29 October 2021
by Christopher F Foss
Saab Bofors Dynamics Thor 120 mm mortar bomb, with a nose-mounted fuze but without increments at the rear. (Saab Bofors Dynamics)
Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland said it has completed a private-venture development of a 120 mm Thor mortar bomb, intended to enhance firepower for smoothbore mortars.
“The development of the Thor 120 mm has been completed and the first qualification batches have been produced; we and our partners are currently focusing on optimising the production process,” the company told Janes . “Meanwhile Thor 120 mm has been presented to various potential customers with the focus on deployment with mobile mortar systems.”
The Thor 120 mm smoothbore mortar bomb uses a multidimensional fragmentation design – a further development of the Mortar Anti-Personnel Anti-Material (MAPAM) design that was originally used on Saab's 60 mm and 81 mm mortar bombs.
According to the company, a traditional 120 mm mortar bomb fitted with a nose-mounted proximity fuze disperses fragments in nearly every direction, which decreases the lethality as more than 50% of the fragments are scattered upwards.
18 March 2024
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.
18 March 2024
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.
13 March 2024
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.
Saab Bofors Dynamics Switzerland said it has completed a private-venture development of a 120 mm Tho...
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