Jane's Defense News

The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to initiate concept studies for a successor to the Leopard 2 main battle tank (MBT) before the end of the year. The news was announced by German Defence State Secretary Markus Grübel to Parliament, with Grübel adding that the MoD plans to conduct

Russia is to increase the size of its Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' fleet by a factor of three over the coming years as it looks to build up its strategic bomber capabilities in the face of ever deteriorating relations with the West. The expansion of the fleet from 16 to a proposed 50 bombers was

Ansar Allah, the Yemeni Zaidi group that a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia is currently trying to defeat, has unveiled 'homemade' rockets for the first time as well as a BM-27 Uragan multiple rocket launcher (MRL) under its control. The Piercing Star (Al-Najim al-Thaqib) rockets were

Key Points Hizbullah is pre-occupied fighting radical Sunni groups in Lebanon and Syria, while Palestinian militants are struggling to re-arm Israeli officials believe Iran will use the economic windfall from a nuclear deal to further its destabilising regional policies and missile programmes

The growing importance to China of the maritime domain and its protection by "the preparation for military struggle" were the key takeaways from a defence White Paper published by Beijing on 26 May. The second defence White Paper published under the leadership of Xi Jinping, 'China's

The Canadian government is working to grow its aerospace, defence, and security industries as it expects military procurement to play a major role in the Canadian economy, Minister of Industry James Moore said during a 28 May speech at the CANSEC defence show in Ottawa. Moore noted that the

CANSEC 2015: Kenney outlines Canada's Defence Procurement Strategy Canadian Minister of National Defence Jason Kenney, nominated earlier this year and speaking for the first time at Canada's main defence exposition, outlined his vision for implementing the country's new procurement strategy. The

Key Points The murder of a prominent political figure during daylight hours suggests that criminal syndicates have greater confidence in their ability to influence state structures. Expansion of drug-trafficking groups would probably threaten the state's ability to ensure public security and law

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Raytheon a USD11.9 million contract for the procurement of the Griffin missile. The contract, which was disclosed on 29 May, is scheduled to be complete by 31 January 2016. While the number of Griffins being procured has not been disclosed, IHS Jane's

Malaysian group DRB-Hicom has reported declines in revenues and earnings for fiscal year 2014 but said its aero-structure and defence businesses continued to expand. In a filing to the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange on 28 May the company said revenues slipped 3.5% to MYR13.7 billion (USD3.7 billion)

India's federal government appointed a new director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 28 May, four months after dismissing the previous incumbent. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, selected S Christopher,

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) has delivered a third Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper armed reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the French Ministry of Defence, the company announced on 29 May. The initial two Reapers accumulated more than 4,000 flight hours in just over one

Harris Corporation announced on 29 May that it had completed the acquisition of US electronics and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) firm Exelis. The deal, valued at USD4.75 billion, will see former Exelis shareholders take a 15%

A SENIOR police officer - described in reports as a brigadier-general - was killed and a police colonel was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED), emplaced by militants from the Islamic State-affiliated Jamaat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, detonated as they passed by an area near a police

A MAN and two children were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED), emplaced on a motorcycle by unidentified militants, detonated in the city of Lashkargah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on 27 May, Khaama Press reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Twelve potential investors submitted requests to take part in the privatisation process of Israel Military Industries (IMI), the Israel Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced on 28 May. The MoF's Government Companies Authority - which is overseeing the sale - said it would examine the requests for

The Indonesian Navy (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) has fired an Exocet anti-ship missile from a Bung Tomo-class corvette for the first time. The test, in which a MM40 Block 2 version of the missile was fired from first-of-class KRI Bung Tomo (357), was conducted on 28 May

Key Points The Islamic State has rapidly expanded its capabilities in Libya since late 2014, launching attacks against the forces of both governments and the oil sector that supplies their revenues. In the probable absence of a unified Libyan government approach to combating the group, it is

Kazkah shipbuilder Zenit Uralsk Shipyard has revealed plans to expand production facilities to allow the construction of vessels up to 600 tonnes. Kazakh media, quoting Zenit's first deputy director Victor Garchev, reported on 28 May that the yard would be expanding its facilities for military and

Key Points The lab has a cold space chamber to mimic environmental conditions a seeker will encounter in space An advanced digital scene projector enables seeker testing against multiple threats and targets Lockheed Martin has opened a new laboratory at its facility in Sunnyvale, California, to