Latin America

The failed assassination attempt in Caracas, Venezuela highlight the potential of drones as a weapon and a tool of terror, and the vulnerability of critical assets, even where drone countermeasures are active.

Plasan has presented today the first of six Guarder high performance armored vehicles ordered by the Sao Paolo police department. The order for the development and delivery of six vehicles for about $9.5 million was announced in June 2014. The vehicles will equip the special weapons and tactics team (SWAT) of the largest city in Brazil.

Embraer Defense and Security today delivered the first EMB 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) class of aircraft to the Government of India.

Ares, a Brazilian subsidiary of Elbit Systems will supply the Brazilian Armed Forces remotely Controled Weapon Stations (RCWS). REMAX is a stabilized weapon station for 12.7/7.62 mm machine guns that was Specifically designed by Ares to meet Brazilian Army requirements as part of the VBTP program. The system have been successfully tested and fielded in Brazilian Army Guarani 6X6 vehicles.. Some of the Brazilian VBTP vehicles are also armed with a larger weapon station mounting the 30mm automatic cannon.

LAAD 2015 Report: Armored vehicles and protection systems

Brazil is expected to spend US$20.83 billion on arms procurements in the next five years.

The Italian vehicle manufacturer Iveco has signed a contract to sell 80 vehicles to the Lebanese military and police. The deal, worth about 30 million euros, includes 25 light armored vehicles and six mine protected armored vehicles to be produced in Italy and ten Brazilian produced VBTP-MR amphibious armored personnel carriers. The remaining vehicles include unarmored military trucks.

Elbit Systems is presenting the newest member of the MUSIC Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) systems at the 2013 Paris Airshow. Defense-Update reports. The new, compact system dubbed ‘mini-MUSIC’ is designed to protect small rotary and fixed-wing aircraft against heat seeking Ground to Air Missiles (MANPADS) threats. In 2012 the company has demonstrated the C-MUSIC pod system in flight, mounted on...

Brazilian aerospace company Embraer announced today it will coordinate all development and production activities in Brazil on behalf of Saab and, in addition to its own extensive work packages, will participate in systems development, integration, flight tests, final assembly and deliveries. 

A Colombian Air-Force CN235 special-mission aircraft plane crashed on Friday in the north of the country, killing all 11 of those on board. The CN235 is manufactured by Airbus; the plane was produced in 1998 in Seville, Spain and was one of several aircraft converted to carry out Electronic Warfare missions.

As the U.S. Air Force is heading for a final selection of a Light Attack and Armed recce (LAAR) aircraft, final evaluation of the Brazilian Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company (HBDC) AT-6 are performed. The AT-6 has been undergoing extensive weapon qualification and operational evaluation outlined in this article

MBDA has announced the selection of its Sea Ceptor naval air defense system by the Brazilian Navy. The weapon will provide local area air defence for the Brazilian next generation Tamandaré class corvettes.

Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 (NATO Reporting Name: Blackjack) strategic bombers triggered a diplomatic raw last week, violating Colombian airspace two times on a mission flown from Caracas, Venezuela to Managua, Nicaragua. The two bombers entered Columbian airspace as they were flying over an Colombian island in the Caribbean sea, without propper request. The aircraft were detected about 11:00 am...

Embraer Defense and Security has today delivered four light attack and tactical training A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to Indonesia’s Air Force at a ceremony held in its facility in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, Brazil. Indonesia is the first operator of Super Tucano in the Asia-Pacific region.