Deliveries of EF88 bullpup rifles to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are nearing completion, with just 4,000 of these 5.56mm weapons left to be completed. With this milestone in sight, Thales Australia is looking to cement export sales for its premier rifle product.
An ADF production contract, signed with Thales Australia in July 2015 under Project Land 125 Phase 3C, promised the delivery of 30,000 rifles plus 2,500 SL40 40mm under-barrel grenade launchers.
This A$100 million (US$65.7 million) contract saw all rifles manufactured at Thales Australia’s facility in Lithgow, New South Wales. It takes 5.9h to build a single
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Ukraine has highlighted the need for howitzers and radars as well as artillery and this commitment from Sweden will help to fill that gap and provide medium-distance fire in a defensive role post-war.
The armoured vehicles are fitted with 12.7mm heavy machine guns and came off the production line with specific Estonian requirements. Only the communications subsystems and some other minor equipment were added to vehicles in Estonia.
The newly disclosed Thales UK Vehicle Mounted SquadNet Radio (VMSR) offers full interoperability with the soldier radio variant to provide secure and reliable voice connection.
Full electrification of their land and air vehicles may be beyond modern militaries for now. But how close are they to the tipping point of the widespread use of electric vehicles?
The contract follows news released in 2023 that a first customer had taken into service Pearson Engineering’s new Slice system enabling the interoperability of Front-End Equipment (FEE) between main battle tanks and dedicated engineering vehicles.
When compared to some other wheeled artillery systems Archer has the advantage of quicker deployment and relocation as the complete fire mission is carried out without the crew leaving the protected cab at the front.
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