The Bundeswehr ordered 123 Boxer sWaTrg Inf HWC infantry vehicles from Rheinmetall on 21 March. (Rheinmetall)  The Bundeswehr is procuring its first specialised versions of the Boxer, placing orders with Rheinmetall for Skyranger 30 air-defence systems mounted on Boxers in February and heavy weapon carriers (HWCs) in March.  It ordered 123 Schwerer Waffenträger Infanterie (sWaTrg Inf) HWC infantry vehicles from Rheinmetall on 21 March, the German company announced in a press release the same day.  On 20 March the Bundestag, Germany's parliame...

HII had already started its workforce for more work at its shipyards, including its facility at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Shipbuilders for US Navy (USN) programmes had braced for a growing work demand signal before the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the pandemic's impacts exacerbated the challenges of that growing manufacturing need, according to Chris Kastner, HII president and CEO.  Shipbuilders, suppliers, and the USN are investing – but still struggling – to meet that work demand in an industry...

Seen here in US Army service, the UH-60M Black Hawk will soon be flown by the Hellenic Army also, following the signing of an LOA for 35 helicopters. (Janes/Patrick Allen)  Greece has joined the international UH-60M Black Hawk programme, with the announcement on 5 April that it signed a letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) for 35 of the medium-lift helicopters.  Lockheed Martin disclosed the milestone some four months after the US government approved the approximately USD1.95 billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in December 2023. This figure...

The decommissioning of amphibious assault ship   Bonhomme Richard,  after the fire, shown here, in April 2021 created a shortfall for such ships in the fleet.  (US Navy)  The US Navy (USN) is investing more in amphibious-related shipbuilding because of perceived operational shortfalls in the amphibious fleet and the extra future capacity for submarines and aircraft carriers, according to Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute.    While th...

Taiwan has developed Hsiung Feng IIE, Hsiung Sheng, and Ching Tien LACMs capable of striking key Chinese cities such as Beijing as well as Wuhan, Shanghai, and Qingdao, as part of its plan to improve air and sea combat capabilities. (Janes)    Taiwan is planning to deploy a long-range variant of Hsiung Feng II land-attack cruise missile (LACM) called Hsiung Sheng in 2024, a Republic of China Army (RoCA) officer told   Janes   on 6 April.   The missile – which went into production in 2022 – can strike at a maximum range of 1...

HII is hoping to avoid some of the resource issues that have delayed the construction of carrier   Enterprise  , whose keel-laying is shown here.  (Janes/Michael Fabey)  Hoping to bolster the supply chain for the production of aircraft carrier CVN 82, HII is hoping to get funding and support for material orders for suppliers, Chris Kastner, HII president and CEO, noted during a roundtable media discussion on 4 April in advance of the Navy League Sea-Air-Space 2024 global maritime exposition, starting on 8 April in...

A resistance attack on Myanmar's administrative capital Naypyidaw on 4 April used domestically produced 3D-printed UAVs such as the aircraft depicted in this 2023 photo. This UAV, which appears to be similar to the UAVs used during the 4 April attack, carries a 2 kg 60 mm mortar bomb. (Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images)  An attack on Myanmar's administrative capital by resistance forces using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was part of the opposition National Unity Group's (NUG's) efforts to co-ordinate UAV operations against the mi...

A US Navy E-2D Advanced Hawkeye demonstrating its aerial refuelling capability. (Northrop Grumman)    The E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft has been the eyes of US Navy carrier strike groups for more than 60 years. The newest variant, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, brings the latest technology into the platform that can confront threats anywhere in the world, Janice Zilch, Northrop Grumman's vice-president for multi-domain command and control, told   Janes  on 5 April, ahead of the Navy League Sea-Air...

An MQ-4C maritime unmanned aerial vehicle in flight. (Northrop Grumman)  Northrop Grumman's MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft achieved initial operational capability (IOC) with the latest multi-intelligence (multi-INT) Integrated Functional Capability–4 (IFC-4) in August 2023. The first orbit of four air vehicles is operating with 7th Fleet out of Guam.    Since reaching IOC, the MQ-4C is meeting the fleet's mission capability rate requirement and has become an integral ISR capab...

Raytheon Technologies is ramping up production of RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile guided weapon systems. (Raytheon Technologies)    Raytheon Technologies is ramping up RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) production as it works on improving operational missile communication capabilities, Roger Bissmeyer, company's RAM programme director, told   Janes  .   Future missile iterations will likely feature “next level of communication,” Bissmeyer noted. “When missiles talk to the ship and the ship talks to missiles, that's a w...

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket (pictured) launched South Korea's second reconnaissance satellite on 7 April. The satellite is equipped with a SAR payload that can capture high resolution images of strategic areas of interests. (SpaceX)  South Korea has launched a second reconnaissance satellite to strengthen military preparedness against possible threats from North Korea.  South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on 8 April that this synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite was carried into space using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, wh...

The Mission Master SP UGV (pictured above) features a bay that can be equipped with a variety of payloads such as remote weapon stations and masts equipped with sensors, and it is fitted with localisation and navigation sensors for remote and autonomous control. (Rheinmetall)  German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has signed a “multimillion-dollar” contract with the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) to supply three Mission Master SP wheeled unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) for testing,...

The Agni-Prime – pictured above from its first test firing in June 2021 – is a surface-to-surface missile with a length of 10 m. It has a conical-shaped re-entry vehicle in comparison with the Agni II's blunt biconic re-entry vehicle. (DRDO via PIB)  India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Strategic Forces Command (SFC) test-fired the Agni-Prime medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) on 3 April from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the northeastern coast of Odisha, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a press rele...

US Coast Guard heavy icebreaker  Polar Star  is undergoing more recapitalisation work.  (US Coast Guard)    Having completed a 138-day deployment to Antarctica on 31 March to support Operation ‘Deep Freeze 2024', US Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter  Polar Star  (WAGB 10), the only operational US heavy icebreaker, is about to start phase four of its five-year Service Life Extension Project (SLEP) in Vallejo, California, USCG officials confirmed on 4 April.   The SLEP work is being done by Mare Island Dr...

L3Harris Technologies is supplying its AN/PRC-163 handheld radio (pictured) for the ‘Replacement of Ground-Air Radios' requirement under Foxtrot. The very-high-frequency (VHF)/ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio supports secure two-channel, simultaneous up-and-down echelon connectivity and Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) applications. (Janes/Olivia Savage)    The Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) is looking for a systems integrator to assist with running the Foxtrot tactical digitisation programme,   Janes  learnt.   Foxtro...

The earthquake in Taiwan affected infrastructure at Hualien city and also damaged Lockheed Martin F-16V aircraft (pictured) at the airport. This representative photo from August 2022 shows two F-16Vs at the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) base in the airport. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)  The Taiwanese government has said the 3 April earthquake in the country damaged eight combat aircraft of the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF).  In a statement on 4 April, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the earthquake resulted...

The US Navy is requesting additional funding for the overhaul work on aircraft carrier USS  John C Stennis  to cover costs associated with the ship's redelivery delay.  (US Navy)    The US Navy (USN) is requesting an additional USD731.7 million for the refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of aircraft carrier USS   John C Stennis  (CVN 74) to cover costs associated with the delayed redelivery date for the ship, according to USN officials and the service's Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request doc...

The Hwaseong-16Na missile has an estimated range of 3,000–5,500 km. When launched from Pyongyang, the missile has the ability to strike US military base in Guam at its maximum estimated range. (Janes)  North Korea test-fired a “new” solid-fuelled intermediate-range hypersonic missile known as Hwaseong-16Na for the first time on 2 April, state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on 3 April.  The test firing of the missile – which features a “newly developed” hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) – was aimed at confirming its designed techn...

An Australian Army M113AS4 armoured logistics vehicle, fitted with optionally crewed combat vehicle technology and a remote weapon station, fires from a support-by-fire position during a human-machine team exercise at Puckapunyal Military Area. (Commonwealth of Australia)  The Australian Army's Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation and Coordination Office (RICO) and Electro Optic Systems (EOS) have conducted a remote firing exercise from an uncrewed M113 armoured personnel carrier (APC) at Puckapunyal Military Area in Victoria, EOS sa...

A screenshot showing the scaled demonstrator beached during testing. (Steller Systems)  UK ship design house Steller Systems has performed sea trials of a subscale concept demonstrator intended to prove a novel hullform that could be exploited as the basis for a future high-speed offshore insertion craft.  Funded by the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) through the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Novel Amphibious Craft competition, the demonstrator has “successfully proven the innovative features” of a full-scale...