Armada Dec Jan

THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SINCE 1976THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SINCE 1976

Issue 6/2014 December/JanuaryINTERNATIONAL

THE TRUSTED SOURCE FOR DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SINCE 1976

Cover Armada Dec 2014.qxp:Armada 11/26/14 9:27 PM Page 3

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03INTERNATIONAL 6/2014


INTERNATIONAL

Contents6/2014

www.armada.ch

06WHAT’S UP?SOON UP:EMBRAER’S KC-390

I Eric H. Biass

26GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION-VMAPPING URBANCANYONS

I Wesley G. Fox

36WHAT’S UP?HELLO CARL, WHAT ELSE?

I Paolo Valpolini

40EXPEDITIONARY VEHICLESTHE LIGHT STUFFI Paolo Valpolini

48CYBER WARFARETIME FOR CYBERWAR LAWS?I Peter Donaldson

55SHOW REPORTAUSA 2014I Paolo Valpolini

18SMALL ARMS UPDATE

While innovative companies explore the futurewith hypersophisticated carbon fibre barrels thatare probably worth far more than their weight in

gold, times are nevertheless pretty tough fordefence budgets. Yet a few important contracts are

awaiting approval in the small arms world.

10FAST PATROL VESSELSTHE MARITIMESURVEILLANCE SWISS-KNIFE

I Luca Peruzzi

SMALL ARMS CHATTERI Paolo Valpolini

COMPENDIUM SUPPLEMENTSOLDIER-WORNNIGHTVISION SYSTEMS ANDNIGHT RIFLE SIGHTSI Paolo Valpolini

Contents & Index_Armada Dec 14/Jan 15:Armada 11/26/14 10:32 PM

Index

Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding 12, 16

Airbus DS Optronics 10, 27, 28

American Motive Power Sys 42

Ares 14

Aresa International 14

ArmorLine 42

Aselsan 15

BAE Systems 21, 28, 29, 31 32, 49

Barrett 25

Beretta 19, 20, 21

BMT Group 15

Boeing 42, 54

Bollinger Shipyard 11

Burris 20

Cantiere Navale Vittoria 11, 14

Carl Zeiss Optronics 10

Cassidian Optronics 10

Catepillar 10

Ceska Zbrojovka 19

China Shipbuilding 16

Cisco 50

CloudFlare 49

Colt 19, 21

CMN 10

Damen Naval Shipbuilding 11

Defenture BV 44, 46

DRS 20, 21, 31, 42, 56

DSM Dyneema 42, 46

Elbit 08, 14, 15, 26, 28, 33

Embraer Defence & Security 06 , 07

Etihad Ship Building 16

Exelis 16, 19, 33

Fabrika Broni Lucznik 22

FLIR 03, 09, 21, 25, 26, 27

FN Herstal 19, 20

General Dynamics 42, 43, 44

GKN 42

Harris 42

Heckler & Koch 19, 46

Honeywell 15

Hutchinson 42

IAI 15, 16

Israel Shipyards 15, 16

Israel Weapons Industries 19, 23

Karachi Shipyard 16

Kongsberg 55

Kopin 55

KWM 45, 46

L3 06, 11, 27, 28, 31, 56

Laser Devices 20

Loc Performance Products 42

Lockheed Martin 52, 54, 57

Lurssen 12

MKEK 22

MAN 16

MBDA 12

Meopta 10, 11

Meprolight 15, 18, 20, 26

Mercedez Benz 46

Millog 12, 13, 32

MSBS Rifle 21, 22

MSI Defence System 16

MTU 12, 14, 15, 16

Navitas Systems 42

Newcon Optik 04, 06, 07, 08, 09, 12

Nightline 11

Nivisys 12, 27, 29

Northrop Grumman 16, 33, 54

O’Gara Sensor Systems 18

OIP Sensors 12, 17

Opticoelectron 14, 18, 25

Oto Melara 16

PCO 14, 19, 25

Photonis 05, 06, 07, 10, 12, 15

Polaris Defence 40, 43, 44

Polish Institute 22

Polska Grupa 07, 22

Pyser 06, 07, 10, 12, 16, 23

Qioptiq 09, 10, 20, 22

Rafael 16

Raytheon 21, 27, 33

Rheinmetall 10, 12, 17

Rhode & Schwarz 14

Rolls Royce 12, 14,16

Rondo Trading Group 44

Roush Industries 42

Saab 21, 28, 36, 37, 39

Sagem 08, 23, 24, 31

Schott 42

Selex 12,19, 24, 25, 32

Shvabe 07, 11, 18, 30

Siemens 50

SK Group 07

Steiner 20

Subaru 41

Symantec 49, 52, 53

T. Worx 20

TAR - Ideal 58

TenCate Advanced Armour 56

Thales 16, 17, 19, 32, 33, 54

Theon 14

Thermal Vision Tech 28, 30

Thermoteknix 36

Trijicon 26

VDL Group 44

Vectronix 13, 32, 33, 36

Voere 24

Vricon Systems 28

Wilco 10, 13, 19, 24, 30, 33

Yonka Onuk 14, 15

Zeiss Optics 22, 27

AR MODULAR 53

ARMADA 9

ARMADA DIGITAL C4

ARMADA SUBSCRIPTION 47

ASELSAN 21, 23, 25

BRUNSWICK 13

DEFENCE AND SECURITY THAILAND C2

DSEI 29

ESRI C2

IDEX C3

IMDEX 4

LAAD C3

LIMA 17

NORTHROP GRUMMAN C4

ODU 31

PHOTONIS 13

ROSOBORONEXPORT 34-35

SAAB 45

I INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

I INDEX TO MANUFACTURERSCompanies mentioned in this issue. Where there are multiple references to a company in an article, only the firstoccurence and subsequent photographs are listed below:



Issue 6/2014

December/January

INTERNATIONAL


This still unusual - not to say weird - object mightbecome a common sight in a not too distant future,as thinner walled steel barrels wrapped in heatdissipating structural carbon fibre shield turn into afinancially bearable reality. This example from Areswas photographed by the Author at he recent Ausaexhibition. See full story on page 18

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Copyright 2012 by Media Transasia Ltd.Publishing Office:Media Transasia Ltd.,1205 Hollywood Centre,233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.Tel: (852) 2815 9111, Fax: (852) 2815 1933Editor-in-Chief: Eric H. BiassRegular Contributors: Roy Braybrook,Paolo Valpolini, Thomas Withington

Chairman: J.S. UberoiPresident: Xavier CollacoSr. Manager International Marketing: Vishal MehtaManager Marketing: Jakhongir DjalmetovSales &Marketing Coordinator: Atul BaliCreative Director: Bipin KumarAsstt. Art Director : Ajay KumarProductionManager: Kanda ThanakornwongskulGroup CirculationManager: Porames ChinwongsChief Financial Officer: Gaurav KumarAdvertising Sales Offices� AUSTRIA, BENELUX, SWITZERLANDCornelius W. BontjePh: +41 55 216 17 81, [email protected]� FRANCEPromotion et Motivation, Odile OrbecPh: +33 1 41 43 83 00, [email protected]� GERMANYSam Baird Ph: +44 1883 715 697,[email protected]� ITALY, NORDIC COUNTRIESEmanuela Castagnetti-GillbergPh: +46 31 799 9028, [email protected]� PAKISTANKamran Saeed, Solutions Inc.Tel/Fax: (92 21) 3439 5105 Mob: (92) 300 823 8200Email: [email protected]� SPAINVía Exclusivas, Macarena Fdez. de GradoPh: +34 91 448 76 22, [email protected]� UK, EASTERN EUROPE, GREECE, TURKEYZena CoupéPh: +44 1923 852537, [email protected]� RUSSIAAlla Butova, NOVO-Media Ltd,Ph: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile : (7 960) 783 6653Email :[email protected]� USA (EAST/SOUTH EAST), CANADAMargie Brown, Ph: (540) 341 7581,[email protected]� USA (WEST/SOUTH WEST), BRAZILDiane Obright, Ph: (858) 759 3557,[email protected]� ALL OTHER COUNTRIESVishal Mehta, Tel: (91) 124 4759625, Mob: (91) 99 999 85425E-Mail: [email protected] Djalmetov, Mobile: (91) 98 995 50162E-Mail: [email protected]

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Controlled circulation: 25,029 (average per issue)certified by ABC Hong Kong, for the period1st January 2013 to 31st December 2013.Printed byMedia Transasia Thailand Ltd.75/8, 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II,Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue,Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.Tel: 66 (0)-2204 2370, Fax: 66 (0)-2204 2390 -1Subscription Information: Readers should contactthe following address: Subscription Department,Media Transasia Ltd., 1205 Hollywood Centre,233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.Tel: (852) 2815 9111, Fax: (852) 2851 1933

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Volume 38, Issue No. 6,December 2014/January 2015

Entries highlighted with Red numbers are found in Night Vision Compendium 2014

05 INTERNATIONAL 6/2014

Contents & Index_Armada Dec 14/Jan 15:Armada 11/26/14 10:43 PM Page 4


From a market point of view thisdraws an entirely new, and yesunprecedented, picture as neither theUnited States nor the Russians are

involved.Apart fromanumpteenth iterationof the venerable Hercules and after theunfortunate demise of the AN-70, themedium andmedium-heavymilitary worldtransport future should orbit around thesetwonew types in the foreseeable future (eventhe improvedC-17Bproject was abandonedin the even heavier slot). In a rather

interesting and unusual twist of events, thelarger and longer rangeaircraft haspropellersand the newest and smaller one hasturbofans. It is all themore interesting giventhe fact that the latter, theKC-390, otherwisefits in the somewhat broken-in shoes of theHerculeswhich is turbopropengined. Speed-wise, both the Atlas and the KC-390 belongto the same league, the former hitting theMach 0.72 mark and the latter 0.80. Andapart from the fact that both boastcapabilities as in-flight refuellers, this is aboutall the two have in common since one willbreak contact with the planet at max 141tonnes and theother at 81.

While as hinted above the KC-390 islooking at new ways of handling the trans-port duties so far carried out by the latestgeneration of the Hercules (the C-130J nowgenerally and affectionately referred to as theJuliet), current President of EmbrearDefence & Security Jackson Schneider flatlyrefuses to draw any performance compari-son with the American aircraft. This shows adramatic change in Embraer’s managementattitude compared with its more aggressiveand optimistic approach of recent years. Weshall avoid dwelling into matter for conjec-ture here, but suffice to say that Embraer hasgrown considerably since, that more inter-

Well that’s it, with the roll-out of the KC-390 from Embraer’s Xavan Peixoto’sworks on22October 2014 theWesternWorld—and there is every economical reason to believethat Brazil is part of theWesternWorld—has earned itself its second significantnew-generationmilitary transport aircraft.What is best is thatwhile the two aircraftinvolved—the first was the Atlas A400M that had itsmaiden flight in December 2009 andthe KC-390—will not be competing one against the other, they are already setting newthinking patterns in their own niches.

Eric H. Biass

Soon Up: Embraer’s KC-390

What’s Up?

What's Up KC-390:Armada 11/26/14 8:53 PM Page 2


ests in every acceptance of the word nowhave to be preserved, and that Embraer’sworld sales record-beating Phenom biz-jetsare also built inMelbourne (the Florida one).Nevertheless, and right from the outset theC-390, as it was then called (the «K» tankeroption had not yet cut in), clearly had the C-130 drawn into the centre of its cross-hairs,which is understandable given the fact thatBrazil with 22 aircraft has the second largestfleet of C-130Hs and one that has an aver-age age of more than 37 years. There weremany sub-targets in the strategy at the time:a) a clear intention to reduce dependencefrom America in defence matters, b) there-by offer a cheaper alternative based on anaircraft using many readily available com-ponents from the civilian aircraft produc-tion line and c) conquer markets of cash-strapped nations operating older Hercs thatwere beginning to be held together withduct tape and that are now, nearly ten yearson, clearly beyond redemption.

This digression from the main event,namely the roll-out of a major contributionto modern military transport, was neces-sary to bring about the awareness of the fact

that the KC-390 we see today has very littleto do with the C-390 Armada started to talkabout eight years ago when the concept wasunveiled. In fact, not little, but absolutelynothing, except for the 390 figure in its des-ignation. Many concessions had to be madein terms of technology for the politico-eco-nomic reasons briefly mentioned above.Secondly it was seen that the solution of—very schematically—turning an airlinerinto a shoulder-winged EMB-190 militarytransport was not in the end going to cutthe mustard and meet beancounterapproval. So rather than using ready-madecomponents and end up with somethingthat already existed in terms of capacitiesand not necessarily cheaper, Embraer

decided to opt for the obvious solution,namely draw on very fresh technologicalknow-how to optimise designs rather thanuse existing parts in need of subsequentadjustment. This of course came to a costcompared with early hoped-for assump-tions—a cost that must have createdimmense upheavals within Embraer which,in spite of being an economy-run company,is still largely government-owned. Theresultant aircraft cost increase had the sadeffect to rebuke the obvious initial willingpartners in the programme in terrible anddesperate need to replace a moribund fleetof transport aircraft—South Africa, ofcourse, amongst others. But the truth ishere: even if today the military world now

At roll-out time Embraer had not yet chalkedup any firm export orders, although letters of

intent have been received which couldamount to orders for a total of 32 aircraft with

6 from Chile, 6 from Portugal, 6 fromArgentina, 2 from the Czech Republic and 12

from Colombia. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)

The undercarriage fairings have been designed to prevent wheels from projecting debris fromrough landing strips into the air intakes. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)


heavily draws on civilian technologies(which was still the opposite only twodecades ago, roughly until the portable tele-phone actually started to be truly portable),it can not always draw on identical designs.

I STATUSEmbraer is already building a second proto-type and the current one is expected to taketo the air before the end of 2014. Accordingto KC-390 programme director PaoloGastãowho spokewith Jackson Schneider ata press conference shortly after the roll outceremony, two prototypes will suffice tocarry out all testing before delivery of thefirst production unit to the Brazilian AirForce during the second half of 2016. Askedwhether the two prototypes would be laterrefurbished to complement (as opposed tojoin) the 28 aircraft ordered by the BrazilianAir Force last May, Gastão replied “yes”.This being said, another non-flying air-frame, plus a number of sections are usedfor static and structural testing. As alreadymentioned above, Embrear did not want tomake any comparisons with the Juliet, butthe twomen explained that “there is nothingthat our turbofans cannot do and that theturboprops can”. Gastão emphasised that theInternational Aero V2500 turbo-engines

had a very high bypass ratio which enabledthe aircraft to be less subjected to possibleingestion of foreign objects during opera-tion from semi-prepared airstrips, some-thing that the twometre clearance under theengines and the ground also helped to avoid.Turning to capacities, Gastão explained

that the aircraft’s maximum cargo capacityvaried from 23 to 26 tonnes. The 23 tonnesrefer to a load spread out throughout thehold, while the 26-tonne load refers to acompact cargo load that could be adequate-ly emplaced on the aircraft’s centre of grav-ity. Technically, the aircraft can carry 80 sol-diers or 66 paratroopers (who can jump outthrough two rear air stream fairing-protect-ed side doors), three Humvees, aBlackhawk, or a Lav-25. We were notallowed to visit the interior of the plane, butthe author’s walk under the tail endrevealed that its huge ramp constituted asizeable portion of the deck length. This,explained Gastão, enabled to diminish theangle between the top of the ramp and theactual cargo floor, but that the ramp alsohad the capacity to lift the last embarkablebatch of cargo to a maximum of 10,000pounds deposited on it to shut clean.


What’s Up?

The flags under that of the Brazil on the side of the fuselage are not indicative of customers but ofindustrial partner nations that include Argentine, Portugal and the Czech Republic. The self-protection suite is from AEL, which is the Brazilian subsidy of Elbit. The air-refuelling capability ofthe aircraft will enable it to operate over long distances, from the Amazon region right down to theAntarctic, but the aircraft will also be equipped to dispense fuel from two tanks accommodated inthe hold via two underwing hose and drogue systems. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)

Wingspan : 35.05 mLength : 32.20mHeight : 11.86mMax cruise speed : Mach.80Max altitude : 26,000 ftRange with 23 tonne load : 1,380 nmReconfigurable for : Air resupply, Air assault & infiltration, Airlift operations,

Air refuelling of fighter aircraft and slower helicopters,Medevac, Firefighting and Search and rescue. (Embraer)


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Issue 3/2014

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Armada Brand AD:Layout 1 10/1/14 10:32 PM Page 1


Fast Patrol Vessels

W hile in the past, theNorthernEuropean and America werethe most prolific builders oftheseplatforms togetherwith

European shipyards, the latter and the rest-of-the-world arenowgainingmomentum.

French shipyards are themost active,withCMN (Construction Mécaniques deNormandie) known not only for its

Combattante family of fast attack craft, withmore than 90 units built and the object ofcontinuous improvements, but also for itsrange of Vigilante family of constabularypatrol vessels and the three new-generation43-metre maritime surveillance trimaransunder construction forMozambique (undera large contract assigned in 2013 which alsoincludes six patrol vessels). A collaborationbetween CMN and naval architect NigelIrens, the Ocean Eagle 43 is a compactmultirole trimaran offering a unique

performance-to-cost ratio anda top speedof30 knots. It has a crewof sevenplus an eight-manboarding teamwhile the combat systemincludes one 20/30 and two 12.7 mmremotely controlledgunsplus amulti-sensorand combatmanagement system.

Oceaoffersacompleterangeofcustomisedsmall-andmedium sized aluminium hulledplatforms from 12 to 85 metres with speedsof 20 to 55 knots amongst which are the 24-metre FPB 72 and 32-metre FPB 98. Thelatter is capable of 35knotsunderCaterpillar

Luca Peruzzi

The drift of maritime surveillance requirements towardsmultirole platforms able toconductmilitary, homeland security and search-and-rescuemissions, has caused thetraditional ColdWar inherited fast attack and heavily armed types built by thehundreds formilitary duties to giveway to smaller and faster patrol boat designs.

The MaritimeSurveillance Swiss-knife

Fast Patrol Boats:Armada 11/26/14 8:56 PM Page 2


diesel engine power and waterjets, and isarmed with a remotely controlled 30 mmDS30BMk2gunmount,whichhasbeensoldtoAlgeria, Benin andSenegal.Raidco Marine also offers a portfolio of

patrol boats that includes the 12- to 36-metre double-chine deep-V RPB range,whichnow includes the latestRPB33built byUfast shipyard for Raidco Marine. Thismodel was delivered toTogo and Senegal in2013 and ordered by Ivory Coast while the20-metre RPB 20 model was ordered by

Libya in 2014. Equipped with two 1,958 hpdiesel engines and offered with eitherwaterjets or propellers yielding amaximumspeed of 33 knots, a notable feature of theRPB 33 is a 360° surveillance panoramicbridge.Weapon options include one 20mmgun and two 12.7 mm, in addition to alaunch and recovery stern ramp for a 6.15-metre rigid hull inflatable.The Netherlands’ Damen Naval

Shipbuilding group is offering a range ofsecurity and patrol vessels ranging from

seven to more than 200 metres in length,including interceptors and patrol platforms.Damen platforms incorporate the results ofboth ‘EnlargedShip’ and ‘AxeBow’ concepts,respectively improving the sea-keepingcharacteristics of high-speed vessels andenhancingplatformoperability, comfort andcrew safety, in addition to reducing fuelconsumption.This design allowedBollingershipyard in America to win the US CoastGuard Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutterplatform inSeptember 2008.

The Italian’s Custom Services, known as theGuardia di Finanza, has two new large patrol

vessels based on the Damen shipbuildinggroup’s 58-metre Stan Patrol 5509 design.Assembled at the Italian Cantiere NavaleVittoria acting as prime contractor, it is

equipped with a combat system designed byAlmaviva. (Cantiere Navale Vittoria)

Ocea boat builder offers a widerange of small-andmedium-sizedaluminium platforms, includingthe 24-metre and 30-knot capableFPB 72Mk 2 here seen inSuriname Coast Guard livery.(Bernard Prezelin)

Raidco Marine’s latest double-chine deep-V hull design, the RPB33 is built by Ufast shipyard.Capable of 40 knots, its notablefeature is a 360° panoramicsurveillance bridge. (JacquesPradignac et Leo)


With a design largely based on the Stan4708 patrol vessels already employed by theSouth African Government, the 353-tonneand47-meter longcutter ismannedbyacrewof 22 and is armed with a remote-control 25mm Bushmaster gun and four 12.7 mmmachine guns. The Stan Patrol platformsfamily ranges from the 60-metre Stan Patrol6011 capable of 26.5 knots to the 125-metreStan Patrol 1204 with a maximum speed of35knots. Between themare sevenplatforms,such as the 58-metre Stan Patrol 5509whichforms the basis of the Italian CustomServices’two main patrol vessels, built andintegrated in ItalybyCantiereNavaleVittoriaandequippedwitha combat systemdesignedby Italian company’sAlmaviva.

In addition to luxury yachts, Lürssen isknown worldwide for its high-speed craftandhistoryas combatant vesselsprovider toarange of main and less known navies andgovernmental services. The current productportfolio ranges from the 28-metre FPB 28with a maximum speed of 35 knots to theFPB 57 combatant fast craft capable of 38knots and the 35-metre TNC 35 with sternlaunching ramp and an armament packagethat includes a 20/30main gun. Lurssen hasbeen reported to be involved in discussionson the delivery of a fleet of patrol vessels toSaudi Arabia, although there is no officialconfirmationof this.

Fassmer is also offering a 21-metre fastpatrol boat, which has been sold to threecustomers including the Cambodian Navyand theBulgarianCoastGuard. SwedeShip is

known for its familyofmulti-rolehigh-speedvessels, which range from 16 to 27metres inlength. The latter, known as the Patrol 27model, has been acquired by United ArabEmirates Naval Forces through Abu DhabiShip Building (ADSB) and being built bothby the Swede Ship and ADSB shipyard. As amulti-role compact high-speed vessel formedium range surveillance and weaponengagement of asymmetric threats in aflotilla configuration, the Emirati’s navalforcesGhannatha II patrol boat programmeinvolves twelve vessels equippedby two2,432hp MTU diesel engines and Rolls-Royce

FF600 waterjets allowing a 45-knotmaximum speed. These boats are equippedwith Rheinmetall 27 mmMLG 27 and OtoMelaraHitrole-GwithGAU-19A triple 12.7mm guns, together with four MBDAMarteMk 2/N antishipmissiles—allmanaged by asmall combat management system built bySelex ES. The sensors suite includes GEMElettronica radar, Selex ES IFF and a C-protectionunit. Inaddition to theGhannathaphase II programme, the UAENaval Force’sPhase I, 24-metre transport vessels are beingupgraded with the same combat electronicssuite but differentweapon systemspackage.


Fast Patrol Vessels

US Coast Guard’s Sentinel class fast response cutters are based on adesign largely derived from the Dutch Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel andbuilt by Bollinger shipyard in America. Originally a design for the SouthAfrican Government, the 353-tonne and 47metre cutter now has a highermaximum speed, a stern launching ramp, fixed pitch propellers, andwater tight bulkheads. (US Coast Guard)

The United Arab Emirates’ Ghannata Phase I fast patrol boats are based on a 24-metretransport vessel designed by Swede Ship Marine. (Luca Peruzzi)



Fast Patrol Vessels

I MEDITERRANEANThe Mediterranean basin main shipyardshave been heavily involved in theconstruction of fast patrol vessel in the past,but today only a few are specialised sites ormaintained such capability.Aresa International inSpain isdeliveringa

range of patrol craft to the Cameroon navy,including two new 24-metre 2400 CPVDefenders and two 32-metre Aresa 3200OPVs,bothequippedwitha fast interventioninflatable. The 32-crew 2400 CPVDefendercan be equipped with two-2,800 hp enginesdriving propellers or two-4,800 hp-pluswaterjet powerpacks delivering amaximumspeed of 30 knots, and an armament suite ofone 20 mm and two 12.7mm remotelycontrolled guns.The32-metre, 32 crew3200CPV patrol craft is also available withpropeller and waterjets propulsion options,the latter yielding a maximum speed of 25knots. RoadmanPolyships, for its part, has arange of glass-reinforced plastic, fast patrolboats ranging from 10 (Roadman 33) to 44metres (Roadman 145) that have beenexported almost throughout theworld.Italy’s Intermarine shipyardnearLaSpezia

is specialised in all-composite material craftand mine countermeasures vessels, anddelivers to navies, coast guards and customsservices worldwide. A customs service is forexample receivingboth28(Bigliani class) and22-metre (Buratti class) fibre-reinforcedplastic fastpatrolboatsdesigned tooperate athigh speed even in rough seas. They can befitted with different engines and propulsion

systems (propellers or waterjets). With arespectivedisplacementof100and56 tonnes,thesecraft arebeingused for lawenforcementduties and patrol missions and can hit 40-45and 30 knots respectively, depending on thepropulsion configuration. The combat suiteis based on GEM Elettronica/Almavivacommand, control and navigation suite, andRhode & Schwarz communications. Thearmament is respectively based on a singleOtoMelara30or12.7mmguns.Cantiere Navale Vittoria shipyard near

Rovigoon theAdriaticCoast is providing 12patrol boats to the Tunisian Navy andNational Guard under a security assistancepackage funded by the Italian Government.

These belong respectively to the 27-metreand 90-tonne P270 and 35-metre and 140-tonne P350 models of aluminium craft,which indifferent versionshave been sold tonational and Mediterranean customers,including Libya, Croatia, Slovenia, TunisiaandRomania.TheP270hasacrewof14andawater propulsion system comprising acentreline Kamewa Rolls-Royce 40A3 andtwoKamewaRolls-Royce 50A3, eachdrivenby a MTU 12V2000M84 engine, while theP350 is powered by twoMTU16V4000M93and Rolls-Royce 63S3 waterjets, for amaximum speed of respectively 35 and 38knots. Both types are fittedwith a command,control andcommunications, andnavigationsystemboastingSimradandFurunoradars, amast-mountedoptronic sensor and satcoms,all integrated by Italian AlmavivA group.Armament can include a 20-30 mm maingun. Also on the Adriatic coast, the Adria-Mar shipbuildinggroup ismarketinga familyof 31-metrePV30-LSandotherpatrol crafts.Turkey’s Yonka Onuk and Ares are

specialised in patrol craft. The formersupplies a rangeofproductsworldwide, fromthe15-metreFast InterventionCraftMRTPtothe 34-metre patrol/attack craft MRTP. Thelatter has been ordered together with thesmaller 16-metreMRTPby theRoyalQatariNavy in2012withdeliveries starting late thatyear. The MRTP-34 is based on the one-

Italy’s Cantiere Navale Vittoria shipyard is offering both the27-metre and 90-tonne P270 and 35-metre and 140 tonne P350aluminium craft, versions of which have been sold to nationaland international customers, including Croatia, Libya,Romania, Slovenia and Tunisia. Here seen is the Tunisian Navyversion of the P 350. (Cantiere Navale Vittoria)

Italy’s Intermarine shipyard is building fastpatrol boats for the Italian Custom Service infibre-reinforced plastic. Designed to operateat high speeds even in rough seas, they canbe fitted with a variety of engines propulsionsystems. (Italian Customs Service)


metre shorter MRTP-33 model alreadydelivered to the Turkish Coast Guard andother international customers, and is basedon the proprietary ‘OE-01’ deep V hulldesign, which enables, depending on engineselection and boat configuration, to reachspeeds over 50 knots in calm waters and upto 30 knots in sea state 4. The 38-metreMRTP 34 high-speed propulsion systemconsists of two MTU 16V2000M90 dieselsandaHoneywellTF50gas turbine, all drivingMJP waterjets. The diesels allow 28 knots

speed, while the gas turbine engagementenables to reach its maximum speed. TheYonka Onuk can accommodate a choice ofarmament that includes aBoforsMk440mmoranAselsanStop stabilised turret,medium-range anti-ship missiles, short-range airdefence missiles launcher and two AselsanStamp stabilised turrets with 12.7 mm gun.Electronics include a 2D radar, electro-optical director, search and rescue or specialforces support equipment, and self-protectiondecoys.

In 2013 Ares shipyard signed anagreement covering the delivery of 17 patrolboats to the Qatari Coast Guard to bedesignedby theBritishBMTGroupandbuiltin advanced composite materials. Thepackage includes five 23-metre Ares 75Herculeswith amaximumspeedof 52knots,ten33-metreAres 110Hercules capableof 47knots and twoof 46-metre, 40-knotAres 150Hercules. The programmewill run over fiveyearswith the first vessel on sea trails early in2016. Ares is also active in other regions intheMiddleEast, suchas inBahrain,where it istodeliver 16-metre patrol boat.Israel’s need to protect its coastline and

offshore oil and gas installations led to thedevelopment of fast patrol vessels withcombat capabilities. Israel AerospaceIndustries (IAI) and Israel Shipyards have along experience of combat-proven craftrespectively represented by the SuperDvoraand Shaldag family of craft. The 25-metre,50-tonne Super Dvora in its latest Mk3iteration has a state of the art propulsionsystemwith articulating surfacedrive (ASD)claiming higher overall speeds, quickeracceleration and a better power-to-weightratio. Capable to reach 45 knots at normalload, the 14-crew Super Dovra Mk3 inservice with Israel is equipped with a self-protection system against shore-basedthreats and can be armed with remotelycontrolled andoptronic-slaved23/25/30mm


Already ordered or built for Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Israel, Nigeria, Romaniaand Sri Lanka, Israel Shipyard’s ShaldagMk V fast patrol boat is being builtlocally for Azerbaijan naval forces. With a 32.65-metre long and a 6.2-metrebeam deep-vee hull, the Mk V version is powered by twoMTU 16V2000 allowingfor a dash speed of over 40 knots (Israel Shipyard)

The Turkish Yonka Onuk shipyard has a range ofproducts that starts fromMRTP Fast Intervention Craftto 34-metre MRTP 3 patrol/attack craft. This one isarmed with amain gun, eight anti-ship and two lightsurface-surfacemissile launchers, in addition to two12.7 mm remotely controlled guns. (Luca Peruzzi)



Fast Patrol Vessels

guns, typically a stabilised 25 mm RafaelTyphoonwhichcanalso receive a twinSpike-ERmissile launcher, amanually operated 20mm and two 7.62 mm machine guns. ANorthrop Grumman Sperry Marine BridgeMasternavigation suite andamast-mountedelectro-optical turret (either El-OpMSIS orIAITamanPOP300) form the sensor suite.In2013IsraelShipyardswonmajororders,

today identified to be from Azerbaijan, toprovide local building support for six 62-metre offshore patrol vessels and a samenumber of latest generation fast patrol craftfor the local Coast Guard andNavy. Alreadyorderedorbuilt todate forCyprus,EquatorialGuinea, Israel, Nigeria, Romania and SriLanka, the Shaldag Mk V differs from theearly versions from a larger superstructureandaclosedbridge.Witha32.65metre lengthand a 6.2 metre beam deep-vee hull, the MkV version is powered by twoMTU 16V2000diesels driving MJP or KaMeWa waterjets,

allowing for a dash speed of 40 knots and amaximum sustained speed of 35 knots. Seastate 4–capable and with a crew of 10 to 14members, the aluminium craft can beequipped with a combat suite including aremotely controlled 23/25 mm RafaelTyphoon stabilised gun, two 12.7/7.62 mmMini-Typhoongunsystems, four12.7mmor7.62 mmmachine guns plus one 20/23 mmgun and four to eight short-range missiles.Sensors include a surface search radar andeither aRafaelTopliteor an IAIPOP.In addition to thenationalmarket,which

mainly boils down to the Coast Guard, USshipyards have found opportunities withforeign military sales packages. Throughthese, Swiftships has delivered twelve 35-metre aluminium boats to the Iraqi navy.This model is equipped with three enginesrated at 2,450 hp powering either andpropellers or waterjets to provide a maxspeed of 30 knots. Crewed by 12, the boat is

armedwithone 30mmMSIDefense SystemoranOtoMelara remotelyoperatedgun, two12.7 and two7.62mmguns.Specialised in aluminium-made vessels

for frontline and support duties, AustralianAustal also produces a range of monohulldesign patrol crafts. In addition to ten 37-metre and 29-knot capable patrol boats forYemen, and previously others for Kuwait,Austal supplied six 30-metre aluminiumfastpatrol craft for the Trinidad and TobagoCoast Guard in 2009-10. These are versatileplatforms for sustained surveillance in thearchipelago territorial sea, equippedwith two2.215 hp MTU 16V2000 M92 engines andRolls-Royce Kamewa SIII waterjets pushingtheboat atmore than40knots.Armedwitha20 mm gun and two general purpose guns,these boats can accommodate 12 crewmembers and are providedwith a tender forsearchand rescueduties.Austal has alsowonan international tender to provide four 21.2-metre inshoreboats forMalta’sArmedForcesin 2009. Equipped with two 1.209 hp MAND2842 LE410 diesel engines driving fixedpitch propellers 26+ knots-capable boats areequipped with a stern launching ramp for arigid hull inflatable, two 7.62 mmmachineguns anda12.7mmgun.From theMiddle East to Asia and Pacific

Rim, thereareanumberof shipyardsactive inthis sector, including Abu Dhabi ShipBuilding (ADSB) and Etihad Ship Building(the joint-venture between Fincantieri) andAl Fattan Ship Industry in the UAE thatspecialises in aluminium fast patrol boats.Karachi Shipyard & EngineeringWorks forits part supplies 39-metre, 250-tonnemulti-purpose auxiliary craft. Among Indianshipyards,mentionhas tobemadeofGardenReach Shipbuilders and Engineers’ CarNicobar-class 49-metre fast patrol boat andof Larsen & Toubro’s 46-metre fast patrolvessel design, while Indonesian PT PalindoMarine delivered a range of patrol boats tothe local Navy. Chinese shipyards are alsoactive in this sector, including CSTC with alargeproductportfolio ranging from20 to46metre inshore patrol craft to the 250-tonnepatrol craft here illustrated. ChinaShipbuilding and Offshore InternationalCompany (CSOIC) has several projectsamongstwhich are stealth attack vessels.

In addition to ten 37-metre and 29-knotcapable patrol boats for Yemen and Kuwait,Austal supplied six 30-metre aluminium fastpatrol craft to Trinidad and Tobago CoastGuard in 2009-10. (Austal)

Chinese shipyards are active in this sector. CSTC has a large portfolio of products that rangefrom 20-metre to 250-tonne patrol craft and fast attack platforms. China Shipbuilding andOffshore International Company are even working on stealth attack vessels. (Luca Peruzzi)


AD Check.qxp:Armada 11/26/14 4:25 PM Page 1


Small Arms ChatterWhile innovative companies explore the future with hypersophisticated carbon fibrebarrels that are probably worth far more than their weight in gold, times arenevertheless pretty tough for defence budgets. Yet a few important contracts areawaiting approval in the small arms world. The major one concerns India where actuallytwo tenders are open, one for a close quarters battle carbine that will replace old 9 mmsubmachine guns, the second being for assault rifles to replace the indigenouslydesigned Insas rifle, 359 Army infantry units and 100 special forces andcounter-insurgency battalions awaiting those new weapons.

Small Arms Update

Small Arms:Armada 11/26/14 9:00 PM Page 2


Most of these will be producedunder licence by the OrdnanceFactory Board following atransfer of technology from the

original manufacturer. The first tender seesthree competitors, Beretta with its ARX160,IsraelWeapons Industrieswith theGalilAcecarbine, andColtwith itsubiquitousM4.Theoverall requirement should be in excess of

160,000 units – with a first batch of onequarter of this together with over 33millionrounds of 5.56x45 mm ammunition beingsoon needed and bought straight away fromthe original designer. As for the assault rifletender, which foresees an overall need ofsome220,000 rifles, the IndianArmywants aweapon capable to shift quickly from 5.56mm Nato to 7.62x39 mm and vice-versa.Competitors here are Beretta with theARX160, Colt with the Colt Combat Rifle,CZ with the CZ 805 Bren and IWI with theAce 1.While a shortlist for the close quartersbattle (alsoknownasCQB) tender isdue tobeannounced soon (tests were completed inJuly2014), the assault rifle contractwill comelater as trials involving all possible climaticconditions have started in early September2014.Whenanannouncement regarding thismatterwill bemade is anybody’s guess.The second huge small arms programme

is the replacement of Famas used by the

French Armed Forces. As no small armsmass producers have survived in France,the DGA had to look abroad, but five com-petitors stand in line: Beretta with theARX160, CZ with the CZ 805 Bren, FNHerstal with the Scar-L, Heckler & Kochwith the HK416A5 and Thales Australiawith the F90. The future rifle, which isknown in France as Arme Individuelle duFutur (individual weapon of the future) willbe a 5.56x45 mm weapon with an initialrequirement for 90,000, equally subdivided

between assault rifles and carbines. Thetender, officially published in May 2014,also includes an undisclosed number ofunderslung grenade launchers, as well as 38million training rounds and 92,000 40mmanti-personnel, smoke and training low-velocity grenades. The winner should beannounced in December 2016.

I INTEGRATION IS THE BUZZ WORDTurning to new features in assault rifles,integration has become the buzz word andnumerous companies are thus eyeing smartrails in place of current Picatinny rails thatwill maintain the same mechanical cou-pling capability, but will add power anddata distribution (with a main batteryinstalled in the buttstock in most cases).This will allow accessory manufacturers todo away with cables and batteries, reducesubsystem dimensions and weight, and pullthe centre of gravity backwards, which

added to a slight overall weight decreasewill have a beneficial impact on a soldier’sfatigue at the end of a patrol.One company that is looking in that

direction is FNHerstal from Belgiumwhichis currently developing the Tasam (TargetAcquisition & Situational AwarenessModule), a modular system centred on aNato standard-compliant powered rail ableto transmit both power and data betweenthe different modules. ZigBee is the pro-posed solution for wireless communica-

Paolo Valpolini

An Italian mountain soldier with aARX160 equipped with an Aimpoint

sight; soon Italian Army infantryteams will include a designated

marksman armed with a BerettaARX200 in 7.62 mm calibre

equipped with thecompany ICS.

(Armada/P. Valpolini)

FN Herstal of Belgium is developing theTarget Acquisition & SituationalAwareness Module which is centred ona power and data rail that allows easyintegration of all subsystems.(Armada/P. Valpolini)


tions between modules, though a Bluetoothsolution is also envisaged if smartphonescan be involved. Sensor packs including,inter alia, day/night imagers, GPS, digitalmagnetic compass, elevation sensors andlaser rangefinder, can be installed and pow-ered from a central battery. Visible and/orinfrared laser pointers can join the suitewith data transmitted to a helmet-mounteddisplay or forwarded to a higher commandechelon using wireless communication.Target designation could thus be carriedout at lower levels, ensuring a more accu-rate fire support.Rifle digitisation is not only uniquely

focused on the operational aspect; indeedlogistic can also draw its advantages and tothis end FNH is developing the SAM mod-ule that resides in the pistol grip. This has ashot counter and a localisation and identifi-cation system allowing logisticians to opti-mise weapon maintenance operations andthereby ensure better availability andreduced operational costs.Beretta Defense Technologies is also

going digital, as evidenced a while ago withthe i-Protect system and the PX4i handgun.In terms of assault rifles, Beretta USA hasteamed with local T.Worx Ventures, whichdeveloped the Intelligent Rail originallyaimed at the M16/M4 family. TheAmerican branch of the Italian small armsmanufacturer and T.Worx are working onan evolution of that smart rail for Beretta tointegrate it in a modified ARX-160 and

other company-made weapons. The use ofstate-of-the-art materials cut down weightscompared to the Picatinny but maintainedexactly the same profile, and a series of con-nectors along the rail ensure power anddata transmission through a Broadcast andUnknown Server (BUS).Each couple of contacts can accept a volt-

age of between 4 and 32 Volts and a maxi-mum current of 2 Amps. Data transmission

throughput is between 1 and 5 MB andadapts to the accessories. Batteries can befitted either in the pistol grip or in the butt-stock, and two configurations are available:four CR123A or AA batteries, or two 18650Li-Ion rechargeable batteries in the grip, orfour 18650, eight CR123A or 12 AA in thelarger capacity buttstock. According toT.Worx representatives, the polymer casingof the ARX series will provide adequatespacing for cables to run between the railand the battery, rail segments being instal-lable in various positions on the receiver toaccept a variety of accessories. The companyestimates that the suppression of batteriesand cables hitherto contained in each singleaccessory will cut weight by 270 grams and,even more importantly, that the centre ofgravity would significantly shift backwards.Currently Beretta is working on a new butt-stock to host standard or rechargeable bat-teries, while the optronic companies of thegroup or linked to it, such as Burris, LaserDevices or Steiner, are starting to developproducts aimed at smart rail integration.Steiner is heading the development of

what will be a joint Beretta portfolio,namely the Innovative Combat Sight, theincreased effectiveness of which is para-mount to Beretta since efficiency is a directdividend of diminished time of engage-ment. The ability to quickly engage is a keyfactor, as is correcting the bullet drop innear real time, especially as range increas-es. The sight is based on a x6 Steiner opticsight, a quick response laser rangefinderand a ballistic computer, which allows thesoldier to obtain, by only pressing oneremotely positioned button, the corrected


Part view of a screen generated by the FN Herstal Small Arms Management programmeshowing the management of a small arms depot, with among other data the number of roundsleft per weapon and the estimated run-out date. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

To develop a smart rail for its rifles BDTtasked Beretta USA to team up with T.WorxVentures; the team is developing a solutionleveraging T.Worx experience acquiredwith the rail developed for the M16/M4weapons. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

Small Arms Update


reticule position and hence the accurateaiming spot. An angular sensor providingcorrection when shooting at angles within±45° from horizontal is also included. Testshave been carried out with the two firstprototypes and lead to a 40% averageimprovement compared to a standard 4xoptical system. A three minute of angle red

dot sight on top of the sight caters to closerange engagements. Production sights willbe rubberised to increase shock resistance,the overall weight being estimated ataround 820 grams. The ICS will be pro-grammable at depot level to suit differentweapons, the aim being to preclude thebasic soldier to modify settings. According

to Beretta the sight cost will be comparableto that of a standard 3-12 x 50 optic. By lateOctober 2014 Beretta was planning to haveeight advanced prototypes available, withone on the new ARX-200 in 7.62x51 mmcalibre being expected to start qualifica-tions in early January 2015.Beretta is for the time being very quiet

about the above rifle, but it seems that theItalian Army has already filed an order for430 with the new sight with a view to pro-viding each infantry squad with a desig-nated marksman armed with that system(the quantity being sufficient to equiparound 15 regiments).At AUSA 2013 Colt Canada introduced

the Soldier/Sniper Weapon & ObserverReconnaissance Devices suite – Sword inshort – that adds carbine power, data andnavigation capabilities to aC7.One year laterthe technology demonstrator had evolvedinto a product, the company exhibitingSword Gen.2 while a Gen.3 is already under-way to improve the sensor suite, simplify therail mechanism, and get rid of the electronicinterface with considerable weight saving.The company abandoned polymers, as thesewere not ensuring zero holding. Mechanicalelements are nowmade of aluminium, whilethe new rail mechanism allows moving thecentre of gravity backward and making thesystem weight-neutral. Data are now trans-ferred through the rail, throughput increas-ing to Gbps level. During the year ColtCanada supplied limited numbers of Swordkits to several customers for evaluation. TheBritish Ministry of Defence acquired six,which are also being used on the LMT


A view of the latest sensors added to the Sword suite by Colt Canada and that of theSitaWare software with added functionalities. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

The new (fore) and old (aft) version of the Polish MSBS rifle inconventional configuration; the most apparent difference is the extended

handguard of the latest model. (Armada/P. Valpolini)


L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle. The CanadianArmy has acquired a few and installed themon C7 assault rifles as well as on two crew-served weapons of unspecified type, as didthe US Marine Corps incidentally. TheSitaware software has also been improved toadd new features.Turning to the new Polish Army rifle,

which is part of the Tytan soldier moderni-sation programme launched on 1 July 2014,the prime contractor is PCO, the publicowned optronic company now part ofPolska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), thePolish Armaments Group that brings allPolish defence public companies under asingle banner. The responsibility for smallarms falls on Fabrika Broni Łucznik, whichtwo years ago started showing rapid proto-typing models of its modular armamentsystem, dubbed MSBS from ModułowegoSystemu Broni Strzeleckiej.At MSPO 2014 the conventional ver-

sion of the assault rifle was exhibited in awell developed form, the weapon havingalready been tested both by the PolishInstitute for Military Technology as well asby special forces units. The MSBS is obvi-ously chambered for the Nato 5.56 x 45mm round; it is 843-900 mm long, has a406 mm long barrel providing an 890 m/smuzzle velocity; rate of fire is of 700-900rounds per minute while effective range isof about 500 metres. The trigger mecha-nism has been improved over the proto-types’, with a pull stroke of seven millime-tres and a pull force reduced to two kilos.

The new version features a handguardthat extends nearly to the muzzle and, toadapt the weapon to personnel of differentsizes, three interchangeable pistol grips areavailable. The 30-round magazine has alsobeen redesigned. The optimisation workcarried on by Fabrika Broni Łucznik alsoreached the important result of reducingthe weight by nearly 10%, the new versionbeing at 3.4 kg compared to the previous 3.7kg. The other element of the MSBS pro-gramme that has reached full developmentis the 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher.Fitted with a quick-mount system, it swingsopen on the left side to allow the use of lowvelocity grenades of different lengths. Thedouble-action trigger has a pull force offour kilos. According to Fabrika BroniŁucznik, both the aforementioned elements

of the MSBS are ready for production, andbeside being offered to the Polish militarythe company is already targeting the exportmarket. The system also includes a bullpupversion; while the previously described ver-sion is aimed at mechanised infantry, thebullpup should equip parachute, recce andSpecial Forces units. It is still under fulldevelopment and, according to FabrikaBroni Łucznik, is three years behind theconventional rifle.

I OTHER MAJOR CONTRACTSBack to major contracts after this shortdigression. The next involves the TurkishArmy need to replace over half millionH&K G3 locally produced by Makina veKimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK). Thestate armaments company has developed anew assault rifle maintaining the same cali-bre (5.56x45 mm being definitely not thefavourite round in the Turkish Army).Named Milli Piyade Tüfegi 76 (nationalinfantry rifle 76, orMPT-76 in short) by theDefence Industry Execution Committee, itis based on a short-stroke gas-piston systemwith rotating bolt and is fitted with a 406mm long floating barrel.The 700-round-per-minute firing mech-

anism allows single-shot and automatic fireonly, and the 20-round transparent maga-zine is made of polymer. The aluminiumhandguard protects nearly half of the barrel,the upper part being fitted with a Picatinnyrail while side slots allow the installation ofshorter rails. Open sights are installed onthe upper Picatinny, as well as a transporthandle, while the lower one carries a curvedhandgrip just forward of the magazine anda vertical grip that might become a bipod.The buttstock can house items like batteriesand can be extended out to 12 positions, the


The left-opening grenade launcher of the MSBS rifle system; to fit it to the weapona shorter handguard has to be used. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

MKEK of Turkey has developed a 7.62mmassault rifle known as MPT-76 to replace the H&K

G3 in the national armed forces. Slots in thehandguard allow the installation of short

Picatinny rails in various positions to equip theMPT-76 with various accessories. (MKEK)

Small Arms Update


rifle’s overall length thus varying from 900to 1,000 mm, for an overall weight of 4.18kg. MKEK delivered the first 200 rifles tothe Turkish Land Forces on 9 May 2014 fortest and evaluation. A further batch of somethousands rifles which will include adjust-ments from these first tests is being plannedfor final users and qualification tests beforelaunching full-rate production.Another market that seems to remain

active is that of sniper rifles, long-rangeshooting having come back into most greenarmies following recent operations in asym-metric warfare scenarios. The US Army islooking for a Compact Semi-AutomaticSniper System that will be shorter andlighter than current M110 Semi AutomaticSniper System. Also required are improve-ments in numerous other areas such as reli-ability, accuracy, ergonomics, lower feltrecoil, suppressor, modular rail capabilities,coatings and optics. Testing will last 12months, competing companies providing30 rifles, while maximum orders will reach3,643 systems in five years.In the bolt-action world, numbers are

much smaller, but the request for improvedperformances at longer ranges is keepingthis niche market pretty active.

A long time, well renowned, small armsproducer, IsraelWeapons Industry has stuckmostly to automatic weapon of different cal-ibres, from submachine guns to assault riflesand carbines. Things changed in 2014 whenthe Ramat Hasharon-based company, nowpart of the SK Group, unveiled its first truesniper rifle known as Dan, named after akibbutz in the upper Galilee. As usual thedevelopment of the newweaponwas carriedout hand-in-hand with the Israeli DefenceForces (most of IWI’s personnel originatingfrom Special Forces units), with the latteracting as the first testers for developmentitems produced since 2011. The first of whatshould become a family of sniper rifles wasproduced in .338 Lapua Magnum, a calibrethat has nearly become the standard formil-itary sniping. The Israeli requirementscalled for a robust weapon with superioraccuracy. The Dan’s heavy barrel is fluted,eight grooves ensuring better cooling,increased stiffness and reduced oscillations.The full floating barrel is 737 mm long (29inches) and has a 10-inch rifling twist, and isfitted with an efficient muzzle brake/flashhider with four side holes that deflect gasesupwards to help reduce recoil and avoidkicking up dust. A ferrule protects the

thread at the front of the muzzle and can beeasily removed and replaced with a suppres-sor produced by IWI. To replace the barrelthe shooter has to unscrew four screwslocated on the side of the receiver, which ismade of aluminium alloy and protects thebarrel for about two thirds of its length. Theof 881m/s muzzle velocity Dan is 1,280mmlong, however its folding stock allows toreduce its length to 1,030 mm; the stockfeatures a big push button on the left side,and it is tilted along the right side of theweapon protecting the cocking lever once


The Dan .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifleunveiled in mid-2014 by Israel Weapons

Industries is the first dedicated sniper weaponproduced by that company. (IWI)

A detail of the loading mechanism andmagazine of IWI’s Dan; the 10-roundmagazine release is located under the triggerguard. (Armada/P. Valpolini)


fully folded. The stock has a quite peculiarshape: when loading the weapon the latterrotates 70°, and it features an ergonomichandle. The two-stage adjustable trigger hasa pull that can vary between one and twokilograms. The Dan has a 10-round dropfree magazine that is released by pullingback on the fully ambidextrous catch locat-ed under the trigger guard.

The stock is fully adjustable: the cheekrest is height adjustable and kept in placeby a winged nut, as is the buttstock lengthadjuster. Like all the rest of the Dan, the

stock is made entirely of metal parts,robustness having been, as stated earlier, akey design parameter.

This being said, IWI managed to keepthe weight down to 6.9 kg without maga-zine and scope, which is in line with otherweapons of similar category. According toIWI management the Dan is the first of afamily of rifles, as indeed a 7.62x51 mmweapon and a .300 Winchester Magnumrifles are in the design pipeline.

Another new rifle comes from Austriaand was unveiled by Voere at Eurosatory inmid-June. The bolt action sniper rifle,mostly built in 7075 aluminium and steel,the X3 is a multi-calibre weapon and can beequipped with 308 Winchester, 300Winchester Magnum, 338 Lapua Magnumand 408 CheyTac barrels, three-lug boltsand magazines, the latter containingrespectively 10, six and five rounds. In 308Win and 300 Win Mag the barrel is 660mm long, while in 338 LM length grows to690 mm and in 408 CheyTac to 720 mm;660 mm fluted barrels are available instainless steel, the weight of the weaponincluding the bipod being in that case of6.5 kg. The 408 CheyTac version is fittedwith a 720 mm steel fluted barrel and, withbipod, the weapon weighs 8.5 kg. All bar-

rels are equipped with a muzzle brake,which at the front is threaded to allow theinstallation of a suppressor, while a back-up sight can be installed on the top. Theoverall length thus varies according to thebarrel length and stock, and is comprisedbetween 960 and 1,350 mm.

The standard stock is straight, withadjustable length and cheek piece; anadjustable monopod is also used as handrest, while a sandbag rest is available onrequest. The grip is AR15 standard, whichallows one to install a variety of grips, thepalm rest being itself adjustable in height.Both the safety switch and magazine catchare ambidextrous, the pull of the two-stagetrigger being adjustable between 700 and1,200 grams, and a single-stage trigger isalso available. A safety system allows tomanually de-cock the firing pin to allowsafe transport with the rifle loaded; in thefuture Voere will offer the X3 with a three-position firing pin safety as standard, thecocking safety and the thumb safety beingstill available on option. The X3 is availablein desert colour, multicam pattern, olivegreen and black finish. As option a right orleft folding stock is available. Beside theaforementioned barrels Voere also offers a254 fully silenced barrel produced by


The Voere X3 in action; the Austrian companyhas produced numerous such rifles which are

being tested bymany special forces units inEurope and elsewhere. (Voere)

Small Arms Update

The Dan is fitted with a two-stageadjustable trigger; its pull can be set by theoperator between one and two kilograms.(Armada/P. Valpolini)


Brügger & Thomet in Switzerland. Underthe requirement of a special unit Voere alsodeveloped a shotgun barrel, capable tospeed out 12-gauge ammunition with a 76mm chamber, the magazine then contain-ing four rounds (this was possible as the X3was already designed for the 408 CheyTac,which allowed to fit a 12-gauge round as theaction was big enough). The X3 has beenprovided in small numbers to military spe-cial forces units for testing and evaluation,at least one major European country beingclose to a contract for its special forces.

I CARBON FIBRE BARRELWhile Voere does not propose its carbonfibre barrels for military use, one of themajor American companies involved insniper rifles production now considers thistechnology (that started with .22 LR rifles)sufficiently mature to incorporate it in itsproducts. A .338 Barrett MRAD rifle is thusequipped. This brings considerable weightsaving but increased cost, with Barrett stat-ing that “carbon fibre barrels are definitelymore expensive than steel ones.”Cooling is definitely a key factor when

firing a machine gun, thus the same tech-nology was adopted by Ares for its EPG(Externally Powered Gun), an electricallyactivated weapon in 7.62 mm Nato calibre,

which can fire in semi-automatic and fullautomatic modes at a variable rate of fire of420 to 600 rounds per minute. Aresinstalled the weapon on a PrecisionRemotes Trap T360 with a barrel suppliedby Proof Research, a company specialised

in resin formulations and advanced com-posites manufacturing whose fibre-wrapped barrels are claimed to be approvedfor use by the US Military.A carbon fibre barrel production starts

with a full-profile, match-grade 416Rstainless steel barrel blank, which is thenturned down to a significantly reducedprofile. This is then filament-wrappedwith high-strength, aerospace-grade car-bon fibre impregnated with a high-ther-mal conductivity matrix resin. The carbonfibre used is 10 times stronger and has aspecific stiffness nearly six times greaterthan stainless steel. Strength and stiffnessare only part of the equation, the helicalwrapping pattern favouring the longitudi-nal thermal diffusivity of the carbon fibreswhich allows dissipation of the heat ema-nating from the steel liner rather thaninsulate it. According to Proof Researchthe unique bonding agent developed bythe company also allows heat conductionvery effectively through the thickness ofthe barrel. The result of all this is improvedcooling and thus a longer barrel life. Inaddition, the reduced heating consistently

reduces the point-of-impact shift duringhigh-volume fire, while mechanical char-acteristics reduce harmonic barrel vibra-tion. This leads to improved accuracy witha barrel weight that can be reduced by64%, but at an undisclosed cost.


The Ares Externally Powered Gun installed on a Precision Remotes T360 stabilisedweapon station can be equipped with a carbon fibre barrel that allows considerable weightreduction. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

A front view of Barrett’s MRAD sniper rifle equipped with a carbon fibre barrel, and below adetail of that, which is being produced by Proof Research. (Armada/P. Valpolini)



Urban areas severely complicate situational awareness and threat identification,requiring a specific, time-consuming intelligence preparation of the battlespace (IPB).Besides, the peculiar human nature of urban terrain combineswith today’s stringentrules of engagement, with a view tominimising friendly fire and collateral damage risks.Such constraints call for data accuracy and availability in large volumes; new solutionswhich are breaking away from classical geospatial information production processes,leveraging 2D/3D data processing to describe urban complexity.

Geospatial Information-V

Mapping Urban Canyons

Urban terrain poses a formidablechallenge tomilitaryoperations.Noneedto lookbackas farasStalingradfor lessons learned: combats in

Beirut,Mogadishu,Grozny, Jenin or Fallujahall share a considerable cost and reveal acommonfinding,namelyunderstanding that

thecomplex, compartmentedandobstructedurban environment is critical to ensure thesuccessofoperations inbuilt-upareas.Urbanmapping isabranchofhumangeography,buta challenging one too given its very large, orhuman scale (1:10 000 to 1:5 000 ideally),whereas most military maps deal withstrategic,operationalor tactical scales.Beyondsurveying population and social habitat, theamount of artificial features range from

transportation infrastructures to built-upsuperstructures, andan increasinglycomplexnetwork of utilities: water, sewage, powerand phone lines, and more recently digitalcommunications either based on groundcablesor radiorelays.Ironically, thismassive informationexists in

documented, andoftenupdated formats. It isgenerated right from the outset to build anycity, forurbanplanningorcadastreandutility

Wesley G. Fox

Geoinfo 5:Armada 11/26/14 9:05 PM Page 2


layout. However, this data comes inmultiple,fragmented and proprietary sources, fromarcheological surveys to power distributioncharts, and incidentally, urban paper maps.Digital information for urban applicationsthus still forms a minor part of availablemapping information, compared to landsurveyormaritimeandaeronautical charting;information standardization and integrationabout cities are still at an embryonic stage.These shortcomings painfully appear duringeverydisaster reliefoperation, as recentcriseshave shown fromNewOrleans to Bangkok.Each time, responders struggle to aggregatedataownedbymultiple stakeholders; theyarecritically short in any military operation inurbanareas,whethercitiesareorderlyplannedorresulting fromanarchicurbangrowth.

This is probably why most GeographicalInformation System (GIS) vendors proposededicated tools adapted to urban mapping,fromrastereditiontodigitizedpapermaps,orvector editions to add additional features.Early modules dealt with cadastre orurban planning applications; newer onesprovide advanced tools toproduce fine-grain

information for navigation, horizontal andvertical planning, or rationalization ofoverlapping utility networks. In this process,classical 2D descriptions are giving in toinnovative 3D representations of urbaninformation, with a growing contribution ofhigh-resolution, multi-sensor imagery,

modeling and simulation, and layers afterlayers of semantic information, from merepostal data to qualitative features abouthabitat,business,andresidents’patternsof life.

Intelligencepreparationof thebattlespacefor Military Operations in Urban Terrain(mout) hardly benefit from this increasinglyrich information content, though. Sincecombat or disaster relief operations oftendevelop inpoorcountriesoreven failedstates,with little or no co-operation from localauthorities, modern armies spend aconsiderable amountof effort to survey,mapand describe urban areas of operations in ahardly permissive environment. The longhaulofproducingup-to-dateurbanmaps formilitaryoperations, ill-adapted tooperationaltempo, is thus increasinglygivingway tomoreautomated urban feature description,leveraging recent breakthroughs in payloadminiaturization,multi-sensorprocessingandbig data exploitation. The new capabilitiesarising from network-centric operations

A satellite overhead of Falluja, Iraq. Spacemaps are the primary feed of urbanmapping, but asmall contribution to describe the human and physical complexity of cities. (Digital Globe)

“Since combat or disasterrelief operations oftendevelop in poor countriesor even failed states, withlittle or no co-operationfrom local authorities,modern armies spend aconsiderable amount ofeffort to survey, map anddescribe urban areas ofoperations in a hardlypermissive environment”


conductedbyhighly-digitisedandconnectedforces also brings new requirements toaccommodateprecisionnavigation, targetingandcommunicationneeds.

I CURRENT SOLUTIONSUrban areas are captured primarily throughremote sensing. Inpeacetime, aerial imageryprovides the best compromise betweenhighground resolution and large area coverage,and canbe augmentedby ground surveys. Innon-permissive areas, satellite coverage, atthe expense of multiple revisit, providesaccurate capture of urban areas, with fusedradar andpanchromatic imagery producingmedium to high accuracy elevation data.Vricon Systems, a subsidiary of SaabDynamics, offer such aerial or satellite (inpartnership with Digital Globe) mappingservices. The ImageCityMap (ICM) formatis the primary way to transform spacemapsinto the base layer of urbanmaps. GIS toolscan then edit maps, creating the relevantoverlays for street names, area classification,buildings of interest, public works andobstacles. Additional modules provide

bespoke urban feature description, notablycomputer-aided 3D extrusion to computeand extract building shapes.

Esri’s ArcGIS City Engine, for example,provides suchcomputer-aided functionalitiesfrom imagery, including point cloudconversion from lidar data, which producemillions of georeferenced points accuratelymeasured inx-y-z.

Luciad’s Lightspeed saves pre-processingtime by reading data in their native format,and offers a simultaneous, hybrid 2D-3Dview, instead of dedicated 3D modules oftraditionalGIS.Suchdedicatedfunctionalitiesfor defence users are proposed inOverwatchGeospatial’s RV3D, part of theirRemoteView suite.

Urban Analyst combines various featureextractionandmeasurement tools tailored toperformterrainanalysiswithinageospatiallyaccurate terrain environment. It can be

imported from a commercial GIS (Esri’sArcMap)desktopproject.

The proven MapIt! Software, from theSarnoff Corporation, provides a somewhatmore generic suite for defence and securityapplications; it combines imagery and lidarpoint clouds to generate very high resolutiondigital elevationmodels (DEM).Theresultingortho-mosaics and 3D site models supportsIPB in urban areas, from intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance to targetingand damage assessment. Last but not least,the latest release of BAe Systems Socet GXP(Geospatial eXploitation Program, seeGeospatial Information I) features the next-generation automatic terrain extraction(NGATE),whichusesdedicatedalgorithmstocreate precise digital elevation models fromimagery. All these bespoke applicationsdeliver advanced results at the cost of expertskills, though.

28

A Mazar I Sharif city map produced for the Afghan government. Such comprehensiveurban geospatial information are hardly available at the onset of military operations and resultfrom extensive remote and on-site surveys to rebuild information available elsewhere inspread format and ownership. (AIMS)


INTERNATIONAL 6/2014


30



I 3D CITYMODELSProducing high-fidelity 3D city models hasbecome a trade in itself, and specializedbusinesses born out of urban planningrequirements are now offering geospatially-enabledproducts earmarked fordefence andsecurity. The American-based PLWModelworks, for example, producesdetailed3Dmodels of more than 450 locations in 21countries, covering either criticalinfrastructures like stadiums, airports andrefineries or entire cities, with before-and-afterdisaster areamodels likePort-au-PrinceinHaiti or Ishinomaki in Japan.

Onamoremodest scale,Vectuel’sVirtualCity, in France, has built geo-referenced 3Dmodels of cities like Abu Dhabi or criticalsites like theMoscowKremlin. Suchproductsresults from specific contracts which rendertheir output proprietary to the user; but thetools and technology used are GIS-compatible and can meet the stringentrequirements of urban analysis for criticalmissions. Georeferenced 3D data in citymodels can also support further analysiscompatiblewith informationandnavigationwarfare. Additional, highly specializedsoftwaremodules can compute radioorGPSpropagationbetweenbuildings.This aspectofurban modelling is often overlooked inmilitary and security operations; however,poor spectrum planning has resulted in thepast in catastrophic failure, as experiencedby

Russian forces in their first operation inGrozny in 1994, where urban canyonsproduced masks and multi-paths whichimpaired tactical radio exchanges. Luciadsolutions take this into account by allowingexploitation of large urban datasets (thenew GeoPackage open format definedby the Open Geopsatial Consortium)on disconnected mobile devices, asdemonstrated in their Astute project forBelgian firefighters. Similarly, GPS data inhigh-rise cities are often degraded by thebuildings glass andmetal structures, callingfor innovativeways toprovidehigh-accuracypositioning information.

Locata Corporation, an Australiancompanyspecializing inpositioningsolutionsin poor or non-GPS environment, hasdemonstrated LocataNet in White Sandsmissile range for the US Air Force, using a

network of ground-based transceivers toallow air combat missions over the range inGPS-denied conditions.TheAirForce 746thTest Squadron is expected todrawsignificantexperience in navigation warfare from thisproject. Thedenials of service experimentedby both American and Russian GNSSconstellations over the Ukrainian crisisclearly point position, navigation and time(PNT) signals as a single point of failure infuture information-centric, network-enabled operations, calling for increasedattention paid to navigationwarfare in areaswhere positioning information is eitherdegraded or suppressed.

I NEWAIRBORNE SENSORSThe legacy process of producing validatedgeospatial information fromskilledusers andexpert toolsbeforedissemination in-theatre isill-adapted to the human resource andoperational tempo in the current theatres ofoperations. This finding has led to an initialstopgapmeasure,which consisted in fieldingin-theatre geospatial productionworkshopsto support soldiers. It was still deemed ill-adapted to unit-of-action requirements forpersistent surveillance and near-realtimeextraction of terrain features for immediatetactical exploitation.

Visualising complexity : a combat routeplanning displayed against multipleconstraints in a littoral city around friendly andhostile units. Digital geospatial solutionsprovides both proven and innovative tools toexploit multiple geospatial formats in a hybrid2D-3D environment. (Luciad)

Gorgon Stare’s platform and payload provide a proven solution to rapidly generate accurateurban geospatial information from massive volumes of wide area surveillance data, whiledelivering pinpoint reconnaissance of urban areas to Army and special forces deployed forces.(Sierra Nevada Corporation)

“Additional, highlyspecialized softwaremodules can computeradio or GPS propagationbetween buildings”


The solution has come out as a development of the first deployed persistentdrones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Platforms like the General Atomics MQ-1Predator and its associated sensor payload delivered full-motion video feed toground stations and portable terminals such as the L-3 Rover. In parallel,the American military began to equip modified business aircraft to carryhigh-resolution imaging payloads, such as lidars. This was the aim of the USArmy Geospatial Center‘s Buckeye programme, which has revived combatmapping since 2004.

Buckeyepioneeredcollectionofhigh-resolution3D(HR3D)imageryover(air)permissiveareasofoperations,combining10cmcolourimageryandone-metrepostspacing lidar into unclassified data, shareable at coalition level. The resultanthuman-scaleHR3D feedwas immediately graspedby special operation forces toplan and execute delicate, small-scale direct action missions in urban areas.Obstacles, cover, concealment, weapon placement, ingress and egress routes,becameavailableoutofnear-realtimegeospatial informationabouturbantargets.Deep urban canyon understanding permitted by this high-resolution colourimageryandaccurateelevationdataactedasagame-changer inthenon-traditionalISR and counter-insurgency warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. Buckeye and itsassociatedsuiteof lidarexploitationandterrainmodellingsoftwarequicklyprovedable to servemilitary intelligence, specialoperations, and topographic/geospatialcommunities at national and coalition levels. Its founding 3D foundation layer,built by Applied Imagery, supports the most demanding urban terrain analysis,such as sniper/counter-sniper operations or detailed road clearance againstconcealed bombs. After more than ten years in operation, Buckeye has beenresponsible formappingmostpopulationcentresand linesofcommunications inboth countries. In early 2014, as American forces began to withdraw from Iraq,theentireBuckeyedatasetwasgiven to thenewgovernment, amuch-appreciatedgift in therenewedfightingagainst radical IslaminnorthernIraqbymid-year.

The Vigilant Stare airborne sensor payload combines the latest improvements inday and night motion imagery sensor integration with intelligence bandwidthmanagement to serve multiple deployed users in near-real time. (Exelis)


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The full-motion video feed delivered bytraditional drone sensors is either in wide-field of view or higher-resolution narrowfield of view; it produces a frustrating“looking through a soda straw” effect,whichis ill-suited to large, complexurbanareas, for

the user loses context rapidly. The solutionwas offered by latest wide-area persistentsurveillance programs; Sierra NevadaCorporation’sGorgonStare, delivered toUSAir Force General Atomics MQ-9 Reaperdrones in a first increment, is a podded

sensor system from Exelis that combinesnine cameras. It began operations inAfghanistan in March 2011, despite poorinitial operational assessment during AirForce testing at Eglin in Florida, followedbyon-the-fly improvements.The 16km2 area surveyed by Gorgon

Stare visible and infrared sensors can bebroken simultaneously into multiple spotsurveillance vignettes, and fedup to tenuserson the ground, equipped with portableground terminals networked to the GorgonStare ground station. Advanced on-boardcompression and storage hardware andsoftwarepackedbyMercuryFederal Systemsin the drone’s pod overcame the traditionallimitations of on-board processing and air-ground communications bottleneck.Gorgon Stare Increment 1 has since loggednearly 12,000 flying hours overAfghanistanterrain. The follow-on Increment 2 passedtheAir Froce initial operational capability inJuly 2014, adding a four-fold increase in areacoverage and a two-fold one in resolution.The optronics sensor, delivered from a jointDarpa and BAe Systems Argus technologydevelopment, combines with the largestinfrared sensor array to date (delivered byExelis), enabling a single drone tomonitor a100km2area for several hours.The resultingscene fuses 368 camera images, creating a 1.8billion pixels composite video image attwelve framesper second. Increased imaging

Raw lidar data read natively in Luciad Lightspeed at a very large scale. Lidar data is the bestsource of urban 3Dmapping, since it can capture the smallest artificial features whichhamper line of sight and vehicle mobility. (Luciad & GeoEye)

A processed lidar elevationmodel from Kandahar, Afghanistan, produced by theBuckeye platform-agnostic system. Such unclassified, high-resolution 3D information hasproved immensely valuable. (US Army Geospatial Center)


performance allow users to find smallertargets over larger areas.Disseminationusescommercial standards (e.g. JPEG 2000for image compression, or GeoPDF forinclusion of imagery and its metadata indigital documents). The Buckeye andGorgon Stare programmes have acted asforce multipliers; they can let future theatrecommanders expect near-real time coverageandmappingof the largest urban areas froma single aircraft.

I ADVANCED EXPLOITATION TOOLSThe increased availability and accuracy ofHR3Ddatahavebrought three-dimensionalmapping technologies to the tactical level,allowing deeper understanding of thecomplex urban environment. Thesetechnologies call for newways of visualizinginformation to produce better situationalawareness. Draping imagery over elevationdata, which used to be the way to represent3D features in 2D, is reaching its limits inurban terrain combining topographic andhuman features.Newapplications can render3D data in a dynamic and immersive way tobetter fuse physical and semanticinformation, an attractive advantage invisualising urban environments. Theseapplications can produce various 3Dsupports, turningmaps intoholograms.Using technology from the Texas-based

Zebra Imaging, holographic maps are the

main output of the US Army TacticalBattlefield Visualisation programme. Sucha representation of urban terrain bridges thegap between geospatial community andtactical users, since untrainedpersonnel canunderstand a complex environmentwithoutany particular map reading training. ZebraImaging’s hologram maps can be printed,with 3D rendering triggered by a source oflight (e.g. a flashlight) over the filmlikemap.Viewers don’t need any glasses to read the3D features and can take the custom-madeholographic maps with them in the field.The next step is going to see real-time2D/3D display, allowing realtime data to befed into the hologram.Another new technology being explored

to leverage HR3D fused with otherinformation overlays (such as C2-relatedtactical situations, space volumes, or sensorfootprint) is being investigated by Thales

under its 2014 innovationprojects initiative.Released during the company’s TechDays inMarch in Paris, it was shown duringEurosatory as Battlespace Vista, anadvanced concept technology demonstrator(ACTD) focusing on air-land integration inAfghanistan.MergingThales integratedC4Itechnology with commercial software,Battlespace Vista displayed immersive andinteractive information fusing terrain,tactical situation, and semantic informationabout own and enemy forces, down to thesoldier level. Northrop GrummanInformation Technology are alsoinvestigating similar solutions at a lowertechnology readiness level, having patentedamethod combining located video streamswith geospatial information.With these latest breakthroughs fed by

technical and operational advances, urbanterrain is now reaching a higher level ofrepresentation, bringing peculiar situationalunderstanding to non-geospatial experts ina fraction of the time and effort required tobuild legacy urbanmaps.Urban and tacticalfeatures are just starting to merge in ordertopresent a thematic, layer-based situation toanswer mission-driven requirements at avery high scale. This stepwill pave theway tointegration of ever richer urban informationcoming from civil and military sources,producing a very high fidelity rendering ofall the constraints of urban landscapes.

3D data come from a variety of sources; the Battlespace Vista ACTD combines intelligenceand situational awareness in an immersive and interactive environment, where a complex scenecan be slaved to the user’s point of view for maximum situational understandingand decision support (Thales).


“Urban terrain is nowreaching a higher level ofrepresentation, bringingpeculiar situationalunderstanding to non-geospatial experts in afraction of the time andeffort required to buildlegacy urbanmaps”

US Army servicemen pose around ahologrammap of an Iraqi city. Innovative

mays of representing urban areasleverage new sensors and high-

resolution 3D data (Zebra Imaging)


Terrorism never threatenedfundamental foundations of the societyin the 1960-80s. Nor it would influence

political, economic and social life either.The whole situation is different in the

21st century. Today international terrorismcan trigger crisis in some countries,precipitate spontaneous, large-scaleprotests and mass disorders.Figures reflecting terrorist activities are

also shocking. About 15.5 thousand peoplewere killed in 8,500 terrorist attacks all overthe world in 2012. Lives of 17.8 thousandpeople were taken in 9,707 attacks the yearthat followed.The largest number of themoccurred in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Nigeria,Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Yemenand the Philippines.But it was in 2014 that terrorists went

absolutely wild. Militants of the Islamic State(IS) alone killed thousands of people in Iraqand Syria, 13 thousand Iraqi families fledtheir homes. Some estimates put thestrength of the IS at 30 to 50 thousandmilitants. The range of their armament hasgone far beyond small arms and includesartillery pieces captured at Iraqi depots,armored vehicles, AD assets and evenaviation. They are branded terrorists by theUS, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, GB,

and Indonesia. The Arab League hasthe similar opinion.Some experts believe that terrorism is

growing to a full-scale combat operation;footprint of illegal armed groups isexpanding. Comprehensivecountermeasures are required to curb them.These include supply of modern, powerfuland reliable weapons to national counterterrorism (CT) units and other troops thatmay be involved in such operations.Russia’s experience in this area is

enormous. Her special CT units andagencies are equipped with requiredarmament provided by the national military-industrial complex (MIC).Rosoboronexport – Russia’s only special

exporter of military and dual-purpose end-products, technologies and services – offersforeign customers a range of militaryequipment that can be deployed to fightillegal armed groups.Unlike in past years, when small arms

and police equipment were sufficient in CToperations, helicopters as the mosteffective assets are getting more attentionin today’s environment.Russia’s Mi-35 is one of the best multi-

purpose aircraft in the world designed toprovide fire support to Army units including

those deployed in CT operations. Apartfrom the combat role it can also performpersonnel landing, air-lift,MEDIVAC/CASEVAC, and reconnaissanceoperations.Another Russian helicopter with a

considerable export capacity is the Mi-28NE. This will fly day and night missions inany climatic conditions. Thanks to itspowerful weapons the Mi-28NE can destroyarmored vehicles and personnel of terroristgroups to provide effective fire support toground troops.Helicopters are efficient and reliable

assets that can be used to find bases, routesof communication and assembly areas ofterrorist and rebel groups. Russia’s Ka-226Thas been developed specifically for theseoperations. It is deployed with other combatassets, day and night, to providereconnaissance and surveillance, targetdesignation, artillery fire correction, as wellas to air lift rapid response teams and cargo,evacuate injured personnel, patrol, andescort ground columns.Its larger stablemate, dubbed the Ka-32,

has no equals in fast deployment of specialtask forces, rescue and fire fightingoperations, as well as transportation of bulkycargo weighing up to 5,000kg in urbanenvironment. It says much for the aircraft thatit was used to set seven world records in fiveyear since it had entered service. Nowadaysvarious models of this helicopter areoperated in 14 countries all over the world.Analysis of terrorist activity suggests that

they keep relying heavily on small arms,improvised explosive devices (IED), including

POWER MAKESTERRORISTS AMICABLE

ROE-Armada:Armada 11/26/14 9:40 PM Page 2

Armada Marketing Promotion

suicide bombers.They are still notorious fortaking hostages and hijacking people. Itwould surprise no one if terrorists becomemore cunning, switch to massive terroristattacks, and use more powerful weaponsand equipment in the near future.

Rosoboronexport offers its partnerscomprehensive solutions for police and CTunits to prevent terrorist attacks. As thesituation may require the Customer canpurchase special warfare armament,nonlethal weapons, or personnel protectionassets.There is high demand for operationalequipment (including inspection and searchgears, counter criminal explosion assets,explosive devise inhibitors, security andaccess control systems, special vehicles,and forensic equipment) in the internationalmarket. The focus has shifted recently tospecial communications, transmit/receivesystems, data protection and processingequipment, UAVs, special optics, includingthe Prizrak-M (also called Antisniper) countersurveillance camera, as well as visual andvoice identification systems.

Silent weapons also attract muchattention of special agencies and policeunits. Among them are the PSS silent pistol,VSS sniper rifle, and AS assault rifle.

The 9mm SR.1M magazine pistol, 9mmSR.2M submachine gun, and 9mm SR.3Msmall assault rifle are one of the mostpowerful assault weapons in the world.

The idea of humanization and value ofhuman life that has been taking a tighter gripon modern society leads to a more profounduse of non-lethal weapons.These includeRussia’s RGS-50 and RGS-33 grenadelaunchers that can fire a wide range ofammunition, special hand grenades, as wellas Zeus, Convoy, Avatar and Phantomelectric shock weapons. All these specialassets are based on physical and

psychophysiological impact on a terrorist.They will be used to produce rubbershrapnel, sound or fire, electric shock or riotcontrol gases – commonly referred to aspolice gases –and powder compounds.

Most of the Russian special weaponsexported to other countries are effective incities when it is crucial to minimize collateraldamage among civilians, hostages andpersonnel of special units, as well as protectinstallations and facilities from devastation.

The ETTs-5 explosive ordnance and IEDdisposal kit will be used by specialists toreduce terrorist mines, bombs andlandmines to non-hazardous components.The 2R-1U and 2R3 hydraulic disintegratorsare no less effective.These can be operatedin a wide temperature range and will requirewater or special solution.

It is essential for CT units and specialagencies to have equipment to deal with carbombs and combined effects explosivedevices based on radioactive or toxicagents. To meet this requirement the ETTs-31 and ETTs-29 systems have beendeveloped in Russia and used to equipspecial forces. The Russian ETTs-1, ETTs-4, and ETTs-20 explosive storage andtransport containers have capacity-to-dimensions ratio that put them in line withthe best products in the world.

There are lots of countries involved in thisspecial weapons and equipment business.Though, it is Russian products that arereliable, easy to operate, effective and safe,as they have ever been.

Most of these assets have been tested incombat, particularly in the NorthernCaucasus. Based on lessons learnt, Russianengineers keep upgrading in-serviceequipment. Hence the unique capabilitiesand features that foreign counterparts lack.

In response to challenges posed byinternational terrorism, Rosoboronexporthas been paying more attention to export ofspecial weapons and equipment to itspartners. A special section was brought intobeing in 2001 to equip foreign law enforcerswith such systems.

This still increasing demand for modernand effective CT assets promptsRosoboronexport to do its best to meetrequirements and needs of foreignCustomers in special weapons andequipment, as well as provide assistance intraining of personnel of special units, that canalso be arranged in the Customer’s country.

It is also worth mentioning thatRosoboronexport complies withinternational and Russian laws andregulations and supplies special equipmentonly to state agencies not to let it fall intothe hands of terrorists.

Experts know it that special weapons andequipment produced in Russia are not onlyas effective as their foreign counterparts, buteven superior to them in more than onerespect. Russian assets meet the moststringent requirements and will contribute toeffective operation of police units, securityagencies, special forces of variousservices and CT teams.

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Although it maintains the samecalibre and its ability to fire all theammunition produced since itsinception, the M4 is in fact a

whollynewweapon in termsof technologies.The first public appearance of the newweapon tookplace in late September 2014 attheGroundCombat Systemsdemonstrationorganised by Saab Dynamics in closecooperation with the Swedish Army. The

weaponwas fired at theBofors testCentre inKarlskogaduring the technical test part, andat the Swedish Army Land Warfare CentreinKvarn.The close cooperationbetween thecompany and themilitary establishmentwasunderlined by both sides, namely SaabDynamics’s Vice President head of BusinessArea Dynamics Görgen Johansson and theSwedish Army Chief of Staff Major GeneralAnders Brännström.

The Carl Gustaf M4 was not the only starat the firing range, as the new AT-4 CS HEwith airburst capability, the NLAW and the

A Swedish soldier training with the CarlGustaf M4 at the Kvarn Army Training Centre.Spent cases can be seen in the foreground.(Armada/P. Valpolini)

What’s Up?

Paolo Valpolini

Hello Carl, What Else?Aweapon that is about to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its first delivery is usuallylooked upon froma great height. Others, however, manage to rub shoulderswiththe century, as exemplified by certainmachine guns and the Carl Gustaf presented herein its latest M4 iteration seems poised to join that league.

Thanks to the author’s camera,Armada International was able tohave an exclusive picture of thenew Carl Gustav, which gracedthe cover of our previous issueon the occasion of the weapon’sinternational début at AUSA,but the article itself missed theprinting deadline, hence itspresence in this issue

—Eric H. Biass, Editor-in-Chief

What's Up Saab Carl:Armada 11/26/14 9:09 PM Page 2


60 mm and 81 mm Mapam mortar bombsalso were able to prove their worth.

One of the aims of Saab Dynamicswhen it decided to launch a further evolu-tion of the Carl Gustaf M3 was weightreduction, a mantra for all companies pro-ducing soldier-related equipment. Theidea emerged in 2000, but a series of rea-sons hampered the development, whichwas finally resumed in 2011 to lead to theabove-mentioned announcement anddemonstration. Compared to the older M2export version of the Carl Gustaf, the newtype is 50% lighter and is more compact(the all-steel M2 weighs 14.2 kg and is1,130 mm long). Compared with the cur-rent steel-glass fibre M3, it is more thanthree kilos lighter than the current steel-fiberglass M3, which weighs 10 kg and is

1,065 mm long. The newcomer tips thescales at less than seven kilos (actually 6.7kilos sans accessories) and is less than1,000 mm long. The adoption of newmaterials, together with other minorimprovements, was instrumental in theweight reduction process: the first layer isnow in titanium, which allowed a 1.1 kgweight saving over the M3 while maintain-ing the 1,000-round minimum life; thenew carbon fibre casing cuts a further 0.8kg, and the new Venturi a further 0.9 kilos.

While it will also be beneficial to con-ventional forces, the length reductionresults from the desire of numerous specialforces units whose obstacle courses repre-

senting potential urban situations provedthe point. As said above, the M4 adopts anew Venturi, but in addition to contribut-ing to the weight loss, it also is the itemresponsible for reducing the weapon’slength below the 1,000 mm mark. TheVenturi also features a slightly wider angleto ensure the same recoil reduction effectas its predecessor.

The Carl Gustaf M4 also adopts a shotcounter to exactly monitor the use of theweapon to its 1,000-round life limit, asuntil now the count was an estimate basedon soldier-supplied data which often led toan early discard of the system to remain onthe safe side. The shot counter, which willeffectively stretch the life of the weapon toits true limits, is installed on the right side,at the back of the tube, and data such asweapon number, production batch data

The shot counter (left) provides credible data on full calibre round shots, which actually enablethe weapon to be exploited to the true end of its 1,000 round design life. The new safety systemenables the soldier to safely carry the Carl Gustaf M4 fully loaded. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

Other new features of theM4, from the left to right: the remote control, the control box of thecommunication system, andmunition programming galvanic link. (Armada/P. Valpolini)


and obviously the number of full calibrerounds shot can be easily transferred to acomputer by an induction device.

Another key feature of the M4 is its abil-ity to receive an intelligent sight, which canoptionally be equipped with a communica-tion system for two-way sight and roundinteraction thanks to a galvanic contact onthe guiding pin. A remote control is alsoavailable on the right side of the front grip,which allows to set the intelligent sightwhile maintaining the shooting position.Such capability will allow to increase hitprobability, for example by providing thesight fire control system with the propellanttemperature or other data like muzzlevelocity based on batch sampling.

As new rounds are being developed,notably the new high explosive (HE)ammunition with airburst capability, theM4 will allow one to set the fuse accordingto round nature and distance measured bythe sight rangefinder, which will move thereticle to the optimal sighting position.

As standard the M4 is supplied with thesame telescopic as the M3, and can be usedfor all existing ammunition types by chang-ing the setting of an elevation drum on thesighting system. As reserve/backup sightone of the two following alternatives can bechosen: an integrated aiming system fittedwith a red dot sight (a Meopta M-Rad, forexample), or a standard flip-up open sight.The red dot sight allows four types of

ammunition to be selected and the flip-upsight six. A total of 12 different types ofround are currently available for the CarlGustaf, including two for training purposes.Among the most recent additions is theHEAT 655 CS, the suffix indicating com-patibility with use in Confined Space byvirtue of a solid back-blast reduction coun-termass used in combination with theVenturi effect to neutralise the recoil.

Fuse manually set, the current HE441Ddisplayed its air-burst mode effect at both

Karlskoga and Kvarn. The new HE round,which should be available in about twoyears’ time, will also be programmable viaan external fuse setting device, which willallow older launchers orM4s not fitted withintelligent sights to use them. The newround will not be confined space-compati-ble, range having been preferred to thatcapability for dealing with troops in theopen, although a CS version is being con-sidered to provide airburst fire in urbanfighting situations. Compared to the HE441Dwhich contains 5.5mmdiameter steelballs, the new HE round for the Carl Gustafwill have a warhead containing over 2,500tungsten balls of 2.5 mm diameter.


What’s Up?

The expendable AT4 launcher in one of the versions usable from enclosed spaces. At Karlskogathe newHE version with ABM capacity was fired. Insert: the AT4s are now available with a reddot sight—here an Aimpoint—that greatly improves accuracy. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

The back-upintegrated aimingsight equippedwitha red-dot sight allowsto use up to fourdifferent types of84mm rounds.(Armada/P. Valpolini)


The warhead of that new round is aclose derivative of the aforementioned AT-4CS HE’s. The new airburst product cur-rently is in advanced development phasethat Saab Dynamics demonstrated atKarlskoga, but from a static position as theweapon is not yet cleared for shoulder fir-ing. This pre-loaded system has a warheadcontaining over 2,000 tungsten balls of2.5mm diameter and is designed for usewith an intelligent sight, typically anAimpoint FCS12, but being an open archi-tecture it can accept other similar sightsand ensures the same two-way ammo-sys-tem dialogue as the Carl Gustaf M4. The980 mm long AT-4 CS HE weighs aroundnine kilos and proved the considerabledestructive effect of its airburst warheadwhen flying over two cars located at a rangeof 400 metres during the demonstration.The maximum operational range is of

1,000 metres while the lethal area in air-burst mode is of 400 m2, but it can also beused in impact mode. As standard, thisweapon system is supplied with either anopen sight or a much more accurate reddot sight. Another version of the AT4, theAT4CS ER, is also being developed. Thishas a HEAT warhead similar to that usedin the AT4CS HP, optimised for maximumarmour penetration. Other versions of theAT4 were used in the demonstration,including the AT4CS RS with armour pen-etration and behind-armour effects andthe AT4CS AST with an anti-structurewarhead. All new AT4s delivered are pro-vided either with open sights or with a reddot sight, the latter considerably increas-

ing accuracy, CS versions that can be firedfrom enclosed space using a combinationof liquid countermass and Venturi effect tobalance the recoil.Turning back to the M4 after this short

digression, the new version of the CarlGustaf features a series of ergonomicimprovements that allow the soldier toadapt the launcher to his or her size, aPicatinny rail allowing both the front han-dle and shoulder rest to be moved back andforth. A further rail is available on the rightside to install accessories like laser pointers.The M4 carrying handle is considerablylonger than before which is linked to thenew additional safety adopted on the load-ing rod, itself now similar to that used onthe AT-4. As the presence of the roundalters the centre of gravity, a longer handlewas adopted to allow the soldier to carry theweapon accordingly to the centre of gravity.The M4 was officially launched at AUSA2014, a clear sign that Saab Dynamics is tar-geting America as one of its primary mar-kets. Saab Dynamics will start qualificationtests in 2015 with the aim of concludingthem in late 2015 or early 2016.While the HE and the ER rounds are

expected in a near future with more typesfollowing later, a longer term project couldbe seen at the exhibition that followed thetechnical firings. Dubbed Ultra LightMissile, or ULM, this munition is in itsearly concept phase but clearly shows thatSaab Dynamics doesn’t see its Carl Gustaf

retiring tomorrow. According to SaabDynamics the single components are near-ly available, the work being now that ofmaking all them fit into an 84 mm calibreround. The missile will have a soft launchsystem, the rocket motor igniting once themissile has left the launch tube. A favouritesolution is to fit the ULM in a containertube that is in turn fed into the Carl Gustafto prevent interference between the foldingcontrol and lift wings and the barrel rifling.However this brings a very small penalty incalibre, which might affect the warhead.Other options are therefore being consid-ered given the very early stages of develop-ment. Saab Dynamics intends to keep thelaunch procedure as similar as possible asthat of any other Carl Gustaf round.The missile will have a lock-on-before-

launch seeker in the nose, its type depend-ing on performance versus cost considera-tions, though a dual-band seeker is notexcluded. What is pretty sure is that theULMwill have a multimode attack capabili-ty, dive attack being required to destroymain battle tanks should this option beretained. No decision has yet been made onwarhead types, although HEAT and multi-role being are two most obvious choices.The ULM will be capable of confined spacefiring, will weigh around 5 kg, and have arange of 1.5 to two kilometres. The pro-gramme timing will be influenced by cus-tomers’ interest, reason why Saab Dynamicsdidn’t speculate an availability date.


The Ultra Light Missile is a new development programme aimed at turning the Carl Gustaf intoa 1,500 to 2,000-metre range anti-armour guided round launcher. (Armada/P. Valpolini)


Hercules transportability ofarmoured vehicles such as theStriker has beenamantra for someyears; however deploying a

battalion level unit requires a considerableamountof transport assets,whichare seldomavailable. The United States Army isconsidering re-equipping part of its XVIII

Airborne Corps with new vehicles, theheavier one being the Mobile ProtectedFirepower (MPF), a tank-like vehicle theinitial capabilitiesdocumentofwhich shouldbe discussed by the Army RequirementsOversight Council in October 2014. Twolighter vehicles are also part of the re-equipmentplan to replace theHummer: oneis known as ULCV, for Ultra-LightweightCombat Vehicle, the second being the LRV,forLightReconnaissanceVehicle.

A Request for Information for the lattervehicle was issued in July 2014 with a viewto enhancing the Infantry Brigade CombatTeam by providing with a modified off-the-shelf solution. This has to be internallytransportable by a CH-47 and able todetect, destroy, and survive multiple threatsfrom light armoured vehicles, dismountedpersonnel, hardened enemy bunkers,snipers, chemical/nuclear threats etc. Itmust have an operational range greater thancurrent M1025s, be capable to carry outsilent watch, carry a C4ISR suite as well assome form of protection against kineticenergy and underbody blast threats,although no level indication has been indi-cated to date. The crew will be of six mili-tary each of an average fully equippedweight of 160 kg. The LRV will have a dayand night move and shoot capability in allweather and visibility conditions and incomplex terrain, while defeating second tierarmour threats. A Platform PerformanceDemonstration is expected to be carried outin the third or fourth quarter of 2015.The Ultra Light Combat Vehicle appears

to be the most advanced of the three poten-tial programmes, of which none, incidental-ly, has yet been the object of an approvedrequirement. A “Sources Sought” announce-ment (similar to a request for information)

The first vehicle purposely designed by Polaris for thedefence world, the Dagor has taken its suspensions designfrom the Trophy Truck. (Polaris Defense)


Expeditionary Vehicles

The Light Stuff

Paolo Valpolini

The need for vehicles that are always more apt to provideimmediate mobility to expeditionary forces, especiallywhen inserted by air, is a typical and constantrequirement from special forces. However, someconventional units may also need to be air-deployedwhen operations may not need special forces approach.Typically these missions are assigned to light brigades,parachute or airmobile units that deploy swiftly over longdistances in a short period of time.

Rapid Deployment:Armada 11/26/14 9:12 PM Page 2


was issued in late January 2014, followed byan update in March. Draft requirementsinclude a maximum kerb weight of 2,040 kg,a payload capacity of 1,450 kg to cope withan equipped nine-man squad, high mobilityto enhance personnel protection and acrashworthy structure able to survive arollover. The profile for its mobility capacityincludes 10% on primary roads, 10% on sec-ondary roads, 75% cross-country and trails,and 5% in urban, rubble environment; itmust also be capable to perform on ridgesand summits. As for firepower, thresholdcapability includes the use of crew-servedweapons of the IBCT inventory, though anobjective requirement is to include a medi-um-calibre weapon. TheULCVmust be ableto be driven in and out of a CH-47 with thesquad and their equipment onboard, or betransported as sling load by a Blackhawk, inboth cases in combat configuration underhot-and-high conditions, and must be ableto be air-dropped in combat configurationfrom a C130 on 463L pallets and with DualRow Airdrop System from a C17 on 463Lpallets. A range of 400 km is required.The need for such light vehicles was

anticipated in 2010 when the Office ofSecretary of Defense, with support from theDarpa, engaged the US Army TankAutomotive Research Development andEngineering Center as the executive agentfor the Ultra Light Vehicle effort. This led toa hybrid driven prototype with a kerbweight of 6.3 tonnes with add-on armour

and a payload of 1.9 tonnes, powered by aSubaru Boxer Turbo Diesel Engine provid-ing 175 hpwith a 360Nmmaximum torque.The wheels, shod with Baja ATZ Radial,40X14.5R20LT, are powered by AmericanTraction Systems Remy-410HVH HT drivemotors themselves fed a UQM-200 power

phase generator and inverter peak powerproviding 200 kW continuous power and aNavitas Li-Iron phosphate battery with a14.2 kWh capacity, a 180 kW peak outputand a 65 kW continuous output. Top speedis 120 km/h, the 114-litre tank ensuring a540 km range. Electric range is 19 km on80% charges batteries down to 20%, andover 33 km by running down 100% chargedbatteries. Silent watch time is 4.38 hours and7.3 hours respectively.The ULV is 5.06metres long, 2.43 metres

wide, 2.05 metres high in operation (heightis reduced to 1.83 metres for air transport asground clearance can be varied between 127and 584 mm by virtue of Liquid SpringTechnologies compressible liquid adaptivesuspension systemwith a 457mm stroke fit-ted with integrated elastomeric jouncebumper). The vehicle seats five military(four plus one gunner) and is equipped withJankel blast limiting attenuation seats. It hasan internal volume of 4.8 m3, protection

being provided underbody against minesand roadside bombs, and laterally againstsmall arms fire, rocket propelled grenadesand explosively formed penetrators (Tardecstates an Mrap protection level). The LTVis equipped with a full communications,command and control, situational aware-

Derived from theMungo inservice with the German Bundeswehr,this is KMW’s proposal for the US Army

ULCV programme. (Armada/P. Valpolini)

In the last few years the US Army Tank Automotive Research Development and EngineeringCenter worked on the prototype of an Ultra Light Vehicle with a view to exploring available andemerging technologies. The resultant ULV is equipped with a hybrid propulsion and is said toensure maximum crew protection (protection against RPGs was one of the requirements, hencethe net-armour system). Mobility was a key issue that was studied in co-operation withnumerous American companies. (US Army)


ness and jamming system suite. Price esti-mate is $260,000 on a 15,000 vehicle base,although price target was set on $250,000on a 5,000 vehicle base. To develop theultra light vehicle Tardec Ground SystemSurvivability partnered with HardwireLLC. Other companies include RoushIndustries, DRS, DSM Dyneema, Boeing,American Motive Power Systems, Harris,Schott, ArmorLine, GKN, Hutchinson, LocPerformance Products, Navitas Systemsand Penn State University. Clearly the ULVdoes not meet the ULCV requirements;however it allowed to better focus the stateof the art in the light vehicles domain,which was useful for acquiring knowledgeto be exploited in incoming programmes.Back to the ULCV, the Platform

Performance Demonstration (PPD) wasconducted at Fort Bragg from 2 to 13 June2014, and to verify that the draft thresholdrequirements were achievable. Six com-petitors took part in the demonstration(but no details revealed on participants,although it is quite obvious that somecompetitors for the GMV 1.1 have devel-oped a nine-seat variant of their vehicles tomeet the Army requirement).One of them definitely is General

Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systemsthat untilMay 2014 was obliged to withholdinformation on its GMV 1.1 due to legalissues raised by some competitors. Thecompany was eventually able to communi-cate and details finally emerged atEurosatory. As expected, it is larger than thestandard Flyer Gen II ALSV since no inter-nal V-22 transportability was required. The

GMV 1.1 still has to enter the wider CH-47though, which means a 1.98 metres widthwhich usually needs to be reduced to keepsufficient lateral space for tie down andaccess for crewmembers or drivers. Thevehicle is thus 1.85 metres wide (or 72 inch-es), hence the Flyer 72 designation given tothe basic vehicle fromwhich theGMV1.1 isderived, in a similar manner that the 1.52

metre- wide (60-inch V-22 width limita-tion) Internally Transported Vehicle is nowrenamed the Flyer 60. Height is limited to1.84 metres, while length is 4.62 metres(4.90 metres with pushbar and winch).The kerb weight is the same as the Flyer

60’s at 2,315 kg, but payload capacity isincreased from 1,814 kg to 2,500 kg. Poweris courtesy of a 195 hp turbocharged double



The ten-seat version of Boeing’s PhantomBadger that took part in the June trials at FortBragg in view of the future ULCV request for

information. (Boeing)

At AUSA 2014 GD-OTS exhibited a version of its Flyer 72 armed with a 30mm gun, which isproposed for the Light Reconnaissance Vehicle programme. (Armada/Paolo Valpolini)


overhead camshaft Euro 5 engine yielding a400 Nm torque coupled to a six-speedTiptronic autoshifter. Capable of two andfour wheel drive, the GMV 1.1 has a maxi-mum speed of 160 km/h and a power-to-weight ratio of over 39 hp/t. “Mission profilerange” is given as 563 km. It can climb 60%slopes and 40% side slopes, ford 0.76 metreswithout preparation, and overcome a 355mm vertical obstacle. The chassis remains atubular frame as in all Flyers. It carries up toseven men, three in front with the driver incentral position, two passengers on thesides, two in the second rowwith the gunnerin the centre on a five-point belt seat, andone on the rear deck facing backwards. TheFlyer 72 has independent suspensions on allfour corners with coil-over-shock absorbersand air spring variable ride. Tyres are12.5x37 R17 with bead lock, or VFI run flat,but 38x17x14.5 tyres are also available. Thefront axle being well forward and the snoutshape allow for an approach angle of 73.4°(which are reduced to 55.5° if the pushbarand winch are installed).Typical main armament would be a 12.7

mm machine gun installed over the rollcage (Browning type or a GAU-19 for

example). All roll-over protections are fold-ed or disconnected for air transport, but thevehicle is able of being “guns up” within 13seconds of helicopter exit. Each operator onthe side seats can have a pintle mountedM240 7.62 machine gun installed. Thesame applies to the back-facing soldier whocovers the rear arc as the rear roll-cage lim-its the use of the heavier weapon over thatarc. The GMV 1.1 has two independentelectric systems, one with a 14 V alternatorand batteries providing power to the vehicleitself, and one with a 28 V alternator anddedicated batteries to power, in addition tosilent watch duties, all mission systems suchas communications, command and control,jammers, etc. A survivability package thatincludes armour is part of Socom’s require-ments, the extra weight impacting only airtransportability due to axle weight limita-tions of the Chinook floor.The Flyer 72 for the GMV 1.1 pro-

gramme was developed in parallel with theFlyer 60 for the ITV programme, thus mostcomponents are identical, which consider-ably reduces the logistic footprint.Currently the ITV vehicle is in themid of

Socom evaluation, while General Dynamics

OTS is getting ready to start deliveries of thenine GMV 1.1 vehicles that will undergoSocom Production Quality Testing. Bothvehicles are available to the exportmarket intheir base version and can be fitted accord-ing to customer requirements.Other new vehicles have appeared in the

ULCV contest. A well known brand in theATV world with numerous successes in thespecial forces community, notably with itsMRZR and MV850, Polaris Defensemarked a step up in class with its newDagor, which not only is the first specificmilitary design for the company but also amuch heavier and bigger one. Unveiled atModern Day Marine and AUSA in fall2014, this 4x4’s data sheet seems to be ablueprint of the ULCV draft requirements,with a kerb weight of 2,040 kg and a 3,515kg payload capacity. Its development start-ed two years ago and numerous data arekept under wrap as the vehicle is definitelycompeting for the aforementioned pro-gramme (and has thus definitely been oneof the six that showed up last June at FortBragg). One of these hush-hush elements isthe engine, which is defined as a “turbod-iesel JP8” without any indication of output,


Here in the fully open configuration, PolarisDefense Dagor can be fitted with some lateral

protection. (Polaris Defense)


power, weight and size since these are keychoice parameters, while the range of 800km is twice the threshold requirement.The Polaris Defense vehicle uses a readi-

ly available commercial off-the shelf drive-line, suspensions are inspired by the TrophyTruck to cope with the payload as well aswith mobility on very harsh terrain, usuallytravelled on foot. The Dagor can host up tonine soldiers, two in the front, three in therear, the one in the centre in elevated posi-tion to act as gunner, and four in the rearcargo bed, rucksacks being attached to therollbar. This while coping with stringent

dimensions due to air transportabilityrequirements that forced the designers tostay within the 1,880 mm width and 1,840height limits, (length being 4,520 mm) forH-47 Chinook or H-53 Sea Stallion trans-portability (two in the first and one in thesecond), while kerb weight allows slingUH-60 transportation. As per require-ments, the Dagor can be air dropped usingthe Low Velocity Airdrop delivery system.The Dagor features a 24 V auxiliary powerterminal to operate a full C4I suite. As forweapons, the roll bar can accommodate amedium calibre weapon, while pintle

mounts can be installed inmany other loca-tions providing 360° coverage with smallcalibre machine guns. In early OctoberPolaris Defense announced that its Dagorhad already won contracts with the USSocom as well as with international specialforces customers, but failed to providemoredetails in terms of numbers and nations.Before we leave the United States terri-

tory, just a short note concerning theGuardian Angel Air-Deployable RecoveryVehicle (Gaarv): the US Air Force choicewent to the Storm 4x4 produced by HDTGlobal, the company having so far deliv-ered 13 units to the Air Force, and nowexpects further orders that could bringtotal sales to the 61 mark.

I NON-AMERICANElsewhere, and although it was well knownthat the Netherlands Special Forces hadselected a vehicle developed by a nationalcompany, no details had emerged untilEurosatory, when General DynamicsEuropean Land Systems unveiled the AirTransportable Tactical Vehicle (ATTV)marking its breakthrough in the light vehi-cles world.In fact GDELS is marketing the ATTV

following an agreement made withDefenture BV, a Dutch company based inTiel. Internally known as the CRf-C1, thevehicle features a peculiar architecture witha stainless steel centre chassis which housesand protects the mobility chain. A-armssuspensions, provided by X-motionEngineering as one of the participatingcompanies in Defenture together withRondo Trading Group and the VDL Group(the latter in charge of production), result


This picture shows the half windscreen adopted by Polaris Defense to protect the driver andcommander from air at the lower possible weight cost. (Armada/Paolo Valpolini)


General Dynamics European Land Systems unveiled is now distributing the Air Transportable Tactical Vehicle (ATTV) developed byDefenture BV of the Netherlands and adopted by Dutch Special Forces units. Themobility chain is well protected as it is nested within thevehicle’s stainless steel central chassis; front and rear axles and suspensions are identical. (GDELS)


from Paris-Dakar rally experience. TheATTV was proposed with two powerpacks, one based on a 200 hp Ford 3.2 litrefive-cylinder diesel, and the other, retainedby the Netherlands, is a Steyr M160053-B3.2 litres six-cylinder kicking out 220 Hpwith a 500 Nm torque, coupled to a ZF6HP280 six-speed automatic transmission.Low and high ratio drives from the com-mercial T-case respectively offer maximumspeeds of 170 km/h and 95 km/h whilerange over hard level surfaces at muchlower speed is given as 1,200 km. Two fueltank options are available, 102 or 130 litres,though 140 litres worth of jerry cans can beadded. The vehicle is a permanent 4x4 andruns on 275x65x18 tyres. Ground clearanceis 300 mm, while approach and departureangles are both 50°. The ATTV can climbover a 0.3-metre vertical obstacle and ford,without preparation, an 869 mm-deepwater obstacle. The vehicle’s architectureallows it to easily receive different types ofbodies (the ATTV prototype seen in Parisbeing one of the solutions). The ATTV canclimb an 80-90% front slope, its power-to-gross weight ratio is of nearly 50 hp/t, andwith identical kerb and payload capacity it

Built on a Bremach chassis, the SOV’s superstructure has been developed andproduced by KMW; it is here seen with half of the windshield folded down to give themachine gun a good arc of fire. (KMW)


grosses out at 4.5 tonnes. The width of thealuminium body (without mirrors) is of1,800 mm, which allows the ATTV toaccess a CH-47 Chinook helicopter thanksto its 1,841 mm height (length is 4,959mm). The turning diameter is of 13 metres,although a Defenture four-wheel steeringoption reduces this to only nine metres. Ontop of the roll cage a foldable ring mountcarries a 12.7 mmmachine gun, the mountbeing foldable inside the vehicle to make itcompatible with CH-47 transportability;swing-mounts are available to provideoccupants with additional firepower using7.62 mm machine guns, Standard crewconsists of four men with a fifth manningthe machine gun. It has four side-doorsand an ample rear flatbed.

Defenture teamed with Tencate, whichprovided Dyneema-based Level 1 ballisticprotections both for transparent andopaque surfaces. In addition a V-shapedunderbelly plate that provides some protec-tion against mines is available as option.

As said above the vehicle seen in Pariswas a prototype, the delivery of the firsttwo pre-production vehicles to the DutchSpecial Forces being awaited before yearend. The 48 production vehicles will thenbe delivered during 2015, and will replacethe Mercedes Benz G280CDI vehicles cur-rently in use by special force units. Themain installed weapon should be either theHeckler & Koch automatic grenadelauncher or a 12.7 mm machine gun. The

manufacturer has now started an exportcampaign. According to certain sourcesthe vehicle has already been tested theAmerican Special Forces Command.

AtMSPO 2014 Krauss-MaffeiWegmannunveiled its new Special OperationsVehicle, the result of a co-operation withBremach of Italy that developed the chassis.In the mid-2000s KMW examined theItalian T-Rex chassis based on a tubulardesign that yielded much higher strengthcompared to standard extruded profilesand asked Bremach to develop a chassis formilitary use, a base of a CH-47 trans-portable vehicle. Fully tested in Germany in2008-09 and further developed, this chassisis now the core of KMW’s 4x4 SpecialOperations Vehicle. It meets GermanKommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) require-ments and even fits inside the CH-53GASea Stallions of the German Army Aviationinventory. The roll-protection bar enablesthe windshield to decouple from the por-tion that supports the heavy machine gun.All folded with weapon resting on the bon-net, height is reduced from 2.63 metres to1.87 metres to enable the 1.935-metre widecar to enter the aircraft.

At 4.99 metres overall length, bothChinooks and Sea Stallions can transportonly one at a time. The vehicle can carry aload equivalent to half of its five-tonne kerbweight, providing an amplemargin for addi-tional protection, for example (protectioncurrently stands at Level 1a mine). The

medium- calibre machine gun installed on apower-driven ring mount over the roll pro-tection bar has a complement of 600 rounds.Two other machine guns, either 5.56 mm or7.62 mm, can be installed on pedestalmounts, one on the right for the command-er and one on the rear flatbed for a gunner.The prototype vehicle on show atMSPOwasfitted with two types of grenade launchers,two twinWegmann 76 mm launchers at thefront on the right and left extremities of thebumper, and four twin Wegmann 40 mmlaunchers at the rear right. A five-tonnewinch with a 25 metre steel cable is fitted atthe front. Powered is entrusted to a 176hpIveco 3.0 litre diesel engine resulting in apower-to-weight ratio of over 22 hp/t. Rangeis said to be in excess of 800 km on roughterrain. It is equipped with 255/100 R16run-flat tyres, and the front axle is locatedwell forward to produce a 42° slope attackangle while the shaped rear clears a 37° exitslope. Turning radius is less than 13 metres.The number of crew members can varyfrom three to six, the prototype having twofront seats, two seats in the back row, andone seat looking backwards in the rear, therails on the flatbed allowing for quick recon-figuration. The vehicle shown in Kielce wasthe first prototype, and since last July it hasbeen used for company tests in Europe.Further prototypes are being produced, andsome will probably be delivered to theWTD91 and then to the KSK for field test-ing. KMW plans to develop variants in theform of armoured personnel carrier withopen roof, fully armoured pick-up andarmoured cab with flatbed.

The Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Special Operations Vehicle was unveiled in Poland at MSPOin 2014. It is based on German Kommando Spezialkräfte requirements. (Armada/P. Valpolini)




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If electronic warfare amounts to efforts to deny enemies the effective use of theelectromagnetic spectrum to pursue their goals while preserving such use for oneself, cyberwarfare can be thought of as the equivalent applied to computer and communicationsnetworks. Because such networks are all-pervasive in modern life, little is more predictablethan that humankind should fight over and through them. There is growing evidence thatassociations of nation states and myriad non-state actors are engaged in covert cyberconflict shading between crime, espionage, sabotage and undeclared war that haspersisted with varying intensity for more than a decade.

Cyber Warfare

Time for Cyber War Laws?

Cyber Warfare:Armada 11/26/14 9:15 PM Page 2


Peter Donaldson

In a thesis on cyber warfare published inJanuary 2009,Major (nowLtCol) ScottDApplegate of the United States Armycalled cyber warfare an inexpensive,

highly-effective means for a nation toachieve its political, economic or strategicobjectives while maintaining plausibledeniability for its actions. “Cyber warfarecan potentially be used to destroy theenemy’ss initiative and his confidence in hisability to succeed in battle, thus disruptinghis plans. A successful attack can createuncertainty for an enemy commander,causing him to forego an opportunity for

success and tipping the balance of power infavour of the cyber attacker.”Cyber attacks rarely cause death or

destruction directly, but one thing can leadto the other. In some cases, the disruption tomodern life is the point, as in the presumedRussian attack on Estonia in 2007 thatfollowed the small Baltic nation’s decision tomove a statue commemorating Sovietsoldiers who died in the SecondWorldWar.The following year, however, cyber attackson Georgia’s communications networksserved as prelude and enabler for kineticattacks from the air andon the groundas thedispute with Russia over South Ossetiaescalated. Today, cyber attacks and kineticactions are happening together and may bemutually supportive in the conflict betweenUkrainianGovernment forces andRussian-backed separatists.

I DDoS – THE TIP OF THE ICEBERGTypically attackers hack into and defacegovernmentwebsites and flood serverswithoverwhelming numbers of requests indistributed denial of service (DDoS) attacksthat target cultural, governmental, security,

defence, financial, communications andmedia organisations.DDoS attacks are often, but not always,

associated with botnets, networks ofcomputers that have been infected withmalware that enables criminal organisationsto use them to attack other systems withoutthe knowledgeof their owners. The criminalorganisations that runbotnets often sell timeon them to others for specific attacks, andtheir customers are believed to includenational intelligence agencies looking forplausible deniability. They are often, but notalways, brute force attacks gauged by thesheer volume of data that they fire at thetargetnetwork.Thedistributedcharacterof aDDoS attack stems from the fact that theinfected computers used to carry it out canbe anywhere in theworld.According toMatthewPrince, co-founder

andchiefexecutiveofficerofwebperformanceand security company CloudFlare, anythingfrom 10 to 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) isconsidered a nuisance attack, althoughsomething at thehigher endof that range canknock a poorly prepared organisation off theinternetwhile it lasts.Until recently, theroughupper limit for DDoS attacks has been 100Gbps setby routerport capacity, he saidat theBlackHatUSA2013event.Mr Prince was discussing CloudFlare’s

response to the attackonSpamhaus last year.Atmore than 300Gbps, this was consideredthe largest denial of service attack up to that

Cyber security houses Symantec and BAESystems Detica both point to Russia as thelikely source of cyber attacks against severalformer Soviet states using Trojan.Wipbot todeliver malware variously known as Uroboros,Carbon and Snake. (BAE Systems Detica)

All-pervasive computernetworks are inevitably

a battleground andsome analysts indicatethat undeclared cyberwar involvingmultiple

state and non-stateactors and organisedcriminals has been

raging for years. (Nato)


point. (Spamhaus was founded to track andblock “the internet’s worst spammers” andregularly upsets thedigitally aggressive.)Mr Prince said that this attack required

neither botnets nor a lot of people norsignificant technical skill to carry out.Instead, it used a set of misconfiguredDomain Name Service (DNS) resolvers—devices that translate memorable names ofinternet resources (such as armada.ch) intoIP addresses—along with servers onnetworks that allowed source IP spoofing.A DNS resolver that lacks limits on howmany requests it accepts orwho its respondsto is misconfigured or “open”. IP addressspoofing is the forging of source addresseson data packets.

I BIG ATTACKSWORRYINGLY EASYAs he described it, a small but carefullydesigned query—it might be only 64 byteslong— can elicit a response more than 50timesthesize fromasingleopenDNSresolver.ByspoofingthesourceIPaddress, theattacker

canmake the query appear to come from thetarget,which is thensentall the responses.“Good networks don’t allow this to

happen,”he said. “Goodnetworks say, at youredgewhenapacket is egressingyournetworkif that packet has a source that you are notresponsible for within your network thendon’t forward it on.”Unfortunately, therewere 28million such

misconfiguredDNSresolvers on the internetas of 27October2013, according to theOpenResolverProject, and thenumber is believedto be increasing. What’s more, the SpooferProject, supported by the Center forMeasurement andAnalysis ofNetworkData(CMAND), estimates thatmore than25%ofthe world’s networks permit source IPaddress spoofing.DDoS attacks, however, are only the tip

of the iceberg andmore subtle and insidiousinfiltrations by trojans, viruses andworms enable theft, espionage and otherdamage, electronic and physical, overlong periods of time.

I KINETIC CYBER IS HEREEvensystemsthatarenotdirectlyconnectedtothe internet can be vulnerable and can sufferdistinctly kinetic effects. This the IranianGovernment learnedwith the revelation thatthe chronic unreliability of the uraniumenrichment centrifuges at its Natanz nuclearplant was the result of infectionwith awormthatAmericanand Israeli cyberwarriorshaddesigned for the job. (The worm came to beknown as Stuxnet following its escape ontothe internet in 2010.) AsDavid E Sanger laysout in his 2012 book entitled Confront andConceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and SurprisingUse of American Power, theworm’s targetwasthe supervisory control and data acquisitionsystem, based on Siemens programmablelogic controllers, that Iran installed to run thegas centrifuge cascadeatNatanz.Because the Iranians had isolated the

system from the internet, the NationalSecurity Agency and its Israeli counterparthad to find another way to insert first a“beacon” programme—to map the targetsystem, figure out how it worked andcommunicate its findings back home—thenthe custom-built worm itself to takecommand and wreak havoc. They chose the


Because the Iranians hadisolated the system fromthe internet, the NationalSecurity Agency and itsIsraeli counterpart had tofind anotherway to insertfirst a “beacon” programme

Cyber aggressors havelearned to rent orcompromise data centresand cloud machines,subverting them fordistributed denial ofservice attacks; Ciscohelps clients defend theirnetworks. (Cisco)

CyberWarfare


classic combination of unwitting humanbeings—engineerswhowereallowed toworkon software athomeand toplug their laptopsinto the centrifuge control system —andinfected memory sticks. “It turns out thatthere is always an idiot around who doesn’tthink much about the thumb drive in theirhand,” is a comment that Sanger attributes toanunnamedarchitect of theplan.

For three years, centrifuges full ofuranium hexafluoride gas mysteriously andunpredictably went haywire and destroyedthemselves, as effectively as if they had beenbombed, and set back Iran’s quest for a viablenuclear weapon. While not the first of itskind, this attack, which caused physicaldestruction through the exploitation of avulnerable process control system, may bethemost successful example so far ofwhat iscoming tobeknownaskinetic cyberwarfare.

I US AND RUSSIA AT WAR?More recently andagainst thebackgroundofthe Russia-Ukraine conflict, a series offailures inRussian satellite systems, includingan 11-hour outage of Glonass (Russia’s GPSequivalent) in April and the effective loss ofCosmos-2479 (part of Russia’s Oko ballisticmissile early warning system) has raisedsuspicions of American cyber attacks. Someanalysts believe that Russia has respondedasymmetricallywith sophisticatedattacksonAmericanbanks including JPMorganChase.

One of these is freelance military spaceconsultant Paul Szymanski, who wrote on

LinkedIn: “It is my assessment that thefailuresof sevenRussian satellite systemsoverthe last fourmonthsweremostlydue to cyberattacks (somecouldbenatural failure events)emanating from American anti-satellitecyberweapons.”

Mr Szymanski is former principalscientist at Metatech Corporation, a science

and engineering company specialising inelectromagnetic environmental effects.

“Even though I’m sure the United Stateshas better and more numerous offensivemilitary technologies than the Russians” hecontinued, “I believe the Russians won thisspace war because they took the war back toEarth and attacked the American bankingsystem the day before they invaded SEUkraine in force.”

This is a reference to the incursion ofsubstantial Russian forces into Ukraine


Following suspected American attacks on the Glonass navigation satellite network, Russiais thought to have hit back with cyber attacks on the American banking system to discourageinterference with its operations against Ukraine, illustrated here. (DigitalGlobe via Nato)

Joint America and Israeli cyber attacks using the Stuxnet worm causedmanycentrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility to destroy themselves over aperiod of three years. (Iran President’s Office)


revealed in images released by NATO on 28August purporting to show Russian self-propelled artillery units moving in convoythrough Ukrainian countryside and thenestablishing firing positions in the area ofKrasnodon,Ukraine.

Ukrainiangovernmentwebsites, includingthat of the primeminister’s office have beenattacked heavily as the crisis has unfolded. Inthe joint statement of the NATO UkraineCommission issued on 04 September, headsof stateandgovernment listedhelpwithcyberdefence among a package of “substantial newprogrammes” tosupportUkraine.

I TROJANS, WORMS AND ESPIONAGEUkraine, however, is only one of the cybervictims and the attacks seem to be part of awell established pattern of activity largelyconcentrating on spying. According to

internet security giant Symantec, a cyber-espionage campaign using highly-capablemalware has systematically targeted thegovernments and embassies of a number offormerEasternBloc countries.The companysays that the key weapons used areTrojan.Wipbot and Trojan.Turla, the latteralso going by other names including Snake,Uroboros and Carbon. (I will use “Snake”fromnowon for simplicity.)

“It appears that this combination ofmalwarehasbeenused for classic espionage-type operations for at least four years.Because of the targets chosen and theadvanced nature of the malware used,Symantec believes that a state-sponsoredgroupwasbehind these attacks.”

Many fingers are pointing at Russia as itsorigin although, as Symantec points out, theidentity of the groupbehind these attacks has

yet to be established. Many of the items ofevidencepointingtoRussiaarecircumstantial,butmutuallysupportive,particularlywhenthetargets and the time stamps of the attacks arecorrelated. The company notes that whileinfections initiallyappearedtobespreadoverarange of European countries, closer analysisrevealed that many infections in WesternEurope affected computers connected toprivate government networks belonging toformerEasternBloccountries.

In May 2012, for example, the primeminister’s office in a country that is a formermember of the Soviet Union suffered aninfection that spread to60computers, andanattack on a computer in the embassy toFrance of a second former Soviet Unionmember followed later in the year.

“During 2013, infections began to spreadto other computers linked to the network ofthis country’s ministry of foreign affairs. Inaddition, itsministry of internal affairs wasalso infected,” said the company. “Furtherinvestigation uncovered a systematic spying


Cyber Warfare

LockheedMartin’s NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center is key to itsresponse to threats against vital network, facilitating cyber research and development,customer and partner collaboration and innovation. (LockheedMartin)


campaign targeted at its diplomatic service. Infections werediscovered at embassies in Belgium,Ukraine, China, Jordan,Greece,Kazakhstan, Armenia, Poland andGermany.”Regarding timing, both Symantec andBAESystemsDetica, which

recently published an analysis on the Snake malware, imply thatRussia is a likely source. BAE Systems Detica reported that it hascollected 100 unique files related to this espionage tool kit, many ofthem submitted by victims to onlinemalware analysis websites, in its2014 SnakeRootkit report.

I LIKE ANY OTHER PROFESSIONAL“Plotting the day of the week in which the samples were compiledshows a now familiar pattern for analysts of modern cyber attacks.The creators of the malware operate a working week, just like anyother professional,” said the report. “Similarly, plotting the hour ofthe day in which the samples were compiled reveals another humanpattern – theworking day. This has been adjusted toUTC+4 to showa possible fit to the operators’ local time.”The 56 samples in which the country from which the report was

submitted is known, saidDetica, showswhere themalware has been.Of those samples gathered between 2010 and early 2014, 32 (a littleover 57%) came fromUkraine.Analysts have concluded that Trojan.Wipbot is used to deliver

Snake to its targets, usually through spear phishing or watering holeattacks. In a spear phishing attack, the target, who is usually anindividual in an organisation of interest to the attacker, receives anemail purporting to come from someone he or she knows and trusts,one that includes an infected attachment.Awatering hole is awebsitethat has been identified as one that is used regularly and trusted by thetargeted individual or organisation and then contaminated withmalware to infect selected visitors.Once in the target computer, according to Symantec’s analysis,

Trojan.Wipbot collects information on it and passes it back to theattackers, who then decide whether to proceed to the next stage. ��

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Georgia National Guard soldiers learn cyber defence at the GeorgiaTechnology Research Institute in Atlanta. The Georgia Guard’s cybercadre has grown from one to 25 over two years and plans to addanother 20. (US Army National Guard)



Cyber Warfare

Trojan.Turla thendownloads Snake, possiblydisguised as a Shockwave installer bundle,whichdropsadriver file intothetarget system,which, inturn,setsupahiddenfilecontainertostore stolen information and other files. Thedriver also injects code into web browsers tohide malicious traffic to and from hostilecommand and control servers among thelegitimate traffic toget throughfirewalls.

I CYBER SOLUTIONSWith so much at stake cyber warfare andcybersecurity have become key markets forthe defence giants such as BAE Systems,Boeing, General Dynamics, LockheedMartin,NorthropGrummanandThales.

Cybels, for example, is the name Thalesgives to its cybersecurity solution that thecompany has designed to handle risksdynamically, claiming that it prevents,detects, analyses and thwarts all types ofattack (including denial of service, theft ofcritical data, intrusion etc.) by coordinatingeffective IT resources and qualifiedpersonnel. Cybels, says the company, is oneof the cornerstones of information systemsecurity at the French Ministry of Defence’snewBalardheadquarters.

Cybels includes both services andproducts. Services include supervision ofinformation systems either from inside thecustomer’s organisation or from a Thalessecurity operations centre; simulation andtraining foroperators in anenvironment that

duplicates the customer’s IT infrastructure;consulting, security audits and penetrationtesting; and a rapid reaction team that helpscustomers to face crises and to mitigate theeffects of any attacks as quickly as possible.

AsThalesdescribes it,asecurityoperationscentre is the locus of technical surveillance,collecting,correlatingandanalysingsuspiciousevents detected by sensors and generatingalerts. It also enables cyber operators toorganise,coordinateandimplementresponsesin line with the prevailing risk acceptancepolicy, says thecompany.

It draws on information from raw eventsand defensive products such as firewalls,intrusiondetectionandpreventionsystemstoestablishacorrelatedpictureofhostileactivityandenableappropriate responses toalerts.

It provides decision-making andtraceability tools by generating surveillancesummary reports that highlight bothmaliciousactivitydetectedandvulnerabilitiesdiscovered, subjecting them to analysisbackedbyaknowledgedatabase that informsplansofaction.

Products include a viewer that enablesoperators to centralise and visualise alertsfrom all the sensors in the network, whichhelps them to forecast impacts andimplement their reactions. Cybels Scan is

designed to findvulnerabilities in customers’systems before attackers do. A patentedsensor product provides detection andinvestigation capabilities and canbeused foradhoc supervision.CybelsPractice replicatesan information system in a confined“sandbox” environment so that reactionplans can be tested against simulated cyberattacks and operators can train. Finally, anintelligence platform enables analysis ofblogs, forums and social networks to helpanticipate andprevent attacks.

I TIME FOR CYBER WAR LAWS?The Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclearenrichment facilitiesdemonstratedhowcyberattacks can do physical damage even to asystem that was not directly connected to theinternet.Withmanymorecontrol systems forvital infrastructure and services actuallyconnected to the web for remotemonitoringand control, these cyber physical systemsmake increasingly attractive targets.Concludinghis2013paperentitledThe Dawnof Kinetic Cyber, Lt Col Applegate called onindustry to make these systemsmore secureby design, called for new industry standardsand regulations, and called on theinternational community to codify cyberwarfareunder the lawsofarmedconflict.

Thales’ Cybels cybersecurity solution includes products and services and has beendesigned to handle risks dynamically, preventing, detecting, analysing and thwarting alltypes of attack, says the company. (Thales)



With interests currently focused on expeditionary light vehicles (see article on page XX),the USArmy is rethinking the future of itsArmored Brigade Combat Teams following thecancellation of the Ground Combat Vehicle programme.According to Brigadier General

Bassett (left), ProgramExecutive Officer for Ground Combat System, the top two prioritiesremain the replacement of theM113 (theArmoredMulti-Purpose Vehicle, orAMPV) and of theself-propelled howitzer.Abrams and Bradleys vehicles will receive a series of incremental upgradesthat will mainly involve optics, ammunition and networking.Any decision regarding theirreplacement has beenmoved to the right: the draft requirements for a Future Fighting Vehicle thatmight replace the Bradley are expected in five years time, during which theArmywill considermaturing technologies thatmight be applied to the new vehicle. This situation was reflected in thelack of heavy vehicles at thisAusa event if one excepts the two Bradleys used as chassis fortechnology demonstrators at BAE Systems andKongsberg booths, and the Stryker Engineer SquadVehicle, to give substance to theUSArmy’s funding announcement during the show of a fourthbrigade of double V-hull Stryker vehicles.

LOOKING FOR HEAVYVEHICLES, DESPERATELYVisited and photographed by Paolo Valpolini

Show Report

AUSA Show Report 1:Armada 11/26/14 9:19 PM Page 1


Show Report

California-basedKopinunveiled its Precision

Acquisition andTargetingSystem(orPats).Alternativelydescribed as an integrated firecontrol system for small arms,this clip-on solutionprovidesthe shooterwith the rightballistic solution.ThePatsincludes an eyesafe 1.55µm laserrangefinderwith amaximumrangeof 1,000metres,which canbe activated either by thebuilt-in trigger or by a remote triggerallowing tokeephands in theshootingposition.The shooterkeeps the red square shown inthe sight on the intended target,which is in fact the overlay of thePats displayon thedirect viewoptical sight, and activates therangefinder thedata being fedinto theballistic calculator.Ared cross appears, which is thecorrected aiming crosshairs thesoldier has to put on the targetto hit it. The 640x480 displaycovers a 7° field of view, whichmatches that of the 4x32TrijiconAcogArmyRifleCombatOptic. Brightness is

automatically adjusted between0.1 fL and over 5,000 fL,ensuring good visibility in allconditions, day and night. Thisquality is due to the adoption ofKopin’s augmented realityweapon sight technology,which generates ultra-highbrightness levels typical oflarger systems seen in aviationhelmet-mounted displays.It is poweredby a single

DL/CR-123batterywith a life ofover 50hours.Other sensors arecontained in thePats such as aninclinometer, a cant sensor andtemperature, humidity andairpressure indicators.Duringsystemset-up theuser entersvalues for theweapon, the roundhe is firing, themuzzle velocity,the barrel spin ratio, the bulletweight, thedrag curve, theweaponboresight range and thedirect-viewoptical sight heightoff the rail. Boresighting isextremely easy anddoesnotrequire any extra shooting, astheunit features aprecisionelectronic boresighting functionthat allows to align its crosshairs

with that of the optical sight.ThePatsweighs 482grams, itsdimensionsbeing90.1 x 101.7 x98mm.SavingweightKopindeveloped a secondversion,knownas thePats Light, forthose customers that alreadyhave a laser rangefinder on theirweapons.TheLight iscompatiblewith systems suchastheDRSStormAN/PSQ-23AN/PSQ-23SmallTacticalOpticalRifleMountedMicro-LaserRangefinder andL-3Warrior Systems,Wilcox

Raptar.With the exceptionofthe rangefinder all othercomponents remain similar,dimensionsbeing reduced to 91x87.7 x 90.4mmwhileweightdrops to 399grams.Hitprobability remains of coursethe same: according to the tableprovidedbyKopin, andwith astandardM855 round, hitprobability is increased from50to98%at 300metres, from27 to85%at 400, 12 to 60%at 500 and8 to 37%at 600. (PhotoArmada/PaoloValpolini)

IMPROVED ACCURACY FROM KOPIN

Ceramic body armour platesare subject to degradation;

however inspecting the plates isnot an easy task. TenCateAdvancedArmorUSAannounced the acquisition ofthe Smart BodyArmortechnology fromNewportSensors Inc, aCalifornia-basedcompany specialised in sensortechnology.Newport Sensorsworked for seven years togetherwithUSgovernmental entitiesto develop the technology, basedonmicro sensors embedded inthe ceramic plate.Mapping thewhole plate these are able todetect cracks inside the ceramicbody. State is verified by

touching the contacts on oneside of the platewith aUSB-likekey; if the testing item light isgreen the plate still ensuressufficient protection, but if red ithas to be discarded. Plate testingcan be performedwhile in use,especially in very harsh combatenvironmentswhendamage cangounnoticed.According toTencate the technology iscurrently at TRL5, having gonethrough environmental anddurability testing. The companyis seeking rapid development tointegrate it in its Liba andMulti-Light products. The company ishowever also open to sell thetechnology to other platemanufacturers.(Photo: Tencate)

TENCATE SENSORS TO INCREASE BODY ARMOUR LIFE


LOCKHEED MARTIN:4 CYLINDERS FOR THE JLTV

LockheedMartin announced that the engineof its JLTV is afour-cylinderCummins giving the vehicle a fuelconsumptionof over 12miles per gallon (5.1 km/l) at full combatload. It is the only oneof the three JLTVs to runona four-cylinderengine, the other twobeing equippedwith six-cylinderunits.LockheedMartin considers this an edgeover its competitors, as itwill reduce total ownership costs. (Photo: LM)

Novelty on theGeneralDynamics standwas not

to be found amongst theheavyweights, but in the half-tonners. Known as theMultiUtility Tactical Transport, orMutt in short, just like the oldM151MilitaryUtility TacticalTruck (theUSArmy’s jeep inthe 1950s). Also a 4x4, the bigdifference is that todayMutt isuninhabited and its payloadcapacity is entirely dedicated tocarry supplies. Intended torelieve soldiers on foot fromtheir burden it had to be cheap,simple, with no radio link, andtailored for units that do nothave amotor pool whendeployed forward, and even lessany time for “roboticbabysitting”. TheMutt had to becapable to ensure between 60and 80%of dismountedmobility going roughlyeverywhere a soldier on footcan go. It is 1.68metres longand 1.38metres wide, has acurbweight of 340 kg and apayload capacity of 272 kg. It isguided by a soldier through atwometre-long tether that isdrawn out of a sprocket in frontof the vehicle. The guidancesystem, known asDismountedFollowTether, recognises thetension on the tether aswell asthe angle and adapts speed anddirection accordingly. TheMuttcan be used either inwagonmode, with theman in front ofthe vehicle, or inwheelbarrow

mode, with the soldierin “pushing” position, whilewalking throughwoodsfor example.The currentmodel is

electrically powered,with twodrive units, one on each sidewith onemotor. Tracks can beinstalled in place ofwheels, butad 45 kg to the curbweight. Theskid-steering systemensures aturning diameter of 3.35metres.It can overcome a 60%gradeandmove on a 60% side slope,

maximumgoverned speedbeing 13 km/h. It is capable ofamphibious operation, but athalf the speed andpayload. Inits current configuration it has a24 kmautonomy, though ahybrid solutionwith a JP8 fuelcell could provide amuchgreater range. TheMutt can beeasily towed at speeds of up to65 km/hproviding thepropulsion and guidingmechanisms are disengaged.TheMutt takes the space of two

seats inside aCH-53, theUSMarineCorps having showninterest in the systemnot only asa logistic support itembut alsoas a force protection tool forroadside bombdetection andreconnaissance duties and evenas a remoteweaponplatformcarrier (aweaponised version isbeing tested). Easilytransported inside theV-22Osprey, it currently is in pre-productionphase. (PhotoArmada/PaoloValpolini)

GENERAL DYNAMICS GOES ROBOTIC



NEXT ISSUE FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015:2 FEBRUARY,ADVERTISING: 16 JANUARY

� Remote-Control Turrets: Generally involvingsmall- and medium-calibre weapons and roof-mounted, they have become extremely popular inrecent years as they enable vehicle gunners toeffectively defend their vehicle without exposingthemselves to enemy fire.

� Rover Systems: Like most revolutionarysystems that are not initially taken too seriouslyRover systems have become a sine qua non in anumber of cases as they enable a man on theground to have a drone’s view see hissurroundings (for example) on his adequatelyequipped display.

� Naval Countermeasures:Without electronicsystems to defeat and deceive threats from the

sea, land or the air, ships literally are sitting ducks.As the attack methods constantly evolve,so must ship defensive systems. This is the topicof this article.

� Air Defence Radars: Recent events haveshown how important advanced detection - theonly way of adequately countering hostile actionfrom aircraft or missiles - has become an essentialpiece in a country’s defence strategy.

� Armoured Vehicle Active Self-protection:Given the limits reached by armoured vehicles interms of add-on armour plate weights, active self-protection systems are intended not to protect avehicle against the result of an impact from amissile or rocket, but rather to prevent such missileor rocket from reaching the vehicle.

� Euronaval: This biennial exhibition is graduallygathering momentum and worldwide recognitionand attracting exhibitors from outside the

boundaries of Europe to reflect the latest - andsometime surprising - trends in the Naval field.

� Geospatial Information: This Compendiumis highly likely to become a reference book on thetrue art of Geospatial information, a field that hasremained rather obscure in numerous minds, butwhich is now poised to become a sine qua non inmodern warfare. Geospatial information is beyonddots on a 2D or 3Dmap; it has moved on to a four-dimensional level, serving multiple layers ofinformation, an art by virtue of which maps havenot only become digital, but the bearers of smartservices, showing not only georeferenced objects,but also what they contain, where they come fromand what is around them at any given time, andwhat to expect where and when in terms ofpotential trouble. Obviously full-fledged geospatialintelligence describes ground environments, butnot only: also involved are air and space, sea andurban environments.


Show Report

Bigproblems don’t alwaysrequire big solutions.

Sometimes 90 gramsmightsave a life, and if you can afforda few, a battery and amount, it’seven better. TAR-Ideal, anIsraeli company specialised indefence and security issues,usedAusa as an internationalmarketing stepping stone for itsTL5 Pro personalmarker,which is already inmassproduction for the IsraeliDefence Forces to the tune of70,000 pieces ordered. TheIsraeli special forceswereamong the initiators of theproject togetherwith othermilitary andTAR-Ideal experts.

Themarkerworksboth inthe infrared andvisible spectra,in the latter inwhite, blue andred colours.The system iscontained in a splash-resistant80 x60x30mmcase.Aknobonthe side opens theAAorCR1233V lithiumbatteryhousing, the latter typebeingrecommended.A transparentcover protects thediode lights -four circular 830nm infraredtypes anda central high-

powered colouredone.Commands are very simple, oneselector, on the left, and twopushbuttons allowing to set therequiredmode.Rotating theselector knob clockwise till thefirst click theTL5Pro shiftsfromoff to the IRposition.Togofurther it is necessary to lift theknob, for safety reasons, toswitchover to red, thenwhiteand finally bluemode.The

central button allowsto shift fromconstant light tobeacon,while theoneon theright selects light intensity, forvisibilities at 100, 300, 800 and1,500metres ranges.Avariety ofsidemounts are available to suitmanyhelmets (the IDFhas fivedifferentmodels, twoprovidedin the kit togetherwith a vestmount).Considering its rangetheTL5Pro canbeusednot only

as an IFFbeacon foridentificationby the infantry orsquad team, but alsoby vehiclesor drones. Several can alsobeused tomark a landing zonewith IR lights.According toTAR-Ideal the systemallowed tosave several lives during therecent events inGaza.(Photo: TAR-Ideal)

IR-VISIBLE BEACON FROM ISRAEL


Armada Dec Jan

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