Jane's Defense News

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) paid a visit to its future homebase of Royal Air Force (RAF) Marham in Norfolk on 1 July, ahead of its appearances at both the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) and Farnborough International Airshow later in the month. Speaking

The United Kingdom has returned to the Falkland Islands one of the two Boeing Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that were withdrawn in 2006 for operational service in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told IHS Jane's on 4 July. Prior to 2006 the United Kingdom had a pair of Chinooks

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has completed price negotiations with the Indian private-sector company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the supply of 100 modified South Korean K-9 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) for around USD750 million. Industry sources said the tender for the K-9 Vajra

Norway and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are to become the latest nations to upgrade their Raytheon Sidewinder air-to-air missile (AAM) stocks to the latest AIM-9X Block II standard, a US Department of Defense (DoD) contract notification has revealed. The USD291.75 million contract, awarded to

Key Points British Army is shifting its posture away from asymmetric warfare to take into account a resurgent Russia Two new 'strike' brigades are to be formed The days when the NATO alliance expected to be able to generate 70% of its total warfighting capacity within 12 hours and 95% within 30

Austria has ordered 32 BvS10 articulated all-terrain vehicles from BAE Systems, the Austrian Ministry of National Defence and Sport (BMLVS) announced on 1 July. According to the BMLVS the value of the contact is some EUR85 million (USD95 million) including weapons and additional equipment.

BAE Systems has revealed the development of two future aerospace technologies that it is developing in partnership with smaller UK companies, ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow running from 11 to 17 July. The technologies, revealed on 3 July, comprise the chemical 'growing' of unmanned

Key Points The attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka marked a departure from established militant tactics over the past six months, which have usually involved machete and small-arms attacks on specific individuals. The fact that the attackers sought to inflict mass causalities and targeted

EVENT A suicide bomber detonated his vest in the parking lot of the Suleiman al-Faqih Medical Centre in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, across the street from the US consulate and from the Al-Zoman Centre, in the early hours of 4 July. Two Saudi guards were injured, having thought that the

China will not resort to the threat of force at will, nor will it "flaunt its military power on others' doorsteps at the drop of a hat," said Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 1 ahead of a ruling by a UN tribunal on the legality of Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), has held a steel-cutting ceremony for the country's second KSS-III submarine, a company official told IHS Jane's on 4 July. The ceremony was held at DSME's Okpo shipyard on Geoje Island, south of Busan, on 1 July. The

The Council of the European Union (EU) announced on 1 July that it was extending sanctions against Russia for a further six months. As a result, the sanctions will now be in place until 31 January 2017, when the EU will re-evaluate whether they should remain in place or be lifted. The sanctions

Key Points The contract will allow companies to continue work on variable-cycle engine technology through September 2021 The goal of the AETP is to achieve improved fuel efficiency and increased thrust The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded USD1 billion contracts to General Electric (GE) Aviation

India's Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, formally handed over the indigenously developed Varunastra heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo to the Indian Navy (IN) on 29 June. The IN has ordered 73 of the 1,500 kg wire-guided torpedoes for INR87.6 billion (USD132 million), which will be manufactured

In mid-June, India's Cabinet Committee on Security announced that it had approved the USD1 billion procurement of four additional Boeing P-8I Neptune long-range maritime multi-mission aircraft for the Indian Navy (IN), via the United States' Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. IN officials told IHS

Key Points Belgian police arrested returnee foreign fighter Said M'Nari in Antwerp on 25 June after he had earlier been convicted in absentia for participation in the Sharia4Belgium group's recruitment of fighters for the conflict in Syria. M'Nari's background and history as a foreign fighter

A suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) hit a shopping mall in the middle-class Baghdad suburb of Karrada on 2 July, killing up to 200 civilians. This was the largest number of casualties in a single attack in the capital since 2007. In the aftermath, crowds, which had gathered

Key Points Orbital ATK's Mk 136 TSRM dual-pulse rocket motor is used to propel the SM-3 Block 1B kinetic warhead into the exo-atmosphere Developmental flight tests have proved the performance of design modifications introduced to the TSRM nozzle Two developmental flight tests of the Standard

Key Points GPS OCX has exceeded a 25% cost overrun threshold that triggers a Nunn-McCurdy breach The Pentagon will decide whether to continue the programme or restructure it by October The Pentagon is studying whether the US Air Force (USAF) should continue work on its next-generation GPS control

PZL-Swidnik has handed over to the Polish armed forces the last upgraded W-3PL Gluszec and the first upgraded W-3RM Anakonda platforms, the Leonardo Helicopters subsidiary announced. The handovers, which took place at the company's Swidnik site on 27 June, saw the last four of eight W-3PLs