What IS its armor rating anyway?

Picture looks so edited

CDF LG Lim had front row seats to the inaugural company live-firing on 29 Sep at Ex Panzer Strike 2017, and praised the NSmen tankees for their professionalism. He said: “I was very impressed by their sharp gunnery skills during the live-firing. These NSmen don’t do this on a day-to-day basis; and to be able to acquire that level of capabilities is an achievement.”

Held in Oberlausitz Military Training Area, Germany, from 19 Sep to 1 Oct, Exercise Panzer Strike 2017 gave the NS armour unit a good opportunity to conduct both platoon and company live-firing, as well as practise their command and control, and test out different manoeuvres.

err.. no, that is just a section of its engine hull

Homegrown tank producers count down days until export

Published October 03,2017
Compiled from news agencies



As Turkish defense firms broaden their partnerships and joint projects worldwide, their stakes in the defense export market place them among the top global players, as Ankara-based FNSS is preparing to export its jointly developed tank, KAPLAN MT, to be showcased in Indonesia

The last decade has witnessed a leap in Turkey's domestic defense industry, with more ambitious players arising from the private sector. In addition to catering to the demands of the local industry, major players in the sector are now exporting their products. In one such example, the tank developed by Ankara-based defense industry firm FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş. and their Indonesian partner is gearing up for export.

The KAPLAN MT Modern Medium Weight Tank, which will be the first vehicle to be exported in the tank class of Turkey's defense industry, will demonstrate its strength in challenging field tests in Indonesia.

The first prototype KAPLAN MT, designed and developed in Turkey by Indonesian PT Pindad with FNSS, one of the leading armored vehicle manufacturers in the defense industry, was exported to Indonesia in September.

Developed by FNSS engineers in partnership with PT Pindad, KAPLAN MT is the first tank-class vehicle in the Turkish defense industry to be exported. Also, KAPLAN MT was developed to meet the Indonesian armed forces' demands for a modern, medium-weight tank.

KAPLAN MT will be presented to the public by the Indonesian Army in an official parade on National Armed Forces Day, Oct. 5, in Cilegon, Indonesia.

KAPLAN MT comes to the fore as a successful joint development project supported by the Turkish and Indonesian defense ministries.

The prototype KAPLAN MT Modern Medium-Weight Tank, which was showcased to visitors at IDEF 2017, brings a breath of fresh air to the battlefield with its accurate, direct firing capabilities, a wide selection of ammunition ranging from close-fire support to anti-tank ammunition, and superior tactical and strategic mobility.

The KAPLAN MT takes its power from a power pack located at the rear of the vehicle, which delivers a power-to-weight ratio of about 20 HP/ton. The engine transfers this power to the driving system, which has a six-wheel, anti-shock suspension system with double-pinned tracks mounted on torsion bars.

Joint Development KAPLAN MT design architecture consist of advanced ballistic and mine protection with a broad range of fire power, ranging from support of infantry to anti-armor.

FNSS-PT Pindad Joint Development KAPLAN MT brings together state-of-the-art modern technology platforms with superior firepower, supported by battlefield management systems and laser warning systems, providing tactical support to the commander.

Firepower is provided by a CMI Cockerill 3105 turret, integrated with a high-pressure 105-millimeter (mm) Cockerill gun and an advanced autoloader. Thanks to this turret, the KAPLAN MT has high firepower despite its relatively low weight.

The vehicle, which has an ultimate mine and ballistic protection for its class, rapidly responds to threats in the field and offers adequate firepower over a short period of time which, in turn, ensures superior survivability and mobility on the battlefield.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Nail Kurt, general manager and CEO of FNSS, highlighted the success of the project.

Pointing out that the company has carried out the production of 2,000 tracked vehicles in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) inventory, Kurt said: "We are very pleased to take part in the medium tank development project of friendly and allied Indonesia, the home of tracked vehicles, in Turkey along with our partner, PT Pindad. When we show the performance of KAPLAN MT, which is a very special vehicle for us, on the field, the effectiveness of this design will be demonstrated more clearly."

Royal Thai Army set to take delivery of VT4s

Jon Grevatt - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
03 October 2017

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) is preparing to take delivery of the first batch of 28 VT4 main battle tanks (MBT) from China, 18 months after agreeing to acquire the platforms for THB4.9 billion (USD147 million).

Thai defence ministry officials confirmed to Jane’s on 2 October that the VT4 MBTs – produced by China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) – will arrive at the Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN’s) Sattahip Naval Base in the week 8-15 October.

Officials said that from there the tanks will be inspected and transported to their home base at the 3rd Cavalry Division in Khon Kaen province in the northeast of Thailand.

PH Navy planning to acquire brand new corvette

October 4, 2017 Ace dela Cruz Nation

MaxDefense Philippines, in a blogpost today said that a plan by the Philippine Navy to acquire one (1) corvette in 2018 under the second horizon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is currently in the proposal stage.

Maxdefense said based on its assessment the project would still “require approval from the National Government for the budget to be allocated, although the chances that this would become a reality is pretty high, even after some budget reduction.”

MaxDefense believes that corvette to be acquired, though smaller than the frigates being acquired from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea, would be “at a higher league” and “may have a higher level of sensor and firepower requirement.”

According to the post, proposed budget for acquisition is at PHP14,000,000,000.00, as of September 2017.

Maxdefense, said that throughout the second horizon the Philippine Navy is planning to acquire a total of two corvettes.

“And aside from the Corvette, the PN is planning to have another 2 frigates for funding within Horizon 2, and learning from their mistakes on the FAP, the proposed budget for each frigate is now Php 18 billion, or double that of the FAP,” it added.

The second horizon will start 2018 and will end in 2022.

for Marinir (Indonesian Marine Corp) ?

SAIC Announces Teaming Agreement with ST Kinetics and CMI Defence to Develop Ground Combat Vehicle Prototype

Company to develop a lightweight vehicle solution to meet the U.S. Army’s requirement for a new Mobile Protected Firepower capability

October 05, 2017 04:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) announced today that it will compete to rapidly develop combat vehicle prototypes to meet the U.S. Army’s need as part of the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) program. SAIC, together with ST Kinetics and CMI Defence, will develop and integrate a vehicle that offers the Army an innovative solution that provides infantry forces access to combat environments in 21st century operations.

“Rapid delivery of this MPF solution is essential to the Army and our solution is extremely well-positioned to meet these requirements and deliver a modernized vehicle to soldiers.”

Tweet this

“As a systems integrator, SAIC can deliver an alternative option to the Army that brings together best-of-breed, non-developmental components to field a new combat vehicle quickly that meets critical requirements,” said Jim Scanlon, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of the Defense Systems Customer Group. “Rapid delivery of this MPF solution is essential to the Army and our solution is extremely well-positioned to meet these requirements and deliver a modernized vehicle to soldiers.”

Based on ST Kinetics’ Next Generation Armored Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV) chassis and CMI Defence’s Cockerill Series 3105 turret currently in production, SAIC will compete for an Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract to build prototypes that incorporate a lightweight combat vehicle design while still providing mobility and lethality for Army units. Such a vehicle will enable freedom of movement and action, specifically for restrictive, urban operations but tailorable for full-spectrum combat environments.

“SAIC has developed a superior solution that integrates mature, currently produced offerings from our industry partners, ST Kinetics and CMI Defence. By marrying ST Kinetics’ chassis with CMI Defence’s turret, SAIC can deliver a reliable vehicle that gives soldiers a new capability in combat environments,” said Scanlon.

“ST Kinetics is indeed honored to team up with SAIC again to participate in another major defense program in the U.S. Our NGAFV is an advanced system that is fully digitalized, highly mobile and developed to support networked knowledge-based warfighting. A fleet of seven prototypes had been developed and robustly tested over several years. As the NGAFV will be in production soon, this platform brings minimal technical risk and a robust supply chain to the MPF program,” said Dr. Lee Shiang Long, president of ST Kinetics.

President of CMI Defence Jean-Luc Maurange added, “We are extremely proud to participate in the MPF program with SAIC, especially as this is the 200thanniversary of our company’s founding. Our highly innovative turret and gun solution is already qualified and in production, which translates into a high level of manufacturing readiness, low technical risk and ensures our ability to meet the compressed program schedule required by the U.S. Army.”

SAIC’s entry into the MPF competition builds on continued momentum in combat vehicle modernization, to include the company’s recent collaboration with the Detroit Automotive Technologies Consortium (DATC) and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to assist in the development of the next-generation combat vehicle - experimental prototype (NGCV-EP). This recent success expands upon SAIC’s proven experience in modernizing combat and tactical vehicles including Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for the Army, and Amphibious Combat Vehicles 1.1 (ACV) and Amphibious Assault Vehicles with Survivability Upgrades (AAV-SU) for the U.S. Marine Corps.

What variants of Pandur II are the Indon army bringing into service?

Tatra unveils new self-propelled 120mm mortar on Pandur II CZ

Posted On Tuesday, 26 September 2017 09:08

During the NATO Days in Czech Republic, Tatra Defence Vehicle has presented a self-propelled mortar vehicle, a new variant in the Pandur II CZ 8x8 armoured vehicle family. Tatra has developed this vehicle to response to a new request of the Czech army for a fire support vehicle.

In 2006, General Dynamics announced that the Czech Republic has selected its European Land Combat Systems subsidiary Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH of Austria to supply its army with 199 new eight-wheeled Pandur II armored personnel carriers (APCs) between 2007-2012.

The Czech army is equipped with six versions of the Pandur II CZ including, APC , command post, reconnaissance (in two modifications - with and without a radar), engineer and medical vehicles.

The Pandur II CZ in mortar configuration is fitted with a Soltam Cardom 120 mm caliber mounted at the rear of the vehicle. The Cardom is an autonomous, computerized 120mm recoil mortar system for mounting on light and medium armoured tracked carriers and wheeled armoured vehicles.

The 120mm Soltam Cardom mortar system has a traverse of 360°, it can fire from inside or from outside of the vehicle. In the vehicle, it fires through tow roof hatches, that open on each side of the vehicle.

It has a maximum firing range of 6,800 meters with a rate of intense fire is 16 rounds per minute, however rate of sustained fire. A first round can be fired within 30 seconds from travelling. A total of 50 rounds of ammunition are stored inside the vehicle.

The Pandur II CZ 120mm mortar could be fitted with a battlefield information management system, which links up with other similarly equipped vehicles and command posts. A digital fire control system can be integrated with navigation, self-positioning and aiming systems. The fire control system can operate in automatic laying mode, once it receives target data from an observation position.

Contracts
Press Operations
Release No: CR-189-17
Sept. 28, 2017

The Boeing Co., Mesa Arizona, has been awarded a $10,684,058 hybrid (cost, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price) foreign military sales (Indonesia) contract for post-production support services of eight AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2010 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $10,684,058 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-17-C-0043).

Prawit Denies Chopper Deal to Please US

5 Oct 2017 at 07:17

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday rejected claims the government was trying to curry favour with the US by expressing its interest in purchasing several attack helicopters from them.

He said he hadn't said the government would purchase Cobra attack helicopters from the US as accused, but merely said the army has a procurement plan for some attack helicopters.

Details as to what models and from what countries the helicopters will be purchased have not been discussed.

His remark about the helicopter procurement plan should not be seen as an attempt to please the US government, Gen Prawit said. The army is in the process of forming a committee to choose which helicopters the army may want to acquire.

A source said the panel is needed to decide on the specifications of new attack helicopters that will be purchased to replace the army's six Cobra helicopters, four of which had already been deccomissioned.

The other two will soon be grounded when their service periods expire.

Keel Laying Ceremony for MMEA OPV

Marhalim Abas
October 9, 2017
Malaysia- MMEA, Malaysian Defence

SHAH ALAM: The keel laying ceremony for the first out of three MMEA OPV is expected to be held next month. It will be held at theTHHE-Destini shipyard in Pulau Indah, in Port Klang.

Industry sources told Malaysian Defence steel cutting for the first OPV is already underway in Singapore and it was a matter of time before the prepared materials are shipped to Port Klang for the building process to start.