Main battle tanks for Ukraine

United Kingdom will probably be the first nation to supply Western-produced main battle tanks to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a telephone conversation. Zelenskyy thanked him afterwards on Twitter: ” Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready…

Defence Day on Ukraine

Russia’s attack on Ukraine will soon enter its second year. This unprovoked attack has led to a reassessment and a change in security thinking across Europe and the world. It is a war in the middle of Europe in a time when most people thought, that an aera of peace, understanding and respect has started.…

EU project on automatic targeting

European Defence Agency (EDA) launched a new project to improve technology on automatic targeting on January 13, 2023. The project also includes threat recognition and identification to enhance battlefield effectiveness. “Automatic target/threat recognition, identification and targeting for land systems (ATRIT) can help militaries in detecting, tracking, prioritising and selecting targets, whether off the top of…

Rafael and Hensoldt team for an Electronic Warfare Eurofighter. (Photo: BS/Bundeswehr, Bicker)

Eurofighter for electronic warfare

Last week, Israeli company Rafael and German company Hensoldt signed a cooperation agreement to enable German Eurofighters for electronic warfare. Rafael announced: “Together, we endeavor to provide the Sky Shield airborne electronic warfare pod as a mature off-the-shelf Escort Jammer (ESJ) developed by Rafael, enhanced with the latest airborne electronic attack technology (KALÆTRON Attack) by…

Bundeswehr receives new headsets and electronic components for SMArt 155. (Photo:BS/Bundeswehr, Jana Neumann)

Headsets and munition

Last week, Budget Committee of the German Bundestag released the funds for two projects. Accordingly, around 7.5 million euros are available for equipping soldiers with modern headsets, including hearing protection. Budget Committee approved as much as 97.4 million euros for procurement of “intelligent” ammunition for the German self-propelled howitzers 2000 (PzH 2000). For 7.5 million…

Photo: ViralVideoLab/Youtube

Unreliable Starlink

Uncertainties surrounding the supply of communications links vital to the survival of Ukrainian armed forces continue. No networked operations without Starlink, the dependence on this civilian provider is too big. At the same time, however, Starlink’s owner, Elon Musk, proved how uncertain this reliability is. After Starlink first enabled Ukraine to have a chance against…

First 25 Boxer were delivered to Australia in June 2021. Foto: BS/Rheinmetall

Australian Boxer achieves IOC

Australian Army’s Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle achieves Initial Operational Capability (IOC). On this occasion Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, announced the Boxer’s success in meeting Australian Army’s stated operational needs, paving the way for Boxer to be deployed on operations. Gary Stewart, Managing Director Rheinmetall Defence Australia, stated: “Boxer CRV…

Different elements of German GES. Picture: BS/ESG

Integration of German Ground Exploitation Systems

Any air defense needs a reliable reconnaissance and surveillance. Bundeswehr signed a contract for five deployable Ground Exploitation Systems (GES) recently. These GES are part of RAFAEL RecceLite aerial reconnaissance system used by German Air Force. To enable high mobility and rapid availability in different deployment scenarios, all GES will be realised for transport by…