Canada is to donate to Ukraine older versions of its AIM-9 Sidewinder, as carried here by a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornet. (Janes)
Canada is to donate Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to Ukraine, the Canadian defence minister announced at the 12th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on 25 May.
Canadian Minister of National Defence Anita Anand announced the donation as part of a wider raft of support measures for the Ukrainian armed forces.
Author: Michael
The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit is soliciting commercial solutions for turning soldier-driven ground vehicles into robotic platforms.
The move comes as the U.S. military is pursuing a variety of new unmanned systems to keep troops out of harm’s way and gain more tactical options. Examples of next-generation technologies that are in the works include the Army’s optionally manned fighting vehicle and robotic combat vehicles.
In service with the Republic of Korea Army, Hyundai Rotem’s K2 main battle tank, pictured above, is replacing ageing inventories of M48 Patton tanks and older models of the K1 MBT. (Janes/Kelvin Wong)
South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has approved the mass production of a fourth batch of the Hyundai Rotem K2 main battle tank (MBT) for the Republic of Korea Army (RoKA).
DAPA said on 25 May that the project to build the batch-four MBTs has been allocated KRW1.94 trillion (USD1.46 billion) between 2024 and 2028.
Arquus and VTU are offering the Light European Vehicle for a long-standing Czech special forces requirement. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
Arquus and the Czech Military Technical Institute (VTU) displayed the Light European Vehicle (LEV) at the International Defence and Security Technology Fair (IDET) held in Brno, Czech Republic, from 24 to 26 May.
Arquus and VTU representatives told
Janes
that 169 LEVs had been offered to the Czech Republic under a tender for vehicles for the 601st Special Forces Group.
The Iris-T surface-to-air medium-range launched (SML) air defence system now has a popular consumer base across central and eastern Europe.
At the end of April, the German Bundeswehr gave the system to Ukraine; the second of four systems to be donated to the country amid a costly war of attrition. More recently, Estonia and Latvia have entered negotiation swith the original equipment manufcaturer, Diehel Defence, to jointly procure the system.
The Iris-T SLM launcher unit is based on a MAN 8×8 truck with eight missile container launchers mounted at the rear.
Lastunul
, one of three Zborul (Tarantul I)-class corvettes, approved to undergo modernisation.
(Romanian Navy)
The Romanian parliament has given the approval for the purchase of two new submarines and two second-hand minehunters for the Romanian Navy as well as modernisation of the service’s corvettes, local media reported.
The Blue Bear Ghost fixed-wing UAV tested during the inaugural AUKUS AI and autonomy trial. (Crown Copyright)
The UK hosted the first AUKUS artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy trial in April to promote synergies between Australian, UK, and US AI-enabled assets.
Held at Upavon in Wiltshire, the exercise involved collaboratively swarming the different AI platforms to detect and track military targets in real time in a representative environment, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 26 May.
The German Bundeswehr has ordered an additional supply of 56 heavy-duty HX81 tractor units in the 70-tonne payload class from Rheinmetall.
The manufacturer will deliver the unprotected trucks throughout 2023 and 2024. The order is worth just over €50m ($53.6m), including value added tax.
The Bundeswehr mainly use the trucks to transport heavy armoured vehicles, such as the Leopard 2 main battle tank and the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer.
The order is the last call-off from a framework contract signed din 2018 for the delivery of up to 137 units.
Defence Minister James Cartlidge has visited the International Defence and Securities Technologies Fair (IDET) in Brno to explore opportunities for collaboration and discuss how the UK’s defence industry can further support Czechia’s Armed Forces.
Czechia’s ongoing negotiations to sign a contract with UK-based defence company SUPACAT to procure 24 High Mobility Transport (HMT) vehicles are of particular significance. These vehicles, known as the JACKAL series, serve as reconnaissance and long-range patrol vehicles in the British Army.
ADSB’s new 92 m corvette – a rendering of which is pictured above – is positioned to meet requirements in the Asia-Pacific. (ADSB)
Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) unveiled a model of a new 92 m corvette at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition 2023 held in Malaysia from 23 to 27 May.
Francesco Lo Monaco, ADSB’s director of shipbuilding and engineering, told
Janes
that the new corvette is a multirole vessel equipped to perform a range of littoral and coastal missions and meet requirements of navies in the Asia-Pacific.