Moldova has acquired a GM 200 radar from Thales. The system operates in the 2–4 GHz frequency range and can detect threats up to 24,384 m (80,000 ft) in altitude. (Thales)  Moldova has acquired a new tactical air-defence radar from Thales following a meeting between the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu and Moldovan Minister of Defense Anatolie Nosatîi.  The agreement is for a Ground Master (GM) 200 medium-range radar, the French Ministry of Armed Forces announced on 6 October. While at the event, Lecornu said he wanted t...

Sweden plans to procure 50 CV90s with 35 mm guns to replace the ones armed with 40 mm guns (pictured) it donated to Ukraine. (BAE Systems Hägglunds)  The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and BAE Systems Hägglunds announced on 11 October that they had signed a pre-production contract on the preliminary design for the replacement of CV90 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) Sweden donated to Ukraine. The FMV gave a contract value of SEK36 million (USD3.3 million).  The contract is the first step in defining the configuration and progr...

The future of US homeland defence likely includes a need to protect the army's ability to deploy from domestic bases. (376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs/Staff Sgt Stacy Jonsgaard)  US Army North is examining the impact of emerging technologies on homeland defence through to 2040, with implications for how the ground service would project power in the event of a conflict with near-peer competitors such as Russia or China.  The Future of Homeland Defense project grew out of several years of work that informally began during the US gov...

The FMV has signed a contract with KMW for a major upgrade of the Swedish Army's Strv 122 MBT. (Swedish Armed Forces/Bezav Mahmod )  The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) announced on its website on 10 October that it had signed a contract on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) for a major upgrade of the Stridsvagn 122 (Strv 122), Sweden's designation of its upgraded Leopard 2A5 main battle tank (MBT). Under the SEK3.5 billion (USD321 million) contract, 44 Strv 122s will receive their most extensive...

US Army soldiers with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division conduct qualification exercises on AN/PRC 163 tactical radios at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (US Army)  L3 Harris is teaming up with data analysis company Palantir Technologies to develop a joint, tactical-level solution to support the Pentagon's Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) capability.    The proposed joint system will leverage several L3Harris battlefield sensor and collection platforms, and have the data move through Palantir's artificial int...

BAE Systems won a competition for the CATV with its BvS10 Beowulf in 2022. (Janes/Patrick Allen)    Five Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles (CATVs) have been delivered to the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, on 1 October, Major General Brian Eifler, commanding general of the division, told  Janes  on 11 October.   The US Army's CATVs – non-armoured variants of BAE Systems' BvS10 Beowulf – are at Fort Wainwright's Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC) for operator training and testing.  As the 11th Airbo...

GD OTS expects to submit its RGW90 (bottom) and/or its RGW60 (top) to compete for the army's XM919 IAM requirement. (Janes/Daniel Wasserbly)  The US Army is moving ahead with a long-planned effort to consolidate and update its shoulder-launched munitions (SLMs) and issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the XM919 system in September 2023, Janes learnt at the annual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2023 symposium in Washington, DC.  The service's Project Manager Close Combat Systems's (PM CCS's) Individual Assault Munition (IAM)...

A prototype version of General Micro Systems' Extended Manpack X9 variant, being demonstrated at AUSA 2023, Washington, DC. (General Micro Systems)  General Micro Systems (GMS) are demonstrating a manpackable computer prototype of its X9 Spider family of open distributed computing architecture (DCA) small form factor systems, which company officials say can replicate 50–75% of the computing power within a tactical operations centre (TOC) or forward operating base (FOB).  The Extended Manpack X9 variant consists essentially of a single Spider...

The British Army has received its first Archer 6×6 SPH from Sweden. (Crown copyright/British Army/WO2 Ross Fernie)  The British Army received its first Archer 6×6 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) from Sweden on 29 September, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 October. The first of 14 Archers the UK purchased from Sweden arrived by roll-on, roll-off (RO-RO) ship at Marchwood Military Port on the UK's southern coast.  The government-to-government agreement signed in March will fill the gap left in the British Army's 155 mm close suppo...

Sig Sauer displays its XM250 automatic rifle at the AUSA 2023 annual conference. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)  As the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) programme enters its limited-user test phase, Sig Sauer says its XM7 and XM250 meet the army's requirements for toxic fumes.    The replacement for the M4/M4A1 carbine weapon, the XM7, and the replacement for the M249 squad automatic weapon, the XM250, both had pressure built up in the chambers of the weapons that led to toxic fumes being pushed out, Jason St John, senior director of governm...

The US Army will redesign the Abrams MBT to become the M1E3. The service expects to acquire the MBT through an engineering change proposal, according to army officials. (Combined Joint Task Force - Oper)  The new Abrams M1E3 main battle tank (MBT) design – with General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) as the prime contractor – will use various subsystem competitions to reduce the weight and sustainment tail of the tank, Doug Bush, the US Army assistant secretary for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, told Janes on 10 October.  While the most...

A screengrab of a video posted in October by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shows the destroyed Russian R-330ZH Zhitel Automated Jamming Station. (Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)  A Russian R-330ZH Zhitel Automated Jamming Station has been destroyed in the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine.  According to an announcement on 9 October by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the attack was “completed by artillerymen” and supported by its SOF units.  R-330Z...

BAE Systems displays the XM1155-SC projectile at the AUSA 2023 annual defence conference. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)  BAE Systems and a Boeing-Nammo team have both claimed to break records for the US Army's XM1155 programme, the companies announced on 9 October.  In September, BAE Systems fired its XM1155-SC guided projectile “the furthest distance an M109 Paladin has ever fired a guided projectile”, according to a press release. The Boeing- and Nammo-developed 155 mm projectile set the record for the “longest indirect fire test of a ramjet-powe...

SmartShooter is supplying its lightest weapon-mounted fire control system, the SMASH 2000L, to the US for C-sUAS defence. (SmartShooter)    Smart Shooter's US subsidiary on 3 October was contracted to supply more of its SMASH 2000L weapon-mounted fire control systems to the US Army for counter-small unmanned aerial system (C-sUAS) defence, the company told   Janes  .   SMASH optics uses image processing to automatically acquire a target from a weapon sight's field-of-view (FOV) and then displays a box around the target in...

Hirtenberger Defence Technology's ArcFire in use by the Royal Danish Army with its 81 mm mortars. (Hirtenberger Defence Technology)  Hirtenberger Defence Technology has continued to make progress with its ArcFire indirect fire-control system (FCS), including integrating it with both command-and-control (C2) and simulation systems.  Speaking to Janes, Ian Garnett, Hirtenberger's CEO, said the relationship with Mandus Group, which produces the Hawkeye high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMMVW)-mounted 105 mm artillery system, continued...

The Israel Defense Forces has operated an Iron Dome in the region to intercept rocket attacks. Since the outbreak of the most recent conflict, the US Army has declined to say if it will provide its own Iron Dome batteries or Tamir missiles in support of its ally. (Rafael)  The US Army's Iron Dome mobile, short-range air-defence system is operating with one of the service's Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs) based in the Pacific, General James Rainey, commander of Army Futures Command, announced 9 October.  Designed by Israeli company Rafael, th...

DRS RADA Technologies developed the nMHR, a wide-band, X-band radar sensor, for highly mobile ground-based air-defence operations. (DRS RADA Technologies)  DRS RADA Technologies has developed a wide-band, X-band radar sensor called the nMHR (Next-generation Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar) for highly mobile ground-based air-defence operations, Charlene Caputo, Business Development vice-president, told Janes.  “Traditionally DRS radars have operated in the S-band as this band offers an excellent balance of range and accuracy,” Caputo told Jane...

The Brazilian Army has formally started the refurbishment process for its M109A3 self-propelled howitzers fleet. (Victor Manuel Saraiva Barreira)  The Brazilian Army has formally cleared a guideline on 2 October to start refurbishing its M109A3 self-propelled howitzers, according to a 22 September army announcement.  The effort is part of the subprogram ‘Field Artillery System' (SPrg SAC) and seeks to restore operability and extend the M109A3's life cycle by replacing structural parts and components or equipment, the army said. An army workin...

A quadcopter co-ordinating autonomously alongside a UGV in a de-mining exercise in Belgium in September 2023, supported by the European Defence Agency. (European Defence Agency)  A de-mining exercise involving an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and two unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) was held in Belgium in September to assess the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for improvised explosive device (IED) detection.  The exercise, supported by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and announced on 2 October, involved a quadcopter and two UGVs...

A prototype version of General Micro Systems' Extended Manpack X9 variant, being demonstrated at AUSA 2023, Washington, DC. (General Micro Systems)  General Micro Systems (GMS) are demonstrating a manpackable computer prototype of its X9 Spider family of open distributed computing architecture (DCA) small form factor systems, which company officials say can replicate 50–75% of the computing power within a tactical operations centre (TOC) or forward operating base (FOB).  The Extended Manpack X9 variant consists essentially of a single Spider...