Page 22 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2021

22 LAND FORCES 2021
JULY-AUGUST 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
collateral damage due to one-metre accuracy, thanks to up to 50 waypoints per munition.
The system is capable of conducting 360-degree reverse slope engagements and has terrain avoidance and cave breaching capabilities. The 3,900 air-launched SDBs ac-
ABOVE: Hanwha is in talks with UK companies to offer a UK version of its K9 155mm self-propelled howitzer.
TALKS UNDERWAY ON ELBIT SYSTEMS BMS
High-level talks are underway with senior Defence figures following the removal from service by 15 May of software provided by Elbit Systems Australia to Army’s digital battle management system (BMS) under Project Land 200.
Managing Director Paul McLachlan refuted accusations of possible ‘backdoor’ security issues by what he described as unnamed, unsubstantiated sources. Senate Estimates was told on 2 June by Defence’s chief information officer that no security leaks had been identified in the Elbit BMS software.
“It seems that they (Australian Army) have stopped using a certain version of the software but the contract is still in place and there is an expectation we will together deliver what remains of the contract,” McLachlan stated. Details were commercially confidential and could change as nego- tiations continued, he added.
HANWHA LOOKS TO UK MOBILE FIRES
Hanwha Defense, selected in September 2020 as the pre- ferred solution for Australia’s Protected Mobile Fires pro- gram (Land 8116) with its K9 155mm self-propelled how- itzer, has begun formal talks with UK companies to offer a ‘Made in the UK’ version for the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) program.
The company disclosed on 2 June that it is offering a K9 variant with an unmanned turret, mine protection kits, and composite rubber tracks, with an automated resupply capabil- ity provided by Hanwha’s K10 ammunition resupply vehicle.
A Request for Proposals for MFP is anticipated in 2022. ■
“THE SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF CONDUCTING 360-DEGREE REVERSE SLOPE ENGAGEMENTS.”
quired for the RAAF’s Joint Strike Fighters have the same performance characteristics.
Saab Australia’s sales director for land, Marc Bryan, said the GLSDB could be a complementary, low-cost supplement to the long-range precision fires capability sought by Land 8113. Up to six GLSDBs could be loaded in
standard HIMARS (High Mobility Rocket Artillery System) or MLRS containers and launched simultaneously to create a multiple round, simultaneous impact, Byan noted.
The complete system weighs approximately 600lb and was first tested in 2015.
XTEK ON THE MOVE
Canberra-based XTEK and Estonia’s Milrem Robotics are to cooperate in the development of composite lightweight armour for the latter’s THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on June 2.
The 1.6 tonne tracked THeMIS has been delivered to nine countries, seven of which are NATO members.
A separate MOU signed by XTEK on 3 June with Brisbane artificial intelligence developer Athena AI will see the inte- gration of Athena’s detection and target recognition algorithm into XTEK’s Airwolf tactical targeting software module.
This integration is to be trialled on a THeMIS UGV ac- quired by XTEK and fitted with an EOS R400 RWS mount- ing a 30mm cannon and a Javelin anti-tank missile launcher.
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