Delivering advanced close combat capabilities for dismounted forces

Defence IQ's 3rd annual Infantry Weapons conference, taking place at the Maritim Nürnberg on the 27th-28th October 2008, is the major international conference providing insight into the future of small arms and support weapons, Lessons Learned from current operations and the latest discussions into calibres and NATO standardisation.

Current engagements are leading dismounted forces into close combat on a daily basis. Mission scenarios can be broad with target engagement ranges of fifty yards or 300 yards. Delivering an infantry weapon suite capable of meeting the needs of dismounted forces is a major challenge.

Key briefings planned for Infantry Weapons 2008 include:

US Army Small Arms Strategy: Near- And Midterm

• Near-term:
• Sustain through refurbish/rebuild
• Product improvement
• Leveraging off-the-shelf-technologies
• Mid-term:
• Multi-purpose sight (1x-4x magnification) for rifles and light machine guns
• Laser sight improvement

US Army Small Arms Strategy: Long-Term

• A far-term modernisation strategy beyond 2013:
• Reduce soldier load
• Improve lethality
• Improve small unit flexibility
• Parts commonality
• Lightweight / caseless ammunition
• Counter-defilade ammunition
• Fusing sights for image intensification with thermal capabilities

The COMPM4 Red-Dot Series: Operational Success

• Battlefield feedback
• Meeting combat environment requirements: Climatic and Durability test results
• Meeting mission scenario requirements: Incorporating Lessons Learned into equipment capabilities

21st Century Soldier Systems: Integration Of Modules Into The Overall Soldier System

• EDA efforts to promote Interoperability
• Small arms and sensor components

Confirmed Speakers at Infantry Weapons 2008 include:

Colonel Robert Radcliffe, Director of Combat Developments, Infantry Centre, US Army Colonel Ilkka Pitkanen, Inspector of Infantry,Finnish Defence Forces Colonel Kirk Hymes, Director, Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, US DoD Colonel Erich Weissenböck, Head of Precision Engagement, European Defence Agency Paul Ohrt, Small Arms R&D Project Director, Defence Research and Development Canada Lieutenant Colonel Alan Middleton, British Exchange Officer, German Infantry School, Bundeswehr Patrick Cantwell, Small Arms, Crew-Served and Anti-Armour Weapons Capabilities Integration, Fires and Manouevre Integration Division, US Marine Corps Combat Development Command Major Roberto Viglietta, Requirements Officer, Operational Requirements and Capabilities Branch, Italian General Staff Major Tom Henthorn, Chief Small Arms Division, Infantry Centre, US Army

Lennart Ljungfelt, President, Aimpoint Per Arvidsson, NATO Army Armaments Group,Land Capability Group 1, FMV Major Frans van Weenen, Project Manager, Weapons & Sensors, Soldier Modernisation Office, Netherlands MoD Pascal Paulissen, Project Lead Small ArmsResearch, TNO Defence Security and Safety Major Rune Nesland-Steinor, Project Manager Soldier Systems, Norwegian Defence Procurement Agency Scott Bradley, LFIT Lead, System Design Evaluation Jarl Eirik Straume, Director Marketing and Sales, Nammo David Schiller, Editor-In-Chief, Visier International Weapons Magazine B. "Bert" Roethlisberger, Director – International Sales Defense & Law Enforcement, RUAG Ammotec AG Werner Knubel, Product manager, RUAG Ammotec AG Ignasi Perez, European Business & NewProduct, Development Manager, Peli

DOWNLOAD THE FULL Infantry Weapons AGENDA HERE

Post-Conference Live Firing Day at Ruag Ammotec, Fürth 29th October 2008 An outstanding opportunity to gain first hand experience with the latest small calibre ammunition technologies with a wide variety of leading rifles and scopes. Sponsored by:

Who's registered for Infantry Weapons 2008 already?

Danish Army Combat Centre Defence Equipment & Support Defence R&D Canada Estonian Land Forces FFI Norwegian Defence Research Establishmant ST Kinetics MoD Netherlands

Norway MoD Norwegian Army RWM Arges Swiss Land Forces UK MoD CTA International

Last year delegations came from a wide range of military organisations, including:

German Infantry School Danish Army Combat Centre Netherlands MoD European Defence Agency Canadian Forces Italian Army US Marine Corps US Special Operations Command Norwegian Armed Forces Belgian Army German MoD

Irish Defence Forces Estonian Defence Forces US Military Academy British Army Polish MoD Royal Netherlands Army Latvian Armed Forces Austrian MoD FMV Swedish Defence Materiel Administration UK MoD US Army

If you are not yet ready to register, feel free to request a reminder nearer the time.

Conference Partners

Sponsors and Exhibitors	Media Partners

[ Register Now ] · [ Next: Conference Day One: 27th October 2008 ]