Saab to Provide NATO With $35 Million’s Worth of Air Defense Missiles
The RBS 70 Bolide missile is a short-range air defense missile designed to address a full spectrum of aerial threats, including fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, and UAVs. The bolide missile has a range exceeding 9 kilometers and an altitude coverage surpassing 5,000 meters
Swedish Saab announced that it has received an order for RBS 70 Bolide missiles from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The order value amounts to about $35 million and deliveries will take place during 2027.
The RBS 70 Bolide missile is the latest iteration (3rd generation) in Saab's line of short-range air defense missiles. It is designed to address a full spectrum of aerial threats, including fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The bolide missile has a range exceeding 9 kilometers and an altitude coverage surpassing 5,000 meters.
Saab's RBS 70 system has already been installed base in over 19 countries and more than 1,600 systems in service. To date, over 18,000 missiles have been delivered.
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Xiao Li, a materials scientist, holds samples of highly conductive metal wires created on the patented Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion platform.
Credit: Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
A common carbon compound is enabling remarkable performance enhancements when mixed in just the right proportion with copper to make electrical wires. It's a phenomenon that defies conventional wisdom about how metals conduct electricity.
The findings, reported in the journal Materials & Design, could lead to more efficient electricity distribution to homes and businesses, as well as more efficient motors to power electric vehicles and industrial equipment. The team has applied for a patent for the work, which was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.
Materials scientist Keerti Kappagantula and her colleagues at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered that graphene, single layers of the same graphite found in pencils, can enhance an important property of metals called the temperature coefficient of resistance.
This property explains why metal wires get hot when an electric current runs through them. Researchers want to reduce this resistance while enhancing a metal's ability to conduct electricity. For several years, they have been asking whether metal conductivity can be increased, especially at high temperatures, by adding other materials to it. And if yes, can these composites be viable at a commercial scale?
Now, they've demonstrated they can do just that, using a PNNL-patented advanced manufacturing platform called ShAPE.
When the research team added 18 parts per million of graphene to electrical-grade copper, the temperature coefficient of resistance decreased by 11 percent without decreasing electrical conductivity at room temperature. This is relevant for the manufacturing of electric vehicle motors, where an 11 percent increase in the electrical conductivity of copper wire winding translates into a 1 percent gain in motor efficiency.
"This discovery runs counter to what's generally known about the behavior of metals as conductors," said Kappagantula. "Typically, introducing additives into a metal increases its temperature coefficient of resistance, meaning they heat up faster at the same current levels compared to pure metals. We are describing a new and exciting property of this metal composite where we observe enhanced conductivity in a manufactured copper wire."
In this study, they showed that the solid-phase processing used to extrude the composite wire leads to a uniform, near pore-free microstructure punctuated with tiny flakes and clusters of graphene that may be responsible for decreasing coefficient of resistance of the composite.
"We showed that flakes and clusters must both be present to make better conductors for high-temperature operations," Kappagantula said.
Co-authors Bharat Gwalani, Xiao Li, and Aditya Nittala took advantage of a PNNL-designed testbed that measures electrical properties with high precision and accuracy to validate the improved conductivity, as reflected in the team's detailed experimental analysis. Li and Md. Reza-E-Rabby developed the tooling and process envelopes for the solid-phase friction extrusion process that led to the patent. Toward more efficient copper motors and wiring for urban buildings
When applied to any industrial application, the new copper-graphene composite wires will provide great design flexibility, according to the research team.
"Anywhere there's electricity, we have a use case," Kappagantula said.
For example, coiled copper wire forms are used in the core of electric motors and generators. Motors today are designed to operate within a limited temperature range because when they get too hot, the electrical conductivity drops dramatically. With the new copper-graphene composite, motors could potentially be operated at higher temperatures without losing conductivity.
Likewise, the wiring that brings electricity from transmission lines into homes and businesses is typically made of copper. As the population density of cities increases, demand for power follows suit. A composite wire that is more conductive could potentially help meet that demand with efficiency savings.
"This technology is a beautiful solution for copper wiring in high-density urban settings," Kappagantula added.
The research team continues its work to customize the copper-graphene material and measure other essential properties, such as strength, fatigue, corrosion, and wear resistance, which are crucial to qualify such materials for industrial applications. For these experiments, the research team manufactures wires about the thickness of a US penny (1.5 millimeters).
'Not all Englishmen are brutes!': Unseen accounts from WWI reveal the German perspective of famous Christmas Truce in 1914 - where troops exchanged food and tobacco and agreed to 'aim high' when shooting resumed
The accounts were unearthed in German newspapers by Robin Schaefer
After months of bloody fighting, the unprecedented Christmas Truce of 1914 represented a moment of common humanity amidst the horrors of war.
Traumatised Allied and German troops climbed out of their trenches to exchange makeshift gifts and express hope that the mass slaughter would soon be at an end.
But whilst British accounts of the temporary peace in the First World War are well documented, the German perspective has largely been unknown to readers in the UK - until now.
Respected German historian Robin Schaefer has found and translated a trove of around two dozen contemporary truce accounts, giving an insight into the perspective of the 'enemy'.
In one, an inantryman delightedly tells his family: 'Not all Englishmen are brutes!'
Another movingly describes the extraordinary joint burial of 100 troops, telling how Scottish troops attended in their 'short skirts and knee-high stockings'.
German troops are seen posing with a Christmas Tree at the front in 1914. Respected German historian Robin Schaefer has found and translated a trove of around two dozen contemporary accounts of the Christmas Truce
After months of bloody fighting, the unprecedented Christmas Truce of 1914 represented a moment of common humanity amidst the horrors of war. Above: British and German troops pose together during the Christmas Truce
In a third, the writer tells how they were asked by English and Indian troops to 'always aim high' when shooting, and adds: 'Which they wanted to do as well'.
The writer, a German theology student, tells his parents how it is 'hard to believe' that 'we are at peace with the English.'
Mr Schaefer told MailOnline: 'What took place at Christmas 1914 were compassionate gestures of humanity, born of common suffering, a longing for home and a desire for peace.'
'In those few days between Christmas 1914 and January 1915, decency prevailed in many parts of the Western and Eastern fronts. And that, in the end, is the most important lesson.'
In late December 1914, a directive from German high command ruled that all unauthorised approaches to the enemy would be treated as high treason.
It meant that very few private accounts of the Christmas Truce were published in German newspapers.
In the Westphalian press in western Germany, there was a window of around two weeks where letters from the front that contained truce accounts were published without fear of consequence. Above: One of the accounts in the German press
Whilst British accounts of the temporary peace in the First World War are well documented, the German perspective has largely been unknown to readers in the UK - until now. Above: German troops sitting with a Christmas Tree in 1914
German soldiers pose for a photo in their trench during the Christmas period in 1914. In the background is a Christmas Tree
However, in the Westphalian press in western Germany, there was a window of around two weeks where letters from the front that contained truce accounts were published without fear of consequence.
Mr Schaefer spent months searching through these records to bring them to public attention for the first time.
He said: The most important truth about the truce is that it was, as the American historian Jay Winter put it, "a testament to the common decency of ordinary men"
'Here were ordinary men from Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and even India, men from similar and totally different cultural backgrounds, who shared the same idea of common decency and assumed it in their enemy.'
The joint burial of 100 troops saw German soldiers of the 15th Infantry Regiment form up on one side of the grave pit.
On the other, British troops - mostly of the Gordon Highlanders and Scots Guards - were led by the Reverend John Esslemont Adams, minister at the West United Free Church on Belmont Street in Aberdeen.
The letter describing the ceremony was published on January 6, 1915.
The theology student writes: 'We all climbed out of the trenches, which were only about 80 metres apart, greeted each other and buried the dead.
'An English pastor soon arrived and, with the help of a comrade who understood English well, he suggested a joint funeral service, which our Major very much agreed to.'
He goes on to describe a joint recitation of the Bible's 23rd Psalm.
'After all the dead had been buried, we gathered together, on one side the English, i.e. the Highlanders (Scottish Guards), with their short skirts and knee-high stockings, and opposite them the Field Greys, with the English pastor and myself in the centre.
'He read the 23rd Psalm, I said it in German.'
The soldier reveals that he sent his parents a copy of the prayer.
Most of the German press did not print accounts of the Christmas Truce, due to an order stating that. Above: Another of the papers containing write-ups of letters from the trenches
German troops pose for a picture with their Christmas decorations in 1914
He tells them movingly: 'Please keep the English prayer, as the English priest wrote it down for me, as a memento of this memorable Christmas Day.
'It is a pity that two peoples who can pray together to the heavenly Father should fight each other so bloodily.'
The English vicar then said a prayer for the dead which was repeated in German by the student.
The letter continues: 'Now an almost friendly dialogue developed between the two trenches.
'People stood together in groups in the centre of no man's land, chatting and exchanging all sorts of things.
'The English, or Scots, gave us tins of corned beef, tinned food and military cap badges, while we gave them cigars and so on.
'At first we didn't really trust them, but in fact they didn't shoot. That was Christmas in the trenches, unforgettable for all of us!'
Another soldier, writing to his parents on December 27, describes the English troops as being 'dirtier' then him and his comrades and tells of how they too exchanged gifts.
He says: 'And then the unbelievable happened: The English came right up to our wire entanglement.
'Our men approached them, the Englishmen shook their hands from afar and wished everyone "a merry Christmas".
'They exchanged gifts, the English always giving more than our men.
'Ours didn't have anything other than tobacco to give away either.
'The English brought tinned food, jam, cheese, biscuits, pudding, tinned meat, alcohol, whole quantities of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco, for which they gladly took our coarse cut, pipes, scarves, pulse warmers and more.
'It was Regiment 13 London; all big, healthy blokes. They were dirtier than us and told us that their trench was very damp.'
Other accounts revealed how the enmity felt between the two sides faded away when they came face to face.
One says: 'On the holidays, when there is supposed to be 'peace on earth', we here, friend and foe, have been on friendly terms, squeezing each other's hands and wishing each other a merry Christmas -- here the Christmas message has become reality, even if only for a few days.'
Another reads: 'Then we sang Christmas carols and thought of our dear homeland. Many a soldier thought of his wife and child, many a tear stole from the serious warrior's eye and fell as a silent plea before the throne of God.
'I was terribly homesick on Christmas Eve and my heart wanted to break with pain.
German troops, who are believed to have been in Lille, pose for a photo during Christmas in 1914
Staff of the 236th Reserve Infantry Regiment sit with their Christmas decorations in 1915
Bavarian troops are seen on the Western Front during Christmas in 1915
German troops are seen at Christmas time in 1914, sitting with a little bit of festive decoration on the wall
'We all have just one Christmas wish and that is: peace, peace! Hopefully the good Lord will soon hear the pleas of so many warriors in enemy territory.'
A third - a soldier in the 16th Infantry Regiment - says: 'The English shouted "Merry Christmas" or something like that, we shouted back "Frohe Weihnachten" and while the right wing of the company began to sing "Silent Night Holy Night", lit Christmas trees appeared at various points along the English trench.
'Now and then a shot rang out, but all the old hatred was blown away. I tell you, you have to experience something like that.'
Another account tells how there were renditions of familiar Christmas carols, including Silent Night, Holy Night, which translates as 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht'.
The letter concludes: 'Yesterday hateful enemies, today like comrades… Everyone who has the good fortune to emerge safely from this conflict will remember it for all time, the Christmas of 1914.'
Israeli Radar to be Installed in South Korean Special Mission Aircraft
Elbit, L3Harris, and Korean Air join forces to integrate and deliver the next generation of survivable, high-altitude airborne early warning and control aircraft
An American-Israeli-Korean Collaboration in the Production of Electronic Warfare Aircraft. L3Harris Technologies, Elta/IAI, and Korean Air will jointly develop an advanced command and control and early warning aircraft for the South Korean Air Force.
The Korean development team, experienced in the production of airborne early warning systems for special missions, has already supplied such systems to numerous clients worldwide. The plan to manufacture an early warning aircraft involves a system that has been tested, proven in practical operations, and is operational in various global theaters. The digital system is designed for rapid upgrades to counter evolving threats.
A Radar installed Bombardier Global 6500
The system is installed on a business jet platform, resulting in low operating costs and high levels of readiness and availability. L3Harris’ electronic system is installed on a Bombardier Global 6500 business jet, and the radar is manufactured and installed by Elta.
The GLOBAL 6500 is a fast business jet suitable for high-altitude flights. The first two aircraft with the warning systems will undergo installations in Texas before arriving in Israel for the installation and testing of Elta's radar systems.
IAI-ELTA Systems Ltd.& L3Harris Technologies - Next generation CAEW
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Elbit's PULS Selected as Spanish Army's Mobile Rocket Launcher
The Spanish Military Procurement Directorate awarded a contract worth nearly €700 million for the manufacturing and supply of these systems to the Spanish Army to a consortium of Spanish companies developing a Spanish rocket launcher based on the PULS
The Spanish General Subdirectorate of Acquisitions of Armaments and Materials (DGAM) awarded last weekend a nearly €700 million contract for the supply of High Mobility Rocket Launcher Systems to the Spanish Army. The manufacture and supply of the systems will be conducted by a temporary business consortium including Spanish companies Escribano Mechanical & Engineering and Rheinmetall Expal Munitions that develop a Spanish Rocket Launcher based on Israeli Elbit Systems' PULS (Precise & Universal Launching System), designated Silam in Spain.
Elbit Systems / PULS
The delivery of launchers and training rockets will begin in 2024, and live munitions are expected from 2025. The final batches of rockets are scheduled to be delivered to the army by 2028.
Beyond the supply of twelve launchers, the package includes a range of support vehicles and systems, 12 munition vehicles with cranes, two recovery vehicles, six high mobility reconnaissance vehicles, ten different types of command post vehicles, and a rocket launcher platform for testing and validating the ammunition.
According to Army Recognition, in terms of ammunition, the Spanish Ministry of Defense plans to purchase an initial batch of 680 rockets. This includes 288 guided rockets with a 35 km range (split between fragmentation and penetration types), 16 launch pods; 112 guided rockets with a range of up to 150 km (again split between fragmentation and penetration types), 28 pods; 64 rockets with a range of up to 300 km, and 32 pods; plus 216 training rockets with a range of 7 to 15 km.
The purchase also includes multifunction radars and high-performance tactical drones for target location and identification, as well as loitering ammunition.
Why Elbit Systems' PULS Rocket Artillery Is Gaining Global Popularity
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