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Laser Shark

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Everything posted by Laser Shark

  1. Laser Shark
    More K9 VIDAR footage. The .50 on top is also interesting as its one of the new M2A2N. "Oh shit" at 1:16?
  2. Laser Shark
    FFG has delivered the first of 30 PASI XA-203N MRSP (multirole medical platform) to the Norwegian Army, which will replace the existing SISU XA-185 ambulances, as well as plugging some of the gap that has been left by the decision to transfer all of the Bell 412SP/HP to the Norwegian Special Operations Command (a couple of them will still be on medevac duty in Northern Norway, but that’s it). The PASI XA-203N have previously been used as armoured personnel carriers, but there hasn’t been much use for them after the Norwegian Army abandoned the idea of having light armoured/motorized infantry battalions in 2013. Now the plan is to keep them trucking for another 20 years as armoured ambulances. The vehicle was displayed at Army Summit 2019: (NASAMS High Mobility Launcher in the foreground.) The old armoured ambulance, SISU XA-185, offers inferior protection compared to the much heavier PASI XA-203N, but it also has a better power-to-weight ratio, and it maintains an amphibious capacity unlike the newer vehicle:
  3. Laser Shark
    That was their mistake. Had they prioritized differently, like the Canadians ended up doing eventually, they could probably have gotten 20-30 second hand Leo 2 for the sum they spent on the DF90s.
  4. Laser Shark
    More trouble in Belgium: https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/belgium-all-news/88013/armoured-belgian-anti-tank-vehicles-unable-to-fire-anti-tank-ammunition-pirahna-df90-armour-piercing-ammo-defence/
  5. Laser Shark
    Afaik nothing has changed since this information was released in March: Meanwhile the Leo 2A4NOs are only getting a limited life extension, which mostly focuses on replacing worn out parts/parts that are difficult to source: Source: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/7635ac0d48d44fc180fac57f58be7518/faf-2019-2026-english---final.pdf
  6. Laser Shark
  7. Laser Shark
    The MG3 has had an almost cult like following in the Norwegian military (also true for the AG3), but as more and more soldiers get their hands on the new MGs there has been less and less noise about “Hitler’s Buzzsaw” and its godlike rate of fire. I’ve never encountered anyone with experience with both the MG3 and the MAG who doesn’t prefer the latter.
  8. Laser Shark
    Lots of photos of the Norwegian tank platoon at Bardufoss from the time when it had Panzer III Ausf. N and StuG III Ausf. F/8:
  9. Laser Shark
    The MG3 is going to end up being replaced by three types of MGs from the looks of it: FN Minimi (in the infantry/foot units); FN MAG (on vehicles); and this new Light Weight Machine Gun (also for the infantry/foot units).
  10. Laser Shark
    Norwegian artillery personnel checking out the first K9 VIDAR* in South Korea: * Strange that it got a name change rather than the usual "N" or "NO" added to the designation, and it's even stranger that they chose the Norse God of Vengeance rather than the Norse God of Thunder.
  11. Laser Shark
    That's typical of media everywhere. lol Sadly, I don’t know of a better designation than BAE’s CV90 MkIIIb. In the UD2-1 documents, which tend to be pretty thorough when it comes military designations, the new turreted CV90 variants are simply known as CV9030 SPV and CV9030 STRILED (the CV9030 OPV is not listed yet because it’s delayed).
  12. Laser Shark
    From UD2-1, the Norwegian Armed Forces' safety regulations for military land activity: SPV = IFV variant STRILED = Command & Control variant Høyde = Height Source: https://forsvaret.no/hv/ForsvaretDocuments/UD 2-1 (norsk, rev 01).pdf (page 212) If we compare this layout with the image posted by @David Moyes, we can see that the Norwegian Army has not been willing to sacrifice the eighth seat for more internal storage space. Norwegian CV90s also have some extra storage capacity on the hull to compensate for this (not seen on the hull of Dutch or Danish CV90s): CV9030NF1 is not a designation for the new CV90 Mk IIIb but for the CV90 Mk I that were upgraded for service in Afghanistan.
  13. Laser Shark
    Our Finnish neighbors' new/modernized RK-62M3:
  14. Laser Shark
    Not sure, but I’m leaning towards ‘no’. According to the future acquisitions document, the scope of the light and medium recovery capacity project will be about 100-250 million NOK or 12-30 million USD, but that sum does not only include the NM217 but also a new light ARV based on the M113. So, unless the Wisent 1 upgrade is very very cheap, I’m thinking that the upgrade will probably be more limited in scope. I’m not sure that the NM217 need the extra capacity of the Wisent 1 upgrade either now that the Wisent 2 is here to take over the heavy recovery missions where the NM217 has struggled.
  15. Laser Shark
    Norwegian Army orders 6 Leopard 2 based AVBLs from KMW: It's not the end for the Leo 1 platform in the Norwegian Army, though, as the NM217 ARVs will be updated and kept in service alongside the new Wisent 2 ARVs.
  16. Laser Shark
    No, for some time now, the plan has been to select a new MBT around 2025. The budget is the reason why it's not happening sooner. Look up Project 9360 on page 13 of this document: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/7635ac0d48d44fc180fac57f58be7518/faf-2019-2026-english---final.pdf This option has been discarded.
  17. Laser Shark
    The earlier mentioned P5050 lives on, but it’s been reduced in scope, and is now a technical lifetime extension (instead of a proper MLU). This was to be expected considering the age and state of the tanks, the fact that certain parts are out of/has been replaced in production, and that there will be no replacement tank before 2025. More details here: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:572045-2018:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0 https://kgv.doffin.no/ctm/Supplier/Documents/Folder/163257 In other somewhat Leo 2 related news, the new Wisent 2 ARVs have begun entering service with Norwegian Army units, so there is some neat footage of the beasts out there: "There is always a bigger fish" https://forsvaret.no/forsvarsmateriell/presserom/de-første-bergingspanservognene-er-overført-til-hæren I also recall mentioning that the Norway was interested in acquiring new AEVs a few months ago, and it’s been announced that we have opted to buy another 6 Wisent 2s in the AEV and mine breeching configurations: https://forsvaret.no/forsvarsmateriell/presserom/forsvarsmateriell-møter-studentene/hæren-får-pansret-ingeniørpanservogn
  18. Laser Shark
    Source is the Norwegian rittmester Christoffer Westermoen via the Norwegian defense and security website aldrimer.no. Westermoen is involved with the Norwegian tank upgrade/replacement project, and has let himself be interviewed due to grievances with how the MoD has handled the project. Is the quoted part accurate info @SH_MM?
  19. Laser Shark
    For what it’s worth, the MCT-30 brochure (second result if you google "MCT-30") does list APS as an option, and I assume Kongsberg wouldn’t do that unless it can be done.
  20. Laser Shark
    While it makes sense to ditch the somewhat limited Leo 2 upgrade envisioned in P5050 in favor of a better tank, there aren't really any reasons to postpone this until 2020-25 aside from budgetary reasons. The tanks that will show up in the Norwegian tank trials will almost certainly be the same ones that are available today (i.e. Leo 2A7V, M1A2 Sep v3, K2 Black Panther… maybe the LeoClerk though @SH_MM doesn’t think that’s likely), so we might as well pay up now, but sadly, Erna doesn’t seem to care all that much about NATO’s 2% goal, and is more interested in spending less oil money atm. That said, the opposition parties have been pushing this issue for a while now, and there will be a final battle over this in the Storting next autumn, so there is still a glimmer of hope for those who want new tanks sooner rather than later, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
  21. Laser Shark
    Sometimes ideology trumps reason.
  22. Laser Shark
    If they are serious about offering the LeoClerk to customers, I suppose it might show up in the “upcoming” Norwegian tank trials in a few years. As a Leo 2 based vehicle and another European alternative, it’s probably also got a better chance against the Leo 2A7 (the Army's favorite) than the other likely contenders.
  23. Laser Shark
    The CV90120-T prototype has showed up in the Netherlands from the looks of it. https://www.instagram.com/p/BjWhgmEBQq4/?taken-by=esmeevanwijk
  24. Laser Shark
    They announced that it's going to be a regular procurement process, and since the name of the project is “new tanks” (and not “new/upgraded Leo 2s”), it kind of implies that other tank manufacturers will also be able to bid on this contract. That said, considering that the Leo 2 is already an established platform in the Norwegian Army, and we’ve recently invested in a new simulator for it, as well as new Wisent 2 ARVs, and that projects such as new AEVs and AVLBs on Leo 2 chassis are apparently proceeding as planned, it doesn’t exactly seem all that likely that something that isn’t a Leopard 2 will end up being selected in the end IMO. The upper image shows how the ACVS looked like a few years ago (a few prototypes were even built), and it was pretty much just a stretched M113F3 with a shorter superstructure. It seems like FFG took a look at the RFT on the production of these vehicles, and decided to offer us something better than that instead.
  25. Laser Shark
    There are not any plans to replace them, no. On the contrary, we seem to be upgrading more of them according to this article.
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