The first full-scale prototype of the Homar-A MLRS launcher was unveiled at MSPO 2023. (Lockheed Martin)
Janes learnt more details about the framework agreement the Polish Armaments Agency (AA) and Lockheed Martin announced on 11 September, which they had signed for the procurement of M142 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) missile launcher components for Poland's Homar-A Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) at DSEI 2023 held in London from 12 to 15 September.
Under the agreement, signed after it was approved by Polish Minister...
The 12.7 mm XT112 sniper rifle, pictured above from the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023, features a detachable 10-round magazine and has an effective range of 2,000 m. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)
The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense's (MND's) Armaments Bureau has unveiled the 12.7 mm XT112 sniper rifle at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September 2023.
Under development by the 205th Arsenal, which is based in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the new rifle...
A computer-generated image of the P2012 Sentinel SMP equipped with sensors such as an EO/IR pod and IMSAR's NSP-7 radar for ISR operations. (IMSAR)
Taiwan's Apex Aviation and Utah-based IMSAR have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) of Taiwan.
IMSAR will integrate its NSP-7 radar system into Tecnam's P2012 Sentinel Special Mission Platform (SMP) ai...
ST Engineering's 120 mm Ground Deployed Advanced Mortar System. (Janes/Andrew Galer)
ST Engineering is developing a new lightweight 120 mm mounted mortar system that is aimed at providing a quickly deployable capability that can be easily fitted to a range of light utility vehicles, such as a Toyota Land Cruiser.
The company displayed the Ground Deployed Advanced Mortar System (GDAMS) at DSEI 2023 in London. The system is still in development and due for qualification in the first quarter of 2024; depending on the orders received for GDAMS...
The Scout Vehicle, pictured above from TADTE 2023, weighs 7.5 tonnes in its combat form and has a maximum range of 500 km. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)
The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense's (MND's) Armaments Bureau has unveiled the prototype of a new 4×4 light tactical vehicle called Scout Vehicle at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September.
Under development by the 205th Arsenal, based in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the vehicle is designed to perform reconnaissance, sur...
The JLTV can support a RBS-70 NG launcher with up to three missiles mounted. The system is controlled entirely from the interior of the vehicle, with the operators benefitting from the JLTV's armoured protection. (Janes/Christopher Petrov)
A collaborative effort between Oshkosh and Saab to provide short-range air defence on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) was unveiled at DSEI 2023 in London.
The vehicle is equipped with an RBS-70 NG man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS). In addition, the JLTV has been fitted with Saab's Barracu...
The Norwegian Army will receive new COMINT and jamming solutions from R&S to enhance situational awareness. (Forsvaret)
The Norwegian Army will be equipped with new communications intelligence (COMINT) and jamming solutions from Rohde & Schwarz (R&S), Janes learnt at DSEI 2023, held from 12 to 15 September in London.
The new electronic warfare (EW) solutions are being delivered under the Heimdall project, which will enable the Norwegian Army to detect, locate, and analyse information faster and more efficiently whi...
Estonia and Latvia signed a framework agreement with Diehl on 11 September for IRIS-T SLM air-defence systems. (Diehl)
Estonia and Latvia will receive training, along with the Luftwaffe, in Germany on the IRIS-T surface-launched medium range (SLM) air-defence systems that the two Baltic countries are jointly procuring, a Diehl Defence representative told Janes on the first day of DSEI 2023, held in London from 12 to 15 September.
The training will take place at the ground-based air-defence (GBAD) training facility...
The deployable variant of Saab's Giraffe 1X radar displayed at DSEI 2023, which has been acquired by the UK military. (Janes/Olivia Savage)
Saab has launched a deployable variant of its Giraffe 1X 3D radar at DSEI 2023, held from 12 to 15 September in London.
Known as the Deployable Set, the new configuration is designed as a compact, robust, and highly deployable radar that can be easily transported and quickly set up.
A key difference with the deployable variant is its ability to operate on the move when deployed on naval vessels or land...
A model of ST Engineering's Next Generation Protected Vehicle fitted with the company's Hybrid Electric Drive Kit. (Janes/Huw Williams)
ST Engineering expects to complete testing of its Hybrid Electric Drive Kit and Next Generation Protected Vehicle (NGPV) – on which the kit is installed – within six to 12 months.
Speaking to Janes at DSEI 2023 in London, Jensen Chew, vice-president and product director of electrification and 4×4 vehicles at ST Engineering, said that testing had so far taken pla...
Gen Sanders said in his speech at DSEI 2023 that Ajax has been described “as an AH-64E on tracks”. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
The British Army will form an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) group by the end of 2023, the UK's Chief of the General Staff, General Patrick Sanders, announced in a speech on the first day of the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition held in London from 12 to 15 September. He said the UAS group would be formed within a reoriented Joint Aviation Command, “which will provide a focal point for industry, around which we intend to de...
An Australian Army trooper launches a Wasp AE UAV during an exercise in Queensland in August 2021. The Australian Army has contracted three companies from eastern Australia to develop UAVs that can support logistics operations as it accelerates efforts to automate supply and casualty evacuation missions. (Commonwealth of Australia)
The Australian Army is encouraging industry to develop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can facilitate logistics operations.
Three companies from eastern Australia have been contracted to develop medium-lift...
A Titán-C armoured vehicle survived an IED attack in August 2023. (Colombian Army )
A Colombian Army Titán-C armoured vehicle survived an attack from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to the army.
In late August a Titán-C 4×4 was attacked with an explosive charge placed next to the road, which caused it to crash in the direction of a car and overturn, according to an army report after the attack. The crew of 12 soldiers escaped unharmed, and the vehicle did not suffer major damage – a second Titán assisted during the attack. Di...
CV9040 IFVs donated by Sweden to Ukraine have been seeing combat. (BAE Systems Hägglunds)
Janes has learned some details of the combat performance of Ukrainian CV90 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) donated by Sweden. The IFV is seeing its first high-intensity combat in Ukraine.
Previously, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish CV90s had been in combat, mainly in Afghanistan but also in Liberia, Dan Lindell, CV90 platform manager at BAE Systems Hägglunds, told journalists on the first day of DSEI 2023, held from 12 to 15 September in London....
People watching a South Korean news broadcast in Seoul showing a parade to mark North Korea's 75th founding anniversary on 9 September 2023. Spotted at the parade were what appears to be the M1985 multiple launch rocket system that has been incorporated into red tipper trucks with false load coverings. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)
North Korea has displayed what appears to be a fleet of multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) units that have been disguised as civilian vehicles.
These units were showcased during a paramilitary parade...
The pre-production Wilder features a redesigned front. (Plasan)
Israel's Plasan debuted a pre-production version of its Wilder lightweight armoured vehicle at DSEI 2023 in London and announced that an undisclosed NATO country has acquired the platform.
Wilder was unveiled by Plasan at Eurosatory 2022 in Paris and the latest version incorporates design changes that have been driven by the results of testing, Nir Kahn, Plasan's director of design told Janes .
“The most obvious visible difference is the new front des...
Rheinmetall delivered the first batch of 35 mm ammunition in August for the Gepard SPAAGs Germany has supplied to Ukraine. (Rheinmetall)
Rheinmetall has begun delivering 35 mm ammunition for the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPAAGs) Germany supplied to Ukraine, the company and the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced. Rheinmetall said in a press release on 6 September that it had delivered the first batch of 30,000 rounds of Gepard ammunition it is supplying to Ukraine in 2023.
During the 14 February Ukraine Defense Contac...
DE&S has awarded a contract for the AIW system to equip the British Army and the Royal Marines (pictured). (Royal Navy)
The UK Ministry of Defence and its Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organisation announced on 7 September the award of a contract for the Alternative Individual Weapon (AIW) system, designated the L403A1 in UK service. DE&S awarded an initial contract for 1,620 AIW systems worth GBP15 million (USD18.7 million), with options for 10,000 systems for a total of GBP90 million.
The systems will equip the British Army and the R...
Soldiers fire the army's new M1A2 SEPv3 tank at Fort Cavazos, Texas, on 18 August 2020. (US Army)
After years of upgrading the Abrams M1A2, the US Army wants to try a newbuild for the main battle tank (MBT), officials announced on 6 September.
The effort to develop the M1E3 Abrams – designated with an ‘E' to represent the prototype phase – will replace the upgrade process for the M1A2 system enhancement package version 4 effort, Brigadier General Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team, said in...
The Skif-M ATGM. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
The Ukrainian armed forces have received the Skif-M anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system, a spokesperson for the Luch Design Bureau told Janes at the MSPO 2023 defence exhibition in Kielce, Poland.
The Skif-M was unveiled in 2022 and is an upgraded version of the Skif system. Known as the Stugna-P in Ukrainian service, the Skif ATGM has been in use with the Ukrainian armed forces since 2018, and has also been exported to eight countries.
Improvements brought to the Skif-M...