Rheinmetall receives US military orders
Rheinmetall has been selected to supply advanced infantry and screening smoke munitions to the US armed forces. The company’s subsidiary, American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM), has received three five year framework contracts worth a total of $127.8 million for M1110 40 x 46mm day/night training cartridges and 66mm vehicle-launched screening smoke grenades.
The M1110 is a 40 x 46mm low-velocity (LV) cartridge designed to enable infantry forces to conduct live fire training at night. The projectile of the M1110 contains two distinct marking agents which together are able to mark the impact point of the fired projectile with a signature that is visible at day and at night, either with the naked eye or night vision devices, eliminating the need for high explosive rounds in order to observe the impact point.
The 40mm ammunition will be produced at the ARM plant in Camden, Arkansas, with the first deliveries scheduled to take place in 2015.
The Rheinmetall 66mm vehicle-launched grenade produces a visible and infrared smokescreen that protects combat vehicles from observation and subsequent targeting by laser illuminators, targeting devices and rangefinders. It uses a proprietary composition of red phosphorus (RP) to provide effective and long-lasting screening effects in both the visual and infrared bands; and to render sensor-guided weapons – particularly anti-tank guided missiles –less effective.
Two framework contracts were placed for the 66mm smoke grenade. For the first award, the US Marine Corps will be ordering additional quantities of the MK 1 MOD 0 version of the 66mm grenade, which is already qualified and in-service with the marines. The second contract was awarded by the Department of the Navy, and will encompass work on a new version of the MK 1 66mm grenade specifically designed to be deployed and function over water, in order to screen small boats operating in ‘brown water’ and littoral environments.
More from Land Warfare
-
New Estonian night vision devices to help against “significantly” larger enemy
Argus is a family of Mil-Spec I2 multipurpose monocular systems that can be operated handheld or head-, helmet- or weapon-mounted.
-
Patria orders Kongsberg Protector’s for common APCs
Patria developed the Patria 6x6 APC, unveiled at the June 2018 Eurosatory exhibition, as a successor to the XA-series Pasi APC and was selected for the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme.
-
Germany orders more Patriot air defence systems
The US Army has acquired more than 1,100 launchers of which it has exported at least 200 launchers, while more than 10,000 Patriot missiles have been produced to date.
-
General Dynamics to upgrade Ukraine-bound Spanish Leopards
The 120mm-armed Leopard 2 MBT was developed in the 1970s as a replacement for the German Army’s 105mm Leopard 1s. Spain's fleet of Leopard 2A4s were originally leased from Germany for five-years but eventually purchased in 2005.