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.
ST Kinetics has developed a third prototype of its new 5.56mm Bullpup Multirole Combat Rifle (BMCR) that incorporates a moulded deflector.
Briefing Shephard at its Singapore premises about their progress, the company said that it hopes the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will eventually adopt it since the incumbent SAR 21 rifle, also manufactured by ST Kinetics, is now beginning to age. A spokesman said all testing should be completed by September, and ‘after that the SAF will hopefully do user trials’.
The BMCR made its public debut at the Singapore Air Show in February 2014.
‘The Singapore Army has grown accustomed
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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.