Artillery goes trucking to survive drones swarming the battlefield

PARIS — French artillery engineers had a simple idea: Take a big gun, mount it on a truck, and you’ve got self-propelled artillery at relatively little cost. The wheeled guns have proved so effective on the Ukrainian battlefield that Western armies are taking a fresh look at the concept.

The war in Ukraine has put long-range fires front and center at the Eurosatory defense show that kicks off in Paris, France, on June 17, said Charles Beaudouin, the retired French general who heads the event. As drones and rapid counter-battery fire have put a premium on artillery mobility for survival, he expects KNDS France’s truck-mounted Caesar howitzer to be one of the stars of the show.

“The audacity of the wheeled cannon is the maximum efficiency,” Beaudouin told Defense News. “You sacrifice nothing in terms of firepower, rate of fire, precision and range, and you’ve got a truck, armored all the same, but which is able to be nimble, which is very stealthy.”

Beaudouin was part of the French Army’s decision to buy an upgraded Caesar, so he might be suspected of bias toward wheels. But at least nine other countries, including the U.K. and Germany, decided to invest in self-propelled wheeled howitzers in the past year. Analysts said the Ukrainian experience is driving military planners’ interest.

“Ukraine is definitely shaping the towed versus wheeled discussion,” said Paul Daniels, a defense industry consultant and retired U.S. Army officer who attended the Future Artillery conference in Paris in May, during which he said there has been “an uptick in focus on wheeled, self-propelled howitzers.”

Battlefield threats to artillery now include loitering munitions and precision-guided shells, said Elbit Systems, which makes the Atmos truck-mounted howitzer. The war in Ukraine has highlighted a “critical need” for mobility, the Israeli firm wrote in an email to Defense News.

Systems such as the Caesar and Atmos can pull into position, fire multiple rounds and race off in a matter of minutes — a tactic known in military parlance as “shoot and scoot.”

Finland’s Patria is aiming to fit its 155mm towed artillery piece on a wheeled chassis in response to combat observations in Ukraine, the Finnish newspaper Aamulehti reported in April.

KNDS is seeing “a lot more interest” in Caesar, amplified by leaks from Russian soldiers indicating the weapon is particularly feared, according to spokesman Guillem Monsonis. Russian military bloggers on Telegram in April described the Caesar’s range, accuracy and mobility, saying the system killed numerous Russian artillerymen with counter-battery fire.

The Caesar’s advantage is its agility, which doesn’t give Russian forces enough time to locate and target the Ukrainian crews, an artilleryman told French broadcaster TF1 last year.

Across the pond

Ubiquitous drone observation means gun crews in Ukraine have to camouflage their positions or scram immediately after firing to avoid retaliatory strikes.

The “absolute saturation” of sensors will make hiding near-impossible on the future battlefield, Gen. James Rainey, the chief of U.S. Army Futures Command, said in a May 15 Senate hearing.

Rainey previously said the future for towed artillery with the Army “is not bright,” and the service is looking at the European theater as it considers modernization. “There are some very good wheeled howitzers that are having great effect in a place like Europe where the road systems are pretty mature,” Rainey said.

The Army has said it needs more range, mobility and autonomy, and will ask companies this year to demonstrate in-production artillery systems for a competitive evaluation in fiscal 2025. The service tested the Caesar, the Atmos, BAE Systems’ Archer and Yugoimport’s Nora-B-52 in 2021.

The modern, European self-propelled systems have 155mm, 52-caliber barrels for a standard range of about 40 kilometers (25 miles). That outranges the U.S. Army’s towed M777 and the tracked M109A6 Paladin howitzers, as well as Russian tube artillery, though drones pose a threat to Ukrainian crews out of Russian gun range.

Elbit said the immediate need for artillery systems in light of the Ukrainian conflict caused customers to prioritize Atmos over other weapon systems. Meanwhile, KNDS said there are more and more wheeled systems on offer, and a lot more potential buyers.

Interest in wheeled self-propelled artillery flows from a desire for a “much higher degree of mobility and survivability” than towed guns, said Daniels. Military staff who see wheels as an attractive option over tracks “often define survivability in a broader way, as opposed to seeing it purely from the physical protection offered by onboard armor,” he added.

Eurosatory will feature at least 10 artillery makers; that’s more than in 2022. Cannon and rocket artillery will be major topics, with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System another centerpiece of the show, according to Beaudouin.

KNDS will premiere the six-wheeled Caesar MkII as well as display the eight-wheeled version of the cannon and the tracked Panzerhaubitze 2000. BAE Systems will show the M777 towed gun and a model of the Archer. Elbit had been planning to present its PULS multiple-rocket launcher and the Sigma next-generation howitzer, both wheeled, before the French government banned Israeli vendors from Eurosatory in late May over the Israeli military’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The Caesar prototype presented at Eurosatory in 1994 was a departure from the tracked and armored behemoths en vogue with many Western armies during the Cold War.

“Before the conflict in Ukraine, many gunners around the world thought that for high-intensity warfare, the only serious guns would be tracked armor,” said Monsonis, the KNDS spokesman. “The conflict in Ukraine has shown that, on the contrary, the Caesar is not only perfectly suited to high-intensity warfare but also fares better than other types of gun.”

Around 10% of Caesars in Ukraine had been destroyed by March, compared with almost a third of the tracked 52-caliber armored guns, according to the manufacturer.

Global trend

Truck-mounted systems have gained in popularity in recent years, with the Turkish firm Asfat working on the Arpan 155 for the country’s army and the China North Industries Group Corp. in February unveiling a turreted truck-mounted howitzer.

The past six months hosted a flurry of wheeled-artillery purchases, include Belgium with the Caesar MkII, Brazil picking Atmos, and the U.K. and Germany announcing plans in April to acquire KNDS Deutschland’s RCH 155 based on the eight-wheeled Boxer.

Mobility has been key for governments turning to wheels. Belgium’s Defence Ministry said buying the Caesar was an investment in “exceptional mobility,” while Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told local daily Postimees that the country plans to buy the wheeled cannons to add fast and flexible long-range fires to its fleet of “not very maneuverable” tracked K9 howitzers, made in South Korea.

With a host of technology flying over the battlefield, including loitering munitions, “the game today is not to be spotted, and that’s where Caesar has a huge advantage,” Pierre-André Moreau, a former senior weapons engineer for the French Army and the brains behind the truck-mounted howitzer, said in an interview last year with YouTube channel VA Plus. He said ubiquitous anti-tank munitions and drones on the battlefield mean armored artillery “is on the verge of becoming totally obsolete.”

France, Denmark and Ukraine agreed in March to finance 78 additional Caesar systems for Ukraine in 2024, adding to 49 systems already delivered. KNDS by early April was producing six of the howitzers per month, up from a rate of two before the war, with a target for 12 cannons per month.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has accelerated production of its homegrown wheeled howitzer Bohdana to 10 systems per month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in April.

Russia joined the trend last year with the Malva wheeled howitzer, breaking with a tradition of tracked self-propelled artillery. State-owned manufacturer Rostec highlighted the greater maneuverability, making a link between better mobility and saving Russian forces’ lives. The range of the 152mm cannon may still leave the gun vulnerable to Ukraine’s longer-reaching systems.

The lower cost of wheels over tracks will matter for countries seeking to build up their artillery force, Beaudouin said. France agreed to buy 109 Caesar MkII weapons at the end of 2023 for a unit cost of €3.2 million (U.S. $3.5 million), compared with Germany buying 10 tracked Panzerhaubitze 2000s in March 2023 for €18.4 million (U.S. $20 million) apiece.

Operating and maintaining wheeled systems also tends to be cheaper, with studies from the U.S. and Europe indicating cost savings of roughly 30%.

The six-wheel Caesar and Atmos models are flyweights compared with their armored and tracked brethren, which explains their mobility and lower operating costs. The French gun comes in at less than 18 tons, and its Israeli rival at about 20 tons, compared with 57 tons for the Panzerhaubitze and 47 tons for the K9.

The turret on the RCH 155 adds bulk as well, pushing the weight to 39 tons. Tactical mobility for wheeled systems drops once loads exceed 8 tons per axle, according to Beaudouin, who said the Boxer chassis struggles under the weight of a gun turret.

The widespread use of wheeled artillery in Ukraine was dictated by availability rather than a tactical choice, said Spencer Jones, a senior lecturer in war studies at the U.K.-based University of Wolverhampton. In the end, the weapons worked well in a war characterized by intense counter-battery fire.

“Ukrainian use of shoot-and-scoot artillery fire suggests that the future lies in highly mobile artillery, be they tracked or wheeled,” Jones said.

Osprey fleet won’t return to full flight operations until 2025

The U.S. military doesn’t expect its fleet of more than 400 V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to fully resume normal flight operations until at least the middle of 2025, a Navy admiral in charge of the joint program told a House Oversight subcommittee Wednesday.

Naval Air Systems Command boss Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, whose office oversees Ospreys in use across the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, said a review that is probing whether the enterprise has adequate manning, training and equipment, will last another six to nine months.

Congress still waiting on Osprey crash, safety documents from Pentagon

“As we have findings from the comprehensive review, I will take the necessary actions to ensure continued safe flight operations,” Chebi told the panel of lawmakers.

The command allowed the Osprey to begin returning to the air — with flight restrictions in place — in early March, three months after the fleet was grounded in early December following an Air Force CV-22 crash off the coast of Japan that killed all eight airmen on board.

Ospreys can be flown like an airplane and take off and land like a helicopter, making them useful for aircraft carrier landings as well as for special operators entering austere environments.

The Marine Corps operates hundreds of the aircraft, while the Air Force and Navy own around 50 and 30, respectively. Marine Ospreys are starting to reenter the fray; 10 aircraft from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 headed to Hawaii in May in preparation for a training exercise in Australia, while the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is using them in Sweden as part of Exercise Baltic Operations.

The Navy’s CMV-22 fleet remains sidelined from performing its carrier support mission at sea, service officials said Wednesday. Despite getting the green light to resume regular missions, the services are barred from flying more than 30 minutes from an airfield where they could land in case of an emergency, according to Military.com.

Families balance grief with Osprey pilots’ love for the aircraft

Osprey crews at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, have begun rebuilding their skills in anticipation of returning to normal ops, and other squadrons are getting close to flying again, Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse told Air Force Times.

An investigation into the Air Force’s Nov. 29 CV-22 crash is nearing completion, with briefings for families expected in the coming weeks. The military has said that accident was the result of a material failure that hadn’t been seen before on the Osprey.

Ospreys have suffered a string of fatal crashes since the U.S. military introduced them into special operations more than two decades ago, including four mishaps that have killed 20 service members since March 2022. The military grounded the Ospreys in 2022 and again in 2023, after a series of “hard clutch engagements” that occurred when the input quill assembly, which attaches the Osprey’s engine to its proprotor gear box, wore out earlier than expected.

On Wednesday, Chebi and Gary Kurtz, program executive officer for anti-submarine, assault and special mission programs including the Osprey, told lawmakers that a redesigned clutch is expected to begin testing soon.

“We anticipate that we will have a new clutch fielding in the mid-2025 timeframe,” Kurtz said.

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Faced by Gold Star families who held photos of loved ones during Wednesday’s hearing, lawmakers questioned the aircraft’s mishap and readiness rates, the latter of which have struggled in recent years due to woes like corrosion issues and a lack of available parts.

For example, the Air Force CV-22 fleet’s mission-capable rate, or the percentage of time that the aircraft can perform at least one of its core missions, hovered around 50% between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, according to data provided to Air Force Times.

Members of the House Oversight Committee also pushed for more transparency, saying the military wasn’t sharing enough about the findings on its recent crashes.

Some on Capitol Hill are running out of patience.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called for the entire fleet to be grounded while the military works works out a fix for the clutch.

“If another Osprey goes down, we’re done,” Lynch said. “This program’s done.”

Space Force’s Resilient GPS program draws skepticism from lawmakers

A congressional appropriations panel cast some doubt on whether a U.S. Space Force effort to protect its GPS system from signal jamming will be as resilient as the service hopes.

The Space Force said in February it was considering launching a constellation of small navigation satellites to augment the 31 GPS satellites now in orbit. The premise of the effort, dubbed Resilient GPS, would be to provide an additional layer of capability through a fleet of more affordable and smaller spacecraft.

But the House Appropriations defense subcommittee isn’t sold on the idea that flying more GPS satellites will inherently boost resiliency, and its proposed fiscal 2025 defense spending bill raises questions about the Space Force’s plan.

“While proliferation may provide some advantages, it is not clear how these additional satellites increase the resilience against the primary jamming threat to GPS, compared to alternative concepts for position, navigation, and timing systems being pursued elsewhere in the Department of Defense,” lawmakers said in a report accompanying the bill, released June 12.

The Pentagon has become increasingly concerned about GPS signals — used to guide weapons and help troops navigate difficult terrain — being jammed or spoofed by adversaries. Russia has taken advantage of this vulnerability in Ukraine, using electronic warfare to jam signals on a regular basis.

The Air Force announced in April it would use authority from Congress to shift unused funds from elsewhere in the Space Force’s budget to begin development on Resilient GPS. Those authorities, known as quick-start, were approved in the Fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and allow the Defense Department to reprogram up to $100 million in funding to start high-priority programs before they are approved as part of a formal budget cycle.

According to the subcommittee, the department has since notified Congress it expects the Resilient GPS program to cost $1 billion over the next five years. To date, the Space Force has repurposed $40 million in fiscal 2023 funding for the effort and, since it didn’t include the program in its FY25 budget, has asked lawmakers to realign another $77 million toward Resilient GPS in that year’s appropriation.

In its proposed bill, the subcommittee denied the service’s request to realign FY25 funding, questioning whether the quick-start process was the best pathway for this effort. Lawmakers note that the service could have requested funding for Resilient GPS as part of its budget submission rather than rely on Congress to approve multiple funding shifts to support the effort.

Further, the subcommittee notes that the program seems to focus on the satellites without addressing how it would alter ground systems and user equipment to improve resilience. The Space Force has said the goal is for the spacecraft to be interoperable with existing user devices.

To shed more light on the viability of the service’s plan, the subcommittee directs the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office to assess whether the effort is the department’s best option for boosting the resiliency of its positioning, navigation and timing capabilities.

Robotic vehicles to fight with enemy forces in Army training event

The U.S. Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicles will fight with the opposing force in an upcoming training rotation, according to Maj. Gen. Geoff Norman, who is in charge of the service’s combat vehicle modernization efforts.

While the Army has experimented a great deal with RCV surrogates and prototypes in recent years, including a major event that evaluated how humans and machines will fight together on a future battlefield, the opportunity to evaluate how the service will fight an opposing force with similar robotic capability has been limited until now.

Norman told Defense News in an interview that there will be two National Training Center rotations this summer. A unit out of Fort Stewart in Georgia will go up against an RCV platoon. The next unit out of Fort Riley in Kansas will take the same RCV platoon and attach it to blue force.

“That’s going to be really exciting to do another round of learning and experimentation at the premier training event for those units,” Norman said.

Also this summer, the Army will receive two prototypes each from four teams competing to build the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle program-of-record platform. The service will then kick off a competition and “pick the best of breed,” Norman said.

The prototypes will undergo automotive testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, beginning in August.

“The government can choose one or more of those prototypes to go forward into phase two of the program of record effort,” Norman said. “The downselect decision to one or more happens in the springtime,” of next year, he added.

The Army selected last year McQ, Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Defense to build the light RCV prototypes.

The service is aiming to field to the first unit in fiscal 2028 following a production decision slated for FY27.

The Army is also trying to get one platoon set of RCVs to an Army Forces Command unit to continue more experimentation, but it is currently still working on resourcing the effort. “We’re hopeful that materializes but that’s an open issue that we’re working through,” Norman said.

At the same time, Norman’s team is working closely with the armor commandant’s office, the Maneuver Capability Development and Integration Directorate at Fort Moore, Georgia, to refine the organizational designs for what an RCV platoon might look like and what other equipment it might have.

“They’ve taken the RCV playbook that we’ve developed at a couple of different experiments and they’re now taking that to work on some initial doctrine or probably standing operating procedure, to standardize some of the tactics, techniques and procedures that robotic autonomous systems operators need,” Norman said.

The Army is also working prototyping control vehicles for the RCVs using an Armored Multipurpose Vehicle and a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The service has already developed a Stryker control vehicle prototype, according to Norman. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will also be configured as a control vehicle; that prototyping will follow work on the AMPV and Bradley.

“Key to that will be soldier touch points to get their feedback because that’s been essential to get it right up to this point,” Norman said.

US lifts weapons ban on controversial Ukrainian military unit

KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol, the State Department said on Tuesday.

The Azov Brigade is among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units but it has been dogged by its origins as a volunteer battalion that drew fighters from far-right circles and criticism for some of its tactics. The U.S. had banned the regiment from using American weapons, citing the neo-Nazi ideology of some of its founders.

Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using US arms in Russia strikes

The current members of the Azov Brigade, which has been absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade, reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements. But the Kremlin has seized on the regiment’s origins in its efforts to cast Russia’s invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow took an “extremely negative” view of Washington’s decision. He described Azov as an “ultranationalist armed formation” and accused U.S. authorities of being “ready to flirt with neo-Nazis.”

U.S. law prohibits providing equipment and training to foreign military units or individuals suspected of committing gross human rights violations. The State Department said in a statement that it found “no evidence” of such violations.

“This is a new page in our unit’s history,” the Azov Brigade wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Azov is becoming even more powerful, even more professional and even more dangerous for occupiers.”

“Obtaining Western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat ability of Azov, but most importantly, contribute to the preservation of the lives and the health of personnel,” the statement said.

Up until the State Department’s decision, Azov was prohibited from sending fighters to Western military exercises or accessing weapons bought with American funds. Lifting the ban will likely bolster the brigade’s fighting capacity at a difficult time during the war against Russia’s invasion. Ukraine suffers from persistent ammunition and personnel shortages.

Years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Human Rights Watch raised concerns about Azov, writing that credible allegations of egregious abuses had been made against its fighters.

Moscow has repeatedly portrayed the Azov as a Nazi group and accused it of atrocities, but has publicly given little evidence of the allegations. In 2022, Russia’s top court officially designated Azov a terrorist group.

The brigade grew out of a group called the Azov Battalion, formed in 2014 as one of many volunteer regiments created to fight Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. It quickly became a separate official unit under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and later a unit of the National Guard.

Since its first commander left in October 2014, the brigade says on its website, it has been “cleansing itself” of undesirable elements. It wasn’t possible to ascertain whether the brigade has accomplished that. It has, however, tried to recast its public image away from the controversy surrounding its ultranationalist origins to that of an effective and skillful fighting force, and has shunned connections with controversial figures.

Azov soldiers played a key part in the defense of Mariupol, holding out in a siege and low on ammunition for weeks at the southern port city’s steel mill, despite devastating attacks from Russian forces in 2022.

They are hailed as heroes in Ukraine, remembered for defense of the sprawling plant that became a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the war against Russia, and people take to the streets for weekly rallies calling for the release of hundreds of Azov POWs who remain in Russian captivity.

NATO allies practice dogfighting as Russia gains ground in Ukraine

More than three dozen fighter pilots from nine NATO countries convened last week at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to face off against each other in a first-of-its-kind, U.S.-led exercise to sharpen air-to-air combat skills and coordination between allies.

“Ramstein 1v1″ pitted pilots from the U.S., United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany, against each other in a daylong competition of basic fighter maneuvers, or “dogfighting,” in which rapid decisions and sharp response to an adversary can mean life or death. It featured a mishmash of aircraft, including F-35A Lightning IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons, Eurofighter Typhoons, French Rafales, F/A-18 Hornets and A-4 Skyhawks.

Air Force revives air-to-air battle competition, with a Pacific twist

The exercise was a first for U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and turned Ramstein, a military airlift hub, into a fighter base for a day.

“Basic fighter maneuvering … is a foundational skill set for fighter pilots,” Lt. Col. Michael Loringer, USAFE’s chief of weapons and tactics, said in a statement. “It tests a pilot’s reaction time, physical stamina and situational awareness. … There is no better way to build trust in a pilot’s aircraft or a pilot’s skills than to engage” one-on-one.

The event comes as Russia gains ground in Ukraine in the third year of the war on NATO’s doorstep. The U.S. military and its allies have turned their attention to bolstering aerial combat skills as they prepare for the possibility that tensions with Russia and China might spill into armed conflict, pitting advanced air forces against each other for the first time in decades.

As part of that prep work, the Air Force last September brought back its famed “William Tell” aerial shooter competition after sidelining it for nearly two decades because of high operations tempo in the Middle East. Air Combat Command told Air Force Times Tuesday that a 2025 William Tell competition is tentatively in the works, though a date has not yet been set.

USAFE Commander Gen. James Hecker said last year that NATO pilots will also put freshly honed offensive and defensive maneuvers to the test at a major new training exercise, Ramstein Flag, in Greece at the end of 2024.

“We don’t want to go to war with Russia, and I don’t think they want to go to war with us either,” he told Air Force Times last July. “But we need to make sure that we have the forces capable of deterring them, so that nothing bad will happen.”

During last week’s exercise, U.S. airmen from RAF Lakenheath, England, pitched in to service the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s F-35s. The 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein handled installation support and flight line operations.

The exercise focused on readiness and building trust, with some friendly competition built in. After a day of flying, a piano was burned in memory of fighter pilots killed in action — a World War II tradition that lives on.

“We are not just NATO allies, but a community bound by genuine friendship and respect,” Loringer said. “I emphasize this point because successful military operations require exceptional teamwork, often critical to survival. And as a pilot, it boils down to trust. It’s crucial to trust your wingman.”

US will send Ukraine another Patriot missile system

The United States will send Ukraine another Patriot missile system, two U.S. officials said Tuesday, answering Kyiv’s desperate calls for more air defenses as it battles an intense Russian assault on the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The officials said President Joe Biden has approved the move. It would be the second Patriot system that the U.S. has given to Ukraine, although the Pentagon has routinely provided an undisclosed number of missiles for the system. Other allies, including Germany, also have provided air defense systems as well as munitions for them.

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The two U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been publicly announced. The decision was first reported by The New York Times.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late last month pleaded for additional U.S.-made Patriot systems, arguing that they will help his forces fight the close to 3,000 bombs that he said Russia launches into the country every month.

Speaking in Madrid, Zelenskyy said Ukraine still urgently needs another seven of the systems to fend off Russian strikes against the power grid and civilian areas, as well as military targets, with devastating glide bombs that wreak wide destruction.

He said Ukraine needs two of the systems to protect Kharkiv, where Russia launched a cross-border offensive on May 10 that still has Ukrainian troops reeling.

“If we had these modern Patriot systems, (Russian) airplanes wouldn’t be able to fly close enough to drop the (glide) bombs on the civilian population and the military,” Zelenskyy told a news conference in the Spanish capital.

The decision comes as defense leaders from the U.S., Europe and other nations prepare for their monthly meeting on Ukraine’s security needs. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host the meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

The U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine, but many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems — particularly countries in eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.

The U.S. also is wary of giving too many away, since they are used all over the world to protect U.S. forces and allies.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Monday that Ukraine’s need for air defense will be a topic at the meeting.

Congress still waiting on Osprey crash, safety documents from Pentagon

A House Oversight Committee panel that is investigating the safety and oversight of the V-22 Osprey aircraft following a string of fatal crashes has not received critical data or accident reports that its members requested months ago, two committee staffers told The Associated Press.

The aircraft, subject of a hearing Wednesday, has faced safety, maintenance and reliability issues for decades, with 62 service members and civilians killed in 12 Osprey accidents since 1992. The most recent was a crash off the coast of Japan in November that killed eight U.S. service members and led the military to ground the entire fleet. The aircraft, which can fly long distances fast like an airplane but land like a helicopter, began returning to service in March with flight restrictions.

Among the information that the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs has requested but has yet to receive is the wear and replacement rates on Osprey proprotor gearboxes, a component that was a factor in the 2023 crash off Japan.

Committee members also have asked for internal crash reports that the military conducts with surviving air and ground crews and witnesses. The reports, known as safety investigation board reports, aren’t available to the public and cannot be used to punish a crew — they are in place to identify and quickly share any safety issues among the fleet.

To date, the staffers said they had received about 3,500 pages of documents, but information was redacted, leaving them unable to conduct oversight. The committee staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The staffers said the documents they have reviewed left them concerned about whether Pentagon leadership has maintained a close watch on the Osprey program. Some of the problems with the aircraft date back a decade or more but still haven’t been fixed.

After mechanical and material failures led to an Osprey crash in California in 2022 that killed five Marines, the military said it had instituted changes to prevent the issue from happening again.

“However, the recent fatal crash and ongoing investigations suggest that more transparency and rigorous testing is needed to verify these claims,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the committee, said in a statement to the AP ahead of the hearing Wednesday.

Testifying before lawmakers will be Vice Admiral Carl Chebi, head of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, which is responsible for the Osprey program across the military.

The committee is concerned about how the Pentagon will be able to sustain the Osprey program long term. Parts are wearing out faster than anticipated, but recent operations and maintenance budget requests by the Pentagon for the aircraft have been cut, Grothman said.

The Marine Corps is planning on using the Osprey through 2050, while Air Force Special Operations Command has already begun to talk publicly about finding another type of aircraft to conduct missions.

Osprey producers Bell Flight, the Boeing Co. and Rolls-Royce, which supplies the engines, are facing a new lawsuit from families of the five Marines killed in the 2022 California crash. The lawsuit alleges that the companies did not address known parts failures or safety issues that were a factor in the crash.

Boeing and Bell have declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

The most recent crash last year in Japan was the fourth in two years which killed a total of 20 service members. The Air Force quickly identified that a material problem with the aircraft was to blame for last year’s crash, and within a week, the entire Osprey fleet — hundreds of aircraft across the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force — were grounded.

The staffers said the Pentagon has not provided details on what the restrictions are as the aircraft returns to operations.

The V-22 Osprey is loved by pilots because of its speed and ability to land on target like a helicopter. Besides the deadly crashes, there have been additional accidents in which the aircraft were destroyed and service members were injured, but all survived.

Netherlands to supply first Dutch-built CV90 IFVs to Ukraine in 2026

PARIS — The Netherlands will deliver the first Dutch-built and financed BAE Systems CV90 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine in 2026, the Dutch Ministry of Defence said.

The Dutch are investing €400 million (U.S. $430 million) in a Swedish fund to build the CV90s for Ukraine, the government said June 7. That amount is the Dutch share and will pay for “several tens” of vehicles, Netherlands Ministry of Defence spokesman Kaj Leers told Defense News in an emailed reply to questions.

The Dutch government also agreed with Sweden to set up CV90 production in the Netherlands, and expects to partly produce at least 180 of the vehicles, according to Leers. Negotiations are ongoing for local firm Van Halteren Technologies and a “whole chain” of Dutch suppliers to handle “an important part” of production, he said.

The Netherlands is joining an initiative by Denmark and Sweden to provide Ukraine’s armed forces with modern armor to fight off Russia’s invasion. The CV90 is “just what is needed at the front,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement in August on the occasion of a visit to Stockholm, and Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly praised the Swedish IFV for its armor, heat-signature reducing camouflage and firepower.

Sweden and Denmark signed a joint declaration in December to send additional CV90s to Ukraine, after an initial Swedish donation of 50 vehicles last year. Ukraine and Sweden in February discussed terms and conditions for purchasing more of the vehicles.

Van Halteren will play “an important role” in supplying dozens of new CV90s to Ukraine, Sweden and possibly Denmark, which are buying vehicles to the same modernized standard as the Netherlands, Dutch State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat said in a video posted on X on Friday. The Defence Ministry together with the Economic Affairs Ministry and Van Halteren is looking how the Dutch CV90 production line can be scaled up further, according to Van der Maat.

“We want to really help the Dutch know-how contribute to the growing requirement for CV90 fighting vehicles in Europe,” Van der Maat said.

The Netherlands last week took delivery of the first of its CV90s that are part of a more than €660-million mid-life upgrade aimed at keeping the IFV operational through to 2039. The Dutch are upgrading 122 vehicles, with final delivery scheduled for 2027.

The midlife upgraded for the Royal Netherlands Army is being done by BAE Systems Hägglunds in cooperation with Van Halteren, and includes a new turret with improved networking and observational capabilities, such as an electronic-optical panoramic sight. The upgrade also adds the Spike anti-tank missile by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and 90 vehicles will get the Iron Fist active protection system from Elbit Systems.

BAE Systems signed a contract with Sweden in May for new CV90s built to the Dutch upgrade standard to replace the vehicles donated to Ukraine. Slovakia and Czechia last year agreed to buy CV90s in deals totaling more than €3.5 billion. Leers declined to say whether the Netherlands expects to order additional new CV90s once local production has started.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence also declined to say whether the CV90s for Ukraine will be delivered with a cannon. The CV90s operated by the Dutch Army are equipped with a 35mm Bushmaster III auto-cannon, while Sweden operates a version of the CV90 equipped with a 40mm Bofors auto-cannon in a stabilized turret, which is the version first delivered to Ukraine.

Separately, the Netherlands said Tuesday it’s buying 120mm mortar systems from BAE Systems Hägglunds to mount on its CV90s, replacing the unmounted 81mm mortars currently in use with the Dutch army. The mortar systems will be installed on the vehicles after their mid-life upgrade, which should be completed in 2028. Sweden also uses the 120mm mortar on its CV90s, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The new mortars will have a range of 7 to 12 kilometers, compared with 6 kilometers for the current system, as well as a higher rate of fire, and can be operated from inside the vehicle, the ministry said. The goal is to increase accuracy by adding GPS-guided munition.

Israel Aerospace Industries union reaches agreement with government

JERUSALEM — The Israel Aerospace Industries workers’ union has reached an agreement with the government’s Finance Ministry where so-called salary anomalies previously provided to company employees will be recognized as special retroactive grants, according to the union.

IAI’s labor dispute came to light in early May after the ministry demanded the return of funds received by the company’s employees over multiple years without governmental approval, contrary to what is customary in state-owned firms. The disagreement put the supply of the Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany under threat.

IAI is expected to distribute about a third of its $320 million profits from 2023 as bonuses to its approximately 15,000 employees. Half of IAI’s profits will go to the state as a dividend.

“The apparent outline described will allow a time frame to try and regulate the alleged salary anomalies, while at the same time allowing salary promotions of employees,” Yair Katz, chairman of the workers’ union, told Defense News. “The new agreement should be signed in about three weeks. And with the signing of it, it will be possible to definitively state that the labor dispute threat has been removed from the table.”

Despite the previous threat of business disruption, IAI’s management supported its employees and form a united front with the union in its discussions with the ministry, claiming the funds were intended to retain its workers.

Defense News has contacted IAI and the ministry for comment.