March 2021 News Global Defence & Security Industry - Military |
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Saudi Arabia is reportedly looking to purchase armed drones from Turkey, as announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 16, Josh Spires reports on DroneDJ. However, Erdogan said: “Saudi Arabia is conducting joint exercises with Greece. Yet at the same time, Saudi Arabia is asking us for armed drones. Our hope is to solve this issue calmly without getting heated.”
Supplied by Rheinmetall and its partner companies, the Bundeswehr’s System Panzergrenadier has reached an important milestone. On 18 March 2021, Lieutenant General Alfons Mais, the Chief of the German Army, declared the system fit to fight. He also recommended equipping NATO’s spearhead formation, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) 2023, which the Bundeswehr will furnish, with the new system.
According to information announced by the French Company ARQUUS during a press conference on March 10, 2021, ARQUUS will deliver 300 latest generations of VLRA (Véhicule de Liaison de Reconnaissance et d'Appui / Liaison, Reconnaissance and Support Vehicle), also called VLRA 2, 4x4 all-terrain multirole tactical to the Moroccan armed forces.
During March 2021, U.S. Marines in Japan and Hawaii teamed up with joint partners to execute networked Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) spanning five separate islands in a complex display of modern littoral warfare. Exercises Castaway 21.1 in Japan and Spartan Fury 21.1 in Hawaii demonstrated the ability of the Marine Corps to integrate with the joint force to seize and defend key maritime terrain, provide low-signature sustainment, and execute long-range precision fires in support of naval operations from expeditionary advanced bases.
Turkey has begun production of the new Pars İzci amphibious armored personnel carrier, with the first vehicles entering the army in 2022, Anadolu news agency reports. The contract for the development and production of armored vehicles was concluded between the Turkish Defense Industry Authority and FNSS as part of the 14th International Defense Industry Exhibition IDEF-2019. The first stage of the project involved the development of five different vehicle configurations and the production of a total of 100 vehicles. The project will cover the delivery of Command and Radar Vehicles as well as Sensor and CBRN Reconnaissance Vehicles for the Turkish Land Forces, and Armoured Combat Vehicles for the General Command of Gendarmerie.
On March 10, Emmanuel Levacher, CEO of Arquus, gave a press conference during which he presented an overall picture of the company's achievements in 2020. Army Recognition will give an echo to some of them, starting with the delivery of 40 modernized VAB 4x4 armored vehicles in a sanitary version intended for the French troops deployed in the Sahel Region. The VAB SAN (Sanitaire - Sanitary) CIED (Counter-IED) is an armored ambulance with room for 5 stretchers or 10 sitting passengers.
Ricardo Defense announced on arch 17 that the U.S. Army awarded a base contract to provide up to 9,480 critical safety improvement Antilock Brake System / Electronic Stability Control (ABS/ESC) retrofit kits over the next three years for the U.S. Army’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV).
Major batches of AK-12 assault rifles will be supplied in 2021 to reconnaissance and motorized rifle units of the combined arms army of the Eastern Military District deployed in Amur, Jewish and Khabarovsk regions, the Defense Ministry said.
During his March 10 press conference, Emmanuel Levacher, CEO of Arquus, reported that various contracts with African and Middle-Eastern countries were successfully completed in 2020 while other ones will be in 2021.
Milrem Robotics, the European leading robotics and autonomous systems developer, and Marduk Technologies, the provider of world-class Counter Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) solutions jointly launched a unique mobile autonomous C-UAS platform that offers protection against loitering munition and surveillance drones.
A new type of infantry fighting vehicle was recently spotted in service with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), official reports show. This new tracked armored vehicle will likely be used to transport troops and replace some of the less capable and obsolete equipment, Global Times reports.
Arquus has sold an undisclosed number of Fortress Mk2 tactical armored vehicles to the Swedish police. No detail about this contract is currently available.
In 2020, 128 EBMR Griffons armored vehicles were delivered to the French army. 119 additional ones are scheduled for 2021. The goal is also to deliver a total of 20 EBRC Jaguar reconnaissance vehicles in 2021.
The Russian Armed Forces are widening the range of targets for their Shturm-S self-propelled anti-tank guided missile (SPATGM) system, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Belgium and The Netherlands will propose a Composite Special Operations Maritime Task Group for 2026, Marie-Madeleine Courtial reports on Defensebelgium.com.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on March 16 that the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Norway of Javelin FGM-148 Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $36 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on March 16.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on March 16 that the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of North Macedonia of Stryker Vehicles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $210 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on March 16.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) in the Israeli Ministry of Defense, have successfully completed a test campaign of the Iron Dome Weapon System (IDDS). This campaign, along with two recent Iron Dome tests, demonstrated a significant upgrade of the system’s technological capabilities.
NP Aerospace, a global armour manufacturer and vehicle integrator, has re-engineered the Ridgback and Mastiff platforms for an Urgent Capability Requirement (UCR) in Mali, Africa, under the UK Ministry of Defence Protected Mobility Engineering &Technical Support (PMETS) contract.
Spectra Group, the internationally renowned specialist provider of secure voice, data and satellite communications systems, has joined Athena, the UK’s new national space team to work on government satellite communication opportunities together.
Team Redback, led by Hanwha Defense Australia, has been formed to deliver best-of-breed Australian and global technologies to military customers, including the Australian Defence Force. The Redback is under consideration by the Commonwealth under an ongoing tender process for Project LAND 400 Phase 3..
According to a piece of information published by Novosti on March 15, the command of the Ukrainian Navy plans to unify and adapt samples of weapons and military equipment of the marines to the real needs as much as possible. They so far lack the necessary unification, and the replenishment of equipment took place on a leftover principle, which complicated the performance of combat missions.
Israel Aerospace Industries announced on March 11 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates’s weapons-maker EDGE to develop an advanced anti-drone defense system, JNS News Service reports.
A picture published on ipbhost.com on February 2, 2021, shows that Tatmadaw (name of the Myanmar army) still uses Soviet-era BRDM-2MS. The BRDM-2 (literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armored patrol vehicle used by Russia and the former Soviet Union. It was also known under the designations BTR-40PB, BTR-40P-2 and GAZ 41-08.
According to a Bangkok Post newspaper issue dated June 2017, the government of Thailand planned to purchase 34 wheeled armored vehicles VN-1 from China for an amount of 2.3 billion baht ($2.57 million). The plan included also the purchase of S26T Yuan-class submarine from China worth 13.5 billion baht (around $15 million) which would be included in the army's fiscal budget for 2017-2021. The purchase request for Chinese-made VN-1 armored vehicles was submitted to the Defence Ministry, which forwarded it to the cabinet for approval. According to three pictures published by ipbhost.com, the Royal Thai Army has only last February officially inducted these NORINCO VN-1 IFVs with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment
