September 2008 Worldwide Defence industries news military equipment armoured army defence world.

"Today, at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation, we decided to set up a working group on the development of the BrahMos-2 missile," the company's CEO, Sivathanu Pillai said. "The new hypersonic missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5, which would make it impossible to intercept," he added. Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indian-Russian venture, produces and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles, whose sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian army and navy. The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 pounds). It can hit ground targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. The head of BrahMos Aerospace earlier said that the recent acquisition of an assembly plant in the state of Kerala from Kerala Hightech Industries Ltd, in addition to the main plant in Hyderabad, would allow the company to increase production to 50 BrahMos missiles a year and fulfill orders from the army on schedule. Analysts estimate that India could purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its armed forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to other countries during the same period.
29 September 2008

A Ukrainian ship seized by pirates off the Somali coast on Thursday contained 33 T-72 tanks along with other armaments that were on their way to Kenya under a contract, Ukraine's defense minister said last Friday. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry earlier cited the ship owner, Tomax Team Inc., as saying there were three Russian, 17 Ukrainian and one Latvian nationals on board the Faina ship, which was flying the Belize flag. President Viktor Yushchenko has urged his government to do everything possible to ensure the crew's release. Russia's Navy has sent a missile frigate to waters off the Somali coast to fight piracy in the region, a Navy spokesman said Friday.
27 September 2008

The Russian side has made the decision to extend to Venezuela a $1 billion loan for a military cooperation program," the source said ahead of a meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, who starts a two-day visit to Russia on Thursday.
Between 2005 and 2007 Russia signed 12 contracts worth more than $4.4 billion to supply arms including fighter jets, helicopters and Kalashnikov assault rifles to Venezuela.
26 September 2008

Last week, the US Army issued Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS a contract valued at $15 million for additional PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Stations (RWSs) to be integrated into the Vanguard Sniper Defense System and manufactured in Johnstown, PA. This order is part of the existing $1.4 billion Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS II) framework agreement signed by the US Army in August 2007.
Under this latest contract, the CROWS II will be included with the Vanguard Sniper Defense System for the US Army’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. The Vanguard System improves greatly on Soldier survivability and capability to respond to sniper fire in combat. KONGSBERG’s PROTECTOR Lite with similar capabilities as the CROWS II is already in use on vehicles by the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
24 September 2008

The Future Combat Systems program successfully fired the first artillery projectile from the manned ground vehicle non-line-of-sight cannon prototype. The successful firing of the projectile is a milestone for the program, said Lt. Col. Robert McVay, Army product manager for NLOS-C. "This marks the first 155mm round fired from a fully automated howitzer mounted on an FCS hybrid-electric chassis and remotely commanded through its on-board computers and controls," he said. A total of eight NLOS-C prototypes will be produced between 2008 and 2009. All will undergo rigorous testing, safety certification and evaluations at various Army test facilities, officials said. They said the NLOS-C prototypes will be used for testing and evaluation of not only the artillery system, but also the MGV common chassis and technologies.
24 September 2008

A military exhibition displays a Revolutionary Guard missile, the Shahab-3 missile, which is claimed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching Europe, Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East, seen under a picture of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008. The display is to mark the 28th anniversary of the onset of the Iran-Iraq war.
23 September 2008

A light armoured vehicle, part of a European Union monitoring mission, arrives at Tbilisi Airport September 23, 2008. The first members of a European Union monitoring mission arrived in Tbilisi on Tuesday ahead of the expected pullback of Russian forces from deep inside Georgia, a Reuters television reporter said.
23 September 2008

Navistar Defense, LLC has received two new delivery orders from the U.S. Army worth more than $39 million. The award increases the company’s sales of Medium Tactical Vehicles, which are built on the International WorkStar platform, previously known as the 7000 Series.
The two orders, awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, include one award for 199 vehicles and parts – worth more than $25.3 million, and another for 52 vehicles and parts – valued at approximately $13.4 million.
The first award calls for 199 vehicles, which will include water tankers and fuel trucks. The second award includes 52 Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) vehicles and recovery trucks. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in February 2009 and be completed by January 2010. All the vehicles will be powered by MaxxForce D 8.7 I-6 engines, which are a part of the same family of engines that power the International MaxxPro Plus.
19 September 2008

Armoured vehicles float during Ukraine's biggest military drill near Rivne, some 300 km (188 miles) west of the capital Kiev September 18, 2008. President Viktor Yushchenko accused his Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday of humiliating Ukraine's army with inadequate funding, intensifying a confrontation between the two former allies over the country's future direction.
18 September 2008

Russia is negotiating the delivery of more air defense systems to Iran despite Western demands for a halt in sales to Tehran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, the head of Russia's arms exporter said Thursday. The official reiterated that deliveries of Russian anti-aircraft weaponry to Iran were aimed exclusively at increasing its air defense capability and were not subject to international restrictions. The U.S. and Israel, which have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran, were alarmed by media reports, which started circulating as early as 2005, on the possible delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran, as these systems could greatly improve Iranian defenses against any air strike on its strategically important sites, including nuclear facilities.
18 September 2008

An appropriation of 2,778.4 million euros has been proposed for the Administrative branch of the Ministry of Defence, of which 359.5 million euros (14.9 %) represents an increase to the actual draft budget of 2008.
In the yearly comparison, nevertheless, significant promotion of the public sector on network safety must be taken into account. The proposed appropriation for network safety is 197 million, value added tax included, and is as been added in the main title of the Ministry of Defence in the budget proposal of 2009.
Exclusive of the appropriation on network safety, increase to the defence spending compared to the budgetary year of 2008 would be 151.2 million euros (6.3%).
The share of the expenses of the main title of the Ministry of Defence will rise to 1.37 percent of the predicted GNP in 2009 (in 2008 about 1.25%).
The share of the appropriation of the main title represents about 6.1 % of the Total State Expenditure (in 2008 about 5,4%).
17 September 2008

Russia has successfully reestablished military-technical cooperation with African countries, which saw a decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the head of Russia's state arms exporter said on Wednesday. Russia's arms trade customers in Africa include Algeria, Libya, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. African countries are attracted to the reliability and competitive prices of Russian arms. Russian-made helicopters have traditionally met with high demand in Africa. According to various sources, Russia has supplied over 700 helicopters, including Mi-24/35 Hind attack helicopters, to African countries. At present Rosoboronexport, while expecting new sales contracts, plans to prioritize the establishment of helicopter maintenance centers to provide repair services for helicopters that had been previously sold to African customers.
17 September 2008

An Army soldier sits atop an armored vehicle as he patrols the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008. Brazil's military has been called in to help quell violence and voter intimidation in the city's slums ahead of local elections scheduled for Oct. 3, 2008
17 September 2008

On the occasion of the high tech exhibition Eurosatory 2008, Thales Suisse has presented a bi-sensor reconnaissance sub-system on the tactical vehicle EAGLE IV by General Dynamics/Mowag. The recce sub-system includes a tactical radar as well as an optical camera on a 10 meter mast. This sub-system will also be exhibited at Comm '08 in Frauenfeld. Thales has developed in close co-operation with Mowag a reconnaissance package which has been presented for the first time at Eurosatory in Paris. The module can be mounted quickly onto the EAGLE IV, thus allowing the user to have the vehicle available for the required mission in almost no time. The demonstrator is equipped with an optronics sensor head (including thermal imaging sensor) with optical zoom and 360 degrees rotator as well as with a tactical radar and an optional data transmission system. The reconnaissance package enables the extension of a multitude of sensors to up to 10 meters height and to fully retract them into the module in less than two minutes. As a result, all sensors are protected while the vehicle is in motion and the silhouette of the vehicle remains neutral.
16 September 2008

A £60million contract to deliver the new generation of Mastiff vehicles - the Mastiff 2 - has been announced by UK Defence Secretary Des Browne on a visit to NP Aerospace. The Mastiff is used in Iraq and Afghanistan by the British Army. Today's contract for Mastiff 2 will deliver a vehicle that is even better - improved thermal-imaging for the drivers, increased armour and specially designed seats that will give the soldiers that extra protection - it is the next generation of vehicles for our commanders on operations.
The Mastiff 2 vehicles will have:
-- Improved axles and suspension to cope with the harsh terrain;
-- Better thermal imaging for the drivers;
-- Explosive attenuating seats - providing better protection to the soldier on impact;
-- Improved armour;
-- Greater crew capacity - 8+2.
10 September 2008

A total of "60 billion zlotys spent to modernize the army is the limit of our financial capacities, but not of our dreams," the minister said while inaugurating the 16th International Defense Industry Fair MSPO in Kielce, southern Poland. Such outlays would make it possible to transform the Polish armed forces into a modern army," the minister stressed. We want to launch several new programs to modernize the armed forces in the long term," Polish news agency PAP quoted Klich as saying.
The minister also intends to launch a program to equip the army with modern helicopters and another to build new naval ships. Several other modernization programs are currently being worked on. In August the Polish government announced Poland would switch from a conscript to fully professional military numbering 120,000 personnel from 2010. Present at the International Defence fair MSPO 2008 are nearly 400 firms from 22 countries. The Kielce exhibition is the third biggest event of the type in Europe.
10 September 2008

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd flagged an increase in defence spending Wednesday as he warned the country's military must start preparing for an arms build-up in Asia and the Pacific
10 September 2008

Russian soldiers inspect a car at a Russian checkpoint at Karaleti, 7 km (4 miles) northwest of Gori, Georgia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2008. The checkpoint is part of a Russian military presence in the so-called security zone that Moscow claimed for itself in the Georgian territory after last month's war. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Moscow, heading a delegation from the European Union that's seeking to persuade Russia to honor its pledge to withdraw troops from Georgia
08 September 2008

The U.S. Marine Corps today awarded Navistar Defense, LLC., a contract worth more than $752 million to produce a lighter, smaller and more mobile variant of its International® MaxxPro™ Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) family of vehicles.
The MaxxPro Dash maintains the survivability system used on all MaxxPro MRAP variants while also allowing for greater mobility in a smaller, lighter weight vehicle optimized for Afghanistan operations. A smaller turning radius and higher torque to weight ratio are among the improvements to mobility. MaxxPro Dash is also capable of accommodating additional uparmoring. Supportability and maintainability are maximized with a high-degree of commonality of parts among all MaxxPro variants.
Production of the MaxxPro™ Dash will begin in October at the company's West Point, Miss., plant with delivery of 822 units to be completed by February 2009. The vehicle will also be equipped with the MaxxForce™ D engine.
07 September 2008

The Archer artillery self-propelled wheeled armoured gun system will soon be in service. The Swedish government has made a decision on continued development and procurement of this modified Howitzer 77B.
The decision is seen as an expression of Sweden’s will to strengthen its artillery capability, and a sign of Sweden’s commitment to intensified cooperation with Norway on national security.
The government considers that joint development and procurement of Archer together with Norway creates conditions for an improved ability to collaborate in international operations. There are also opportunities to share the costs of teaching and training soldiers and costs for logistics, maintenance and modification of the systems.
07 September 2008

General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas has been awarded a 64.6 million Euro ($102 million) contract by the Spanish Government to supply RG-31 Mk5E mine protected vehicles for the Spanish Army. General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas is one of four companies that comprise General Dynamics European Land Systems.
The contract calls for the delivery of 100 vehicles -- 85 Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), 10 Ambulances and 5 Command Post variants -- plus integration of Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) turrets and ongoing integrated logistic support (ILS). Work under the contract is expected to be completed by 2009. The contract includes an option for a second phase for 80 additional vehicles that will include some manufacturing in Spain.
General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas, as prime contractor, will provide program management, engineering and logistic support. BAE Systems Land Systems OMC of South Africa will supply the vehicles as a subcontractor to General Dynamics.
07 September 2008

The Netherlands’ Ministerie van Defensie has announced a EUR 250+ million project to replace nearly 8,000 light, medium and heavy wheeled logistics and patrol vehicles between 2011-2018. This will not include tactical vehicles such as the Landmacht’s Fennek reconnaissance vehicles, CV90/ YPR/ BvS10 armored personnel carriers, tanks, et. al., but it will replace a significant percentage of the Dutch patrol vehicle and truck fleet. The project is looking to acquire 7,018 vehicles (including civilian vehicles) plus 3,617 modules, trailers et. al. to adapt the vehicles for specific tasks. The project also expects to order 1,020 modular protection kits, 120 Remotely controlled weapon systems and 1,260 gun mountings.
07 September 2008

The U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, a $34 million delivery order for 30 M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management (AIM) main battle tanks. The contract includes an option for 30 additional AIM vehicles, bringing the total potential award value to $69.5 million. M1A1s are configured with armor upgrades and additional mission-critical technologies to bolster crew situational awareness (SA). The SA package include second-generation Forward-Looking Infrared, Far Target Locate, Blue Force Tracking (BFT)/Force Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2), a tank-infantry phone, a .50 caliber thermal sight, a power distribution box, a rear slave receptacle, an eye-safe laser rangefinder, and driver's vision enhancement.
These M1A1 tanks are slated for delivery to U.S. Army units beginning in October 2010. Work will be performed in Anniston, Ala.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Lima, Ohio; and Scranton, Pa., by existing General Dynamics employees.
07 September 2008

Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and policemen stand guard at the site of two suicide attacks in Kandahar. Two Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up at Kandahar police headquarters in southern Afghanistan, leaving at least two people dead and dozens wounded, officials said.
07 September 2008

U.S. soldiers of 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division make protection of military base during a ceremony to handover the security control of Radwaniya district to the Iraqi army's 17th Division in the outskirts of Baghdad September 6, 2008.
06 September 2008

The Raytheon Company - Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture received a $111.6 million U.S. Army Global War on Terror supplemental contract to produce additional Javelin missiles and command launch units. Javelin is the world's first man-portable fire-and-forget medium-range missile system. The compact, lightweight missile is designed for one-soldier operations in all environments. The joint venture expects to deliver the missiles and CLUs to the U.S. Army in the spring of 2011. The Javelin enhances direct-fire capability against armored vehicles, buildings and field fortifications. Its anti-armor defense capabilities are critical to mission success in multiple environments. Javelin is currently in service with the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and 10 allied customers.
04 September 2008