbow – autonomous systems. To that end, Crossbow also uses AI-enabled, image-based navigation which functions in GNSS-denied environments. However, Crossbow should not be confused with another one of the group’s systems – the nameless ‘OWE’ – which meets a French Artillery requirement. This French system is a concept that came from MBDA France, while Crossbow is an MBDA UK product. The French OWE, on the other hand, is a smaller similarly mass-produced system designed for high-intensity warfare that was unveiled at the Paris Air Show in June 2025. While both systems are different – not even in the same family of systems – it does show the intense demand in Europe for low-cost, readily produced, mass effect.
Akeron MBT 120
Fitting neatly into the British Army’s strategy in preserving crewed platforms where possible, MBDA has unveiled its Akeron non line of sight (NLOS) missile for main battle tanks (MBTs). The fire-and-forget munition enables tanks to strike without exposing themselves directly, as was the conventional method of tank warfare explained one programme manager, where typically “you have got to effectively expose yourself, look the enemy in the eye, and often engage in a contact battle with them, putting at risk your circa six m euro platform and crew members.” But, the representative continued, “if you can strike without ever being seen, to start with, that in itself is a huge, huge payoff.” The gun-launched missile fits with existing 120mm smoothbore guns while emulating the size and weight of extant ammunition, meaning there are no platform modifications needed. However, as of 4 September, open source intelligence from the Institute of the Study of War discovered that Russian forces are adopting anti-thermal cloaks. This asset allows them to move alone or in pairs across roughly one kilometre toward Ukrainian forward positions in Kupyansk at night before concentrating and attacking.
SPEAR Glide
A new medium-range glide missile will join the expanding SPEAR family of systems. SPEAR Glide is a low-cost, unpowered variant of MBDA’s air-to-surface cruise missileof the same name. MBDA’s tactical strike unit have considered a glide version over the last two or three years as a cheaper variant of the SPEAR product line.
“We’ve never actually launched it” contrary to popular assumption, said the programme manager.
“Now with the acceleration and advancement of the mainstream programme and some of the things that we’ve seen in operation over the last three years, MBDA has decided to accelerate the work on the speed glide to meet the future requirement of a medium range utility strike record,” they added.
While Glide’s role remains the suppression of enemy air defences there are still some slight changes to its design. MBDA technicians have removed the radio frequency seeker, replacing it with an EO/IR seeker with image-based navigation similar to Crossbow. Glide also includes a full-calibre kinetic penetrator. SPEAR Glide aligns with the trend for low-cost, high-volume production when required. But the group also designed the weapon system for fast integration onto the Eurofighter Typhoon or Gripen aircraft while sharing the same logistics, training and launchers as the rest of the SPEAR family.
Surface-launched ASRAAM (Raven system)
MBDA will produce the surface-launched (SL) version of the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) for the new Raven air defence system. The concept of a surface-launched ASRAAM has dominated headlines this year, with the UK sending Raven and SL-ASRAAMs to Ukraine. Raven is a fire-and-forget, mobile or static, short-range, ground-based air defence(GBAD) system that operators can use against drones and cruise missiles. The UK government said the system, which went from concept to initial delivery in three months in 2022 under Task force Kindred, has been fired more than 400 times by Ukrainian forces, with a purported 70% shot-to-kill ratio. The system requires a very short training time and little logistics burden (days, not months). Controls are relatively simple, with the crew able to operate from inside the HMT 600 cab or from a remote location up to 50 metres away. A vehicle mounted seeker system is able to relay information to the ASRAAM missiles, which can then be cued and fired. Meanwhile the SL-ASRAAMs creates a common stockpile of missiles usable across the UK Armed Forces.
FC/ASW
The Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) is an enduring multilateral maritime strike missile programme between the UK and France, which was expanded in July under the Lancaster 2.0 Treaty. However, in the briefing, the programme leader revealed that Italy will soon join the user group at a later time. The project, which first emerged in 2017 will now evolve to become “one programme, two missiles,” described MBDA’s programme leader. The first weapon is a high-speed, manoeuvrable, supersonic missile for resilient penetration while the second system is a stealthy, low observable, long-range subsonic missile for survivable deep strike. Both missile systems are designed to operate in the maritime domain well into the 2060s. The duo are also multi platform, meaning they can be launched from aircraft or from surface ships. Looking ahead, the business executive revealed that MBDA are mapping a route to delivering a ground launch capability for both missiles in the future if that is requested by our customers. (Source: army-technology.com)
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About Galvion:
Galvion designs, develops, and delivers mission critical head, face, and torso protective solutions as well as intelligent power and data management systems for the world’s most demanding military and tactical teams. Founded in 2002 as Revision Military, a foundational belief in calculated investment and capability expansion led to a strategic refocus, resulting in the divestiture of the protective eyewear business, along with the Revision name, in 2019. Rebranded as Galvion, the company’s products and technology continue to evolve beyond purely passive protection, focusing instead on active systems that enhance performance and survivability, with an eye to the ever-changing demands of the modern battlefield. Through advanced design, keen end-user insight and intelligent integration, Galvion engineers uniquely customized solutions that go beyond what was once thought possible.
Privately owned with ISO 9001:2015 certified facilities in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the US, Montreal in Canada and Bristol in the UK, Galvion’s team of 400+ employees work proactively to solve the problems left unsolved by others.
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