17 Mar 14. Mehmetcik, a new assault rifle that will be used by the Turkish military, has passed rounds of tests, and a serial production contract is in the offing, procurement officials have said. Mehmetcik will replace 500,000 aging G3 rifles used in the Turkish military. It will be used by both regular infantry and Special Forces. State-run ammunition specialist MKE has started a pilot production of a batch of
200 Mehmetcik rifles, one procurement official said. Under a 2009 contract with the country’s procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, MKE started to develop a light, efficient and modular rifle. The new rifle is a modified version of the German Heckler & Koch HK 416. It is an 8-pound, 5.56mm weapon with mounting rails for scopes and a hand grip forward of the magazine. (Source: Defense News)

17 Mar 14. Brazil may receive license to produce and market Russian Igla-S. The director general of Russian Defence Organisation KB Mashinostroyenia (KBM), Valerie Kashin, has said that Brazil is close to beginning licensed production of the Igla-S man-portable infrared homing surfaceto-air-missiles. According to a report by Gazeta Russa, the process of preparing a production license has already been stepped up and the technology transfer conditions would be drawn up in the near future. Furthermore, Brazil may be allowed to market and sell the Igla-S systems to other countries in the region. The news source also indicated that the two countries are considering options for a similar technology transfer agreement for the license production of Pantsir S-1 anti-aircraft missile. Currently, the decision depends on how many systems Brazil procures in the future. Opening a licensed production facility in Brazil would be a potential option if Brazil decides to purchase a minimum of 25 – 30 systems. As far as the procurement system in Brazil goes, such an agreement to set an assembly line would generally be mutually advantageous and would mean Brazil could produce the systems under licence without the need for an international tender to purchase foreign-made materiel. As the systems produced in Brazil would be considered to be locally assembled domestically manufactured products, it would be considered as a locallysourced system and the Russians would be paid without having competition. For Russia, an added advantage is that it would be easier to market the systems in Latin America. The agreement is a development of the strategic partnership that was forged by the two countries in 2013. A 16 October news report by Reuters said that Brazil was expected to sign a contract for Pantsir S-1, and Igla-S systems by mid-2014. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information)

04 Mar 14. Russia Outlines Structure and Funding for Future Aerospace Defences. Russia’s aerospace defence network will consist of four subdivisions after 2015, a spokesman for the Aerospace Defence Forces (VKO) said Friday. According to Major General Sergei Yagolnikov, the aerospace defences will include a space- and groundbased intelligence-gathering and missile early warning network, an air and space defence command, a VKO command-and-control structure, and a logistics support branch. The VKO was formed in 2011 to replace the Space Forces. It currently is comprised of the Space Command, the Air and Space Defence Command, and the Plesetsk space centre, which is responsible for testing and launching carrier rockets with satellites. Yagolnikov said that about a hundred research-and-development projects for new VKO weaponry were under way in Russia. Deputy Defence Minister Yury Borisov said Friday that the military will invest 2trn roubles ($55.3bn) in building up its aerospace defence weapons over the next six years to ensure they are capable of thwarting existing and future types of air and space attacks.
MPI Comment – According to a report by the European Parliament in 2013, the VKO’s development constitutes one of the top priorities of Russia’s State Armame