From our Correspondents

At this year’s Paris Air Show, the director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Dmitriy Shugaev, told armadainternational.com that European Union (EU) and US sanctions had inspired the Russian defence industry. The FSMTC is the powerful Russian government entity for military...

Making its public debut at this year’s Paris Air Show held between 19th and 23rd July was Diamond Aircraft’s DA-62 Multi-Purpose Platform (MPP). This new aircraft is a seven-seat development of the firm’s DA-42 piston engine light aircraft. Powered by twin Austro Engines AE300 diesel...

The US Marines Light Armoured Vehicle battalion includes a mix of complementary mission role vehicles. These include the General Dynamics LAV-AT or Anti-Tank vehicle which provides the primary tank defeating capability for the unit. The original vehicle design used the same Raytheon BGM-71 optically-guided...

The US Marines are evaluating the Heckler and Koch M-320 40mm grenade launcher to replace the M-203 grenade launcher for the Marine rifleman. The M-320 is mounted below a standard infantry rifle but has the advantages of being side-loaded and to have its ladder...

The Czech Army is being offered a locally-produced CV-90 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) as confirmed to armadainterinational.com by a BAE Systems spokesperson. These new vehicles could replace the force’s existing Kurganmashzavod BMP-2 family tracked amphibious IFVs. Should the acquisition proceed, the Czech Army would...

Patria has announced that its AMV-28A eight-wheel drive armoured vehicle has completed testing and is ready for production.  The AMV-28A is an innovative development of the firm’s proven eight-wheel drive AMV vehicle family optimising the design to provide swim capability in sea state three...

In response to the 2nd June acts of political violence in London, the Blue Thunder unit of the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) was deployed for the first time in the UK. Blue Thunder is a 70-person unit formed after the Islamic State...

ECA is pushing forward collaboration among several of its unmanned systems notably the Iguana Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and IT-180 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The company recently demonstrated to the press the added value that collaborative work between UGVs and UAVs could bring to dangerous...

European Union (EU) member states’ willingness to participate in cooperative defence equipment programmes is supported by two organisations; the EDA and OCCAR. The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement (OCCAR/Joint Organisation for Armament Coopperation). Although established by...

The European Commission is working on new economic incentives to support member states’ willingness to cooperate regarding national and collective European Union (EU) security through the European Defence Action Plan. The European Commission (the EU’s executive body) considers the creation of a real European...