The Bundeswehr has ordered 258 sets of AGDUS systems for its Puma IFVs following successful integration tests. (PSM GmbH)

The Bundeswehr is receiving new training simulators for its Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

In total, 258 sets of Training Device, Duel Simulator (Ausbildungsgerät Duellsimulator: AGDUS) systems are being delivered for the Puma IFVs by the end of 2026, the Bundeswehr announced on 15 April.

The EUR109 million (USD116 million) contract will be financed from the EUR100 billion Bundeswehr special fund.

A Rheinmetall/Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) consortium received an order from the Bundeswehr in December 2019 valued at EUR54 million for the provision of six AGDUS systems for integration tests on the Puma. Full-scale serial production of AGDUS would then begin once testing was complete, with up to 252 Puma IFVs being equipped with the systems for EUR88 million.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson confirmed to Janes that the company, along with KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) Germany, are supplying the new AGDUS simulators to the Bundeswehr and that full-scale production has now officially begun.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladímir Padrino López inspects a CM-90 anti-ship missile. (Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Defensa (Venezuela))

The Venezuelan military confirmed on 16 April that it has the CM-90 export version of Iran's Nasir anti-ship missile (ASM).

Defence Minister Vladímir Padrino López inaugurated what a defence ministry statement described as a workshop for the CM-90 at Base Naval CA Agustín Armario in Puerto Cabello as part of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela's (ABV's) anniversary celebrations on that day. It released photographs and a video of Padrino inspecting several ASMs and associated containerised testing equipment inside a building.

The Nasir was developed from the Nasr missile, which is Iran's version of the Chinese C704, with the solid-propellant motor replaced by a turbojet engine and a launch booster. Iranian export documentation says this makes the CM-90 88 cm longer than the CM-35, the export version of the Nasr, and increases its range from 35 to 90 km.

A Dutch Chinook (foreground) arrived at Holzdorf Air Base in mid-April to help the Luftwaffe prepare for the arrival of its own Chinooks into the station from 2027. In the background is a Luftwaffe CH-53G currently based at the location. (Bundeswehr)

The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) is helping the Luftwaffe prepare for its upcoming Chinook heavy-lift helicopter capability, dispatching one of its own helicopters to the type's future operating station in mid-April.

The Bundeswehr said on 18 April that an RNLAF CH-47F Block 1 Chinook landed for the first time at Holzdorf Air Base (also known as Schönewalde), south of Berlin, to help the Luftwaffe prepare for the arrival of the first of its CH-47F Block II Chinook Standard Range (SR) air-to-air refuelling (AAR)-capable heavy-lift helicopters from 2027 to 2032.

“With the future stationing of the CH-47, Holzdorf Air Base will become a hub for helicopter transport. The [Luftwaffe] is gaining initial experience with the Chinook transport helicopter with its Dutch allies – in flight operations, refuelling, and training,” the Bundeswehr said.