March 2018 Global Defence & Security Industry - Military News

 
 
 
 

 

United States has approved a budget of $620 million to provide assistance to Ukraine, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly said, on Friday, March 24, 2018. Around $200 million will be allocated for military and technical assistance to Ukraine, which is by $50 million more than in 2017.

The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale for the delivery of spare parts for M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, to Saudi Arabia of a Royal Saudi Land Forces Ordnance Corps Foreign Military Sales Order (FMSO) II Case for an estimated cost of $300 million.

President Donald Trump wants an impassable wall at the US southern border to prevent drug and weapon smugglers from Mexico to penetrate the American soil. The various projected models are impressive in height. But something must also be implemented to prevent and destroy tunnels. South Korea is also concerned with its northern neighbor. The Israelis have got a serious know-how and want to market it.

The Armored Group (TAG), a leading worldwide provider of armored vehicles, has just introduced its newest law enforcement vehicle, the Terrier LT-79. This new vehicle developed by the TAG Research and Development Team represents a well-balanced combination of protection, off-road mobility and payload. Most importantly, it offers unparalleled tactical mobility and survivability to armored vehicle end-users worldwide, in any climate or setting.

Successful air defence demands a holistic approach. This is why Rheinmetall – Europe’s foremost maker of military systems and equipment – wants to supply the German armed forces with a path-breaking solution encompassing the whole complexity of ground-based air defence. Here the Düsseldorf-based high-tech group is cooperating closely with America’s Raytheon. Rheinmetall’s plan calls for networking all relevant sensors, effectors, platforms and C4I assets into a single, scalable, system of systems. This will create a highly effective, modularly scalable and flexible air defence system covering the Bundeswehr’s full mission spectrum.

The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of TOW 2B (BGM-71F-Series) anti-tank missiles for an estimated cost of $670 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

In the summer this year, Czech Defense Ministry will start the selection of manufacturer for the supply of 200 tracked armoured vehicles personnel carrier (APC) for an amount of 53 billion crowns (about 2.57 billion U.S. dollars), said Defense Minister Karla Slechtova during a press conference on Thursday, March 22, 2018.

The U.S. government will spend $200 million in training and supplying equipment for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the U.S. Embassy in Ghana announced on 20 March.

Development of laser weapons has become a “must” for all the armed forces that can afford this technology, which means China and Russia for the time being. Hence the current effort made by the US Marine Corps to develop a laser air defense system based on its future Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).

During the official visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Qatar, six documents on mutually beneficial cooperation, including a military one, were signed, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s press service reports.

The U.S. Army has placed two orders totalling $97 million for BAE Systems to provide new night vision goggles and thermal weapon sights, which together will enable soldiers to rapidly and covertly acquire targets in all weather and lighting conditions. The orders are part of a previously announced five-year contract for the Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle III and Family of Weapon Sight-Individual (ENVG III/FWS-I) program.

Polaris Government and Defense is evolving its squad-ready DAGOR® off-road vehicle with the introduction of the DAGOR® A1. The DAGOR® A1 provides improved performance and capabilities with better mobility and operator functionality for customers which already include U.S. Special Forces, the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), multiple European militaries and additional global forces.

Kazakhstan is trying to sell military vehicles to its neighbors, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In an interview with InformBuro, the general director of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), Erbol Salimov, stated that the firm is looking to export several types of military vehicles to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The USMC has budgeted the purchase of 35,000 of the U.S. Army’s new Modular Handgun System into its proposed 2019 fiscal year budget. The Army awarded the Swiss manufacturer Sig Sauer a contract worth up to $580 million in January 2017 to supply the 9mm Modular Handgun System as a replacement for the Beretta USA M9 pistol, successor of the Colt .45.

Norway’s long-term planning process is carried out under the direction of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence. The “Long-Term Plan – Materiel” forms the basis for all materiel procurements in the short term (4 years), the medium term (8 years) and the long-term perspectives (20 years). The plan is updated annually to reflect updates based on changing requirements, available resources and progress in on-going acquisitions. A major point will be the replacement of the Leopard 1 MBTs and variants with Leopard 2 ones.

Australia is procuring artillery ammunition from Rheinmetall. Under its “Land 17 Phase 1C.2 Future Artillery Ammunition” project, the Australian Defence Force will soon be taking delivery of various projectile types from the Rheinmetall Assegai family as well as fuses and propelling charges, supplied by a team consisting of NIOA, Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, Rheinmetall Denel Munition, Nitrochemie and Junghans Defence.

Ministry of National Defense of South Korea has approved a plan to create a new artillery brigade under a ground forces operations command to be inaugurated in October. This new military unit will be equipped with a new short-range ballistic missile system, dubbed as the Korea Tactical Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile (KTSSM).

Spanish Minister of Defense María Dolores de Cospedal will soon detail her new plan concerning a 15-year investment cycle for weapons systems. To put this plan in the Spanish defense “landscape”, let’s precise that the country’s defense expenditure for 2017 was estimated by NATO at 0.92% of GDP, the same as in 2014. The NATO target, agreed at the Wales summit meeting in 2014, is for national defense spending by all members to increase to 2% of their GDP by 2024.

Forty-five unmanned aerial vehicles and drones fell out of the sky during a U.S. Army exercise after Raytheon's (NYSE: RTN) advanced high-power microwave and laser dune buggy engaged and destroyed them. These common threats were knocked down during a Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment (MFIX) at the U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence.

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