Military Vehicles, Ordnance, Munitions, Ammunition & Small Arms

Rock Island Arsenal, IL - The U.S. Army has awarded a $581 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to Nitradyn LLC. The Tampa, FL, based company will design, construct, and commission the facility by August 2030. The Army has not disclosed the location where the plant will be built.

The Army initially sought to fill this contract in May of 2025 when it released a notice for companies to design, build, and run a government-owned explosives plant. The requirements included the capability to produce 10 to 13 million pounds of IMX-104, a modern replacement for TNT, to be used in various munitions. The new plant will augment the overall capability of 155 mm artillery round production as the U.S. Defense Industrial Base races to reach the DoD’s goal of producing 100,000 artillery rounds per month.

Source: The Defence Blog
Associated URL: https://defence-blog.com/u-s-army-awards-581m-to-build-new-artillery-explosive-plant/

SETE LAGOS - The Brazilian Army has offically received its first serial-production tranche of the domestically manufactured Guaicurus Multitask Armored Vehicle (VBMT) from Iveco Defense Vehicles (IDV). Brazil's receipt of the VMBT represents another step on its long-term dual track program to develop the country's military-industrial base and modernize the military's armored vehicle inventories to a modern standard. Beginning with preceding projects such as the acquisition of IVD's own Guarani armored personnnel carrier (APC) and LMV and continuing through the present with the Guaicurus and impending efforts to acquire infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) and fire support assets, the Brazilian Army's force structure modernization objectives have been ambitious and comprehensive in scope, with plans calling for the procurement of over 2,000 new build vehicle assets.Plans for the 4x4 Guaicurus are no exception, with the Army inducting an initial order of 420 vehicles.

Source: Brazilian Ministry of Defense
Associated URL: https://www.eb.mil.br/web/noticias/w/exercito-reforca-poder-de-combate-com-novas-viaturas-blindadas-multitarefas-guaicurus
Source Language: Portuguese

PARIS - The French military procurement agency has selected the Thundart system as France's future multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).

On Friday, the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) announced Safran and MBDA's bid as the winner for the French Army's MLRS requirement. The two industrial partners will launch a joint venture in January 2027 to handle production, future upgrades, and export marketing. Thundart will be delivered to the French military starting in 2030.

"Faced with the critical challenges of jamming and access denial of GNSS signals, Safran Electronics & Defense brings its proven leadership in inertial navigation and optronics technologies to guarantee accuracy in all circumstances," Safran Electronics & Defense director of Global Business Unit for Defense Alexandre Ziegler said in a statement regarding the DGA selection.

France has been looking to replace its nine Unitary Rocket Launchers (LRUs), based on the M270 MLRS, which are approaching obsolescence. The LRUs presently are able to reach targets up to 80 kilometers away, and that range will be nearly doubled with the introduction of Thundart, which can hit targets 150 kilometers away.

Source: The Defense Post
Associated URL: https://thedefensepost.com/2026/09/11/france-safran-mbda-thundart/