The K9 SPH has a combat weight of 46.3 tonnes, a top road speed of 67 km/h, and an operational range of 360 km. (Hanwha Defense)

Vietnam's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has indicated that it is planning to procure the K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) – developed and produced by South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace – for the People's Army of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Vice-Minister of National Defence Hoang Xuan Chien expressed an intention to procure the K9 at the ‘11th Korea-Vietnam Defense Strategy Dialogue' held in Hanoi on 23 April, according to a press release issued by the South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND) one day later.

“Chien evaluated Korea's weapons systems and expressed his intention to expand defence industry co-operation, including the introduction of Korean weapon systems such as the K9 SPH [into the People's Army of Vietnam] and requested co-operation from the Korean government for this purpose,” the MND said.

In addition, the two sides agreed to strengthen co-operation in areas such as maritime security, cyber security, and logistics, the MND added.

The Brazilian Navy wants to improve the radar capabilities of its OPVs. (Victor Barreira)

As part of an effort to update its Amazonas-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Brazilian Navy is acquiring a new air and surface search radar with identification friend-or-foe capability (IFF), according to the Navy Weapon Systems Directorate (Diretoria de Sistemas de Armas da Marinha: DSAM).

The Brazilian Naval Commission in Washington, DC, (Comissão Naval Brasileira em Washington: CNBW) on behalf of the DSAM has requested a request for information (RFI) and the price availability for up to three radars on 25 March.

The navy seeks to recover the combat capability of the OPVs by updating several of the ship's systems, the Navy Directorate-General for Material (Diretoria-Geral do Material da Marinha: DGMM) recently told Janes .

The modernisation of the OPVs will be carried out by the DSAM, the DGMM added, without detailing a schedule and the scale of the effort.

The DSAM is subordinated to the DGMM.

The IqAF is to equip all 34 of its F-16 combat aircraft with the AIDEWS electronic warfare suite. (Lockheed Martin)

Iraq is to equip its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft with the L3Harris AN/ALQ-211 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite (AIDEWS) electronic warfare (EW) system, the US Department of Defense (DoD) disclosed on 22 April.

The DoD requires the retrofit of the AIDEWS system into 34 Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) F-16C/D Block 52M aircraft located at Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih Air Base (Ali Flaih AB [AFAB], previously known as Balad Air Base), a solicitation posted on the SAM.gov US government procurement website said.

The DoD solicitation provided no contract value or timeline details.

The AIDEWS comes in both an AN/ALQ-211(V)4 integrated and an AN/ALQ-211(V)9 podded configuration, with the newer Block 52 and above aircraft of operators such as the IqAF having the internal space needed for integration, while older block aircraft do not and therefore, require the podded system.

The IqAF fields 24 single-seat F-16C and 10 twin-seat F-16D aircraft, deliveries of which commenced in 2014.

For more information on the IqAF, please seeIraq – Air Force .