Sponsored by Galvion
www.galvion.com
————————————————————————
10 Aug 23. Polish Chunmoo Multiple Rocket Launch System Passes Key Tests. The Polish variant of the South Korean K239 Chunmoo Multiple Rocket Launch System (MRLS) recently passed qualification tests.
The Homar-K MRLS was tested at a Korean state test range, moving a step closer toward induction in the Polish Armed Forces, Defence 24 reported, citing manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace.
The trials included mobility and endurance assessments.
Poland’s Rocket Artillery Buying Spree
Poland bought hundreds of Chunmoos last year as part of a broader effort to bolster its military after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Warsaw ordered 218 systems as part of a framework agreement to purchase up to 290.
The Central European country has also acquired 20 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems from the US and has initiated the process to purchase 500 more.
Local Manufacturing
The Chunmoo project includes Polish companies such as Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), the WB Group, and Jelcz, manufacturer of the 8×8 trucks on which the system is mounted.
HSW will integrate the truck with the launcher and eventually manufacture the launchers.
The system will feature the WB Group’s Topaz artillery fire control system.
Additionally, the Polish state-controlled Polish Armaments Group and Hanwha are planning to manufacture the system’s munitions — 239 mm guided rockets — in Poland.
Features
The Chunmoo is a multi-caliber system capable of striking targets 36 kilometers (22 miles) to 290 kilometers (180 miles) away.
A launcher features two containers: one with six 239 mm guided rockets with a range of 80 kilometers (50 miles) and another with a tactical missile that has a range of 290 kilometers (180 miles).
The system is compatible with various munitions, such as the Polish-made 122 mm unguided rocket and the US-Swedish GL-SDB.
Its operational range is 450 kilometers (280 miles), and it can fire six 239 mm rockets every 30 seconds.
(Source: Google/https://www.thedefensepost.com/)
08 Aug 23. Advanced Armor Research Group, LLC (AARG) Shows Advanced Armor Solutions at DSEI. AARG, the US based armor specialist is displaying its range of advanced armor solutions at DSEI 2023 being held at Excel, London, from September 12 -15.
Why you care -AARG has tackled and solved some of the more persistent long-term issues in the armor industry. Improved thermal performance helps with a broader operational profile. Superior multi hit performance equals improved survivability and longer reaction windows. Reduced back-face deflection results in improved stability and improvements in life cycle cost helps with affordability. Look forward to discussing your specific challenges. We will see you at DSEI in September.
Tailored to your needs – AARG has scaled up and tested structurally engineered armor solutions for STANAG 4569 Levels 2,3,4, and 5 using this improved resin system. AARG utilizes a proprietary integration method to bolt anti-ballistic panels to structural frames to maximize the panel structural integrity additionally supporting multi-hit performance during testing.
46 C ambient can heat your vehicle skin to 74 C -Structural composite armor systems degrade in high temperature environments due to the physical properties of resin systems used for vacuum assisted resin transfer molding. These resin systems have thermal glass transition temperatures that are too low, leading to mechanical failure, decrease in anti-ballistic performance, and reduced life cycle when operating temperatures meet and exceed 74ºC. To address the elevated temperature issues, Advanced Armor Research Group (AARG) has teamed with a leading chemical manufacturer to introduce an advanced resin with improved toughness and thermal performance to our structurally engineered composite armor systems.
The resin system has been engineered to improve damage tolerance and multi-hit performance of structural composite armor systems in the hottest environments. When cured, the resin system has a thermal glass transition temperature which is much higher than currently available resin systems used for anti-ballistic composite armor.
Back face deflection is a critical structural element of B-Kit armor systems. Minimum deflection as provided by the AARG engineered armor systems allows these systems to be installed either directly or with minimal spacing from the vehicle hull. Which facilitates improved stability for the vehicle. We can mount within an inch of the vehicle skin. The further removed from the skin of the vehicle the more issues with rollover, overall width, and excessive demands on the CG of the vehicle.
The Advanced Armor Research Group is a privately held American company that provides optimized engineered armor solutions for military vehicles and a range of other platforms and applications requiring reduced weight solutions. AARG has tackled and solved some of the long-term challenges in the armor industry. Specifically, high temperature, improved multi-hit, back face deflection, and improved life cycle costs.
AARG is at Stand No H8-410.
09 Aug 23. Kratos, Hypersonix team up on hypersonic systems for US market. Kratos Defense and Security Solutions and Australia’s Hypersonix have formed a partnership to integrate their hypersonic vehicle and propulsion systems and expand their footprint within the U.S. national security market.
Under the agreement, Kratos committed to initially buy 20 of Hypersonix’s DART AE hypersonic vehicles once the system is completed and demonstrated. The U.S.-based company will integrate its Zeus line of propulsion systems with DART AE.
“This exclusive partnership . . . enables the Kratos/Hypersonix team to be first-to-market with relevant capability in support of U.S. and Australia hypersonic initiatives,” Dave Carter, president of Kratos’ defense and rocket systems business said in an Aug. 9 press release.
The teaming arrangement comes as the U.S. looks to expand its cooperation with Australia and the United Kingdom through the trilateral security agreement known as AUKUS. That means deepening its partnerships with those allies on a range of advanced capabilities — including hypersonic systems, which can travel at speeds above Mach 5.
The move also will expand Hypersonix’s presence in the U.S., following a contract award in March from the Defense Innovation Unit. The Pentagon’s commercial technology hub selected DART AE for its Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program, which aims to leverage commercial progress developing reusable, low-cost hypersonic test vehicles to help alleviate strain on government test infrastructure.
Hypersonix expects DART AE to fly for the first time in 2024.
Kratos is No. 88 on Defense News’ 2023 Top 100 list, which ranks companies based on annual defense revenue. The company’s hypersonic development work includes both propulsion and vehicle development for DoD and classified national security customers.
The company is on contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory for its Mayhem program, which is developing a hypersonic ISR and strike platform, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Testbed.
Kratos has experience working with Australian technology firms, noting in its press release that it has launched several hypersonic missions in collaboration with the country’s Defense and Science Technology Group and the University of Queensland.
“Both Hypersonix and Kratos view the teaming arrangement as an important step towards rapid future hypersonic flights in the United States,” Kratos said.
About Courtney Albon
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
10 Aug 23. Indra delivers laboratories to analyse IEDs for Australia. The facilities gather operational information on improvised explosive devices and other events, as well as the analysis of evidence in critical situations.
Indra delivers two readily deployable laboratories to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), allowing the Army to analyse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other articles with the same effect.
The supplier designed these ‘Weapon Technical Intelligence’ laboratories (WTIs) to carry out the controlled exploitation of IEDs, collect and analyse evidence, provide critical attack information and identify the supply chain.
WTI assets provide the means to technically, tactically and forensically determine the components involved and recover traces of material related to the manufacture and handling of the devices. The ADF can also use these laboratories for other events, such as natural disasters.
The Australian Army’s two new systems are based on a container solution. The containers consist of robust ISO 20 shelters certified for any standard mobile logistics platform currently in use in the ADF and meet stringent environmental requirements for deployment anywhere in the world.
“The real value of this system lies in the fact that it provides… equipment and operating methods in a modular and scalable deployment configuration.
“The laboratory… provides the operation’s commanders with rapid and actionable intelligence on the improvised explosive devices in situ, which could allow them to enter the attack cycle of their adversaries.
“It’s an intrusive but non-destructive process, so it allows for deeper subsequent detonation”, explained Adam Taylor, the project manager,” explained the Project Manager, Adam Taylor.
Dealing with IEDs in the battlespace
“In today’s conflicts, IEDs play an increasingly important role and will continue to be part of the operating environment for future Nato military operations,” the Nato military alliance observed.
Some forces with asymmetrical tactics have used these unconventional explosives, such as Afghanistan. “Nato must remain prepared to counter IEDs in any land or maritime operation involving asymmetrical threats, in which force protection will remain a paramount priority,” it added.
The Royal United Services Institute explained that “there are a number of reasons why IED development should be researched in more detail.
“Primarily it is simply because the problem will not go away. Secondly, if one can understand what drives the bomb design and development process, one may well be able to influence the attack capability of a particular group by applying counter-terrorist measures.”
An ADF guideline from 2017 that provides information on dealing with IEDs states that “recent counter-terrorism arrests and prosecutions in Australia demonstrate the ongoing appeal of IEDs to Australia-based violent extremists and, accordingly, the ongoing threat of terrorism. A number of recent counter-terrorism arrests include charges related to plots involving IEDs and explosives.” (Source: army-technology.com)
09 Aug 23. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) advanced its ability to operationalize the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) ecosystem by combining advanced autonomy and government-provided human-machine interface (HMI) hardware. A GA-ASI-owned Avenger® Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) was paired with “digital twin” aircraft to autonomously conduct Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) multi-objective collaborative combat missions.
The flights, which took place on July 13, 2023, from GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in El Mirage, Calif., demonstrate the company’s commitment to maturing its UCAV ecosystem for Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP). The ecosystem’s goal is to rapidly integrate best-of-breed capabilities in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), mission-relevant interfaces, and other capabilities from third-party providers at the speed of relevance for 21st century conflicts.
The team demonstrated Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) using the U.S. Air Force’s Project FoX system, which included a touchscreen tablet for fighter cockpits. The tablet provided control and monitoring of advanced autonomy while it conducted a multi-objective combat mission consisting of LVC entities. Mission autonomy capabilities focused on optimized search and signature management. Search optimization autonomy behaviors were provided by Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI). These skills were integrated into and orchestrated by government-furnished equipment (GFE) autonomy core architecture enhanced by GA-ASI. The flexibility of the GFE autonomy core software stack enabled rapid, seamless integration of one of SSCI’s multi-UAS behaviors. Autonomous trajectories were calculated by SSCI algorithms and subsequently communicated to GA-ASI’s autonomy core for translation to vehicle routes. SSCI provided an array of behaviors using its Collaborative Mission Autonomy suite where the software adapts to mission contingencies such as system failures, connectivity dropout, and combat losses to ensure successful tactical execution.
“The concepts demonstrated by these flights set the standard for operationally relevant mission systems capabilities on UCAV platforms,” said GA-ASI Senior Director of Advanced Programs Michael Atwood. “Our integration of the emerging FoX system accelerates speed to ramp for emerging collaborative air-to-air capabilities. The combination of airborne high-performance computing, sensor fusion, human-machine teaming, and AI pilots making decisions at the speed of relevance shows how quickly GA-ASI’s capabilities are maturing as we move to operationalize autonomy for UCAVs.”
The signature management skill, based on deep reinforcement learning, was developed by GA-ASI. Skill development leveraged GA-ASI’s novel Reinforcement Learning (RL) architecture that was designed using agile software methodology and industry-standard tools such as Docker and Kubernetes. Commanded using the FoX tablet, the RL agent navigated to an operator-identified target while minimizing the radar cross section (RCS). This MUM-T, facilitated via open mission system (OMS) messages and alignment to the newest government architectures, demonstrated real-time operator tasking and supervision of an autonomous platform as it conducted its mission.
The team used a government-furnished autonomy core engine and the government-standard OMS messaging protocol to enable communication between the RL agents and the LVC system. Utilizing government standards such as OMS will make rapid integration of autonomy for UCAVs possible. In addition, GA-ASI used a General Dynamics EMC2 to run the autonomy architecture. EMC2 is an open architecture Multi-Function Processor with multi-level security infrastructure to run the autonomy architecture, demonstrating the ability to bring high-performance computing resources to UCAVs to perform quickly tailorable mission sets depending on the operational environment.
GA-ASI is demonstrating its commitment to maturing an autonomy infrastructure to enable rapid integration and validation of third-party tactical software applications from an App Store and maintaining safety of flight. This is another in an ongoing series of autonomous flights performed by GA-ASI using internal research and development funding to prove out important AI/ML concepts for UAS.
08 Aug 23. US Army Awards First Multiyear Munitions Deal, Reveals New Loitering Bomb. The Army has awarded its first multiyear contract to procure a munition, the service’s acquisition chief announced Aug. 7.
The service has begun ramping up artillery production to actively supply munitions to Ukraine while also working to maintain its own stockpiles, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Doug Bush said during a media roundtable.
The Army is currently producing 24,000 155mm rounds per month, with the goal to manufacture 80,000 to 85,000 per month by fiscal year 2025, Bush said. “So, that ramp-up is really about to kick in, and we look forward to working with industry as we make that happen. And we made multiple investments there, in multiple facilities. So, we’re working with a variety of industry partners on that.”
One of those investments was the multiyear contract award to IMT Defense, which spans from fiscal years 2023 to 2027, Bush said. The contract is specifically for M1128 rounds — which Bush described as the Army’s “new generation of shell” — and is currently valued at $162.7m, but there are “hooks in the contract to go higher,” he said.
“It’s a multiyear contract, so it will allow for additional delivery orders,” he said. “We did it that way because we’re getting replenishment dollars to replace what we sent to Ukraine, and we want to be able to use this multiyear contract for a good portion of that.”
It is the first of four planned multiyear contracts “that will specifically support artillery production,” he added.
Industry has long advocated for multiyear contracts as it gives contractors the ability to plan ahead, and procure raw materials at larger quantities, which they say brings prices down. It also saves them from the vagaries of yearly funding from Congress, which rarely passes budgets on time.
“That’s something we have had the authority to do for a while,” he said. “I think the conflict [in Ukraine] raised the importance of doing it to strengthen the industrial base. And of course, the other multiyears under discussion still require Congressional approval. These four we’re doing are under the threshold, and we’re able to execute them this year, based on language we received for fiscal year [2023]. So, very excited about that, and more to follow.”
Along with producing more artillery rounds, Bush said the Army is also looking to develop one-way attack drones — also known as loitering munitions, which have proven effective in Ukraine.
The service’s Program Executive Office Soldier announced on July 7 it had initiated the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance, or LASSO, program. The system is “a man-portable, tube-launched, lethal payload munition, unmanned aerial system” that includes an electrical optical/infrared sensor, precision flight control and “the ability to fly, track and engage non-line-of-sight targets and armored vehicles with precision lethal fires,” the office’s release said.
LASSO will “provide infantry units primarily with a loitering attack munition,” Bush said. “We are, though, going to take a competitive approach. So, I think early increments of that might be some of the things that have been sent to Ukraine, but there [are] a lot of companies in that space. So, we’re going to leverage competition, as well as maybe have more than one version so we can have more production capacity.” (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
09 Aug 23. Industry teams near milestone to build novel US missile interceptor. Using advanced digital design methods, the two teams competing to develop the Missile Defense Agency’s Next-Generation Interceptor are nearing a key milestone by the end of the year: a preliminary design review for the all-up round.
The agency chose two teams – Northrop Grumman working with Raytheon Technologies, an RTX company, and Lockheed Martin with Aerojet Rocketdyne – to design a replacement for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system’s Ground-Based Interceptors. The contracts for both teams are worth $1.6bn in total.
“We have finished the [solid rocket motor] case manufacturing for all three stages of NGI,” Lisa Brown, who runs Northrop Grumman’s bid, told a group of reporters Aug. 7 at the company’s brand-new facilities here, built partly for the NGI effort. “We’re going to be filling these cases with inert propellant. We’ll be shipping them here to Redstone Arsenal, where we will start doing integration work” into an interceptor, she said.
And the company is planning to start static firings of its solid rocket motors for the NGI program by the end of 2023, Brown added.
Lockheed Martin announced also on Aug. 7 in a statement that it had “successfully validated designs for all elements” of its NGI design with the Missile Defense Agency.
“Through a series of successful and on-schedule Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs) of all NGI major subsystems, the company demonstrated it has achieved design maturity and reduced risk for critical technologies,” the statement reads.
Over a year ago, both teams competing set out to plant deeper roots in Huntsville as part of an effort to try to speed up NGI’s fielding as intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran grow.
Lockheed Martin broke ground on a new $16.5m, 25,000-square-foot Missile System Integration Lab in Huntsville in 2022 exclusively for the development of NGI, and Northrop began building two large facilities around the same time. Northrop’s two buildings are now open for business.
There are 44 GBIs in the ground with the majority in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, and the rest at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The current interceptors aren’t equipped to counter a missile that could contain multiple kill vehicles or decoys that make the defeat process more complicated, defense officials have said.
Vice Adm. Jon Hill, who was the MDA’s director until last month, said the goal was to get NGI loaded into underground silos beginning around 2028. But both teams have said they can get there one year earlier.
The companies are designing the new interceptor using digital methods meant to speed up the design process. As a result, Northrop’s engineers were able to build hardware earlier and begin testing sooner, Brown said.
Likewise, Lockheed also has touted its engineering orthodoxy. “We took a modern and transparent approach through the use of advanced digital engineering and model-based engineering tools,” Sarah Reeves, the company’s vice president in charge of the NGI bid, said in the statement. The company is working within an “integrated digital tool chain” to make decisions quickly and to stay flexible, it reads.
Brown said her team expected to complete the All Up Round Preliminary Design Review by the end of 2023 and Lockheed reported that it was “on track” for the same milestone.
Once both teams pass the review, they anticipate another, more detailed evaluation to follow roughly one year later in 2024.
NGI is the result of the Pentagon canceling in August 2019 its Redesigned Kill Vehicle program – which would have upgraded the GBI to be able to pursue more complex threats. That program struggled with insurmountable technical issues resulting in delayed schedules and cost increases. Raytheon, as a subcontractor for Boeing, was the developer for the RKV program.
Roughly eight months after the cancellation of the RKV program, MDA launched the new interceptor push. An independent cost estimate from the Defense Department’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office determined in 2021 the total price tag to develop NGI could come to roughly $13bn, while procurement, operation and sustainment could add to a little more than $2bn. (Source: Defense News)
09 Aug 23. US Army plans to grow Patriot missile defense force. The U.S. Army will grow its Patriot air and missile defense force structure, the head of Space and Missile Defense Command told reporters in an Aug. 8 briefing.
“The Army senior leaders — from the secretary [to] the chief — they recognize the demands on the Patriot force,” Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. “We are addressing that through increasing our Patriot units that are out there.”
Karbler would not specifically say how many more Patriot units the Army plans to field, noting he did not want to get ahead of Army senior leadership. “We have a requirement to grow Patriot force structure; we will grow Patriot force structure,” he said.
Congress requested the Army report on whether it needs more Patriot batteries in the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The Army has 15 Patriot battalions across the active force with funding authorized to build one more.
The demands on the Army’s air defense force has been a longtime issue for the service. Patriot units have traditionally held the record for the highest operational tempos across the service for more than a decade, with deployment times that have sometimes gone above the traditional six- to nine-month rotations.
Even though the service wants to grow air defense units, it is facing headwinds when it comes to recruiting. “We’re going to have the same accessions and recruiting challenges that the rest of the Army, the rest of the services, are facing,” Karbler said. “The Army can throw certain levers to help incentivize a young specialist to come into the Army and come into the air defense branch.”
The Army has received some help including pay incentives and trying to stick to dwell restrictions, but the challenge is recruiting air defenders, Karbler told Defense News last year at the same conference.
One way to recruit air defenders, Karbler said this year, is to “see if there’s opportunities for soldiers who want to re-enlist to enlist, to come into the Patriot force. I can’t just snap my fingers today and make a sergeant, but I can offer a re-enlistment incentive to a young specialist to switch over to air defense.”
Because of these challenges, while the Army will grow Patriot force structure, “we are not going to grow as fast as we want to in terms of meeting some of the tempo challenges that we have here now.”
But, he added, “it’s also not just a Patriot challenge, right? Integrated air and missile defense is a joint endeavor, and so between our joint partners and our allied partners, everybody has contributed to support air and missile defense globally.” (Source: Defense News)
08 Aug 23. Theft of Russian missile technology by North Korean group underscores sustained espionage risks for defence sectors. The cyber security company SentinelOne reported on 7 August that two separate North Korean cyber threat actors (‘ScarCruft’ and ‘Lazarus Group’) targeted a Russian military manufacturer, NPO Mashinostoyeniya, in a long-term espionage campaign. The campaign lasted approximately six months, between November 2021 and May 2022. It is highly likely that the objective of the campaign was to steal intellectual property related to sensitive missile technology being developed for the Russian military so as to bolster North Korea’s own missile programme.
The campaign was discovered in May 2022, one week prior to Russia vetoing a UN resolution to impose fresh sanctions on North Korea. However, reports of the campaign have only recently been made public. Researchers have stated it is unclear whether ScarCruft and Lazarus Group co-operated at the direction of the North Korean government, or whether they operated independently of each other. In July, North Korean and Russian diplomats held in-person meetings, highlighting their continued efforts to strengthen ties despite the cyber campaign. Nonetheless, the campaign underscores the sustained risk of cyber espionage operations targeting global defence sectors, particularly the development of advanced weapons systems. It also highlights Pyongyang’s eagerness to pursue strategic interests in order to further its missile programme, despite the potential impact of such espionage campaigns on its very few diplomatic relations. (Source: Sibylline)
08 Aug 23. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully manufactured the first set of solid rocket motor cases for the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI) program. The NGI pathfinder motors demonstrate case designs, manufacturing processes as well as allows the teams to test and conduct integration operations. The completed cases will be filled with inert propellent and shipped to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where they will be integrated into an interceptor, continuing pathfinder activities and further proving out processes. Once integration is complete, the interceptor will be used for additional testing and process verification.
“Our experienced teams and cutting-edge solid rocket motor manufacturing technologies, backed by flight-proven processes, have enabled us to achieve several key milestones in rapid succession,” said Lisa Brown, vice president, NGI, Northrop Grumman. “With NGI’s mission to defend our homeland against incoming enemy threats, saving time and reducing risk is vital.”
The successful production of NGI solid rocket motor cases is a significant achievement that demonstrates our expertise and robust designs and manufacturing capabilities.
To learn more about the Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies Next Generation Interceptor solution, click here.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day.
08 Aug 23. German arms maker takes Finland to market court over rifle choice. German gun maker Heckler & Koch has filed a complaint with the Finnish Market Court over Finland’s direct arms purchase from a local manufacturer, bypassing competition rules, court documents seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
The German company accuses the Finnish defence forces of breaching Finnish and EU competition rules with a ten-year agreement, made in March jointly with Sweden, to buy assault rifles and other handguns from the Finnish arms maker Sako Ltd, owned by Italy’s Beretta.
“The direct procurement in question means that the Finnish Defence Forces may not invite tenders for the procurement of handguns until 2053 and may acquire them from Sako,” Heckler & Koch writes in its complaint, referring to three seven-year extension options until 2053 in the agreement between the defence forces and Sako.
Both Finland and Sweden need to renew the standard weaponry of their armies, Finland its RK 62 and RK 95 assault rifles made mostly by Sako, and Sweden its AK 4 and AK 5s, the former being a Swedish-made version of a battle rifle by Heckler & Koch.
Finland has not revealed how many handguns it intends to acquire under the agreement but altogether it has hundreds of thousands of handguns in storage for its war-time strength of 280,000 troops.
The two Nordic nations decided to join NATO military alliance together last year, in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and have also stepped up their mutual defence cooperation in the form of joint equipment purchases to increase interoperability.
Finland’s defence forces said the procurement followed Finnish and EU exceptions to competition rules on the basis of national security interests.
“The procurement has been carried out as a direct procurement, so that the necessary damage repair capability, maintenance and production know-how is available under all conditions within a certain response time,” it said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding Sako was the only industrial manufacturer of handguns in Finland with sufficient manufacturing capacity.
Contacted by Reuters, Heckler & Koch GmbH declined to comment on the proceeding and did not reveal if it had filed a similar complaint in Sweden. The Swedish Market Court or Stockholm’s Administrative Court found no pending complaints by the German company in their registries. (Source: Google/Reuters)
07 Aug 23. Lockheed Martin’s Next Generation Interceptor Program Completes All Subsystem Preliminary Design Reviews at Accelerated Pace. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) successfully validated designs for all elements of the nation’s Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
Through a series of successful and on-schedule Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs) of all NGI major subsystems, the company demonstrated it has achieved design maturity and reduced risk for critical technologies. NGI is the future of the MDA’s Ground-Based Missile Defense (GMD) system to protect the U.S. homeland against intercontinental ballistic missile threats from rogue nations.
“Lockheed Martin is making rapid progress with our NGI solution, remaining on an accelerated schedule toward flight testing,” said Sarah Reeves, vice president of NGI at Lockheed Martin. “During these reviews, we took a modern and transparent approach through the use of advanced digital engineering and model-based engineering tools. Our NGI team will continue on-plan to demonstrate our revolutionary NGI architecture, leveraging mature technologies for high mission confidence.”
Lockheed Martin is demonstrating engineering work that has been performed in the integrated digital tool chain to drive faster decision making, enhance security, and enable rapid delivery and agility. This approach emphasizes affordability across the program lifecycle. Lockheed Martin’s NGI solution will increase warfighter capability, providing an improved defensive solution to address the complex battlespace now and in the future.
Lockheed Martin’s NGI program is on track for its next major review, the All Up Round PDR. During this next major review, MDA will assess if the program is ready to move forward in the acquisition process through Knowledge Point number one and ultimately on to the Critical Design Review. The first Lockheed Martin NGI is forecast for delivery to the warfighter as early as FY2027.
04 Aug 23. Denmark receives first ATMOS SPHs and PULS MRLs. Denmark has received its first 155 mm/52 calibre Autonomous Truck Mounted Howitzer System (ATMOS) self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) and Precise and Universal Launching System (PULS) multiple rocket launcher (MRL) artillery systems, Elbit Systems tweeted on 3 August. The tweet included a video of one ATMOS on an 8×8 platform and two PULS systems on 6×6 platforms being delivered to a Danish port.
The Israeli company said the systems were delivered a few months after the contract signature. Elbit Systems announced in a press release on 2 March that it had awarded two contracts worth a total of USD252m to a European NATO country – a USD119m contract for a battalion’s worth of the ATMOS SPHs over a two-year period and a USD133m contract for two batteries’ worth of PULS MRLs, plus rockets and missiles, over a three-year period. The procurement includes training, spare parts, and tools for both systems.
The first ATMOS arrived in Denmark earlier than originally planned as a spokesperson for the Danish Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) told Janes. (Source: Janes)
03 Aug 23. German AF, GMSH and Diehl Defence Inaugurate the Ground-based Air Defence Training Facility.
- The German Air Force, together with Diehl Defence, the system house for the IRIS-T SLM ground-based air defence system, and Gebaudemanagement Schleswig-Holstein AoR (GMSH), inaugurated the training facility for ground-based air defence at the military training area Todendorf of the Bundeswehr Homeland Defence Command on the Baltic Sea.
The German Air Force, together with Diehl Defence, the system house for the IRIS-T SLM ground-based air defence system, and Gebäudemanagement Schleswig-Holstein AöR (GMSH), inaugurated the training facility for ground-based air defence at the military training area Todendorf of the Bundeswehr Homeland Defence Command on the Baltic Sea.
Representatives of the three partners handed over the completed part of the facility to the training organization of industry and armed forces, which marks the symbolic starting signal for the commencement of training operations. First trainings will already start in summer 2023, while full capacity of the training facility will be reached by 2024.
In the future, Diehl Defence will support the German Armed Forces in Todendorf with regard to training, qualification and maintenance of the IRIS-T SLM weapon system. The company is offering its training services in Todendorf not only for the German user, but also for all other NATO and European Sky Shield Initiative customers who will procure the IRIS-T SLM system. This is carried out as multiplier training which enables users to later train their own staff.
The training area consists of four parts – the premises for theory training, the outdoor area for system training, a maintenance hangar as well as warehouse facilities – and thus contains all disciplines for a fully comprehensive training on the IRIS-T SLM system. The training facilities include a computer training room for operational and tactical (software) training on the command and control system. Diehl Defence is responsible for the industrial training elements, while the German Air Force is in charge of the tactical and operational parts.
Diehl Defence’s training services in Todendorf are primarily designed for the IRIS-T SLM system. However, the offer can be extended subsequently to other systems, such as IRIS-T SLS. Todendorf is intended to provide cross-service training in this regard.
Combining the training services of industry and armed forces creates considerable synergies. Todendorf’s operator model enables initial training at a high technical level, taking into account customer-specific system adaptations and requirements. The highly integrative collaboration between customers and industry creates inestimable added value for the further development of the system with the involvement of the user.
(Source: ASD Network)
————————————————————————-
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.
————————————————————————-