12 février 2021 | International, Terrestre
JERUSALEM — BAE Systems Hägglunds has chosen Israeli firm Elbit Systems to provide the Royal Netherlands Army with the Iron Fist active protection system for CV90 armored vehicles under an $82 million contract announced this week.
The Dutch service is also receiving electro-optical commander sights as part of the contract, set to take place over a period of four and a half years, Elbit said in a news release.
Yuval Karakookly, the vice president of survivability for Elbit's land systems division, said the deal could lead to further work with the CV90 and potential business in other European markets.
BAE is upgrading the Dutch CV90 fleet with new turrets in a $500 million deal announced in mid-January. Some CV90 vehicles were previously equipped with Spike anti-tank missiles made by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Elbit previously supplied digital soldier systems to the Netherlands and won a $24 million contract to supply tactical computers for vehicles, announced in January. Elbit Systems of America and BAE have also teamed up on combat vehicle technology before.
Iron Fist is a hard-kill, lightweight active protection system that uses sensors, radar and countermeasures to stop threats such as rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles. Elbit works with Rada, which makes the radar, for the APS.
Initially designed by Israel Military Industries — now known as IMI Systems — more than a decade ago, the Iron Fist Light Decoupled version was chosen by Israel's Defense Ministry for its Eitan eight-wheel drive armored fighting vehicle and D9 bulldozer in 2019.
It was also selected for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle in the U.S. Despite hurdles, Elbit said it is currently ready for qualification trials.
After evaluation of the system in 2018 and 2019, and following engineering and enhancement work, the company now plans to begin serial production of the Light Decoupled variant in Israel and aims for export in the 2023-2024 time frame. The variant enables light vehicles to absorb residual penetration.
Elbit also has a heavier option called Iron Fist Light Kinetic, which can be used as a countermeasure against tank rounds. “We have a prototype that is running, and we had a good test and demonstration of that capability,” Karakookly said.
The company is also configuring Iron Fist to embed soft-kill options and incorporate layers of long-range interceptions for anti-tank guided missiles. Karakookly said that with drone threats accelerating, Elbit is working on a sensor suite to counter UAVs — a capability that is currently is the research and development phase.
https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2021/02/11/elbit-to-export-iron-fist-system-to-the-netherlands/
14 novembre 2023 | International, Naval
The critical design review for the Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability (MEWSIC) has been approved, meaning it can now proceed into manufacture, testing and acceptance.
29 août 2019 | International, Terrestre
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has picked an Oshkosh Defense and Flyer Defense LLC team, an SAIC and Polaris team, and GM Defense to competitively build Infantry Squad Vehicles intended to provide ground mobility for infantry brigade combat teams. Each industrial choice was awarded an OTA, or other transaction authority, task assignment under the National Advanced Mobility Consortium to deliver and test two prototypes each, said Steve Herrick, ground mobility vehicle product lead with the Army's Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support, in a statement sent to Defense News. OTA is a congressionally authorized contracting mechanism meant to expedite prototyping efforts. The three received $1 million to build the vehicles and it's expected that the Army will take delivery of the prototypes on Nov. 13 at Aberdeen Test Center, Maryland. The prototypes will be evaluated in various performance, operational and characteristics tests through the end of the year and will then be transported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in January to be assessed by soldiers, Herrick said. Each industrial choice is expected to simultaneously deliver information to the Army on price, production and logistics. The Army will choose one vehicle for production in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 based on soldier feedback and response to a formal request for proposals leading to production. The Army Requirements Oversight Council approved an Army procurement object for 649 Infantry Squad Vehicles with an objective requirement of 2,065 ISVs in February. The ISV is intended to supplement and potentially replace vehicles the Army procured as version 1.1 of the Ground Mobility Vehicle. The ISV “is additive” to infantry brigade combat teams “and currently not planned as a replacement for current vehicles in the formation,” according to Herrick. Oshkosh and Flyer, in a way, represent the incumbent, as Flyer produced the GMV 1.1. vehicle currently fielded. Flyer Defense “is the design authority” and will lead the team in building the prototypes, according to a statement from the team. GM Defense's ISV is based on its Chevrolet Colorado midsize truck and its ZR2 and ZR2 Bison variants, according to a company statement, “supplemented with both custom and commercially available parts proven by Chevy performance engineering in more than 10,000 miles of punishing off-road development and desert racing in the Best of the Desert Racing series.” The SAIC-Polaris team is submitting the DAGOR vehicle, which “delivers off-road mobility while meeting the squad's payload demands, all within the weight and size restrictions that maximize tactical air transportability,” according to Jed Leonard, vice president of Polaris Government and Defense. The DAGOR ISV “will leverage and further enhance the already proven, production-ready solution that has been tested, certified and fielded to operational units in the U.S. Military and its Allies since 2015,” Leonard added. The prototype competition is a significant step toward a solution after years of uncertainty; the Army seemed geared toward holding a rapid competition to buy a GMV in 2016, but the plan was delayed without much explanation in favor of buying an interim vehicle already in use by special operations forces. Buying the GMV was a top priority following the fall 2015 release of the Army's Combat Vehicle Modernization Strategy, which called for such a vehicle in future and current operations. But when a competition never materialized, rumors swirled that the Army might buy more of U.S. Special Operations Command's GMVs — General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems' Flyer 72 — even after the service had spent several years testing a wide variety of commercial off-the-shelf options. The Army bought quantities of the command's vehicle for five airborne infantry brigade combat teams. Congress spurred the effort in its FY18 defense policy bill, mandating the Army hold a competition and move forward with a program. PEO CS&CSS' product lead for the GMV stated on its website that the Army planned to pursue a competition for the GMV — calling it an ISV — as a formal program of record late last year. The office also released a market survey asking for a vehicle that provides mobility for a nine-soldier infantry squad as well as associated equipment to “move around the close battle area.” The vehicle should be lightweight, highly mobile and transportable “by all means” to include CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters, UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, and via low-velocity airdrop. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/08/28/us-army-picks-3-teams-to-build-infantry-squad-vehicle-prototypes
18 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
During Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in conjunction with Defence Science and Technology (DST) and the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) successfully validated ChipCHECK, a state of the art instrument that provides equipment maintenance crews with immediate, automated chip analyses onsite (either at base or deployed). ChipCHECK, designed and manufactured by Gastops, provides a capability not previously available to the ADF — the ability for operators and maintenance staff to accurately assess the health of an aircraft's propulsion system via wear debris analysis while the aircraft is operating. Exercise Talisman Sabre is a biennial combined Australian and United States training activity that in 2019 involved more than 34,000 personnel from 18 countries, including Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Designed to practise the respective military services and associated agencies in planning and conducting combined and joint task force operations, Exercise Talisman Sabre improves combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and U.S. Forces, and is a platform to improve upon capabilities by introducing state of the art technologies such as ChipCHECK. “ChipCHECK is one of our newest product offerings and is a great example of how Gastops continues to provide the market with new and cutting-edge technologies that solve real market pains,” said Shaun Horning, president and CEO of Gastops. The trial and deployment of ChipCHECK into Talisman Sabre proved the capability of the instrument and the significant value it provides. “We are very excited that ChipCHECK is being trialed by the Australian Defence Force. Already deployed globally for both fixed wing and rotor wing aircraft, ChipCHECK continues to maximize equipment readiness, improve on maintenance efficiency and reduce cost and time,” added Ryan Millar, ChipCHECK product manager. Exercise Talisman Sabre successfully trialed ChipCHECK in a deployed ship-based application. The ADF plans to continue using ChipCHECK in additional applications and environments; the next of which being at an operational land base. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/chipcheck-successfully-validated-at-talisman-sabre-2019/