Tag: Germany

The German Armed Forces have recently fired a shipboard laser weapon against aerial targets. At the test the German frigate Sachsen successfully engaged drones at a short and very short range. Testing of the high-energy laser weapon will continue until mid-2023. These trials have now set the basic stage for introducing laser weapon systems and capabilities into the Bundeswehr – capabilities whose relevance is by no means restricted to the Navy, as defense industries are pressing ahead with laser weapon systems for multiple applications.

Israel selects Lockheed Martin Sikorsky CH-53K Yasour helicopters as the IDF’s new heavy-lift aircraft, as part of the IDF’s “Tnufa” (Momentum), multi-year plan. These will replace the “Yassur” helicopters employed by the IAF since the late 1960s.

The Israeli and German Defense Ministries have signed an agreement to equip the German Leopard 2A7A1 tanks with the TROPHY Active Protection System. The government-to-government (G2G) agreement covers the supply of APS to equip 17 tanks making a single company of the German Army.

A NATO customer has awarded Rheinmetall an order for modern artillery ammunition. The Group’s South African subsidiary, Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd. (RDM), will supply several thousand conventional and extended-range artillery shells of the Assegai family (Base Bleed and V-LAP) as well as M92 Assegai tactical modular charges. Delivery commenced in December 2020 and is to be complete by May 2021. The order is worth around €25 million.

The new laser will be deployed for a trial phase onboard the Germany Navy frigate Sachsen. The laser demonstrator consists of twelve nearly identical 2kW fiber laser modules with close to diffraction-limited beam quality. Employing spectral coupling technology, the laser peaks 20 KW of power, the technology has growth potential in the 100kW performance class.

Germany and France began to harmonize requirements and concepts, with the intention to formalize joint system architecture for their future main battle tank, currently known as the 'Main Ground Combat System' (MGCS). This future combat system is expected to succeed the Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 and the French Army’s Leclerc beginning in 2035.

In a recent firing series held in South Africa, the German-South African joint-venture Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM) demonstrated a dramatic increase in the range of its artillery firepower. The demonstration employed three 155 mm cannons with 52 and 39 caliber lengths, which scored three world records - firing at ranges of 76, 67 and 54 km.

The HENSOLDT company has delivered the 300th active protection system (soft kill) equipping the German Puma infantry fighting vehicle. In total, the company is under contract to deliver 342 MUSS equipment sets by 2020 to PSM, the vehicle manufacturing JV.

Rheinmetall has partnered with WB GROUP of Poland to provide dismounted troops with high precision strike capabilities using loitering munitions, by integrating Rheinmetall's 8x8 all-terrain Mission Master UGV with WB's WARMATE Loitering Munition System.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced today the selection of Elbit Systems’ Iron-Fist Active Protection System (APS) for the protection of some of the IDF combat and combat support armored vehicles. The selection followed a competitive evaluation of several APS solutions.

The German Federal Ministry of Defense (MOD) has selected Telefunken Radio Communications Systems (RACOMS), to equip its infantry units with the PNR1000 advanced soldier radio, part of Elbit Systems’ E-Lynx family of Software Defined Radios (SDR). The new radios will be used at the platoon and company levels

Rheinmetall has developed a hybrid Protection module that combines passive and active protection techniques to protect armored vehicles from anti-tank and ballistic threats, such as small caliber arms and fragments. Rheinmetall will unveil the new module at the IDEX 2019 exhibition in Abu Dhabi next week.

Germany plans to equip one tank company with Rafael Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) to better protect a rapid reaction force it...

Since its introduction in 1979 Mercedes Benz G-Wagen (or G Class as it is known by official designation) has become a popular vehicle, not only for adventurers and military forces alike. This article highlights some of the latest military variants unveiled recently, as the G Wagen reaches its 40th anniversary.