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07 May 21. Construction of SIG SAUER Experience Center Begins in Epping, New Hampshire. SIG SAUER, Inc., announced the official commencement of the construction of the SIG SAUER Experience Center on the grounds of the SIG SAUER Academy in Epping, New Hampshire.
Today, Ron Cohen, President of SIG SAUER, Inc. was joined by Governor Chris Sununu and other local and state dignitaries, for the official groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the SIG SAUER Experience Center, a state-of-the-art 40,500 square foot facility on the grounds of the SIG SAUER Academy in Epping, New Hampshire.
“SIG SAUER is growing, and we are excited to officially break ground for the SIG SAUER Experience to mark the beginning of another phase of our evolution,” began Ron Cohen, President and CEO, SIG SAUER, Inc. “This facility will attract visitors to the New England region from all over the world and create new jobs, and we view this endeavor as a true partnership with our state and local leaders that have worked hard to foster an environment where SIG can grow and thrive and are one of the secrets to our continued success and growth here in New Hampshire.”
The SIG SAUER Experience Center will feature the SIG SAUER flagship retail showroom, state-of-the-art indoor shooting ranges, and a high-tech, interactive SIG SAUER museum depicting the history of SIG SAUER, and a one-of-a-kind educational experience for SIG SAUER products, a multi-purpose meeting space and conference rooms.
“The continued expansion of SIG SAUER’s New Hampshire operations with this new construction in Epping is another welcome addition by SIG SAUER to our growing economy,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “SIG SAUER is one of New Hampshire’s largest employers providing a diverse mix of high-tech manufacturing jobs to our workforce, and I am glad to partner with them as they continue to firmly plant their roots right here in the Granite State.”
Design-Build services are being provided by North Branch Construction and architectural design by Cowan Goudreau Architects both of Concord, NH. Civil engineering services are being provided by T.F. Moran, Inc. of Bedford, NH.
06 May 21. USAF aborts test launch of unarmed Minuteman III nuclear missile. The Air Force said Wednesday it called off a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III nuclear missile at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, after the weapon turned itself off during the final countdown.
The intercontinental ballistic missile, fired from an underground silo at the coastal base, “experienced a ground abort prior to launch,” the service said in a release.
“During terminal countdown, the missile computer detected a fault in the sequence of checks it does prior to launching. Upon detection of this fault, it shut itself down,” just as the system is designed to do, Air Force Global Strike Command spokesperson Carla Pampe told Air Force Times.
USAF will investigate the root cause of the problem. “There has not been an incident like this in recent memory,” Pampe added.
The Air Force may reschedule the test, one of a few held each year by the 576th Flight Test Squadron to see whether the five-decades-old weapons are still in good shape and can respond when fired. Test launches are also an opportunity to vet new hardware and software added into the system, and to signal to other countries that the U.S. is prepared for nuclear conflict.
Missiles used in the tests do not carry nuclear warheads as in real-life operations. Upon launching, they fly for about 30 minutes and splash down more than 4,200 miles away at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The Air Force still oversees 400 of the long-range, land-based missiles spread across Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado as part of the nuclear arsenal. It plans to replace them with a modern version starting in the late 2020s, amid concerns that the Minuteman III stockpile could become unusable with age.
ICBMs have become a target on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debate whether the Air Force could refurbish the current nuclear missiles instead of spending billions of dollars on a new set. The military has argued that approach would not be cost-effective and would result in subpar weapons that could not effectively counter Russia and China. Left-leaning lawmakers and arms control advocates say relying on nuclear missile-equipped bombers and submarines would be enough to deter enemies from attack.
“If you don’t have intercontinental ballistic missiles … you are completely dependent on the submarine leg,” U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles Richard said last month. “I’ve already told the secretary of defense that under those conditions, I would request to re-alert the bombers.” (Source: Defense News)
04 May 21. UK outlines future anti-armour requirements. The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has unveiled the requirements for its future Battle Group Organic Anti-Armour (BGOAA) project, which aims to provide the British Army with a suite of anti-armour capabilities from around the 2030s.
BGOAA is split across four areas: a Close-In Self Defence (CISD) capability, a long-range Mounted Close Combat Overwatch (MCCO) capability akin to the Swingfire system of the past, and mounted and dismounted Close Combat Anti-Armour Weapons (CCAAW), which will form the successor to the in-service Javelin.
The project aims to deliver commonality between effectors and launchers to drive down costs while allowing a smaller, more dispersed British force to achieve overmatch against peer threats into the 2050s.
Commenting on the existing capabilities BGOAA is seeking to replace, British Army Lieutenant Colonel Mike Baxter, S01 for Light and Medium Forces, said: “These systems were designed in the 90s and 00s, typically as dismounted systems and not optimised for fire-on-the-move. One could also suggest that, during the lifetime of these systems, they have not really faced a significant armour threat.
“But armour or threats that have to be engaged by these weapons systems have been present throughout that time, and the scale and the complexity of use of those systems have probably exceeded the designers’ thoughts when they first brought those systems into use.”
Key to developing the four BGOAA project lines is developing a Ministry of Defence-owned architecture for effectors and fire control systems that would allow anti-armour systems to be rapidly upgraded to maintain their relevance.
Baxter said: “BGOAA takes the experience of the last few years with the aim of providing accurate, long-range engagement capabilities down to the section level against armoured and non-armoured targets, It also keeps in mind the potential for state-on-state or peer-on-peer conflict and the great power competition that seems to be making a comeback in world dynamics”.
“We still need to have lethality against armoured systems because, although not all may be top of the range vehicles, there is a prevalence and a proliferation of armour, right down to some relatively less well-developed nations.”
De-risking is currently underway on technologies to enable a new generation of seekers, systems that can defeat active protection systems, new launchers and warheads.
Dstl is also looking at critical enablers, including smaller, wider spectrum, low-cost sensors; non-line of sight capabilities; third-party handoff of targeting and fire control.
Dstl is also exploring how modular systems can allow for launchers and missiles to be diffused across platforms from trucks, the Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle, the Ajax family of vehicles and uncrewed systems.
Dstl is working within the Weapon Systems Research Framework and with prime contractors, Lockheed Martin, MBDA and Thales, collaborating to develop potential concepts for the project’s work areas.
Mark Pickering, Dstl’s close combat guided weapons science and technology lead, said: “We often look at the conflicts we’ve fought over the last decade, and our future developments are slanted towards dealing with what the recent experience has shown us where we need the capability.
“The problem is that often means that we have the wrong equipment for the next generation of conflict. As part of the challenges, we need to look at being adaptable and being able to adapt to the changing environment around us, especially with the escalation of cyber technologies and similar.”
BGOAA aims to help the British Army meet several challenges, including keeping pace with rapidly developing technology, the proliferation of Active Protection Systems, and new imaging systems, making it harder to hide forces from adversaries.
Pickering added: “In the world of anti-armour, broadly we can say there have been incremental improvements in physical armour, but we’ve not seen any world-changing differences.
“However, what we have seen is quite a large proliferation in the integration of active protection systems [APS], and therefore future systems must be able to be highly capable against future APS.”
Other challenges facing the army are that dismounted systems can be too heavy, technology generally reserved for peer threats finding its way into the hands of traditionally sub-peer adversaries, and a need for the British Army to increase its combat mass.
BGOAA is currently in the pre-concept phase, with Dstl aiming to down-select from a pool of concepts over the next six month and generate a shortlist of ideas that would then undergo detailed analysis likely from 2022/23 onwards.
MCCO – long-range support
Dstl is prioritising the MCCO capability with Lockheed Martin, MBDA and Thales, all providing insight into potential concepts, including a Boxer-mounted VLS system previously covered by Army Technology and an Ajax vehicle equipped with a 50kg missile such as Brimstone or Hellfire. A key part of the architecture is to enable platforms to accommodate any missile or rapid adaption to different missile systems.
Commenting on MCCO, Pickering said: “If we took Swingfire nowadays, the Swingfire missile system would, noting the detectability of the host platform, would not provide anywhere near sufficient range. This is looking at providing an organic battle group anti-armour capability with a range in excess of 10 km.
“The idea is MCCO would be in a position to provide dedicated anti-armour support to any user within the battle group… to allow a dismounted force to be able to call in an MCCO-class effector.”
MCCO is envisioned as a long-range anti-armour capability that would engage targets at a range of 10km and above, with threats cued by third-party systems within a battle group. Current work envisions the system carrying 50kg effectors – for example, the weight of a Brimstone missile – but concept work has also explored the potential of effectors up to 80kg in weight.
The MCCO capability would deliver ‘overwhelming’ anti-armour capabilities and is a move away from the past-decades reliance on only dismounted anti-armour systems.
Current concepts being explored would see effectors distributed across uncrewed ground vehicles able to carry two missiles, remote turrets fitted to existing vehicles carrying eight missiles, or vertical launch system capabilities able to carry 36 or more missiles.
These systems could sit behind front line forces, or, safely hidden by terrain, receive targets from other vehicles and fire missiles in support of them.
During a presentation on the capability, Dstl showcased concepts from MBDA detailing an Ares vehicle carrying eight Brimstone missiles on a swing launcher as well as a Boxer module carrying 16 Brimstone missiles on one side of the vehicle as well as its previously shown concept of a TheMIS UGV carrying a Brimstone launcher.
Dstl also showed a concept developed by Thales showing an Ares vehicle equipped with a remote turret that does not protrude into the vehicle’s hull and carried eight missiles. Thales has also developed a long-term concept for a future Light VLS vehicle.
As well as devising the Boxer module, Lockheed Martin has also developed a concept for an ISO container filled with VLS tubes and carried on a MAN SV truck. This MAN SV-based system would be able to carry 50 plus missiles.
The project is also exploring how some loitering capabilities could be added to effectors, not to allow for long-term loitering of a location, but rather to let it circle a target while a smoke-screen clears. This fits into BGOAA’s ambition to develop systems that have a high one-shot-kill probability.
Additionally, MCCO is working with an ambition to engage attack helicopters as a secondary capability.
CISD – following on from NLAW and ASM
At the closer range end of the spectrum, the CISD capability would form a successor to the Next-generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon (NLAW) and Anti-Structure Munition (ASM). Like other BGOAA lines of effort, plans for this capability would see a system with a significantly extended range when compared to in-service systems.
Dstl is exploring several lines of effort for the potential solution, including whether it would be best to optimise for the anti-armour fight or provide multiple effects and researching whether two systems delivering both capabilities would be more effective.
The ambition is that the CISD capability could be deployed anywhere within a battlegroup.
CCAAW – mounted and dismounted effects
The CCAAW capability, the successor to the Javelin, would see a common effector fireable from either a mounted or dismounted launcher. Dstl envisages the system having at least twice the range of the in-service Javelin – bolstering its potential to be used in non-line of sight engagements.
The idea behind making CCAAW effective in the non-line of sight fight is that while adversary vehicle commanders can currently detect potential lines of fire and mitigate threats, this system would put adversary armoured vehicles on the back foot as they could effectively be hit from anywhere.
Current research is also looking at how non-conventional guidance systems could be developed for this capability to make adversaries defensive capabilities redundant. However, this is described as a high-risk, high-reward endeavour. (Source: army-technology.com)
04 May 21. Defense Official Says Hypersonics Are Vital to Modernization Strategy, Battlefield Dominance. Hypersonic systems are among the highest priorities in the Defense Department’s modernization strategy to ensure continued U.S. battlefield dominance, said the principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Michael E. White said hypersonics involve systems that fly at speeds near and above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. But it’s not just about speed; DOD couples these speeds with aerodynamically-controlled vehicles to enable long-range flight with maneuverability that’s unpredictable to an adversary in the upper reaches of the atmosphere between 80,000 and 200,000 feet.
It’s a combination of speed, maneuverability and altitude that enables the defeat of heavily defended, high-value targets, he added.
“(Hypersonics) capability is so important (that) the 2017 National Defense Strategy establishes (DOD’s) need to deter and, if necessary, defeat our great-power competitors, China and Russia,” White said. “And for more than a decade, these great-power competitors have been rapidly developing highly capable systems that challenge our domain dominance on the tactical battlefield.”
Such systems include anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles developed to threaten our carriers in the second island chain, which stretches from Japan through the Mariana Islands and Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean.
China and Russia have also fielded high-end, integrated air-missile defense systems to challenge our aircraft out hundreds of miles. Their anti-satellite systems aim to degrade our capabilities in space and on land, and their attack cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles put our troops, ports and airfields at risk, he said.
These systems, White noted, present a significant challenge to traditional U.S. weapon systems.
White also said the adversaries have increasingly focused on systems that dramatically compress the timelines and the timescale of a tactical battlefield. These systems — including ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles with maneuvering reentry vehicles, and vehicles that are increasingly hypersonic in nature — give adversaries the ability to hold our forces at risk from hundreds, even thousands, of miles away, with flight times that are measured in minutes.
Conversely, the United States’ portfolio of traditional, tactical strike weapons includes sea-launched subsonic cruise missiles, air-launched subsonic cruise missiles, and platforms to deliver those air-launched subsonic cruise missiles that are either subsonic or, at best, low supersonic, he said.
“These systems will take on the order of 10 times longer to fly long-range strike missions when compared to the adversary’s high-speed systems,” White said. “It presents a battlefield asymmetry and timescale that we simply cannot allow to stand.”
To address these challenges, DOD developed the Hypersonics Modernization Strategy that accelerates the development and delivery of transformational warfighting capabilities based on hypersonic systems, he said.
“This strategy consists of long-range responsive strike against time-critical, high-value targets where we are fielding a family of air-, land- and sea-launch, conventionally armed hypersonic strike weapons,” White said. “These weapons will be designed for defeat of maritime coastal and inland targets of critical importance on a timescale of relevance for the tactical battlefield. To defend against [an] adversary[‘s] hypersonic weapons, we are delivering a comprehensive layer-defeat strategy that applies kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to deny, degrade and defeat those weapons at every possible point in their kill chain. Technologies will also be developed to mature reusable hypersonic systems for future application to time-critical penetrating [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] and strike missions.”
DOD’s strategy is being put in place in a coordinated set of programs across the military services and agencies. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Missile Defense Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Space Development Agency and the Strategic Capabilities Office are working to develop capabilities throughout the multiple phases of this strategy, he said.
DOD is making infrastructure investments in its industrial base; workforce; foundational and enabling technology; and test and evaluation, White said.
“We’re also working collaboratively with our allies, where appropriate, to develop and ultimately produce….hypersonic missiles compatible with fighter platforms,” he added.
White said the U.S. will deliver strike capability to the warfighter in the early- to mid-2020s, as well as a layer-hypersonic defense capability. (Source: ASD Network)
30 Apr 21. Rafael outlines future infantry concept. Israel’s Rafael is developing a range of systems, many of which are entering service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), under its ‘Future Infantry Soldier’ concept.
“This concept is based on a number of working assumptions, including the need to give individual infantry soldiers optimal situational awareness (SA) capabilities in the combat arena, optimal lethality and survivability, and an awareness of the soldier’s need to conduct more offensive activities in less time,” Brigadier General (ret) Shmulik Olanski, vice-president and head of Rafael’s Multidimensional Combat Directorate, told Janes.
Rafael sees the soldier’s new role as inputting and receiving data from a network that links him to all relevant sensors and weapon systems in the theatre, turning the solider into a key component in a force that can rapidly detect and engage enemy targets.
To do this, the company has developed a way for infantry to interface with its Fire Weaver system, which is designed to complement existing combat management systems by assigning targets to the optimal weapon based on their type, location, and ammunition status. This interface takes the form of ‘smart’ binoculars that use augmented reality (AR) to show the soldier all relevant operational data, with the locations of enemy and friendly forces, as well as sensitive sites, highlighted when he looks in their direction. (Source: Jane’s)
02 May 21. China’s new nuclear submarine missiles expand range in US: analysts.
- JL-3 ballistic missile can deliver multiple warheads – including nuclear – 10,000km, navy source says
- Naval engineer Ma Weiming charged with improving the propulsion of Chinese submarines
China’s newly commissioned nuclear-powered submarine is armed with the country’s most powerful submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capable of hitting the US mainland, according to a military source and analysts.
The Type 094A, or Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), was presented last Friday as part of the celebration to mark the 72nd anniversary of the PLA Navy
. It was capable of firing the JL-3, or Julang (Big Wave) SLBM with a range over 10,000km (6,200 miles), a source close to the navy said.
“The Type 094A is an upgraded version of the Type 094 that overcame one of the key problems – noise – by improving hydrokinetic and turbulent systems, allowing it to carry the more powerful JL-3,” said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
“Before the upgrade, the submarine was armed with the inferior JL-2 that could only hit the northeast United States, but now it’s able to cover the whole American continent.”
094A subs would have to slip past a cordon of US military bases in the Pacific dubbed the first island chain – exposing the subs to detection and attack by American P-8 anti-sub patrol planes, surface warships and other undersea reconnaissance capabilities.
Chinese submarines have been dogged by the problem of being too noisy and easy to detect but that has largely been remedied in recent years by Chinese naval engineer Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, who is now taking the lead in a cutting-edge propulsion technology, according to state media.
The JL-3 is able to deliver the same multiple warheads, including nuclear warheads like the JL-2 does, the source added without giving more detail.
Each JL-2 missile can be armed with either a single megaton-yield warhead 67 times more powerful than the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima – or three to eight smaller multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) that can each strike different targets, according to a Forbes report in May last year.
Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Tong said the news indicated that some technical breakthroughs had been achieved to make the JL-2 fit the silos of the Type 094A.
“The original design and size of the JL-3 should be adjusted, but those changes do not reduce its firepower and range – a significant breakthrough,” Wong said.
Former PLA instructor Song Zhongping did not say what type of SLBM the Type 094A was armed with, but said it would boost China’s second-strike capability – its ability to retaliate after a nuclear strike.
“The new SLBM with MIRVs with a firing range over 10,000km is the basic technical requirement for an upgraded Type 094 SSBN to cause nuclear deterrence,” he said. “China promises not to use a nuke first but a powerful SSBN fleet will help the PLA strengthen their second-strike power against rivals.”
China has six Type 094 and Type 094A SSBNs and plans to build a further two to replace the Type 092 SSBNs, according to the source.
Sources said last year that the PLA planned to arm the Type 096 submarine with JL-3 missiles, a process that could take years to complete.
Each Type 094 submarine is able to carry 16 JL-3 missiles, but the upgraded Type 096 could carry 24 JL-3s, according to a Pentagon report on China’s military capabilities.
The Type 094A was one of the three new warships put into service on the same day. The others were the Type 075 amphibious helicopter assault ship and the Type 055 Renhai-class guided missile cruiser.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Latest PLA sub’s missile can strike entire US mainland
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article)
29 Apr 21. High Protection for Blue, Green and Brown Water Navies. Rheinmetall delivers 300th MASS naval countermeasures system. Rheinmetall is currently celebrating a special anniversary in the field of maritime protection systems. The experts from Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH’s Fronau branch delivered the 300th MASS Multi Ammunition Softkill System. Another special feature: the anniversary customer, the Finnish Navy, was also the system’s first customer. Launched onto the market in 2002, MASS is now in service with no fewer than 14 user nations.
Rheinmetall’s Multi Ammunition Softkill System (MASS) family of ship protection systems is suitable for use by blue, green and brown water navies. It protects ships and boats against a wide range of threats – on the high seas as well as in coastal waters or on rivers. The fully automated MASS decoy system offers a unique degree of protection against modern, sensor-guided missiles, covering all relevant wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. MASS can be installed on any type of vessel. Moreover, it can be integrated into an existing combat management system (CMS) or operate as a standalone system. Ordinarily, MASS consists of between one and six trainable launchers. Each launcher can fire 32 OmniTrap special effect charges. Each launcher comes with a control unit and a data interface.
Rheinmetall has steadily expanded its family of MASS ship protection systems. Two new variants of this tried-and-tested decoy launcher system are the MASS_OCR with off-board corner reflector and the new standalone version MASS_ISS with Integrated Sensor Suite for units that lack an independent capability for detecting laser and radar threats, etc.
The MASS_OCR version features special deception and diversion capabilities. Each launcher is armed with two off-board corner rockets that produce ship-like radar signatures. Programmed for a range of between 35 and 850 metres, the effects they produce last for over 60 seconds.
Developed especially for vessels without organic shipboard reconnaissance systems, Rheinmetall’s MASS_ISS with Integrated Sensor Suite is a standalone system with an integrated sensor suite. Forming an integral part of the MASS_ISS system complex, the REKa-50, which stands for “Rheinmetall ESM Ka-Band”, assures reliable detection and effective engagement of threats in the millimetre wave radar frequency range. Moreover, Rheinmetall is a one-stop-shop supplier here, producing the decoy systems, the decoy munitions as well as providing and integrating the sensors. The number of launchers is scalable. All of them are linked together and controlled by Rheinmetall’s firing algorithms. It also includes a sensor system with radar and laser warning sensors, a tactical control unit and a power supply.
Rheinmetall is constantly developing its tried-and-tested MASS family so that it can continue to offer ships and boats the best possible protection on the high seas and near the coast. (Source: ASD Network)
30 Apr 21. Turkey converts Simsek training system into a kamikaze drone. Turkish Aerospace Industries has converted its Simsek training system into a kamikaze drone. The program for the high-speed target-drone system began in 2009 to meet the Turkish military’s need for training against aerial targets, simulating enemy aircraft or missiles. It was created as a turbojet-powered, high-speed platform with a maximum speed of 400 knots (740 kph) that can fly to an altitude of 15,000 feet.
Temel Kotil, the head of TAI, said in an April 25 interview with CNN Turk, that the system can now be used as a kamikaze drone.
“It can carry 5 kilograms of explosives, and it can fly around 100-200 kilometers when launched from a UAV. We produce 100 Simsek drones per year,” Kotil said.
TAI hasn’t provided additional details about the modification.
Until 2020, Simsek participated in military exercises with a catapult system, but last year TAI integrated Simsek to its combat-proven Anka drone.
The kamikaze variant of Simsek isn’t quite a loitering munition like Harop, made by Israel Aerospace Industries. It was designed to simulate an aircraft; its speed and agility is better than that of a loitering munition, but Harop is larger, has a greater range and can carry more explosives. However, Simsek is cheaper and easier to produce.
With the addition of optical sensors and data link capabilities, Simsek could be used to loiter. But these additions would adversely impact flight performance and increase costs.
Integrating Simsek to larger combat drones, like TAI’s Anka and Aksungur, provides enhanced range and speed. Launched from a drone, Simsek can be used as a decoy to confuse adversarial air defenses. The addition of explosives is a bonus, but 5 kilograms wouldn’t do much in the way of neutralizing an adversarial armored unit.
The kamikaze version of the Simsek is reportedly ready for operational use; however, TAI is still working to enhance its payload and maneuvering capabilities. (Source: Defense News)
30 Apr 21. Indonesian consortium launches ‘tank boat’ prototype. An Indonesian consortium led by state-owned arms manufacturer PT Pindad launched a prototype of the ‘tank boat’ fire support vessel on 28 April in waters off Banyuwangi, East Java. A concept for the 18 m vessel was first revealed by Indonesian boatbuilder PT Lundin in 2014. Other Indonesian companies that have since joined the project include PT Pindad, state-owned electronics company PT Len, and privately owned engineering firm PT Hariff. A full sized mock-up of the vessel was made public for the first time at the Indo Defence 2016 exhibition in Jakarta. The tank boat can accommodate up to 60 passengers and five crew members, according to specifications provided by PT Pindad in a statement on 29 April. The catamaran-hulled vessel has a top speed of 40 kt and a maximum range of about 600n miles at 9 kt, the company added. However, unlike the full-scale mock-up that was displayed at Indo Defence 2016, the prototype has been armed with what appears to be a 30 mm gun mounted in a remote-controlled weapon station instead of the Cockerill 105 mm high-pressure gun that was initially planned.
“It is hoped that the tank boat can support the Indonesian Armed Forces in conducting patrols along Indonesia’s seas, rivers, and coasts, and also take on operations associated with the coast guard,” said PT Pindad in its statement, adding that the programme is being supported by the Indonesian defence ministry. (Source: Jane’s)
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Arnold Defense has manufactured more than 1.25 million 2.75-inch rocket launchers since 1961 for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and many NATO customers. They are the world’s largest supplier of rocket launchers for military aircraft, vessels and vehicles. Core products include the 7-round M260 and 19-round M261 commonly used by helicopters; the thermal coated 7-round LAU-68 variants and LAU-61 Digital Rocket Launcher used by the U.S. Navy and Marines; and the 7-round LAU-131 and SUU-25 flare dispenser used by the U.S. Air Force and worldwide.
Today’s rocket launchers now include the ultra-light LWL-12 that weighs just over 60 pounds (27 kg.) empty and the new Fletcher (4) round launcher. Arnold Defense designs and manufactures various rocket launchers that can be customized for any capacity or form factor for platforms in the air, on the ground or even at sea.
Arnold Defense maintains the highest standards of production quality by using extensive testing, calibration and inspection processes.
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