26 Jan 23. Elbit to open service center for DIRCM on NATO transport aircraft. Elbit Systems this week announced it has signed a five-year contract with NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency to establish a service center for the Direct Infrared Counter Measures mounted on transport aircraft.
The company said the contract provides for support and logistics to the DIRCM system, which has been installed on NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet. The system protects aircraft against ground-to-air missiles.
NATO is the second customer to be equipped with these maintenance capabilities, a company spokesperson said. Elbit declined to provide a value for the contract or say name the other customer for this type of service contract.
Israeli defense companies frequently opt not to identify their customers due to security and other reasons.
According to the company, the service center at NSPA’s facility in Luxembourg will be “equipped to provide comprehensive support to the NATO MRTT fleet equipped with the DIRCM system.”
”The center will provide repair, spare parts and maintenance services to ensure that all systems are operating at optimal levels,” the company said.
Elbit signed its first contract with NSPA in May 2017 for the protection of the first two MRTTs of NATO.
This is the 10th system that will be delivered to this customer. Seven of the systems have already been “integrated, certified and operational on NATO MRTTs,” the company said. “The laser-based fully autonomous system provides comprehensive protection against advanced heat-seeking ground-to-air missiles.”
A company source also noted Elbit expects “this contract will lead additional customers in NATO to [be] equipped with our DIRCM SPS and the Maintenance Centre in Luxembourg will support this future growth of additional systems.” (Source: Defense News)
27 Jan 23. UK adding to GBAD? Sources close to BATTLESPAE suggest that the UK MoD is looking at extending the remit of the forthcoming GBAD Requirement which includes airbase defence to include hypersonic missile coastal defence facilities to meet the growing Russian naval threat.
25 Jan 23. Stinger missile production to rise 50% by 2025, US Army says. The US Army expects to increase production of Stinger missiles to 60 a month by 2025, up 50% from the current rate, according to a spokesperson for the service’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space (PEO MS).
The ramp-up comes amid growing demand for the surface-to-air missile. The US government has provided about 1,500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine to help it counter Russia’s February 2022 invasion. “The Stinger has proven to be effective in the support of Ukraine,” the PEO MS spokesperson wrote in response to a series of written questions.
To support the higher production rate, the Stinger programme is redesigning the Dual Detector Assembly (DDA), a component of the missile’s seeker, because a DDA part is no longer being made, the PEO MS spokesperson told Janes . The DDA is a sensor with infrared and ultraviolet detectors.
(Source: Janes)
26 Jan 23. UK Mobile Fires RFQ Issued. Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that an RFQ has been issued for the UK’s Mobile Fires Howitzer Requirement which will include wheeled and tracked vehicles: K9 from Hanwha’s Team Thunder, a refurbished BAE Systems AS90, a 155mmm gun mounted on a MAN 10×10 truck from Rheinmetall, Caesar from Nexter, Krauss-Maffei Boxer RCH 155 and Archer from BAE Systems. The RFQ will also include details of an interim tracked solution between a refurbished AS90 system by RBSL and a Hanwha K9 A1 vehicle delivered from the RoK’s exiting stocks. The AS90 suffers from limited spares and ammunition, production of which has been discontinued. One key upgrade is the requirement for a 52 calibre barrel. However, there is no current barrel making capability in the UK. A source told BATTLESPACE that Hanwha could deliver 24 K9 A1 vehicles to the UK by the end of 2025 followed by 26 K9 A2 models for an 80+ vehicle Requirement.
24 Jan 23. USS America Conducts Missile Launch. The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) fired a RIM-116 rolling airframe missile, during routine operations, while underway in the Philippine Sea, Jan. 24.
The crew aboard the ship detected, tracked, and engaged a target to maintain proficiency of the onboard weapons systems and confirm the crew’s warfighting readiness.
“This exercise demonstrated our team’s ability to work together, coordinate across multiple departments, and ultimately execute safely and effectively,” said Cmdr. Avery Wilson, America’s operations officer. “We demonstrated that through the hard work of our technicians and logistics support, our equipment is fully operational and our watch-standers in the Combat Information Center are trained and prepared for any threat.”
USS America with Amphibious Squadron 11 and USS Green Bay (LPD 20) are sailing as the America Amphibious Ready Group to create a warfighting team committed to maintaining freedom of navigation and stability in the area of operations.
“The ship has to always be ready to deploy a lethal combat capability if necessary,” said Capt. Shockey Snyder, America’s commanding officer. This evolution reminds every Sailor aboard this ship that they, as tactical watchstanders, are the tip of the spear and we are ready to execute the nation’s defense strategy.
America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (Source: ASD Network)
25 Jan 23. Russia defence ministry says frigate tests strike capabilities in Atlantic. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday the frigate Admiral Gorshkov tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean.
In a statement, the ministry said the frigate had run a computer simulation on hypersonic Zircon missiles.
Zircon missiles have a range of 900 km (560 miles), and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them. The statement did not say the frigate had launched a missile.
Tensions between the West and Russia have reached the highest point in years due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian officials have on several occasions suggested Russia might use its nuclear arsenal, the world’s largest, if it feels threatened by Western support for Ukraine. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Reuters)
24 Jan 23. Lockheed Martin Achieves First Light in Latest Laser Lab Demonstration. Lockheed Martin achieved first light from the Directed Energy Interceptor for Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense System (DEIMOS) system, which verifies that the laser’s optical performance parameters align with the system design parameters. Lockheed Martin’s 50 kW-class DEIMOS system is a ruggedized, tactical laser weapon system that can be integrated into the Stryker combat vehicle to deliver robust directed energy capability to the U.S. Army’s challenging maneuver-short range air defense (M-SHORAD) mission.
“The 50 kW-class laser weapon system brings another critical piece to help ensure the U.S. Army has a layered air defense capability,” said Rick Cordaro, vice president, Lockheed Martin Advanced Product Solutions. “DEIMOS has been tailored from our prior laser weapon successes to affordably meet the Army’s larger modernization strategy for air and missile defense and to improve mission success with 21st Century Security solutions.”
Lockheed Martin’s DEIMOS first light demonstration is a crucial milestone along the path to helping the Army perform its DE M-SHORAD mission, which is intended to deliver a maneuverable laser system capable of negating unmanned aerial systems, rotary-wing aircraft and rockets, artillery and mortars.
First light measures the expected beam quality of the system while testing end-to-end performance of our game-changing, low-cost Spectral Beam Combination (SBC) architecture. The key benefit of the company’s SBC is that power can be scaled while retaining the excellent beam quality of the individual fiber lasers.
In 2022, Lockheed Martin demonstrated Layered Laser Defense (LLD) capability by defeating two surrogate cruise missiles at tactically relevant ranges. This LLD capability:
- Shares many common elements with the DEIMOS system architecture, such as allowing for a single operator to engage and destroy SHORAD targets.
- Can be seamlessly integrated into various platforms.
- Can fit on tactical platforms such as a Stryker vehicle because it was designed with constraints in terms of size, weight and power (SWaP).
What’s Next
Utilizing a philosophy of “build a little, test a little, learn a lot,” Lockheed Martin will expand the DEIMOS test program in 2023, culminating with field integration tests in 2024. This thorough approach is designed to reduce risk, to enable soldier touchpoints and to provide proof points of compelling mission capabilities.
The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) is leading the DE M-SHORAD prototyping effort and is expected to transition the program to the Program Executive Office (PEO) Missiles & Space in 2024. (Source: UAS VISION)
24 Jan 23. With issues resolved, Bradley to get Iron Fist protection system. Following a redesign of how Elbit Systems’ Iron Fist active protection system is incorporated onto a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, the U.S. Army is now preparing to field the capability to a full brigade.
The Army has worked toward providing the Bradley fleet with APS technology since receiving a directed requirement to do so in 2016, but the service struggled with the original system and configuration in earlier characterization testing.
“In 2018, with initial testing, we found various areas where the system had some challenges,” Lt. Col. Mario Iglesias, M2A4 Bradley product manager, told Defense News in a recent interview.
The system was only able to counter 50% of incoming threats, Iglesias said.
Israeli company Elbit Systems and Iron Fist’s lead integrator General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems made significant changes to how the system is installed on a Bradley, and they changed the countermeasure solution. The new version of the system is now called Iron Fist Light Decoupled.
The radars, optical sensors and other parts of the system are now mounted and tuned in different ways, Iglesias said, and the cabling associated with the computer hardware was reconfigured. The biggest change was to the software associated with the ability to correctly identify threats, process information and calculate a response, he added.
“Over the last two, three years, they have been able to mature it to the point that it’s much more reliable, demonstrated in most recent testing,” he said.
The system, in much more challenging and rigorous testing over the course of 2022, is now able to counter threats 70% of the time, he added.
The testing took place at both Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, from February to September.
“We truly tested the limits of the system,” Iglesias said. “We fired a lot more shots and, without giving details … we made it so a good amount of those shots were in what we call ‘an operationally relevant environment’ where you have other things operating; we go into areas where there are buildings and other vehicles in the area.”
Additionally, Elbit was able to recently demonstrate in Israel — using the existing Bradley and Iron Fist Light Decoupled configuration — the ability to counter drones while still maintaining the ability to target other threats like rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided munitions.
“That was a capability that wasn’t required as part of our initial requirement, but due to what we see in Ukraine there has been some interest in what we can do to protect our vehicles from UAVs,” Iglesias said.
While the Army has determined the system is good enough to field a brigade set in 2025, “we do not have the funding in order to procure this set,” he explained.
The Army has yet to decide whether the system will go on more Bradleys or other vehicles, according to Iglesias. In the meantime, the service is conducting a limited characterization effort for the medium variant of the Trophy APS currently fielded on Abrams main battle tanks and the StrikeShield system.
The Trophy is made by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The StrikeShield was developed by Rheinmetall Protection Systems in Germany. The company formed a joint venture with Unified Business Technologies to introduce StrikeShield into the U.S. market.
“We have obtained funding to move out,” Lisa Gronowski, the Army’s product manager for vehicle protection systems, told Defense News in the same interview.
To test both systems, the Army will use a platform-agnostic rig to collect performance data to decide whether the systems work well enough and are suitable for fielding on ground combat platforms, Gronowski said. Testing is to conclude by the end of the fiscal year.
“There is no continued action or phase two level of testing once that’s complete,” she noted.
The Army has yet to determine if there is a solution for the Stryker combat vehicle after the system it originally tested proved unsuitable for the vehicle.
While the Army focuses on delivering Iron Fist to one brigade, the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester noted in his annual report released this month that the Army intends to repeat the testing it conducted in 2022 related to effectiveness and survivability with production-representative systems prior to a limited-user test in fiscal 2025.
The report also said that senior noncommissioned officers, during a soldier touchpoint in September 2022, suggest improvements, such as giving the Bradley commander “the means to select and place protection zones in a standby mode as they load and unload dismount soldiers.”
The report also noted a recommendation that the system alert crew members on near misses so that they can locate and target the origin of the incoming threat. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
23 Jan 23. Thales MCM systems demonstrate interoperability with Nato navies. The company’s M-Cube is a MCM mission management system, while MiMap is a mission analysis tool. Italian EOD team operates a REMUS uncrewed underwater vehicle in Nato’s exercise Dynamic Messenger 22. Credit: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Flickr(Creative Commons).
Thales has successfully validated the capability and compatibility of its two mine countermeasure systems (MCM) to operate with several NATO navies and industry partners. The two solutions, including MiMap and M-Cube command-and-control (C2) MCM system, were tested during Nato’s international maritime exercise, named Dynamic Messenger 2022.
It was held in Portugal to assess capabilities of participating naval forces to use uncrewed systems to counter sea mines and submarine threats. The exercise showcased that MiMap and M-Cube can interoperate with other naval vessels, as per the Nato standards.
During the exercise, Thales’ MiMap and M-Cube solutions were deployed to perform a mine-warfare scenario alongside the French Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal divers and RTSys-built diver-held sonar and navigation system, called Sonadive.
The scenario, which involved deployment of uncrewed systems on an 8km² mined area, was managed by Allied Maritime Command and Allied Command Transformation.
According to Thales, the test concluded that both its C2 MCM systems are eligible to be equipped with various platforms operating under Nato Additive Military Layer standards.
The test involved integration of M-Cube MCM mission management system with MiMap mission analysis tool that further allowed to combine the gathered and processed data with the Nato’s network C3MRE/CATL.
The C3MRE/CATL network interfaced different industrial solutions, including Sonadive, with NATO navies.
The drills also allowed Thales to demonstrate the capability of its MCM systems to read the foreign sonar data emitted from participating autonomous platforms.
MiMap can be used for analysing sonar data in both real-time and recorded formats, while M-Cube is deployed with autonomous and conventional MCM vessels.
Once integrated, the two can minimise cognitive load of commanders and operators by facilitating effective decision-making to counter adversaries.
Thales MCM systems demonstrate interoperability with Nato navies
The company’s M-Cube is a MCM mission management system, while MiMap is a mission analysis tool.
Thales has successfully validated the capability and compatibility of its two mine countermeasure systems (MCM) to operate with several NATO navies and industry partners. Bottom of Form
The two solutions, including MiMap and M-Cube command-and-control (C2) MCM system, were tested during Nato’s international maritime exercise, named Dynamic Messenger 2022.
It was held in Portugal to assess capabilities of participating naval forces to use uncrewed systems to counter sea mines and submarine threats. The exercise showcased that MiMap and M-Cube can interoperate with other naval vessels, as per the Nato standards.
During the exercise, Thales’ MiMap and M-Cube solutions were deployed to perform a mine-warfare scenario alongside the French Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal divers and RTSys-built diver-held sonar and navigation system, called Sonadive.
The scenario, which involved deployment of uncrewed systems on an 8km² mined area, was managed by Allied Maritime Command and Allied Command Transformation.
According to Thales, the test concluded that both its C2 MCM systems are eligible to be equipped with various platforms operating under Nato Additive Military Layer standards.
The test involved integration of M-Cube MCM mission management system with MiMap mission analysis tool that further allowed to combine the gathered and processed data with the Nato’s network C3MRE/CATL.
The C3MRE/CATL network interfaced different industrial solutions, including Sonadive, with NATO navies.
The drills also allowed Thales to demonstrate the capability of its MCM systems to read the foreign sonar data emitted from participating autonomous platforms.
MiMap can be used for analysing sonar data in both real-time and recorded formats, while M-Cube is deployed with autonomous and conventional MCM vessels. Once integrated, the two can minimise cognitive load of commanders and operators by facilitating effective decision-making to counter adversaries.
23 Jan 23. Documents reveal secret customer of Hero-30 kamikaze drones. The Italian special forces is the undisclosed European NATO member set to receive Hero-30 loitering munitions this year as an “urgent mission requirement,” according to recently published contract documents.
In September, German company Rheinmetall and its Israeli-based partner UVision announced in a news release they received their first order from a European NATO special forces formation for the supply of Hero-30 loitering combat and training munitions, training courses, and integrated logistics equipment and support.
At the time, several Italian analysts noted that Rome had introduced in its 2021-2023 defense-planning document the funding of a program aimed at acquiring these types of weapons, deemed a mission urgent requirement for its special forces units.
In December 2022, the Tenders Electronic Daily, an online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union dedicated to detailing public procurement efforts on the continent, ended months of rumors by publishing the contract award notice to Rheinmetall’s subsidiary RWM Italia for the production of these types of munitions.
While the precise number of weapons on order remains classified, the value of the contract is €3.88 m (U.S. $4.21 m). Deliveries are expected this year.
The notice lists the winner of the contract as RWM Italia S.p.A based in Ghedi, northern Italy. In 2021, UVision signed a strategic agreement with the Italian entity for the licensed production and development of Hero-type loitering munitions. The partnership has RWM Italia acting as prime contractor for the European market, supplying and manufacturing some ammunition components, assembling systems, and managing logistical support.
Antonio Tessarotto, a sales and marketing manager at RWM Italia, declined to identify the customer and contract details. This is common in Italy, where the majority of defense manufacturers are contractually bound to secrecy, especially when it comes to the special forces; orders are often classified.
However, this approach has also led to criticism over transparency by Italian defense manufacturers and the government.
Tessarotto did confirm to Defense News that RWM Italia “currently deals exclusively with the European market, [where] countries outside of this market are not covered by the agreement with UVision.” He added that, throughout the region, there is a strong interest in better understanding this weapon, which is highly accurate and minimizes collateral damage.
Loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones, are unmanned aerial systems that crash into their targets and often explode upon impact. The Hero series includes a wide range of loitering munitions, from the smallest system, the Hero-30 — a manpack-portable short-range weapon — to the largest, the Hero-1250 — a heavier, highly lethal drone used for long-range missions.
The Israel Defesne Forces have operated the systems for years now, but its most recent customer is Argentina, the first Latin American country to purchase the Hero-120 and Hero-30 munitions. The contract was signed by Argentina’s Defense Ministry and Israel’s Directorate of International Defense Cooperation.
Dagan Lev Ari, the sales and marketing director at Uvision in Israel, declined to comment on the manufacturing location of Argentina’s orders. As did Jim Truxel, CEO of UVision USA, an American subsidiary established in 2019. However, Truxel did note that “nothing has crossed my desk regarding any efforts [of UVision USA] with Argentina.”
The American unit “was established to bring our products and services closer to North American customers. If any non-U.S. customer would want to purchase Hero systems through proper U.S. government programs,” Truxel said, “we would then be able to supply them through these programs. Other UVision subsidiaries manage their surrounding geographical locations.” (Source: Defense News)
24 Jan 23. Indonesia considering acquisition of AASM-Hammer for Rafale. The Indonesian government is in talks with France’s Safran Group for the potential acquisition and domestic assembly of Armement Air‐Sol Modulaire (AASM) Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (Hammer) smart guided bombs. The Indonesian Ministry of Defense’s (MoD’s) Directorate General of Defense Potential said that it had discussed Safran Group’s offer of the air-to-surface weapon for integration with the Rafale on 19 January.
The Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU) is scheduled to receive the first batch of six Dassault Rafale multirole combat aircraft by 2026.
“In connection with the programme to procure six Rafale fighters for Indonesia, the French Safran Group sees the potential use of Hammer as one of the weapons options that Rafale can carry,” the directorate said. (Source: Janes)
23 Jan 23. Australia to speed up purchase of sea mines to shore up maritime defence. Australia said on Monday it would accelerate plans to buy advanced sea mines to protect its maritime routes and ports from “potential aggressors” amid China’s plans to increase its influence in the Pacific region.
The so-called smart sea mines are designed to differentiate between military targets and other types of ships, a defence department spokesperson said in a statement.
“(Australia) is accelerating the acquisition of smart sea mines, which will help to secure sea lines of communication and protect Australia’s maritime approaches,” it said. “A modern sea mining capability is a significant deterrent to potential aggressors.”
Though the defence department did not specify any further details, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Monday said Canberra would spend up to A$1 bn ($698 m) to procure the high-tech underwater weapons.
The federal government will soon announce a contract to buy “a substantial number” of sea mines from a European weapons supplier, the report said, citing unidentified defence industry sources.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC television he would not “pre-empt those national security issues.”
“What we need is to make sure we have the best possible defences. So we have looked at missile defence, we’re looking at cyber security, we’re looking at all of these issues,” Albanese said.
China has plans to step up its presence in the Pacific and entered a security pact with Solomon Islands last year, raising concerns in the United States and Australia, who for decades have seen the region as their sphere of influence. (Source: Reuters)
19 Jan 23. The US Army Forced to Change the Name of Its New Rifle. The US Army is changing the name of its new rifle after accidentally taking a name from an unrelated existing weapon, the service announced Wednesday.
The service’s upcoming M5 from Sig Sauer will now be called the M7 after it was discovered Colt Industries also makes a weapon called the M5. The light machine gun set to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, the M250, will not change.
“The Army originally chose the designation XM5 as the name of the new rifle in March,” a service spokesperson said in a statement. “Since then, the service learned that the M5 name is used by Colt Industries for one of its 5.56mm carbines.”
The new weapons have an X designation to indicate they have not yet been fielded.
The weapons’ capabilities, including how far they can accurately engage targets, are unclear as the Army is still testing them.
But it’ll be roughly a decade before most formations see the M7 or M250. The service plans to issue only a small batch of roughly 40 weapons this year, with more expected to trickle out as the Army builds new ammunition factories to accommodate the new type of bullets required for those firearms. Production on the new ammo isn’t expected to kick off in any significant way until at least 2026.
The new weapons use 6.8mm rounds as the Army looked for heftier ammo than the current 5.56mm used in the M4 and SAW to better defeat body armor, protective equipment that adversaries are expected to have in future conflicts and gear that is already becoming more commonplace for terror groups. The 6.8mm was seen as a compromise between the light ammo currently used and the 7.62mm ammo used in the M240B machine gun that would be very heavy for a standard rifleman.
Army planners are already bracing for that heavier load from the new ammo and expect soldiers to carry less in the next fight. The M7 weighs 9.84 pounds, much heavier than the 6.34-pound M4. Soldiers will also use 20-round magazines, a 10-round decrease from the magazines the Army has been using for decades. A standard combat load for the new rifle is expected to be 140 rounds, a sharp drop from the 210-round loadout for the M4.
Soldiers carrying the new light machine gun will have a break, with the M250 weighing 14.5 pounds, compared to the 19.2-pound SAW. But troops are expected to carry only 400 rounds of the heavier ammo, a steep decrease from the standard 600-round load for SAW gunners.
The new weapons are part of the Army’s larger long-term plan to modernize its force by 2030, with service leaders aiming to update its formations so that they’re ready to fight a conventional military, a change from the last two decades of combat as part of the Global War on Terror era. Some of those efforts also include investments into new vehicles, robotics, long-range missiles and upgraded air defense systems.
“Most of the doctrine we use and the weapon systems are late ’70s, early ’80s, that we’ve incrementally improved,” Gen. James McConville, the Army’s top officer said at an Association of the U.S. Army event Wednesday. “We’re taking a look coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and we need to be ready for large-scale combat operations.” (Source: Military.com)