25 Mar 10. CTA Qualification. CTAI told BATTLESPACE that the Qualification process on the CTA canon would be ‘in line with the FRES and Warrior orders.’ With the FRES announcement not making an ISD and warrior being delayed for at least 18 months, is CTA being quietly kicked into the long grass with FRES? Other sources suggest that the accuracy requirements have been relaxed given the problems we have continually stated about the ‘wobble’ problems with the system that cannot be solved. This begs our question about the wisdom of fielding an inaccurate gun which will endanger lives.
24 Mar 10. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will spend R30m ($4.08m) on the maintenance, repair and modification of its ageing R4 and R5 assault rifles. As part of the rifle modification program, South African arms acquisition agency Armscor has awarded three contracts to Denel Land Systems Lyttelton to update the carbine holdings of the R4 and R5 rifles, according to businessday.co.za. The South African Army is currently using the R4 rifles, while R5 carbine rifles are being used by the SA Air Force, SA Navy and Military Health Service.
SANDF corporate communication director Brigadier General MM Visser said the R4 and R5 rifles have proven to be a reliable companion to many soldiers over the years. “This is a normal maintenance and repair programme by the industry over a three-year period,” Visser said.
According to Visser, the SA Department of Defence and Armscor are investigating options to replace the said rifles in the future.
The SA Army is also spending about R3.4m ($462,994) to upgrade its ageing Milkor Y2 multiple grenade launchers. (Source: armytechnology.com)
22 Mar 10. Meprolight announced MEPRO LIR – a personal marker designed specifically as an individual identification device for fratricide prevention. The device’s unique design makes it both easy and safe to operate. MEPRO LIR was designed in response to requests by special military and police units for an infrared identification device. The device is resistant to shock, water and most oil-based solutions. Since MEPRO LIR is placed on the back, or the rear of the helmet, it includes a digital control panel that is connected to the marking unit via a wire. The panel enables the user to see any malfunction, as well as information about the light intensity and illumination panel. MEPRO LIR is the only personal marker of this kind that includes a personal control panel. “Friendly fire incidents are a main concern of military and law enforcement special forces,” said Golan Kalimi, Meprolight’s Vice President of Marketing. “There is a growing need for unique identification devices that are easy to use. MEPRO LIR is the ultimate solution for this issue, even in close quarter combat situations.” The signal is emitted by high-power infrared light-emitting diodes (LED) at a wavelength that cannot be detected by uanaided human eye. When viewed through night vision systems, the IR light can be seen at long ranges.
24 Mar 10 GE Intelligent Platforms today announced support for the latest VxWorks 653 Platform, Wind River’s real-time operating environment for controlling complex, safety-critical, ARINC 653 Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) systems. The VxWorks 653 platform is used in more than 180 subsystems by over 100 customers worldwide in more than 40 airframes, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner™. The new platform’s innovative technology – now available for the first time for single board computers based on the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor – will provide GE Intelligent Platforms’ customers with an important competitive advantage in developing and delivering civil and military solutions that require the highest levels of safety certification while reducing program risk, shortening time-to-market and minimizing expense.
16 Mar 10. US soldiers operating in Afghanistan will receive precision mortar rounds by the end of 2010, providing them with a improved ability