The British Army Land GBAD MRAD capability will be an evolution of the Sky Sabre (pictured deployed in Poland), with the CAMM missile. (Crown copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) published a prior information notice for the Land Ground Based Air Defence (Land GBAD) programme on the UK government's tender portal on 5 August. A market interest day will be held in Bristol in October to discuss the programme with the industry and examine possibilities for it to co-operate with the MoD.

The first eight Jelcz T21 TS DOW 8×8 chassis for CAMM iLaunchers are expected to be ready by the end of 2022. (MBDA)

Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) plans to develop new short-range air defence (SHORAD) and very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) capabilities. Sebastian Chwałek, president of PGZ's management board, and Colonel Michał Marciniak, the Ministry of National Defence's plenipotentiary for integrated air defence and deputy head of the Armaments Agency, presented the main goals for the development of multilayer air defence in Poland during a press briefing in Warsaw on 28 January.

Col Marciniak said it would be crucial to integrate systems being developed separately: Pilica VSHORAD, armed with Grom and Piorun missiles; Narew SHORAD, based on the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) family; and the Wisła medium-range air defence system with Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles. He explained that Polish air defences would be organised based oneffective range of effectors, not on the branches of the armed forces that operate the current system.

Mock-up of the Javelin LWCLU. (Raytheon Missiles & Defense)

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on its website on 1 August that the Department of State had approved a possible Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of 513 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LWCLUs) to the UK, for an estimated value of USD300 million. Also included in the potential sale are LWCLU Basic Skill Trainers; Javelin Outdoor Trainers; Javelin Vehicle Launcher Electronics (JVL-Es); associated training packages, training documentation, and lifecycle support; and Systems Integration and Check Out. This order would make the UK the first export customer for the LWCLUs.

A UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson told Janes on 3 August, “We are committed to the Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Unit and have requested further information from our partners. The Javelin capability will enhance the battlegroup-level anti-armour capability and ensure the British military maintains its leading edge on the battlefield.”

Janes