VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1 FEB/MAR 2018 A SHEPHARD MEDIA PUBLICATION Bringing out the big guns US Army speeds up modernisation IN THE CROSSHAIRS FRIEND OR FOE? BULLET PROOF Sniper rifles PLA modernisation Soldier protection WWW.LANDWARFAREINTL.COM LWI-01-18_OFC.indd 1 3/5/2018 5:07:34 PM TRUSTED BY INDUSTRY LEADERS IN DEPTH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE GLOBAL IN OUR REACH For over 35 years, Shephard Media has been providing high-quality business intelligence to the aerospace and defence markets, through a combination of specialist magazines, online news services and handbooks. To fi nd out more about our products and services, please visit www.shephardmedia.com LWI-01-18_IFC_Shephard.indd 2 3/5/2018 4:57:45 PM CONTENTS Editor 3 EDITORIAL COMMENT FEATURE Grant Turnbull [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2583 Learning from experience 24 SHAKING THINGS UP Asia-Pacific Editor Under President Xi Jinping, China is making Gordon Arthur [email protected] 4 NEWS significant alterations to the operation of the North America Editor • US continues Iraqi Abrams support, People’s Liberation Army, and while its Ashley Roque [email protected] despite Iranian militia use participation in UN peacekeeping missions Staff Reporter Alice Budge • US Army funds HK417 as squad appears laudable, more discomfiting Contributors marksman rifle motivations are beginning to appear. E Gerrard Cowan, Erwan de Cherisey, • Ukraine tests upgraded S-125M SAM Peter Donaldson, Scott R Gourley, Krassimir Grozev, Helmoed Römer Heitman, • France accelerates SCORPION FEATURE David C Isby, Ian Kemp, Neelam Mathews, modernisation programme 31 SEEING THE LIGHT Stephen Miller, Alexander Mladenov, Andrew White •US Army weighs next-gen combat Light artillery systems have recently fallen out Production and Circulation Manager vehicle acceleration of favour against more powerful equivalents, David Hurst • Analysis: what happened to Russia’s new and while fewer than half of NATO countries Production Editor armoured vehicles? still utilise them, those that do value light guns Elaine Effard as a highly mobile capability for airborne, Sub-editor Georgina Smith FEATURE amphibious and rapid reaction forces. Digital Development Manager 8 PRECISION DECISIONS Adam Wakeling Today’s sniper rifle bazaar boasts a plentiful FEATURE Graphic Designer selection of products, from bolt-action to semi- 36 SAFEGUARDING SOLDIERS Kam Bains automatic examples. A high level of modularity Protection systems for dismounted soldiers Commercial Manager is now common, and this alongside other are continuously evolving in response to Peter Rawlins [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2590 advances, promises to maintain the sniper’s environmental factors and the changing nature Junior Sales Executive feared accuracy and lethality. of threats on the modern battlefield. Industry Mark Knops [email protected] is currently focusing on weight issues and Head of Advertising Sales FEATURE new materials, with the aim of optimising Kevin Bethell [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2587 14 ON WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW the effectiveness and reducing the burden of VP Business Development Following several unsuccessful attempts to such equipment. Mike Wild introduce next-generation combat vehicles to its Editor-in-Chief fleet, the US Army is finally moving forward with PARTING SHOT Richard Thomas comprehensive upgrades for its legacy vehicles 40 ACTIVE DUTY VP Content Tony Skinner and acquiring new platforms. Military leaders Active protection systems are becoming CEO are hoping that this will be enough to meet increasingly important to combat intensifying Darren Lake emerging threats. threats from antitank missiles. Ronald Meixner, Chairman pre-sales engineer at ADS, part of Rheinmetall Nick Prest FEATURE Group, spoke to Shephard about the Subscriptions 18 REVAMPING THE TANK development of the ADS Gen-3. Annual rates start at £90 Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2592 Maintaining the technological currency Email: [email protected] Web: shop.shephardmedia.com of existing AFVs is a critical element of modernisation. Upgrades in place of new Land Warfare International is published six times per year by The Shephard Press Ltd, construction predominate for MBTs in particular, Saville Mews, 30 Saville Road, London, W4 Front cover: A recently delivered Infantry Carrier 5HG, UK. Subscription rates start at £90. PCM which have been a key element of combined- Vehicle – Dragoon (ICVD) Stryker 8x8 in Germany. CitySprint is acting as mailing agent. Articles arms warfare for decades. Light AFVs, while less This variant is being deployed with 2nd Cavalry and information contained in this publication Regiment in Europe as part of efforts to increase the expensive to replace, are also being upgraded are the copyright of The Shephard Press Ltd lethality of deployed Stryker brigade combat teams. and may not be reproduced in any form without as nations contend with constrained budgets. the written permission of the publishers. (Photo: Orbital ATK) Print by Buxton Press, Derbyshire, UK © The Shephard Press Ltd, 2018. ISSN 2042-5317 The Shephard Press Ltd SUBSCRIPTIONS Saville Mews, 30 Saville Road, London, W4 5HG, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2570 8 industry-specific magazines (print and digital) 14 definitive data sets/handbooks (print and digital) The Professional Publishers Association Member Shephard Plus online – in-depth news, analysis and intelligence To subscribe to our print and online services visit www.shephardmedia.com WWW.LANDWARFAREINTL.COM VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 LAND WARFARE INTERNATIONAL WWW.LANDWARFAREINTL.COM 1 LWI-01-18_p01_Contents.indd 1 3/5/2018 5:35:17 PM THE th , 2018 , 2018 www.sofexjordan.com LWI-01-18_p02_Sofex.indd 2 3/5/2018 4:08:12 PM COMMENT In the next issue • Light tactical vehicles • Asian land procurement Grant Turnbull, Editor • Night vision part 1 Learning from experience • Vehicle survivability In the last issue of LWI, I stressed the and Iranian-supplied antitank weapons still dispense a countermeasure and tell the importance of training and equipping in circulation. crew where the enemy position is is vital western forces to prepare for urban combat – During the Syrian conflict, propaganda for today’s vehicle crews. using recent operations in Syria and Iraq to videos of missiles bobbing and weaving After years of indecision, the US Army is illustrate my point. For this edition, the first through the sky towards a distant vehicle finally moving forward with fielding the of 2018, I once again return to the Syrian have been extremely common. Israeli-developed Trophy APS for at least conflict as an example of where we can It is no surprise then that the Turkish one armoured brigade’s worth of M1A2 learn lessons for future warfare. Army has recently bolstered its vehicle fleet Abrams MBTs. Plans are also afoot to equip On 20 January, Turkey entered northern in Syria with upgraded M60T Firat tanks, both Bradley and Stryker with APS, though Syria to begin Operation Olive Branch, an which are equipped with new antitank the US continues to play catch-up when it attempt to secure its borders and purge the missile protection systems. On 13 February, comes to soft-kill and hard-kill APS Afrin region of Kurdish militants belonging and for several days after, photos and compared with other countries including to the YPG. This was Turkey’s second cross- videos appeared online showing the China, Israel and Russia. border operation into the region following platforms arriving in Turkey’s Hatay Although one of its primary functions, Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016-17. province, close to the Syrian border. the benefit of these systems is not just For Olive Branch, the Turkish Army The tanks feature a new laser warning defeating ATGMs. The sensors that form committed a mix of heavy armoured vehicles system from indigenous company Aselsan. part of these protection systems – whether including Leopard 2A4 and M60 MBTs, Considering the army’s past experience in radar- or EO/IR-based – can provide wider alongside M113 troop carriers and ACV-15s Syria, it is surprising that more vehicles situational awareness for crews, and that in both APC and IFV variants. Wheeled haven’t received such upgrades. information can then be shared across the vehicles were also utilised, including Cobra That could soon change, with some battlespace as part of networked light armoured platforms and Kirpi MRAPs. reports even suggesting that Turkey will operations. Videos posted on social media suggest field a Ukrainian-developed active New vehicle programmes – especially the service has once again had to contend protection system (APS) as part of its plans. those to procure key AFV platforms – with the threat of ATGMs, with several will likely incorporate these features as casualties being attributed to such strikes Smarter solutions standard, but, as Turkey has decided to do on vehicles. Independent monitoring groups Turkey’s experience in Syria, as well as with the M60T, more and more countries and official government sources have other examples, including Ukraine’s fight should look to incorporate missile protection suggested Turkish casualties amount to against separatists in the country’s east, is sensors and intelligent countermeasures around 40, the circumstances surrounding a clear sign that vehicles deploying to war for their legacy fleet of vehicles. which is not clear. zones today – particularly those on the The challenge will be cost and potentially During the 2016 Euphrates Shield, it is front line – require not just physical armour, the need for deeper architectural believed that Turkish Land Forces lost but also must have some kind of electronic modifications, as well as determining how around ten Leopard 2 tanks and at least protection linked in with either an intelligent many and what class of vehicles warrant one M60 – several to ATGMs and others to soft-kill or hard-kill countermeasure system the added protection. However, if no IEDs. ATGMs remain one of the most to protect against threats.