Armada International Dec-Jan

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THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SINCE 1976

Issue 6/2014

INTERNATIONAL

December/January

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Contents & Index_Armada Dec 14/Jan 15:Armada

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THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SINCE 1976

Contents 6/2014 INTERNATIONAL www.armada.ch

18 SMALL ARMS UPDATE

SMALL ARMS CHATTER I Paolo Valpolini While innovative companies explore the future with hypersophisticated carbon fibre barrels that are probably worth far more than their weight in gold, times are nevertheless pretty tough for defence budgets. Yet a few important contracts are awaiting approval in the small arms world.

06

10

26

36

WHAT’S UP?

FAST PATROL VESSELS

GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION-V

WHAT’S UP?

SOON UP: EMBRAER’S KC-390

THE MARITIME SURVEILLANCE SWISS-KNIFE

MAPPING URBAN CANYONS

HELLO CARL, WHAT ELSE?

I Eric H. Biass

I Luca Peruzzi

I Wesley G. Fox

40

48

55

EXPEDITIONARY VEHICLES

CYBER WARFARE

SHOW REPORT

THE LIGHT STUFF

TIME FOR CYBER WAR LAWS?

AUSA 2014

SOLDIER-WORN NIGHT VISION SYSTEMS AND NIGHT RIFLE SIGHTS

I Paolo Valpolini

I Paolo Valpolini

I Paolo Valpolini

I Paolo Valpolini

COMPENDIUM SUPPLEMENT

I Peter Donaldson

INTERNATIONAL

6/2014

03

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Contents & Index_Armada Dec 14/Jan 15:Armada

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Index

DEFENCE TECHNOLOG SOURCE FOR THE TRUSTED

Issue 6/2014

Y INFORMATIO

N SINCE 1976

L INTERNATIONA

December/January

I INDEX TO ADVERTISERS AR MODULAR

53

IMDEX

9

LAAD

C3

C4

LIMA

17

47

NORTHROP GRUMMAN

C4

ODU

31

ARMADA ARMADA DIGITAL ARMADA SUBSCRIPTION ASELSAN

21, 23, 25

4

BRUNSWICK

13

PHOTONIS

DEFENCE AND SECURITY THAILAND

C2

ROSOBORONEXPORT

DSEI

29

SAAB

ESRI

C2

IDEX

13 34-35 45

I INDEX TO MANUFACTURERS Companies mentioned in this issue. Where there are multiple references to a company in an article, only the first occurence and subsequent photographs are listed below: Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding

12, 16 10, 27, 28

Heckler & Koch

19, 46

Honeywell

15

07, 22 06, 07, 10, 12, 16, 23

American Motive Power Sys

42

Hutchinson

14

IAI

15, 16

Rafael

Aresa International

14

Israel Shipyards

15, 16

Raytheon

21, 27, 33

ArmorLine

42

Israel Weapons Industries

19, 23

Rheinmetall

10, 12, 17

Aselsan

15

Karachi Shipyard

16

Rhode & Schwarz

Kongsberg

55

Rolls Royce

21, 28, 29, 31 32, 49

42

Polska Grupa Pyser

Ares

BAE Systems Barrett

25

Kopin

55

Beretta

19, 20, 21

KWM

45, 46

BMT Group

15

L3

06, 11, 27, 28, 31, 56

Qioptiq

20

Sagem

Loc Performance Products

42

Schott

Burris

20

Lockheed Martin

Cantiere Navale Vittoria

11, 14

14 12, 14,16 44 42

Saab

Laser Devices

52, 54, 57

16

Rondo Trading Group

11

42, 54

09, 10, 20, 22

Roush Industries

Bollinger Shipyard

Boeing

21, 28, 36, 37, 39 08, 23, 24, 31 42

Selex

Lurssen

12

Shvabe

22

Siemens

12,19, 24, 25, 32 07, 11, 18, 30 50

Carl Zeiss Optronics

10

MKEK

Cassidian Optronics

10

MAN

16

SK Group

07

Catepillar

10

MBDA

12

Steiner

20

Ceska Zbrojovka

19

Meopta

10, 11

Subaru

China Shipbuilding

16

Meprolight

Cisco

50

Mercedez Benz

CloudFlare

49

Millog

Colt

19, 21

CMN

10

Damen Naval Shipbuilding Defenture BV DRS

20, 21, 31, 42, 56

DSM Dyneema Elbit

42, 46 08, 14, 15, 26, 28, 33

Embraer Defence & Security Etihad Ship Building Exelis

06 , 07 16 16, 19, 33

Fabrika Broni Lucznik FLIR

11 44, 46

22

03, 09, 21, 25, 26, 27

FN Herstal General Dynamics

19, 20 42, 43, 44

46 12, 13, 32

MSBS Rifle

21, 22

MTU Navitas Systems

12, 27, 29

Northrop Grumman

16, 33, 54

OIP Sensors Opticoelectron Oto Melara PCO Photonis

42

Polaris Defence

Harris

42

Polish Institute

INTERNATIONAL

6/2014

20 58

TenCate Advanced Armour

Theon

Nivisys

O’Gara Sensor Systems

T. Worx

12, 14, 15, 16

11

18 12, 17 14, 18, 25

49, 52, 53

TAR - Ideal

Thales

04, 06, 07, 08, 09, 12

41

Symantec

16

42

Nightline

GKN

05

15, 18, 20, 26

MSI Defence System

Newcon Optik

Volume 38, Issue No. 6, December 2014/January 2015 INTERNATIONAL

Entries highlighted with Red numbers are found in Night Vision Compendium 2014

C3

Airbus DS Optronics

This still unusual - not to say weird - object might become a common sight in a not too distant future, as thinner walled steel barrels wrapped in heat dissipating structural carbon fibre shield turn into a financially bearable reality. This example from Ares was photographed by the Author at he recent Ausa exhibition. See full story on page 18

14

Thermal Vision Tech Thermoteknix

56

16, 17, 19, 32, 33, 54

28, 30 36

Trijicon

26

VDL Group

44

Vectronix

13, 32, 33, 36

Voere

24

Vricon Systems

28

Wilco

10, 13, 19, 24, 30, 33

16

Yonka Onuk

14, 15

14, 19, 25

Zeiss Optics

22, 27

05, 06, 07, 10, 12, 15 40, 43, 44 22

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Tel: (852) 2815 9111, Fax: (852) 2815 1933 Editor-in-Chief: Eric H. Biass Regular Contributors: Roy Braybrook, Paolo Valpolini, Thomas Withington Chairman: J.S. Uberoi President: Xavier Collaco Sr. Manager International Marketing: Vishal Mehta Manager Marketing: Jakhongir Djalmetov Sales & Marketing Coordinator: Atul Bali Creative Director: Bipin Kumar Asstt. Art Director : Ajay Kumar Production Manager: Kanda Thanakornwongskul Group Circulation Manager: Porames Chinwongs Chief Financial Officer: Gaurav Kumar Advertising Sales Offices AUSTRIA, BENELUX, SWITZERLAND Cornelius W. Bontje Ph: +41 55 216 17 81, cornelius.bontje@armada.ch FRANCE Promotion et Motivation, Odile Orbec Ph: +33 1 41 43 83 00, o.orbec@pema-group.com GERMANY Sam Baird Ph: +44 1883 715 697, sam@whitehillmedia.com ITALY, NORDIC COUNTRIES Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg Ph: +46 31 799 9028, egillberg@glocalnet.net

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What's Up KC-390:Armada

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What’s Up?

Soon Up: Embraer’s KC-390 Well that’s it, with the roll-out of the KC-390 from Embraer’s Xavan Peixoto’s works on 22 October 2014 the Western World—and there is every economical reason to believe that Brazil is part of the Western World—has earned itself its second significant new-generation military transport aircraft. What is best is that while the two aircraft involved—the first was the Atlas A400M that had its maiden flight in December 2009 and the KC-390—will not be competing one against the other, they are already setting new thinking patterns in their own niches.

Eric H. Biass

F

rom a market point of view this draws an entirely new, and yes unprecedented, picture as neither the United States nor the Russians are involved. Apart from an umpteenth iteration of the venerable Hercules and after the unfortunate demise of the AN-70, the medium and medium-heavy military world transport future should orbit around these two new types in the foreseeable future (even the improved C-17B project was abandoned in the even heavier slot). In a rather

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interesting and unusual twist of events, the larger and longer range aircraft has propellers and the newest and smaller one has turbofans. It is all the more interesting given the fact that the latter, the KC-390, otherwise fits in the somewhat broken-in shoes of the Hercules which is turboprop engined. Speedwise, both the Atlas and the KC-390 belong to the same league, the former hitting the Mach 0.72 mark and the latter 0.80. And apart from the fact that both boast capabilities as in-flight refuellers, this is about all the two have in common since one will break contact with the planet at max 141 tonnes and the other at 81.

While as hinted above the KC-390 is looking at new ways of handling the transport duties so far carried out by the latest generation of the Hercules (the C-130J now generally and affectionately referred to as the Juliet), current President of Embrear Defence & Security Jackson Schneider flatly refuses to draw any performance comparison with the American aircraft. This shows a dramatic change in Embraer’s management attitude compared with its more aggressive and optimistic approach of recent years. We shall avoid dwelling into matter for conjecture here, but suffice to say that Embraer has grown considerably since, that more inter-

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At roll-out time Embraer had not yet chalked up any firm export orders, although letters of intent have been received which could amount to orders for a total of 32 aircraft with 6 from Chile, 6 from Portugal, 6 from Argentina, 2 from the Czech Republic and 12 from Colombia. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)

ests in every acceptance of the word now have to be preserved, and that Embraer’s world sales record-beating Phenom biz-jets are also built in Melbourne (the Florida one).

Nevertheless, and right from the outset the C-390, as it was then called (the «K» tanker option had not yet cut in), clearly had the C130 drawn into the centre of its cross-hairs, which is understandable given the fact that Brazil with 22 aircraft has the second largest fleet of C-130Hs and one that has an average age of more than 37 years. There were many sub-targets in the strategy at the time: a) a clear intention to reduce dependence from America in defence matters, b) thereby offer a cheaper alternative based on an aircraft using many readily available components from the civilian aircraft production line and c) conquer markets of cashstrapped nations operating older Hercs that were beginning to be held together with duct tape and that are now, nearly ten years on, clearly beyond redemption.

This digression from the main event, namely the roll-out of a major contribution to modern military transport, was necessary to bring about the awareness of the fact

The undercarriage fairings have been designed to prevent wheels from projecting debris from rough landing strips into the air intakes. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)

that the KC-390 we see today has very little to do with the C-390 Armada started to talk about eight years ago when the concept was unveiled. In fact, not little, but absolutely nothing, except for the 390 figure in its designation. Many concessions had to be made in terms of technology for the politico-economic reasons briefly mentioned above.

Secondly it was seen that the solution of— very schematically—turning an airliner into a shoulder-winged EMB-190 military transport was not in the end going to cut the mustard and meet beancounter approval. So rather than using ready-made components and end up with something that already existed in terms of capacities and not necessarily cheaper, Embraer

decided to opt for the obvious solution, namely draw on very fresh technological know-how to optimise designs rather than use existing parts in need of subsequent adjustment. This of course came to a cost compared with early hoped-for assumptions—a cost that must have created immense upheavals within Embraer which, in spite of being an economy-run company, is still largely government-owned. The resultant aircraft cost increase had the sad effect to rebuke the obvious initial willing partners in the programme in terrible and desperate need to replace a moribund fleet of transport aircraft—South Africa, of course, amongst others. But the truth is here: even if today the military world now

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What’s Up?

The flags under that of the Brazil on the side of the fuselage are not indicative of customers but of industrial partner nations that include Argentine, Portugal and the Czech Republic. The selfprotection suite is from AEL, which is the Brazilian subsidy of Elbit. The air-refuelling capability of the aircraft will enable it to operate over long distances, from the Amazon region right down to the Antarctic, but the aircraft will also be equipped to dispense fuel from two tanks accommodated in the hold via two underwing hose and drogue systems. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)

had a very high bypass ratio which enabled the aircraft to be less subjected to possible ingestion of foreign objects during operation from semi-prepared airstrips, something that the two metre clearance under the engines and the ground also helped to avoid.

Turning to capacities, Gastão explained that the aircraft’s maximum cargo capacity varied from 23 to 26 tonnes. The 23 tonnes refer to a load spread out throughout the hold, while the 26-tonne load refers to a compact cargo load that could be adequately emplaced on the aircraft’s centre of gravity. Technically, the aircraft can carry 80 soldiers or 66 paratroopers (who can jump out through two rear air stream fairing-protected side doors), three Humvees, a Blackhawk, or a Lav-25. We were not allowed to visit the interior of the plane, but the author’s walk under the tail end revealed that its huge ramp constituted a sizeable portion of the deck length. This, explained Gastão, enabled to diminish the angle between the top of the ramp and the actual cargo floor, but that the ramp also had the capacity to lift the last embarkable batch of cargo to a maximum of 10,000 pounds deposited on it to shut clean.

heavily draws on civilian technologies (which was still the opposite only two decades ago, roughly until the portable telephone actually started to be truly portable), it can not always draw on identical designs.

I STATUS

Embraer is already building a second prototype and the current one is expected to take to the air before the end of 2014. According to KC-390 programme director Paolo Gastão who spoke with Jackson Schneider at a press conference shortly after the roll out ceremony, two prototypes will suffice to carry out all testing before delivery of the first production unit to the Brazilian Air Force during the second half of 2016. Asked whether the two prototypes would be later refurbished to complement (as opposed to join) the 28 aircraft ordered by the Brazilian Air Force last May, Gastão replied “yes”.

This being said, another non-flying airframe, plus a number of sections are used for static and structural testing. As already mentioned above, Embrear did not want to make any comparisons with the Juliet, but the two men explained that “there is nothing that our turbofans cannot do and that the turboprops can”. Gastão emphasised that the International Aero V2500 turbo-engines

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Wingspan Length Height Max cruise speed Max altitude Range with 23 tonne load Reconfigurable for

: : : : : : :

35.05 m 32.20m 11.86m Mach.80 26,000 ft 1,380 nm Air resupply, Air assault & infiltration, Airlift operations, Air refuelling of fighter aircraft and slower helicopters, Medevac, Firefighting and Search and rescue. (Embraer)

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Fast Patrol Boats:Armada

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Fast Patrol Vessels

The Maritime Surveillance Swiss-knife The drift of maritime surveillance requirements towards multirole platforms able to conduct military, homeland security and search-and-rescue missions, has caused the traditional Cold War inherited fast attack and heavily armed types built by the hundreds for military duties to give way to smaller and faster patrol boat designs.

Luca Peruzzi

W

hile in the past, the Northern European and America were the most prolific builders of these platforms together with European shipyards, the latter and the restof-the-world are now gaining momentum.

French shipyards are the most active, with CMN (Construction MĂŠcaniques de Normandie) known not only for its

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Combattante family of fast attack craft, with more than 90 units built and the object of continuous improvements, but also for its range of Vigilante family of constabulary patrol vessels and the three new-generation 43-metre maritime surveillance trimarans under construction for Mozambique (under a large contract assigned in 2013 which also includes six patrol vessels). A collaboration between CMN and naval architect Nigel Irens, the Ocean Eagle 43 is a compact multirole trimaran offering a unique

performance-to-cost ratio and a top speed of 30 knots. It has a crew of seven plus an eightman boarding team while the combat system includes one 20/30 and two 12.7 mm remotely controlled guns plus a multi-sensor and combat management system.

Ocea offers a complete range of customised small-and medium sized aluminium hulled platforms from 12 to 85 metres with speeds of 20 to 55 knots amongst which are the 24metre FPB 72 and 32-metre FPB 98. The latter is capable of 35 knots under Caterpillar

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Ocea boat builder offers a wide range of small-and medium-sized aluminium platforms, including the 24-metre and 30-knot capable FPB 72 Mk 2 here seen in Suriname Coast Guard livery.

(Bernard Prezelin)

Raidco Marine’s latest doublechine deep-V hull design, the RPB 33 is built by Ufast shipyard.

Capable of 40 knots, its notable feature is a 360° panoramic surveillance bridge. (Jacques Pradignac et Leo)

The Italian’s Custom Services, known as the Guardia di Finanza, has two new large patrol vessels based on the Damen shipbuilding group’s 58-metre Stan Patrol 5509 design.

Assembled at the Italian Cantiere Navale Vittoria acting as prime contractor, it is equipped with a combat system designed by Almaviva. (Cantiere Navale Vittoria)

diesel engine power and waterjets, and is armed with a remotely controlled 30 mm DS30B Mk 2 gun mount, which has been sold to Algeria, Benin and Senegal.

Raidco Marine also offers a portfolio of patrol boats that includes the 12- to 36metre double-chine deep-V RPB range, which now includes the latest RPB 33 built by Ufast shipyard for Raidco Marine. This model was delivered to Togo and Senegal in 2013 and ordered by Ivory Coast while the 20-metre RPB 20 model was ordered by

Libya in 2014. Equipped with two 1,958 hp diesel engines and offered with either waterjets or propellers yielding a maximum speed of 33 knots, a notable feature of the RPB 33 is a 360° surveillance panoramic bridge. Weapon options include one 20 mm gun and two 12.7 mm, in addition to a launch and recovery stern ramp for a 6.15metre rigid hull inflatable.

The Netherlands’ Damen Naval Shipbuilding group is offering a range of security and patrol vessels ranging from

seven to more than 200 metres in length, including interceptors and patrol platforms.

Damen platforms incorporate the results of both ‘Enlarged Ship’ and ‘Axe Bow’ concepts, respectively improving the sea-keeping characteristics of high-speed vessels and enhancing platform operability, comfort and crew safety, in addition to reducing fuel consumption. This design allowed Bollinger shipyard in America to win the US Coast Guard Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter platform in September 2008.

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Fast Patrol Vessels

US Coast Guard’s Sentinel class fast response cutters are based on a design largely derived from the Dutch Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel and built by Bollinger shipyard in America. Originally a design for the South African Government, the 353-tonne and 47 metre cutter now has a higher maximum speed, a stern launching ramp, fixed pitch propellers, and water tight bulkheads. (US Coast Guard)

With a design largely based on the Stan 4708 patrol vessels already employed by the South African Government, the 353-tonne and 47-meter long cutter is manned by a crew of 22 and is armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster gun and four 12.7 mm machine guns. The Stan Patrol platforms family ranges from the 60-metre Stan Patrol 6011 capable of 26.5 knots to the 125-metre Stan Patrol 1204 with a maximum speed of 35 knots. Between them are seven platforms, such as the 58-metre Stan Patrol 5509 which forms the basis of the Italian Custom Services’two main patrol vessels, built and integrated in Italy by Cantiere Navale Vittoria and equipped with a combat system designed

by Italian company’s Almaviva.

In addition to luxury yachts, Lürssen is known worldwide for its high-speed craft and history as combatant vessels provider to a range of main and less known navies and governmental services. The current product portfolio ranges from the 28-metre FPB 28 with a maximum speed of 35 knots to the FPB 57 combatant fast craft capable of 38 knots and the 35-metre TNC 35 with stern launching ramp and an armament package that includes a 20/30 main gun. Lurssen has been reported to be involved in discussions on the delivery of a fleet of patrol vessels to Saudi Arabia, although there is no official confirmation of this.

Fassmer is also offering a 21-metre fast patrol boat, which has been sold to three customers including the Cambodian Navy and the Bulgarian Coast Guard. Swede Ship is

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known for its family of multi-role high-speed vessels, which range from 16 to 27 metres in length. The latter, known as the Patrol 27 model, has been acquired by United Arab Emirates Naval Forces through Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and being built both by the Swede Ship and ADSB shipyard. As a multi-role compact high-speed vessel for medium range surveillance and weapon engagement of asymmetric threats in a flotilla configuration, the Emirati’s naval forces Ghannatha II patrol boat programme involves twelve vessels equipped by two 2,432 hp MTU diesel engines and Rolls-Royce

FF600 waterjets allowing a 45-knot maximum speed. These boats are equipped with Rheinmetall 27 mm MLG 27 and Oto Melara Hitrole-G with GAU-19A triple 12.7 mm guns, together with four MBDA Marte Mk 2/N antiship missiles—all managed by a small combat management system built by Selex ES. The sensors suite includes GEM Elettronica radar, Selex ES IFF and a Cprotection unit. In addition to the Ghannatha phase II programme, the UAE Naval Force’s Phase I, 24-metre transport vessels are being upgraded with the same combat electronics suite but different weapon systems package.

The United Arab Emirates’ Ghannata Phase I fast patrol boats are based on a 24-metre transport vessel designed by Swede Ship Marine. (Luca Peruzzi)

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Fast Patrol Boats:Armada

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Fast Patrol Vessels

Italy’s Intermarine shipyard is building fast patrol boats for the Italian Custom Service in fibre-reinforced plastic. Designed to operate at high speeds even in rough seas, they can be fitted with a variety of engines propulsion systems. (Italian Customs Service)

I MEDITERRANEAN

The Mediterranean basin main shipyards have been heavily involved in the construction of fast patrol vessel in the past, but today only a few are specialised sites or maintained such capability.

Aresa International in Spain is delivering a range of patrol craft to the Cameroon navy, including two new 24-metre 2400 CPV Defenders and two 32-metre Aresa 3200 OPVs, both equipped with a fast intervention inflatable. The 32-crew 2400 CPV Defender can be equipped with two-2,800 hp engines driving propellers or two-4,800 hp-plus waterjet powerpacks delivering a maximum speed of 30 knots, and an armament suite of one 20 mm and two 12.7mm remotely controlled guns. The 32-metre, 32 crew 3200 CPV patrol craft is also available with propeller and waterjets propulsion options, the latter yielding a maximum speed of 25 knots. Roadman Polyships, for its part, has a range of glass-reinforced plastic, fast patrol boats ranging from 10 (Roadman 33) to 44 metres (Roadman 145) that have been exported almost throughout the world.

Italy’s Intermarine shipyard near La Spezia is specialised in all-composite material craft and mine countermeasures vessels, and delivers to navies, coast guards and customs services worldwide. A customs service is for example receiving both 28 (Bigliani class) and 22-metre (Buratti class) fibre-reinforced plastic fast patrol boats designed to operate at high speed even in rough seas. They can be fitted with different engines and propulsion

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systems (propellers or waterjets). With a respective displacement of 100 and 56 tonnes, these craft are being used for law enforcement duties and patrol missions and can hit 40-45 and 30 knots respectively, depending on the propulsion configuration. The combat suite is based on GEM Elettronica/Almaviva command, control and navigation suite, and Rhode & Schwarz communications. The armament is respectively based on a single Oto Melara 30 or 12.7 mm guns.

Cantiere Navale Vittoria shipyard near Rovigo on the Adriatic Coast is providing 12 patrol boats to the Tunisian Navy and National Guard under a security assistance package funded by the Italian Government.

These belong respectively to the 27-metre and 90-tonne P270 and 35-metre and 140tonne P350 models of aluminium craft, which in different versions have been sold to national and Mediterranean customers, including Libya, Croatia, Slovenia, Tunisia and Romania. The P270 has a crew of 14 and a water propulsion system comprising a centreline Kamewa Rolls-Royce 40A3 and two Kamewa Rolls-Royce 50A3, each driven by a MTU 12V2000M84 engine, while the P350 is powered by two MTU 16V4000M93 and Rolls-Royce 63S3 waterjets, for a maximum speed of respectively 35 and 38 knots. Both types are fitted with a command, control and communications, and navigation system boasting Simrad and Furuno radars, a mast-mounted optronic sensor and satcoms, all integrated by Italian AlmavivA group.

Armament can include a 20-30 mm main gun. Also on the Adriatic coast, the AdriaMar shipbuilding group is marketing a family of 31-metre PV30-LS and other patrol crafts.

Turkey’s Yonka Onuk and Ares are specialised in patrol craft. The former supplies a range of products worldwide, from the 15-metre Fast Intervention Craft MRTP to the 34-metre patrol/attack craft MRTP. The latter has been ordered together with the smaller 16-metre MRTP by the Royal Qatari Navy in 2012 with deliveries starting late that year. The MRTP-34 is based on the one-

Italy’s Cantiere Navale Vittoria shipyard is offering both the 27-metre and 90-tonne P270 and 35-metre and 140 tonne P350 aluminium craft, versions of which have been sold to national and international customers, including Croatia, Libya, Romania, Slovenia and Tunisia. Here seen is the Tunisian Navy version of the P 350. (Cantiere Navale Vittoria)

Fast Patrol Boats:Armada

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The Turkish Yonka Onuk shipyard has a range of products that starts from MRTP Fast Intervention Craft to 34-metre MRTP 3 patrol/attack craft. This one is armed with a main gun, eight anti-ship and two light surface-surface missile launchers, in addition to two 12.7 mm remotely controlled guns. (Luca Peruzzi)

metre shorter MRTP-33 model already delivered to the Turkish Coast Guard and other international customers, and is based on the proprietary ‘OE-01’ deep V hull design, which enables, depending on engine selection and boat configuration, to reach speeds over 50 knots in calm waters and up to 30 knots in sea state 4. The 38-metre MRTP 34 high-speed propulsion system consists of two MTU 16V2000M90 diesels and a Honeywell TF50 gas turbine, all driving MJP waterjets. The diesels allow 28 knots

speed, while the gas turbine engagement enables to reach its maximum speed. The Yonka Onuk can accommodate a choice of armament that includes a Bofors Mk4 40 mm or an Aselsan Stop stabilised turret, mediumrange anti-ship missiles, short-range air defence missiles launcher and two Aselsan Stamp stabilised turrets with 12.7 mm gun.

Electronics include a 2D radar, electrooptical director, search and rescue or special forces support equipment, and selfprotection decoys.

In 2013 Ares shipyard signed an agreement covering the delivery of 17 patrol boats to the Qatari Coast Guard to be designed by the British BMT Group and built in advanced composite materials. The package includes five 23-metre Ares 75 Hercules with a maximum speed of 52 knots, ten 33-metre Ares 110 Hercules capable of 47 knots and two of 46-metre, 40-knot Ares 150 Hercules. The programme will run over five years with the first vessel on sea trails early in 2016. Ares is also active in other regions in the Middle East, such as in Bahrain, where it is to deliver 16-metre patrol boat.

Israel’s need to protect its coastline and offshore oil and gas installations led to the development of fast patrol vessels with combat capabilities. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Israel Shipyards have a long experience of combat-proven craft respectively represented by the Super Dvora and Shaldag family of craft. The 25-metre, 50-tonne Super Dvora in its latest Mk3 iteration has a state of the art propulsion system with articulating surface drive (ASD) claiming higher overall speeds, quicker acceleration and a better power-to-weight ratio. Capable to reach 45 knots at normal load, the 14-crew Super Dovra Mk3 in service with Israel is equipped with a selfprotection system against shore-based threats and can be armed with remotely controlled and optronic-slaved 23/25/30 mm

Already ordered or built for Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Israel, Nigeria, Romania and Sri Lanka, Israel Shipyard’s Shaldag Mk V fast patrol boat is being built locally for Azerbaijan naval forces. With a 32.65-metre long and a 6.2-metre beam deep-vee hull, the Mk V version is powered by two MTU 16V2000 allowing for a dash speed of over 40 knots (Israel Shipyard)

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Fast Patrol Vessels

In addition to ten 37-metre and 29-knot capable patrol boats for Yemen and Kuwait, Austal supplied six 30-metre aluminium fast patrol craft to Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in 2009-10. (Austal)

Chinese shipyards are active in this sector. CSTC has a large portfolio of products that range from 20-metre to 250-tonne patrol craft and fast attack platforms. China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company are even working on stealth attack vessels. (Luca Peruzzi)

guns, typically a stabilised 25 mm Rafael Typhoon which can also receive a twin SpikeER missile launcher, a manually operated 20 mm and two 7.62 mm machine guns. A Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine Bridge Master navigation suite and a mast-mounted electro-optical turret (either El-Op MSIS or IAI Taman POP300) form the sensor suite.

In 2013 Israel Shipyards won major orders, today identified to be from Azerbaijan, to provide local building support for six 62metre offshore patrol vessels and a same number of latest generation fast patrol craft for the local Coast Guard and Navy. Already ordered or built to date for Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Israel, Nigeria, Romania and Sri Lanka, the Shaldag Mk V differs from the early versions from a larger superstructure and a closed bridge. With a 32.65 metre length and a 6.2 metre beam deep-vee hull, the Mk V version is powered by two MTU 16V2000 diesels driving MJP or KaMeWa waterjets,

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allowing for a dash speed of 40 knots and a maximum sustained speed of 35 knots. Sea state 4–capable and with a crew of 10 to 14 members, the aluminium craft can be equipped with a combat suite including a remotely controlled 23/25 mm Rafael Typhoon stabilised gun, two 12.7/7.62 mm Mini-Typhoon gun systems, four 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine guns plus one 20/23 mm gun and four to eight short-range missiles.

Sensors include a surface search radar and either a Rafael Toplite or an IAI POP. In addition to the national market, which mainly boils down to the Coast Guard, US shipyards have found opportunities with foreign military sales packages. Through these, Swiftships has delivered twelve 35metre aluminium boats to the Iraqi navy.

This model is equipped with three engines rated at 2,450 hp powering either and propellers or waterjets to provide a max speed of 30 knots. Crewed by 12, the boat is

armed with one 30 mm MSI Defense System or an Oto Melara remotely operated gun, two 12.7 and two 7.62 mm guns.

Specialised in aluminium-made vessels for frontline and support duties, Australian Austal also produces a range of monohull design patrol crafts. In addition to ten 37metre and 29-knot capable patrol boats for Yemen, and previously others for Kuwait, Austal supplied six 30-metre aluminium fast patrol craft for the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in 2009-10. These are versatile platforms for sustained surveillance in the archipelago territorial sea, equipped with two 2.215 hp MTU 16V2000 M92 engines and Rolls-Royce Kamewa SIII waterjets pushing the boat at more than 40 knots. Armed with a 20 mm gun and two general purpose guns, these boats can accommodate 12 crew members and are provided with a tender for search and rescue duties. Austal has also won an international tender to provide four 21.2metre inshore boats for Malta’s Armed Forces in 2009. Equipped with two 1.209 hp MAN D2842 LE410 diesel engines driving fixed pitch propellers 26+ knots-capable boats are equipped with a stern launching ramp for a rigid hull inflatable, two 7.62 mm machine guns and a 12.7 mm gun.

From the Middle East to Asia and Pacific Rim, there are a number of shipyards active in this sector, including Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and Etihad Ship Building (the joint-venture between Fincantieri) and Al Fattan Ship Industry in the UAE that specialises in aluminium fast patrol boats.

Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works for its part supplies 39-metre, 250-tonne multipurpose auxiliary craft. Among Indian shipyards, mention has to be made of Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers’ Car Nicobar-class 49-metre fast patrol boat and of Larsen & Toubro’s 46-metre fast patrol vessel design, while Indonesian PT Palindo Marine delivered a range of patrol boats to the local Navy. Chinese shipyards are also active in this sector, including CSTC with a large product portfolio ranging from 20 to 46 metre inshore patrol craft to the 250-tonne patrol craft here illustrated. China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOIC) has several projects amongst which are stealth attack vessels.

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Small Arms Update

Small Arms Chatter While innovative companies explore the future with hypersophisticated carbon fibre barrels that are probably worth far more than their weight in gold, times are nevertheless pretty tough for defence budgets. Yet a few important contracts are awaiting approval in the small arms world. The major one concerns India where actually two tenders are open, one for a close quarters battle carbine that will replace old 9 mm submachine guns, the second being for assault rifles to replace the indigenously designed Insas rifle, 359 Army infantry units and 100 special forces and counter-insurgency battalions awaiting those new weapons.

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An Italian mountain soldier with a ARX160 equipped with an Aimpoint sight; soon Italian Army infantry teams will include a designated marksman armed with a Beretta ARX200 in 7.62 mm calibre equipped with the company ICS. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

160,000 units – with a first batch of one quarter of this together with over 33 million rounds of 5.56x45 mm ammunition being soon needed and bought straight away from the original designer. As for the assault rifle tender, which foresees an overall need of some 220,000 rifles, the Indian Army wants a weapon capable to shift quickly from 5.56 mm Nato to 7.62x39 mm and vice-versa.

Competitors here are Beretta with the ARX160, Colt with the Colt Combat Rifle, CZ with the CZ 805 Bren and IWI with the Ace 1. While a shortlist for the close quarters battle (also known as CQB) tender is due to be announced soon (tests were completed in July 2014), the assault rifle contract will come later as trials involving all possible climatic conditions have started in early September 2014. When an announcement regarding this matter will be made is anybody’s guess.

The second huge small arms programme is the replacement of Famas used by the

between assault rifles and carbines. The tender, officially published in May 2014, also includes an undisclosed number of underslung grenade launchers, as well as 38 million training rounds and 92,000 40mm anti-personnel, smoke and training lowvelocity grenades. The winner should be announced in December 2016.

I INTEGRATION IS THE BUZZ WORD

Turning to new features in assault rifles, integration has become the buzz word and numerous companies are thus eyeing smart rails in place of current Picatinny rails that will maintain the same mechanical coupling capability, but will add power and data distribution (with a main battery installed in the buttstock in most cases).

This will allow accessory manufacturers to do away with cables and batteries, reduce subsystem dimensions and weight, and pull the centre of gravity backwards, which

FN Herstal of Belgium is developing the Target Acquisition & Situational Awareness Module which is centred on a power and data rail that allows easy integration of all subsystems.

(Armada/P. Valpolini)

Paolo Valpolini

M

ost of these will be produced under licence by the Ordnance Factory Board following a transfer of technology from the original manufacturer. The first tender sees three competitors, Beretta with its ARX160, Israel Weapons Industries with the Galil Ace carbine, and Colt with its ubiquitous M4. The overall requirement should be in excess of

French Armed Forces. As no small arms mass producers have survived in France, the DGA had to look abroad, but five competitors stand in line: Beretta with the ARX160, CZ with the CZ 805 Bren, FN Herstal with the Scar-L, Heckler & Koch with the HK416A5 and Thales Australia with the F90. The future rifle, which is known in France as Arme Individuelle du Futur (individual weapon of the future) will be a 5.56x45 mm weapon with an initial requirement for 90,000, equally subdivided

added to a slight overall weight decrease will have a beneficial impact on a soldier’s fatigue at the end of a patrol.

One company that is looking in that direction is FN Herstal from Belgium which is currently developing the Tasam (Target Acquisition & Situational Awareness Module), a modular system centred on a Nato standard-compliant powered rail able to transmit both power and data between the different modules. ZigBee is the proposed solution for wireless communica-

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Small Arms Update

Part view of a screen generated by the FN Herstal Small Arms Management programme showing the management of a small arms depot, with among other data the number of rounds left per weapon and the estimated run-out date. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

tions between modules, though a Bluetooth solution is also envisaged if smartphones can be involved. Sensor packs including, inter alia, day/night imagers, GPS, digital magnetic compass, elevation sensors and laser rangefinder, can be installed and powered from a central battery. Visible and/or infrared laser pointers can join the suite with data transmitted to a helmet-mounted display or forwarded to a higher command echelon using wireless communication.

Target designation could thus be carried out at lower levels, ensuring a more accurate fire support.

Rifle digitisation is not only uniquely focused on the operational aspect; indeed logistic can also draw its advantages and to this end FNH is developing the SAM module that resides in the pistol grip. This has a shot counter and a localisation and identification system allowing logisticians to optimise weapon maintenance operations and thereby ensure better availability and reduced operational costs.

Beretta Defense Technologies is also going digital, as evidenced a while ago with the i-Protect system and the PX4i handgun.

In terms of assault rifles, Beretta USA has teamed with local T.Worx Ventures, which developed the Intelligent Rail originally aimed at the M16/M4 family. The American branch of the Italian small arms manufacturer and T.Worx are working on an evolution of that smart rail for Beretta to integrate it in a modified ARX-160 and

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other company-made weapons. The use of state-of-the-art materials cut down weights compared to the Picatinny but maintained exactly the same profile, and a series of connectors along the rail ensure power and data transmission through a Broadcast and Unknown Server (BUS).

Each couple of contacts can accept a voltage of between 4 and 32 Volts and a maximum current of 2 Amps. Data transmission

To develop a smart rail for its rifles BDT tasked Beretta USA to team up with T.Worx Ventures; the team is developing a solution leveraging T.Worx experience acquired with the rail developed for the M16/M4 weapons. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

throughput is between 1 and 5 MB and adapts to the accessories. Batteries can be fitted either in the pistol grip or in the buttstock, and two configurations are available: four CR123A or AA batteries, or two 18650 Li-Ion rechargeable batteries in the grip, or four 18650, eight CR123A or 12 AA in the larger capacity buttstock. According to T.Worx representatives, the polymer casing of the ARX series will provide adequate spacing for cables to run between the rail and the battery, rail segments being installable in various positions on the receiver to accept a variety of accessories. The company estimates that the suppression of batteries and cables hitherto contained in each single accessory will cut weight by 270 grams and, even more importantly, that the centre of gravity would significantly shift backwards.

Currently Beretta is working on a new buttstock to host standard or rechargeable batteries, while the optronic companies of the group or linked to it, such as Burris, Laser Devices or Steiner, are starting to develop products aimed at smart rail integration.

Steiner is heading the development of what will be a joint Beretta portfolio, namely the Innovative Combat Sight, the increased effectiveness of which is paramount to Beretta since efficiency is a direct dividend of diminished time of engagement. The ability to quickly engage is a key factor, as is correcting the bullet drop in near real time, especially as range increases. The sight is based on a x6 Steiner optic sight, a quick response laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer, which allows the soldier to obtain, by only pressing one remotely positioned button, the corrected

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A view of the latest sensors added to the Sword suite by Colt Canada and that of the SitaWare software with added functionalities. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

reticule position and hence the accurate aiming spot. An angular sensor providing correction when shooting at angles within ±45° from horizontal is also included. Tests have been carried out with the two first prototypes and lead to a 40% average improvement compared to a standard 4x optical system. A three minute of angle red

dot sight on top of the sight caters to close range engagements. Production sights will be rubberised to increase shock resistance, the overall weight being estimated at around 820 grams. The ICS will be programmable at depot level to suit different weapons, the aim being to preclude the basic soldier to modify settings. According

to Beretta the sight cost will be comparable to that of a standard 3-12 x 50 optic. By late October 2014 Beretta was planning to have eight advanced prototypes available, with one on the new ARX-200 in 7.62x51 mm calibre being expected to start qualifications in early January 2015.

Beretta is for the time being very quiet about the above rifle, but it seems that the Italian Army has already filed an order for 430 with the new sight with a view to providing each infantry squad with a designated marksman armed with that system (the quantity being sufficient to equip around 15 regiments).

At AUSA 2013 Colt Canada introduced the Soldier/Sniper Weapon & Observer Reconnaissance Devices suite – Sword in short – that adds carbine power, data and navigation capabilities to a C7. One year later the technology demonstrator had evolved into a product, the company exhibiting Sword Gen.2 while a Gen.3 is already underway to improve the sensor suite, simplify the rail mechanism, and get rid of the electronic interface with considerable weight saving.

The company abandoned polymers, as these were not ensuring zero holding. Mechanical elements are now made of aluminium, while the new rail mechanism allows moving the centre of gravity backward and making the system weight-neutral. Data are now transferred through the rail, throughput increasing to Gbps level. During the year Colt Canada supplied limited numbers of Sword kits to several customers for evaluation. The British Ministry of Defence acquired six, which are also being used on the LMT

The new (fore) and old (aft) version of the Polish MSBS rifle in conventional configuration; the most apparent difference is the extended handguard of the latest model. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

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Small Arms Update

of the MSBS are ready for production, and beside being offered to the Polish military the company is already targeting the export market. The system also includes a bullpup version; while the previously described version is aimed at mechanised infantry, the bullpup should equip parachute, recce and Special Forces units. It is still under full development and, according to Fabrika Broni Łucznik, is three years behind the conventional rifle.

I OTHER MAJOR CONTRACTS

The left-opening grenade launcher of the MSBS rifle system; to fit it to the weapon a shorter handguard has to be used. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle. The Canadian Army has acquired a few and installed them on C7 assault rifles as well as on two crewserved weapons of unspecified type, as did the US Marine Corps incidentally. The Sitaware software has also been improved to add new features.

Turning to the new Polish Army rifle, which is part of the Tytan soldier modernisation programme launched on 1 July 2014, the prime contractor is PCO, the public owned optronic company now part of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), the Polish Armaments Group that brings all Polish defence public companies under a single banner. The responsibility for small arms falls on Fabrika Broni Łucznik, which two years ago started showing rapid prototyping models of its modular armament system, dubbed MSBS from Modułowego Systemu Broni Strzeleckiej.

At MSPO 2014 the conventional version of the assault rifle was exhibited in a well developed form, the weapon having already been tested both by the Polish Institute for Military Technology as well as by special forces units. The MSBS is obviously chambered for the Nato 5.56 x 45 mm round; it is 843-900 mm long, has a 406 mm long barrel providing an 890 m/s muzzle velocity; rate of fire is of 700-900 rounds per minute while effective range is of about 500 metres. The trigger mechanism has been improved over the prototypes’, with a pull stroke of seven millimetres and a pull force reduced to two kilos.

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The new version features a handguard that extends nearly to the muzzle and, to adapt the weapon to personnel of different sizes, three interchangeable pistol grips are available. The 30-round magazine has also been redesigned. The optimisation work carried on by Fabrika Broni Łucznik also reached the important result of reducing the weight by nearly 10%, the new version being at 3.4 kg compared to the previous 3.7 kg. The other element of the MSBS programme that has reached full development is the 40 mm underbarrel grenade launcher.

Fitted with a quick-mount system, it swings open on the left side to allow the use of low velocity grenades of different lengths. The double-action trigger has a pull force of four kilos. According to Fabrika Broni Łucznik, both the aforementioned elements

Back to major contracts after this short digression. The next involves the Turkish Army need to replace over half million H&K G3 locally produced by Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK). The state armaments company has developed a new assault rifle maintaining the same calibre (5.56x45 mm being definitely not the favourite round in the Turkish Army).

Named Milli Piyade Tüfegi 76 (national infantry rifle 76, or MPT-76 in short) by the Defence Industry Execution Committee, it is based on a short-stroke gas-piston system with rotating bolt and is fitted with a 406 mm long floating barrel.

The 700-round-per-minute firing mechanism allows single-shot and automatic fire only, and the 20-round transparent magazine is made of polymer. The aluminium handguard protects nearly half of the barrel, the upper part being fitted with a Picatinny rail while side slots allow the installation of shorter rails. Open sights are installed on the upper Picatinny, as well as a transport handle, while the lower one carries a curved handgrip just forward of the magazine and a vertical grip that might become a bipod.

The buttstock can house items like batteries and can be extended out to 12 positions, the

MKEK of Turkey has developed a 7.62 mm assault rifle known as MPT-76 to replace the H&K G3 in the national armed forces. Slots in the handguard allow the installation of short Picatinny rails in various positions to equip the MPT-76 with various accessories. (MKEK)

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The Dan .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifle unveiled in mid-2014 by Israel Weapons Industries is the first dedicated sniper weapon produced by that company. (IWI)

rifle’s overall length thus varying from 900 to 1,000 mm, for an overall weight of 4.18 kg. MKEK delivered the first 200 rifles to the Turkish Land Forces on 9 May 2014 for test and evaluation. A further batch of some thousands rifles which will include adjustments from these first tests is being planned for final users and qualification tests before launching full-rate production.

Another market that seems to remain active is that of sniper rifles, long-range shooting having come back into most green armies following recent operations in asymmetric warfare scenarios. The US Army is looking for a Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System that will be shorter and lighter than current M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System. Also required are improvements in numerous other areas such as reliability, accuracy, ergonomics, lower felt recoil, suppressor, modular rail capabilities, coatings and optics. Testing will last 12 months, competing companies providing 30 rifles, while maximum orders will reach 3,643 systems in five years.

In the bolt-action world, numbers are much smaller, but the request for improved performances at longer ranges is keeping this niche market pretty active.

A long time, well renowned, small arms producer, Israel Weapons Industry has stuck mostly to automatic weapon of different calibres, from submachine guns to assault rifles and carbines. Things changed in 2014 when the Ramat Hasharon-based company, now part of the SK Group, unveiled its first true sniper rifle known as Dan, named after a kibbutz in the upper Galilee. As usual the development of the new weapon was carried out hand-in-hand with the Israeli Defence Forces (most of IWI’s personnel originating from Special Forces units), with the latter acting as the first testers for development items produced since 2011. The first of what should become a family of sniper rifles was produced in .338 Lapua Magnum, a calibre that has nearly become the standard for military sniping. The Israeli requirements called for a robust weapon with superior accuracy. The Dan’s heavy barrel is fluted, eight grooves ensuring better cooling, increased stiffness and reduced oscillations.

The full floating barrel is 737 mm long (29 inches) and has a 10-inch rifling twist, and is fitted with an efficient muzzle brake/flash hider with four side holes that deflect gases upwards to help reduce recoil and avoid kicking up dust. A ferrule protects the

thread at the front of the muzzle and can be easily removed and replaced with a suppressor produced by IWI. To replace the barrel the shooter has to unscrew four screws located on the side of the receiver, which is made of aluminium alloy and protects the barrel for about two thirds of its length. The of 881 m/s muzzle velocity Dan is 1,280 mm long, however its folding stock allows to reduce its length to 1,030 mm; the stock features a big push button on the left side, and it is tilted along the right side of the weapon protecting the cocking lever once

A detail of the loading mechanism and magazine of IWI’s Dan; the 10-round magazine release is located under the trigger guard. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

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The Dan is fitted with a two-stage adjustable trigger; its pull can be set by the operator between one and two kilograms.

(Armada/P. Valpolini)

fully folded. The stock has a quite peculiar shape: when loading the weapon the latter rotates 70째, and it features an ergonomic handle. The two-stage adjustable trigger has a pull that can vary between one and two kilograms. The Dan has a 10-round drop free magazine that is released by pulling back on the fully ambidextrous catch located under the trigger guard.

The stock is fully adjustable: the cheek rest is height adjustable and kept in place by a winged nut, as is the buttstock length adjuster. Like all the rest of the Dan, the

stock is made entirely of metal parts, robustness having been, as stated earlier, a key design parameter.

This being said, IWI managed to keep the weight down to 6.9 kg without magazine and scope, which is in line with other weapons of similar category. According to IWI management the Dan is the first of a family of rifles, as indeed a 7.62x51 mm weapon and a .300 Winchester Magnum rifles are in the design pipeline.

Another new rifle comes from Austria and was unveiled by Voere at Eurosatory in mid-June. The bolt action sniper rifle, mostly built in 7075 aluminium and steel, the X3 is a multi-calibre weapon and can be equipped with 308 Winchester, 300 Winchester Magnum, 338 Lapua Magnum and 408 CheyTac barrels, three-lug bolts and magazines, the latter containing respectively 10, six and five rounds. In 308 Win and 300 Win Mag the barrel is 660 mm long, while in 338 LM length grows to 690 mm and in 408 CheyTac to 720 mm; 660 mm fluted barrels are available in stainless steel, the weight of the weapon including the bipod being in that case of 6.5 kg. The 408 CheyTac version is fitted with a 720 mm steel fluted barrel and, with bipod, the weapon weighs 8.5 kg. All bar-

rels are equipped with a muzzle brake, which at the front is threaded to allow the installation of a suppressor, while a backup sight can be installed on the top. The overall length thus varies according to the barrel length and stock, and is comprised between 960 and 1,350 mm.

The standard stock is straight, with adjustable length and cheek piece; an adjustable monopod is also used as hand rest, while a sandbag rest is available on request. The grip is AR15 standard, which allows one to install a variety of grips, the palm rest being itself adjustable in height.

Both the safety switch and magazine catch are ambidextrous, the pull of the two-stage trigger being adjustable between 700 and 1,200 grams, and a single-stage trigger is also available. A safety system allows to manually de-cock the firing pin to allow safe transport with the rifle loaded; in the future Voere will offer the X3 with a threeposition firing pin safety as standard, the cocking safety and the thumb safety being still available on option. The X3 is available in desert colour, multicam pattern, olive green and black finish. As option a right or left folding stock is available. Beside the aforementioned barrels Voere also offers a 254 fully silenced barrel produced by

The Voere X3 in action; the Austrian company has produced numerous such rifles which are being tested by many special forces units in Europe and elsewhere. (Voere)

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A front view of Barrett’s MRAD sniper rifle equipped with a carbon fibre barrel, and below a detail of that, which is being produced by Proof Research. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

in resin formulations and advanced composites manufacturing whose fibrewrapped barrels are claimed to be approved for use by the US Military.

A carbon fibre barrel production starts with a full-profile, match-grade 416R stainless steel barrel blank, which is then turned down to a significantly reduced profile. This is then filament-wrapped with high-strength, aerospace-grade carbon fibre impregnated with a high-thermal conductivity matrix resin. The carbon fibre used is 10 times stronger and has a specific stiffness nearly six times greater than stainless steel. Strength and stiffness are only part of the equation, the helical wrapping pattern favouring the longitudinal thermal diffusivity of the carbon fibres which allows dissipation of the heat emanating from the steel liner rather than insulate it. According to Proof Research the unique bonding agent developed by the company also allows heat conduction very effectively through the thickness of the barrel. The result of all this is improved cooling and thus a longer barrel life. In addition, the reduced heating consistently

Brügger & Thomet in Switzerland. Under the requirement of a special unit Voere also developed a shotgun barrel, capable to speed out 12-gauge ammunition with a 76 mm chamber, the magazine then containing four rounds (this was possible as the X3 was already designed for the 408 CheyTac, which allowed to fit a 12-gauge round as the action was big enough). The X3 has been provided in small numbers to military special forces units for testing and evaluation, at least one major European country being close to a contract for its special forces.

I CARBON FIBRE BARREL

While Voere does not propose its carbon fibre barrels for military use, one of the major American companies involved in sniper rifles production now considers this technology (that started with .22 LR rifles) sufficiently mature to incorporate it in its products. A .338 Barrett MRAD rifle is thus equipped. This brings considerable weight saving but increased cost, with Barrett stating that “carbon fibre barrels are definitely more expensive than steel ones.”

Cooling is definitely a key factor when firing a machine gun, thus the same technology was adopted by Ares for its EPG (Externally Powered Gun), an electrically activated weapon in 7.62 mm Nato calibre,

The Ares Externally Powered Gun installed on a Precision Remotes T360 stabilised weapon station can be equipped with a carbon fibre barrel that allows considerable weight reduction. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

which can fire in semi-automatic and full automatic modes at a variable rate of fire of 420 to 600 rounds per minute. Ares installed the weapon on a Precision Remotes Trap T360 with a barrel supplied

by Proof Research, a company specialised

reduces the point-of-impact shift during high-volume fire, while mechanical characteristics reduce harmonic barrel vibration. This leads to improved accuracy with a barrel weight that can be reduced by 64%, but at an undisclosed cost.

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Geospatial Information-V

Mapping Urban Canyons Urban areas severely complicate situational awareness and threat identification, requiring a specific, time-consuming intelligence preparation of the battlespace (IPB).

Besides, the peculiar human nature of urban terrain combines with today’s stringent rules of engagement, with a view to minimising friendly fire and collateral damage risks.

Such constraints call for data accuracy and availability in large volumes; new solutions which are breaking away from classical geospatial information production processes, leveraging 2D/3D data processing to describe urban complexity.

Wesley G. Fox

U

rban terrain poses a formidable challenge to military operations. No need to look back as far as Stalingrad for lessons learned: combats in Beirut, Mogadishu, Grozny, Jenin or Fallujah all share a considerable cost and reveal a common finding, namely understanding that

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the complex, compartmented and obstructed urban environment is critical to ensure the success of operations in built-up areas. Urban mapping is a branch of human geography, but a challenging one too given its very large, or human scale (1:10 000 to 1:5 000 ideally), whereas most military maps deal with strategic, operational or tactical scales. Beyond surveying population and social habitat, the amount of artificial features range from

transportation infrastructures to built-up superstructures, and an increasingly complex network of utilities: water, sewage, power and phone lines, and more recently digital communications either based on ground cables or radio relays.

Ironically, this massive information exists in documented, and often updated formats. It is generated right from the outset to build any city, for urban planning or cadastre and utility

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layout. However, this data comes in multiple, fragmented and proprietary sources, from archeological surveys to power distribution charts, and incidentally, urban paper maps.

Digital information for urban applications thus still forms a minor part of available mapping information, compared to land survey or maritime and aeronautical charting; information standardization and integration about cities are still at an embryonic stage.

These shortcomings painfully appear during every disaster relief operation, as recent crises have shown from New Orleans to Bangkok.

Each time, responders struggle to aggregate data owned by multiple stakeholders; they are critically short in any military operation in urban areas, whether cities are orderly planned or resulting from anarchic urban growth.

This is probably why most Geographical Information System (GIS) vendors propose dedicated tools adapted to urban mapping, from raster edition to digitized paper maps, or vector editions to add additional features.

Early modules dealt with cadastre or urban planning applications; newer ones provide advanced tools to produce fine-grain

“Since combat or disaster relief operations often develop in poor countries or even failed states, with little or no co-operation from local authorities, modern armies spend a considerable amount of effort to survey, map and describe urban areas of operations in a hardly permissive environment� information for navigation, horizontal and vertical planning, or rationalization of overlapping utility networks. In this process, classical 2D descriptions are giving in to innovative 3D representations of urban information, with a growing contribution of high-resolution, multi-sensor imagery,

modeling and simulation, and layers after layers of semantic information, from mere postal data to qualitative features about habitat, business, and residents’ patterns of life.

Intelligence preparation of the battlespace for Military Operations in Urban Terrain (mout) hardly benefit from this increasingly rich information content, though. Since combat or disaster relief operations often develop in poor countries or even failed states, with little or no co-operation from local authorities, modern armies spend a considerable amount of effort to survey, map and describe urban areas of operations in a hardly permissive environment. The long haul of producing up-to-date urban maps for military operations, ill-adapted to operational tempo, is thus increasingly giving way to more automated urban feature description, leveraging recent breakthroughs in payload miniaturization, multi-sensor processing and big data exploitation. The new capabilities arising from network-centric operations

A satellite overhead of Falluja, Iraq. Spacemaps are the primary feed of urban mapping, but a small contribution to describe the human and physical complexity of cities. (Digital Globe)

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conducted by highly-digitised and connected forces also brings new requirements to accommodate precision navigation, targeting and communication needs.

I CURRENT SOLUTIONS

Urban areas are captured primarily through remote sensing. In peacetime, aerial imagery provides the best compromise between high ground resolution and large area coverage, and can be augmented by ground surveys. In non-permissive areas, satellite coverage, at the expense of multiple revisit, provides accurate capture of urban areas, with fused radar and panchromatic imagery producing medium to high accuracy elevation data.

Vricon Systems, a subsidiary of Saab Dynamics, offer such aerial or satellite (in partnership with Digital Globe) mapping services. The Image City Map (ICM) format is the primary way to transform spacemaps into the base layer of urban maps. GIS tools can then edit maps, creating the relevant overlays for street names, area classification, buildings of interest, public works and obstacles. Additional modules provide

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A Mazar I Sharif city map produced for the Afghan government. Such comprehensive urban geospatial information are hardly available at the onset of military operations and result from extensive remote and on-site surveys to rebuild information available elsewhere in spread format and ownership. (AIMS)

bespoke urban feature description, notably computer-aided 3D extrusion to compute and extract building shapes.

Esri’s ArcGIS City Engine, for example, provides such computer-aided functionalities from imagery, including point cloud conversion from lidar data, which produce millions of georeferenced points accurately measured in x-y-z.

Luciad’s Lightspeed saves pre-processing time by reading data in their native format, and offers a simultaneous, hybrid 2D-3D view, instead of dedicated 3D modules of traditional GIS. Such dedicated functionalities for defence users are proposed in Overwatch Geospatial’s RV3D, part of their RemoteView suite.

Urban Analyst combines various feature extraction and measurement tools tailored to perform terrain analysis within a geospatially accurate terrain environment. It can be

imported from a commercial GIS (Esri’s ArcMap) desktop project.

The proven MapIt! Software, from the Sarnoff Corporation, provides a somewhat more generic suite for defence and security applications; it combines imagery and lidar point clouds to generate very high resolution digital elevation models (DEM). The resulting ortho-mosaics and 3D site models supports IPB in urban areas, from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to targeting and damage assessment. Last but not least, the latest release of BAe Systems Socet GXP (Geospatial eXploitation Program, see Geospatial Information I) features the nextgeneration automatic terrain extraction (NGATE), which uses dedicated algorithms to create precise digital elevation models from imagery. All these bespoke applications deliver advanced results at the cost of expert skills, though.

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Visualising complexity : a combat route planning displayed against multiple constraints in a littoral city around friendly and hostile units. Digital geospatial solutions provides both proven and innovative tools to exploit multiple geospatial formats in a hybrid 2D-3D environment. (Luciad)

I 3D CITY MODELS

Producing high-fidelity 3D city models has become a trade in itself, and specialized businesses born out of urban planning requirements are now offering geospatiallyenabled products earmarked for defence and security. The American-based PLW Modelworks, for example, produces detailed 3D models of more than 450 locations in 21 countries, covering either critical infrastructures like stadiums, airports and refineries or entire cities, with before-andafter disaster area models like Port-au-Prince in Haiti or Ishinomaki in Japan.

“Additional, highly specialized software modules can compute radio or GPS propagation between buildings” On a more modest scale, Vectuel’s Virtual City, in France, has built geo-referenced 3D models of cities like Abu Dhabi or critical sites like the Moscow Kremlin. Such products results from specific contracts which render their output proprietary to the user; but the tools and technology used are GIScompatible and can meet the stringent requirements of urban analysis for critical missions. Georeferenced 3D data in city models can also support further analysis compatible with information and navigation warfare. Additional, highly specialized software modules can compute radio or GPS propagation between buildings. This aspect of urban modelling is often overlooked in military and security operations; however, poor spectrum planning has resulted in the past in catastrophic failure, as experienced by

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Russian forces in their first operation in Grozny in 1994, where urban canyons produced masks and multi-paths which impaired tactical radio exchanges. Luciad solutions take this into account by allowing exploitation of large urban datasets (the new GeoPackage open format defined by the Open Geopsatial Consortium) on disconnected mobile devices, as demonstrated in their Astute project for Belgian firefighters. Similarly, GPS data in high-rise cities are often degraded by the buildings glass and metal structures, calling for innovative ways to provide high-accuracy positioning information.

Locata Corporation, an Australian company specializing in positioning solutions in poor or non-GPS environment, has demonstrated LocataNet in White Sands missile range for the US Air Force, using a

network of ground-based transceivers to allow air combat missions over the range in GPS-denied conditions. The Air Force 746th Test Squadron is expected to draw significant experience in navigation warfare from this project. The denials of service experimented by both American and Russian GNSS constellations over the Ukrainian crisis clearly point position, navigation and time (PNT) signals as a single point of failure in future information-centric, networkenabled operations, calling for increased attention paid to navigation warfare in areas where positioning information is either degraded or suppressed.

I NEW AIRBORNE SENSORS

The legacy process of producing validated geospatial information from skilled users and expert tools before dissemination in-theatre is ill-adapted to the human resource and operational tempo in the current theatres of operations. This finding has led to an initial stopgap measure, which consisted in fielding in-theatre geospatial production workshops to support soldiers. It was still deemed illadapted to unit-of-action requirements for persistent surveillance and near-realtime extraction of terrain features for immediate tactical exploitation.

Gorgon Stare’s platform and payload provide a proven solution to rapidly generate accurate urban geospatial information from massive volumes of wide area surveillance data, while delivering pinpoint reconnaissance of urban areas to Army and special forces deployed forces.

(Sierra Nevada Corporation)

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The Vigilant Stare airborne sensor payload combines the latest improvements in day and night motion imagery sensor integration with intelligence bandwidth management to serve multiple deployed users in near-real time. (Exelis)

The solution has come out as a development of the first deployed persistent drones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Platforms like the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and its associated sensor payload delivered full-motion video feed to ground stations and portable terminals such as the L-3 Rover. In parallel, the American military began to equip modified business aircraft to carry high-resolution imaging payloads, such as lidars. This was the aim of the US Army Geospatial Center‘s Buckeye programme, which has revived combat mapping since 2004.

Buckeye pioneered collection of high-resolution 3D (HR3D) imagery over (air) permissive areas of operations, combining 10cm colour imagery and one-metre post spacing lidar into unclassified data, shareable at coalition level. The resultant human-scale HR3D feed was immediately grasped by special operation forces to plan and execute delicate, small-scale direct action missions in urban areas.

Obstacles, cover, concealment, weapon placement, ingress and egress routes, became available out of near-realtime geospatial information about urban targets.

Deep urban canyon understanding permitted by this high-resolution colour imagery and accurate elevation data acted as a game-changer in the non-traditional ISR and counter-insurgency warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. Buckeye and its associated suite of lidar exploitation and terrain modelling software quickly proved able to serve military intelligence, special operations, and topographic/geospatial communities at national and coalition levels. Its founding 3D foundation layer, built by Applied Imagery, supports the most demanding urban terrain analysis, such as sniper/counter-sniper operations or detailed road clearance against concealed bombs. After more than ten years in operation, Buckeye has been responsible for mapping most population centres and lines of communications in both countries. In early 2014, as American forces began to withdraw from Iraq, the entire Buckeye dataset was given to the new government, a much-appreciated gift in the renewed fighting against radical Islam in northern Iraq by mid-year.

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Raw lidar data read natively in Luciad Lightspeed at a very large scale. Lidar data is the best source of urban 3D mapping, since it can capture the smallest artificial features which hamper line of sight and vehicle mobility. (Luciad & GeoEye)

A processed lidar elevation model from Kandahar, Afghanistan, produced by the Buckeye platform-agnostic system. Such unclassified, high-resolution 3D information has proved immensely valuable. (US Army Geospatial Center)

The full-motion video feed delivered by traditional drone sensors is either in widefield of view or higher-resolution narrow field of view; it produces a frustrating “looking through a soda straw” effect, which is ill-suited to large, complex urban areas, for

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the user loses context rapidly. The solution was offered by latest wide-area persistent surveillance programs; Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Gorgon Stare, delivered to US Air Force General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in a first increment, is a podded

sensor system from Exelis that combines nine cameras. It began operations in Afghanistan in March 2011, despite poor initial operational assessment during Air Force testing at Eglin in Florida, followed by on-the-fly improvements.

The 16km2 area surveyed by Gorgon Stare visible and infrared sensors can be broken simultaneously into multiple spot surveillance vignettes, and fed up to ten users on the ground, equipped with portable ground terminals networked to the Gorgon Stare ground station. Advanced on-board compression and storage hardware and software packed by Mercury Federal Systems in the drone’s pod overcame the traditional limitations of on-board processing and airground communications bottleneck.

Gorgon Stare Increment 1 has since logged nearly 12,000 flying hours over Afghanistan terrain. The follow-on Increment 2 passed the Air Froce initial operational capability in July 2014, adding a four-fold increase in area coverage and a two-fold one in resolution.

The optronics sensor, delivered from a joint Darpa and BAe Systems Argus technology development, combines with the largest infrared sensor array to date (delivered by Exelis), enabling a single drone to monitor a 100 km2 area for several hours. The resulting scene fuses 368 camera images, creating a 1.8 billion pixels composite video image at twelve frames per second. Increased imaging

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US Army servicemen pose around a hologram map of an Iraqi city. Innovative mays of representing urban areas leverage new sensors and highresolution 3D data (Zebra Imaging)

3D data come from a variety of sources; the Battlespace Vista ACTD combines intelligence and situational awareness in an immersive and interactive environment, where a complex scene can be slaved to the user’s point of view for maximum situational understanding and decision support (Thales).

performance allow users to find smaller targets over larger areas. Dissemination uses commercial standards (e.g. JPEG 2000 for image compression, or GeoPDF for inclusion of imagery and its metadata in digital documents). The Buckeye and Gorgon Stare programmes have acted as force multipliers; they can let future theatre commanders expect near-real time coverage and mapping of the largest urban areas from a single aircraft.

I ADVANCED EXPLOITATION TOOLS

The increased availability and accuracy of HR3D data have brought three-dimensional mapping technologies to the tactical level, allowing deeper understanding of the complex urban environment. These technologies call for new ways of visualizing information to produce better situational awareness. Draping imagery over elevation data, which used to be the way to represent 3D features in 2D, is reaching its limits in urban terrain combining topographic and human features. New applications can render 3D data in a dynamic and immersive way to better fuse physical and semantic information, an attractive advantage in visualising urban environments. These applications can produce various 3D supports, turning maps into holograms.

Using technology from the Texas-based Zebra Imaging, holographic maps are the

main output of the US Army Tactical Battlefield Visualisation programme. Such a representation of urban terrain bridges the gap between geospatial community and tactical users, since untrained personnel can understand a complex environment without any particular map reading training. Zebra Imaging’s hologram maps can be printed, with 3D rendering triggered by a source of light (e.g. a flashlight) over the filmlike map.

Viewers don’t need any glasses to read the 3D features and can take the custom-made holographic maps with them in the field.

The next step is going to see real-time 2D/3D display, allowing realtime data to be fed into the hologram.

Another new technology being explored to leverage HR3D fused with other information overlays (such as C2-related tactical situations, space volumes, or sensor footprint) is being investigated by Thales

“Urban terrain is now reaching a higher level of representation, bringing peculiar situational understanding to nongeospatial experts in a fraction of the time and effort required to build legacy urban maps”

under its 2014 innovation projects initiative.

Released during the company’s TechDays in March in Paris, it was shown during Eurosatory as Battlespace Vista, an advanced concept technology demonstrator (ACTD) focusing on air-land integration in Afghanistan. Merging Thales integrated C4I technology with commercial software, Battlespace Vista displayed immersive and interactive information fusing terrain, tactical situation, and semantic information about own and enemy forces, down to the soldier level. Northrop Grumman Information Technology are also investigating similar solutions at a lower technology readiness level, having patented a method combining located video streams with geospatial information.

With these latest breakthroughs fed by technical and operational advances, urban terrain is now reaching a higher level of representation, bringing peculiar situational understanding to non-geospatial experts in a fraction of the time and effort required to build legacy urban maps. Urban and tactical features are just starting to merge in order to present a thematic, layer-based situation to answer mission-driven requirements at a very high scale. This step will pave the way to integration of ever richer urban information coming from civil and military sources, producing a very high fidelity rendering of all the constraints of urban landscapes.

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POWER MAKES

T

TERRORISTS AMICABLE

errorism never threatened fundamental foundations of the society in the 1960-80s. Nor it would influence political, economic and social life either.

The whole situation is different in the 21st century. Today international terrorism can trigger crisis in some countries, precipitate spontaneous, large-scale protests and mass disorders.

Figures reflecting terrorist activities are also shocking. About 15.5 thousand people were killed in 8,500 terrorist attacks all over the world in 2012. Lives of 17.8 thousand people were taken in 9,707 attacks the year that followed. The largest number of them occurred in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Yemen and the Philippines.

But it was in 2014 that terrorists went absolutely wild. Militants of the Islamic State (IS) alone killed thousands of people in Iraq and Syria, 13 thousand Iraqi families fled their homes. Some estimates put the strength of the IS at 30 to 50 thousand militants. The range of their armament has gone far beyond small arms and includes artillery pieces captured at Iraqi depots, armored vehicles, AD assets and even aviation. They are branded terrorists by the US, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, GB,

and Indonesia. The Arab League has the similar opinion.

Some experts believe that terrorism is growing to a full-scale combat operation; footprint of illegal armed groups is expanding. Comprehensive countermeasures are required to curb them.

These include supply of modern, powerful and reliable weapons to national counter terrorism (CT) units and other troops that may be involved in such operations.

Russia’s experience in this area is enormous. Her special CT units and agencies are equipped with required armament provided by the national militaryindustrial complex (MIC).

Rosoboronexport – Russia’s only special exporter of military and dual-purpose endproducts, technologies and services – offers foreign customers a range of military equipment that can be deployed to fight illegal armed groups.

Unlike in past years, when small arms and police equipment were sufficient in CT operations, helicopters as the most effective assets are getting more attention in today’s environment.

Russia’s Mi-35 is one of the best multipurpose aircraft in the world designed to provide fire support to Army units including

those deployed in CT operations. Apart from the combat role it can also perform personnel landing, air-lift, MEDIVAC/CASEVAC, and reconnaissance operations.

Another Russian helicopter with a considerable export capacity is the Mi28NE. This will fly day and night missions in any climatic conditions. Thanks to its powerful weapons the Mi-28NE can destroy armored vehicles and personnel of terrorist groups to provide effective fire support to ground troops.

Helicopters are efficient and reliable assets that can be used to find bases, routes of communication and assembly areas of terrorist and rebel groups. Russia’s Ka-226T has been developed specifically for these operations. It is deployed with other combat assets, day and night, to provide reconnaissance and surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, as well as to air lift rapid response teams and cargo, evacuate injured personnel, patrol, and escort ground columns.

Its larger stablemate, dubbed the Ka-32, has no equals in fast deployment of special task forces, rescue and fire fighting operations, as well as transportation of bulky cargo weighing up to 5,000kg in urban environment. It says much for the aircraft that it was used to set seven world records in five year since it had entered service. Nowadays various models of this helicopter are operated in 14 countries all over the world.

Analysis of terrorist activity suggests that they keep relying heavily on small arms, improvised explosive devices (IED), including

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suicide bombers. They are still notorious for taking hostages and hijacking people. It would surprise no one if terrorists become more cunning, switch to massive terrorist attacks, and use more powerful weapons and equipment in the near future.

Rosoboronexport offers its partners comprehensive solutions for police and CT units to prevent terrorist attacks. As the situation may require the Customer can purchase special warfare armament, nonlethal weapons, or personnel protection assets. There is high demand for operational equipment (including inspection and search gears, counter criminal explosion assets, explosive devise inhibitors, security and access control systems, special vehicles, and forensic equipment) in the international market. The focus has shifted recently to special communications, transmit/receive systems, data protection and processing equipment, UAVs, special optics, including the Prizrak-M (also called Antisniper) counter surveillance camera, as well as visual and voice identification systems.

Silent weapons also attract much attention of special agencies and police units. Among them are the PSS silent pistol, VSS sniper rifle, and AS assault rifle.

The 9mm SR.1M magazine pistol, 9mm SR.2M submachine gun, and 9mm SR.3M small assault rifle are one of the most powerful assault weapons in the world.

The idea of humanization and value of human life that has been taking a tighter grip on modern society leads to a more profound use of non-lethal weapons. These include Russia’s RGS-50 and RGS-33 grenade launchers that can fire a wide range of ammunition, special hand grenades, as well as Zeus, Convoy, Avatar and Phantom electric shock weapons. All these special assets are based on physical and

psychophysiological impact on a terrorist.

They will be used to produce rubber shrapnel, sound or fire, electric shock or riot control gases – commonly referred to as police gases –and powder compounds.

Most of the Russian special weapons exported to other countries are effective in cities when it is crucial to minimize collateral damage among civilians, hostages and personnel of special units, as well as protect installations and facilities from devastation.

The ETTs-5 explosive ordnance and IED disposal kit will be used by specialists to reduce terrorist mines, bombs and landmines to non-hazardous components.

The 2R-1U and 2R3 hydraulic disintegrators are no less effective. These can be operated in a wide temperature range and will require water or special solution.

It is essential for CT units and special agencies to have equipment to deal with car bombs and combined effects explosive devices based on radioactive or toxic agents. To meet this requirement the ETTs31 and ETTs-29 systems have been developed in Russia and used to equip special forces. The Russian ETTs-1, ETTs4, and ETTs-20 explosive storage and transport containers have capacity-todimensions ratio that put them in line with the best products in the world.

There are lots of countries involved in this special weapons and equipment business.

Though, it is Russian products that are reliable, easy to operate, effective and safe, as they have ever been.

Armada Marketing Promotion

Most of these assets have been tested in combat, particularly in the Northern Caucasus. Based on lessons learnt, Russian engineers keep upgrading in-service equipment. Hence the unique capabilities and features that foreign counterparts lack.

In response to challenges posed by international terrorism, Rosoboronexport has been paying more attention to export of special weapons and equipment to its partners. A special section was brought into being in 2001 to equip foreign law enforcers with such systems.

This still increasing demand for modern and effective CT assets prompts Rosoboronexport to do its best to meet requirements and needs of foreign Customers in special weapons and equipment, as well as provide assistance in training of personnel of special units, that can also be arranged in the Customer’s country.

It is also worth mentioning that Rosoboronexport complies with international and Russian laws and regulations and supplies special equipment only to state agencies not to let it fall into the hands of terrorists.

Experts know it that special weapons and equipment produced in Russia are not only as effective as their foreign counterparts, but even superior to them in more than one respect. Russian assets meet the most stringent requirements and will contribute to effective operation of police units, security agencies, special forces of various services and CT teams.

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What’s Up?

A Swedish soldier training with the Carl Gustaf M4 at the Kvarn Army Training Centre.

Spent cases can be seen in the foreground.

(Armada/P. Valpolini)

Hello Carl, What Else?

A weapon that is about to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its first delivery is usually looked upon from a great height. Others, however, manage to rub shoulders with the century, as exemplified by certain machine guns and the Carl Gustaf presented here in its latest M4 iteration seems poised to join that league.

Paolo Valpolini

A

lthough it maintains the same calibre and its ability to fire all the ammunition produced since its inception, the M4 is in fact a wholly new weapon in terms of technologies.

The first public appearance of the new weapon took place in late September 2014 at the Ground Combat Systems demonstration organised by Saab Dynamics in close cooperation with the Swedish Army. The

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weapon was fired at the Bofors test Centre in Karlskoga during the technical test part, and at the Swedish Army Land Warfare Centre in Kvarn. The close cooperation between the company and the military establishment was underlined by both sides, namely Saab Dynamics’s Vice President head of Business Area Dynamics Görgen Johansson and the Swedish Army Chief of Staff Major General Anders Brännström.

The Carl Gustaf M4 was not the only star at the firing range, as the new AT-4 CS HE with airburst capability, the NLAW and the

Thanks to the author’s camera, Armada International was able to have an exclusive picture of the new Carl Gustav, which graced the cover of our previous issue on the occasion of the weapon’s international début at AUSA, but the article itself missed the printing deadline, hence its presence in this issue —Eric H. Biass, Editor-in-Chief

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The shot counter (left) provides credible data on full calibre round shots, which actually enable the weapon to be exploited to the true end of its 1,000 round design life. The new safety system enables the soldier to safely carry the Carl Gustaf M4 fully loaded. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

60 mm and 81 mm Mapam mortar bombs also were able to prove their worth.

One of the aims of Saab Dynamics when it decided to launch a further evolution of the Carl Gustaf M3 was weight reduction, a mantra for all companies producing soldier-related equipment. The idea emerged in 2000, but a series of reasons hampered the development, which was finally resumed in 2011 to lead to the above-mentioned announcement and demonstration. Compared to the older M2 export version of the Carl Gustaf, the new type is 50% lighter and is more compact (the all-steel M2 weighs 14.2 kg and is 1,130 mm long). Compared with the current steel-glass fibre M3, it is more than three kilos lighter than the current steelfiberglass M3, which weighs 10 kg and is

1,065 mm long. The newcomer tips the scales at less than seven kilos (actually 6.7 kilos sans accessories) and is less than 1,000 mm long. The adoption of new materials, together with other minor improvements, was instrumental in the weight reduction process: the first layer is now in titanium, which allowed a 1.1 kg weight saving over the M3 while maintaining the 1,000-round minimum life; the new carbon fibre casing cuts a further 0.8 kg, and the new Venturi a further 0.9 kilos.

While it will also be beneficial to conventional forces, the length reduction results from the desire of numerous special forces units whose obstacle courses repre-

senting potential urban situations proved the point. As said above, the M4 adopts a new Venturi, but in addition to contributing to the weight loss, it also is the item responsible for reducing the weapon’s length below the 1,000 mm mark. The Venturi also features a slightly wider angle to ensure the same recoil reduction effect as its predecessor.

The Carl Gustaf M4 also adopts a shot counter to exactly monitor the use of the weapon to its 1,000-round life limit, as until now the count was an estimate based on soldier-supplied data which often led to an early discard of the system to remain on the safe side. The shot counter, which will effectively stretch the life of the weapon to its true limits, is installed on the right side, at the back of the tube, and data such as weapon number, production batch data

Other new features of the M4, from the left to right: the remote control, the control box of the communication system, and munition programming galvanic link. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

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What’s Up?

The expendable AT4 launcher in one of the versions usable from enclosed spaces. At Karlskoga the new HE version with ABM capacity was fired. Insert: the AT4s are now available with a red dot sight—here an Aimpoint—that greatly improves accuracy. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

and obviously the number of full calibre rounds shot can be easily transferred to a computer by an induction device.

Another key feature of the M4 is its ability to receive an intelligent sight, which can optionally be equipped with a communication system for two-way sight and round interaction thanks to a galvanic contact on the guiding pin. A remote control is also available on the right side of the front grip, which allows to set the intelligent sight while maintaining the shooting position.

Such capability will allow to increase hit probability, for example by providing the sight fire control system with the propellant temperature or other data like muzzle velocity based on batch sampling.

As new rounds are being developed, notably the new high explosive (HE) ammunition with airburst capability, the M4 will allow one to set the fuse according to round nature and distance measured by the sight rangefinder, which will move the reticle to the optimal sighting position.

As standard the M4 is supplied with the same telescopic as the M3, and can be used for all existing ammunition types by changing the setting of an elevation drum on the sighting system. As reserve/backup sight one of the two following alternatives can be chosen: an integrated aiming system fitted with a red dot sight (a Meopta M-Rad, for example), or a standard flip-up open sight.

The red dot sight allows four types of

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ammunition to be selected and the flip-up sight six. A total of 12 different types of round are currently available for the Carl Gustaf, including two for training purposes.

Among the most recent additions is the HEAT 655 CS, the suffix indicating compatibility with use in Confined Space by virtue of a solid back-blast reduction countermass used in combination with the Venturi effect to neutralise the recoil.

Fuse manually set, the current HE441D displayed its air-burst mode effect at both

The back-up integrated aiming sight equipped with a red-dot sight allows to use up to four different types of 84 mm rounds.

(Armada/P. Valpolini)

Karlskoga and Kvarn. The new HE round, which should be available in about two years’ time, will also be programmable via an external fuse setting device, which will allow older launchers or M4s not fitted with intelligent sights to use them. The new round will not be confined space-compatible, range having been preferred to that capability for dealing with troops in the open, although a CS version is being considered to provide airburst fire in urban fighting situations. Compared to the HE 441D which contains 5.5 mm diameter steel balls, the new HE round for the Carl Gustaf will have a warhead containing over 2,500 tungsten balls of 2.5 mm diameter.

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The warhead of that new round is a close derivative of the aforementioned AT4CS HE’s. The new airburst product currently is in advanced development phase that Saab Dynamics demonstrated at Karlskoga, but from a static position as the weapon is not yet cleared for shoulder firing. This pre-loaded system has a warhead containing over 2,000 tungsten balls of 2.5mm diameter and is designed for use with an intelligent sight, typically an Aimpoint FCS12, but being an open architecture it can accept other similar sights and ensures the same two-way ammo-system dialogue as the Carl Gustaf M4. The 980 mm long AT-4 CS HE weighs around nine kilos and proved the considerable destructive effect of its airburst warhead when flying over two cars located at a range of 400 metres during the demonstration.

The maximum operational range is of 1,000 metres while the lethal area in airburst mode is of 400 m2, but it can also be used in impact mode. As standard, this weapon system is supplied with either an open sight or a much more accurate red dot sight. Another version of the AT4, the AT4CS ER, is also being developed. This has a HEAT warhead similar to that used in the AT4CS HP, optimised for maximum armour penetration. Other versions of the AT4 were used in the demonstration, including the AT4CS RS with armour penetration and behind-armour effects and the AT4CS AST with an anti-structure warhead. All new AT4s delivered are provided either with open sights or with a red dot sight, the latter considerably increas-

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The Ultra Light Missile is a new development programme aimed at turning the Carl Gustaf into a 1,500 to 2,000-metre range anti-armour guided round launcher. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

ing accuracy, CS versions that can be fired from enclosed space using a combination of liquid countermass and Venturi effect to balance the recoil.

Turning back to the M4 after this short digression, the new version of the Carl Gustaf features a series of ergonomic improvements that allow the soldier to adapt the launcher to his or her size, a Picatinny rail allowing both the front handle and shoulder rest to be moved back and forth. A further rail is available on the right side to install accessories like laser pointers.

The M4 carrying handle is considerably longer than before which is linked to the new additional safety adopted on the loading rod, itself now similar to that used on the AT-4. As the presence of the round alters the centre of gravity, a longer handle was adopted to allow the soldier to carry the weapon accordingly to the centre of gravity.

The M4 was officially launched at AUSA 2014, a clear sign that Saab Dynamics is targeting America as one of its primary markets. Saab Dynamics will start qualification tests in 2015 with the aim of concluding them in late 2015 or early 2016.

While the HE and the ER rounds are expected in a near future with more types following later, a longer term project could be seen at the exhibition that followed the technical firings. Dubbed Ultra Light Missile, or ULM, this munition is in its early concept phase but clearly shows that Saab Dynamics doesn’t see its Carl Gustaf

retiring tomorrow. According to Saab Dynamics the single components are nearly available, the work being now that of making all them fit into an 84 mm calibre round. The missile will have a soft launch system, the rocket motor igniting once the missile has left the launch tube. A favourite solution is to fit the ULM in a container tube that is in turn fed into the Carl Gustaf to prevent interference between the folding control and lift wings and the barrel rifling.

However this brings a very small penalty in calibre, which might affect the warhead.

Other options are therefore being considered given the very early stages of development. Saab Dynamics intends to keep the launch procedure as similar as possible as that of any other Carl Gustaf round.

The missile will have a lock-on-beforelaunch seeker in the nose, its type depending on performance versus cost considerations, though a dual-band seeker is not excluded. What is pretty sure is that the ULM will have a multimode attack capability, dive attack being required to destroy main battle tanks should this option be retained. No decision has yet been made on warhead types, although HEAT and multirole being are two most obvious choices.

The ULM will be capable of confined space firing, will weigh around 5 kg, and have a range of 1.5 to two kilometres. The programme timing will be influenced by customers’ interest, reason why Saab Dynamics didn’t speculate an availability date.

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The first vehicle purposely designed by Polaris for the defence world, the Dagor has taken its suspensions design from the Trophy Truck. (Polaris Defense)

The Light Stuff The need for vehicles that are always more apt to provide immediate mobility to expeditionary forces, especially when inserted by air, is a typical and constant requirement from special forces. However, some conventional units may also need to be air-deployed when operations may not need special forces approach.

Typically these missions are assigned to light brigades, parachute or airmobile units that deploy swiftly over long distances in a short period of time.

Paolo Valpolini

H

ercules transportability of armoured vehicles such as the Striker has been a mantra for some years; however deploying a battalion level unit requires a considerable amount of transport assets, which are seldom available. The United States Army is considering re-equipping part of its XVIII

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Airborne Corps with new vehicles, the heavier one being the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF), a tank-like vehicle the initial capabilities document of which should be discussed by the Army Requirements Oversight Council in October 2014. Two lighter vehicles are also part of the reequipment plan to replace the Hummer: one is known as ULCV, for Ultra-Lightweight Combat Vehicle, the second being the LRV, for Light Reconnaissance Vehicle.

A Request for Information for the latter vehicle was issued in July 2014 with a view to enhancing the Infantry Brigade Combat Team by providing with a modified off-theshelf solution. This has to be internally transportable by a CH-47 and able to detect, destroy, and survive multiple threats from light armoured vehicles, dismounted personnel, hardened enemy bunkers, snipers, chemical/nuclear threats etc. It must have an operational range greater than current M1025s, be capable to carry out silent watch, carry a C4ISR suite as well as some form of protection against kinetic energy and underbody blast threats, although no level indication has been indicated to date. The crew will be of six military each of an average fully equipped weight of 160 kg. The LRV will have a day and night move and shoot capability in all weather and visibility conditions and in complex terrain, while defeating second tier armour threats. A Platform Performance Demonstration is expected to be carried out in the third or fourth quarter of 2015.

The Ultra Light Combat Vehicle appears to be the most advanced of the three potential programmes, of which none, incidentally, has yet been the object of an approved requirement. A “Sources Sought� announcement (similar to a request for information)

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Derived from the Mungo in service with the German Bundeswehr, this is KMW’s proposal for the US Army ULCV programme. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

was issued in late January 2014, followed by an update in March. Draft requirements include a maximum kerb weight of 2,040 kg, a payload capacity of 1,450 kg to cope with an equipped nine-man squad, high mobility to enhance personnel protection and a crashworthy structure able to survive a rollover. The profile for its mobility capacity includes 10% on primary roads, 10% on secondary roads, 75% cross-country and trails, and 5% in urban, rubble environment; it must also be capable to perform on ridges and summits. As for firepower, threshold capability includes the use of crew-served weapons of the IBCT inventory, though an objective requirement is to include a medium-calibre weapon. The ULCV must be able to be driven in and out of a CH-47 with the squad and their equipment onboard, or be transported as sling load by a Blackhawk, in both cases in combat configuration under hot-and-high conditions, and must be able to be air-dropped in combat configuration from a C130 on 463L pallets and with Dual Row Airdrop System from a C17 on 463L pallets. A range of 400 km is required.

The need for such light vehicles was anticipated in 2010 when the Office of Secretary of Defense, with support from the Darpa, engaged the US Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center as the executive agent for the Ultra Light Vehicle effort. This led to a hybrid driven prototype with a kerb weight of 6.3 tonnes with add-on armour

phase generator and inverter peak power providing 200 kW continuous power and a Navitas Li-Iron phosphate battery with a 14.2 kWh capacity, a 180 kW peak output and a 65 kW continuous output. Top speed is 120 km/h, the 114-litre tank ensuring a 540 km range. Electric range is 19 km on 80% charges batteries down to 20%, and over 33 km by running down 100% charged batteries. Silent watch time is 4.38 hours and 7.3 hours respectively.

The ULV is 5.06 metres long, 2.43 metres wide, 2.05 metres high in operation (height is reduced to 1.83 metres for air transport as ground clearance can be varied between 127 and 584 mm by virtue of Liquid Spring Technologies compressible liquid adaptive suspension system with a 457 mm stroke fitted with integrated elastomeric jounce bumper). The vehicle seats five military (four plus one gunner) and is equipped with Jankel blast limiting attenuation seats. It has an internal volume of 4.8 m3, protection

In the last few years the US Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center worked on the prototype of an Ultra Light Vehicle with a view to exploring available and emerging technologies. The resultant ULV is equipped with a hybrid propulsion and is said to ensure maximum crew protection (protection against RPGs was one of the requirements, hence the net-armour system). Mobility was a key issue that was studied in co-operation with numerous American companies. (US Army)

and a payload of 1.9 tonnes, powered by a Subaru Boxer Turbo Diesel Engine providing 175 hp with a 360 Nm maximum torque.

The wheels, shod with Baja ATZ Radial, 40X14.5R20LT, are powered by American Traction Systems Remy-410HVH HT drive motors themselves fed a UQM-200 power

being provided underbody against mines and roadside bombs, and laterally against small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and explosively formed penetrators (Tardec states an Mrap protection level). The LTV is equipped with a full communications, command and control, situational aware-

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The ten-seat version of Boeing’s Phantom Badger that took part in the June trials at Fort Bragg in view of the future ULCV request for information. (Boeing)

ness and jamming system suite. Price estimate is $260,000 on a 15,000 vehicle base, although price target was set on $250,000 on a 5,000 vehicle base. To develop the ultra light vehicle Tardec Ground System Survivability partnered with Hardwire LLC. Other companies include Roush Industries, DRS, DSM Dyneema, Boeing, American Motive Power Systems, Harris, Schott, ArmorLine, GKN, Hutchinson, Loc Performance Products, Navitas Systems and Penn State University. Clearly the ULV does not meet the ULCV requirements; however it allowed to better focus the state of the art in the light vehicles domain, which was useful for acquiring knowledge to be exploited in incoming programmes.

Back to the ULCV, the Platform Performance Demonstration (PPD) was conducted at Fort Bragg from 2 to 13 June 2014, and to verify that the draft threshold requirements were achievable. Six competitors took part in the demonstration (but no details revealed on participants, although it is quite obvious that some competitors for the GMV 1.1 have developed a nine-seat variant of their vehicles to meet the Army requirement).

One of them definitely is General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems that until May 2014 was obliged to withhold information on its GMV 1.1 due to legal issues raised by some competitors. The company was eventually able to communicate and details finally emerged at Eurosatory. As expected, it is larger than the standard Flyer Gen II ALSV since no internal V-22 transportability was required. The

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GMV 1.1 still has to enter the wider CH-47 though, which means a 1.98 metres width which usually needs to be reduced to keep sufficient lateral space for tie down and access for crewmembers or drivers. The vehicle is thus 1.85 metres wide (or 72 inches), hence the Flyer 72 designation given to the basic vehicle from which the GMV 1.1 is derived, in a similar manner that the 1.52

metre- wide (60-inch V-22 width limitation) Internally Transported Vehicle is now renamed the Flyer 60. Height is limited to 1.84 metres, while length is 4.62 metres (4.90 metres with pushbar and winch).

The kerb weight is the same as the Flyer 60’s at 2,315 kg, but payload capacity is increased from 1,814 kg to 2,500 kg. Power is courtesy of a 195 hp turbocharged double

At AUSA 2014 GD-OTS exhibited a version of its Flyer 72 armed with a 30 mm gun, which is proposed for the Light Reconnaissance Vehicle programme. (Armada/Paolo Valpolini)

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Here in the fully open configuration, Polaris Defense Dagor can be fitted with some lateral protection. (Polaris Defense)

overhead camshaft Euro 5 engine yielding a 400 Nm torque coupled to a six-speed Tiptronic autoshifter. Capable of two and four wheel drive, the GMV 1.1 has a maximum speed of 160 km/h and a power-toweight ratio of over 39 hp/t. “Mission profile range” is given as 563 km. It can climb 60% slopes and 40% side slopes, ford 0.76 metres without preparation, and overcome a 355 mm vertical obstacle. The chassis remains a tubular frame as in all Flyers. It carries up to seven men, three in front with the driver in central position, two passengers on the sides, two in the second row with the gunner in the centre on a five-point belt seat, and one on the rear deck facing backwards. The Flyer 72 has independent suspensions on all four corners with coil-over-shock absorbers and air spring variable ride. Tyres are 12.5x37 R17 with bead lock, or VFI run flat, but 38x17x14.5 tyres are also available. The front axle being well forward and the snout shape allow for an approach angle of 73.4° (which are reduced to 55.5° if the pushbar and winch are installed).

Typical main armament would be a 12.7 mm machine gun installed over the roll cage (Browning type or a GAU-19 for

example). All roll-over protections are folded or disconnected for air transport, but the vehicle is able of being “guns up” within 13 seconds of helicopter exit. Each operator on the side seats can have a pintle mounted M240 7.62 machine gun installed. The same applies to the back-facing soldier who covers the rear arc as the rear roll-cage limits the use of the heavier weapon over that arc. The GMV 1.1 has two independent electric systems, one with a 14 V alternator and batteries providing power to the vehicle itself, and one with a 28 V alternator and dedicated batteries to power, in addition to silent watch duties, all mission systems such as communications, command and control, jammers, etc. A survivability package that includes armour is part of Socom’s requirements, the extra weight impacting only air transportability due to axle weight limitations of the Chinook floor.

The Flyer 72 for the GMV 1.1 programme was developed in parallel with the Flyer 60 for the ITV programme, thus most components are identical, which considerably reduces the logistic footprint.

Currently the ITV vehicle is in the mid of Socom evaluation, while General Dynamics

OTS is getting ready to start deliveries of the nine GMV 1.1 vehicles that will undergo Socom Production Quality Testing. Both vehicles are available to the export market in their base version and can be fitted according to customer requirements.

Other new vehicles have appeared in the ULCV contest. A well known brand in the ATV world with numerous successes in the special forces community, notably with its MRZR and MV850, Polaris Defense marked a step up in class with its new Dagor, which not only is the first specific military design for the company but also a much heavier and bigger one. Unveiled at Modern Day Marine and AUSA in fall 2014, this 4x4’s data sheet seems to be a blueprint of the ULCV draft requirements, with a kerb weight of 2,040 kg and a 3,515 kg payload capacity. Its development started two years ago and numerous data are kept under wrap as the vehicle is definitely competing for the aforementioned programme (and has thus definitely been one of the six that showed up last June at Fort Bragg). One of these hush-hush elements is the engine, which is defined as a “turbodiesel JP8” without any indication of output,

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Expeditionary Vehicles

mounts can be installed in many other locations providing 360° coverage with small calibre machine guns. In early October Polaris Defense announced that its Dagor had already won contracts with the US Socom as well as with international special forces customers, but failed to provide more details in terms of numbers and nations.

Before we leave the United States territory, just a short note concerning the Guardian Angel Air-Deployable Recovery Vehicle (Gaarv): the US Air Force choice went to the Storm 4x4 produced by HDT Global, the company having so far delivered 13 units to the Air Force, and now expects further orders that could bring total sales to the 61 mark.

I NON-AMERICAN

This picture shows the half windscreen adopted by Polaris Defense to protect the driver and commander from air at the lower possible weight cost. (Armada/Paolo Valpolini)

power, weight and size since these are key choice parameters, while the range of 800 km is twice the threshold requirement.

The Polaris Defense vehicle uses a readily available commercial off-the shelf driveline, suspensions are inspired by the Trophy Truck to cope with the payload as well as with mobility on very harsh terrain, usually travelled on foot. The Dagor can host up to nine soldiers, two in the front, three in the rear, the one in the centre in elevated position to act as gunner, and four in the rear cargo bed, rucksacks being attached to the rollbar. This while coping with stringent

dimensions due to air transportability requirements that forced the designers to stay within the 1,880 mm width and 1,840 height limits, (length being 4,520 mm) for H-47 Chinook or H-53 Sea Stallion transportability (two in the first and one in the second), while kerb weight allows sling UH-60 transportation. As per requirements, the Dagor can be air dropped using the Low Velocity Airdrop delivery system.

The Dagor features a 24 V auxiliary power terminal to operate a full C4I suite. As for weapons, the roll bar can accommodate a medium calibre weapon, while pintle

Elsewhere, and although it was well known that the Netherlands Special Forces had selected a vehicle developed by a national company, no details had emerged until Eurosatory, when General Dynamics European Land Systems unveiled the Air Transportable Tactical Vehicle (ATTV) marking its breakthrough in the light vehicles world.

In fact GDELS is marketing the ATTV following an agreement made with Defenture BV, a Dutch company based in Tiel. Internally known as the CRf-C1, the vehicle features a peculiar architecture with a stainless steel centre chassis which houses and protects the mobility chain. A-arms suspensions, provided by X-motion Engineering as one of the participating companies in Defenture together with Rondo Trading Group and the VDL Group (the latter in charge of production), result

General Dynamics European Land Systems unveiled is now distributing the Air Transportable Tactical Vehicle (ATTV) developed by Defenture BV of the Netherlands and adopted by Dutch Special Forces units. The mobility chain is well protected as it is nested within the vehicle’s stainless steel central chassis; front and rear axles and suspensions are identical. (GDELS)

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Built on a Bremach chassis, the SOV’s superstructure has been developed and produced by KMW; it is here seen with half of the windshield folded down to give the machine gun a good arc of fire. (KMW)

from Paris-Dakar rally experience. The ATTV was proposed with two power packs, one based on a 200 hp Ford 3.2 litre five-cylinder diesel, and the other, retained by the Netherlands, is a Steyr M160053-B 3.2 litres six-cylinder kicking out 220 Hp with a 500 Nm torque, coupled to a ZF 6HP280 six-speed automatic transmission.

Low and high ratio drives from the commercial T-case respectively offer maximum speeds of 170 km/h and 95 km/h while range over hard level surfaces at much lower speed is given as 1,200 km. Two fuel tank options are available, 102 or 130 litres, though 140 litres worth of jerry cans can be added. The vehicle is a permanent 4x4 and runs on 275x65x18 tyres. Ground clearance is 300 mm, while approach and departure angles are both 50°. The ATTV can climb over a 0.3-metre vertical obstacle and ford, without preparation, an 869 mm-deep water obstacle. The vehicle’s architecture allows it to easily receive different types of bodies (the ATTV prototype seen in Paris being one of the solutions). The ATTV can climb an 80-90% front slope, its power-togross weight ratio is of nearly 50 hp/t, and with identical kerb and payload capacity it

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Expeditionary Vehicles

The Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Special Operations Vehicle was unveiled in Poland at MSPO in 2014. It is based on German Kommando Spezialkräfte requirements. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

grosses out at 4.5 tonnes. The width of the aluminium body (without mirrors) is of 1,800 mm, which allows the ATTV to access a CH-47 Chinook helicopter thanks to its 1,841 mm height (length is 4,959 mm). The turning diameter is of 13 metres, although a Defenture four-wheel steering option reduces this to only nine metres. On top of the roll cage a foldable ring mount carries a 12.7 mm machine gun, the mount being foldable inside the vehicle to make it compatible with CH-47 transportability; swing-mounts are available to provide occupants with additional firepower using 7.62 mm machine guns, Standard crew consists of four men with a fifth manning the machine gun. It has four side-doors and an ample rear flatbed.

Defenture teamed with Tencate, which provided Dyneema-based Level 1 ballistic protections both for transparent and opaque surfaces. In addition a V-shaped underbelly plate that provides some protection against mines is available as option.

As said above the vehicle seen in Paris was a prototype, the delivery of the first two pre-production vehicles to the Dutch Special Forces being awaited before year end. The 48 production vehicles will then be delivered during 2015, and will replace the Mercedes Benz G280CDI vehicles currently in use by special force units. The main installed weapon should be either the Heckler & Koch automatic grenade launcher or a 12.7 mm machine gun. The

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manufacturer has now started an export campaign. According to certain sources the vehicle has already been tested the American Special Forces Command.

At MSPO 2014 Krauss-Maffei Wegmann unveiled its new Special Operations Vehicle, the result of a co-operation with Bremach of Italy that developed the chassis.

In the mid-2000s KMW examined the Italian T-Rex chassis based on a tubular design that yielded much higher strength compared to standard extruded profiles and asked Bremach to develop a chassis for military use, a base of a CH-47 transportable vehicle. Fully tested in Germany in 2008-09 and further developed, this chassis is now the core of KMW’s 4x4 Special Operations Vehicle. It meets German Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) requirements and even fits inside the CH-53GA Sea Stallions of the German Army Aviation inventory. The roll-protection bar enables the windshield to decouple from the portion that supports the heavy machine gun.

All folded with weapon resting on the bonnet, height is reduced from 2.63 metres to 1.87 metres to enable the 1.935-metre wide car to enter the aircraft.

At 4.99 metres overall length, both Chinooks and Sea Stallions can transport only one at a time. The vehicle can carry a load equivalent to half of its five-tonne kerb weight, providing an ample margin for additional protection, for example (protection currently stands at Level 1a mine). The

medium- calibre machine gun installed on a power-driven ring mount over the roll protection bar has a complement of 600 rounds.

Two other machine guns, either 5.56 mm or 7.62 mm, can be installed on pedestal mounts, one on the right for the commander and one on the rear flatbed for a gunner.

The prototype vehicle on show at MSPO was fitted with two types of grenade launchers, two twin Wegmann 76 mm launchers at the front on the right and left extremities of the bumper, and four twin Wegmann 40 mm launchers at the rear right. A five-tonne winch with a 25 metre steel cable is fitted at the front. Powered is entrusted to a 176hp Iveco 3.0 litre diesel engine resulting in a power-to-weight ratio of over 22 hp/t. Range is said to be in excess of 800 km on rough terrain. It is equipped with 255/100 R16 run-flat tyres, and the front axle is located well forward to produce a 42° slope attack angle while the shaped rear clears a 37° exit slope. Turning radius is less than 13 metres.

The number of crew members can vary from three to six, the prototype having two front seats, two seats in the back row, and one seat looking backwards in the rear, the rails on the flatbed allowing for quick reconfiguration. The vehicle shown in Kielce was the first prototype, and since last July it has been used for company tests in Europe.

Further prototypes are being produced, and some will probably be delivered to the WTD91 and then to the KSK for field testing. KMW plans to develop variants in the form of armoured personnel carrier with open roof, fully armoured pick-up and armoured cab with flatbed.

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April/May

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Cyber Warfare

Time for Cyber War Laws?

If electronic warfare amounts to efforts to deny enemies the effective use of the electromagnetic spectrum to pursue their goals while preserving such use for oneself, cyber warfare can be thought of as the equivalent applied to computer and communications networks. Because such networks are all-pervasive in modern life, little is more predictable than that humankind should fight over and through them. There is growing evidence that associations of nation states and myriad non-state actors are engaged in covert cyber conflict shading between crime, espionage, sabotage and undeclared war that has persisted with varying intensity for more than a decade.

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Peter Donaldson All-pervasive computer networks are inevitably a battleground and some analysts indicate that undeclared cyber war involving multiple state and non-state actors and organised criminals has been raging for years. (Nato)

I

n a thesis on cyber warfare published in January 2009, Major (now Lt Col) Scott D Applegate of the United States Army called cyber warfare an inexpensive, highly-effective means for a nation to achieve its political, economic or strategic objectives while maintaining plausible deniability for its actions. “Cyber warfare can potentially be used to destroy the enemy’ss initiative and his confidence in his ability to succeed in battle, thus disrupting his plans. A successful attack can create uncertainty for an enemy commander, causing him to forego an opportunity for

success and tipping the balance of power in favour of the cyber attacker.”

Cyber attacks rarely cause death or destruction directly, but one thing can lead to the other. In some cases, the disruption to modern life is the point, as in the presumed Russian attack on Estonia in 2007 that followed the small Baltic nation’s decision to move a statue commemorating Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War. The following year, however, cyber attacks on Georgia’s communications networks served as prelude and enabler for kinetic attacks from the air and on the ground as the dispute with Russia over South Ossetia escalated. Today, cyber attacks and kinetic actions are happening together and may be mutually supportive in the conflict between Ukrainian Government forces and Russianbacked separatists.

I DDoS – THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Typically attackers hack into and deface government websites and flood servers with overwhelming numbers of requests in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that target cultural, governmental, security, Cyber security houses Symantec and BAE Systems Detica both point to Russia as the likely source of cyber attacks against several former Soviet states using Trojan.Wipbot to deliver malware variously known as Uroboros, Carbon and Snake. (BAE Systems Detica)

defence, financial, communications and media organisations.

DDoS attacks are often, but not always, associated with botnets, networks of computers that have been infected with malware that enables criminal organisations to use them to attack other systems without the knowledge of their owners. The criminal organisations that run botnets often sell time on them to others for specific attacks, and their customers are believed to include national intelligence agencies looking for plausible deniability. They are often, but not always, brute force attacks gauged by the sheer volume of data that they fire at the target network. The distributed character of a DDoS attack stems from the fact that the infected computers used to carry it out can be anywhere in the world.

According to Matthew Prince, co-founder and chief executive officer of web performance and security company CloudFlare, anything from 10 to 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) is considered a nuisance attack, although something at the higher end of that range can knock a poorly prepared organisation off the internet while it lasts. Until recently, the rough upper limit for DDoS attacks has been 100 Gbps set by router port capacity, he said at the Black Hat USA 2013 event.

Mr Prince was discussing CloudFlare’s response to the attack on Spamhaus last year.

At more than 300 Gbps, this was considered the largest denial of service attack up to that

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Cyber Warfare

I KINETIC CYBER IS HERE

Cyber aggressors have learned to rent or compromise data centres and cloud machines, subverting them for distributed denial of service attacks; Cisco helps clients defend their networks. (Cisco)

point. (Spamhaus was founded to track and block “the internet’s worst spammers” and regularly upsets the digitally aggressive.)

Mr Prince said that this attack required neither botnets nor a lot of people nor significant technical skill to carry out.

Instead, it used a set of misconfigured Domain Name Service (DNS) resolvers— devices that translate memorable names of internet resources (such as armada.ch) into IP addresses—along with servers on networks that allowed source IP spoofing.

A DNS resolver that lacks limits on how many requests it accepts or who its responds to is misconfigured or “open”. IP address spoofing is the forging of source addresses on data packets.

I BIG ATTACKS WORRYINGLY EASY

As he described it, a small but carefully designed query—it might be only 64 bytes long— can elicit a response more than 50 times the size from a single open DNS resolver.

By spoofing the source IP address, the attacker

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can make the query appear to come from the target, which is then sent all the responses.

“Good networks don’t allow this to happen,” he said. “Good networks say, at your edge when a packet is egressing your network if that packet has a source that you are not responsible for within your network then don’t forward it on.”

Unfortunately, there were 28 million such misconfigured DNS resolvers on the internet as of 27 October 2013, according to the Open Resolver Project, and the number is believed to be increasing. What’s more, the Spoofer Project, supported by the Center for Measurement and Analysis of Network Data (CMAND), estimates that more than 25% of the world’s networks permit source IP address spoofing.

DDoS attacks, however, are only the tip of the iceberg and more subtle and insidious infiltrations by trojans, viruses and worms enable theft, espionage and other damage, electronic and physical, over long periods of time.

Even systems that are not directly connected to the internet can be vulnerable and can suffer distinctly kinetic effects. This the Iranian Government learned with the revelation that the chronic unreliability of the uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear plant was the result of infection with a worm that American and Israeli cyber warriors had designed for the job. (The worm came to be known as Stuxnet following its escape onto the internet in 2010.) As David E Sanger lays out in his 2012 book entitled Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, the worm’s target was the supervisory control and data acquisition system, based on Siemens programmable logic controllers, that Iran installed to run the gas centrifuge cascade at Natanz.

Because the Iranians had isolated the system from the internet, the National Security Agency and its Israeli counterpart had to find another way to insert first a “beacon” programme—to map the target system, figure out how it worked and communicate its findings back home—then the custom-built worm itself to take command and wreak havoc. They chose the

Because the Iranians had isolated the system from the internet, the National Security Agency and its Israeli counterpart had to find another way to insert first a “beacon” programme

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Joint America and Israeli cyber attacks using the Stuxnet worm caused many centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility to destroy themselves over a period of three years. (Iran President’s Office)

classic combination of unwitting human beings—engineers who were allowed to work on software at home and to plug their laptops into the centrifuge control system —and infected memory sticks. “It turns out that there is always an idiot around who doesn’t think much about the thumb drive in their hand,” is a comment that Sanger attributes to an unnamed architect of the plan.

For three years, centrifuges full of uranium hexafluoride gas mysteriously and unpredictably went haywire and destroyed themselves, as effectively as if they had been bombed, and set back Iran’s quest for a viable nuclear weapon. While not the first of its kind, this attack, which caused physical destruction through the exploitation of a vulnerable process control system, may be the most successful example so far of what is coming to be known as kinetic cyber warfare.

LinkedIn: “It is my assessment that the failures of seven Russian satellite systems over the last four months were mostly due to cyber attacks (some could be natural failure events) emanating from American anti-satellite cyber weapons.”

Mr Szymanski is former principal scientist at Metatech Corporation, a science

and engineering company specialising in electromagnetic environmental effects.

“Even though I’m sure the United States has better and more numerous offensive military technologies than the Russians” he continued, “I believe the Russians won this space war because they took the war back to Earth and attacked the American banking system the day before they invaded SE Ukraine in force.”

This is a reference to the incursion of substantial Russian forces into Ukraine

I US AND RUSSIA AT WAR?

More recently and against the background of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a series of failures in Russian satellite systems, including an 11-hour outage of Glonass (Russia’s GPS equivalent) in April and the effective loss of Cosmos-2479 (part of Russia’s Oko ballistic missile early warning system) has raised suspicions of American cyber attacks. Some analysts believe that Russia has responded asymmetrically with sophisticated attacks on American banks including JP Morgan Chase.

One of these is freelance military space consultant Paul Szymanski, who wrote on

Following suspected American attacks on the Glonass navigation satellite network, Russia is thought to have hit back with cyber attacks on the American banking system to discourage interference with its operations against Ukraine, illustrated here. (DigitalGlobe via Nato)

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Lockheed Martin’s NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center is key to its response to threats against vital network, facilitating cyber research and development, customer and partner collaboration and innovation. (Lockheed Martin)

revealed in images released by NATO on 28 August purporting to show Russian selfpropelled artillery units moving in convoy through Ukrainian countryside and then establishing firing positions in the area of Krasnodon, Ukraine.

Ukrainian government websites, including that of the prime minister’s office have been attacked heavily as the crisis has unfolded. In the joint statement of the NATO Ukraine Commission issued on 04 September, heads of state and government listed help with cyber defence among a package of “substantial new programmes” to support Ukraine.

I TROJANS, WORMS AND ESPIONAGE

Ukraine, however, is only one of the cyber victims and the attacks seem to be part of a well established pattern of activity largely concentrating on spying. According to

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internet security giant Symantec, a cyberespionage campaign using highly-capable malware has systematically targeted the governments and embassies of a number of former Eastern Bloc countries. The company says that the key weapons used are Trojan.Wipbot and Trojan.Turla, the latter also going by other names including Snake, Uroboros and Carbon. (I will use “Snake” from now on for simplicity.)

“It appears that this combination of malware has been used for classic espionagetype operations for at least four years.

Because of the targets chosen and the advanced nature of the malware used, Symantec believes that a state-sponsored group was behind these attacks.”

Many fingers are pointing at Russia as its origin although, as Symantec points out, the identity of the group behind these attacks has

yet to be established. Many of the items of evidence pointing to Russia are circumstantial, but mutually supportive, particularly when the targets and the time stamps of the attacks are correlated. The company notes that while infections initially appeared to be spread over a range of European countries, closer analysis revealed that many infections in Western Europe affected computers connected to private government networks belonging to former Eastern Bloc countries.

In May 2012, for example, the prime minister’s office in a country that is a former member of the Soviet Union suffered an infection that spread to 60 computers, and an attack on a computer in the embassy to France of a second former Soviet Union member followed later in the year.

“During 2013, infections began to spread to other computers linked to the network of this country’s ministry of foreign affairs. In addition, its ministry of internal affairs was also infected,” said the company. “Further investigation uncovered a systematic spying

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Georgia National Guard soldiers learn cyber defence at the Georgia Technology Research Institute in Atlanta. The Georgia Guard’s cyber cadre has grown from one to 25 over two years and plans to add another 20. (US Army National Guard)

campaign targeted at its diplomatic service. Infections were discovered at embassies in Belgium, Ukraine, China, Jordan, Greece, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Poland and Germany.”

Regarding timing, both Symantec and BAE Systems Detica, which recently published an analysis on the Snake malware, imply that Russia is a likely source. BAE Systems Detica reported that it has collected 100 unique files related to this espionage tool kit, many of them submitted by victims to online malware analysis websites, in its 2014 Snake Rootkit report.

I LIKE ANY OTHER PROFESSIONAL

“Plotting the day of the week in which the samples were compiled shows a now familiar pattern for analysts of modern cyber attacks.

The creators of the malware operate a working week, just like any other professional,” said the report. “Similarly, plotting the hour of the day in which the samples were compiled reveals another human pattern – the working day. This has been adjusted to UTC+4 to show a possible fit to the operators’ local time.”

The 56 samples in which the country from which the report was submitted is known, said Detica, shows where the malware has been.

Of those samples gathered between 2010 and early 2014, 32 (a little over 57%) came from Ukraine.

Analysts have concluded that Trojan.Wipbot is used to deliver Snake to its targets, usually through spear phishing or watering hole attacks. In a spear phishing attack, the target, who is usually an individual in an organisation of interest to the attacker, receives an email purporting to come from someone he or she knows and trusts, one that includes an infected attachment. A watering hole is a website that has been identified as one that is used regularly and trusted by the targeted individual or organisation and then contaminated with malware to infect selected visitors.

Once in the target computer, according to Symantec’s analysis, Trojan.Wipbot collects information on it and passes it back to the attackers, who then decide whether to proceed to the next stage.

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Trojan.Turla then downloads Snake, possibly disguised as a Shockwave installer bundle, which drops a driver file into the target system, which, in turn, sets up a hidden file container to store stolen information and other files. The driver also injects code into web browsers to hide malicious traffic to and from hostile command and control servers among the legitimate traffic to get through firewalls.

I CYBER SOLUTIONS

With so much at stake cyber warfare and cybersecurity have become key markets for the defence giants such as BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Thales.

Cybels, for example, is the name Thales gives to its cybersecurity solution that the company has designed to handle risks dynamically, claiming that it prevents, detects, analyses and thwarts all types of attack (including denial of service, theft of critical data, intrusion etc.) by coordinating effective IT resources and qualified personnel. Cybels, says the company, is one of the cornerstones of information system security at the French Ministry of Defence’s new Balard headquarters.

Cybels includes both services and products. Services include supervision of information systems either from inside the customer’s organisation or from a Thales security operations centre; simulation and training for operators in an environment that

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Thales’ Cybels cybersecurity solution includes products and services and has been designed to handle risks dynamically, preventing, detecting, analysing and thwarting all types of attack, says the company. (Thales)

duplicates the customer’s IT infrastructure; consulting, security audits and penetration testing; and a rapid reaction team that helps customers to face crises and to mitigate the effects of any attacks as quickly as possible.

As Thales describes it, a security operations centre is the locus of technical surveillance, collecting, correlating and analysing suspicious events detected by sensors and generating alerts. It also enables cyber operators to organise, coordinate and implement responses in line with the prevailing risk acceptance policy, says the company.

It draws on information from raw events and defensive products such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems to establish a correlated picture of hostile activity and enable appropriate responses to alerts.

It provides decision-making and traceability tools by generating surveillance summary reports that highlight both malicious activity detected and vulnerabilities discovered, subjecting them to analysis backed by a knowledge database that informs plans of action.

Products include a viewer that enables operators to centralise and visualise alerts from all the sensors in the network, which helps them to forecast impacts and implement their reactions. Cybels Scan is

designed to find vulnerabilities in customers’ systems before attackers do. A patented sensor product provides detection and investigation capabilities and can be used for ad hoc supervision. Cybels Practice replicates an information system in a confined “sandbox” environment so that reaction plans can be tested against simulated cyber attacks and operators can train. Finally, an intelligence platform enables analysis of blogs, forums and social networks to help anticipate and prevent attacks.

I TIME FOR CYBER WAR LAWS?

The Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities demonstrated how cyber attacks can do physical damage even to a system that was not directly connected to the internet. With many more control systems for vital infrastructure and services actually connected to the web for remote monitoring and control, these cyber physical systems make increasingly attractive targets.

Concluding his 2013 paper entitled The Dawn of Kinetic Cyber, Lt Col Applegate called on industry to make these systems more secure by design, called for new industry standards and regulations, and called on the international community to codify cyber warfare under the laws of armed conflict.

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LOOKING FOR HEAVY VEHICLES, DESPERATELY

W

Visited and photographed by Paolo Valpolini

ith interests currently focused on expeditionary light vehicles (see article on page XX), the US Army is rethinking the future of its Armored Brigade Combat Teams following the cancellation of the Ground Combat Vehicle programme. According to Brigadier General Bassett (left), Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat System, the top two priorities remain the replacement of the M113 (the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, or AMPV) and of the self-propelled howitzer. Abrams and Bradleys vehicles will receive a series of incremental upgrades that will mainly involve optics, ammunition and networking. Any decision regarding their replacement has been moved to the right: the draft requirements for a Future Fighting Vehicle that might replace the Bradley are expected in five years time, during which the Army will consider maturing technologies that might be applied to the new vehicle. This situation was reflected in the lack of heavy vehicles at this Ausa event if one excepts the two Bradleys used as chassis for technology demonstrators at BAE Systems and Kongsberg booths, and the Stryker Engineer Squad Vehicle, to give substance to the US Army’s funding announcement during the show of a fourth brigade of double V-hull Stryker vehicles.

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IMPROVED ACCURACY FROM KOPIN

C

alifornia-based Kopin unveiled its Precision Acquisition and Targeting System (or Pats). Alternatively described as an integrated fire control system for small arms, this clip-on solution provides the shooter with the right ballistic solution. The Pats includes an eyesafe 1.55 µm laser rangefinder with a maximum range of 1,000 metres, which can be activated either by the builtin trigger or by a remote trigger allowing to keep hands in the shooting position. The shooter keeps the red square shown in the sight on the intended target, which is in fact the overlay of the Pats display on the direct view optical sight, and activates the rangefinder the data being fed into the ballistic calculator. A red cross appears, which is the corrected aiming crosshairs the soldier has to put on the target to hit it. The 640x480 display covers a 7° field of view, which matches that of the 4x32 Trijicon Acog Army Rifle Combat Optic. Brightness is

automatically adjusted between 0.1 fL and over 5,000 fL, ensuring good visibility in all conditions, day and night. This quality is due to the adoption of Kopin’s augmented reality weapon sight technology, which generates ultra-high brightness levels typical of larger systems seen in aviation helmet-mounted displays.

It is powered by a single DL/CR-123 battery with a life of over 50 hours. Other sensors are contained in the Pats such as an inclinometer, a cant sensor and temperature, humidity and air pressure indicators. During system set-up the user enters values for the weapon, the round he is firing, the muzzle velocity, the barrel spin ratio, the bullet weight, the drag curve, the weapon boresight range and the direct-view optical sight height off the rail. Boresighting is extremely easy and does not require any extra shooting, as the unit features a precision electronic boresighting function that allows to align its crosshairs

with that of the optical sight.

The Pats weighs 482 grams, its dimensions being 90.1 x 101.7 x 98 mm. Saving weight Kopin developed a second version, known as the Pats Light, for those customers that already have a laser rangefinder on their weapons. The Light is compatible with systems such as the DRS Storm AN/PSQ-23 AN/PSQ-23 Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted MicroLaser Rangefinder and L-3 Warrior Systems, Wilcox

TENCATE SENSORS TO INCREASE BODY ARMOUR LIFE

C

eramic body armour plates are subject to degradation; however inspecting the plates is not an easy task. TenCate Advanced Armor USA announced the acquisition of the Smart Body Armor technology from Newport Sensors Inc, a California-based company specialised in sensor technology. Newport Sensors worked for seven years together with US governmental entities to develop the technology, based on micro sensors embedded in the ceramic plate. Mapping the whole plate these are able to detect cracks inside the ceramic body. State is verified by

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Raptar. With the exception of the rangefinder all other components remain similar, dimensions being reduced to 91 x 87.7 x 90.4 mm while weight drops to 399 grams. Hit probability remains of course the same: according to the table provided by Kopin, and with a standard M855 round, hit probability is increased from 50 to 98% at 300 metres, from 27 to 85% at 400, 12 to 60% at 500 and 8 to 37% at 600. (Photo Armada/Paolo Valpolini)

touching the contacts on one side of the plate with a USB-like key; if the testing item light is green the plate still ensures sufficient protection, but if red it has to be discarded. Plate testing can be performed while in use, especially in very harsh combat environments when damage can go unnoticed. According to Tencate the technology is currently at TRL5, having gone through environmental and durability testing. The company is seeking rapid development to integrate it in its Liba and MultiLight products. The company is however also open to sell the technology to other plate manufacturers.

(Photo: Tencate)

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GENERAL DYNAMICS GOES ROBOTIC

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ovelty on the General Dynamics stand was not to be found amongst the heavyweights, but in the halftonners. Known as the Multi Utility Tactical Transport, or Mutt in short, just like the old M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck (the US Army’s jeep in the 1950s). Also a 4x4, the big difference is that today Mutt is uninhabited and its payload capacity is entirely dedicated to carry supplies. Intended to relieve soldiers on foot from their burden it had to be cheap, simple, with no radio link, and tailored for units that do not have a motor pool when deployed forward, and even less any time for “robotic babysitting”. The Mutt had to be capable to ensure between 60 and 80% of dismounted mobility going roughly everywhere a soldier on foot can go. It is 1.68 metres long and 1.38 metres wide, has a curb weight of 340 kg and a payload capacity of 272 kg. It is guided by a soldier through a two metre-long tether that is drawn out of a sprocket in front of the vehicle. The guidance system, known as Dismounted Follow Tether, recognises the tension on the tether as well as the angle and adapts speed and direction accordingly. The Mutt can be used either in wagon mode, with the man in front of the vehicle, or in wheelbarrow

mode, with the soldier in “pushing” position, while walking through woods for example.

The current model is electrically powered, with two drive units, one on each side with one motor. Tracks can be installed in place of wheels, but ad 45 kg to the curb weight. The skid-steering system ensures a turning diameter of 3.35 metres.

It can overcome a 60% grade and move on a 60% side slope,

maximum governed speed being 13 km/h. It is capable of amphibious operation, but at half the speed and payload. In its current configuration it has a 24 km autonomy, though a hybrid solution with a JP8 fuel cell could provide a much greater range. The Mutt can be easily towed at speeds of up to 65 km/h providing the propulsion and guiding mechanisms are disengaged.

The Mutt takes the space of two

seats inside a CH-53, the US Marine Corps having shown interest in the system not only as a logistic support item but also as a force protection tool for roadside bomb detection and reconnaissance duties and even as a remote weapon platform carrier (a weaponised version is being tested). Easily transported inside the V-22 Osprey, it currently is in preproduction phase. (Photo Armada/Paolo Valpolini)

LOCKHEED MARTIN: 4 CYLINDERS FOR THE JLTV

L

ockheed Martin announced that the engine of its JLTV is a four-cylinder Cummins giving the vehicle a fuel consumption of over 12 miles per gallon (5.1 km/l) at full combat load. It is the only one of the three JLTVs to run on a four-cylinder engine, the other two being equipped with six-cylinder units.

Lockheed Martin considers this an edge over its competitors, as it will reduce total ownership costs. (Photo: LM)

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IR-VISIBLE BEACON FROM ISRAEL

B

ig problems don’t always require big solutions.

Sometimes 90 grams might save a life, and if you can afford a few, a battery and a mount, it’s even better. TAR-Ideal, an Israeli company specialised in defence and security issues, used Ausa as an international marketing stepping stone for its TL5 Pro personal marker, which is already in mass production for the Israeli Defence Forces to the tune of 70,000 pieces ordered. The Israeli special forces were among the initiators of the project together with other military and TAR-Ideal experts.

The marker works both in the infrared and visible spectra, in the latter in white, blue and red colours. The system is contained in a splash-resistant 80 x 60 x 30mm case. A knob on the side opens the AA or CR123 3V lithium battery housing, the latter type being recommended. A transparent cover protects the diode lights four circular 830 nm infrared types and a central high-

powered coloured one.

Commands are very simple, one selector, on the left, and two push buttons allowing to set the required mode. Rotating the selector knob clockwise till the first click the TL5 Pro shifts from off to the IR position. To go further it is necessary to lift the knob, for safety reasons, to switch over to red, then white and finally blue mode. The

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sea, land or the air, ships literally are sitting ducks.

As the attack methods constantly evolve, so must ship defensive systems. This is the topic of this article.

Remote-Control Turrets: Generally involving

Air Defence Radars: Recent events have

small- and medium-calibre weapons and roofmounted, they have become extremely popular in recent years as they enable vehicle gunners to effectively defend their vehicle without exposing themselves to enemy fire.

shown how important advanced detection - the only way of adequately countering hostile action from aircraft or missiles - has become an essential piece in a country’s defence strategy.

Rover Systems: Like most revolutionary

systems that are not initially taken too seriously Rover systems have become a sine qua non in a number of cases as they enable a man on the ground to have a drone’s view see his surroundings (for example) on his adequately equipped display.

Naval Countermeasures: Without electronic

systems to defeat and deceive threats from the

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central button allows to shift from constant light to beacon, while the one on the right selects light intensity, for visibilities at 100, 300, 800 and 1,500 metres ranges. A variety of side mounts are available to suit many helmets (the IDF has five different models, two provided in the kit together with a vest mount). Considering its range the TL5 Pro can be used not only

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Armoured Vehicle Active Self-protection: Given the limits reached by armoured vehicles in terms of add-on armour plate weights, active selfprotection systems are intended not to protect a vehicle against the result of an impact from a missile or rocket, but rather to prevent such missile or rocket from reaching the vehicle.

Euronaval: This biennial exhibition is gradually

gathering momentum and worldwide recognition and attracting exhibitors from outside the

as an IFF beacon for identification by the infantry or squad team, but also by vehicles or drones. Several can also be used to mark a landing zone with IR lights. According to TAR-Ideal the system allowed to save several lives during the recent events in Gaza.

(Photo: TAR-Ideal)

boundaries of Europe to reflect the latest - and sometime surprising - trends in the Naval field.

Geospatial Information: This Compendium

is highly likely to become a reference book on the true art of Geospatial information, a field that has remained rather obscure in numerous minds, but which is now poised to become a sine qua non in modern warfare. Geospatial information is beyond dots on a 2D or 3D map; it has moved on to a fourdimensional level, serving multiple layers of information, an art by virtue of which maps have not only become digital, but the bearers of smart services, showing not only georeferenced objects, but also what they contain, where they come from and what is around them at any given time, and what to expect where and when in terms of potential trouble. Obviously full-fledged geospatial intelligence describes ground environments, but not only: also involved are air and space, sea and urban environments.

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