The CS/AA3 gun – pictured above in service with the Cameroonian Defence Forces – has a maximum slant range of 11 km, but its effective slant range is 4 km and effective altitude is 3 km. (Cameroon Ministry of Defence)  The Bangladesh Army's Adhoc 57 Air Defence (AD) Regiment Artillery test-fired two CS/AA3 twin-barrel anti-aircraft gun systems for the first time during a firing exercise held in mid-March at Inanistha AD Firing Range in Cox's Bazar.  According to a press release by Bangladesh Armed Forces' media and public relations wing Inter...

A file photo of AASM Hammer guided bombs (in their imaging infrared seeker configuration) of the type Russia now claims to have intercepted over Ukraine. (Safran)  Russia has claimed to have intercepted a Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer launched at its forces in Ukraine.  Russian state-controlled media reported the claim on 6 March, quoting the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation as saying that ground-based air defences had shot down a single guided bomb “in the zone of a special military operation”.    The repo...

An Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile being launched from an Indonesian Navy Bung Tomo-class frigate. The country's latest attempt to replenish its stock of Exocet missiles has been delayed by non-conformity issues. (Indonesian Navy Armada I)  Indonesia will have to restart a process to replenish the country's stock of MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles after an earlier attempt failed because of licensing non-conformity issues.  A 24 February letter from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance's (MoF's) Directorate General of Budget Financing a...

Italy is acquiring the latest AIM-9X Block II+ air-to-air missile to equip its fleet of F-35 (pictured) combat aircraft. (Italian Air Force)  The United States has approved the sale of 66 Raytheon AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles to Italy, announcing a potential USD90.6 million sale on 15 March.  The US Department of State approval covers the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of an additional 28 Block II+ missiles to add to the 38 previously approved, as well as training missiles, related equipment, training, and support...

EvoLogics Sonobot 5 USV being demonstrated at Oceanology International 2024 in London on 13 March. (Janes/Neil Dee)  German company EvoLogics is planning to deliver a further batch of Sonobot unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to the Ukrainian armed forces. EvoLogics CEO Fabian Bannasch told Janes at Oceanology International 2024, held in London on 12–14 March, that his company is “currently preparing a fourth configuration of Sonobot with enhanced underwater data networking and positioning capabilities in order to guide and support complex und...

A Bayraktar Akıncı takes off with a Roketsan Çakir cruise missile for the test-firing announced on 1 March. (Baykar)  The Baykar Bayraktar Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is carrying out firing trials with versions of the Roketsan MAM-L and MAM-T guided bombs that can be used against targets concealed by cloud cover, the UAV's Turkish manufacturer announced on 15 March.  Both the MAM-L, which is the standard munition for Baykar's UAVs, and the MAM-T, a small glide bomb, usually use semi-active laser guidance, but the company said it was...

TCG  Istanbul  seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait enroute to the test site on 2 March.  (Cem Devrim Yaylali)    The Turkish Navy performed its first Hisar-D missile launch from the Midlas vertical launch system (VLS) installed onboard the TCG  Istanbul  in the second week of March.   The event marked the first launch from the indigenous VLS on the high seas. The frigate was observed sailing northbound through the Bosphorus Strait to the test site on 2 March.    Haluk Görgün, the president...

TCG   Istanbul   seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait enroute to the test site on 2 March.  (Cem Devrim Yaylali)  The Turkish Navy performed its first Hisar-D missile launch from the Midlas vertical launch system (VLS) installed onboard the TCG Istanbul in the second week of March.  The event marked the first launch from the indigenous VLS on the high seas. The frigate was observed sailing northbound through the Bosphorus Strait to the test site on 2 March.  Haluk Görgün, the president of the Defence Industry Agen...

The US Navy is seeking more money for Tomahawk missiles and systems. (Raytheon)  The fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget request includes USD6.6 billion for weapons procurement, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  This request is a slight decrease from the USD6.9 billion requested in FY 2024, budget documents show.  The USN is seeking to buy 2,656 weapons in FY 2025, compared with the 2,773 weapons the service sought to buy in FY 2024.  “The [FY 2025] focus is to continue to build up critical munitions inventories whil...

A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 2020. The aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A ARRW, a programme that is zeroed out in the FY 2025 budget. (US Air Force/Matt Williams)  The US Air Force (USAF) requested just shy of USD517 million to continue development of Raytheon's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) hypersonic air-breathing missile in its fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, but zeroed out the procurement of t...

A QELF Boxer is seen fitted with a passive radio frequency sensor that enables it to identify the locations of UAVs so they can be engaged with its RCT30 turret. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)  The Qatar Emiri Land Forces (QELF) stand at the DIMDEX 2024 show held in Doha from 4 to 6 March included a Boxer 8×8 armoured vehicle that has been modified to enable it to shoot down small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).    A Qatari general told  Janes  that his service is in the process of receiving 10 of the specially modified Boxers.   T...

The US Army's Precision Strike Missile is meant to strike targets as far as 400 km away. (US Army)  The multimode seeker that makes the US Army's Precision Strike Missile Increment 2 (PrSM Inc 2) unique and more advanced than Inc 1 is holding the capability back from its scheduled procurement in fiscal year (FY) 2025, according to budget documents.  While Inc 1 is designed for land targets, it is the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile multimode seeker that enables Inc 2 to perform maritime targeting for the army. The service is requesting funding f...

Poland has been approved for USD3.68 billion of air-launched missile sales to equip its front-line fighter force, including the F-16 (pictured here). (Polish Ministry of National Defence)  The US government has cleared the sale of air-launched missiles to Poland for a combined USD3.68 billion. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the US Department of State approvals in three separate notifications on 12 March.  These notifications covered 821 Lockheed Martin AGM-158B-2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extende...

The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) are each procuring 25 units of Big Bang Boom Solutions' long-range Vajra Sentinel C-UAS (pictured). (Big Bang Boom Solutions)  Chennai-based Big Bang Boom Solutions (BBBS) has secured two contracts worth more than INR2 billion (USD24 million) to provide its counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) to the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF).  Janes understands that the Indian Army and the IAF will each receive 25 units of BBBS' long-range Vajra Sentinel C-UAS by mid-2025.  In an interview t...

The Agni V – pictured above taking part in India's Republic Day parade in 2013 – is a nuclear-capable missile that can carry either a single warhead or multiple warheads over ranges up to 5,500 km. (Indian Ministry of Defence)  India's state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) test-fired the Agni V intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) equipped with multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle (MIRV) technology for the first time on 11 March.  According to a press release by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD...

The Pentagon's FY2025 budget request for Aegis ballistic missile defence would decrease spending compared to FY2024. (US Army)  The Department of Defense is requesting about USD1.3 billion for sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) in its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget, compared to about USD1.7 billion requested for FY 2025, according to budget documents released on 11 March.  The FY 2025 request includes 12 interceptors for USD491.4 million, compared to 39 interceptors for USD807.6 million requested in FY 2024.  The FY 2025 r...

Improving the GMD system has been a top priority for MDA. However, the effort suffered a major setback after a new kill vehicle programme was terminated. That programme was replaced by the NGI. (MDA)  The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is requesting approximately USD2.526 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2025 to improve its strategic missile defence system, known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), including funding to develop a new Next Generation Interceptor (NGI).  The agency's budget documents were released on 11 March but, breaking...

The Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missile, pictured, is jointly developed by the US and Japan. MDA suggested the GPI joint development with Japan will be pursued in a construct similar to that used for the SM-3 missile. (US Army)  The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has requested USD182 million in fiscal year (FY) 2025 “to continue development of Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) capability to address hypersonic missile threats and continue maturation of critical technology elements”.  This is down from USD209 million requested in fiscal year FY 2...

The US Navy and Army are jointly developing hypersonic technologies through the navy's Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) offensive hypersonic strike capability and the army's Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW). (US Navy)  President Joe Biden's budget request for fiscal year 2025, unveiled on 11 March, includes about USD744 million in procurement for the US Army's delayed long range hypersonic weapon (LRHW) missile system, more than four times the amount requested for procurement in fiscal year 2024.  After failing two flight tests in fisca...

The USAF intends to purchase 42 F-35s in FY2025, a lower number than FY 2024. An A-model aircraft is shown. (Lockheed Martin)  The US Air Force's (USAF's) fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request includes the acquisition of at least 90 aircraft and hundreds of missiles.  Aircraft lead the USAF procurement budget with 82 platforms listed in briefing materials, revealed on 11 March.  The procurement of Lockheed Martin F-35As leads with USD5.9 billion for 42 aircraft, down from the FY 2024 request of USD6.1 billion for 48 F-35s. The F-3...