Sponsored by Control Solutions LLC.
http://www.controls.com/product-cat/systems/
——————————————————————-
23 Jun 16. The State of Kuwait upgrades its air and missile defense. The State of Kuwait will soon be able to better protect its cities and key infrastructure against ballistic missiles, aircraft and other airborne threats. The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company (RTN) a $523m undefinitized contract action to upgrade the State of Kuwait’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems to the most modern configuration currently fielded.
The contract was announced by the Department of Defense on June 23.
“Kuwait and other members of the 13-nation strong Patriot Partnership continue to invest in the system and trust Patriot to defend their citizens and militaries,” said Ralph Acaba, Raytheon vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense. “Patriot is the only system in the world that is combat-proven and designed to outpace the future threat through continuous evolution.”
The Kuwaiti upgrades, known as Configuration 3+, are an example of the evolutionary approach used to upgrade Patriot. The Kuwaiti Configuration 3+ Patriots will have enhanced capability against a variety of threats, an improved Identification Friend or Foe capability and improved radar search.
Kuwait was able to leverage the developmental work of the US and other Patriot international partners and receive the benefits of previous investments in the Patriot system. This is one of the many advantages of being a member of the 13-nation strong Patriot Partnership. (Source: Yahoo!/PRNewswire)
23 Jun 16. France deploys unitary rocket launchers as part of Operation Barkhane. The French Ministry of Defence has announced that three unitary rocket launchers (URL) were deployed to Tessalit in northern Mali as part of Operation Barkhane this year.
Barkhane is an anti-insurgent operation led by the French armies in the Sahel region in Africa.
Nearly 3,000 soldiers, 20 helicopters, 200 logistics vehicles, 200 tanks, six fighter jets, three drones and ten transport aircraft took part in the operation.
Since their deployment, the URLs fired 18 rounds, demonstrating their effectiveness by hitting logistics installations of the Groupes Armés Terroristes (GAT) located in the Adrar des Ifoghas region.
All the 18 rockets were fired at distances ranging between 50km and 71km by using various firing patterns, such as vertical or oblique shot, fusing, impact, or retarded warhead explosion.
The URL brings fire support capabilities to the Barkhane Force engaged on the ground, especially in mountainous areas.
The URL, which can deliver long-distance fire support an entire day, can fire munition with 90kg of explosives, up to a maximum range of 84km.
The deployment in northern Mali took place via a well-tested logistics manoeuvre. Besides URLs, the French army uses several other fire-support systems such as 120mm mortars, the CAESAR wheeled self-propelled gun, and attack helicopters. The operation is also backed by air support provided by combat aircraft. (Source: army-technology.com)
23 Jun 16. Russia Tests Short-Range Antimissile System. The Russian Defense Ministry said a short-range antimissile system was successfully tested early Tuesday at a Central Asian testing range.
Russian Vice Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Gumenny, who arrived at the testing ground in Kazakhstan for the launch, was quoted as saying that the missile had “successfully fulfilled its task by engaging the test target at the scheduled time.”
“At 7:00 a.m. [4:00GMT] Tuesday, June 21, anti-missile and anti-aircraft forces of the Aerospace Forces together with industry representatives successfully test-fired a short-range antimissile system of the Russian missile shield at the Sary-Shagan testing ground,” the press release read.
On another development, Russia and Japan have agreed on cooperation amid North Korea’s missile launches, the Japanese gover