US soldiers with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conduct Mobile Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defense System (M-LIDS) training at Camp Buehring in Kuwait in January 2022. The service wants to take the two-vehicle weapon system and integrate it onto a single vehicle. (US Army)

The US Army is seeking companies that can merge its Mobile, Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS) technologies onto a single ground vehicle, possibly a Stryker, and enable the weapon to hit aerial threats while on the move.

The M-LIDS Increment 2 is a two-vehicle solution using the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) where one vehicle detects and tracks aerial threats and a second outfitted kinetic and non-kinetic technologies downs group 1–3 unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Instead, the army wants to “transition” M-LIDS onto a single vehicle while also maintaining “mission effectiveness and enhancing system ease of use and reliability” as part of an Increment 3 programme, according to a 13 June request for information issued by the US Army Materiel Command.

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KMW displayed a tracked version of the Boxer armoured vehicle at Eurosatory 2022. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) presented a tracked version of the Boxer armoured vehicle at the Eurosatory defence exhibition being held in Paris from 13 to 17 June. The vehicle on display has steel tracks, but it can also be equipped with rubber tracks, reducing its weight.

The tracked Boxer has mobility features similar to infantry fighting vehicles, according to KMW. Although similar to the Boxer 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicle, the tracked Boxer can use more than 20 modules as it is wider, so stowage room or additional armour can be added to the sides, with growth potential for active/ reactive protection on mission modules and on the platform itself.

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A Rwandan soldier shows a visiting Mozambican delegation an armoured vehicle that can be identified as a Cobra II. (Rwanda Defence Force)

The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) released a photograph on 11 June showing a Cobra II 4×4 armoured vehicle made by the Turkish company Otokar deployed in Mozambique.

The RDF did not explicitly identify the vehicle as one of its assets, but the photograph was one of four it released showing a Mozambican delegation visiting Rwandan forces in the northern districts of Mocímboa da Praia and Palma.

Turkey told the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) that it exported 49 wheeled armoured personal carriers (APCs) that it did not identify to Rwanda in 2021, which followed 46 in 2017.

The RDF uses Otokar Cobra vehicles, mainly with its UN peacekeeping contingents. With a gross vehicle weight of up to 13,500 kg, the Cobra II weighs nearly twice as much. The APC variant can accommodate up to 10 people, including the driver and commander.

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Rheinmetall unveiled its KF51 Panther MBT technology demonstrator armed with a 130 mm gun at Eurosatory 2022. (Rheinmetall)

Rheinmetall unveiled its new KF51 Panther main battle tank (MBT) concept vehicle armed with a 130 mm gun on the first day of the Eurosatory 2022 defence exhibition being held in Paris from 13 to 17 June. During the ceremony presenting the tank, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger described the tank as a “gamechanger”, combining lethality, protection, reconnaissance, networking, and mobility.

The MBT's lethality is provided by the 130 mm smoothbore Rheinmetall Future Gun System (FGS), complemented by a 12.7 mm co-axial machine gun for close defence and to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. Options include Rheinmetall's Natter 7.62 mm remote-controlled weapon station and Rheinmetall partner UVision's Hero 120 loitering munition to hit targets beyond line of sight.

The FGS can fire kinetic energy, programmable airburst, and practice rounds. The autoloader in the rear of the turret carries 20 ready rounds, compared with 15 plus 27 in the magazine of a Leopard 2 tank.

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The US Army is seeking companies that can merge its Mobile, Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated ...