United Kingdom
The British Army has announced its acceptance of its first Boxer 8×8 armored vehicle made in the UK by RBSL (Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land) consortium.
At the end of 2019, the UK signed an initial contract for the supply of 523 Boxer 8×8 vehicles in 10 different configurations, followed in 2022 by an additional order for 100 more vehicles, bringing the total to 623. These include APCs, engineers, reconnaissance and combat support, mortar carrier, rescue and recovery, command post, observation for artillery fire, observation, electronic warfare and protected ambulance.
NATO
NATO has announced the establishment of an international credit institution aimed at providing loans for defense purchases by Alliance member countries.
The new DSRB (Defence, Security and Resilience Bank) will enable NATO Allies to reach their goal of financing Defense expenditure at 5% of GDP for defense, as agreed at the Alliance summit last June. To this end, it will collaborate with other banking partners, global investment firms, and government companies.
Germany
According to the Rheinmetall’s CEO, the Bundeswehr will sign an agreement by the end of the year valued between 6-8 billion Euros for the supply of 500-600 Skyranger 30 anti-aircraft defense systems on a Boxer 8×8 hull, armed with a KCA 30 mm gun capable of using AHEAD ammunition for UAS, Loitering Munition and short-range DefendAir missiles from MBDA with a range of up to 5 km; also a high-energy laser (HEL) in the future.
Currently, the German Army has ordered a first batch of Skyranger 30 for evaluations and operational uses.
Lithuania
In Lithuania, PDKinematics has unveiled the Padūkėlis, a new guided munition, mainly intended for use by drones, combat helicopters, and light attack aircraft.
This is a munition capable of operating even in an environment without GPS or with a heavily disturbed signal.
