Sponsored by Galvion
www.galvion.com
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
22 Aug 24. NCACC decision to put Polish artillery ammunition order on hold saw contract with RDM cancelled. The South African National Conventional Arms Control Committee’s decision to indefinitely put on hold the approval of an export permit to Poland has resulted in that European country cancelling its order for 155 mm artillery ammunition with Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM).
Polish publication Rzeczpospolita on 21 August reported that after years of delay, the Polish government cancelled its artillery contract with Rheinmetall and is instead looking to establish its own artillery munitions production.
Poland, like many other countries, became acutely aware of its limited stocks of 155 mm ammunition following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and contracted Rheinmetall to deliver about 50 000 shells. The Polish Ministry of Defence told Rzeczpospolita that the contract was withdrawn on 20 July 2023 “due to problems related to the implementation of the contract by the subcontractor”, which was Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) based in South Africa.
“The deliveries of ammunition to Poland were blocked – more or less directly – by the government of the Republic of South Africa, fearing that it could be sent further, to Ukraine. After all, South Africa is closer to Russia, with which it is, among other things, in the BRICS alliance, than to Ukraine,” Rzeczpospolita reported.
Poland is now looking to procure shells locally and in December 2023 signed a $2.75bn contract for nearly 300 000 155 mm artillery shells with the PGZ-Amunicja consortium under a framework contract signed in June last year for the purchase of up to one million shells of various types and calibres until 2029. Deliveries of nearly 300 000 155 mm artillery shells are scheduled for 2024-2029.
The programme provides for the creation and further support of domestic production capacities, for local consumption and export. The PGZ-Amunicja group of companies that will jointly produce ammunition for the Polish military includes Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, Zakłady Metalowe Dezamet, Mesko, Zakłady Chemiczne Nitro-Chem, Zakład Produkcji Specjalnej Gamrat and Bydgoskie Zakłady Elektromechaniczne Belma.
In 2022, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee’s (NCACC’s) Ezra Jele revealed that one permit for Poland worth R893m was on hold. Last year when briefing Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence, Jele did not give a clear indication why the Polish permit was on hold, as there are no United Nations Security Council embargos on Poland, but he did mention that diversion was a concern – presumably that weapons to Poland would be sent to Ukraine.
African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier said it was frustrating that the NCACC (supported by the Directorate for Conventional Arms Control) didn’t actually deny the permit, which would have required providing a clear reason, but put it on indefinite hold – “which is really a denial.”
He earlier said it was against the spirit of the law to hold permits for so long and not deny or approve them, unless the applicant is provided with a clear and reasonable set of requirements to be met. “If there’s no likelihood of a permit being approved within a few months it’s better for everyone that it be denied,” he told defenceWeb.
The NCACC has also put some export permits to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates on hold, causing much frustration and lost income for South Africa’s defence industry. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
21 Aug 24. USAF scraps $12B Sentinel systems integration contract.
The Air Force is going back to the drawing board for its $12bn systems integration contract for its Sentinel nuclear missile replacement program. Twice now, the Government Accountability Office has told the Air Force to re-evaluate proposals for the Integration Support Contract 2.0 following a pair of sustained protests.
Decision decision number one fell in 2022 and the second came earlier in the summer. Guidehouse successfully protested the Air Force’s choice of incumbent BAE Systems Inc. in the first ruling, while the roles were reversed for the second case.
In the most recent decision, GAO said the Air Force should re-evaluate the entirety of proposals submitted by Guidehouse and BAE. The Air Force only wanted to look at certain sections of the bids.
GAO also offered the Air Force this out – if the solicitation no longer meets the needs of the Air Force, the branch could amend the solicitation and then ask for new proposals.
But the Air Force has taken that recommendation a step further and canceled the contract altogether.
In a brief statement on Sam.gov, the Air Force offered no explanation on why it decided to scrap the contract rather than rework the solicitation. A call into the Air Force has not been returned.
If the Air Force develops a new request for proposals, it will come out under a new solicitation number. In the meantime, BAE continues work on the incumbent contract that is slated to expire at the end of January 2025.
The Integration Support Contract 2.0 would have covered sustainment services for the Minuteman III missile and its retirement. ISC 2.0 also was to support the deployment of its successor system, the Ground-based Strategic Deterrent, which includes the Sentinel missile being built by Northrop Grumman.
ISC 2.0 was to run for 18 years and included services such as cybersecurity, digital engineering, model-based systems engineering and change management.
The Air Force’s push to replace Minuteman III has been troubled.
In June, the Air Force fired Sentinel Systems director Col. Charles Clegg. He “did not follow organizational procedures” and the Air Force had lost confidence in his ability to lead, an Air Force spokesperson told our sibling publication Defense One in June.
Congress also has been pressuring the Air Force for a more thorough review of alternatives before moving ahead with Sentinel. Projected costs for the program are now $131bn, according to Defense One.
The need to replace the Minuteman III missiles has been a long-standing issue. They were first deployed in 1970 with an expected lifetime of 10 years. (Source: washingtontechnology.com)
21 Aug 24. This system could allow small Army teams to hit 1,000 targets per hour. A collection of premier operational Army units has conducted at least 10 rounds of experiments with a targeting system that is now actively used in U.S. Central Command and is being applied to solve logistics problems globally.
The XVIII Airborne Corps, which commands the 82nd Airborne Division, 10th Mountain Division, 101st Airborne Division and 3rd Infantry Division, along with other subordinate units, kicked off the targeting system experiments, dubbed Scarlet Dragon, in late 2020, Army Times previously reported.
Since going through at least 10 iterations, with more planned in the coming months and years, the command has developed the Maven Smart System, a combination of sensors and software that allows users to quickly assess a battlespace, gather reams of data and analyze that data using artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify targets and strike.
The evolution of that system was laid out Wednesday at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association TechNet event in Augusta, Georgia.
“What we’re doing is different,” said Brig. Gen. John Cogbill, the deputy commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. “This is a tool that we can ‘fight tonight’ with.”
The war in Ukraine and combat training center rotations are yielding lessons for the U.S. Army’s network plans.
By Todd South
In its first iteration in late 2020, the Scarlet Dragon experiment teamed soldiers from the XVIII Airborne Corps with Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force. In the training, teams used commercial satellite imagery and an algorithm to identify an inflatable tank in the open on Fort Liberty. The system then passed that data to a Marine missile system, which struck the target.
The “digital target pass” took 743 minutes, or more than 12 hours, Cogbill said.
But in the ensuing years, and with additional tinkering, that target pass can now be completed in under one minute, he said.
The Scarlet Dragon and other technology initiatives began under former XVIII Airborne Corps commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, who went on to take charge of U.S. Central Command.
Cogbill said that back in 2020, Kurilla told his staff he wanted the first “AI-enabled Corps” in the Army. Once Kurilla transferred to lead CENTCOM, he installed a data-centric command approach that included using elements of the Maven system, Cogbill said.
An analysis report released this month by the nonprofit Center for Security and Emerging Technology highlighted some of Maven’s development as well as its use by operational units.
Without Maven, “the firing process is manual and riddled with inefficiencies and the potential for errors,” the report’s authors wrote, “from collecting the data to processing it, seeking permission, matching munitions, and granting permission.”
The XVIII Airborne Corps managed to match the targeting prowess of the time-critical target cell used during Operation Iraqi Freedom, “widely viewed as the most efficient in U.S. military history,” the authors wrote.
But while the OIF targeting cell used more than 2,000 staffers to cover a wide area and numerous targets during the 2003 invasion, the current demonstration managed the same workload with 20 soldiers, the report said.
Experts within the XVIII Airborne Corps are exploring whether the AI and machine learning approach can also help other unit commanders better “see” and “sense” logistics needs, Cogbill said.
That effort would entail providing commanders with a global picture of their supply chains and ways to run scenarios that help them decide how logistics will affect operations.
Scarlet Dragon efforts continue, meanwhile, with an experiment scheduled for next month and a series of events throughout 2025, Cogbill said.
The system is expected make its large-scale Pacific debut during the Yama Sakura training exercise in late 2026, a U.S.-Japanese military command post exercise. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
22 Aug 24. Tiny Jets Masquerading as Cruise Missiles Featured in Michigan Airpower Exercise. Tiny JSX-2 microjets, each with a pilot crammed inside, have been zipping around the skies over Michigan playing the part of hostile aerial threats like drones and cruise missiles as part of a large force exercise. The use of the JSX-2s in this role underscores U.S. military concerns about the ever-growing dangers drones and cruise missiles pose, including to the U.S. homeland, and the parallel demand for more and better ways to simulate them in training.
The U.S. Air National Guard recently released pictures of two JSX-2s with the U.S. civil registrations N55KX and N66KX operating from the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in Michigan as part of Exercise Northern Strike 24-2. The Michigan National Guard’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) is leading the exercise, which kicked off on August 3 and is scheduled to wrap up on August 17.
“Northern Strike (NS) 24-2 [is] one of the Department of Defense’s largest reserve component readiness exercises” and is “focused on expeditionary skills, command and control, sustainment and joint integrated fires,” according to a Michigan National Guard press release. More than 6,300 personnel from 32 U.S. states and territories, as well as “five international partners,” are participating in this latest iteration of Northern Strike, which has air, maritime, and ground components.
The single-seat JSX-2 is powered by a small TJ100 turbojet made by PBS Aerospace in the Czech Republic, which has a maximum thrust output of 281 pounds, according to the manufacturer. It is an evolution of the JSX-1 from Oshkosh, Wisconsin-headquartered Sonex Aircraft, which was unveiled in 2009. The improved JSX-2 that followed in the early 2010s is bigger and has a more streamlined design, as well as fully retractable landing gear. It also has a parachute recovery system that can be deployed via rocket in the event of an inflight emergency.
The JSX-1 and JSX-2 have been sold in kit form on the commercial market. Sonex markets its current iteration of the kit as the SubSonex Personal Jet, a design it says has a cruising speed between 230 and 240 miles per hour and a maximum range of 410 miles.
A private company called KestrelX is operating the JSX-2s at Northern Strike 24-2. Public records show this firm received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Air Force valued at just over $725,000 for “UAV [uncrewed aerial vehicle] and Cruise Missile Threat Replication Aircraft” back in 2021. SBIR is a U.S. government contracting mechanism intended to help foster technical innovation through smaller deals with smaller companies.
How the JSX-2s flying at Northern Strike 24-2 may be specifically configured for their threat replication role is unclear. Pictures from Northern Strike 24-2 do show N55KX and N66KX with gondolas underneath their fuselages not seen on typical civilian examples of the microjet. These might contain additional equipment to support their military training role or be used to hold extra fuel or even luggage. UAS VISION/The War Zone)
22 Aug 24. Australia to build cruise missiles with Norway’s Kongsberg. Australia said it would jointly manufacture long-range Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence in the city of Newcastle on Australia’s eastern coast, the only site outside of Norway. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Australian government will contribute A$850m ($574m) to establish a manufacturing facility with Kongsberg at the Newcastle Airport precinct later this year, with production to start in 2027.
The anti-ship cruise missiles would be used by the Australian Defence Force and also exported by the U.S. security ally, he said. It will be one of only two facilities in the world capable of producing the missiles, and the only site outside Kongsberg, Norway.
Australia has said it will establish guided weapons manufacturing under a defence overhaul to boost the Australian Defence Force’s long-range precision strike ability, amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
“There is huge global demand and constraints on the supply chain around the world. So not only is it cost-competitive to build them here, it will actually deliver the missiles faster than if we were relying on a production line overseas,” Conroy said at a press conference in Newcastle. “There is huge export opportunities for these missiles as well.”
The Naval Strike Missile is being used by the U.S. Marines to equip land-based trucks for anti-ship capability, Conroy said.
“We will have the capacity not just to sustain and refurbish our missiles; we can potentially do that for United States forces who might be positioned in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Around 2,000 U.S. Marines have a rotational presence in northern Australia for six months of the year.
The Joint Strike Missile is the only strike missile able to be carried in the weapons bay of the F-35 fighter jet.
Australia has two F-35 stealth fighter squadrons, based at Williamtown near Newcastle and at RAAF Base Tindal in northern Australia, which is being upgraded by the United States to also host U.S. bomber aircraft.
In the Indo Pacific region, Japan and South Korea have F-35 squadrons while Singapore has ordered the fighter jet.
Australia is also developing a hypersonic missile with the United States, and will start co-manufacturing guided missiles with the United States next year. ($1=1.4815 Australian dollars) (Source: Reuters)
20 Aug 24. The Pentagon is shipping new pieces to Guam’s air-defense puzzle. The Missile Defense Agency is preparing for a first test later this year of an initial capability designed to protect the strategic Pacific Island of Guam from air and missile threats, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, the agency’s director.
MDA is supplying a new radar – the AN/TPY-6 – to support an elaborate air and missile defense architecture that is being pieced together over the coming years in order to protect Guam from increasingly complex threats emerging in China and North Korea.
“The first panel is on a boat on its way to Guam to support a planned flight experiment that we’re doing in December,” Collins told Defense News in an interview at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium.
The TPY-6 panel will be used to track a target launched out of a C-17 aircraft and then an SM-3 Block IIA interceptor will launch from a vertical launch system cell already on the island, he said.
The new radar uses technology from MDA’s Long-Range Discrimination Radar positioned in Alaska at Clear Space Force Base, which will have its own test next year ahead of declaring operational capability.
The U.S. Army was assigned in 2023 to lead the acquisition and execution plan for the Guam architecture, and the service’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office lead – a three-star general – was appointed to stand up a joint team for seeing it through.
MDA’s role now is focused primarily on developing the means to tie all the systems together that will be part of the architecture.
The agency has been, for over a decade, working with the services on a standard called the Joint Tactical Integrated Fire Control, or JTIFC, standard.. “That is a standard where we can take different tracking systems and connect those together to get to a true joint tracking architecture that is really going to be critical as we go forward,” Collins said.
MDA is pushing forward to establish a combined command center on the island that will host all of the “major command and control systems in the missile defense business,” Collins said, such as the Army’s Integrated Battle Command System, the Navy’s Aegis weapon system and the Aegis ground system being built for Guam, the Air Force’s C2 system and the agency’s Command Control Battle Management and Communications system, known as C2BMC.
When it first stands up, “it’ll be more set up the way we do things today, where we have J-series messages that we pass for situational awareness,” Collins said.
“But this JTIFC standard is actually what we see to be the basis for the future joint track architecture for Guam and so we’re going to continue to mature what we’ve done today forward and start connecting all those components together in Guam,” he added. “We really think that’s going to be key to really doing that integrated air and missile defense of the future.”
According to Collins, the command center on Guam with the C2BMC node is critical for the ability to connect everything else coming into the architecture later.
The architecture relies on a variety of systems still in development, mostly within the Army. The Navy will provide technology and capability from its Aegis weapon system. The land service plans to bring currently fielded capability like the Patriot system and its IBCS that connects any sensor and shooter together on the battlefield as well as Mid-Range Capability missile launchers, which were first fielded at the end of last year.
Still in varying stages of development, the service will incorporate Patriot’s radar replacement, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, and its Indirect Fire Protection Capability launchers currently in prototyping.
Once the command center is established, Collin said, radars and vertical launch systems will be brought in followed by sensors and interceptors, “as those are ready.”
Over the next year or so, the island “will look like it pretty much looks today,” Collins said. “Our first construction money to start building on the island is ‘25 so we will, by the end of ‘25, we will have begun some military construction on some of the sites.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
20 Aug 24. Türkiye confirms longer-range version of Atmaca cruise missile being tested. Turkish company Roketsan announced on 18 August that it had successfully test-fired the long-range cruise missile version of its Atmaca anti-ship missile.
It released a video showing the missile being prepared and then fired from a mobile launcher at a location that could be identified as the company’s test facility on the Sinop peninsula on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. The missile was shown hitting a target on a floating platform at an unspecified distance from the launch site.
The video identified the missile as an Atmaca UM (the Turkish initials for long range), explaining it was previously referred to as the Atmaca Kara (land) version of the Atmaca anti-ship missile that has been developed for the Turkish Navy.
While this was the first time Roketsan has reported test firing an Atmaca UM/Kara, it suggested there had been earlier tests when the missile had achieved its longest range and flight duration to date.
Haluk Görgün, the secretary of Turkish Defence Industries, congratulated Roketsan on the successful test of what he referred to as the Kara Atmaca, describing it as a long-range cruise missile that is resistant to jamming and designed to be used against strategic land targets that require a high level of accuracy.
Roketsan has said the Atmaca Kara has a range of 280 km compared with the more than 220 km range of the original Atmaca and is also longer and 100 kg heavier, with the warhead increased from 220 kg to 250 kg. It also has an imaging infrared (IIR) seeker rather than an active radar seeker for terminal guidance. (Source: Janes)
20 Aug 24. Moroccan HIMARS contract moving forward. Morocco’s 2023 acquisition of HIMARS launchers and ATACMS missiles is moving forward, with Lockheed Martin contracted to manufacture the systems for the North African nation. In April last year, the United States approved two foreign military sales to Morocco, for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Joint Stand Off Weapons (JSOW) collectively worth over $750 m. Morocco requested to buy 18 M142 HIMARS launchers along with nine M1152A1 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), practice rocket pods, radios, 18 FMTV resupply vehicles, three FMTV wrecker trucks, 18 M1095 trailers and other equipment. Along with ammunition, the sale value is $524 m.Morocco wanted to arm the HIMARS launchers with 40 M57 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) rounds; 36 M31A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) Unitary rounds; and 36 M30A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) Alternative Warhead rounds. The ATACMS is essentially a short-range ballistic missile, able to reach targets out to a maximum of 300 km. The GMLRS Unitary round has a range of 70 km and carries a 100 kg warhead, providing precision strike for point targets. The GMLRS Alternative Warhead round has a range of more than 70 km and carries a 100 kg fragmenting warhead. One HIMARS vehicle can carry a six-pack of GMLRS rockets or one ATACMS missile. On 2 July, the US Department of Defence announced that Lockheed Martin had been awarded a $226m contract for ATACMS for Morocco, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland. Work will continue through December 2028. Morocco is now set to be the first North African country to receive the system – only Jordan and the United Arab Emirates possess the Lockheed Martin-manufactured rocket launcher in the region. HIMARS has been delivered to Ukraine, where it has proven effective against Russian forces. The HIMARS will complement WS-2D multiple rocket launchers Morocco acquired from China six years ago. The WS-2D has a range of 400 km and can carry a 200 kg warhead. Up to six rockets can be launched from a single launcher. Morocco also acquired a dozen PHL-03 (AR-2) 300 mm multiple rocket launchers from China over a decade ago. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
20 Aug 24. Taiwan shows off missile firepower on rare trip to sensitive test site. Taiwan showed off its missile firepower on Tuesday, launching a battery of surface-to-air missiles in front of reporters during a visit to a sensitive test site on a remote part of the island’s southeastern coast. Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained of stepped up Chinese military activity as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims, and Taipei has been strengthening its deterrence abilities.
Missiles are a key part of Taiwan’s defence strategy, both U.S.-made and domestically-developed.
At the Jiupeng base in Taiwan’s Pingtung County, the military test fired both U.S.-made Patriot and Taiwan-made Sky Bow III missiles into the skies as dawn broke, while a warship off the coast fired a RIM-66 Standard missiles.
“All the missiles that were fired today have smoothly hit their mark and have proven two points – the first being that the training of our soldiers is very solid, the other being that our weapons systems have been verified during this process of live firing missiles,” said Defence Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang.
“All in all we have achieved our objectives,” he told reporters on a rare trip to the base.
Jiupeng is also where the government-run weapons developer National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology tests new missiles, like the longer-range version of the Hsiung Feng which is designed to hit targets deep in China.
Taiwan’s government rejects China’s territorial claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future. (Source: Reuters)
16 Aug 24. Thailand’s D11A multiple launch rocket system moves closer to production. Thailand’s state-run Defence Technology Institute (DTI) has delivered a prototype of its D11A Multi-Purpose Rocket and Missile Launcher system to the Royal Thai Army (RTA) for trials and evaluations ahead of serial production, the institute announced on its social media channels on 9 August.
The handover ceremony was presided by Thai Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang, who noted that the development of the D11A system embodies the government’s efforts to boost domestic defence industry and military capability.
The prototype D11A system was received by the RTA’s 71st Artillery Regiment in Lopburi, central Thailand. The service hopes to certify the system through 2024 with an eye on possible RTA production from 2025 onwards.
According to DTI, the D11A system is being positioned to meet a coastal artillery requirement. The first locally built prototype, which was unveiled at the Defence and Security exhibition in 2017 for the first time, is based on a 10-tonne Tatra 6×6 truck and has been in development since 2019 although work had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but resumed earlier in 2022.
The prototype vehicle was also seen configured with an Elbit Systems PULS launcher armed with a four-round pod of 306 mm EXTended Range Artillery (EXTRA) rockets that can engage targets out to 150 km as well as a 20-tube launcher for 122 mm AccuLAR 122mm guided rockets with a 40 km range. Other munitions compatible with the PULs are 160 mm AccuLAR guided rockets and the 306 mm Predator Hawk, which has a range up to 300 km.
DTI had successfully partnered with Elbit Systems to develop the Autonomous Truck-Mounted Mortar (ATMM) using its Spear 120 mm mortar system, as well as the Autonomous Truck-Mounted Gun (ATMG) featuring its ATMOS 155 mm/52-calibre self-propelled howitzer. (Source: AMR)
16 Aug 24. Ethiopia modifies APCs into self-propelled guns. The Ethiopian Federal Defence Forces (FDF) is modifying some of its armoured personnel carriers (APCs) into self-propelled artillery by fitting them with what were previously towed guns.
The FDF released a photograph on 7 August showing at least four Chinese-made WZ551 6×6 APCs mounted with 122 mm D-30 guns/howitzers. The ordnance was fitted so it could be operated by gunners standing in the troop compartment, with a new shield providing them with limited frontal protection.
The combination was almost certainly seen in television news coverage of a visit by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to the Defence Engineering Industry Corporation’s complex near Bishoftu on 17 May, although it was obscured by a Type 89 tracked APC that had undergone a similar conversion. This or another Type 89 fitted with a 122 mm gun was almost certainly seen behind the modified WZ551s in the 7 August photograph.
It is unclear if the APCs have been fitted with lowerable stabilisers to prevent their suspension from being damaged by recoil.
Ethiopia is also working on a rapidly deployable 120 mm mortar that was seen in a photograph released by the FDF on 6 August. Fitted to the back of a pickup truck, this consists of what appeared to be a standard 2B11-pattern mortar with its base plate attached to a pneumatic system that lowers it from the vehicle’s bed to the ground so it can be fired.
The FDF released the photograph to illustrate a visit by senior officers to the Ethiopian Defence University in Bishoftu, which it said is working on upgrading weapons.(Source: Janes)
16 Aug 24. FN UK partners with True Velocity to produce .338 Norma Magnum machine gun.
FN UK has partnered with True Velocity to produce the .338 Norma Magnum LWMMG. (General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems)
FN Browning Group subsidiary FN UK announced on its website on 15 August that it would form a strategic partnership with True Velocity for the production and assembly of components for the .338 Norma Magnum (NM) Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) at its Kent facility.
This agreement follows the announcement on 18 June of a similar partnership between FN Browning Group subsidiary FN America and True Velocity to produce the LWMMG.
The LWMMG, also known as the RM338, is a medium machine gun chambered for the .338 NM cartridge. The weapon employs a novel system of operation known as short recoil, impulse averaging (SRIA). According to a patent application filed in February 2013, the SRIA system combines a short recoil and gas-operated system of operation with a complex buffer assembly. This solution allows the minimisation of the recoil effort of the powerful .338 NM cartridge while keeping the approximately 11 kg weight and the length of the weapon compared with an equivalent 7.62 mm NATO general purpose machine gun (GPMG) such as the FN MAG.
Originally developed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, the intellectual property and the data package were transferred to True Velocity subsidiary LoneStar Future Weapons in 2021 during the selection process for the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon programme. Under the agreement, the RM277 rifle design was also transferred to LoneStar.
(Source: Janes)
BATTLESPACE Comment: BATTLESPACE Editor Julian Nettlefold fired the True Velocity MG at this year’s CCS at COTEC. The True Velocity .338 MG is seen as a replacement for the LMG and now discontinued Minimi. There is no .338 ammunition facility in the UK which FN is expected to establish.
Reader Comment: I fired it at the Close Combat Symposium and was very surprised at its light recoil, considering the cartridge. In my view, this MG and the one from SIG are the runners to replace the FN MAG 58 (GPMG), in the Sustained Fire Role, for the British Army. At the moment there is a shortage of .338NM ammo, as there are very few producers. True Velocity at the Close Combat Symposium had to borrow .338NM ammo from US SOCOM for the event. This ammo was made by NORMA in Sweden.
15 Aug 24. CZ announced the launch of its CZ P-09 NOCTURNE in F (Full-size) and C (Compact) versions. This new series represents the latest innovation in the popular family of polymer-framed pistols with the SA/DA OMEGA trigger mechanism.
The CZ P-09 NOCTURNE series comes with several new features. One of the key features is the Optics-Ready interface, which is compatible with Shield RMS and Holosun K-type Red Dot Sight footprints, allowing users to easily mount their preferred optics directly on the slide. This new series also features an improved texture on the grip and its extension to other exposed areas of the frame, which is made from a highly durable, fibreglass-reinforced polymer. The result is an even more solid and secure grip, allowing for complete control of the pistol when shooting.
CZ P-09 C NOCTURNE [© CZ]
Contrast and luminescent three dot sight picture ensures fast and accurate aiming, even in low light conditions. Improved cocking serrations provide fingers with firmer support when racking the firearm. The new shape of the slide catch/release lever contributes to increased control. The ergonomics of the ambidextrous decocker and manual safety have also been improved for smooth operation by both right- and left-handed shooters.
With its innovative features and superior design, the CZ P-09 NOCTURNE sets a new standard in the polymer-framed SA/DA hammer-fired pistol segment, where it excels in unmatched reliability, performance and versatility.
In addition, the CZ P-09 NOCTURNE series comes with a lifetime barrel warranty that covers its functionality and accuracy. The barrels of these pistols are exclusively manufactured at the CZ factory in Uherský Brod using an extremely precise cold hammer forging process powered by generations of CZ expertise and the use of today’s most advanced technology. Cold hammer forged barrels are renowned for their extraordinary precision and exceptional durability, and in the case of CZ barrels, this is even more true!
New features of the CZ P-09 NOCTURNE:
- New texture pattern for improved traction
- Additional textured areas on the grip and frame for an even more secure hold in hand
- New Optics-Ready interface compatible with Shield RMS and Holosun K footprints
- Contrast and luminescent three dot sight picture
- Enhanced cocking serrations
- New shape of slide catch/release lever for easier operation
- Improved ergonomics of the ambidextrous decocker and manual safety
Features that remain from the previous generation:
- Cold hammer forged barrel
- OMEGA SA/DA trigger mechanism
- Ambidextrous manual safety levers with the option of swapping to decocker and vice versa
- High reliability with different types of ammunition
- Mechanically and thermally stable fibreglass-reinforced polymer frame
- MIL-STD-1913 rail for mounting accessories
- Three sizes of interchangeable backstraps to modify grip
(Source: joint-forces.com)
16 Aug 24. VAMTAC Rapid Ranger 4×4 air defence vehicle could fill the gap left by donated Stormers. The UK’s armoured Stormer vehicles, a mobile platform for the Starstreak High-Velocity Missile system, are due to be retired from service before the end of the decade.
A replacement is currently being considered by the Army after six Stormer vehicles were sent to Ukraine.
What could be on the horizon for British personnel is a 4×4 that looks just like the American Humvee.
The kit in question is the VAMTAC Rapid Ranger 4×4 air defence vehicle.
“We’ve offered this to them [the Army] as something that is available now, in service elsewhere in the world,” Nigel Roughton from aerospace and defence company Thales UK, told Forces News.
Mr Roughton explained how the package has proven service capability.
He added: “It offers a lightweight mounted SHORAD capability, so the ability to deploy rapidly, by air if necessary, as it has a low-profile turret.
“Anywhere that you would want to deploy force for a rapid reinforcement… it can operate in support of vital point defence in a more traditional mobile role or a manoeuvre support role to the field army.”
The VAMTAC Rapid Ranger is already in use by forces elsewhere in the world, particularly in southeast Asia.
For the UK the tactical control console system used in Stormer would be put into the vehicle to help minimise retraining.
As well as not differing significantly in terms of functionality, it employs the same missiles as Stormer, in the form of the Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) and the Starstreak High-Velocity Missile (HVM).
The VAMTAC vehicle is not tracked – so is less all-terrain and it is not as well protected. Thales, however, says what it loses in protection it makes up for in agility. (Source: forces.net)
17 Aug 24. India, Russia “Scrap” BrahMos NG Missile; Rebrands It As BrahMos-MA Air-Launched Supersonic Missile.
In a development that could greatly enhance the capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos has revealed plans to begin testing its new air-launched supersonic missile, “BrahMos-MA,” within two years.
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed by the Russian-Indian joint company BrahMos Aerospace. The weapon’s collaborative producers are the Russian NPO Mashinostroeniya and the Indian government’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The Indian Air Force, Navy, and Ground Forces use it.
The latest announcement about the BrahMos-MA was made by Alexander Maksichev, co-director of BrahMos JV from the Russian side, during the International Military-Technical Forum (IMF) “Army-2024”, Russia’s TASS News Agency reported.
The report further noted that the BrahMos-MA was previously known as the BrahMos-NG, thus clarifying that it is the same missile that has remained under development for several years now. The co-director of the joint venture announced that the missile is presently in development, with the precise design documents being prepared.
“Now we are working with the air-launched version of the missile. We are at the stage of developing working design documentation. If everything goes well, we will start testing the missile in two years,” Maksichev was quoted as saying (the statement has been machine-translated from Russian to English). (Source: Google/https://www.eurasiantimes.com/)
16 Aug 24. Australia, US look to joint production of hypersonic missile, US lawmaker says. Joint production of hypersonic missiles by Australia and the United States could reduce strain on the U.S. defence industrial base and boost deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, U.S. Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said in Sydney on Friday.
In an interview, the chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee said the Australian manufacture of the cutting-edge weapons provided an example of how streamlined licensing of sensitive U.S. defence technology, and licence exemptions on 70% of defence exports to Australia from Sept. 1, would help the U.S. compete with China in developing advanced weapons.
Hypersonic missiles, which travel in the upper atmosphere more than five times faster than sound, were tested by China in 2021, prompting a technology race with the United States. Their recent use by Russia in the Ukraine war, sparked concern among members of NATO.
A Chinese hypersonic weapon “could hit Australia in a matter of minutes and Australia cannot stop that right now. So we need to catch up to that,” McCaul said.
“I was at a hypersonic company just yesterday and we want to move towards co-production,” he added.
“It is already starting and that is the exciting thing and it will help relieve the stress that we see on the defence industrial base,” he added.
Australia is testing a Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) with the United States, which it will consider as its first such weapon for fighter jets, the defence and foreign ministers of the two countries said after talks last week.
McCaul said his visit focused on the AUKUS partnership with the United States and Britain to transfer nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, as well as develop other advanced defence technologies.
The AUKUS alliance was an example of a U.S. ally spending more on its own defence, he said, when asked if a re-elected Donald Trump would continue to back a growing U.S. defence posture in Australia, and the sale of U.S. nuclear submarines next decade.
AUKUS talks had started under the Republican Trump presidency, he added.
“I think there will be strong support for it,” he said.
Rotations of U.S. nuclear submarines through Australia under AUKUS are a deterrent factor in the region, where the Philippines is under pressure from China in the South China Sea, he said, after visiting the Philippines.
“Chairman Xi, I think, fears this alliance more than anything else because he knows what it means – it means that nuclear submarines will be rotating, but also these innovative technologies that we have,” he added, in a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In Beijing this week, the Chinese foreign ministry said AUKUS “harms efforts” to keep the region peaceful and secure and exacerbates the arms race. (Source: Reuters)
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
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.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–