Defence Notes

US Army to buy two Israeli Iron Dome air defence systems

7th February 2019

The US Army said on 6 February 2019 that it wants to purchase a pair of Iron Dome short-range air defence systems, an interceptor technology …

Land Warfare

Additional Trophy APS ordered by US

10th January 2019

Leonardo DRS has received an undefinitised contract action to provide additional Trophy active protection systems (APS) for the US Army and Marine Corps, the company …

Digital Battlespace

Elta’s WindGuard radar for US Army

12th October 2018

Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta Systems has received a contract from Leonardo DRS to provide the US Army with the ELM-2133 WindGuard active protection radar, the …

Land Warfare

Leonardo DRS, Rafael test lighter Trophy VPS

1st October 2018

Leonardo DRS, with partner Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, has successfully completed a live-fire qualification process for key elements of the lighter Trophy Vehicle Protection System …

APCs/IFVs - 8x8

Vilkas (Lithuania - Additional Units)

Programme Background  Lithuania's Boxers are manufactured by the ARTEC production lines in Germany and the Netherlands. KMW is responsible for producing 56 of the vehicles ...

Loitering munitions

Loitering Munitions (Forecast) [Germany]

Programme Background Three Systems In April 2023, Germany reportedly ordered three different loitering munition systems to further assess their suitability for use by the German Armed ...

APCs/IFVs - 8x8

Vilkas (Lithuania)

Programme Background Lithuania's Boxers are manufactured by the ARTEC production lines in Germany and the Netherlands. KMW is responsible for producing 56 of the vehicles ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

Orbiter 3 [Greece]

Programme Background On 17 April 2023, Aeronautics announced a contract to supply "dozens." of Orbiter 3 UAVs to the Greek MoD. The agreement was part ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Hunter (Contracted)

Development of the Hunter began in 2006 and was assisted by Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). At least five variants of the platform have been ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Project Land 400 Phase 3 (Australia)

Programme Background Requirement: 2015 RfI The Land 400 Phase 3 programme will procure a new tracked IFV to replace the Australian Army's legacy fleet of ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Hunter IFV (Forecast)

Development of the Hunter began in 2006 and was assisted by Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). At least five variants of the platform have been ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Land 400 Phase 3 (Amphibious Vehicles) [Australia]

Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

Special operations vehicles

Death Adder RTV 2

Programme Background The 2nd Commando Regiment currently operates an RTV designed and manufactured by Australia's Bale Defence. These were delivered between 2014 and 2015. Intended ...

APCs/IFVs - 8x8

Land 400 Phase 2 - Boxer CRV (Australia)

Programme Background History The Land 400 Phase 2 programme will procure a replacement for the ASLAV, a derivative of the General Dynamics Land Systems Light Armoured Vehicle ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Land 400 Phase 3 (Logistics, Ammunition Carrier and Mortar Carrier Variants)

Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

Special operations vehicles

Death Adder RTV 2 (Options)

Programme Background The 2nd Commando Regiment currently operates an RTV designed and manufactured by Australia's Bale Defence. These were delivered between 2014 and 2015. Intended ...

Fighter - electronic warfare

Jamming and Escort Electronic Attack Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

Programme Background According to earlier reports, Berlin had earlier decided to procure 15 EA-18G Growlers over the Eurofighter Typhoon ECR concept, which is expected to be ...

Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

ARV (USMC)

Programme Background The ARV constitutes one component of a wider USMC effort to develop an interconnected network of manned and unmanned platforms more suited to ...

Military UAS - rotary-wing

Israeli Drones [Israel]

Programme Background Chinese Dependency As reported in August 2024 by Globes, a Hebrew-language daily financial newspaper, the Israeli MoD is keen to reduce its dependence on Chinese ...

Individual assault/anti-tank weapons

Spike SR

Part of Rafael's Spike missile family, the fire-and-forget, man-portable Spike Short Range (SR) EO-guided missile system has operational capabilities in all weather conditions. Although the ...

Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

Spike LR2

The Spike LR2 (NT-S) is Rafael’s fifth generation of the Spike missile and is backwards-compatible with existing Spike launchers.  Two warheads have been developed: a ...

Multipurpose missiles

Spike ER

The Spike ER is a fourth-generation, multipurpose missile fitted with EO charge-coupled device/imaging IR sensors for operation during the day, night and in adverse weather. ...

Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons, Multipurpose missiles

Spike MR/LR

The Spike MR and Spike LR share the same command launch unit, thermal sight, tripod and missile technology. The fire-and-forget missile is equipped with an ...

Towed rocket launchers

SPARC

Rafael unveiled the SPARC, a 360° remote-controlled towed launcher for its Spike non-line-of-sight (NLOS) missile, at the September 2015 DSEI exhibition in London. Spike NLOS ...

Loitering munitions, Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Spike Firefly

Spike FireFly is a loitering munition developed jointly by Rafael and the Israeli MoD. It is designated as Maoz by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The Spike ...

Military - USVs

Protector

The Protector, having been in use since 2004, was the first USV to enter operational service. It is fitted with several subsystems that include; a radar, ...

Multipurpose missiles

Spike ER2

The Spike ER2 (Extended Range) is a multipurpose missile that can be fired from ground-based, airborne or naval platforms at a range of surface targets, ...

Land: RWS

Samson MK I

Formerly known as the Remote Controlled Weapon Station-30 (RCWS-30), the Samson MK I is a dual-axis gyro-stabilised unmanned turret developed by Rafael to meet the ...

APCs/IFVs - 8x8

Freccia

The Freccia 8x8 was developed by CIO to meet an Italian Army requirement for an IFV derived from the 105mm-armed Centauro cavalry vehicle to equip ...

APCs/IFVs - 8x8

Boxer CRV

In March 2018, the Australian DoD announced that it had selected the Rheinmetall Boxer CRV, a further development of the ARTEC 8x8 Boxer APC, to meet ...

Land: RWS

Samson Mk II/ Samson 30

The Samson Mk II (now referred to as the Samson 30) was unveiled in 2012 as a replacement for the original Samson uncrewed turret. Like ...

Multipurpose missiles

Spike NLOS

The Spike NLOS (non-line-of-sight) is a multi-purpose, EO missile system with a real-time wireless data link capable of attacking targets at ranges up to 25km. ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Hunter

ST Engineering began the development of the tracked Next-Generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV) in 2006 as a replacement for the Singapore Army's fleet of approximately ...

Land: RWS

R800

The R800 is a RWS developed by EOS for integration on heavy armoured vehicle platforms. It is designed to offer the capabilities of a medium ...