Up-armored M3A3s in Iraq
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The USA’s M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles have played a central role in armed operations in Iraq. Many of them are now doing it with special reactive applique armor tiles that significantly improve their protection against anti-tank rockets. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Inc. in Burlington, VT is the main supplier, in conjunction with Israel’s RAFAEL who pioneered the design.

The add-on armor kit for the M2/M3 Bradleys, for instance, includes 105 tiles that look like small boxes and attach to the sides, the turret and the front of each vehicle. The armor is some of the most advanced in the world, and includes both passive protection of strong material that diverts the rocket, plus reactive protection. That reactive protection uses a very special, insensitive explosive that is detonated only when hit by a missile or rocket; it will not react to other heat sources, or lesser impacts from small arms or shell fragments. The resulting explosion disrupts the incoming armor-penetrating blast jet produced by an RPG-7’s shaped-charge warhead, for example.

That’s the theory, anyway. What have the results been like? Have improvements been made? What purchases have taken place, and when? DID has answers, including a recent order, more complete order tables, and program history…

• The Birth and Refinement of Reactive Armor
• Reactive Armor and Future Threats
• US Contract Awards: Bradley Reactive Armor [updated]
• Other Contract Awards & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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FAC Kfir C7
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Colombia’s narco-terrorist FARC army has reportedly lost some of its military shine recently, thanks to years of unswerving pressure from the Colombian army. Much of that pressure has been led by the popular President Uribe, who has apparently ruled out a bid for constitutional amendments and an attempt at a 3rd term of office, but allowed a related referendum proposal to go forward. Delays to that proposal now appear to be solidifying Uribe’s term limit exit. Before that 2010 exit, however, a special tax levied in 2006 is set to finance about $4 billion worth of military hardware, and add stronger backing to those military gains.

Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper reports that the deals are meant to solidify and modernize the military, and will include a wide variety of equipment from American, French, German, Israeli, and Russian suppliers. Additional research has added more details, and key deliveries have now begun.

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66mm Smoke Grenade

American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM) in Stafford, VA received an $8.2 million order from the Program Manager for Ammunition, Marine Corps Systems Command, in Quantico, VA, to deliver vehicle-launched 66mm visual and infrared screening smoke grenades. The Marines chose the ARM’s red phosphorous smoke MK 1 MOD 0 grenade over the brass flakes-based M76 grenade.

Both the MK 1 MOD 0 and the M76 are armored-vehicle-launched grenades that provide masking for armored vehicles in the visible and thermal infrared wavebands, so-called bispectral obscurants. The obscurants make it difficult for the enemy to detect the vehicles by blocking the electromagnetic spectrum. However, the grenades provide masking in different ways. The MK 1 MOD 0 grenade uses red phosphorous pellets and wafers that, when burned, generate a thick smoke the blocks detection of the vehicle in the visible and infrared spectrum. The M76 grenade uses micropulverized flakes of brass that when dispersed by the grenade also block the infrared and visible spectrum.

DID has more on ARM’s smoke grenade concept, and the vehicles that use it…

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Spanish M109A5,
Brite Star 2001
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June 12/09: The USA’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced [PDF] Chile’s official request for self-propelled howitzers, artillery radars, tracked armored vehicles, weapons, and assorted equipment required to equip a new mechanized artillery battalion.

Chile already operates the M109 self-propelled howitzer; this order will double its available forces. The exact request could be worth up to $275 million once a contract is negotiated, and includes…

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Elbit Systems in Haifa, Israel, has agreed to pay $18 million for a 19% stake in fellow Israeli defense firm Mikal. The Mikal group operates through 3 main divisions: Soltam Systems, which supplies artillery, mortars, and ammunition; Symar, which supplies armored fighting vehicles; and ITL Optronics, which supplies sensors for soldiers, unmanned aerial vehicles, military vehicles and battle management systems.

In the first stage of the transaction, Elbit Systems will loan Mikal $18 million. Once regulatory approvals are received, the loan will be converted to an equity investment, and Mikal will issue approximately 19% of its shares to Elbit Systems. Then, Elbit Systems will be granted the option to purchase the remaining shares of Mikal from the other shareholders during 2011 for a purchase price to be determined through an independent external valuation. The Mikal Group is Israel’s second largest privately owned defense conglomerate, consisting of 19 globally-distributed companies focusing on land-based solutions, systems and products for over 80 countries worldwide.

Mounted RT-1523 SINCGARS
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ITT Corp in Fort Wayne, IN won a $363.1 million 24-month-base-firm-fixed-price contract for the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), system enhancements and logistics support. ITT will provide 58,000 RT-1523 SINCGARS radios [PDF], 34,800 vehicle adapter assemblies/Internet routers and 34,800 radio frequency amplifiers to the Army’s Communications-Electronics Command.

SINCGARS is the the U.S. Army’s current core tactical radio technology, deployed in over 130 military platforms, such as Humvees (HMMWV), Bradley fighting vehicles, and transport trucks…

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USMC M1A1 settles a
firefight in Fallujah
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The RESET process takes used vehicles apart, inspects the parts, then replaces any defective parts and refurbishes the equipment to like-new condition. Sometimes upgrades are also performed. RESET and related processes like remanufacture/upgrades are being performed on M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley IFV/CFVs, HMMWV jeeps, and even helicopters. It usually takes place when the vehicles return from the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, where sand damage and increased wear have taken their toll.

In truth, many of these vehicles were produced in the 1980s, and are reaching an age where “deep maintenance” is a wise and necessary measure. A July 2006 Washington Times article noted the effect age and wear have had on the USA’s vehicle fleet, and DID has also covered this subject under the wider rubric of the Army’s maintenance overhang. DID believes these efforts are sufficiently important that the consolidated visibility of a FOCUS Article is in order.

Note that this is not a complete list of RESET contracts; DID will seek to backfill its roster as opportunities arise, and newly-added materials will be presented in green as a reader convenience. Recent additions include an award for USMC helicopter resets, and a $600 million contract for Bradley vehicles…

• RESET Programs and Procedures
• RESET Contracts, Delivery Orders & Developments, FY 2006-Present [updated]
• Vehicle Fleets and Maintenance Overhangs
• Additional Readings
  
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RG-33 variant
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BAE Systems Land & Armaments, Ground Systems Division, in York, PA received a $14.3 million order for field service representatives and instructors to support Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Iraq. BAE Systems expects to complete the work by December 2009. This order is a firm-fixed-priced modification of a previously awarded delivery order #0004 (89 RG-33 SOCOM) under a contract managed by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-5025).

MRAP vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. According to Wikipedia, IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq. There is no common MRAP vehicle design; there are several vendors, including BAE Systems, each with a competing design. For more information, see DID’s feature on BAE Systems’ family of MRAP offerings, order record, and associated contracts.

Yak-130
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In an earlier Feb 1/06 report, DID noted that a $4 billion arms sale was brewing between Algeria and Russia involving fighter aircraft, tanks, and air defense systems, with the possibility of additional equipment. Those options would appear to have come through, as numerous sources are now reporting that a high-level Russian delegation in Algeria has closed $7.5 billion worth of arms contracts. The Algerian package would be post-Soviet Russia’s largest ever single arms deal, and compares to annual Russian weapons exports to all customers of $5-6 billion per year in 2004 and 2005.

T-90 tank
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Reuters South Africa quotes Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov as saying that “Practically all types of arms which we have are included, anti-missile systems, aviation, sea and land technology.” The actual contents of that deal were murky, though DID offers triangulation among several sources to help sort out the confusion. The subsequent crash of Algeria’s MiG-29 deal, and its ripple effects, are also discussed. The latest addition is a report on some of the deliveries to date…

• Detailing the Deal: The Algerian Package [updated]
• Structuring the Deal: Anatomy of a Euro Squeeze Play
• Updates & Developments [updated]
• Appendix A: Algeria’s Appetite for Advanced Arms
• Appendix B: Russia’s Arms Industry Woes
• Appendix C: Additional Readings [updated]
  
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(click to download)

Defense was an issue in the last Australian election. The center-left Labor Party attacked the center-right Liberal Party by citing mismanaged projects, and accusing the Howard government of making poor choices on key defense platforms like the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike fighters. That sniping continued even after Labor won the election, and has been evident in more than a few Defence Ministry releases.

The new government made some program changes, such as canceling the SH-2G Seasprite contract. Yet it has been more notable for the programs it has not changed: problematic upgrades of Australia’s Oliver Hazard Perry frigates were continued, the late purchase of F/A-18F Super Hornets was ratified rather than canceled, and observers waited for the real shoe to drop: the government’s promised 2009 Defence White Paper, which would lay out Australia’s long-term strategic assessments, and procurement plans.

On May 2/09, Australia’s government released “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030.” DID has reviewed that document, and the reaction to date…

• Fast Incoming
• The Highlight Reel
• Additional Readings & Assessments
  
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