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A New HUSAR in the Sky: Rheinmetall Wins Bundeswehr Order to Supply LUNA NG Air-Supported Reconnaissance System

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

The German Bundeswehr has contracted with Rheinmetall to supply the new LUNA NG air-supported reconnaissance drone. The amendment contract signed on 28 September 2023 by the President of Germany’s Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, or BAAINBw, Annette Lehnigk-Emden, serves to continue the project with the new contractor Rheinmetall following the insolvency of the original system manufacturer. The amendment contract concretises the measures resulting from the takeover of the procurement contract by Rheinmetall. The takeover contract was already concluded in 2022.

The LUNA NG, a German acronym standing for “Air-supported Unmanned Short-range Reconnaissance Equipment, Next Generation”, will be known in the German armed forces as HUSAR. In all, twelve production systems have been ordered as well as a pilot system. The order is worth around €200 million (without value added tax). The first production system is due to be delivered in the second quarter of 2025. Also included in the order are a spare parts package and training support.

The HUSAR – as the name suggests – will be assigned to the German Army’s reconnaissance branch and also to the artillery. Another German acronym, HUSAR stands for “High-Efficiency Unmanned System for Medium-Range Reconnaissance”. Each system consists of five reconnaissance drones, two ground control systems, two launcher vehicles, two antenna masts, a repair shop and three transport platforms.

Experience gained in the war in Ukraine shows the decisive importance of real-time reconnaissance results at operational level. The LUNA NG was developed precisely for this purpose. It is one of the world’s newest systems for unmanned air-supported reconnaissance, classification and recognition of objects in real time.

Along with its outstanding performance parameters and type certification by Germany’s Federal Aviation Office, the LUNA NG is unique in its weight class, with a maximum take-off weight of 110 kilograms. Thanks to its aerodynamic, ultralight, high-stability design, the LUNA NG can remain aloft for over 12 hours.

Now official, the new order marks another important milestone for the UAV as well for Rheinmetall’s digitalization strategy. LUNA NG is a state-of-the-art sensor component for network-enabled operations which significantly enhances the effectiveness of the sensor-to-shooter chain. At the same time, the LUNA NG offers a basis for future development of the Rheinmetall product portfolio, including a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability and new tactical possibilities thanks to a payload capacity of over 30 kilograms.

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German Federal Cartel Office Gives Go-Ahead to Joint Venture between Rheinmetall and Ukrainian Defence Industry

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

Launched in May 2023, strategic cooperation between Rheinmetall and Ukraine’s state-owned Ukrainian Defence Industry group (UDI), the former Ukroboronprom, has taken another step forward. On 28 September Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, Bundeskartellamt, cleared the way for establishing a joint venture between Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and UDI in Kyiv. Authorization from other relevant agencies has already been applied for and is expected to come shortly.

“The joint venture is to be based in Kyiv and engage in service and maintenance as well as the assembly, production and development of military vehicles,” the German Federal Cartel Office said in its press release of 28 September 2023. “It will initially operate exclusively in Ukraine. There will be no competitive overlaps in Germany, nor are there any indications of competition concerns. The Bundeskartellamt cleared the transaction within one month.”

Cooperation between Rheinmetall and the Ukrainian defence industry is designed to strengthen Ukraine’s defence sector and ultimately the country’s national security by gradually building joint capabilities in defence technology in Ukraine.

Under the agreement, Ukraine will benefit from comprehensive technology transfers; from the creation of defence technology capabilities at home; from additional local value added; and from the prompt delivery of military equipment from Germany.

As a first step, cooperation will focus on the maintenance and repair of vehicles transferred to Ukraine under the German government’s multilateral “Ringtausch” equipment exchange programme as well as those directly supplied to Ukraine by Germany.

In later phases, based on a comprehensive transfer of technology, the cooperation partners intend to jointly produce selected Rheinmetall products in Ukraine. Looking ahead, cooperation between Rheinmetall and UDI could also involve the joint development of military systems by teams of Ukrainian and German specialists, including for subsequent export by Ukraine.

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US Facilitates Philippine Air Force AOC, ISR Training

Friday, September 29th, 2023

VILLAMOR AIR BASE, Philippines — At the request of the government of the Philippines, the 505th Training Squadron located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, sent a team of U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit instructors to Villamor Air Base, Philippines, from Aug. 10-19. The instructors trained twenty-eight members of the Philippine Air Force’s 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and 5th Fighter Wing. The bilateral training focused on joint planning processes; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance fundamentals; and best practices for ISR support to operations.

The 705th Training Squadron and the 505th Combat Training Squadron, located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and Pacific Air Forces Intelligence Operations Division assisted the 505th Training Squadron.

“We couldn’t have done this mission without the support of PACAF/A2 and without the support of our sister squadrons,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jason Gossett, 505th TRS commander. “Our intelligence professionals are always in high demand, and when we saw how much intel training the PAF was requesting, we reached out to our partners to get the right blend of expertise.”

In a brief graduation ceremony, PAF students expressed their gratitude for the unique and focused training.

In the closing remarks, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. David Jones, 505th TRS director of operations and mobile training team lead, said, “The United States and the Philippines became formal allies with the signing of the National Defense Treaty of 1951, and with the changing geopolitical environment, we are as committed as ever to our allies and partners in the Pacific. Many of us have strong personal and professional ties to the Philippines, and we were honored to come out and support this mission.”

“This training has offered exceptional chances to engage and build connections with fellow instructors and intelligence professionals who share our interests,” said Philippine Air Force Brigadier General Torres, 300th AISW commander “In our swiftly evolving world, adaptability is paramount. Training fosters our capacity to remain versatile and receptive to fresh concepts, technologies, and methodologies.

“Through the enriching five-days of training, we’ve established a robust network that fosters collaborations and invaluable partnerships, benefiting both the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and the Philippine Air Force.”

The 505th TRS is responsible for preparing graduates to operate the AOC Weapon System, graduating more than 1,600 joint and coalition personnel annually. The squadron teaches 13 initial qualification courses (including an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Course), an AOC Fundamentals Course, a Joint Air Operations C2 Course, and an Academic Instructor Course. Graduates from the 505th TRS serve in all combatant commands.

505th Training Squadron located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, sent a team of U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit instructors to Villamor Air Base, Philippines, from Aug. 10-19, 2023. The instructors trained twenty-eight members of the Philippine Air Force’s 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and 5th Fighter Wing. The bilateral training focused on joint planning processes; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance fundamentals; and best practices for ISR support to operations.

Story by Deb Henley

505th Command and Control Wing

Public Affairs

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Spectre Operations Tabletop Gaming

Wednesday, September 27th, 2023

Spectre Operations is a tabletop wargame set in the ‘Ultra Modern’ era – kind of like Warhammer or Dungeons and Dragons.

We are about to release our 3rd Edition of the rules, now with even more depth and detail than ever before!

Spectre Operations provides the comprehensive rules for wargames set in the modern era on the tabletop. These rules will allow you to play a myriad of the situations that define Modern Warfare. Lead an Operation consisting of Combined forces against a Near Peer Opponent, Conduct a Special Operations mission to Eliminate a High Value Target, or Covertly Infiltrate and conduct an Intelligence gathering mission against a sensitive target – Spectre Operations allows you to play all aspects of these missions, and more.

We are aware that a big gateway interest in firearms at the moment comes from playing video games, and we really want to give another pathway for people that is a little more hands on and creative. Spectre Miniatures sell a comprehensive range of miniatures to support the rules, which require assembly and painting. We’ve found this is a great way for people of all ages to have some time to focus on a task and have a creative outlet. Following on from this, we have also had a lot of success with supporting Veterans groups, including the use of creative therapy.

Head on over to www.spectreminiatures.com to get your pre-order in today. Pre-Order includes a bunch of freebies and ships worldwide.

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KONGSBERG Awarded NOK 1 Billion CROWS Order

Tuesday, September 26th, 2023

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KONGSBERG) has received an order from the US Army to deliver an additional 409 CROWS remote weapon stations, spares and support. The order has a value of USD 94 million or approximately NOK 1 billion.

The order is part of the IDIQ* frame contract awarded in October 2022, the fourth consecutive five-year contract awarded KONGSBERG for the delivery and support of the US Army Commonly Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS).

“We are very pleased for the opportunity to deliver additional CROWS systems to the US Army and with the confidence our customers place in our products and our organization,” says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

The deliveries will be manufactured and assembled at the KONGSBERG facility in Johnstown PA.

Over the past 25 years, KONGSBERG has delivered more than 22,000 Remote Weapon Systems to customers in more than 28 different nations.

*indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity

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Whiskey 5 – Eagle Eye Innovations

Monday, September 25th, 2023

Who?

Eagle Eye Innovations (EEI) was founded in 2013 by Sion Roberts, an ex-sensor operator for the MQ-9 Reaper in the Royal Air Force (RAF), delivering Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) training. EEI quickly became a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Recognised Assessment Entities (RAE) delivering accredited training services to the UK market, and is now one of the longest running RAEs.

The company has since grown significantly over the last 5 years, including increasing its ownership and Directorship with key experience to help grow the company beyond its roots. In addition, the team is now 35 strong, with plans to grow further in Q4 2023, and boasts over 550 years of military experience and over 50,000hrs instructing and operating Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms across the Air, Land, and Maritime domains, including exquisite platforms such as the RAFs MQ-9 Reaper.

Currently, EEI operates across 5 core departments (see below); Training Academy, Technical Services, Defence & Security, Special Projects, and EEI Asset Protection Solutions (EEI-APS), with a key to success being that they do not make RPAS / drones. Rather, EEI specialises in supporting customers through requirement definition, procurement support, integration, training, and operational services; ensuring the customer procures the correct system for their needs and realises its full capability.

What?

Being system agnostic, EEI provides services across all classes of RPAS, regardless of size, weight, and complexity, to the commercial and defence sectors globally. The trusted, equipment independent nature of the organisation has grown a position of trust acting as the ‘customer friend’ in a rapidly developing technology space, and has become a ‘one-stop-shop’ for RPAS support solutions for many commercial and defence customers globally.

EEIs vision is to enable safe RPAS operations for the world, leveraging high-end, ex-military expertise to assist customers from all walks of life to access and operate ground breaking RPAS technology to enhance their services or operations, safely.

Key to EEIs capability is being able to work closely with customers to understand ‘why’ or ‘how’ RPAS/drones can be of benefit across any industry, developing key equipment requirements, putting output before equipment. This model enables a more informed procurement decision and invariably mitigates spiralling program costs compared to less informed equipment procurement decisions.

Beyond requirement analysis and procurement support, EEIs industry leading training analysis, development, build and delivery services in the RPAS sector are at the heart of the organisations vision. Regularly, customers across commercial and defence sectors engage with EEI having experienced inferior training elsewhere due to the quality of product, delivery, and after sales support. Indeed, EEI services go well beyond training, supporting customers with integration services, Test and Evaluation (T&E) of new and novel technology, operational support through direct support to customer operations or delivering operations on behalf of the customer, and Research & Development (R&D) to help identify emerging gaps and opportunities for the technology within the global marketplace. A new and novel application of this technology is its use in lifesaving off the UK shores. EEI has teamed with the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) to ensure our coastal lifeguards are trained to utilise RPAS/drones to increase the likelihood of survival for those individuals that find themselves in distress at sea.

One of the newest areas of EEI is the Special Projects department. This team offers partners a discreet operationally focussed framework with appropriate security safeguards. Special projects are geared to understand and support the RPAS needs of other private and public entities in complex environments that fall outside of our traditional offerings wherever their operations occur around the world.

When?

The EEI journey began with the conception of the company on the 31st of July 2013, delivering groundbreaking monthly RPAS training courses to the UK market at the beginning of 2014.

In late 2018, Alex Kasperczyk (Director of Business Development) and Dominic Smith (Director of Operations) left the RAF to invest into EEI, which enabled the next stage of growth for the organisation and expanded the scope of its services into the defence sector. EEI now delivers its suite of services to all three Services and a large percentage of UK Emergency Services.

In 2021, EEI teamed with Jordan Crowns’ Crown Consulting organisation to develop a roadmap to delivering assured and effective security enhanced with the use of RPAS. This resulted in Crown Consulting being absorbed into EEI to create EEI Asset Protection Solutions (EEI-APS) that now delivers domestic security to high profile private clients and large-scale events, international crisis and risk management services to a variety of clients, and organic support to EEI to enable expeditionary RPAS services into complex or hostile environments.

In September 2023, EEI will be launching EEI Europe in Malta at the Maltese Air Show. Building on successes and growth over the last decade, this strategically important step will give access to new markets and customers around Europe, and further afield, as the organisations continues to drive towards its vision.

Where?

Headquartered in Lincoln, UK, EEI has supported clients as far a field as Australia, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Launching EEI Europe from Malta will enable a more global reach for the organisation, give the ability to work closely with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) following BREXIT, and provide a launch pad for support to customers beyond Europe.

EEI has several pre-established flight sites across the UK to support customer training wherever they may be, with the intent to grow this overseas with the establishment of EEI Europe. The ‘jewel in the crown’ being the EEI Centre of Excellence (CoE); a private 300m grass airstrip less then 10mins from the EEI HQ in Lincoln.

Why?

As RPAS/drone technology becomes more accessible for all customers globally, the use cases become more complex, and the technology itself accelerates into new, untested capability areas daily, the importance of safe RPAS operations becomes increasingly critical to ensure its succeeds and thrives alongside traditional aviation.

Recent examples in the UK have seen commercial RPAS/drone operators having received legal action against them for using their technology in an unsafe manner or in a restricted environment. To mitigate this, education is key and EEI aim to be at the heart of this now and into the future.

In an ever-growing and saturated market such as the RPAS equipment industry, it’s important for an organisation like EEI can independently support clients with the development of appropriate, efficient, and safe solutions that provide operational and economic advantage.

For more information visit our website www.eeinnovationsltd.com or email info@eeinnovationsltd.com

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Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions Triumphs on National Stage

Monday, September 25th, 2023

Defence manufacturer Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions’ Queensland artillery shell factory has won a major industry award.

RNM, a joint venture between Rheinmetall Waffe Munitions GmbH and Australian-owned NIOA, has been named Manufacturer of the Year at the Australian Defence Industry Awards.

RNM was also a finalist in the Exporter of the Year category, having despatched its first consignment of ammunition to Germany earlier this year.

The $90m Maryborough facility is the most advanced large calibre artillery plant of its kind in the world specialising in the 155mm projectiles which are fired out of the M777 Howitzer cannons.

At full rate production, the plant will have a workforce of up to 100 with the ability to produce up to 100,000 projectiles a year supplying the Australian Defence Force as well as allied export markets.

More than 800 people attended the black-tie Defence Connect dinner at the National Convention Centre in Canberra last Thursday night (Eds: September 21) with 144 finalists competing for honours in 29 categories across defence primes, SMEs and individuals including executives, scientists, technicians and marketers.

Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions General Manager Jeff Crabtree with the award for 2023 Defence Manufacturer of the Year; and a technician at the Maryborough-based factory works on an artillery shell which RNM is producing for the ADF and allied nations.

RNM General Manager Jeff Crabtree said the prestigious accolade recognised RNM’s role as an emerging player in the defence sector.

“We are incredibly proud,” he said. “This is recognition of an Australian-first munitions manufacturing capability, allowing regional Queensland to become an important player in the global munitions supply network.”

Rheinmetall Waffe Munitions CEO and RNM Chairman Roman Koehne said: “We congratulate Jeff and the team in Maryborough. RNM is a great example of an advanced manufacturing business that is playing a valuable role in building Australia’s defence industrial base.”

NIOA Group CEO and RNM Deputy Chairman Rob Nioa said the award acknowledged the company’s commitment to supporting defence industrial capability and skilled regional jobs, as well as its pivotal role in building national resilience.

“Before the establishment of the RNM facility there was no capability in Australia to forge 155mm or other large calibre shells,” he said. “The RNM forge has created a completely new skillset in the Australian defence industry.”

RNM has been held up as a “model example” of a genuine commitment and collaborative approach between various levels of government and industry to fast-track sovereign capability.

It was built within two years and had multi-level government backing with a $28.5m injection from the Federal Government’s Regional Growth Fund on top of $7.5m from the Queensland Government’s Jobs and Regional Growth Fund and support from the Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Posted in Industry, International, Munitions, Press Release | 1 Comment »

DSEI 23 – Buzzworks x Platatac Multi-Rig

Friday, September 22nd, 2023

Designed by Buzzworks and manufactured by Platatac, the Multi-Rig offers a 30% weight reduction over traditional MOLLE-based paid carriage systems.

From this pile of components, you can assemble a Multi-Rig which is fully scalable and customizable by the end-user.

You start with these two basic PALS compatible modules. They are connected to one another via the pouch’s attachment and can be combined to create as large or as small a rig as you’d like.

Zipper, SR buckle, and Tubes modules can be inserted to create a split front or side opening rig. QASM buckles can also be incorporated into the modules.