Eurosatory 2008 the best so far: this year's Eurosatory land equipment exhibition near Paris was bristling with ground-up novelties, particularly in the field of armoured vehicles, reflecting the realisation that ad-hoc vehicles are what is needed today, as opposed to makeshift add-on protection kits for existing vehicles, against rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs.

Summary

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Shows & Exhibitions

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Eurosatory 2008 the best so far: this year's Eurosatory land equipment exhibition near Paris was bristling with ground-up novelties, particularly in the field of armoured vehicles, reflecting the realisation that ad-hoc vehicles are what is needed today, as opposed to makeshift add-on protection kits for existing vehicles, against rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs.

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Although many observers suspected that certain projects had been on the stove here and there, some of the new vehicles must have been developed in total secrecy, like the Nexter Aravis (named after a famous pass in the French Alps). However, other projects like the Donar howitzer were more unexpected. Amazingly, a number of vehicles were either made impossible to photograph with close fences or adorned with 'no photo' signs on their windows: word went round that Chinese spies were on the prowl.

Donar

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) unveiled their new 155-mm/52-calibre Donar self-propelled artillery system at Eurosatory. The Donar has been developed to replace legacy systems such as the widely deploy...

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