Jane's Defense News

Ammunition specialist Nammo, owned jointly by the Norwegian government and Finland's Patria, has completed its acquisition of US hunting and tactical bullet supplier Berger Bullets, following the approval of US authorities. Berger Bullets, based in California, now forms part of Nammo's Commercial

Amid a growing scandal in the United States over Russian attempts to interfere in the 8 November presidential election, Moscow has denied the existence of both its 'cyber corps' or the assertion that any Russian government entity engages in attacks on foreign computer systems. Statements to this

Russia has deployed four Su-25 ground attack aircraft to Syria but withdrawn six Su-24 strike aircraft, Ministry of Defence spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told journalists on 12 January. "As part of the planned rotation of aircraft, four Su-25 attack aircraft from Russia, equipped

EVENT In a press conference on 11 January, US president-elect Donald Trump outlined measures he planned to take to avoid conflicts of interest in his business dealings. Under the plan, Trump's business assets would be placed in a trust to be run by his sons with "severe restrictions"

Key Points Production of Russia's Yars RS-24 ICBM is being held back by a shortage of critical components Deteriorating economic conditions in Russia are putting lower-tier suppliers of such components out of business Orders for a new set of Russian ICBM launchers have been put on hold and may

The Royal Air Force is drawing down its training on the Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft, with the service's training unit, XV(R) Squadron, beginning its last course in January. After completion of the final course, XV(R) Squadron will disband on 31 March; ahead of the retirement of the Tornado

Key Points Navy secretary Ray Mabus underlined need for biofuels and other alternative ship fuel use SecNav described how climate change will affect the USN US Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) Ray Mabus has called for the use of alternative energy and biofuels in naval platforms, and also warned of

Key Points New Zealand's at-sea based JATF is designed to focus on peace support and HADR operations Key lesson learned from recent operations and exercises is the need to continuously refine the C2 arrangements to support the JATF New Zealand is continuing to develop the capabilities of its

EVENT On 12 January 2017, Tajik president Imomali Rahmon appointed his 29-year-old son Rustam Imomali to the position of mayor of Dushanbe, the national capital. Dushanbe is Tajikistan's largest city, with a population of 800,000, and is the major economic centre. His predecessor, Mahmadsaid

A BODYGUARD for a senior security official was killed and the official and four other guards were wounded in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack targeting their convoy by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants in the town of Loder in Yemen's Abyan governorate on 11

A VIDEO released by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) on 11 January purportedly showed a German national - kidnapped by the militants following an attack on a yacht off the coast of the Philippines' that killed his wife in November that was claimed by ASG on 6 November - in an orange jumpsuit stood next to a

Employees of the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) will hold two 48 hour strikes in the next month, the Unite union announced on 12 January, in an escalation of a dispute over pensions. The strikes, which are set to take place on 18, 19, 30, and 31 January, follow a 24 hour walkout held on 24

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has inaugurated a 'strategic rocket innovation centre' to drive capability development in indigenous defence technologies, the Chinese government has said. A statement on 12 January by China's State Administration for Science, Technology

Brazil's 2017 budget law published on 11 January, revealing a total defence allocation of BRL94.8 billion (USD29.7 billion), was a real-terms rise of 12.2% from 2016. Overall state spending was set at BRL3.5 trillion, making defence spending 2.7% of the total. The legislation, which had been

Hungary has plans to increase its defence spending to levels equivalent to 2% of the country's GDP within 10 years, according to Defence Minister István Simicskó. In an interview with Reuters on 12 January, Simicskó said that it was possible that the target could be reached by 2026.

The Indian government's anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), has highlighted the extent of delays in investigations into alleged corruption in defence. The CVC said in a memorandum published on 10 January that there are 19 complaints of alleged corruption in defence

EVENT The Iraqi Army's 7th Division began a new offensive against the Islamic State in Anbar province in January, advancing from Haditha along the Euphrates River towards the town of Al-Qaim on the Syria border. This follows media reports in December claiming that the Islamic State was redeploying

EVENT On 4 January, an Indonesian man was charged by Malaysian authorities for possessing materials connected with terrorism. Malaysia's counter-terror police chief Ayob Khan Pitchay said the suspect was allegedly planning to travel to Myanmar to stage terrorist attacks in support of the minority

Tokyo and Washington have agreed to sign an agreement that would narrow the scope of legal immunity granted to US military base workers in Japan, Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying on 13 January. The pact is set to supplement the US-Japan status of

Russia has continued its overtures to Khalifa Haftar, a powerful commander in eastern Libya, by hosting him on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov on 11 January. Haftar, a former Muammar Ghadaffi-era general who commands the Libyan National Army (LNA) and does not recognise the UN-backed