Moldova receives EU-funded military equipment

by Olivia Savage

Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell formally handing over the first batch of EU-funded military assistance to Moldova on 31 May. (European Commission)

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova has received its first batch of European Union (EU)-funded military equipment as part of the European Peace Facility (EPF), the EU announced on 31 May.

Over a 36-month period, Moldova will receive EUR40 million (USD42.87 million) worth of non-lethal military equipment in the areas pertaining to air surveillance, mobility and transportation, logistics, command-and-control (C2), and cyber defence.

According to a previous EU announcement, the military assistance includes unmanned aerial systems (UASs), radios, explosive ordnance disposal suits, and medical equipment such as field hospitals, ambulances, and pickup trucks.

The support package is part of an ‘Assistance Measure' ratified by the EU Council in December 2021 under the EPF, designed to enhance the operational effectiveness of the armed forces and accelerate their compliance with EU standards and interoperability. The e-Governance Academy for cyber and the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) are the primary benefactors.


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Indonesia to restart procurement process for more Exocet missiles

by Ridzwan Rahmat

An Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile being launched from an Indonesian Navy Bung Tomo-class frigate. The country's latest attempt to replenish its stock of Exocet missiles has been delayed by non-conformity issues. (Indonesian Navy Armada I)

Indonesia will have to restart a process to replenish the country's stock of MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles after an earlier attempt failed because of licensing non-conformity issues.

A 24 February letter from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance's (MoF's) Directorate General of Budget Financing and Risk Management sent to various departments at the country's Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed that a previously granted permission to procure the missiles with foreign loans has now lapsed.

A copy of the letter was provided to Janes on 18 March by sources close to the procurement process.

In the letter, the MoF advised the respective MoD departments to resubmit a request for a total of three programmes for which the permission to take on foreign loans has lapsed, including the Exocet missile procurement.


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EvoLogics preparing further deliveries of Sonobot USVs to Ukrainian armed forces

by Neil Dee

EvoLogics Sonobot 5 USV being demonstrated at Oceanology International 2024 in London on 13 March. (Janes/Neil Dee)

German company EvoLogics is planning to deliver a further batch of Sonobot unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to the Ukrainian armed forces. EvoLogics CEO Fabian Bannasch told Janes at Oceanology International 2024, held in London on 12–14 March, that his company is “currently preparing a fourth configuration of Sonobot with enhanced underwater data networking and positioning capabilities in order to guide and support complex underwater missions with dive teams, and AUVs [autonomous underwater vehicles] where the Sonobot will be the gateway buoy at the surface” for the Ukrainian armed forces. Sonobots are a family of small USVs of about 1.3 m in length that can be folded and transported by a single person.


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Pentagon budget 2025: USAF funds HACM but not ARRW development

by Zach Rosenberg

A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 2020. The aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A ARRW, a programme that is zeroed out in the FY 2025 budget. (US Air Force/Matt Williams)

The US Air Force (USAF) requested just shy of USD517 million to continue development of Raytheon's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) hypersonic air-breathing missile in its fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, but zeroed out the procurement of the Lockheed Martin AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic boost-glide weapon.

The FY 2025 funding request is a change from that of FY 2024, which requested USD350 million for HACM and USD150 million for ARRW.

ARRW was for years considered the frontrunner in the US's race to field an air-launched hypersonic weapon, but the system has seen mixed results in all-up round flight-testing, notching both successes and failures. The final all-up round test is thought to be upcoming, following the USAF's publication of a photograph depicting the munition in Guam, hanging from the wing of its B-52 launch platform.


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https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air-platforms/latest/moldova-receives-eu-funded-military-equipment

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova has received its first batch of European Union (EU)-fund...

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