The ‘Targets' component of Rafael's Advanced Defense Systems Puzzle suite, which presents to the user the date, time, and priorities of identified targets. (Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)  Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) decision support suite called Puzzle at the Paris Air Show 2023 held from 19 to 25 June.    The Puzzle suite integrates information from diverse sensors to create a comprehensive and filtered dataset enabled by AI, which processes and analyses large volumes of information...

Taiwanese navy soldiers walk by   Yushan  during its handover ceremony in Kaohsiung City on 30 September 2022. The ship was commissioned on 19 June 2023.  (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)  The Republic of China Navy (RoCN) has commissioned its first locally built landing platform dock (LPD)-like amphibious assault ship.  The vessel, ROCS Yushan, was commissioned on 19 June at a ceremony in Kaohsiung City; various Taiwanese media outlets reported on the same day with images from the event. Neither the RoCN nor the T...

Israeli defence exports. (Israeli Ministry of Defense )  The Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD) has announced record defence exports for 2022, saying the contracts agreed on totalled USD12.5 billion, up from USD11.4 billion in 2021, which was itself a record high.  The figures the MoD released on 14 June on the regions buying Israeli military products showed a massive increase in the ‘Abraham Accords' category, from USD853 million (7% of the total) in 2021 to USD2.962 billion (24%) in 2022, as well as a significant decrease in the Europe categ...

South Korea's DAPA is planning to equip the fourth production batch of the K2 MBTs with transmission developed by local firm SNT Dynamics. An example of the K2 MBT is pictured above. (Hyundai Rotem)  South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) plans to equip the fourth batch of the Hyundai Rotem K2 main battle tanks (MBTs) with indigenous 1,500 hp EST15K transmission developed by SNT Dynamics.  A spokesperson for DAPA told Janes on 20 June that the organisation is “planning to use local transmission made by SNT Dynamics fo...

Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder and Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister François Bausch signed a co-operation agreement on 15 June on the establishment of a binational reconnaissance battalion. (Belgian MoD)  Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder and François Bausch signed a co-operation agreement on 15 June on the establishment of a binational reconnaissance battalion, the Belgian Ministry of Defence and Luxembourgs government announced in press releases the same day. The two ministers signed a declaration o...

AID awarded a contract to Nexter Arrowtech, EOS Technologie, and Traak on 16 June to develop a medium-range loitering munition under its and the DGA's Larinae call for projects. (Nexter)  The Agence de l'Innovation de Défense (AID), the French defence innovation agency, awarded a contract to Nexter Arrowtech, EOS Technologie, and Traak on 16 June to develop a medium-range loitering munition under the Larinae call for projects aimed at providing the French Army with such a system armed with an anti-tank warhead, Nexter announced in a press re...

The Indian Army ordered 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles in 2021. The vehicles are expected to be operated along India's border with China. (MDSL)  Indian company Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd (MDSL) will deliver the first batch of 4×4 Light Specialist Vehicles (LSVs) known as Armado to the Indian Army by the end of July, MDSL head of sales and marketing for land systems Colonel Manish Kumar (retd) told Janes.  The first batch will comprise 40 Armados, Col Kumar said. MDSL is supplying a total of 1,300 LSVs to the Indian Army under a contract,...

The DAGR-SA system on trial with the British Army in a drop-down hands-free harness configuration. BAE Systems is proposing its new NavGuide platform as a replacement to the legacy DAGR. (Rockwell Collins)  Programme officials at BAE Systems have unveiled their newest Assured-Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) end-user device featuring full integration of M-Code-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.  The NavGuide system is a portable, handheld A-PNT device designed to replace legacy Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR)...

The Bundestag's budget committee on 14 June approved the procurement of the Arrow Weapon System and Arrow 3 missiles for the Bundeswehr. (IAI)  The budget committee of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, on 14 June approved the procurement of six IRIS-T SLM (Surface Launched Medium Range) ground-based air defence (GBAD) systems and the Arrow Weapon System (AWS), including missiles.  Germany plans to sign a letter of commitment with the Israeli government by the end of 2023 on the procurement of the AWS and Arrow 3 missiles, with a planned in...

The Indonesian Army's Harimau tanks on display at Indo Defence 2022. The tanks will be equipped with reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles. (Janes/Andrew Galer)  The Indonesian Army'sHarimau medium tanks will be equipped with reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) “to adapt to the demands of combat operations”, said the country's Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto.  In a recent statement, Subianto said the addition of UAVs to the tanks will improve the “completeness of the combat operation”.  Indonesia and Turkey signed an agreem...

USS   Freedom  and USS   Independence  were both decommissioned in 2021.  (US Navy)  As the US Navy (USN) assesses some of the first overall fleet operations – and recreates operational concepts – for its littoral combat ships (LCSs), the service appears to be just as determined to quickly reduce LCS numbers as it was to introduce and augment the LCS force decades ago.  LCSs were initially designed decades ago and built to conduct antisubmarine warfare (ASW), surface warfare (SuW), and mine counter...

The US plans to take 15 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles from its reserves and send them to Ukraine. (US Transportation Command)  The US wants to supply more Stryker armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in the latest assistance package to Ukraine.  The package will provide Ukraine with USD325 million worth of equipment from US stocks, the Pentagon announced on 13 June. The 15 Bradleys and 10 Strykers will help support Ukrainian offensive operations as vehicles are damaged, said Deputy Pentagon Pre...

The RE-liON Blacksuit immersive virtual training system provides small unit tactical training. (Netherlands MoD)  The Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) has initiated a four-pronged plan to improve its simulation capability by 2030, focusing particularly on expanding virtual simulation.    Speaking at the 2023 Defence Simulation Education and Training conference (DSET 23) in Bristol, Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Wassenaar, head    of the RNLA Simulation Centre for Land Operations (SIMCEN Land) at Amersfoort, said that in 2020 the RNLA...

The Indian Army seeks to upgrade its T-90 MBTs with 1,200–1,500 hp engines. The image shows a T-90 MBT at an Indian Army exercise in November 2022. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved plans to procure Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCVs) and engines to upgrade in-service T-90 main battle tanks (MBTs).  The two projects were granted ‘Approval in Principle' (AIP) by the MoD in late May. The MoD said the programmes will proceed under the government-funded ‘Make-I' category.  The FRCV project features the acqui...

Textron submitted its M3 Ripsaw – a variant of the vehicle picture on the right – for the US Army's RCV-L Middle Tier Acquisition rapid prototyping programme. (Textron Systems)  Textron recently offered its proposal for the US Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle – Light (RCV-L), an executive told   Janes  on 5 June.   The company submitted its M3 Ripsaw robotic ground vehicle to the service on 15 May, David Phillips, senior vice-president for land and sea systems, told   Janes  . The army is expected to make its selection of four com...

Ocius Technologies' Bluebottle USV operates in the waters of Jervis Bay during Exercise ‘Autonomous Warrior 2022' at HMAS Creswell in the Australian Capital Territory. On 9 June the Australian DoD announced that Ocius has completed the delivery of the fifth and final Bluebottle USV to the RAN. (Commonwealth of Australia)  Ocius Technologies has completed the delivery of all Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under a AUD4.9 million (USD3.3 million) contract secured in November 2022.  The Australian De...

The ZMT SR-50M may feature multiple calibre options in future. (Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów)  Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów (ZMT) presented its ZMT SR-50M anti-materiel sniper rifle at a conference held at the Military Institute of Armament Technology in Zielonka on 2 June 2023.  The event included the first live-firing demonstration of the 12.7 mm (.50) calibre bolt-action rifle since it passed initial factory trials earlier this year.  Roman Uznański, chief small arms designer at ZMT, told Janes that the ZMT SR-50M has a modular design and migh...

Caracal offers its CAR 816 assault rifles, an example of which is pictured above, to the Malaysian Army. The rifles are chambered for the 5.56×45 mm cartridge. (Edge)  United Arab Emirates small-arms manufacturer Edge Group's Caracal subsidiary has offered its CAR 816assault rifles to the Malaysian Army.  A spokesperson of Edge told Janes that Caracal is “in discussion” with the Malaysian Army regarding the possible sale of CAR 816s to the service.  In late May Caracal signed an agreement with Ketech Asia for the production and resale of the...

A model of the Surion MCH displayed at MADEX 2023. (Janes/Chinmay Kohad)  Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and BAE Systems signed a contract agreement on 8 June to support delivery of the UK company's Archerfish Mine Neutralisation System (AMNS) for integration onto the KAI KUH-1 Surion mine-countermeasures helicopter (MCH).  The total number of AMNS units to be delivered to KAI under the agreement, which was signed at the MADEX 2023 exhibition held in Busan, is unknown. However, KAI intends to fit the MCH with four Archerfish systems and an...

New Zealand's Defence Policy Review will outline some of the modernisation objectives of the country's armed forces. Pictured above, the New Zealand Army took delivery in May of an initial batch of Bushmaster vehicles from Thales Australia. (CPL Maddy Butcher/New Zealand MoD)  New Zealand is expecting to soon publish its Defence Policy Review (DPR), Minister of Defence Andrew Little told Janes. “I don't have a precise date for that [publication of the DPR], but I'm expecting it will be published within the next two months,” he said.  Accordi...