Funny ownership: the network that captures drones and already stars in Ukraine

The Ministry of Defense purchases 25 fighter jets, Turkey continues to expand its foothold in the world market in general and in the maritime sector in particular. At the same time, suddenly Emirati-made armored vehicles were discovered in the possession of Russia, and Poland is planning a particularly large procurement of missiles. About all this and more in the weekly defense industries corner.

The Ministry of Defense is purchasing fighter jets in a huge deal

The Ministry of Defense signed last night (Wed) the huge deal for the purchase of the next generation of F-15 aircraft, under which it will purchase 25 advanced fighter jets manufactured by the American company Boeing. The transaction, amounting to about 5.2 billion dollars, will be carried out from the American aid funds and it also includes an option for the future purchase of 25 additional aircraft. The Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Major General (Ret.) Eyal Zamir, signed the authorization to contract during his visit to the US last month and last night, at the end of negotiations conducted by the procurement delegation of the Ministry of Defense in the US, in cooperation with the Air Force, the deal was signed in full.

The new F15IA aircraft will be equipped with advanced weapons systems, including a combination of Israeli systems, alongside upgrades that will allow for longer flight ranges, increased carrying capacity and improved performance in various operational situations. The delivery of the F-15 aircraft will begin in 2031 and will continue at the rate of 4-6 aircraft per year. This deal is a major milestone in deepening security cooperation between Israel and the US, and expresses the mutual commitment to maintaining regional security.

Ukraine presents: drones that capture drones

The Russia-Ukraine war is a precedent in the scope of the use of unmanned means, with one of the main challenges being dealing with drones in general and FPV (First Person View) drones in particular, which are small and have significant maneuvering capabilities. Now, the Ukrainian company Petashka presented a system it developed: a lightweight net (373 grams) designed to capture the Russian drones.

At the tactical level, this is a very important task for the Ukrainians, who are facing Russian drones that are designed for collection and fire-directing missions. One of the significant points of the new system is the very low cost of its operation, in what characterizes the Ukrainian military industry. The cost of using each network of the new drone costs only 1,200 Rivania (about NIS 108.5).

 

Combat use of net launchers from Ptashka drones…

All questions — @ptashkasale

This is not an advertisement… pic.twitter.com/XnYcYKimiZ

– Michal Fella #StopIslamizationTheLeft (@MichalFellaPL) November 4, 2024

The same network system can be installed on a variety of drones that are off-the-shelf products in the world, such as DJI’s “Pollinator”, Otel models, and FPV drones. At the same time, Petashka is developing a parallel interception device for infantry fighters, with the aim of protecting them from attack by FPV drones, which are used as roving weapons (suicide drones).

A sequence of maritime transactions of Turkey

Shipyard of Turkish Shipyards (TAIS) held the first metal cutting ceremony of a FACM-70 fast missile ship for the Indonesian Navy. The new ship is able to reach a speed of 40 knots (about 74 km/h), much more than the Indonesians’ existing boats, which reach a maximum of 29 knots (about 53 km/h). The ship, which is about 70 meters long and about 11.8 meters wide, carries a row of machine guns, and is capable of carrying 43 crew members to a distance of up to 1,600 nautical miles (about 2,963 km).

The progress in selling the FACM-70 was just one of several recent naval successes for Turkey. During the “Millipol” defense exhibition in Qatar, the first export agreement for Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was signed: Qatar purchased Ulak 11, which is designed for port and base defense missions. This transaction reflects a trend in navies, where they are increasingly turning to unmanned systems Manned. Not only in UAVs that sail on the surface of the water, but also in UAVs (unmanned diving vessels) that operate in the underwater medium.

UAE exports to Russia

Russia received armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates. This is reported on the Defense Blog website. In the documentation published on Russian social networks, it is possible to identify more than 20 vehicles based on the Toyota Land Cruiser and Ford F550, called “Spartan SUT”, Cobra and Cougar, produced by the “Strait” group. The same company is located in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

 

The #UAE is gradually becoming a threat for its western allies such as the #US & #France. Now, UAE has started exporting weapons to #Russia in-order to use in the war against #Ukraine. Streit Group armored vehicles manufactured in the UAE are recently delivered to #Russian Army!… pic.twitter.com/HAp3NILcdG

– Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) October 27, 2024

“Apparently, armored vehicles from an unknown source, based on the Toyota Land Cruiser, have been purchased for the Russian military,” Russian military blogger Vanei Osvedomitel posted. “These armored vehicles may come from the United Arab Emirates or South Africa.” In the bottom line, it turns out that these are models of the Straight group, which previously exported different models to several countries.

Poland’s largest missile procurement

Poland aims to purchase more than 100 HIMARS missile launchers. This was announced by General Artur Koptel, head of the Polish Defense Procurement Agency, who pointed out that the HOMAR-A systems are the Polish version of the American system. According to an outline already agreed upon between the administration in Warsaw and Washington, there is already a framework for the purchase of 486 launchers – but this purchase is intended to be the first of them.

This is another investment by Poland, whose defense budget for 2024 was 4.1% of GDP, the highest among NATO allies. In Warsaw they aspire that next year’s defense budget will even climb to 4.7%. Within the framework of the many defense agreements that Poland signs with its partners such as the USA and South Korea, it works to integrate into the joint production of the systems, in order to create new jobs.