18 Aug 13. The Romanian Ministry of Defence has launched a tender to procure torpedoes for the Navy’s only operational Kilo-class submarine. The estimated cost of the procurement is RON55m excluding VAT. The procurement includes the establishment of a framework agreement with the supplier covering a period of 36 months during which time the contract should be completed. Procurement quantity mentioned in the tender is as follows:
• Estimated maximum amount – 18 pieces
• Estimated maximum amount for the first subsequent contract – 9 pieces
Romania’s sole submarine, Delfinul, is a Kilo-class submarine acquired from the Former Soviet Union in 1981. The submarine has been inactive for nearly two decades now and in May 2013, Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa, said that reactivating it would be prioritised. Interested Suppliers are expected to respond before 9 September. Tender Reference: 2013/S 154-268521. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information)
03 Sep 13. Rak 120mm mortar system integrated onto Marder hull. Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW) has unveiled at MSPO 2013 its Rak 120mm mortar system mounted on a Rheinmetall Defence Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) hull. The Polish Land Forces are planning to purchase 75 Rak mortars – 72 across 9 company fire modules and 3 for training purposes, although it is possible this number may increase to around 180. The first eight serial production Rak mortars, installed on the wheeled Rosomak (Patria AMV) 8×8 hull, will be delivered in 2014. The HSW-developed Rak mortar system consists of an auto-loading 120/25-calibre mortar with 20 a round magazine installed in an unmanned turret.
(Source: Jane’s)
02 Sep 13. A new land-based anti-ship missile – known as the Type 12 surface-to-ship missile (12SSM) – has been unveiled by the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF). The truck-mounted 12SSM was on display at the Fuji Firepower demonstration on 25 August and the JGSDF hopes the system will enter service in FY2016. The 12SSM is in low-rate initial production with two produced so far with a further four funded in FY2013. Early variants have been operated by the JGSDF Fuji School and it is expected that the 12SSM will offer improvements upon the existing Type 88 SSM that entered service in 1991 and was designed to counter Soviet landing ships. The Kumamoto-based 5th Anti-Ship Missile Regiment of the Western Army will deploy the first 12SSMs. The 12SSM is mounted on the same Mitsubishi 8×8 truck chassis used for the Type 03 medium-range surface-to-air missile. The new anti-ship missile will eventually replace all 88SSMs in the JGSDF inventory, though the defence budget will constrain the speed at which this occurs. No technical details of the 12SSM have been released but it should exceed the 100km range of the 88SSM with inertial navigation and active radar homing with GPS for midcourse guidance. The new design will be more precise thanks to improved topography-matching and target discrimination capabilities. The four-canister 12SSM possesses a shortened reload time and it will have reduced lifecycle costs. Furthermore, the JGSDF will use knowhow obtained from its development to create a new ship-to-ship missile with longer range and greater accuracy to eventually replace the existing Type 90 SSMs. During the Fuji Firepower display, the JGSDF recreated a scenario where land-based 88SSMs combated enemy ships near a Japanese offshore island. Such a demonstration could be a sign of the kind of operations the Japan Self Defence Force expects in light of tensions with China over ownership of the Senkaku (Diaoyu in Chinese) Islands. (Source: Shephard)
03 Sep 13. Israel Military Industries (IMI) took the occasion of the MSPO 2013 exhibition in Kielce to show a full-scale round of its Multi-Purpose, Air-Launched Rocket System (MARS). The existence of the programme has been revealed by IMI at several defence expositions, but this year’s event in Poland is the first time the actual hardware has be