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...

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...

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...

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...

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-...

The US Navy fired its first live munitions from an unmanned surface vessel during an exercise. (US Navy)  Unmanned surface vessels (USVs) of the US Navy (USN) fired live weapons on 23 October during Exercise ‘Digital Talon' in the international waters surrounding the Arabian Peninsula – the first use of lethal munitions from USVs in the Middle East region, US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) confirmed on 1 November.  During the exercise, co-ordinated with and supported by Commander, Special Operations Forces Central Command, NAVCENT's T...

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-...

Footage released on 2 November by the Israeli Air Force showing the moments before an F-35I shoots down a Houthi cruise missile. (Israeli Air Force)  An Israeli Air Force (IAF) Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir combat aircraft shot down a cruise missile fired from Yemen by the Iranian-backed Ansar Allah group, known as Houthis.  The IAF announced the event on 2 November, releasing F-35I electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) footage of the engagement.  “In recent days, the IAF's control and detection systems identified a cruise missile launched fro...

The Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile during integration tests with a Spanish Air Force EF-18. (Spanish Air Force)    Integration of the Taurus KEPD 350 air-launched cruise missile into a Ukrainian Su-24 combat aircraft would take a couple of months and training crews for its use would take three or four months, Joachim Knopf, CEO of MBDA Deutschland-Saab Dynamics 67:33 joint venture Taurus Systems, told international journalists, including   Janes,  visiting MBDA Deutschland on 27 October. Integration of Taurus into F-16 combat...

Artist's impression of the Pohjanmaa-class corvettes. (RMC)  Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has announced the start of production of the first Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose corvette on order for the Finnish Navy.  A steel-cutting ceremony was staged at RMC's shipyard in Rauma, Finland, on 30 October.  Under its Squadron 2020 fleet renewal programme, the Finnish Navy is procuring four Pohjanmaa-class corvettes from RMC under a EUR647.6 million (USD707.4 million) design and construction contract awarded in 2019, with the build to be carried o...

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...

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...

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...

An F-35A Lightning II drops a mock B61-12 at Sandia National Laboratories' Tonopah Test Range in November 2020. The new B61-13 will augment the B61-12. (Sandia National Laboratories)  The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it would construct a new type of nuclear gravity bomb, designated B61-13, to complement B61-12 production.  The new bombs are intended to replace some of the B61-7 stockpile while retaining a similar nuclear yield, according to a 27 October announcement. Although production of a new bomb is ongoing, designated th...

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...

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...

A 3D diagram of Japan's EM railgun. (Japan Ministry of Defense)  The Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) has given further details on its intentions behind the country's electromagnetic (EM) railgun programme.  As reported by Janes on 18 October, Japan has carried out the first shipboard test firing of an EM railgun.  It was carried out with co-operation from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), the MoD's Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) announced via an official social media page on 17 October.  In response to question...

The KaraOk anti-tank guided weapon (pictured above) is fitted with a tandem high-explosive anti-tank warhead designed to defeat explosive reactive armour. (Rocketsan Missiles Inc)  The Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has selected Turkey's defence company Roketsan's KaraOK anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) for the Malaysian Army requirement of 18 medium-range anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems, Rahayu Bahaudin, general manager at Malaysia's Ketech Asia, told Janes on 26 October.  The contract has been signed, and Ketech Asia – which i...