official online DSEI daily
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Incisive firepower Confidence in UK range in Germany in December 2018 and were unmanned. It is understood that development work continues, which will lead to the submission of bids for the demonstration and manufacture phase in the first quarter of 2020. The British Army took delivery of 386 Challenger 2 MBTs from Vickers Defence Systems but the fleet has already been reduced to 227 units, which is sufficient for three regiments plus vehicles for training in Canada and the UK. In future, the Royal Armoured Corps will only have two Challenger 2 MBT regiments, each of 58 tanks, so the number to be upgraded is expected to fall to around 150 units − a fleet that is much smaller than those of France and Germany. RBSL was formed on 1 July 2019 and is a joint venture between Rheinmetall of Germany (55 per cent) and BAE Systems Land UK (45 per cent). Its headquarters is in Telford, Shropshire, UK, and it is the design authority for almost all of the tracked armoured fighting vehicles used by the British Army. n
Visit the automatic re and explosion suppression system OEM:
DAVID DONALD ‘‘There is one thing I hope each and every one of you will take back home at the end of this week, and that’s confidence in the strength of great British industry.’’ Those were the words of the Minister for Defence Procurement, AnneMarie Trevelyan, speaking in the opening keynote address of DSEI 2019. The minister further highlighted the confidence that is engendered by the nation’s highly skilled service personnel and innovative industry teams. The address ended with a call to encourage more women into the defence industry, while reiterating the vision for improved and more accessible education in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) field. In terms of equipment, the minister made note of the UK’s resurgent maritime capability, represented by the progress being made by the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and the City-class and Type 31 frigates. In the air domain, the Tempest sixth-generation fighter programme was singled out as an example of UK
PHOTO: CHRIS MCANDREW
continued from page 1 Its capabilities have also been enhanced, especially firepower. The key capability enhancement is the replacement of the BAE Systems (originally Royal Ordnance) 120mm L30A1 rifled gun, for which there has been no significant ammunition development in recent years. When compared with the 120mm L44 smoothbore gun installed in the original Leopard 2 through to the A5 version, the L55A1 provides an increase in target engagement capability of up to 1,500m when firing armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot − tracer (APFSDS-T) ammunition. In addition to firing the latest Rheinmetall DM63A1 APFSDS-T ammunition, and future developments with enhanced penetration characteristics, the 120mm L55A1 gun can fire the latest 120mm DM11 programmable air burst ammunition, which is already in production and service with a number of users, including Germany and the US Marine Corps. The first successful firings of the new Challenger 2 LEP turret took place at the Rheinmetall
technological innovation and industrial leadership. During the address the minister also announced a number of contracts, including £177 million for five companies (BAE Systems, Babcock, Griffon Hoverwork, Holyhead Marine and Marine Specialised Technology) to provide Boats In-Service Support (BISS) running through to 2026. QinetiQ landed a £67 million contract from the MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) to develop anti-spoof, anti-jam multi-constellation satellite receivers as part of the UK’s Robust Global Navigation System (R-GNS) programme. Elbit Systems UK subsidiary Ferranti Technologies has been awarded a £30.8 million order for a Joint Fires Synthetic Training system. n
ultra fast detection - immediate suppression
Stand N3-100
www.explospot.com
Day 2 p3.indd 4
10/09/2019 17:11
