UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace and Swedish Minister of Defence Pål Jonson signed a letter of intent (LOI) in London on 29 March on a bilateral strategic partnership. The Swedish and UK ministries of defence (MoDs) said in press releases on 28 and 29 March, respectively, that the signing of the LOI strengthened bilateral military co-operation and the two countries' defence relationship.  The two MoDs linked Jonson and Wallace's meeting in London to Sweden's sale of 14 Archer self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) to the UK, which the S...

Germany is procuring 10 new PzH 2000s for delivery in 2025–26 to replace the SPHs supplied to Ukraine in 2022. (KMW)  Germany's Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr: BAAINBw) awarded Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) a contract for 10 new Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 155 mm self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) on 30 March, the German company announced in a press release on the same day. The contract includes options for three batches...

The first NATO DIANA regional headquarters was opened by NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană (left) and UK Minister for Defence Procurement Alex Chalk (right). The centre will bring together academia, industry, and government in a shared space along with the UK's Defence and Security Accelerator, defence contractors, and the US Department of Defense's Tri-Service Office. (Crown Copyright)  The first NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) office was formally opened in London on 30 March, the authority announ...

General Dynamics Land Systems displayed the Tracked Robot 10-ton (TRX) technology demonstrator at Global Force AUSA in March 2023. The robot carried a short-range air-defence (SHORAD) payload for the first time, according to the company. (General Dynamics Land Systems)    The US Army released a Request for Prototype Projects (RPP) for the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV)    programme on 29 March through the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC), which manages the service's prototyping effort.     Competitors have 45...

Bystra, fitted on an AMZ Kutno Żubr-P armoured vehicle, is a redeployable radar developed by PIT-RADWAR that is capable of detecting aerial threats, such as helicopters, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles for V/SHORAD systems. (PIT-RADWAR)  The Polish Armament Agency has signed a PLN1.1 billion (USD255.4 million) agreement with the PGZ-Pilica+ consortium for the Bystra radar, the authority announced on 29 March.  In total, 22 Bystra radars, developed by PIT-RADWAR under the PGZ-Pilica+ consortium, will be delivered between 2026 and 2028,...

KYSEA approved the purchase of 100 Spike NLOS missiles to arm AH-64A attack helicopters of the Hellenic Army Air Corps, the upgrade of 19 of the helicopters by Israeli company Elbit, and the certification of nine of them to be armed with the air-to-ground version of Spike NLOS. (Boeing)  Greece's Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) chaired by Prime Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos approved the purchase of Spike Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) systems and missiles for all three services on 29 March.  KYSEA approved the purchas...

The 105 mm CS/AH2 howitzer, pictured above, is similar in all aspects to the BAE systems L118/L119 (105 mm) light howitzer. The gun is produced by Poly Technologies, with likely involvement from Norinco. (Poly Technologies Inc)    Thailand's Defense Technology Institute (DTI) has signed a    memorandum of understanding    (MOU) with the Artillery Center of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) for the research and development (R&D) of a 105 mm CS/AH2 light howitzer prototype.   According to a press release by the DTI, the two...

MBDA Enforcer. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)    MBDA's Enforcer lightweight missile launcher is in the final qualification phases and first deliveries to the German customer are expected in 2024, company officials told   Janes   at the SOFINS 2023 exhibition, near Bordeaux, France.   Developed by MBDA Germany at the request of German special forces, the Enforcer is designed to complement the Wirkmittel 90 (RGW 90) already in use. Under a contract signed in 2019, up to 3,000 Enforcer systems will be delivered to the German special...

Thales Sophie Ultima. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  Thales demonstrated the Far Target Location (FTL) capabilities of its Sophie Ultima thermal imager at the SOFINS 2023 exhibition in Bordeaux, France.  Sophie Ultima features an optical day channel with a 20º wide field-of-view and unlike earlier members of the Sophie family is fitted with a continuous zoom function, which helps to maintain the target in sight at extended distances. The system is equipped with a cooled thermal imager that supports a 6 km detect, recognise, and identify range for a...

A Büffel armoured recovery vehicle (left) and Leopard 2A6 tanks (right) for Ukraine being loaded on a train in Bergen-Belsen, Germany. (Bundeswehr/Susanne Hähnel)  Ukraine has received German and Portuguese Leopard 2A6 and UK Challenger 2 main battle tanks (MBTs). The Portuguese Ministry of National Defence tweeted on 27 March that the three Leopard 2A6s donated by Lisbon were in Ukraine. The next day, the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in a press release that 18 Leopard 2A6s, including ammunition and spare parts, and two Büffel a...

Thales XTRAIM weapon sight mounted on a Sig Sauer MCX Virtus .300 BLK rifle. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)  Thales demonstrated a combination of its XTRAIM thermal weapon sight and Nellie night-vision goggles (NVGs) at the SOFINS 2023 defence exhibition, near Bordeaux, France.  The two systems were tested on a course replicating night type four and five environments, and the XTRAIM's fused mode was used to detect thermally active targets that would have been almost impossible to detect using an image intensified device alone.  Unveiled in 2021, t...

A Büffel armoured recovery vehicle (left) and Leopard 2A6 tanks (right) for Ukraine being loaded on a train in Bergen-Belsen, Germany. (Bundeswehr/Susanne Hähnel)  Ukraine has received German Leopard 2A6 and UK Challenger 2 main battle tanks (MBTs). The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in a press release on 28 March that 18 Leopard 2A6s, including ammunition and spare parts, and two Büffel armoured recovery vehicles, with their crews trained in Germany, had arrived in Ukraine the same day. Also on 28 March, Ukrainian Defence Ministe...

FNSS has delivered the first Zaha MAVs to the Turkish Navy. (FNSS)  Turkey's FNSS Savunma Sistemleri has started delivering the first new Zaha Marine Assault Vehicles (MAVs) to the Turkish Naval Forces Command's (TNFC's) Amphibious Infantry Brigade, the company has announced.  The Zaha MAV has been developed by FNSS to meet the requirements of the Turkish navy in support of amphibious operations under an agreement signed between Turkey's Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) and FNSS in 2017. The vehicles are planned to be deployed from the...

An illustration of an extended-range Precision Strike Missile. Lockheed Martin is one of two industry teams working on the US Army's Precision Strike Missile Increment 4. (Lockheed Martin)  US defence companies have begun competing for the fourth increment of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM Inc 4), officials said on 27 March.  Lockheed Martin and a team of Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman announced they will participate in the army's science and technology (S&T) effort for an extended-range version of the weapon system, which is...

Sako rifles for Finnish and Swedish armed forces. (Sako)  Finland and Sweden are jointly procuring assault and sniper rifles from Finnish company Sako. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the logistics department of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) signed a framework agreement on the joint procurement with Sako at its factory in Riihimäki on 27 March.  Sako said in a press release the same day that the framework agreement would enable Finland and Sweden to procure the weapons, initially covering a period of 10 years, with an...

The new ATGMs will replace Metis-M ATGM systems mounted on the Malaysian Army's Mercedes G-Wagen 4×4 weapon carriers. The picture above is an example of a Mercedes G-Wagen weapon carrier. (Janes/Patrick Allen )  The Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has requested bids for the supply of 18 medium-range anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems.  In the bid document, MINDEF said there is a requirement for the anti-tank platoon of the infantry battalion to be equipped with medium-range ATGMs, which can engage and destroy enemy armour at a dis...

Thales SquadNet tactical radio to be delivered to the Austrian Army to support military modernisation. (Thales)  The Austrian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Thales for the provision of its SquadNet tactical radio.  More than 2,500 radios will be delivered to the Austrian Army to support its digital transformation.  This is the second significant order for the radios, following a deal signed with Belgium, the company said.    Thales was unable to respond to   Janes   regarding delivery timeframes and the...

RBSL displayed the Boxer Overwatch concept as part of its celebrations to mark the start of Boxer MIV production at Telford. As well as manufacturing mission modules for the British Army's Boxers, the company also has ambitions to design and market its own mission modules. (Janes/Sonny Butterworth)  Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) inaugurated its production line for the British Army's Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) on 27 March 2023, marking the first time that a new armoured vehicle had entered production at the company's Telford...

BMC unveiled an upgraded version of the Altay main battle tank (MBT) on 22 March 2023. (BMC)  BMC unveiled an upgraded version of the Altay main battle tank (MBT) on 22 March.  Two vehicles are under construction and scheduled to be delivered to the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC) in late April, and will undergo a series of trials ahead of entering service in 2024.    The new Altay is the prototype of an initial production batch of 40 tanks. The vehicle features some important changes from the pre-production prototypes built by Otokar...

THAAD is a long-range, land-based theatre defence system. The easily transportable battery of weapons is designed to engage incoming tactical and theatre ballistic missiles out to 200 km and to intercept them as high as 150 km. The picture shows a THAAD interceptor launched from the Marshall Islands during a flight test in August 2019. (US Missile Defense Agency)  The US Forces Korea (USFK) and the Republic of Korea Army (RoKA)have conducted deployment training for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) remote launcher.  According to...