Defence`s Feeds

The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has completed upgrades to its active force of Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft.

French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu unveiled an action plan to accelerate ammunition production and relocate strategic activities during a meeting with...

President Vladimir Putin announced Russia's suspension of participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), accused Western countries of starting and sustaining the war in Ukraine, and outlined the prospects of socioeconomic development.

Milanion New Technologies Global Systems (NTGS) displayed a new member of the Alakran family of vehicle-mounted mortars at IDEX 2023, being held in Abu Dhabi from 20 to...

Milanion Group showcased new loitering munition launcher and counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) variants of its Agema multi-purpose 8×8 unmanned ground vehicle...

Nimr, part of the UAE's state-owned Edge Group, unveiled its Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) concept at IDEX 2023 being held in Abu Dhabi from 20 to 24 February.

Those without insider information wouldn't necessarily know to head downstairs at 17 Lwowska Street, in the heart of Warsaw, where

On 17 February, Britain's defence ministry, the MoD, began submitting its arguments to the Technology and Construction Court. The US C5ISR

Senator Lindsay Graham, one of former president Donald Trump's most staunch congressional allies, has raised more than $150,000 for his

Discussions have been ongoing since the start of the year between Ukrainian senior officers under armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny and a

It has been one year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Twelve challenging months in which Sergiy Rud, the

The US subsidiary of Israeli cyberintelligence firm Paragon, located near Washington, DC, just hired Holland & Knight to lobby the

The United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Protection Authority (CICPA) has been renamed as the National Guard. It was revealed during the...

Several recent or pending changes at the US Department of Defense (DoD) are intended to make it easier for small businesses to work with the large, complex organisation,...

US-based Fortem Technologies plans to nearly triple the size of its factory to meet growing demand for its counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) products, according to...

Americas The US Army has exercised a $76.1-million option to provide extended support for its Shadow tactical aerial drones. Under the agreement, Shadow developer Textron Systems will continue to supply maintenance, logistics, and field services for the fleet through 2023. The effort is being coordinated with the Shadow systems’ ongoing transition to the Block III configuration, […]

The European Defence Agency (EDA) has successfully closed the first phase of two projects focused on harnessing the potential of lithium-ion technology and electrified powertrains in military platforms. The results of the two projects, ELUVAT and LITBAT I, sought to put alternative power sources to the unique tests demanded by operational requirements. They have respectively shown the feasibility of an advanced electrified powertrain to meet military demands and sought to broaden the use of lithium-ion battery systems in defence applications with a set of requirements their use in a military setting and in future procurements.

ELUVAT and LITBAT I are both prepared within EDA’s Capability and Technology Group "Ground Systems” and have been executed by a consortium composed of industrial and research entities from across Europe.

ELUVAT

ELUVAT I (Innovative electric light utility all-terrain vehicle for defence purposes), involves the development of an all-terrain electrical light utility vehicle based on an existing legacy vehicle with a conventional driveline, to be modified by introducing an advanced electrified powertrain with in-wheel electric motors.

In the first phase, involving Slovenia (lead), Austria, Germany and The Netherlands as contributing Member States and Switzerland, the concept has been developed and validated through simulation, which covered space claim, weight, and performance issues, and has compared the new powertrain with the conventional powertrain. Different options for the power source of the electrified powertrain have been considered: a dedicated hybrid internal combustion engine, a battery pack, and a Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell to be operated by hydrogen.

The results of this first phase have made it possible to demonstrate the feasibility to meet operational requirements, highlighting critical issues and technological opportunities, and to choose the best architecture for the technology demonstrator that will be developed in a second phase.

The project also supports EU goals on energy efficiency and lowering the carbon footprint in the defence domain and is consistent with EU strategy on hydrogen, while also providing an opportunity for the development of dual use applications.

LITBAT I

LITBAT I which focuses on safety concepts and safety features of lithium-ion batteries and standardisation of most common battery format for lithium-ion technology, involves Austria (lead) and Germany, as contributing Member States, and Switzerland.

The projects aim at providing Military End Users with a set of requirements as a basis for specifications to be used in future procurement procedures. As lithium-ion batteries have become a prevalent power source in military applications due to their superior energy density and long service life they can exhibit thermal runaway if subjected to misuse or accidents, resulting in the emission of flames.

Despite this potential drawback, the benefits of utilising lithium-ion batteries in military operations far outweigh the risks. During LITBAT I, military requirements have been systematically gathered, aligned, and analysed to derive design specifications for safer and more resistant lithium-ion battery systems. Based on the first phase’s results, a representative battery system for land platform applications will be developed and tested in a follow-on phase.

Pan-European Consortia

“ELUVAT I” has been executed by a consortium composed of eight industrial and research entities:  the Austrian AVL List as project leader, the German AVL Schrick, the Swiss GDELS-Mowag, HyMove and Saluqi Motors from The Netherland and AVL-AST, Elaphe Propulsion Technology and University of Ljubljana from Slovenia.

“LITBAT I” has  been executed by a consortium composed of six industrial and research entities:  the Austrian AVL List as project leader, AVL Schrick and ICT Fraunhofer from Germany and GDELS-MOWAG, Berner Fachhochschule and Armasuisse as Swiss partners.

European Defence Agency

EDA supports its 26 Member States in improving their defence capabilities through European cooperation. Acting as an enabler and facilitator for Ministries of Defence willing to engage in collaborative capability projects, the Agency has become the hub for European defence cooperation with expertise and networks allowing it to the whole spectrum of defence capabilities.

Member States use EDA as an intergovernmental expert platform where their collaborative projects are supported, facilitated, and implemented. For more details, please see here.

The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) new experimental trials and evaluation vessel, XV Patrick Blackett, has departed Portsmouth to start sea acceptance tests (SATs).

Schiebel Corporation has detailed the development of a larger variant of its Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at IDEX 2023, being held in Abu Dhabi from 20...

Tekever has integrated a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload on its AR5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the company announced at IDEX 2023 being held in Abu Dhabi from...