The Liberal-National Coalition government in Australia and its political opposition, the Labor Party, have both stated a commitment to restart a long-delayed programme to procure self-propelled howitzers (SPH) if they win the country's federal election on 18 May.
The requirement - previously part of Project Land 17 - was cancelled in 2012 due to funding cuts but will be revived under plans newly announced by the political parties. Under the new programme, which is expected to be named Project Land 8112 Protected Mobile Fires, both sides have said they will acquire 30 SPHs and build the systems in Geelong, Melbourne.
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Faced with the need to redress and recover a capability debt, but limited in its number of manned ship platforms, the UK Royal Navy is advancing plans to accelerate the operational exploitation of autonomous techniques and technologies as a means to increase mass, lethality, and agility. Richard Scott reports
