Back to news

May 2, 2022 | International, Aerospace

Brazil Acquires Two A330s For MRTT Conversions

On the same subject

  • Elbit Systems Awarded Approximately $60 Million Contract to Supply Artillery Shells to the Israel Ministry of Defense

    August 2, 2023 | International, Land, Security, Other Defence

    Elbit Systems Awarded Approximately $60 Million Contract to Supply Artillery Shells to the Israel Ministry of Defense

    The expansion and the upgrade of our production infrastructure enables the provision of rapid  production of a range of high quality solutions to the Israel Ministry of Defense

  • US Army cuts current vehicle fleet to make way for next-gen tech

    March 29, 2019 | International, Land

    US Army cuts current vehicle fleet to make way for next-gen tech

    By: Jen Judson Update: This story has been updated to reflect correct procurement numbers for the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV). WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has telegraphed its plans to terminate 93 programs and truncate another 93to make room for next-generation technology under ambitious and rapid modernization plans, and the first major programs to feel the ax blows in the next five years are vehicles in the current fleet. According to fiscal 2020 budget request documents released March 12, the service plans to cut back on upgrade plans for its Bradley Fighting Vehicle program, an aging platform in the fleet currently unable to effectively support technology like active protection systems. But the Army is also planning to cut not-so-legacy systems as well — the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV) built by BAE Systems and the Oshkosh-manufactured Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) — that recently replaced legacy systems, Army Comptroller Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander said during a March 12 budget briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. The service has not reached a full-rate production decision for the JLTV. That was pushed back from December 2018 to May 2019 due to new plans to alter the vehicles — to include larger windows and the addition of a muffler — based on soldier feedback. And the first prototype for AMPV — the M113 personnel carrier replacement — rolled off the line in 2016. The budget documents lay out the Army's FY20 plans to cut Bradley A4 upgrade plans from 167 vehicles to 128. The plan is to procure five more sets of Bradley A4 vehicles with one going to pre-positioned stock in Europe and the other four replacing the oldest sets of Bradleys. Then the program will stop around 2023 to make way for the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, or NGCV, according to Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army's G-8 chief. Although the Bradley will be curtailed, Pasquarette noted that its funding in FY20 was up 37 percent from last year at $639 million. While the Army — as of last year — planned to buy 3,035 JLTVs, it now plans to purchase just 2,530 of the vehicles in FY20. Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy told an audience at the McAleese & Associates and Credit Suisse Defense Programs conference in Washington on Wednesday that the service would stop at five brigades of Bradley A4 vehicles. That decision, he said, would sync with an investment increase for the NGCV expected in 2023 and beyond. And while the Army plans to decrease JLTV buys in 2020, cuts will likely not stop there. McCarthy said the Army is looking to lower the requirement for JLTVs and could soon be locking in a new top-line requirement number. Yet, Pasquarette also said at the McAleese conference that the top-line requirement would not change for the JLTV but would just be pushed to the right. McCarthy added that cutting the fleet of JLTVs was justified because the Army has a wealth of vehicles, from 55,000 Humvees, and 49,000 more JLTVs and another 800 Infantry Squad Vehicles planned. “We clearly have more capability than we need,” he said. The AMPV buy holds steady in FY20 at 131 vehicles. The FY19 plan shows the Army wanted to buy 130 vehicles. The five-year plan has yet to be released by the Army, but it's likely to show a decline in AMPV buys following FY20. Pasquarette said the AMPV top-line requirement remains unchanged, but the service was simply slowing the procurement rate per year. The cuts to current programs were made following painstaking deliberations among Army leadership over the course of last year in a forum dubbed “night court.” Through the process, the service measured current capability against its contribution to increasing capability in a modern, more lethal Army, and it terminated or truncated programs that didn't fit the bill. Pasquarette noted that the programs that were fully terminated were small ones that did not contribute to the lethality of the future force. Some of the bigger programs were slowed such as the vehicle programs. Overall, the Army moved an additional $3.6 billion into modernization funding accounts in FY20 over last year's levels — planning to spend $8.6 billion on programs that get after a more modern force. And across the five-year budget plan, the service moved an additional $32 billion to fund modernization efforts beyond what was planned in FY19 for a total of $57 billion. The Army isn't cutting or slowing all of its legacy vehicle systems, Pasquarette noted. The Stryker Double V-Hull (DVH-configuration combat vehicles) will get $550 million per year over the next five years to outfit a half of a Stryker brigade combat team annually. The Abrams tank will receive $1.7 billion in FY20 funding, a 64 percent increase over last year, Pasquarette added. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/federal-budget/2019/03/13/us-army-cuts-current-vehicle-fleet-to-make-way-for-next-gen-tech/

  • Britain lifts ban on Saudi weapons exports

    July 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Britain lifts ban on Saudi weapons exports

    By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Britain has lifted a yearlong ban on the export of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, the government announced July 7. Weapon sales to Saudi Arabia were banned in June 2019 after a U.K. Court of Appeal ruled that the government may have contravened international humanitarian law by approving weapon sales to the Saudis that might have been used in the civil war in Yemen. Britain is one of the largest exporters of defense equipment in the world, largely thanks to Saudi Arabia's purchase over more than 30 years of Tornado and Typhoon combat jets as well as Hawk jet trainers. Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bombs, partly built in the U.K., are also among the list of recent significant sales to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Middle Eastern nations in a protracted and bloody war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels trying to seize Yemen. In an action brought by anti-arms trade campaigners, the court ruling forced the British government to reassess whether previous export licenses had been issued on the correct legal basis, given alleged violations of international humanitarian law by the Saudi military, specifically reported airstrikes that hit civilian targets. “The incidents, which have been assessed to be possible violations of international humanitarian law, occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons,” said International Trade Secretary Liz Truss. “In retaking these decisions, I have taken into account the full range of information available to the government. In the light of all that information and analysis, I have concluded that, notwithstanding the isolated incidents, which have been factored into the analysis as historic violations of international humanitarian law, Saudi Arabia has a genuine intent and the capacity to comply with international humanitarian law,” she added. “On that basis, I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” Truss said exports will resume after the government completes the court-ordered review of defense export licences to the Middle East's largest buyer of military equipment. The ban only halted new approvals for weapons sales. Work on existing deals, like BAE System's deals to support Typhoon and Tornado jets, have continued unaffected. The British government will now “begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that has built up since 20 June last year,” Truss told Parliament. “It may take some months to clear this backlog.” In a statement, BAE said: “We note that the UK Government has implemented a revised methodology regarding licences for military exports. We continue to provide defense equipment, training and support under government to government agreements between the UK and Saudi Arabia, subject to UK Government approval and oversight. We work closely with the Department for International Trade to ensure our continued compliance with all relevant export control laws and regulations.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/07/britain-lifts-ban-on-saudi-weapons-exports/

All news