Can NATO’s CUAS marketplace turn urgent demand into deliveries?
Framework contracts and leasing options aim to shorten acquisition timelines, while manufacturing partnerships could help suppliers scale production to meet allied demand.
The British Army is expected to move ahead with plans to remove the Light Machine Gun (LMG) from its dismounted infantry platoons.
While the decision is awaiting ratification, a review into use of the belt-fed 5.56mm FN Herstal Minimi found that the weapon was ‘ineffective’ and ‘burdensome’, according to Lt Col Nick Serle, commanding officer, infantry trials and development unit of the British Army.
‘We have decided to remove the LMG,’ Serle said at the Future Soldier Technology 2018 conference in London.
‘We wanted to reduce the burden on the soldier. We don’t want the soldier carrying loads of ammunition
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Framework contracts and leasing options aim to shorten acquisition timelines, while manufacturing partnerships could help suppliers scale production to meet allied demand.
The US is pursuing multiple UGV programmes, from commercial robotic platforms to new autonomy technologies. The combination of these efforts could prove key to turning ambition into operational capability.
NATO is looking to artificial intelligence to provide integration between different C2 systems to create a common operational picture, potentially offering a faster route to interoperability than the slow-moving processes of NATO standards committees.
The large-scale exercise in Latvia was the culmination of three experimentation initiatives to see how platforms, weapons and systems could fit into the alliance’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative. As well as forces, it brought together companies and equipment.
Canada plans to acquire at least 120 uncrewed aerial systems through two competitions with combined funding ceilings of C$32 million.
New counter-drone technologies, autonomous launchers and manufacturing modernisation initiatives highlighted emerging opportunities for defence suppliers, while the UK advanced a major military vehicle procurement programme.