The Bundeswehr will procure 118,718 G95A1 assault rifles from Heckler & Koch in 2024–26. (Heckler & Koch)  On 14 December the budget committee of the Bundestag, the German parliament, approved the retrofit of Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and the procurement of BvS10 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and Heckler & Koch HK416A8 assault rifles.  The budget committee approved around EUR850 million (USD900 million) for the retrofit of 143 Pumas so all IFVs of the type are of the same operational technical standard.  It approved another EUR405...

Conlog Group receives order from the Finnish Defence Forces for containerised command post. Pictured is the company's Communication Station CL-600. (Conlog Group)  The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) have ordered 20 ft containerised communication stations from Conlog Group.  According to Conlog Group, on 12 December, the company will design, implement, manage, and maintain the containerised communication stations for the FDF.    Juha Moisio, CEO of Conlog Group, informed   Janes   that the company is supplying its ‘Signal Station...

The Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF's) new Boeing P-8A Poseidon force will be used for the surveillance of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone and assist with humanitarian operations in the region. (Boeing)  New Zealand has received the first of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft ordered in 2018.  In a press statement, Boeing said that it handed over the aircraft to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, on 7 December. The delivery was made over eight months, after the ke...

The Eurofighter EK will be developed in a stepped approach, with the AARGM missile being integrated for the SEAD/DEAD mission, ahead of a jammer pod for an airborne electronic attack mission. (Janes/Gareth Jenings)  The Luftwaffe has submitted to its service chief a market study geared at informing the electronic attack payload for its Eurofighter Elektronischer Kampf (EK) aircraft.    Andreas Hammer, the head of Combat Aircraft Systems at Airbus, told   Janes  and other defence media on 12 December that the report had been su...

Elbit Systems will supply its Skylark I-LEX UAV (pictured above) to the Australian Army. (Elbit Systems)  The Australian Army will be procuring Elbit Systems' Skylark I-LEX unmanned aerial systems (UASs) equipped with electro-optic (EO), and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system.  The Australian Army will acquire eight Skylark I-LEX UASs from Elbit Systems under Army Minors Project 024.35, a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) told Janes on 12 December.  “The systems are scheduled to be delivered in...

The Australian Army personnel from the 13th Brigade conducted a joint training exercise with the Indian Army from 28 November to 11 December in Rajasthan, India. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian and Indian armies have conducted a bilateral training exercise with newly formed integrated combat units along India's western border with Pakistan.  The exercise called ‘Austra Hind 22' took place from 28 November to 11 December at the Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR), Thar Desert, Rajasthan.  The drills were conducted by the Australian...

Thales wins ASTRIDE 3 contract to deliver a deployable communications network for theatre-based operations for France. (Thales)  Thales has been selected as the prime contractor for increment 3 of the French Army's communications network programme.  The French defence procurement agency, Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), has awarded a EUR720 million (USD758.8 million) contract to Thales for increment 3 of the satellite and radio transmission access operation to the area network and the battlespace intranet (ASTRIDE) programme, the DGA a...

The truck-mounted S-band medium-range surveillance radar, which is undergoing tests by the People's Army of Vietnam, is on display at VIDEX 2022 in Hanoi. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  A locally developed S-band medium-range 3D air-defence radar has commenced final trials with the People's Army of Vietnam (PAV) and the system is set to be deployed in 2024.    The matter was disclosed to   Janes  at the Vietnam International Defense Exhibition (VIDEX) 2022, which is taking place in Hanoi between 8 and 10 December, by a representative...

The Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF's) new Boeing P-8A Poseidon force will be used for the surveillance of the country's Exclusive Economic Zone and assist with humanitarian operations in the region. (Boeing)  New Zealand has received the first of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft ordered in 2018.  In a press statement, Boeing said that it handed over the aircraft to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, on 7 December. The delivery was made over eight months, after the ke...

Elbit Systems will supply its Skylark I-LEX UAV (pictured above) to the Australian Army. (Elbit Systems)  The Australian Army will be procuring Elbit Systems' Skylark I-LEX unmanned aerial systems (UASs) equipped with electro-optic (EO), and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system.  The certified ADS-B system will “support the Australian Army achieve wider use cases outside of traditional army UAS employment including integration into more classes of airspace”, Elbit Systems said in a media release on 7 November.  In particu...

Indra and Centum Electronics are partnering to submit a joint proposal to ISRO to build a space surveillance radar for India based on Indra's S3TSR radar (pictured above). (Indra)  Spanish technology company Indra has signed an agreement with Bangalore-based Centum Electronics to submit a joint proposal to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to manufacture a space surveillance radar that can improve the security of India's spatial assets.    Indra and Centum Electronics will “undertake together the statement of work of the prog...

Thales has been selected as the prime contractor for increment 3 of the French Army's communications network programme.  The French defence procurement agency, Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), has awarded a EUR720 million (USD758.8 million)...

Rear view of KMW's PzH 2000 turret trainer, shown without the surrounding screen. (KMW)    Delivery of systems to the Hungarian army's new integrated tank/howitzer simulation centre has begun,   Janes  has learnt, with the PzH 2000 howitzer turret trainer having passed factory acceptance tests.   In December 2018, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) was awarded a contract by the Hungarian army to supply 44 Leopard 2A7 main battle tanks (MBTs) and 24 PzH 2000 howitzers. The contract also included the provision of an integrated sim...

Finland has signed a follow-on contract with Senop for its Soldier's Laser Sight and Tactical Laser Sight devices as well as the EVA 40 NVG. Pictured above is the NVG M40 monocular, which Finland previously bought as part of the wider contract. (Senop Oy)  Senop, part of the Patria Group, will supply new laser sights and image intensifiers to the Finnish Defence Forces.  The Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command has signed a follow-on agreement with Senop for its EVA 40 NVG (night-vision goggle) monocular image intensifiers, LUKE Soldier's...

A screenshot of course of action analysis in MASA's SWORD constructive simulation software, showing probable casualty rates and ammunition expenditure over time and equipment status resulting from a particular plan. (MASA)  MASA has recently been awarded several contracts to supply its SWORD command and staff training (CAST) constructive simulation, Janes has learnt.  The most recent contract, worth “more than” EUR1 million (USD1.05 million), is with the Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire to supply a system capable of providing training up to brig...

The new SIGINT ships will replace the Polish Navy's Modified Moma-class (Project 863) intelligence-collection ships, ORP   Nawigator  (pictured) and ORP   Hydrograf  , which have been in service since the mid-1970s.  (Jaroslaw Cislak)  Swedish defence and security company Saab has been awarded a contract by the Polish Armaments Agency to design and build two signals intelligence (SIGINT) ships for the Polish Navy.  Under the contract, announced on 25 November and worth EUR620 million (USD644 million...

Aircraft carrier USS  Gerald R Ford  successfully used its new launching systems for reliable sortie operations during the ship's first official deployment.  (Michael Fabey)    US Navy (USN) aircraft carrier USS   Gerald R Ford  (CVN 78) returned from its first official deployment in late November as shipbuilder HII acknowledged further work on other Ford-class carriers at its Newport News Shipbuilding yard.     Speaking to financial analysts in early November, Christopher Kastner, HII p...

Project Oberon will comprise a cluster of three SAR-based satellites as part of the ISTARI programme. (Airbus)  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) for Project Oberon, a programme that seeks high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites.  According to the PQQ released by the MoD on 24 November, the contract will involve a cluster of three satellites equipped with an active SAR payload and, at a lower priority, passive radio frequency (RF) functionality, which the supplier will be re...

Gurutvaa Systems has started bulk deliveries of its Dronaam C-UAS (pictured above) to the IAF. (Gurutvaa Systems)  Indian company Gurutvaa Systems has despatched the first bulk production lot of its Dronaam counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) to the Indian Air Force (IAF).    Speaking to   Janes   on 24 November, Sandeep Dawkhar, vice-president of Gurutvaa Systems, said that the first lot of Dronaam C-UAS was recently despatched. He added that prior to the despatch, a team of officials from the IAF's Directorate of the Air S...

Hensoldt's MUSS 2.0 prototypes will be installed in Puma IFVs in 2023. (PSM)  Hensoldt presented its Multifunctional Self-Protection System (Multifunktionales Selbstschutz-System: MUSS) 2.0 at SAE Media Group's Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability 2022 pre-conference Active Protection Systems (APS) Focus Day held in London on 15 November.  Jan Spannhake, Hensoldt's chief engineer for ground-based self-protection systems, told at the event that there had been continuous improvements to MUSS since it was introduced into service in 2010 – when...