Jane's Defense News

Event A Chadian human rights group said on 30 December that at least 30 gold miners were killed and 200 wounded in Chad’s northern Tibesti region by Arab fighters who crossed into the territory from southern Libya. According to the Chadian Convention for the Defence of Human Rights

Key Points Bangladesh’s election commission on 31 December announced that the ruling Awami League (AL)-led Grand Alliance had secured 288 of 300 directly elected seats in parliamentary elections the day before. Despite the opposition’s rejection of the election result, a prolonged

Airbus Helicopters’ Brazilian subsidiary, Helibras, delivered the last of three H225M helicopters configured for combat search and rescue (CSAR) to the Brazilian Navy on 27 December. The first two helicopters, which are designated UH-15A Super Cougar in national service, were delivered to

China’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard has launched the seventh Yuzhao-class (Type 071) landing platform dock (LPD) vessel on order for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The LPD took to the water on 28 December, as derived from information in a notice to mariners released by

China’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) revealed on 27 December that the Type 15 (also commonly referred to as ZTQ-15) lightweight battle tank has officially entered service with the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF). During a press conference in Beijing, MND spokesperson

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has inaugurated a new line for the production of stealth-enabling wing skins for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Deliveries of an initial order of 700 are expected to begin in 2019, IAI said. The production system involves a technology described as Automatic Fibre

State-owned Kazakhstan Engineering (KE) announced that it will issue a tender in January 2019 to sell off some of its subsidiaries’ entities and generate revenue through an ongoing initiative to privatise certain assets. This will include 100% of its shares in the Omega Instrument-Making

Leonardo is supplying the Italian Army with three sets of containerised active defence components (ADC) to supplement forward operating base (FOB) protection systems. Under the contract, awarded in December 2016 to Leonardo, the first two ‘towers’ and the command control post (CCP) have

Poland has signed for four more Alenia M-346 Master advanced jet trainers and is upgrading the 12 already received. The procurement and upgrade contract, announced by the manufacturer on 14 December, is valued at EUR130 million (USD147 million) and is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2022.

European Boxer programmes are taking final form, with offers to the UK and Slovenia expected in 2019. Klaas Krause, head of sales Eastern Europe for Rheinmetall, which formed the Artec joint venture with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to produce the Boxer, said on 12 December that the UK Ministry of

Hungary has ordered 16 Airbus Helicopters H225M multirole rotorcraft equipped with the company’s HForce Generic Weapon System (GWS). The deal, announced by the manufacturer on 14 December, will see the helicopters delivered to the Hungarian Ministry of Defence (MoD) in support of the

The US Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) is growing its focus on cyber security, working to harden its increasingly networked devices against potential threats. The army recently noted how almost all new medical devices contain some type of computer technology and are often remotely or wirelessly

Key Points The US DoD is taking Turkish threats to invade northeast Syria seriously It has confirmed that it has now established an unspecified number of observation posts on the Syrian–Turkish border to deter incursions The US Department of Defense (DoD) indicated on 12 December that it is

Event On 12 December 2018, Guatemalan security forces launched over 100 raids against extortion activities targeting merchants and cargo transport concentrated in the departments of El Progreso, Guatemala, Quetzaltenango, and Totonicapan. The country has undergone a rise in reported national

The Canadian government has signed a CAD21.7 million (USD16.2 million) contract on 7 December with Saab Microwave Canada for a new antenna for the Sea Giraffe 180 (SG-180) radar installed on the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Halifax-class frigates. Saab Microwave Canada will install a new

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) icebreaker CCGS Captain Molly Kool officially joined the fleet on 14 December, becoming the first new icebreaker for the CCG in 25 years. Captain Molly Kool is the first of three icebreakers procured by the Canadian government under a CAD610 million (USD457 million)

Endeavor Robotics has unveiled the design of its Scorpion unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that it is pushing for the US Army’s Common Robotic System-Individual (CRS-I) programme. The Scorpion is a clean-sheet design weighing less than 11 kg. Its light weight ensures that it is backpackable and

The European Security and Defence College (ESDC) achieved initial operating capability (IOC) for its Cyber Education, Training, Exercise, and Evaluation (ETEE) platform, and has begun work on harmonising cyber training across European militaries. The ESDC was established under the European

Germany has again extended its leasing contract with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for Heron 1 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations in Afghanistan, it was announced on 12 December. According to Airbus, which is the prime contractor for the German government, the Bundeswehr has renewed its

Event On 5 December 2018, the Iraqi government decided to withdraw all employees from its customs checkpoints between the Kurdistan Region and government-controlled provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, which had been recently established following the government's recapture of KRG-controlled disputed