Here is a round up of AFV related news stories. As always, click on the title link to go to the full article.
The Motley Fool – Can a Massive Saudi Arms Deal Help Save General Dynamics’ Tank Biz?
General Dynamics’ (NYSE:GD) Lima, Ohio-based tank-building factory is back from the dead (the rest of General D was already doing just fine). But it’s still a complicated situation — so let me explain. Last quarter, General Dynamics reported a 3% decline in sales across its four major divisions. Combat systems, the division that builds Abrams main battle tanks, LAV light tanks, and Stryker armored personnel carriers took it on the chin, with sales down 7% year over year. This obviously was not great news for the company’s Lima plant, which builds both the Abrams and the Stryker, and where the payroll has been slashed from a high of 1,200 employees 10 years ago, to about 400 today. But there’s better news rumbling down the pike.
WITN – Gov. McCrory Honors National Guard Tank Crew
Governor Pat McCrory spent time Saturday at the North Carolina National Guard’s 2016 Leaders Workshop honoring a tank crew. The four-member crew is based in Southern Pines and won the 2016 Sullivan Cup at Fort Benning, Georgia back in May during a six-day competition against 15 other teams from across the country. Gov. McCrory presented each team member with a Governor’s Coin. The team is made up of: crew commander, First Lieutenant John Dupre of New Bern; crew gunner, Sergeant Curtis Bowen of Winston-Salem; crew loader, Specialist Brandon Sinor of Morehead City; and crew driver, Specialist Phillip Hill of Greensboro. The Governor also recognized Lieutenant Colonel Miriam Martinez, who served at the governor’s Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. from 2014 to May of 2016. Martinez will be promoted to Colonel in October.
Bloomberg – This French Museum Can Sell You a Genuine D-Day Tank
For sale: tanks, good condition, some used during D-Day. The Normandy Tank Museum is selling its entire collection at auction next month before closing its doors because it failed to attract enough visitors. The sale includes tanks, military vehicles, trucks, aircraft and motorcycles, many of which have been restored to working order. More than 40 armored vehicles, along with thousands of military items used during World War II and dozens of mannequins in full battle dress, will be sold on September 18 by Artcurial, a Paris-based luxury auction house. The sale will be held in Catz, a town a few kilometers from Normandy’s Utah beach, where the Allies landed to liberate German-occupied northwestern Europe in June 1944.
(We posted about the M4 tank on sale at the Normandy Museum back on July 26. In the past week we have noticed that this story seems to have made it into the mainstream media.)
IHS Jane’s 360 – Russia develops BT-3F amphibious tracked APC for Naval Infantry
Russia’s Tractor Plants Concern is developing a new amphibious tracked armoured personnel carrier (APC) called the BT-3F, a defence industry source told IHS Jane’s . The new APC is intended for the use by naval infantry/marine units. “The Tractor Plants Concern is finishing the designing of the BT-3F APC in order to exhibit its demonstrator at the Army 2016 military-technical forum outside Moscow in September 2016. The vehicle may partially replace the BTR-80 APC of Russia’s Naval Infantry. We suppose that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will take a close look on the new vehicle at the forum,” the source said.
IHS Jane’s 360 – Minotor-Service develops BTR-50PK upgrade
The Minotor-Service Enterprise of Belarus has developed an upgrade suite for the Russian BTR-50PK amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC). Called the BTR-50PKM, Minotor-Service states that the package is also applicable to other members of the BTR-50 family of tracked armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) including the BTR-50P, BTR-50PU, the Czech OT-62 Topaz APC (which is their equivalent of the BTR-50PK) as well as the Russian PT-76 light amphibious tank. The upgrade enhances the BTR-50PK APC by reducing its fuel consumption, improving its maintainability and reliability, as well as extend its operational life.
WASHINGTON – Poland is interested in teaming with Germany and France on a new tank production, an industrial tie-up that could boost the local defense sectors of all three nations. Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz told Defense News in a July 22 interview that his nation is focused on developing closer industrial ties with European nations as a way to grow its local industry. Macierewicz highlighted a number of programs, including discussions with the two NATO powers on a ground vehicle.
Nicaragua has received a batch of Russian T-72B1 main battle tanks (MBT), according to a source in the Russian defense industry. “About 20 T-72B1 MBTs were delivered to Nicaragua in June 2016. The remaining tanks are supposed to be supplied by the year-end. The Latin American country is planned to receive a total of 50 T-72B1 tanks,” the source said. He added that the T-72B1 MBTs would likely be issued to the mechanized infantry brigade named after General Augusto Sandino. The unit is stationed near the country`s capital, Managua. “The tanks will significantly beef up the Nicaraguan Armed Forces` combat capabilities,” the source emphasized.
Algeria is reinforcing its land forces with the acquisition of 67 T-90 tanks from its traditional arms supplier, Russia, a purchase that many observers see as a response to the Moroccan order of 200 US Abrams tanks. Part of a 200 T-90 order concluded in 2014, the delivery of the 67 tanks took place in July, a Russian military industry source told TASS news agency.
WASHINGTON: One of the Army’s most successful weapons programs is now under fire over safety shortfalls. The Automatic Fire Extinguisher System (AFES) in the upgraded M109A7 Paladin artillery vehicle “did not protect the entire howitzer crew compartment during fire survivability testing,” the Department of Defense Inspector General reports today. DoD IG says this safety system must be fixed before the vehicle is fielded and potentially faces enemy fire.
Tank and AFV News 