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.
Elbit Systems of America subsidiary Kollsman is to produce its multispectral, clip-on weapon night sight for the USMC.
The selection is part of Phase II of the Integrated Clip-on Advanced Targeting Sight (ICATS) programme and will require the company to design, build and test two sophisticated ICATS prototypes for the USMC over the next year.
The ICATS solution will be designed and produced at the Elbit Systems of America EO facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
ICATS aims to furnish the USMC with the capability to engage in day and night operations at extreme stand-off distances.
The Kollsman solution clips onto a weapon and provides critical information to the user, even in low-light or inclement weather, Elbit Systems of America stated on 8 September.
The clip-on sight is configured to provide simultaneous imaging across extended ranges without adding considerable weight to the weapon.
Elbit Systems of America already produces the Next Generation Hand-Held Targeting System for the USMC and the Multi-Domain User Sensor Architecture targeting system for the US Army.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
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.