Georgian troops during a military parade during the inauguration ceremony of President Mikhail Saakashvili Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. Saakashvili, 40, took the oath of office amid an elaborate ceremony outside the parliament building in the center of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi following a snap election.
21 January 2008

United Nations naval units from France off-load armored vehicles in southern Naqoura, Lebanon Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) conducted a maritime exercise in cooperation with the Lebanese Navy. The French contingent used this exercise to carry out regular rotation of their equipment and troops.
19 January 2008

Until today 18 PIRANHA IIIC 8x8 are in operation with the Spanish Marines and this second order will summarize to a total fleet of 39 units. The vehicles will be manufactured in Kreuzlingen and delivered from the year 2009 until 2014.
The newly signed contract comprises 21 PIRANHA IIIC 8x8 in nine variants to solve specific operational tasks: APC, Fire Capability, Command Post, Engineering, Ambulance, Recovery and Reconnaissance. MOWAG's CEO, Christoph Frei, was proud and pleased about the close cooperation with Spain, and he declared: “This contract is further proof of our customers' confidence in the performance and reliability of our PIRANHA, and of the good strategic partnership between the Spanish authorities and MOWAG GmbH“.
The PIRANHAs will be used primarily within the framework of international missions of the Spanish Army. The threat situation in such missions specifically calls for a high level of protection for the vehicle crews against mines and ballistic weapons. With the PIRANHA IIIC 8x8, the technology-minded company from Kreuzlingen offers a proven vehicle, which fulfils this high-ranking requirement of protection. With its second order, the Spanish Marines continue to trust in the reliability and performance of the successful product from Kreuzlingen.
17 January 2008

Armored cars patrol in Quetta, Pakistan during the month Shiite's mourning month of Muharram on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. Police say a suspected suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a Shiite mosque in Peshawar causing several casualties.
17 January 2008

A U.S. soldier walks past Armoured Humvees transferred from the Coalition Forces to the Government of Iraq, at Camp Taji in Baghdad, January 17, 2008. Iraq received 650 U.S. made Humvees on Thursday in Baghdad, a total of 8500 should be handed over within two years the Iraqi Defence Ministry said.
17 January 2008

The total value of the orders is approximately EUR100 million. Signed on January 16, 2008, the contracts include ten systems for the Dutch Army, and six for the Swedish Army. The vehicles will be delivered during the period 2011-2012.
Apart from its prime function as a heavy-duty combat engineer vehicle for use in military operations and disaster relief, the Kodiak can serve in a mine-clearing role, protecting troops deployed in harm's way. Rheinmetall manufactures and markets the Kodiak in a consortium together with Swiss defence contractor RUAG Land Systems.
Based on a bilateral agreement between the two countries, the joint orders represent an innovative way of reducing costs. The two nations have effectively harmonized their procurement programs, particularly with regard to the configuration of the vehicles and uniform logistics.
Although both governments have signed separate, equally valid contracts with Rheinmetall, the programme is being carried out jointly on the basis of a harmonized central plan. This makes it possible to substantially reduce the non-recurring costs as well as bringing advantages with regard to purchasing and production. Following the Swiss Army, the Dutch and Swedish will be among the first to augment their existing inventories of Leopard 2 main battle tanks and "Bergepanzer 3" armoured recovery vehicles with the new Kodiak armoured engineer vehicle, which will increase their engineer capacity significantly.
17 January 2008

Under the MRAP II program, the government could order the production of up to 20,500 MRAP II vehicles, testing, spare parts and logistics support.
As one of only two contractors chosen, BAE Systems will produce Category I MRAP II test vehicles based on the company’s Caiman 6x6 design and Category II MRAP II test vehicles based on the company’s RG33 6x6 vehicle. Six Category I MRAP II vehicles, along with improved armor solutions, will be provided to the customer in March 2008 for testing under the contract’s initial delivery order.
“The RG33 and Caiman vehicles have the right balance of payload capability, automotive performance, and blast protection, and have proven extremely capable of handling the significantly increased requirements of MRAP-II,” said Matt Riddle, vice president of Wheeled Vehicle Programs. “Our designs offer mobility upgrades that significantly increase payload capacity and enable the integration of superior survivability enhancements across the threat spectrum.”
The award was announced by the MRAP JPO on December 18, 2007, after considering offers from four bidders.
The MRAP II program is a joint effort across BAE Systems leveraging technologies from across the globe to create the best vehicle for soldiers in the field. Caiman vehicles will be produced in Sealy, Texas; Fairfield, Ohio; and Phoenix, Arizona, while RG33 vehicles will be produced in Santa Clara, California; York, Pennsylvania; Aiken, South Carolina; and Anniston, Alabama. In addition, BAE Systems in Alexandria, Virginia, will provide the vehicle's Rocket Propelled Grenade armor solution.
MRAP II vehicles provide an enhanced blast resistant underbody designed to protect the crew from mine blasts, fragmentary and direct fire weapons. Category I vehicles support operations in urban environments and other restricted/confined spaces, including mounted patrols, reconnaissance, communications, and command and control. Category II vehicles provide a reconfigurable vehicle that can support multi-mission operations such as convoy lead, troop transport, explosive ordnance disposal, ambulance, and route clearance.
16 January 2008

The armored vehicles are to be delivered by the end of July 2008. This is a contract in excess of $200 million.
This contract continues and builds on last June’s order for 1,200 units awarded by the U.S. military to International and Plasan. The previous award sent shockwaves through the rest of the competing group of American companies. “This second order reinforces and affirms the high level of satisfaction by the client, and it helps to secure Plasan’s position as a world leader in ballistic protection,” says Plasan’s CEO Dani Ziv.
Plasan, while enjoying international acclaim for its achievements and rapid growth, recognizes the importance of providing employment not only to workers and suppliers in Israel but to workers and suppliers in every one of its user countries. Plasan purchased manufacturing companies in both France and the U.S. "We maintain", points out Ziv, “and expand our ongoing cooperation initiatives with local companies in our client countries.” Ziv goes on to say, “This is an integral aspect of our mode of operation. We recognize the need to generate employment and to contribute to the further development of technological know-how and manufacturing capabilities everywhere our systems are sold.”
The ballistic protection solutions which Plasan will provide the Marines under this expanded order build on those which it has already provided to the U.S. military, to the defense and security forces of Israel, and to others worldwide. These solutions are well known for their ability to provide protection and high survivability to both vehicles and the troops in them, in various battlefield scenarios and in particularly dangerous areas of conflict like those experienced daily by the American Armed Forces. These vehicles will be protected and provided with the ability to take part in a broad cross section of mission profiles such as convoy travel, troop transport, IED removal, and close quarter battle.
10 January 2008

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard near the damaged U.N vehicle that was attacked by a roadside bomb, in the highway of the town of Rmeileh, near the southern coastal city of Sidon, Tuesday Jan. 8, 200, lightly wounding two peacekeepers, U.N. and Lebanese officials said
08 January 2008

Mexican military are stationed along Colegio Militar street in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, after a shooting between unidentified gunmen and Mexican soldiers left three gunmen dead and at least five soldiers and five federal policeman wounded. Separate shootings were reported in other parts of the city located on the Texas border. The Mexican Army has had a presence in this city since ex-mayor Juan Antonio Guajardo was killed in December.
08 January 2008

Chadian soldiers ride on armoured vehicles in 2007 close to the Kapka mountain range near the border with Sudan's troubled Darfur region. Chadian warplanes have attacked a Chadian rebel base across the border, southwest of El-Geneina in the Darfur region of Sudan.
07 January 2008