Serbian Ministry of Defence showed the upgraded M-84AS1 tank on trials

Modernized Serbian tank M-84AS1 on trials

The M-84 AS1 is an advanced version of the M-84 main battle tank produced by Yugoimport SDPR in Serbia. The modernization gives an improved fire-control system with DNNS 2ATK integrated day/night sight.

 Modernized Serbian tank M-84AS1 on trials.

The M-84 AS1 is equipped with ERO-19 Explosive Reactive Armor which offers protection against modern tandem charge warheads on missiles. It is also equipped with the modern electro-optical system for defense against wire and laser guided anti-tank missiles.

The new tank received a KIS M-84 combat information and control system, a TOMS commander observation device, an active interference jamming system in the optical range of SOFTKIL, and protecting the engine from incorrect actions by the driver when starting up and starting the engine.

The M-84 AS1also is equipped with a modern remote weapon station, also known as an RWS. Such a weapon station allows a gunner to remain in the relative protection of the vehicle.

Trials of Russian R-37M very long range Air to Air missile

 

As we already wrote, Russia on April of 2020 began the testing the R-37M long range air-to-air missile on the Su-35S platform. Article under the link  The Russian Su-35 fighter jet will armed with unique hypersonic weapons.

The Recently unveiled documentaries dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Akhtubinsk Russia state flight test center, shows footage of the launch of R37M missile from the Su-35S.

Earlier, Izvestia already wrote that the R-37M entered the arsenal of domestic fifth-generation fighters Su-57. In September 2018, Boris Obnosov, CEO of Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation, confirmed this information. Also, the RVV-DB will replenish the arsenal of “warships” – heavy supersonic interceptors MiG-31.

Thus, the Su-35 will become the third type of aircraft, the equipment of which will receive a novelty. A powerful radar mounted on the fighter, and communication equipment with automated air defense systems make it possible to effectively use missiles with such a range.

The new weapons will significantly increase the characteristics and combat capabilities of the “thirty-fifths,” said the former commander of the 4th Army Air Force and Air Defense, Hero of Russia, Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko.

The Australian Army began conversion training from AS-LAV to the Boxer CRV

Boxer program reaches new milestone with training underway

Crews from the The Australian Army 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) conducting conversion training from ASLAV to the Boxer CRV Multi-purpose Variant (MPV). Boxer CRV are being delivered under the Morrison Government’s LAND 400 Phase 2 program.

The training include the Operate the communication system, Operate vehicle subsystems, driving and fire exercise from Kongsberg Mk3 RWS.

 

Australian Army under the LAND-400 Phase-2 program get the 211 new Boxer 8x8 CRVs will replace Army’s ASLAV (Australian Light Armoured Vehicles), delivering Army a new, cutting edge capability.

To date, Australian Army has accepted delivery of five Boxer vehicles with an additional vehicle expected by the end this week.

Photos source:

Brigadier Jason Blain

DTR Magazine

Upgraded BMP-2M and MTLB with Stillet turret

 On HEMUS-2020 exhibition, in Bulgaria, ukrainian Ukroboronprom unveiled the upgraded BMP-2M with "Stilet" remotely controlled weapon station and Upgraded MTLB Anaconda with same RCWS (Stilet).

RCWS is equiped with  ZTM-1 (or ZTM-2) 30mm cannon,  KT-7,62 machine gun, AG-17 30mm grenade launcher and AT guided missile.

BMP-2M

MTLB Anaconda 

Via Український мілітарний портал

Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Arms USA and Russia

Data in this Fact Sheet comes from the biannual exchange of data required by the Treaty.  It contains data declared current as of September 1, 2020.  Data will be updated each six month period after entry into force of the Treaty.

The data in this Fact Sheet comes from the exchange of data required by the treaty.  This data is current as of March 1, 2020

United States of America Data

Effective Date:  March 1, 2020

Via U.S. Department of State

Destroyed Azerbaijani T-90S tanks

Destroyed (or damaged and abandoned) Azerbaijani T-90S tanks 

A sealed storage bag for the preservation of Vietnam T-90S/SK main battle tanks.

The Ministry of National Defense's Institute of Chemistry - Materials is currently conducting research into designing a sealed storage bag that incorporates a temperature/humidity control system for the preservation of T-90S/SK main battle tanks.

It should be noted that such technology is already employed by the People's Army of Vietnam. Defense cooperation with Cuba allowed for the technological transfer of Cuban military vehicle preservation equipment and was first utilized by the 147th Naval Infantry Brigade. From there it seems the technology is now being applied in other units.

If the Institute's R & D is successful the system will be given to the 201st Tank Brigade, main operator of the PAVN's T-90s.

Georgian Army receive first batch of M249 light machine guns

Georgian Army receive first batch of M249 light machine guns. The MGs already have been given to the Georgian Army 4th mechanised Brigade. This US origin machine guns will replace the IWI Negev MGs and small number remainder soviet era RPK-74s.

US Army can abandon Autoloader in ERCA

Industry now involved and the army is looking for a rate of fire of 6-10 rds/min. 

Weight and mobility issues have forced the U.S. Army to abandon a government-developed autoloader for its Extended Range Artillery (ERCA) program, and the service now needs the help of six technology companies.

Brigadier General John Rafferty, Head of the Inter-Functional Long Range Precision Shooting Team, spoke at the Sept. 29 virtual conference on fires and provided an update on his programs. A notable change is the decision of the army not to produce an automatic loader, which it was developing for a new weapon based on the BAE Systems Paladin M109A7 self-propelled howitzer.

“The integration challenge for [this] was too much of a trade-off with mobility and durability, and some of the 3000 mile run results on the combat vehicle [at Yuma's Proving Grounds] were related to the center of gravity problem we had,” one-star general. "It was easy to say that we cannot do this."

Instead, the Army is turning to a group of six companies previously selected to help find solutions to resupply artillery ammunition - Actuate, Apptronik, Carnegie Robotics, Hivemapper, Neya Systems and Pratt Miller. While Brigadier General Rafferty did not provide exhaustive information on the path ahead, he noted that a future opportunity might not be an autoloader at all.

Source US Army scraps ERCA autoloader plans, heads back to the drawing board

Arjun MK-1A MBT data sheet (poster)

 Arjun MK-1A MBT data sheet (original size on the link KUNAL BISWAS 4096 x 2158)

Army is one step closer to delivering laser DE-MSHORAD

The Army is one step closer to delivering laser weapons to Soldiers with the recent arrival of two Stryker vehicles in Huntsville, Ala. The government-industry team is integrating directed energy capabilities onto the platforms, in preparation for the RCCTO Directed Energy - Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (DE-MSHORAD) combat shoot-off next year. DE-MSHORAD will protect Divisions and Brigade Combat Teams from unmanned aerial systems, rotary-wing aircraft, and rocket, artillery and mortar threats.

Via Assistant Secretary of the Army - Acquisition, Logistics & Technology

This prototype will deliver 50 kilowatt (kW)-class lasers on a platoon of four Stryker vehicles in Fiscal Year 2022, supporting the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) mission. The directed energy M-SHORAD capability is intended to protect maneuvering Brigade Combat Teams from unmanned aerial systems (UAS), rotary-wing aircraft, and rockets, artillery and mortar (RAM).

High energy lasers engage at the speed of light and provide a solution to a constantly evolving threat space, while reducing the logistics trail associated with conventional kinetic weapon systems. In May 2019, the Army approved a new strategy for accelerating the rapid prototyping and fielding of a variety of directed energy weapons to enable Army modernization.

As the first step in delivering prototypes with residual combat capability, the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) has selected two vendors to build the directed energy M-SHORAD mission prototypes in order to foster competition and stimulate the industrial base for directed energy capabilities. Those vendors, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, are subcontractors in an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement between the Army and Kord Technologies.

Under the OTA award action, issued on July 26 in the amount of $203 million, Kord has teamed with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to develop the competing prototypes with support from General Dynamics Land Systems, which makes the Stryker, for integration work. Under the terms of the contract, the two laser vendors have approximately one year to produce the required laser subsystems, integrate them onto the Stryker platform, and complete a competitive performance checkout leading into a range demonstration against various threats.

After the Army evaluates the results, it plans to purchase three additional laser-equipped Strykers, for a total of four prototype vehicles that would be fielded to an operational M-SHORAD platoon in Fiscal Year 2022. The OTA award has the potential to increase to $490 million for the delivery of the four prototypes.

The directed energy M-SHORAD prototypes are part of the progression of an Army technology maturation initiative known as the Multi-Mission High Energy Laser (MMHEL).

"Both the Army and commercial industry have made substantial improvements in the efficiency of high energy lasers -- to the point where we can get militarily significant laser power onto a tactically relevant platform," said Dr. Craig Robin, RCCTO Senior Research Scientist for Directed Energy Applications. "Now, we are in position to quickly prototype, compete for the best solution, and deliver to a combat unit."

The Army is also welcoming participation from additional vendors who were not selected for the OTA awards, but desire to compete for the same M-SHORAD requirement and timeline using their own internal research and development funding.

In a related effort, the Army is also adapting its High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD) system into a prototype program order to increase its combat effectiveness and speed up its delivery to Soldiers.

The Army will adjust the current HEL-TVD, a 100 kW-class laser system integrated on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles platform developed by Dynetics and subcontractor Lockheed Martin. Under the new directed energy strategy, the Army is leveraging progress made in that effort in order to merge the HEL-TVD with similar technologies in development by the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

This partnership will allow the services to achieve a higher power system, of approximately 250-300 kW-class, that can protect sites from RAM and UAS as well as more stressing threats -- significantly increasing the warfighting capability being transitioned on the original timeline. The Army's goal is to deliver four such prototype lasers integrated on tactical vehicles, for a capability known as High Energy Laser-Indirect Fire Protection Capability (HEL-IFPC), to a platoon by Fiscal Year 2024.

"By teaming with the other services and our industry partners, we will not only save resources, but exponentially increase the power level and get a better system to Soldiers faster," Thurgood said.

The Army RCCTO, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is chartered to develop rapid prototypes and field residual combat capabilities. Its current focus areas are hypersonics and directed energy.

U.S. Army Begins Receiving First Iron Dome Battery From Israel

Today the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Ministry of Defense, delivered the first of two Iron Dome Defense System batteries to the U.S. Army. A symbolic event was held at the Iron Dome production line of defense contractor, Rafael Advanced Systems.

Defense Minister Gantz: “The completion of this agreement serves as further proof that the defense alliance [between the U.S. and Israel], is based on common values and interests, which are stronger than ever."

Today the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Ministry of Defense, delivered the first of two Iron Dome Defense System batteries to the U.S. Army. A symbolic event was held at the Iron Dome production line of defense contractor, Rafael Advanced Systems 1/2 pic.twitter.com/kkfkfMAXTs

— Ministry of Defense (@Israel_MOD) September 30, 2020

 US Army receives 1st of 2 Iron Dome batteries, unlikely to buy more. After Israel refused to hand over underlying source code for the powerful air defense system, American military put plans to acquire further units on hold.

The US and Israel signed an agreement for the purchase of the two batteries — each of which include a launcher and missiles made by Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd., a radar array made by the ELTA defense contractor, and a command-and-control center developed by the mPrest firm — last August, with initial plans to buy both two more units and to consider deeper integration of the Israeli air defense system.

In March, however, the US Army indicated it was scrapping — or at least freezing — its purchase of the two additional batteries and the further incorporation of the Iron Dome into its aerial defenses.

Though the deal appears to have stalled, Rafael continues to meet with US officials about the matter, a spokesman for the company said Wednesday, stressing that no final decision had been made on the deal.

Source - US Army receives 1st of 2 Iron Dome batteries, unlikely to buy more

US Army has a SkyNet

Via FoxNews

US Army has a SkyNet - it's a data sharing and cutting-edge AI system called FIRESTORM

Multi-Domain Operations envisions a new collaboration across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace (Army graphic)

Gray Eagle drones were armed with HELLFIRE missiles and GBU-69 glide bombs, 155mm artillery weapons fired rounds 60km (37.3 miles) to destroy SA-22 enemy air defenses and armored ground combat vehicles directly hit multiple T-72 tanks during the Army’s Project Convergence 2020 at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz.

The real story, however, according to senior Army leaders attending the service’s transformational combat experiment, was about data sharing, networked targeting and a cutting edge AI system called FIRESTORM.

“The bullet flying through the air and exploding is interesting, but that is not what is compelling about Project Convergence. It is everything that happens before the trigger is pulled. We did not come out here for a precision-fires exercise, what we came out here to do is increase the speed of information between sensing the target and passing that information to the effector,” Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, Director, Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross Functional Team, Army Futures Command, told reporters Sept. 23 at Yuma Proving Grounds.

FIRESTORM uses advanced computer algorithms to gather radio data link feeds, video stream data, navigational and terrain specifics, weather conditions, target coordinates and precisely identified enemy location information. FIRESTORM then uses AI-enabled computer processing to perform near real-time data analytics and compare all of these variables against a vast or seemingly limitless database. The various information streams are pooled together and analyzed in relation to one another to organize the data and identify the optimal weapon or "effector" needed for that particular target.

“FIRESTORM is a computer brain that recommends the best shooter, updates the common operating picture and enemy and friendly situations. It ‘missions’ the effectors that we want to eradicate the enemy on the battlefield. As enemy targets were identified on the battlefield, FIRESTORM quickly paired those targets with the best shooter in position to put effects on this,” Coffman said.

U.S. Army photo of the firing March 6 at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz. - file photo. (U.S. Army)

FIRESTORM can in part arrive at analytical conclusions in a mere instant, by weighing new information against previously compiled information. Machine learning happens when AI-enabled databases immediately assimilate new information that is entirely different than what is in the database. The pace at which this new information is discerned, analyzed and integrated comprises the fundamental value-added quality of AI.

Perhaps certain weapons such as artillery were proven effective for a certain range and target composition in particular weather conditions, at particular altitudes, with particular defenses and terrain configuration? The computer will analyze all of these variables both individually and in relation to one another against its database and pair the right weapon for the particular target engagement. This entire process can now take place in seconds, representing an exponential leap beyond previously achieved benchmarks of roughly 20minutes.

“This is happening faster than any human could execute,” Coffman said.

However, the system must be adaptable to new enemy threats. Once enemies encounter certain systems, they of course immediately move to counter them, therefore requiring developers to expedite quick improvements.

"We need code writers who will need to change algorithms to adjust to new threats. We can't wait 24 hours; we will have to change instantaneously to targets. We need to make decisions at speed and get ahead of the enemies’ decision cycle,” Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Director Army G3/5/7 told reporters.

Flynn further explained this “need for speed” in the context of the well-known Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) process that gathers information, distills and organizes it before sending carefully determined data to decision-makers. The entire process, long underway for processing things like drone video feeds for years, has now been condensed into a matter of seconds, in part due to AI platforms like FIRESTORM. Advanced algorithms can, for instance, autonomously sort through and observe hours of live video feeds, identify moments of potential significance to human controllers and properly send or transmit the often time-sensitive information.

"In the early days we were doing PED away from the front lines, now it's happening at the tactical edge. Now we need writers to change the algorithms,” Flynn explained.

“Three years ago it was books and think tanks talking about AI. We did it today,” McCarthy said.

The MoD of Georgia was received first batch of Spanish-made reconnaissance drones

The Ministry of Defense of Georgia was received first batch of two different types of Spanish-made reconnaissance drone.

We are talking about the helicopter type Alpha 800 UAV of the "Alpha unmanned systems" company and the aircraft type Atlantic-I UAV of the company SCR (sistemas de control remote).

Msta-S SPH, T-90A MBT and BMP-3 IFV side by side

 Msta-S SPH, T-90A MBT and BMP-3 IFV side by side. Prudboy training area, Volgograd, Russia.

Credit: Alexey Kudenko