The M109A7 SPH, pictured above firing in an US Army exercise, can sustain a one round per minute rate of fire and a maximum rate of fire of four rounds per minute. (US Army)
BAE Systems has offered its M109A7 155 mm tracked self-propelled howitzer (SPH) to the Republic of China Army (RoCA) to meet the service's howitzer requirement, a spokesperson for BAE Systems told Janes at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September 2023.
The spokesperson said the company is in discussion...
The Skyranger 35 is an unmanned 35 mm air-defence turret that in this case has been fitted to a Boxer module. The turret is housed atop the module and consumes an insignificant amount of internal volume. (Janes/Christopher Petrov)
Rheinmetall displayed a new mobile cannon-based air-defence solution at DSEI 2023 in London.
Rheinmetall has already developed the Skyranger 30 and its new Skyranger 35 introduces a larger-calibre gun, using the 35 mm revolver gun design that is also employed on its semi-mobile and static air-defence solution, Sky...
Steel Core Designs Black Widow 5.56 mm assault rifle. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Steel Core Designs publicly unveiled its Black Widow 5.56×45 mm assault rifle at DSEI 2023 in London.
Speaking to Janes, Mike Cherry, the company's CEO and designer of the Black Widow, explained the design philosophy behind the new weapon. Better known for their high-precision rifles, the company decided to design an assault rifle using a unique and patented action.
The bolt is locked by an ‘over-cam' system using two actuating arms to lock the bolt face to the b...
Thales MBR 5.56 mm assault rifle. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Thales Australia and Lithgow Arms revealed further details of their latest small-arms developments at DSEI 2023 in London.
Speaking to Janes, representatives from the companies outlined work undertaken on a range of rifles, including the F90 Modular Bullpup Rifle (MBR). Essentially an improved F90 rifle, development of the MBR began in 2017 with an aim of improving the weapon's overall ergonomics and functionality. A new ambidextrous magazine release was repositioned on the front of...
Piorun MANPADS – the Next Generation system is intended to be more effective against modern countermeasures. (Jakub Link-Lenczowski)
Polish missile and ammunition specialist Mesko is developing a new version of its Piorun manportable air-defence system (MANPADS).
Przemysław Kowalczuk, a member of Mesko's board, told Janes that the Piorun Next Generation (NG) is intended to improve the system's effectiveness against modern countermeasures, including jamming, decoys, and laser-based countermeasures. “The biggest improveme...
Sweden has ordered 48 Archer 8×8 SPHs (pictured at Eurosatory 2022). (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
Sweden ordered 48 Archer 8×8 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) as it delivered the first of 14 6×6 versions of the SPH to the UK. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) said on its website on 13 September that the contract was worth SEK5 billion (USD446.63 million) and the first Archer would be delivered in 2025. Reuters reported that the contract was finalised at the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition held in London from 12 to 15 September.
Th...
A 5.56 mm XT112 assault rifle prototype showcased at TADTE 2023. The rifle has a firing range of 600 m. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)
The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense's (MND's) Armaments Bureau has developed a new 5.56 mm rifle called XT112 assault rifle to replace the Republic of China Army's (RoCA's) in-service T91 assault rifles.
The bureau showcased the rifle at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September.
Under development by the 205th Arsenal of the Armaments Bureau, w...
Beretta NARP 5.56 mm rifles in different configurations. (Beretta Defense Technologies)
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta, part of the Beretta Defense Technologies Group, unveiled its new 5.56×45 mm rifle at DSEI 2023 in London.
Speaking to Janes , a company representative said the rifle was developed under the New Assault Rifle Platform (NARP) project and will complement the company's existing ARX160 in its portfolio. The NARP project began in 2018, with the first functional prototypes being handed over to units of the Ita...
BAE Systems unveiled a manoeuvre short-range air defence variant of the BvS-10 all-terrain vehicle at DSEI 2023. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
BAE Systems unveiled a manoeuvre short-range air defence (M-SHORAD) variant of the BvS10 armoured all-terrain vehicle (ATV) at DSEI 2023 in London.
Briefing journalists, Darren Restarick, BAE Systems Hägglunds' director of product strategy, said the BvS10 is moving from being an armoured personnel carrier to a modular fighting vehicle able to address almost any modern operational threat, with the possibi...
By Jeremy Binnie & Sonny Butterworth15 September 2023
A Paramount Mbombe 6 with a Jordanian Snake Head turret. (Paramount Group)
South African defence company Paramount announced during the DSEI 2023 exhibition held in London that it has secured two orders for its 6×6 Mbombe 6 armoured vehicle, with 20 presently in production and deliveries under way. The company said these are the third and fourth customers for the Mbombe 6, with one of the others known to be Kazakhstan, where it is locally produced as the Barys 6.
Paramount identified the new customers only as defence forces in Latin America...
BAE Systems displayed the M1284 Medical Evacuation Vehicle (MEV) variant of the AMPV at DSEI in September 2023. This was the first time the AMPV had been publicly displayed overseas. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)
BAE Systems revealed that it is planning to test counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) and turreted mortar variants of its Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) tracked armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) during media briefings held at DSEI 2023 in London.
Announcing its international debut at the exhibition, Bill Sheehy, AMPV programme...
Drone Evolution's Sentinel tethered UAV, displayed at DSEI 2023, is suited for forward operating bases or border security. (Janes/Olivia Savage)
The UK-based Drone Evolution has debuted a new tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at DSEI 2023, held from 12 to 15 September in London.
Known as Sentinel, the UAV can be used as an airborne surveillance solution or as a rebroadcasting node that can eliminate blackspots, enabled with Steatite's MPU5 Mesh radio, Toby Townrow, co-founder and business development director at Drone Evolution,...
FFG Wisent 1 MCT at DSEI 2023. This vehicle is identical to those procured for Ukraine in January 2023, with the exception of the cover over the louvres at the side of the engine compartment. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)
Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) used DSEI 2023 to display the Mine Clearing Tank (MCT) variant of its Wisent 1 armoured engineering vehicle (AEV), eight of which have been supplied to Ukraine.
The 42.6 tonne Wisent 1 MCT is based upon a former German Bergepanzer 2 armoured recovery vehicle (ARV), which has been adap...
The Alakran-S mounted on a Polaris MRZR Alpha 4 all-terrain vehicle at DSEI in September 2023. The mortar is shown in its deployed position, with the screen for the fire-control system on the left side. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)
Milanion New Technologies Global Systems (NTGS) and Polaris Government & Defense publicly displayed the Alakran-S 81 mm mortar system mounted on a Polaris MRZR Alpha 4 4×4 vehicle for the first time at the DSEI 2023 exhibition in London.
The Alakran-S (the ‘S' denoting ‘small') made its debut at IDEX 2023 mounted on...
GDLS–UK displayed a TRX UGV with Brimstone missiles at DSEI 2023. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
General Dynamics Land Systems–UK (GDLS–UK) displayed a TRX heavy tracked unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with Brimstone missile launchers at the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition held in London on 12–15 September. The UGV has two pods with four MBDA Brimstone missiles each and two remotely operated weapon stations, one with a MAG 7.62 mm machine gun and the other with an M2 12.7 mm machine gun.
A GDLS–UK representative told Janes that his company had propos...
Rheinmetall unveiled a C-UAS version of its Mission Master XT UGV at DSEI 2023. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
Rheinmetall unveiled a counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) version of its 4×4 Mission Master XT (Extreme Terrain) unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) at the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition, held in London from 12 to 15 September.
The UGV has a remote-controlled weapon station with a Dillon Aero 7.62 mm gatling gun with a rate of fire of 3,000 rds/min and a range of 1,200 m, and a FLIR 3D dual-use (land and air) radar that can detect micro-U...
HK421 7.62 mm machine gun, right-hand side. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Heckler & Koch (H&K) debuted its new lightweight 7.62×51 mm chambered machine gun at DSEI 2023 in London.
The new weapon has the HK421 designation and is derived from the company's MG5 series of 7.62 mm general-purpose machine guns (GPMGs). Compared with the MG5A2 – the standard infantry model fitted with a 460 mm-long barrel – the HK421 with its 421 mm-long barrel (the longest currently on offer) is approximately 2.7 kg lighter. The company also offers a 330 mm-long barre...
Mossberg ‘Vanisher' breacher shotgun (Janes/ Amael Kotlarski)
Mossberg's new highly compact ‘Vanisher' breaching shotgun was designed at the request of a specialist UK-based unit, company representatives told Janes at DSEI 2023 in London.
Based on the 500/590 series of 12-bore, pump-action shotguns, the company made some notable changes to the design to meet the units very specific requirements.
The very strict overall length limitation meant that the use of the traditional tubular magazine had to be abandoned i...
Examples of the extended reality flight simulators that are being supplied by Ryan Aerospace to the US Navy. (Ryan Aerospace)
Ryan Aerospace (Australia) has secured a USD28 million contract to supply the US Navy (USN) with extended reality flight simulators.
Under the deal, Ryan Aerospace will supply 50 units of the equipment, which it refers to as immersive training devices (ITDs), to the USN's Naval Aviation Training Next (NATN) programme.
The ITDs can be configured to simulate a wide range of aircraft types.
Each unit consists of a vir...
IDV Robotics' Viking UGV at DSEI 2023 (Janes/Ares Simone Monzio Compagnoni)
The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) has purchased two IDV Robotics Viking Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Janes has learned.
Speaking at DSEI 2023 in London, IDV Robotics' head of sales and marketing, Robert Mohacsi, said that the vehicles will undergo testing for operations in extreme weather conditions.
The Viking UGV is a 6×6 electric and diesel hybrid platform that features a large payload bay. It is primarily de...