DefenceTalkThe Army is on the cusp of revolutionizing materials that go into armament construction, making for stronger, lighter and more durable weapons, Dr. Andrew Littlefield said. The key to this revolution is composite materials, said Littlefield, who is a mechanical engineer at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-looks-to-composites-for-tougher-lighter-armaments-63966/

DefenceTalkWithin 15 months after contract award Rheinmetall has produced state-of-the-art driving simulator and gunnery simulator systems for training Indonesian Leopard 2 personnel. The order is worth several million euros. The Leopard Gunnery Skills Trainer (LGST) and Driver Training Simulator (DTS) are specifically designed for training Leopard 2A4 tank crews, and will primarily be used for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/leopard-2-simulators-for-the-indonesian-army-pass-acceptance-tests-63953/

DefenceTalkGRAFENWOEHR, Germany: U.S. and German Soldiers teamed up to kick off a bilateral training exercise in Germany, April 16, as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Operation Freedom Shock, which is scheduled to run through April 28, includes troops from 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and the German […]https://www.defencetalk.com/operation-letzlingen-shock-begins-in-germany-63941/

DefenceTalkCSTC–A, Ministries of Defense (MoD), and Ministries of Interior (MoI) did not have controls in place to effectively manage accountability of the approximately 95,000 vehicles procured by DoD for Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) since 2005. In addition, MoD and MoI advisors were not confident that ANSF could effectively take over maintenance and sustainment of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/afghanistan-forces-cant-track-maintain-us-supplied-vehicles-63907/

DefenceTalkFuture versions of the Distributed Common Ground System – Army, or DCGS-A, will be less complex and easier to use, Army leaders told lawmakers. The DCGS-A system is an intelligence collection, processing, and dissemination tool that Army leaders have acknowledged is “complex” but “complete.” They say coming iterations of the tool will address the issue […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-plans-intelligence-system-to-be-lighter-weight-easier-to-use-63886/

DefenceTalkThe Army recently extended technology investment agreements with two commercial companies to continue concept refinement and technology maturation for future vertical lift, or FVL, research. The Army is continuing its ties with AVX Aircraft Company and Karem Aircraft Incorporated. “This is an opportunity to execute further technology maturation with these two partners and expand the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-aviation-continues-efforts-for-technology-development-63845/

DefenceTalkThe Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office has completed equipping the 1/501st Aviation Battalion, 1st Armored Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade, from Fort Bliss, Texas, with the RQ-7Bv2 (Tactical Common Data Link) Shadow Unmanned Aircraft System, or UAS. The unit is the first to receive the Shadow v2 and have it organically assigned to the battalion. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-equips-first-shadow-uas-v2-unit-63832/

DefenceTalkMilitary personnel and defense contractors celebrated delivery of the first low-rate initial production M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer to the Army during a ceremony here, April 9. “The M109A7 stands at the vanguard of a series of ground combat modernization upgrades, which will significantly enhance the Army’s combat fleet for decades to come,” said Heidi Shyu, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-accepts-delivery-of-first-m109a7-self-propelled-howitzer-system-63817/

DefenceTalkThe German army is to bring back into service around 100 tanks sold to industry, the ministry of defence said on Saturday. The move will bring to 328 the number of “Leopard 2” tanks the German army has at its disposal, up from 225 at present, a ministry spokesman told AFP, confirming a report in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/german-army-to-recommission-100-tanks-63814/

DefenceTalkNATO has a new ‘spearhead force’, known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which the Alliance has started to test. The VJTF is a brigade that will be able to deploy within 48 hours and will eventually include 5,000 troops. It is part of the NATO Response Forces (NRF), NATO’s high-readiness force […]https://www.defencetalk.com/natos-new-spearhead-force-gears-up-63768/