Defense

WASHINGTON — Aerovironment, a leading supplier of unmanned aircraft systems to the U.S. military, has purchased Arcturus UAV for $405 million. Arcturus is currently competing for a $1 billion Army contract to replace the Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system. Arcturus, which was founded in 2004 in California, specializes in Group 2 and 3 UAS, which run the gamut between drones over 20…

LONDON – The Northern Ireland arm of Thales UK has struck a partnering arrangement with Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) as part of its effort to secure a deal with the Indian military to purchase the British-developed Starstreak man-portable, air-defense system. In a statement the two companies said the tie-up will see BDL become a “part of the Starstreak global supply chain, providing…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s future battle command system that will link sensors and shooters across the battlefield has been cleared for production, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Defense News Jan. 13. As part of a long and bumpy road, the Army delayed the production decision for the Northrop Grumman-developed Integrated Battle Command System in November due to administrative issues…

MELBOURNE, Australia — Hanwha-led Team Redback officially launched its Redback infantry fighting vehicle on Tuesday ahead of delivering three for evaluation trials as part of a risk mitigation effort for the Australian Army. The infantry fighting vehicles are undergoing trials as part of Project Land 400 Phase 3, which is tasked to acquire about 450 tracked IFVs that will replace…