FRENCH ARMED FORCES BOOST THEIR SECURE, HIGH-THROUGHPUT SATCOM CAPABILITIES WITH THALES TECHNOLOGIES

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  October 1, 2018 | International, Land

  India approves S-400 buy from Russia, amid expectations for more bilateral deals

  By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — India has quietly approved a $5.43 billion program to buy five S-400 Triumf air defense systems from Russia, just a week before Russian President Vladimir Putin's Oct. 5 visit to the country. The program was approved earlier this week by the Indian government's highest defense approval body, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When asked about India's decision in relation to U.S. objections over the purchase, a top Ministry of Defence official said: “We already have communicated our stand on the subject to Washington.” A formal government-to-government contract is expected to be announced during the 19th India-Russia summit on Oct. 5. “Apparently, the Indian defense establishment is convinced that S-400 Triumf system is ideally suited to fill a critical gap in our existing capabilities. That being the case, there is no reason for India to buckle under the U.S. pressure to roll back procurement of hardware from Russia,” said Amit Cowshish, a former former financial adviser on defense acquisition for the MoD. U.S. embassy diplomats were unavailable for comment. Indian defense forces have been apprehensive about the fate of armament supplies from Russia following U.S. sanctions on Russian entities under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. India and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the sale of five S-400 units during 17th India-Russia summit in October 2016 in Goa in the presence of Putin and Modi. The Russian-built S-400 is capable of intercepting and destroying airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) and can simultaneously engage up to six targets. Each S-400 unit comprises tracking and search radar systems, eight launchers, 112 guided missiles, and command and support vehicles. The first missile system will be delivered by the end of 2020. Further cooperation India is also expected to announce a $2.2 billion government-to-government contract with United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia for two Krivak-class stealth frigates. In addition, an intergovernmental agreement will be inked for the joint production of AK-103 assault rifles in India. U.S. sanctions against Russia compelled India early this year to freeze payments of more than $2 billion, temporarily halting several ongoing defense programs receiving assistance from several Russian defense original equipment manufacturers. Until last month, CAATSA also affected India's purchase of spare parts, components, raw materials and other assistance for which Indian entities are dependent on Russia for domestic licence manufacturing and maintenance of existing equipment, according to another MoD official. Following an April 7 verdict by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, India's national bank, the State Bank of India, stopped all payments to Russian arms trading company Rosoboronexport. “This [problem] is more or less rectified now," the official added. India now wants a new 10-year framework agreement with Russia to manufacture and upgrade at least a dozen types of Russian armament systems in India, including for Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters, Mi-series helicopters, Kamov helicopters, T-90 tanks, artillery guns and Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher systems. Cowshish noted that India cannot afford to distance itself from Russia, if for no other reason than the fact that it requires Russia's continued support to maintain and operate in-service equipment, a large proportion of which is of Russian-origin. Russia remains the largest defense supplier to India, but its share of the Indian market has fallen sharply. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/09/28/india-approves-s-400-buy-from-russia-amid-expectations-for-more-bilateral-deals

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  April 29, 2021 | International, Land

  Point Blank throws hat in ring to design US Army’s Bradley replacement

  Here's a look at the latest nontraditional business to emerge as a competitor to build the U.S. Army's optionally manned fighting vehicle.

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  July 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Marines Develop Laser To Fry Drones From JLTVs

  By PAUL MCLEARY WASHINGTON: As the Marine Corps prepares to wrap up the first deployment of its innovative mobile counter-drone system to the Middle East, the service is rushing ahead to put lasers on a ground vehicle, with an eye to shooting down drones. While the deployed Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System — mounted on two Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicles — can move quickly and electronically jam drones, the Marines are looking for something a little more...well, kinetic. They hope they've found it in the Compact Laser Weapons System (CLaWS) program. It is the first ground-based laser approved by the Pentagon for use by ground troops. Marine Lt. Col. Ho Lee, product manager for Ground Based Air Defense Weapons Systems, said in a statement that the CLaWS program has been developed, troops trained on it, and its been fielded for testing all in about a year's time, a timeline the Corps is hoping will get the system fielded in a relatively short time period. “We've been doing rapid prototyping, rapid delivery,” Lee said. “With this and a lot of the other efforts we are doing, we are using items currently available and integrating them to meet a capability. Little development, if any, went into this.” Back in 2017, Boeing began developing the system in 2-kW, 5-kW and 10-kW configurations. But it's unclear which version the Marines are testing. The Army has already placed a version of the weapon on a Stryker for testing in Europe, while the Marines last year showed it off on top of a JLTV. The idea is to get the system in the field as part of a larger, integrated air defense system that can protect deployed troops from DIY drones to more sophisticated models built by nation states. Despite the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy which prioritize equipping the force for competition with China and Russia, out in the world, there are still 15,000 US troops in Afghanistan, 5,000 in Iraq and somewhere around 2,000 in Syria, all of whom are in range of small, DIY drones made by insurgent groups or second-tier states. In Syria, Iranian-made drones operated by the Asad regime have dropped small bombs near US troops, and US aircraft have been forced to shoot them down using aircraft that launch expensive missiles, creating a cost imbalance that favors the other side. Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq have also long weaponized small commercial quadcopter drones to drop small munitions on Iraqi troops and US-backed fighters, who have little to no protection against them. The Taliban has filmed attacks on Afghan outposts from a collection of drones, as well. “We will never deploy again to a theater of operations where we are not under threat from unmanned aerial systems,” UK's Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney, former deputy commander of US and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria in 2017-2018 said recently. “Both those high-end systems of our near-peer competitors, and lower, off-the-shelf, botched-together systems that are developed by asymmetric enemies. And we need to get used to that.” https://breakingdefense.com/2019/06/marines-develop-laser-to-fry-drones-from-jltvs/