Israel to upgrade Argentinian TAM tanks

tam-tankJane’s is reporting that Israel has won a contract with Argentina to upgrade 74 of their TAM tanks.  The contract is stated to be worth $111 million.  According to Jane’s:

The deal was signed by Argentine minister of defense Agustin Rossi and Mishel Ben-Baruch, director of the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s International Defense Cooperation Division (SIBAT), on 26 June.

Rossi announced that the contract includes an offset agreement clause that will establish joint ventures to oversee technology transfers to Argentina. The work is to be performed at the 601 Arsenal Battalion in Boulogne Sur Mer in Buenos Aires province.

The article stub from Jane’s does not include details about what the upgrade will entail.  According to the wiki page for the TAM:

In 2010, a modernization program was announced. Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems was chosen to provide 3-axis gyro-stabilization, and most probably the L7A2 105 mm cannon will be replaced with a more powerful 120 mm cannon, like the L44 120 mm Cannon.

Israel to select a new self-propelled howitzer

IAI artilleryJane’s is reporting that the Israeli Defense Forces have announced that they are in the advanced stages of selection a replacement for their 155 mm M109 self-propelled howitzer.  According to the Jane’s article, a senior source from the Israeli Artillery Corps said that the new howitzer system would have to have a longer range and smaller crew than the M109, as well as the ability to relocate positions more rapidly.  The new artillery system will be based on the Lockheed Martin M270 multiple launch rocket system chassis to maximize commonality with Israels existing inventory.  The gun component of the vehicle will be a system by either Israeli company Elbit Systems or a system based on the Artillery Gun Module by German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) optimized for the IDF by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.