Jane's Defense News

As the US military transitions to a more open and modular version of the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), the services continue to encounter hurdles as they seek ways to get more intelligence data into the hands of analysts. The US Air Force (USAF) is moving off the legacy baseline DCGS

China on 22 January launched an agency to head the country's programme to boost capability through civil-military integration (CMI). The Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development will be chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and will "decide and co-ordinate"

Croatia unveiled its defence procurement plan on 20 January, with spending increasing USD57 million, the country's Ministry of Defence announced. The procurement plan calls for USD243 million in procurement and sustainment spending, which is about 40% of the country's overall defence budget. Of

Forces from at least three of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are preparing to launch a military intervention to oust The Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh after he rejected a 19 January ultimatum to stand aside for his democratically elected successor. ECOWAS troops are

France's defence exports reached a record high of more than EUR20 billion (USD21.3 billion) in 2016, according to a speech made by the country's defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on 19 January. Le Drian, speaking during an event at the National Navy Museum in Paris, said that although official

EVENT On 21 January, insurgents from the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) released an unnamed foreign citizen who had been kidnapped by the group in a remote part of Colombia's Chocó department. The move followed a joint announcement by the government and the guerrilla group on

EVENT Thailand's military-led government is setting up a national reconciliation panel to resolve a decade-long political conflict between supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the predominantly middle-class royalists who oppose him. The panel will be chaired by General

Key Points The anti-immigration mood is rising among far-right supporters, as demonstrated in a recent series of racially motivated hate crimes in several Polish towns. The lack of an effective government reaction is likely to aggravate the situation in the coming weeks and months. Further

IN A STATEMENT released by Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) on 18 January, the group claimed responsibility for an improvised explosive device (IED) that was discovered and defused by army personnel on 14 January in Brians Well Road area of Poleglass in Northern Ireland's Belfast, the Irish News reported.

Key Points The announced African Union-Burundian deal on troop payments risks rejection by the European Union. A United Nations peacekeeping mission is likely to be authorised during 2018-19 to meet a funding gap left by the EU's withdrawal of financing. Negotiations over AMISOM's future are

US Avionics and communications supplier Rockwell Collins published results from the first quarter of its 2017 financial year (FY) on 20 January, showing a 2% growth in revenue year on year. In the three months to December 31 the company generated sales of USD1.2 billion, while net income rose 7.4%

Saab has agreed to buy an additional 10% of Brazilian aeronautics group Akaer, the company announced on 23 January. The additional purchase will increase Saab's holding in Akaer to 25%. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Saab had originally acquired a stake in Akaer in 2012, when it made a

The United States conducted air strikes against Islamic State camps in Libya on 18 January, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced. The strikes, which were carried out in conjunction with the Libyan Government of National Accord, saw the destruction of two remote desert camps some 45 km

NATO is at the "forefront of fighting terrorism", according to the alliance's most senior military official, General Petr Pavel, chair of NATO's Military Committee. Gen Pavel, as well as the alliance's two most senior commanders - General Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has warned that North Korea "seems to be capable" of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from a mobile launcher, according to local media reports. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted an MND spokesperson on 10 January as

The 31st Jiangdao-class (Type 056) corvette to join China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was commissioned into the East Sea Fleet on 18 January. Ezhou (513) was built at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai and launched on 25 December 2015. Equipped with towed and variable depth sonars

EVENT On 16 January 2017, 12 militants in four-wheel drive vehicles with mounted heavy-machine guns, attacked the Naqb security checkpoint in Wadi al-Jadid province in Egypt's Western Desert. In the attack, which took place on the al-Kharga-Asyut Road, 80 km from the town of al-Kharga, nine police

The two Iranian naval vessels that reportedly reached the Atlantic in November 2016 subsequently had to put into the South African port of Durban to carry out emergency repairs, Airbus Defence and Space satellite imagery shows. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) did much to publicise the

Key Points Incoming US president Donald Trump has already managed to persuade a select group of companies to put investment plans in Mexico on hold, reducing investment and employment prospects in parts of Mexico's Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí states. A slowdown in economic growth and

A senior US Air Force officer has revealed that the service could set up a joint base with the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF) for Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic and signal intelligence aircraft operations after the closure of the USAF's Mildenhall air base in 2022. Mildenhall is