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25 Jan 18. AUDS success in Iraq. Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that the AUDS Counter-UAV system deployed in Iraq has downed 700 ISIS drones with not one single fatality being caused. The US DoD is reportedly looking at new applications such as mounting the system on a lightweight vehicle such as an Oshkosh M-ATV. The UK is reportedly looking at the system but has met with legal problems in that it is illegal to jam the spectrum in the UK. The law has been changed in the US to allow jamming of government buildings, military establishments and other high risks sites
25 Jan 18. SHOT Show 2018: New FCS for shoulder-launched weapons. German optic specialists Hensoldt has used this year’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas to unveil a new fire control system (FCS) optimised for shoulder-launched weapons.
The company’s new 4×30 600 FCS is designed for medium-range engagements at around 600m. Hensoldt has singled out Saab’s Carl Gustaf and AT4 as well as the RGW and Panzerfaust familiesfrom Dynamit Nobel Defence as potential platforms for the new FCS.
Adding an FCS to a shoulder-fired weapon has become more popular in recent years. This capability allows soldiers to achieve greater accuracy and a greater first-round hit probability on distant targets.
Company officials stressed to Shephard that it can be integrated onto any shoulder-launched weapon system with the use of a small adapting bridge.
This adapting bridge features an electronic interface to the weapon, which is particularly useful for newer-generation systems – such as the Carl Gustaf M4 and RGW 90 – that feature ammunition with a programmable fuse.
The 4×30 600 FCS leverages Hensoldt’s experience developing the Dynahawk, a long-range FCS that is optimised for ranges out to 1,200m and is being supplied to the German Army for use with the disposable RGW 90.
‘In essence, we are extending the fire control system family,’ a Hensoldt spokesperson told Shephard.
The company expects to be able to offer the 4×30 600 FCS to customers by the third quarter of 2019.
The new FCS features a direct-optic with 4x magnification and a 8° field of view, with information relayed directly onto the sight picture.
Users can see what type of ammunition is in the launcher (through the electronic interface), with the corresponding menu automatically selected and fuse options displayed. Users of the RGW 90, for example, can use one hand to activate the FCS’s laser range finder – via a button on the fore grip – and cycle through fuse options using a thumb wheel.
That data – along with air temperature/pressure, terrain angle and cant angle – is then fed into the FCS’s ballistic computer, which calculates the offset and lead angle. This then automatically generates an aiming point for the user.
For the new FCS, weight, size and power requirements are reduced. Hensoldt said the 4×30 600 is less than 2kg, making it one third lighter than the longer-range Dynahawk and also half the size.
German special forces already utilise the Dynahawk, with the first units handed over last September. Regular German forces are expected to start taking delivery of the FCS in 2019, with around 900 units currently planned across both forces.
Hensoldt has responded to a US Army market survey published last year that called for FCS solutions for the Carl Gustaf. This German solution will be an answer to Aimpoint’s FCS12 and newer FCS13RE. (Source: Shephard)
25 Jan 18. Russia receives modernised howitzers. The first 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled artillery systems of the M2 modification have been deployed with the Russian military’s 631st Missile Troops and Artillery Training Centre in Saratov, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced on 22 January.
The 2S19M2 Msta-S artillery system differs in design from the previous version. Equipped with new automated fire control