The Shahed 136 is of great concern for air-defence planners and industry since its debut in Ukraine in 2022. Skyfortress has developed a solution that can detect and track these loud and slow munitions without the use of active systems such as radars or electro-optical sensors. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Representatives from Skyfortress – a Ukrainian non-governmental organisation – have disclosed details of work to develop and install an acoustic sensor network for the detection and tracking of aerial threats.

Speaking at SAE Media Group's Air and Missile Defence conference in London, the representatives said the Skyfortress detection and tracking system combines cheap and domestically designed passive sensors to detect, track, and classify airborne threats. It consists of an array of acoustic sensors that gather information and feed this into Ukraine's national air-defence command-and-control network, known as ‘Virazh'.

An Indian Navy Sea King Mk 42B helicopter firing a Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range as part of the weapon's guided flight trials. (Indian Navy)

India has carried out another test of an indigenously developed anti-surface guided weapon known as the Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range (NASM-SR).

The latest launch was carried out as part of the weapon's ‘guided flight trials', the Indian Navy announced via an official social media channel on 21 November.

Similar to its maiden flight test in May 2022, the weapon was launched from a Sea King Mk 42B helicopter operated by the Indian Navy.

In its announcement the service described the test, which was carried out in collaboration with the country's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as “a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology, including seeker and guidance technology”.

The NASM-SR is a helicopter-launched variant of the NASM family of missiles. The subsonic weapon is powered by a two-stage solid-propellant rocket motor, and it can reach an average cruise speed of Mach 0.8.

The BAAINBw has ordered 2,300 PARM off-route anti-tank mines from MBDA subsidiary TDW. (MBDA)

The Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), Germany's Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support, signed a contract with MBDA subsidiary TDW on 14 November for 2,300 Panzerabwehrrichtmine (PARM) off-route anti-tank mines, MBDA announced in a press release on 15 November. Thomas Gottschild, managing director of MBDA Germany said, “With the procurement, PARM is in the process of returning to serial production.”

TDW stopped production of the PARM Deutsches Modell 22 (DM22) a decade ago, the subsidiary's managing director, Andreas Seitz, told international journalists visiting MBDA Deutschland at the end of October.

The budget committee of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, has approved PARM procurement funding worth EUR67 million (over USD73 million), the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 19 October.

Seitz said the first demonstration batch would be produced in 2025, with serial production beginning in 2026 and deliveries in 2027.