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September 11, 2018 | International, Land

Rafael positions Australian JV for expansion

Jon Grevatt, Bangkok - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is looking to support the development of its Australian joint venture (JV) to enable the new company to head up a range of local missile manufacturing programmes and lead efforts to secure exports.

The JV was established earlier in 2018 through an investment partnership with Australian company Varley and will initially be focused on producing Rafael's Spike LR2 anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) for the Australian Army under Land 400 Phase 2.

In this project, the Spike will be fitted onto the Rheinmetall Boxer 8×8 armoured vehicle, 211 units of which were formally ordered by the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) in August.

https://www.janes.com/article/82886/rafael-positions-australian-jv-for-expansion

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  • Rheinmetall and BAE Systems to create a UK based Land Systems Joint Venture

    January 22, 2019 | International, Land

    Rheinmetall and BAE Systems to create a UK based Land Systems Joint Venture

    Rheinmetall and BAE Systems today announced that they have signed an agreement to create a joint UK based military vehicle design, manufacturing and support business. The new Joint Venture will be headquartered at BAE Systems' facility in Telford, England and will sustain over 400 jobs in the UK, as well as preserve key technology and engineering skills. Rheinmetall will purchase a 55% stake in the existing BAE Systems UK based combat vehicles business, with BAE Systems retaining 45%. The establishment of the new Joint Venture is subject to regulatory approvals which are anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2019. Once the approvals have been completed, the Joint Venture will be known as Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL). In addition to managing and growing the existing combat vehicle support business, the intent is for the new Joint Venture to play a major role in the delivery of the British Army's new Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) and other strategic combat vehicles programmes. The combination of Rheinmetall's military vehicles technology and products with the additional capabilities and products brought to the Joint Venture by BAE Systems, such as Trojan, Terrier, Warrior, military bridging and the AS90 self-propelled artillery system will create a European market leader in the military vehicle sector. RBSL will have the potential to create hundreds of additional UK jobs, both in Telford and the wider supply chain. While initially focused on these major UK programmes, RBSL will also form an integral part of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems Division and will participate in and contribute to various global military vehicle pursuits and contracts. Jennifer Osbaldestin, Managing Director of BAE Systems Land UK business, said: “We are committed to evolving our combat vehicles business so that we better serve our customers' future interests. Joining forces with Rheinmetall in the UK provides renewed purpose for our vehicles business and allows us to deliver products, services and technology that help land forces excel in their vital roles. We look forward to working together to ensure the Joint Venture is a trusted supplier to the British Army and our international customers.” Ben Hudson, Global Head of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems Division, said: “We are excited about the potential the new Joint Venture holds for Rheinmetall, BAE Systems and ultimately our customers. The combined capabilities of our two great companies will offer our customers a comprehensive portfolio of military vehicles and associated technologies both now and into the future. We are proud to invest in the UK and expect to substantially grow the current business and the Telford manufacturing facility over the coming years.” https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/rheinmetall-and-bae-systems-to-create-a-uk-based-land-systems-joint-venture

  • Here are the intelligence community’s top 6 priorities

    August 20, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Here are the intelligence community’s top 6 priorities

    By: Mark Pomerleau For the first time in recent history, the intelligence community has established a common vision with common operating principles that reaches all of its disparate agencies. “The leaders of the intelligence community about a year ago got together and we – for the first time I can recall – got together and established a common vision for ourselves called IC 2025,” Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of national intelligence, said Aug. 15 at the DoDIIS conference in Omaha, Nebraska. The vision, she said, explains what the community needs to fulfill the IC's mission and how the community must work together. Gordon had previously discussed these priorities during a presentation at the GEOINT symposium in April. The priorities include: ♦ Relying on Automated Intelligence using Machines, or AIM. The IC is establishing an AIM center – in concert with the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center – to help the community harness the power of technology. Gordon said she prefers the “AIM” lexicon because she is interested in outcomes, not technology. One such outcome is the commitment that no U.S. or allied service member will ever be at a disadvantage on the battlefield because and adversary can make better use of data, she said in Omaha. ♦ Developing the right workforce. Gordon said in April that if the intel community is going to harness the power of machines to use more of the data productively, then they have to invest more in humans. ♦ Developing a comprehensive cyber strategy. Cyber is not a thing, it is a vehicle by which so many imperatives are addressed, Gordon said in April, adding that it includes cyber protection. “If you hear about it in public it's who's in charge. I think that is a total misnomer,” she said. “We really have to address the cyber attack and the cyber posturing that is happening to us every day and help this administration figure out the response we need.” ♦ Creating a modern data management infrastructure. Pursing data without a purpose, Gordon said at the GEOINT symposium, is probably not going to get the community there but not understanding that data management is the key to any of the elements of success they portend will not put efforts in the right area. ♦ Increasing and leveraging partnerships with the private sector. This is an area most all leaders in the defense and intelligence space acknowledge is necessary for success. ♦ Improving acquisition agility. Part of this comes from security clearance reform, she said in April, describing security clearance reform at DoDIIS as one of the existential threats within the IC. Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/dodiis/2018/08/17/here-are-the-intelligence-communitys-top-6-priorities

  • Rheinmetall plans tank-repair centre in Ukraine after summer break, CEO says

    July 28, 2023 | International, Land

    Rheinmetall plans tank-repair centre in Ukraine after summer break, CEO says

    Germany's Rheinmetall plans to set up a repair centre in Ukraine for Leopard tanks and other war equipment supplied by Berlin as early as late summer, the industrial group's chief executive, Armin Papperger, told Spiegel magazine on Friday.

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