MBDA unveils Land Precision Fires family

On the same subject

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  April 6, 2022 | International, Aerospace

  Australia accelerates missile upgrade program by several years

  The new rearmament timetable comes after the Solomon Islands announced a draft security pact with China.

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  October 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  Senop to supply night vision devices to the Finnish Defence Forces

  Patria Group October 13, 2020 - The Finnish Defence Forces will improve its night fighting capability by procuring new image intensifiers for soldiers and hand-held multipurpose observation and surveillance systems for mortar units. Antti Kaikkonen, the Minister of Defence of Finland, has authorized the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command to sign a contract with Senop Oy for the procurement of night vision devices. The procurement is based on a Letter of Intent signed on 22 May 2019 and Senop will deliver the systems by the end of 2021. The contract, with a total value of more than 13 million euros, includes a 209 million euro option for the next five years. The option includes image intensifiers, observation and surveillance systems and laser aiming devices. Senop´s new NVG is a small and lightweight night vision device (FDF: Night vision device M20), designed as a soldier's personal night vision device to be used in demanding military environments. NVG utilizes latest aspheric and composite technologies, which enable high performance and low over all system weight. Senop´s laser aiming devices (FDF: Tactical laser aiming device M20 and Soldier´s laser aiming device) are developed to be used as a soldier´s weapon sight and as a target designator for troop leaders. Laser aiming devices are designed for seamless integration with FDF´s existing weapons and are also usable in other weapons / systems. Senop LILLY target acquisition device (FDF: Target acquisition device MPL21) is an extremely light weight device with versatile functions for target acquisition, observation and different types of measuring applications. LILLY is based on high performance thermal imaging, combined with direct view optical channel. This combination enables high performance at all times of day. New image intensifier, laser aiming devices and Senop LILLY sensor have been developed in close cooperation with the Finnish army. “The development work has also required intensive field tests and environmental tests to ensure that the devices are easy to use and stand the strain of hard military operations. I can proudly say that Image intensifier, laser aiming devices and LILLY-sensor have been developed for infantry soldiers with the guidance of real end users”, says Aki Korhonen, Managing Director of Senop. Effective night fighting capability requires overarching capabilities. Senop is developing holistic solutions for networked military environments. Senop has for example delivered Senop VV3X night sights, VVLite night vision devices, and LISA target acquisition systems (FDF: MPL15) for the Finnish Army. All these devices support the capability to fight during the night and in difficult weather conditions. In addition, these systems are networked to modern C2I -systems to support situational awareness. “Our mission is to help customers to build new capabilities by tailoring solutions according to their specific needs and requirements. Our priority customers are armies and soldiers. Our development work with the Finnish Army has shown the agility of our company to support the customers”, Aki Korhonen points out. The development of the Image Intensifier and laser aiming devices was finalised from concept to qualified product within one year. Senop´s Defence&Security portfolio consists of high-performance image intensifiers, night sights, intelligent thermal weapon sights, handheld target acquisition and observation systems, vehicle camera systems, hyperspectral cameras, and multipurpose container-based system platform solutions. https://www.epicos.com/article/635461/senop-supply-night-vision-devices-finnish-defence-forces

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  December 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Saab puts marketing effort for Swordfish maritime plane on hiatus

  By: Valerie Insinna BANGKOK — Over the past two years, Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab has put its advertising muscle into promoting a maritime patrol aircraft it called Swordfish. But in the absence of a launch customer and no immediate sales prospects, the company is ending its marketing campaign — at least for now, the head of its Asia-Pacific business said Thursday. “From a product perspective, we are no longer marketing it. So it was a concept. It was an opportunity that we looked at on the back of GlobalEye, and we're just concentrating on GlobalEye,” Dean Rosenfield said in a roundtable with journalists in Saab's Bangkok office. Defense News traveled to Thailand the week of Nov. 26 to learn more about the country's air warfare capabilities, accepting airfare and accommodations from Saab. Swordfish was initially conceived as a derivative of Saab's GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft. Both are based on Bombardier's Global 6000 airframe and contain a suite of cutting-edge sensors, with Swordfish also adding torpedoes, sonobuoys, anti-ship missiles, an acoustics processor and a magnetic anomaly detector. But while GlobalEye has landed a launch customer in the United Arab Emirates, Swordfish is still looking for a buyer. Saab hoped to position Swordfish as a lower-cost alternative to Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, which is used by the U.S. Navy to hunt submarines and conduct surveillance over open waters. The firm targeted a handful of international countries who had expressed interest in upgrading their legacy maritime surveillance inventories. One such country was South Korea, which was looking for up to six additional aircraft to augment its fleet of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orions. In March, one Saab official told Defense News that — should South Korea chose Swordfish as its future maritime patrol aircraft — the company was prepared to allow South Korea to have a hand in producing the aircraft, with the first few aircraft being produced in Sweden and the rest assembled in South Korea. Saab had responded to South Korean requests for more information about Swordfish, Rosenfield said. But in June the country decided to award a sole-source contract valued at about $1.7 billion to Boeing for the P-8 Poseidon, eschewing the Swordfish and Airbus' C295. In July, another sales opportunity for Swordfish was dashed, when New Zealand announced that it would buy up to four P-8s to replace its P-3s. Rosenfield said that even if Saab wasn't successful in the Korean competition, the company's efforts may still prove fruitful as it goes forward marketing its GlobalEye early warning plane. “But the good thing about what we did there is that it gave us great recognition — brand recognition — particularly as we were marketing a GlobalEye capability like what we are delivering to the UAE,” he said. “That's where we see it going.” Rosenfield said there may be opportunities in the future to resurrect the Swordfish sales initiative. “If there is a customer who has a need for a maritime patrol aircraft, like Singapore for example, and they are prepared to invest in the technology to take something that hasn't been delivered before to a first customer, then we're happy to entertain that discussion,” he said. But currently, “the product, per se, doesn't exist in the Saab portfolio,” he added. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/30/saab-puts-marketing-effort-for-swordfish-maritime-plane-on-hiatus