22 March 2023
by Meredith Roaten
After months of deliberations, top US Army officials have decided that sending the M1A1 Abrams tank to Ukraine is faster than sending the M1A2 as originally planned. (US Marine Corps)
The Pentagon announced on 21 March that the 31 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) promised to Ukraine will not be M1A2 model as initially planned.
In order to get platforms to Ukraine faster, the US will pull 31 M1A1 tanks from US Army stocks and spruce them up for battle, said Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder on 21 March. The variant change will “significantly expedite delivery timelines” and will ensure that the tanks will arrive by “the fall timeframe”.
The funding for the assistance to Kyiv will come from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which will enable the Pentagon to pay General Dynamics to modify the M1 tank hulls.
Scott Taylor, director of US business development at General Dynamics Land Systems, told Janes that the tanks will be refurbished according to the US Army's 10-20 mission capable standards.
18 April 2024
by Jeremiah Cushman
Actual and planned Canadian defence spending by category from 2021–22 to 2026–27. (Janes)
The Canadian government released its fiscal year (FY) 2024 defence budget on 16 April. The document projects spending of CAD33.8 billion (USD24.6 billion) in 2024–25, including adjustments from the Budget 2023 Refocusing Government Spending Exercise and incremental funding in the 2024 budget, although it warns that forecast amounts may change as programmes move through implementation. This is an increase from the forecast CAD29.9 billion spending in 2023–24, according to the document.
The 2024–25 main estimates produced by the Treasury Board projected defence spending of CAD30.6 billion, a small increase from the latest spending estimate for 2023–24, which totalled CAD30.3 billion. This is a 14% increase over the initial 2023–24 main estimate of CAD26.5 billion, according to Treasury Board figures. Expenditures in 2022–23 totalled CAD26.9 billion.
11 April 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
A Nigerian A-29 Super Tucano is pictured here. Embraer Defence CEO Bosco da Costa sees potential for up to 450 Super Tucanos over 20 years, including from Africa. (US Africa Command Public Affairs)
Embraer Defence & Security sees a market for up to 490 A-29 Super Tucano trainer and attack aircraft over the next two decades, Embraer president and CEO Bosco da Costa Jr told Janes on 10 April at the FIDAE 2024 airshow in Santiago, Chile.
“We are in touch with several countries around the world, not only here in South America, but we have some potential [customers] in Africa, in Asia, and in Europe as well,” said da Costa. “We are in advanced conversations with countries in Europe [and] in advanced conversations with countries in Asia. I cannot disclose the countries because the defence procurement process does not allow us to do that. But I assure you that we are now in a final stage in some of them.”
11 April 2024
by Olivia Savage
Saab has been contracted to upgrade the army's live training capability. Pictured are troops practising their debussing drills from a Saab DFWES-equipped Warrior infantry combat vehicle in Alberta. (Janes)
The British Army has signed a GBP60 million (USD75.7 million) three-year support contract with Saab to improve its live training capability.
The contract – Instrumented Live Training (ILT-D) – is replacing the existing Direct Fire Weapon Effects Simulator (DFWES) contract with Saab and will involve modernising its live training capabilities to improve interoperability and address obsolescence.
ILT-D is essentially a mid-life upgrade of the DFWES capability that will comprise upgrading and providing the latest soldier and vehicle training systems as well as EXCON software to ensure it remains relevant to the army's evolving training needs and is interoperable with its allies, Joakim Alhbin, the vice-president of Training and Simulation at Saab, informed Janes and other media representatives at the International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (IT²EC) 2024.
DFWES is a laser-based Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES) capability that simulates direct and indirect fire.
The Pentagon announced on 21 March that the 31 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) promised to Ukraine w...
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