A Silvus Technologies StreamCaster MANET radio paired with an Echodyne MESA radar is demonstrated during a US armed forces readiness exercise. (Echodyne)  Mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is developing a pared down variant of its StreamCaster mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio, specifically designed to provide networked radio communications capability for small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).  Company officials are preparing to release “our next generation” of the small UAS-specific StreamCaster variant later this year, Silvus...

Chile plans to acquire MRAP Hunter TR-12s. (Erich Saumeth Cadavid)  The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile, through the police special operations group Carabineros, has acquired four Hunter TR-12-24-type vehicles made by Colombian defence company Armor International, the company has confirmed to Janes.  The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles will be assigned to the Public Order Control Prefecture (COP), in development of order control operations on public roads, as well as security and surveillance. The TR-12...

The Brazilian Navy has organised to better modernise its forces with programmes such as the development of the Riachuelo-class submarines, the lead ship shown here. (Brazilian Navy)  The Navy Directorate-General for Material (Diretoria-Geral do Material da Marinha: DGMM) of the Brazilian Navy has designed a new plan to better organise its role in the modernisation of the service, the DGMM told Janes.  This modernisation, known as the ‘The Navy of Tomorrow', is guided by the Navy Strategic Plan 2040, which establishes strategic programmes to p...

The armament of the T-72 MBT (pictured above) – taking part in an Indian Army exercise in November 2022 – includes a 125 mm main gun, a 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun, and a 12.7 mm gun. The Indian Army seeks to integrate the CALM system into the tank. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)  The Indian Army has outlined a programme to procure canister-launched anti-armour loiter munition (CALM) systems and associated accessories to enhance the operational efficiency of the mechanised infantry.  According to an initial procurement notice issued by the Indian Army...

A Silvus Technologies StreamCaster radio mounted on a Ghost Robotics V60-legged unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). (Silvus Technologies)  California-based mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is working with US Army officials to provide mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio capability to ground units on the move, a critical requirement to the service's evolving command post architecture under the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN).  The on-the-move (OTM) capability being developed by the company's StreamCaster MANET radio got a fiscal shot...

The US Navy wants to acquire two attack submarines, such as New Jersey shown here, per year through the 2030s. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  The US Navy (USN) intends to achieve and sustain a force-structure fleet of 350 ships after fiscal year (FY) 2037, according to the Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for Fiscal Year 2025, often called USN's 30-yearshipbuilding plan, sent to US lawmakers on 19 March.  The USN's proposed FY 2025 budget includes procurement of six manned ships in FY 2025 and 57 mann...

Lithuania is purchasing omnidirectional C-UASs and individual suppressors from NT Service. The company developed a handheld jammer, displayed at DSEI 2023, called Skywiper Electronic Drone Mitigation 4 – System (EDM4S) that could be offered as part of the procurement and which is already in service with the Lithuanian military. (Janes/Olivia Savage)  Lithuania-based NT Service has been contracted to deliver counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs) to the Lithuanian military to meet an urgent requirement to combat ‘drones'.  The contract, va...

As they did in ‘Cold Response 2022', US marines are learning to use Bandvagn 206s for Arctic operations in ‘Nordic Response 2024'. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  The Arctic environment has spurred the US Marine Corps (USMC) as the land-component lead for ‘Nordic Response 2024' NATO exercise held in March in Norway to recalibrate the most effective and safest way to move equipment and people, according to Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Fitzsimmons, senior watch officer for the exercise's Combat Operations Center.  “Our infantry manoeuvre element is leaning...

A Patgb 300 CAVS showing the unique Swedish modifications to the platform. These include a roof-mounted Kongsberg RS4 Protector ROWS and two banks of four smoke dischargers mounted beneath the windshield. (Patria Land Oy)  Patria and the Swedish Armed Forces announced that Sweden placed a SEK5.3 billion (USD507.4 million) order for 321 Patria 6×6 Common Armoured Vehicle Systems (CAVS) on 20 March.  Designated Patgb 300 (Pansarterrängbil 300: Armoured All-Terrain Vehicle 300) in Swedish service, the vehicles are planned to be delivered in armo...

The Royal Netherlands Army's VOSS soldier system incorporates a vest, backpack, E-Lynx PNR-1000 radio, and the Raptor end-user device. It is designed for mounted and/or platoon-level infantrymen. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)  The Netherlands Armed Forces' Improved Operational Soldier Systems (Verbeterd Operationeel Soldaat Systeem: VOSS) being delivered by Elbit Systems and Thales has ‘limitations', Janes has learnt.  Primarily, the limitations are with electronic devices such as the radios, because the requirements have changed since th...

The DRDO has developed a laser beam-riding guidance   system  equipped with an ELRF to guide its very short-range air-defence system – pictured above from a DRDO test in March 2023.  (DRDO)  India's state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a laser beam-riding (LBR) guidance system equipped with an eye-safe laser rangefinder (ELRF), a senior DRDO official told Janes on 18 March.  “The technology development of the system is completed and now the DRDO is looking for an Indian i...

EvoLogics Sonobot 5 USV being demonstrated at Oceanology International 2024 in London on 13 March. (Janes/Neil Dee)  German company EvoLogics is planning to deliver a further batch of Sonobot unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to the Ukrainian armed forces. EvoLogics CEO Fabian Bannasch told Janes at Oceanology International 2024, held in London on 12–14 March, that his company is “currently preparing a fourth configuration of Sonobot with enhanced underwater data networking and positioning capabilities in order to guide and support complex und...

On entering service, JLTV will replace a percentage of the current AM General High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle fleet. (Oshkosh Defense)  While the US Army is planning a major design overhaul for its Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 main battle tank (MBT), the service wants to slow down the tempo of upgrades for its most advanced MBTs, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  The decision to slow down the rate was “financial” as well as to keep the upgrades on pace with the rest of the capabilities in the Armoured Brigade Combat Team...

An M113BR APC of the Brazilian Army integrated with REMAX 4 weapon system by Ares. (ARES)  Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa, a Brazilian subsidiary of Elbit Systems, has completed the development of an upgraded M113BR armoured personnel carrier (APC) belonging to the 20th Armoured Infantry Battalion of the Brazilian Army.    This self-funded technology demonstrator, developed with technical support from the army's manufacturing directorate, could emerge as a possible option for a potential upgrade of the M113BR by the army, Ares told   Ja...

The CS/AA3 gun – pictured above in service with the Cameroonian Defence Forces – has a maximum slant range of 11 km, but its effective slant range is 4 km and effective altitude is 3 km. (Cameroon Ministry of Defence)  The Bangladesh Army's Adhoc 57 Air Defence (AD) Regiment Artillery test-fired two CS/AA3 twin-barrel anti-aircraft gun systems for the first time during a firing exercise held in mid-March at Inanistha AD Firing Range in Cox's Bazar.  According to a press release by Bangladesh Armed Forces' media and public relations wing Inter...

The Thales SquadNet soldier radio will be pitched for the UK's forthcoming next-generation personal role radio replacement programme, expected to be launched in 2025. (Thales)    Thales is planning to pitch its SquadNet radio for the UK armed forces' next-generation Personal Role Radio (PRR) replacement programme due to be announced in 2025,   Janes   learnt at SAE Group's Future Soldier Technology conference held from 11 to 13 March.   According to John Dix, Thales UK sales manager for land communications, SquadNet is a su...

The BMP-2M IFV – pictured above from India's DefExpo 2022 held in Gujarat – is a BMP-2 featuring armament upgrades. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with state-owned Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) to upgrade the armament of 693 BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to the BMP-2M standard, the MoD said in a press release on 13 March.  Under this contract, the AVNL will upgrade the Indian Army's BMP-2s with night-fighting capability, gunner main sight, panoramic commander sight, and fire-...

A QELF Boxer is seen fitted with a passive radio frequency sensor that enables it to identify the locations of UAVs so they can be engaged with its RCT30 turret. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)  The Qatar Emiri Land Forces (QELF) stand at the DIMDEX 2024 show held in Doha from 4 to 6 March included a Boxer 8×8 armoured vehicle that has been modified to enable it to shoot down small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).    A Qatari general told  Janes  that his service is in the process of receiving 10 of the specially modified Boxers.   T...

The US Navy is seeking more money for Tomahawk missiles and systems. (Raytheon)  The fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget request includes USD6.6 billion for weapons procurement, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  This request is a slight decrease from the USD6.9 billion requested in FY 2024, budget documents show.  The USN is seeking to buy 2,656 weapons in FY 2025, compared with the 2,773 weapons the service sought to buy in FY 2024.  “The [FY 2025] focus is to continue to build up critical munitions inventories whil...

The Type 16 MCV (pictured above taking part in Fuji Firepower demonstration 2018 at the Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Gotemba, Japan) is designed for high-speed self-deployment, enabling JGSDF rapid deployment regiments to quickly reach areas threatened by amphibious landings. (Janes/Kelvin Wong)    The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will procure two new vehicles based on the Type 16 8×8 wheeled Mobile Combat Vehicle (MCV) in 2024, a Japan Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA...