Author: Michael

Dstl is developing a Lightweight Fires Platform technology demonstrator to replace the 105 mm Light Gun. The red boxes on the sides represent batteries, the ‘Mickey Mouse ears’ house propellant, and up to 14 rounds can be stowed behind the elevating mass. (BAES IP)

The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is working on a Lightweight Fires Platform technology demonstrator programme to replace the 105 mm Light Gun,
Janes
learnt on the last day of Defence iQ’s Future Artillery 2023 conference held in Munich from 30 May to 1 June.

Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense system provides C2 for SHORAD missions and supports C-UAS operations. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
Northrop Grumman has successfully modernised Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania’s air-defence capabilities, ensuring interoperability with NATO and US forces.
According to a company announcement on 5 June, Northrop Grumman has successfully fielded its Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) system and provided training to the Baltics’ armed forces.

A screen capture of a video footage showing the merchant vessel, M/V
Gaja
, transiting northbound through the Bosphorus Strait from Saint-Nazaire, in western France, loaded with two FPB 98 MKI patrol boats, on 23 May.
(Yoruk Isik)
French shipbuilder OCEA has despatched the first two of 20 FPB 98 MKI patrol boats on order for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Italian and Romanian soldiers were joined by the 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Field Artillery Brigade for a combined live fire exercise at Capul Midia Air Base on the verges of the Black Sea in Romania on 6 June as a part of exercise Saber Guardian 23.
American and Italian forces joined together with Romanian troops to conduct a combined live fire exerciser of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, used by the American and Italian forces, while the Romanian troops operated their M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

In a recent keynote speech at the DSET (Defence Simulation Education & Training) conference, Heather Goldstraw from Cranfield Defence and Security highlighted wargaming’s strategic and tactical advantages in the defence industry.
Wargaming, which encompasses a diverse range of defence simulations, as far stretched as defence procurement wargames, has proven to be an effective tool for improving decision-making processes and training.
Goldstraw emphasised the strategic nature of wargaming, noting that it plays a crucial role in educating and continuously supporting development.

Slovenia has achieved its defence acquisition goal of 20% for the first time in 2022, according to the recently published ‘Slovenia Defence Market 2023-2028‘ report by GlobalData, which forecasts an increase in the percentage share of the total budget allocated to acquisitions, from 26.8% in 2022 to 33.0% in 2027.
Slovenia has set its sights on developing a medium-sized battle group and a reconnaissance battle group by 2030 as part of its long-term strategic plans.

The preliminary agreement will be signed in the presence of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day visit.
Germany and India are finalizing a deal to build diesel submarines in the South Asian country, as Russia’s protracted war in Ukraine pushes New Delhi to expand its sources of military hardware beyond its main supplier, Moscow.
The naval division of Thyssenkrupp AG and India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited are likely to jointly bid on an estimated $5.

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Last week, clashes erupted in northern Kosovo between police, NATO peacekeepers, and ethnic Serbs, who form the majority of the population in the region. At least 30 NATO peacekeepers were injured. The violence comes after elections in April were largely boycotted by Serbs, which resulted in ethnic Albanians taking control of local government.

It may not have been the spiciest of leaks — and no Discord servers or Russian disinformation were involved. But a leak of internal Royal Air Force documents to Sky News last year shed light on an ongoing and critical problem: British pilot recruits are not being trained quickly enough. A program that should take two or three years is now taking up to eight. Official sources maintain that this is an expected challenge given the current operational context. Others call it “the biggest [screw] up in the RAF.

Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images

There are indications from Biden administration that Ukraine is making progress already during its counteroffensive.
Administration officials “were encouraged by better-than-expected progress Monday, as Ukrainian units pushed through heavily mined areas to advance between five and 10 kilometers in some areas of the long front,” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported Tuesday. “That raised hopes that Ukrainian forces can keep thrusting toward Mariupol, Melitopol and other Russian-held places along the coast.