Autonomous vessels, the artillery and air defence market and the Saudi drone attack

In this episode of the Weekly Defence Podcast, we consider growth in the artillery and air defence market, hear from L3Harris Technologies about the company’s MAST 13 ASV and look at all the news from across the defence sector.

• News Roundup (00:45)

On the news this week…

The team consider the implications and ramifications of the Saudi Arabia’s missile defence systems being unable to prevent the drone and cruise missile attack against some of the kingdom’s most important oil infrastructure.

Elsewhere, in the air domain, Tim Martin explains that despite making the AW149 the centrepiece of its exhibit at DSEI, manufacturer Leonardo is still unwilling to confirm that a reported deal for 20 of the helicopters to Egypt is underway.

Production aircraft are currently being assembled for military operators and the model is in service, although the company has not disclosed which party is using the helicopters – despite the Royal Thai Army initially set to become a launch customer by way of an order for five of the 8t-class type, placed in 2016.

Out at sea, Richard Thomas outlines how a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) deal managed to slip under the defence carpets at DSEI, as Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Navantia agreed a deal through their joint venture for the development and technology transfer of the Catiz combat management system (CMS) and its integration onto the Royal Saudi Naval Forces Avante 2200 corvettes.

Beth Maundrill, meanwhile, explains how in its A$10-15 billion ($7-10.4 billion) Project Land 400 Phase 3 competition, Australia has clearly professed a predilection for animal names, with the Hanwha Redback and Rheinmetall Lynx being down-selected for further trials at the expense of the General Dynamics Land Systems Ajax and BAE Systems Hägglunds  CV90 as announced on 16 September.

• Deep Dive – Artillery and air defence market (16:07)

Director of Analysis Matthew Smith outlines how a renewed focus on high intensity, conventional warfare has reshaped the artillery and Air Defence market, Shephard Media’s Defence Insight team has discovered.

As Matthew explains, a study of 220 procurement programmes has found that the total value of the market will be $160 billion over next ten years, although this will be front loaded, with air defence and self-propelled artillery forecast to dominate.

• Interview – L3Harris and its MAST-13 (28:20)

VP Content Tony Skinner speaks to Tim O’Neill, Defence Technical Sales manager at L3Harris (ASV, UK), about the company’s Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) 13 autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) it recently delivered to the Royal Navy.

The 13-meter (41ft) long high-speed ASV is capable of fully autonomous navigation, using L3Harris’ ASView proprietary autonomous control system and advanced algorithms developed for the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The system will be used as a testbed to support the development of new capabilities for the Royal Navy

• New content teaser – Five Eyes Connectivity podcast (37:06)

We preview Shephard Media’s special series on Five Eyes Connectivity, sponsored by our partner Viasat.

Over next three episodes, we will look at the changing face of modern warfare across the land, sea and air domains through the prism of three key technology areas: