Cyprus National Guard armored units at the fire ground of Sia (video)

 Cyprus National Guard armored units at the fire ground of Sia

BMP-3

M2 MG mounten on the Leonidas-2 APC

AK-74M with GP-25

RPG-7

About Trophy APS and its troubles to integrated in to the Leopard-2A7 MBT

Via SH_MM

• The purchase and integration of Trophy has been approved by the German parliament (as the contract has a volume above €25 million, approval was required). The price of the systems (including spares, training equipment, dummy rounds, etc.) is supposedly €40 million, total cost (including integration into the tanks) is more than €100 million. Trophy is purchased for 18 tanks (one testbed and 17 tanks).

• Rumors say that the system weighs more than 3,5 tonnes, which seems quite plausible given the weight increase of the M1A2 SEP v2 Abrams when fitted with Trophy.

• Trophy has passed a number of German tests including performance in cold environments, resistance to shock and vibrations, and safety tests. Firing trials are still to be made.

• Also it has been stated, that Germany has no access to the source code and algorithms used by Trophy, which is deemed as bad. German companies are required to disclose the source code of their systems (not only APS, but in general) and to meet certain ISO norms (with certification). Trophy is purchased as a "black box".

• Trophy will not be integrated into the Leopard 2A7(V) tank, but instead into the Leopard 2A7A1 tank. These are based on the Leopard 2A6A3 turret with newly-made hulls, as the old Leopard 2A6 hulls are unfit for Trophy (e.g. they lack an APU and thus have very limited electrical energy, but it seems that there might be other modifications required). There seem to be two options here: either the Leopard 2A6A3 was chosen in order to free the Leopard 2A7V tanks for the VJTF 2023 or Trophy requires so many/deep changes, that the Leopard 2A7V hull would not be suited for Trophy (which would mean no future purchases of Trophy for Germany). One side effect is that Germany will have 17 more Leopard 2A7 tanks.

• No Leopard 2 tank with Trophy will be ready for the VJTF 2023, i.e. the only reason why Trophy was purchased at all. Delays in the program will result in a delivery between 2024 and 2025. Instead of 17 Leopard 2 tanks with Trophy, Germany will send 30 Leopard 2A7V tanks for its participation to the VJTF 2023.

• There are apparently voices in Germany arguing (following the issues with Trophy) that the government should declare (active) protection systems a "national key technology", which would lead to more money being invested into homegrown systems and national solutions being prefered to foreign offers.

Entscheidung für Trophy – bleiben abstandsaktive Schutzsysteme nationale Schlüsseltechnologie?

Abstandsaktives Schutzsystem – Trophy für Leopard 2 erst ab 2024

US Army test new night vision goggle

FORT BENNING, Ga. – "Really good" was never really going to be good enough for the Army team developing the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binocular. Nine months after equipping the first unit with the ENVG-B, developers are testing the rigor of system enhancements at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La., in order to assess new augmented reality technologies and the hardware that delivers them.

As a night vision device, the ENVG-B’s dual thermal and infrared sensing capabilities deliver unmatched clarity in situations where visibility is diminished, including the complete absence of light. It was fielded for the first time last fall as part of an initial Directed Requirement to get those next generation night vision capabilities in the hands of Soldiers at Fort Riley who have since deployed with them to Korea.

It’s a system that includes augmented reality capabilities and a heads-up display that integrates wirelessly with weapon optics. Those kind of capabilities make it possible for a Soldier to detect and even fire on a target around an obstacle with limited exposure to the enemy.

In what is called a reliability growth test (RGT), the first of three planned for the ENVG-B system, Soldiers from C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, put the system to the test during field training exercises throughout the month of June. After a week of classroom training with the systems, a week of marksmanship training on the range, and a week of nighttime situational training exercises, the event culminated in a 72-hour field training exercise with an opposing force. Thirty participants used the ENVG-Bs, and others used PVS-14 night vision devices in order for data collectors and observers to draw comparisons.

“In terms of target detection and clarity, the difference between the (ENVG-B) and the PVS-14 is night and day,” Hess said. “The guys wearing the ENVG-Bs were taking targets out to 300 meters and even beyond, whereas our guys with 14s are having trouble seeing beyond 150. I can’t say enough about the ENVG-Bs. There’s really no comparison.”

Which doesn’t mean the tests all ran smoothly. By design, RGTs are iterative Soldier Touch Points that expose weaknesses in the software or hardware early and often throughout the development process in order to shape a final product that is beneficial to the Soldier and wholly accepted. That’s the Soldier Centered Design methodology employed by the Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team that leads the ENVG-B program, one of Army Future Command’s signature modernization efforts. Soldiers are involved in design and development every step of the way. 

Full article Soldiers test new night vision capabilities

ZBL-08 IFV driving training

On January 26, a brigade of the 77th Army of PLA brought the drivers team to the training ground, and organize of ZBL-08 IFV driving training.

 

The world best fighter jet need a best maintenance. Here is the some details about F-22 maintenance and upgrade work.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- The 5th-generation F-22 Raptor has been one of the world’s most dominant fighter aircraft since entering service and has defined what air dominance means to the U.S. Air Force.

To ensure that it remains relevant for years to come, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex’s 574th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, through collaborative efforts of the F-22 System Program Office along with partners Lockheed Martin and Boeing, recently completed the last aircraft to go through the F-22 Structural Repair Program that has been generating aircraft for the last 14 years.

“This is a great milestone for the program,” said Misty Stone, 574th AMXS director. “Since Hill Air Force Base gained the F-22 workload in 2006, the 574th AMXS team of 400 employees has remained focused and dedicated on expanding the combat capabilities of the F-22 weapon system,”

The program was responsible for increasing mission capabilities by performing structural modifications to increase total flying hour serviceability on each aircraft by 8,000 hours.

The maintenance team processed 247 F-22 Raptors through six unique maintenance machines for structural repair, modification, coatings restoration and aircraft damage repair while completing more than 8,645 Time Compliance Technical Orders totaling over 3,880,000 hours; approximately 1,550,000 hours were dedicated to coating restoration, with the remaining 2,328,000 hours focused on mitigating corrosion, aircraft modifications, modernization and repair.

With the program completed, the 574th AMXS will shift from a workload that was a structural based requirement to a 10-year reversion workload, which is a new sustainment modification that was first prototyped in 2019.

This new modification will refurbish the low observable coatings on the engine inlets, and provide an inspection and overhaul of the aircraft’s flight controls.

Over the past several years, the aircraft maintenance squadron has also supported the warfighter by overhauling five aircraft that had been damaged through the unscheduled depot level maintenance program totaling 50,900 hours.

“We have already ramped up our new reversion workload producing nine aircraft totaling nearly 200,000 hours to date. In conjunction with this workload, we are currently posturing ourselves to accomplish avionics upgrades that will greatly improve the already amazing capabilities of the F-22,” said Paul Woolever, 574th Production/Flight Test section chief. “The success of the 574th AMXS ability to produce modifications, repairs, and upgrades to the Raptor is a direct result of the amazing team of skilled mechanics, dedicated supervisors, and the expert knowledge of the planning and scheduling department that we have.”

The growth from 40% to 75% for the low observable coating reversion workload highlights the performance excellence of the 574th employees. Their shared commitment to superior results, specialized coatings expertise, open communication, strong sense of accountability and trust among our members have made this increased workload possible,” said David Strunk, 574th AMXS low observable production chief.

“Our high performance work team has been enhanced through our collaboration with Air Force Research Laboratory, Lockheed Martin low observable engineering team, and aircraft maintenance group process engineers,” he said. “Their specialized expertise, complementary skills and innovation equipped us with new tooling and processes making it possible for us to thrive despite facility and manpower constraints. Collectively, the 574th employees and mission partners have exhibited incredible creativity, flexibility and commitment to supporting the warfighter.”

Stone added, “Finishing the final aircraft is a great way to start fiscal year 2021. It allows the team to be ready to focus on new challenges and firsts with the reversion requirement.”

M1A2SEPv3

GREYWOLF Troopers with 1-12 Cav Chargers, 3BCT, 1CD train with their recently received M1A2 SEPV3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks!

The addition of the new Abrams is a part of the 1st Cavalry Division's and U.S. Army's ongoing modernization efforts and generates a tremendous amount of combat power for the most lethal and agile armored force in the world.