Why small guns have been critical to layered CUAS architectures
Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.
MBDA gradually transform operational needs, industrial strategies, ideas, technologies and legacy products into a new solution that will provide real operational value to customers. (Image: MBDA)
MBDA has been awarded a contract by France’s Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to lead the new Complex Weapons Innovation Technology Partnership (CW ITP).
The four-year contract follows on from the work of the Materials and Components for Missile Innovation Technology Partnership (MCM ITP).
The MCM ITP aimed to develop generation-after-next missile technology over the last 13 years.
The governments of France and the UK have shown a commitment to harness the opportunities innovation can present for the benefit of their Defence capabilities.
The CW ITP enables both countries to co-operate in that endeavour and solve the challenges future capabilities will need to overcome.
It will focus on five enduring technical areas: materials, structures and electronics; mission systems and algorithms; seekers; propulsion; and lethality.
MBDA will lead a group of French and UK companies to collaborate through ‘Dynamic Challenges’ that will look at technologies with applications across them and new potential technology areas.
MBDA is already currently working with Dstl on the Co-operative Strike Weapons Technology Demonstrator, to develop innovative new missile systems by 2023.
Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.
The Singapore-based technology company unveiled its new rifle family at this week’s airshow. Chen Chuanren spoke with the ST Engineering’s head of small arms to find out more about how the weapons have been refined.
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.
Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?