Queen of Battles: Poland’s New Artillery Programs (2014 snapshot)

Kryl

Poland’s military is modernizing on a number of fronts, and a Western shift in its self-propelled artillery is underway. The country has become a key bulwark within NATO, but its howitzers have used Russian calibers. Among its self-propelled vehicles, its most numerous 2S1 tracked vehicles are 122mm, while its Czech-designed Dana wheeled howitzers are 152mm. Project REGINA is slowly changing that, as the country adopts standard NATO calibers. A combination of local and international design leans heavily on local defense industries for production…

MANPADS Mix: Lithuania Adds Polish GROM Missiles

PPZR GROM

At MSPO 2014, Lithuania signed a EUR 34 million contract with Poland for PPZR GROM soldier-portable anti-aircraft missiles, along with necessary instrumentation, simulators, and training. The Polish MON says that Lithuania is their 4th export customer after “Georgia, Indonesia, and Japan.” Peru has also bought GROM, as part of the vehicle-mounted POPRAD system, and missiles seized by Russian forces in Georgia appear to have found their way to pro-Russian “customers” in eastern Ukraine.

The purchase leaves Lithuania with a variety of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles…

AGM-65E Laser-Guided Maverick Missiles: Back in Production

AGM-65E onto F/A-18

Raytheon is restarting its production line to produce AGM-65E2/L laser-guided Maverick missiles, and will also upgrade existing stocks, in response to demand from the front lines. The AGM-65 rose to its greatest prominence during Desert Storm, when many of TV’s missile-eye views of air strikes came from Mavericks. In truth, it was produced in 3 versions: TV-guided (AGM-65A/B/D/H), Imaging Infrared (AGM-65G) guided, and laser-guided (AGM-65E). Production continues for the TV and IIR variants, but the Marines’ AGM-65E laser-guided version had gone out of production.

The AGM-65 Maverick was the first general purpose fire-and-forget tactical air-to-ground missile in service with the U.S. Air Force. The JAGM program initially proposed to replace it, but program changes ensured that Maverick remains the default American option for jet fighter precision-guided missile strikes out to around 20+ km / 12 nmi. While IIR and TV guidance allow precision attacks, laser guidance generally offers the best accuracy of the 3 against ground targets. Likewise, there are circumstances in which a fully-powered missile is a better choice than an unpowered gliding bomb. The following story from Iraq illustrates…

Pro-Russian Rebels Pretend to Be Ready for Peace

• The heads of separatist movements in Eastern Ukraine said [Deutsche Welle] they’d be ready to order a ceasefire if an agreement is reached during talks in Belarus [The Guardian], following somewhat conflicting statements from Kiev and Moscow. It’s hard no to think that the timing is meant to undermine [AP] the resolve of NATO members meeting at a summit in Wales, and prevent Ukraine from joining the alliance. Nothing really indicates that Russia and its local agents are suddenly acting in good faith.