UK’s Big Spend to Include Special Forces, Drones | Tata Wins 1200-Truck Deal | Army Tests ‘Invisible Wall’ Tech in Bradleys

Americas

• Lockheed Martin reported on Monday that the company has successfully tested two Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) during recent testing over Elgin AFB in Florida. The company is bidding for its missile to win the Army’s JAGM competition, delivering its proposal in April.

• Army soldiers have been evaluating situational awareness equipment for use on the Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle. Developed by TARDEC, the systems are designed to allow soldiers to see the vehicle’s surroundings whilst sat in the rear of the AFV through the use of external cameras and display screens mounted in the rear of the Bradley.

• The Canadian government has cancelled a contract for tactical control radar systems, originally signed with Thales Canada in November 2010. The two Thales Ground Master 400 systems were meant to support the Canadian fleet of CF-18 Hornet fighters, with the reason for the mutual termination not disclosed by the Canadian Public Works Department.

Europe

• The Royal Navy’s third Astute-class attack submarine is scheduled to begin sea trails in coming weeks, following the sub’s first dive in October last year. The submarine – HMS Artful – is scheduled to join the two other Astute-class boats currently in service – HMS Astute and HMS Ambush – later this year, with another four boats under construction.

• Poland has put out a tender for a single surface/submersible vessel similar to the STIDD Multi Role Combatant Craft to equip its Special Forces. The small vessel will be capable of operating in both surface and fully-submerged conditions, as well as transportable via a standard container. Bidders have until the 3rd August to complete bids.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron has pushed defense chiefs to allocate more money for Special Forces, airborne intelligence platforms and unmanned aircraft, with all these expected to feature prominently in this year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The announcement comes after the UK Conservative government announced earlier this month its commitment to meeting NATO’s defense spending requirements of 2% of Gross Domestic Product for five-years.

• Poland is looking to purchase up to 4,500 battle management systems (BMS) to equip its Rosomak Infantry Fighting Vehicles, with the tender open to Polish companies. The Polish Army boosted its Rosomak fleet in 2013, with Slovakia recently ordering thirty of the vehicles.

Middle East North Africa

• Turkey’s Aselsan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi firms King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Taqnia Defense and Security Technologies (DST), a sign of the company’s intention to cement its growth into the Middle East market. The Turkish state-owned Aselsan opened a joint production facility in Jordan in December, with the joint venture a collaboration with King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), which owns 51% of the joint Aselsan Middle East (AME) company. Aselsan opened an electronic warfare equipment manufacturing plant in March.

Asia

• India test-fired an indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile from a helicopter for the first time on Monday. The helicopter-launched versions of the Nag ATGM (the so-called HeliNa) missiles were launched from a Dhruv helicopter platform, with this test building on previous tests in December 2013 and June 2014, which saw mixed success from ground launches. In this latest test, the missile scored a reported successful hit rate of two out three. The infrared-guided, third-generation Nag (Cobra) missile is one of five missiles that India has been looking to export for several years.

• The Royal Australian Navy has completed initial sea trials of its second Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ship, the Canberra-class Nuship Adelaide, which began in June. Australia recently dropped plans to field the F-35B, citing the costs involved with modifying its two LHDs for use with the aircraft. The first LHD, the Nuship Canberra, was commissioned into the RAN in November last year, with the younger vessel scheduled to complete further trials in August.

• Tata motors has been handed a contract to supply over 1,200 6×6 logistics vehicles for the Indian Army, following over two years of trials. The $144 million contract will be used to transport and handle munitions and other equipment, with the high-mobility vehicle design also capable of forming the basis of a multi-barrel rocket launcher system.

Today’s Video

• The Astute-class submarine:

$91.2M to RESET, Improve US Army’s MQ-5B UAVs

MQ-5 w. Viper Strikes

Northrop Grumman Technical Services in Sierra Vista, AZ recently received a $91.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to RESET its MQ-5B Hunters to “zero flight hours” condition, and incorporate the Tactical Common Data Link and Interoperability Engineering Change Proposal. Work will be performed in Sierra Vista, AZ, with an estimated completion date of Dec 30/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0025).

Originally designed by Israel Aircraft Industries, the Q-5 Hunter is the US Army’s oldest UAV. It entered service in 1996 as the RQ-5A, which saw action in Kosovo. Northrop Grumman is IAI’s American marketing and development partner, and their MQ-5B is the latest version. It adds weapon pylons for payloads like the GBU-44 Viper Strike, heavy fuel engines, an extended fuel-carrying wing that nearly doubles endurance to 21 hours, new datalinks and IFF, OneSystem GCS compatibility, and a modern avionics suite that includes automated takeoff and landing. MQ-5Bs first flew in July 2005, and deployed to the front lines a year later. Just under 30 UAVs of this type are in service, but they continue to rack up flying time, passing 100,000 hours in January 2011.

July 15/15: The Army has retired its MQ-5B Hunter UAV, with the type’s last flight taking place at Fort Huachuca, AZ. The Hunter was in service from 1996 and received several upgrades, including a $91.2 million reset in 2011. The UAV is being replaced with another Northrop Grumman-manufactured model, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle.