UK Defence Forum

Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) formally handed over the Puma infantry fighting vehicle to the German Bundeswehr Wednesday, June 24, 2015, the most advanced system of its kind anywhere. One of the world’s most ambitious projects in the field of army technology thus enters the utilization phase.

Germany is to increase its defence spending, aiming to support NATO guidelines of spending 2% of GDP on national defence.

The Federal German Cabinet approved the 2016 budget and financial planning cycle until 2019 on 1 July. While set by the German cabinet, this is a planning assumption and not binding.

The first of two MEKO Frigates built by Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in Kiel appears ready to start her first sea trials according to ship spotter pictures. The vessel, designated MEKO A-200 AN Frigate, was launched in early December 2014. Algeria ordered two frigates (with an option for two more) in March 2012. The weapons fit selected by the Algerian Navy is quite powerfull for this type of vessel.

The Armchair Soldier wrote:German Typhoons escorting the Queen today:

Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday that the government will scrap the G36, the Bundeswehr's (German army) standard rifle, following revelations about serious defects in its accuracy.

"We've decided to make a clear break and we did this in agreement with the military hierarchy," said the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician.

Von der Leyen announced at the start of April that the G36, made by Heckler and Koch, had no future in its current form in the Bundeswehr due to the fact that it lost accuracy at high temperatures and during sustained fire.

But it remained unclear whether the 167,000 G36 assault rifles which the Bundeswehr currently relies upon as standard issues weapons for soldiers would be scrapped or upgraded.

"After almost 20 years with the G36, we want a new generation of rifles for the army," von der Leyen said of the decision.

"The new weapon should meet modern requirements and be an improvement on the G36. There will also be an open and transparent application process for the contract," she said.

TKMS representatives at MPSO 2015 explained that one of the requirements of the German Navy when designing the 212 was to have "no limitations in dived condition anywhere in the Baltic sea". German Navy Type 212As routinely dive immediately after leaving their Eckernförde base despite the shallow littoral waters which proves that the submarine is adapted to operations in the Baltic sea. In addition, they explained that "our fuel cell technology has already been proven with many customers and NATO navies".
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Nobody from Raytheon at MSPO was willing to comment on the Tomahawk request by Poland. Navy Recognition understand the U.S. Government has yet to make a final decision. So far, the United States exported its cruise missile to only one foreign customer: The United Kingdom, one of their closest allies. We raised the issue to the TKMS representative and asked what would happen to their bid should the U.S. refuse to export Tomahawk missiles to Poland. They replied that "TKMS is confident it can integrate any type of cruise missile selected by the Polish government". This raises other questions however. Would France be ready to export its cruise missile technology for integration on a non-French submarine ?
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For the Orka program, TKMS is proposing a number of optional equipment to further increase the capabilities of the Type 212A SSK. One of these optional equipment is the IDAS (Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines) missile.
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With the planned decommissioning of the Polish Navy's four Kobben (Type 207) class submarines by the end of 2016 and of the ORP Orzel (Kilo class) in 2022, TKMS explained that Germany has offered Poland access to the German Navy 212 Submarine full scale simulator (located at the Germany Navy submarine training center in Eckernförde). In addition Germany is proposing to lease one or two German Navy Type 212A to the Polish Navy for the purpose of transition until completion of the Orka program.

marktigger wrote:what is the German rival of the Type 26 Frigate?

Germany aims to hold talks with European partners in 2016 to develop a new fighter to replace Tornado fighter jets.

Reuters reported that a draft document by the Defense Ministry on ‘military aviation strategy’ said it was still unclear whether the new jet would be manned or unmanned.

The jet would be designed for both options and will be then flown with or without a pilot based on the type of deployment, the news agency reported Sunday.

The Armchair Soldier wrote:Germany Aims to Develop New Fighters to Replace Tornados

Germany aims to hold talks with European partners in 2016 to develop a new fighter to replace Tornado fighter jets.

Reuters reported that a draft document by the Defense Ministry on ‘military aviation strategy’ said it was still unclear whether the new jet would be manned or unmanned.

The jet would be designed for both options and will be then flown with or without a pilot based on the type of deployment, the news agency reported Sunday.

Read More: http://www.defenseworld.net/news/14904/ ... ngOfvmLSUl

Pseudo wrote:Couldn't they just buy another sixty or so Typhoon's and push the development of AtG capabilities?