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...
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)...
BrahMos ER is an improved variant of baseline BrahMos (pictured above) taking part in India's Republic Day parade. The estimated range of the extended variant is 72% (between 450 and 500 km) more than the baseline version range of 290 km. (Indian Ministry of Defence)
The BrahMos Missile Regiment of the Indian Army has test-fired a land-attack version of extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile (BrahMos ER) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 10 October, an Indian Army official told Janes.
The official said the test was part of t...
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...
The MRSAM system (pictured above) can intercept multiple targets at ranges up to 70 km. (Israel Aerospace Industries)
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed an air-defence system known as the medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) near India's northwestern borders with Pakistan, an IAF source told Janes on 9 October .
The MRSAM – which is the domestic variant of the Israeli-developed Barak-8 SAM system – is deployed at Air Force Station (AFS) Adampur in Jalandhar district, Punjab, the source added.
AFS Adam...
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...
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...
The US Army is confident its LRHW can be fielded this year despite a recent flight-test cancellation. (US Navy)
Despite testing delays, army officials are bullish that a new Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) could be fielded by the end of 2023.
“We are confident in the calendar year,” James Mills, deputy director of the Army Hypersonics Project Office in the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), said during a 9 October briefing at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual conference in Washington, DC....
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...
The MM40 Block 3c Exocet operational evaluation firing was performed from the frigate Alsace on 20 September. (Marine Nationale)
The French Navy has completed an operational evaluation firing of the new Block 3c iteration of MBDA's MM40 Exocet surface-to-surface guided missile.
Undertaken from the Aquitaine-class multimission frigate Alsace in the Mediterranean in late September, the test was designed to prove the performance of the anti-ship missile, most notably the upgraded J-band active radar seeker int...
Ukraine to receive Kongsberg Cortex Typhon C-UAS solution and Dingo 2 vehicles as part of the International Fund for Ukraine. (Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace)
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is now in the test phase for integrating the Cortex Typhon counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs) and plans to deliver the first platforms to Ukraine in early 2024, the company told Janes on 4 October.
The company announced in August it would send several systems to Ukraine worth GBP56 million (USD68 million), funded by the International F...
Thales Australia employees conduct the final visual inspection of .50 calibre ball linked ammunition on the production line at Benalla. (Thales Australia)
The Australian government will invest AUD220 million (USD139.9 million) in state-owned munitions production factories in Mulwala in New South Wales and Benalla in Victoria, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said in a press release on 6 October.
According to the DoD, the investment will improve industrial capacity through infrastructure redevelopments at each site to meet future d...
The Spanish Army operates Patriot air-defence systems acquired secondhand from Germany. (Spanish Army)
The US State Department notified Congress on 4 October of a possible US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Spain of Patriot Configuration-3+ modernised fire units for an estimated cost of USD2.8 billion, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced in a press release later the same day.
The agency said that the Spanish government had requested four Patriot Configuration-3+ modernised fire units consisting of 51 Patriot Advanced...
Spain is procuring 168 Spike LR2 ATGW systems. (Armasuisse )
Spain's Council of Ministers approved the signing of a EUR285 million (USD300 million) contract for 168 Spike LR2 long-range anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) systems, the Spanish government announced on its website on 3 October. They will replace obsolete systems and reduce life-cycle costs, the government said, adding that the procurement would allow interoperability of systems.
The Spanish Army has Spike LR, MILAN, and TOW ATGWs, according to Janes World Armies. Spike LR and LR2 a...
A computer-generated image of the final configuration of the Polish Navy's first Miecznik frigate. (Babcock)
Thales UK has sealed a contract with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) to supply and integrate the core combat suite for Poland's Miecznik (Swordfish) frigate programme.
Signed on 4 October, the EUR400 million (USD419 million)-plus contract – being primed through the company's Above Water Systems business line – covers the supply of the TACTICOS combat management system (CMS) above-water sensors and fire control, and an anti-submarine s...
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry is seen here launching a Tomahawk cruise missile. Japan is seeking to accelerate its acquisition of this capability. (US Navy)
Japan is accelerating efforts to procure selected stand-off weapons, including the US-supplied Tomahawk cruise missile, amid deteriorating security conditions in the region.
The matter was announced by the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) on 5 October.
“The Ministry of Defense and the [Japan] Self-Defense Forces will str...
Kimon , the first FDI frigate for the Hellenic Navy, was officially launched at Naval Group's Lorient shipyard on 4 October. (Naval Group)
French shipbuilder Naval Group has officially launched the first Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention (FDI) multimission frigate on order for the Hellenic Navy (HN).
A formal launch ceremony for the future HS Kimon (F 601) was held at Naval Group's shipyard in Lorient, France, on 4 October following the ship's technical launch the previous week. Kimon was laid down in October 2022 and f...
An unarmed Trident II (D5LE) missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming during a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 31 in September 2021. A similar test was conducted on 27 September 2023 from the submarine USS Louisiana . (US Navy)
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) launched an unarmed life-extended Trident II (D5LE) missile on 27 September on the Western Test Range off the coast of San Diego, Califor...