Procurement in the Bundeswehr continues to falter, including ammunition. “We have given around 20 million rounds for firearms to Ukraine,” names Florian Hahn, Member of German Parliament, one example. This ammunition has still not been reordered and the soldiers are the ones who will suffer from this lack of decision-making, as they have to fulfil…
Last week, high-ranking representatives from BMVg, BAAINBw and German Navy tested the possibilities and capabilities of ship-based laser weapons at sea. The corresponding demonstrator is located on frigate Sachsen. On August 30, this frigate was the first German Navy ship to successfully deploy a laser weapon. The target at the time was a drone. Since…
Procurement reform is almost as old as Bundeswehr and to claim that its protracted nature has only become a problem in this millennium misses the point. Take the Starfighter affair, Jäger 90, transformation of the BWB into the BAAINBw. In addition, there were many rule changes, CPM (nov.) was introduced to speed up processes –…
The CV90 industrial cooperation program in Slovakia to buy 152 CV9035 MkIV continues to progress. Now Slovak company KOVAL SYSTEMS a.s has won a contract from BAE Systems Hägglunds, the producer of the CV90 family of vehicles, for the complete turret assembly of the CV90s in the Slovak program. KOVAL SYSTEMS will also produce mechanical…
The programme of the BSC has many fathers and mothers. The First Concept was developed by the BSC team and coordinated with our partner nation the Netherlands. Substantial support is also provided by the Advisory Board that we introduced in one of our last articles. All these activities result in a challenging programme with a…
Rohde & Schwarz launched the R&S ESMW ultra wideband monitoring receiver recently. That system covers the wide frequency range of 8 kHz to 40 GHz with real-time bandwidth of up to two Gigahertz. It has a target-oriented ITU-compliant RF performance, modular upgradeability and a rich feature set in order to measure current and future wideband…
Rheinmetall Defence and Lockheed Martin have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a rocket artillery system for the German Armed Forces. This system aims to maximize existing and combat proven components. Under this collaboration, the companies will explore potential joint opportunities in areas such as research and development, production and other…
The French President Macron recently called for an independent EU position in the conflict between China and the U.S. on Taiwan. An interesting but also controversial approach in the debate about the right strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. This question and how the challenges in this region affect Europe will be one of the four…
The Federal Office of Armaments armasuisse has signed a contract with the general contractor GDELS-Mowag for the production of a further 16 12-cm mortar systems. This means that a total of 48 mortar systems will now be procured under the project.As part of the 2022 Armament Program, Parliament approved a commitment credit for the procurement…
As part of the “Air Defender 23” exercise, the German Armed Forces are testing the potential and possible areas of application of so-called exoskeletons. The initial focus is on work that is easier on the back.24 nations with 220 aircraft are taking part in the Air Defender 23 deployment exercise. To refuel them, the Armed…