The Jadara Raptor on display at the SOFEX 2022 show. (Mohammed Najib)    The new Raptor rocket launcher developed by Jadara Equipment & Defence Systems has completed testing and will enter production later this year, the Jordanian company's general director told  Janes  at the SOFEX 2022 show held in Aqaba from 1 to 3 November.   “By the end of this year, 2022, the Jadara factory will start producing the Raptor in marketing quantities,” Colonel Engineer (retd) Ayman Mashouqah said.  The Raptor uses the same reusable sightin...

India's DRDO conducted a maiden flight test of the Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor known as the AD-1 missile from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha on 2 November. The DRDO said that the missile has the ability to intercept targets within a range of 5,000 km. (Indian MoD)  India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted a maiden flight test of the Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) interceptor known as the AD-1 missile, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.  According to a p...

Petra Global's JF-56 ultra-light machine gun at the SOFEX 2022 show in Aqaba. (Janes/Karl Ballard)  Petra Global, a Jordanian defence company, displayed an ultra-lightweight 5.56×45 mm light machine gun (LMG) during the SOFEX 2022 show held in Aqaba from 1 to 3 November.  Two prototypes were displayed as the JF-56 (short for Jordanian Forces 56), although some of the marketing material referred to the LMG as the MFR-56. The name MFR-56 was used by the Turkish company System Defence when it unveiled the weapon at the IDEF show held in Istanbu...

A poster of the Hunter MANPADS at the Jadara stand at SOFEX 2022. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)  Jordan's Jadara Equipment & Defence Systems is developing its first manportable air defence system (MANPADS), it was revealed at the SOFEX 2022 show held in Aqaba from 1 to 3 November.    The Hunter (Al-Sayad in Arabic) was not displayed at the show, and a Jadara official told  Janes  it is still in development.   However, a brochure provided specifications, saying the missile is 1.5 m in length, has a calibre of 72 mm, and weighs 10.77...

A model of the Respati RCWS that has been installed on several Indonesian Army Anoa armoured personnel carriers. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  Indonesian firm PT Respati Solusi Rekatama (Respati) has secured a contract to supply the Indonesian Army with its locally developed remote controlled weapon station (RCWS).  The system, which is said to have been designed and built fully in-country, would be installed on the Indonesian Army's Anoa armoured personnel carriers. The contract was signed in late 2021, and it covers the delivery of 11 RCWS units....

Japan has confirmed plans to integrate SM-6 air-defence missiles onto its two JMSDF Maya-class destroyers. Pictured above is the second of these two vessels, JS  Haguro  , which was commissioned in March 2021.  (Japanese MoD)    The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) has disclosed to  Janes  plans to integrate Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) air-defence missiles onto Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Maya-class destroyers from 2026.   The plans were revealed nearly two weeks after the US Defen...

Models of the Teevra 40 naval gun system on display during Indo Defence 2022. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a contract to deliver 40 mm naval gun systems to the Indonesian Navy, which marks the first-ever export of the weapon system from India to Indonesia.    Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two sources at the Indo Defence 2022 exhibition, being held in Jakarta, from 2 to 5 November, have confirmed with   Janes  that L&T will supply the company's Teevra 40 system and the weapon will go onbo...

JODDB unveiled the Al-Tareq mobile mortar system at the SOFEX 2022 show. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)  The Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) displayed a prototype of its mobile Al-Tareq rapidly deployable 81 mm mortar system at the SOFEX 2022 show, being held in Aqaba from 1 to 3 November.  The system was displayed on a Toyota Land Cruiser fitted with a hydraulic system at the back of its bed that lowers the mortar into a firing position in two minutes, Engineer Abdelrahman al-Rowwad, the project manager, told Janes.  The Al-Tareq has a f...

The Didgori 120 mm mortar carrier displayed at SOFEX 2022. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)  The Jordanian company Petra Global is confident it will find Middle Eastern customers for the 120 mm mortar variant of the Didgori armoured vehicle it displayed at the SOFEX 2022 show held in Aqaba from 1 to 3 November.  Established as a military procurement company in 2010, Petra Global has an agreement with Georgia's Delta State Military Scientific-Technical Centre to market the Didgori in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It has sold Didgori am...

The Teledyne FLIR Defense MUVE R430 is pictured here. It is a radiation detector payload suited for UASs. (Teledyne FLIR Defense )  Teledyne FLIR Defense has unveiled MUVE R430, a payload that remotely detects and identifies radiation sources.  Launched at the 2022 CBRNe Convergence in Boston on 1 November, the radiation detector is suited for use on unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and can detect, locate, measure, map, and identify radioactive sources, a company announcement said.    Joe Ailinger, director of public relations at Teledy...

In 2018 the CAR 816 was selected to meet an Indian Army requirement for a new carbine. That contract was cancelled but the requirement has re-emerged. (Edge)  Edge Group's Caracal subsidiary is planning to achieve full production capabilities for its small arms in India, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hyderabad-based ICOMM.    Speaking to   Janes  , Caracal's CEO, Hamad Alameri, explained that the company has developed partnerships with suppliers in India that will enable ICOMM to commence pro...

The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb combines an M26 ground-based rocket motor with an air-launched Small Diameter Bomb. (Saab/Boeing)  The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which Boeing and Saab developed to provide long-range, ground-to-ground precision fires, is close to lining up its first customer, according to Saab's chief executive.  “We are imminently, shortly expecting contracts on that,” Saab president and CEO Micael Johansson told analysts on 28 October.  Johansson did not elaborate, and spokespersons for Sweden's Saa...

Ukrainian unmanned surface vessels (USVs) targeted naval units from Russia's Black Sea Fleet at Russia's naval base in Sevastopol during a ‘kamikaze' attack on 29 October.  According to video footage circulating widely on social media, a Project 11...

The Ford  -  class design features changes meant to improve carrier operations.  (HII)    As the aircraft carrier USS   Gerald R Ford  made its arduous journey from development towards US Navy (USN) fleet operations, the spotlight always shone brightest on the ship's futuristic launching, recovery, and weapons-elevators systems.   However, now that the ship unmoored in the first week of October 2022 for its first deployment to lead the USN's inaugural Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG), U...

The laser weapon demonstrator, co-developed by MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, has been installed on   Sachsen  inside a 20 ft container.   (Rheinmetall)  A German industry partnership (ARGE) comprising MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition has revealed the first operational tests of a laser weapon from a German warship.    Announcing the milestone on 27 October, Rheinmetall said that initial testing of the High-Energy Laser Naval Demonstrator against unmanned air vehicle (UAV) tar...

Poland signed a framework contract with Hanwha for 288 K239 Chunmoo MRLs on 19 October. (Hanwha)  Poland signed a framework contract with Hanwha for 288 K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers (MRLs) on 19 October. The contract was signed by Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak and Son Jaeil, president and CEO of Hanwha Defense.  Under the framework agreement, the first batch of 18 Chunmoo systems and ammunition will be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces in 2023, Hanwha announced in a press release...

The Mrt Me Acg 81 mm mortar was developed by the Brazilian Army's Technological Center, and is being produced at the War Arsenal of Rio de Janeiro. (Victor Barreira)  The Brazilian Army plans to progressively convert 182 of its more than 550 IDV VBTP-MSR Guarani 6×6 amphibious armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) into 81 mm mortar carriers.  The effort intends to increase fire-support troops' mobility and protection, while also safely transporting mortar and related equipment inside a vehicle, the army said. The kit must be easy to install, util...

The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence's Defence Materiel Agency has signed a contract with Saab Dynamics for Bolide and Mk 2 missiles for the RBS 70 short-range air-defence system. (Lithuanian Army)  The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced on its website on 21 October that its Defence Materiel Agency had signed a EUR45 million (USD45.1 million) contract with Sweden's Saab Dynamics for Bolide and Mk 2 missiles for the RBS 70 short-range air-defence system. Saab said in a press release published on 24 October that the...

The Royal Saudi Naval Forces received its first Couach FPB 2200 patrol boats at the Jeddah naval base on 25 October. (Saudi Press Agency)  Saudi Arabia has confirmed that its new FPB 2200 patrol boats that the French shipyard Couach is delivering are armed with LIG Nex1's Low-Cost Guided Imaging Rocket (LOGIR) missile launcher for countering small attack boats.  The Saudi Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 25 October that the first batch of Couach patrol boats had been delivered to the Western Fleet. It did not mention how many had been d...

A 1/4 scale model of a canistered LRASM-SL configuration for use with Mk 41 Strike Length VLS. Note the booster. To the immediate left of the LRASM-SL is a smaller-scale model of Mk 41 VLS configured with four LRASM-SL effectors. (Robin Hughes)  Lockheed Martin Australia, teamed with Thales Australia, is advancing a surface-launched (SL) derivative of the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) for the Australian Department of Defence's (DoD's) future land- and sea-based maritime strike requirements.  Canberra is preparing to acquire up...