The Royal Netherlands Army wants to add more punch to its Boxer armoured vehicles. (Dutch Ministry of Defence)  The Royal Netherlands Army has a formal requirement to up-arm its Artec Boxer armoured personnel carriers, Janes learnt at Defence iQ's 2023 International Dismounted Soldier conference in London.  Operated by the army's 13th Light Brigade, the Dutch Boxers were originally procured with the Kongsberg M151 remotely operated weapon system (ROWS), armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun (HMG). This is now deemed to be insufficient, and...

The D11A, pictured at the Defense & Security 2023 show in Bangkok, is intended to launch guided and unguided rocket systems of different calibres, with an effective range between 40 and 300 km. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)  The Defence Technology Institute (DTI) – an agency under the Thai Ministry of Defence – has furthered the development of the D11A, a local version of Elbit Systems' multicalibre Precise and Universal Launching System (PULS).  A DTI official told Janes at the Defense & Security 2023 exhibition in Bangkok on 6 November that developme...

The Polish Land Forces will field SitaWare Frontline (pictured) and Headquarters. (Systematic)  Systematic's SitaWare Frontline command-and-control (C2) software will be installed in all of the Polish Land Forces' Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs), and the service will also receive the company's SitaWare Headquarters system, Janes has learnt.  The 18th Mechanised Division's M1A1 and M1A2 System Enhancement Program version 3 (SEPv3) Abrams MBTs and various support vehicles will be equipped with the mounted battle management system (BMS) – SitaW...

A soldier aims a XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement system during testing at Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. (US Army)  The US Army's contest for a follow-on contract for its high-explosive airburst munition system, Precision Grenadier System (PGS), is now down to two finalists.  The army's xTechSoldier Lethality has been awarding companies cash prizes for their solutions to replace legacy M320 grenade launchers. The army earlier tried to replace the grenade launchers with the XM25, which failed after the army terminated Orbital ATK's...

A Finnish soldier with an RK 62M3 rifle. The Finnish Army has several small arms programmes under way. (Finnish Army)  Further details regarding the Finnish Army's ongoing and future soldier modernisation efforts emerged at Defence iQ's International Dismounted Soldier 2023 conference in London.  Janes  has learnt that alongside deliveries of Sako's M23 7.62 mm precision rifles and TRG M10 8.6 mm sniper rifles, additional Glock 17 and Glock 19 9 mm pistols are on order as part of the ongoing small arms modernisation effort. The Finnis...

Armasuisse has signed an agreement with the US government to procure PAC-3 MSE missiles. (Lockheed Martin)  Armasuisse, the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement, signed an agreement with the US government on 30 October to procure Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles and related support equipment, the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and Lockheed Martin announced in separate press releases on 31 October. The US company said Switzerland thus became the 15th PAC-...

A KS-1 5.56 mm rifle equipped with Vortex LPVO, Aimpoint Micro red dot, and a KAC suppressor. This configuration will be used by the British Army's Ranger Regiment. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  Further details of the status of the British Army's efforts to replace and introduce new small arms were revealed during Defence iQ's International Dismounted Soldier 2023 conference in London.  Janes has learnt that the now completed Project Hunter evaluated five rifles: Knight's Armament KS-1, Daniel Defense MK18 and HK416, Glock GR115, and the Sig Sauer...

SitaWare Headquarters – seen here in use with Germany's Bundeswehr – is in widespread service. The British Army has acquired 1,400 new licences for the software. (Bundeswehr/Marco Dorow)  The British Army is expanding its use of Systematic's SitaWare Headquarters command-and-control (C2) software, the company announced on 1 November.  In total 1,400 new licences for SitaWare Headquarters have been acquired for use across the army.  A company spokesperson was unable to disclose the value of the contract.    The British Army had not resp...

Netline's C-Guard Modular ManPack RF jammer counters both UASs and IEDs and is based on the C-Guard series of C-IED systems. (Netline Communications Technologies Ltd)  Israel-based Netline Communication Technologies launched its new manportable counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) called C-Guard Modular ManPack on 31 October.    The radio frequency (RF)-based jammer provides on-the-move, omnidirectional, tactical protection to counter UASs as well as protect forces from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a company spokesperson told...

MBDA Deutschland is offering more applications for the Enforcer missile system, including anti-tank, air-launched, and V/SHORAD versions. (MBDA)  MBDA Deutschland presented international journalists visiting the company on 27 October with more applications for the Enforcer missile system being procured by the Bundeswehr for its Leichtes Wirkmittel 1800+ requirement for a lightweight, day/night, precision-guided, shoulder-launched 89 mm weapon with a range of more than 1,800 m. The new applications are anti-tank, air-launched, and very short-...

Denmark is now the third country in Europe after Norway and the Netherlands to acquire the Thales Ground Master 200 Multi Mission Compact radar. (Thales)  Denmark will acquire five new Thales Ground Master 200 Multi Mission Compact (GM200 MM/C) radars under a government-to-government deal with the Netherlands.  According to the Danish Ministry of Defence's Materiel and Procurement Agency (FMI) on 31 October, the new mobile radars are for the Royal Danish Air Force and will bolster the country's air-surveillance capabilities especially when d...

MBDA Deutschland is offering more applications for the Enforcer missile system, including anti-tank, air-launched, and V/SHORAD versions. (MBDA)  MBDA Deutschland presented international journalists visiting the company on 27 October with more applications for the Enforcer missile system being procured by the Bundeswehr for its Leichtes Wirkmittel 1800+ requirement for a lightweight, day/night, precision-guided, shoulder-launched 89 mm weapon with a range of more than 1,800 m. The new applications are anti-tank, air-launched, and very short-...

Ansar Allah's video purportedly showing the weapons launched at Israel showed what appeared to be a Zulfiqar ballistic missile. (Ansar Allah)  The Iranian-backed Yemeni group Ansar Allah (Houthis) confirmed on 31 October that it has launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Israel, warning that it would continue to do so for as long as the military operation against Hamas continues.  The spokesman for the group's armed wing said it had launched a large number of ballistic and “winged” missiles earlie...

MBDA Deutschland is developing the MILOS-P laser for infantry and for installation on an unmanned ground vehicle. (MBDA)  MBDA Deutschland is developing the Modular Integrated Laser Optic System (MILOS) for the German Army, the company's head of laser solutions, Doris Laarmann, told international journalists including Janes visiting her company on 27 October.  The system was tested during a campaign at the Bundeswehr's Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Waffen und Munition (WTD) 91 weapon and ammunition technical centre in Meppen in 2022 against...

TDW is resuming production of the DM22, the Bundeswehr's designation for the original DM12 off-route anti-tank mine modified so that it can be disarmed. (MBDA)  MBDA subsidiary TDW will resume production of the Panzerabwehrrichtmine Deutsches Modell 22 (PARM DM22) off-route anti-tank mine after it was stopped over a decade ago, the subsidiary's managing director, Andreas Seitz, told international journalists including Janes visiting MBDA Deutschland on 27 October.  The budget committee of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, has approved the...

The R‐Han rocket, pictured above, being test‐fired from a locally developed Rantis MLRS. (Kementrian Pertahanan Indonesia)  The Indonesia Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced in late-October that state-owned arms manufacturer PT Pindad has completed the development of a 122 mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) known as the R-Han 122B.  In a social media post, the MoD said that PT Pindad conducted a “series of successful trials on the system” before declaring its completion of development.  The MoD added it is now working on finalising the c...

One of two MANTIS C-RAM systems received by the 11th Slovak Air Force Brigade Nitra from Germany on 24 October. (MOCR)  The 11th Slovak Air Force Brigade Nitra received two Modular, Automatic and Network-capable Targeting and Interception System (MANTIS) counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) defence systems from Germany on 24 October, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo obrany SR: MOSR) announced on its website the same day. The ministry said the systems would reinforce the capabilities of Slovakia's ground-ba...

This schematic shows components of the proposed Defense of Guam (DoG) programme to neutralise incoming ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats. (Janes)  The United States has embarked on a plan to protect its assets and those of its allies in the Indo-Pacific amid escalating regional security threats. Central to this plan is securing the base of the US 7th Fleet in Guam by providing a multilayered air-defence shield against threats ranging from ballistic missiles to hypersonic glide weapons and cruise missiles.  As part of the US de...

GM Defense displays a mission power system on the back of an infantry squad vehicle. It can power one of Hoverfly's unmanned aerial vehicles, pictured on the back of the vehicle. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)    GM Defense has begun vehicle integration testing for its contract with the Defense Innovation Unit's (DIU's) mission power system and is looking at how it can expand its electric and hybrid-electric options for expeditionary military power, an executive told   Janes  at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2023...

ST-1 is an experimental unmanned mine detector that is being actively tested in the field. (Mykhailo Fedorov/Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine)  Ukrainian innovators from the Brave1 defence technology cluster are developing an unmanned mine detector called ST-1.  According to Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation for Ukraine on 27 October, the mine detector autonomously searches for mines and works, on average, four times faster than a human.  This will “significantly speed up the process of demining Ukrainian terri...