Defence`s Feeds

Syrian President Bashar Assad has put forward his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for 26 May, Parliament Speaker Hammouda Sabbagh said on Wednesday.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad officially registers for participation in upcoming presidential elections, a crucible for the country's efforts to defeat its adversaries and restore calm and security.

Americas

A second F-15EX has arrived at Eglin Air Force Base and the aircraft will be flown by the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron. This is also the final F-15EX delivery to the US Air Force for FY21. The F-15EX will make its exercise debut at Northern Edge 2021. The two F-15EXs and testers from the 40th Flight Test Squadron and 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron will work together in integrated developmental and operational test, effectively expediting the test timeline.

Northrop Grumman won a $2 billion deal for sustaining engineering support and program management support services for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) propulsion subsystem. The deal with an ordering period of 18.5 years is provided for assistance to the government in maintaining the Minuteman III weapon system. The Minuteman is a strategic weapon system using a ballistic missile of intercontinental range. Missiles are dispersed in hardened silos to protect against attack and connected to an underground launch control center through a system of hardened cables. Launch crews, consisting of two officers, perform around-the-clock alert in the launch center. The location of performance is primarily Corrine and Magna, Utah, with various other locations. Work is expected to be completed November 5, 2040.

Middle East & Africa

According to Jane’s, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is currently configuring its Barak surface-to-air missile (SAM) for the first of the Israeli Navy’s four Sa’ar 6 corvettes, Boaz Levy, IAI president and CEO. The ships are being built in Germany, with the first, INS Magen, having arrived in Haifa on 2 December 2020, where it is being fitted with its Israeli-made systems, including the ELM-2248 radar. Barak-8 is an operational air & missile defense system used by the Israeli navy. It provides broad Aerial and point defense against a wide range of threats to the marine arena from the air, the sea or the land. The system integrates several advanced state-of-the-art systems as, digital radar, command and control, launchers, interceptors with modern RF seekers, Data link and system-wide connectivity.

Europe

Greek newspaper Proto Thema says Athens could buy another six Rafale fighters from France to increase the fleet size from 18 to 24. The jets will be assigned to 332 Squadron which is now flying the Mirage 2000 at Tanagra air base.

The British government has decided to proceed with the purchase of 14 H-47 (ER) Chinook helicopters, Bloomberg reports. However, it wants to delay deliveries by three years due to budget shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Letter of Offer and Acceptance was delivered by the British embassy in Washington on March 25. The UK is the largest operator of the Chinook outside United States. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency had announced the potential sale in October 2018. That notification says Britain is cleared to buy 16 Chinooks. It is likely that the new variant Britain is buying is the MH-47G.

Asia-Pacific

The US Navy is preparing to operate the MQ-4C from Japan by shipping the Triton Unmanned Air System’s forward operating base (FOB) from NAS Patuxent River to Japan on April 12. Although the location in Japan was not disclosed. Flight tracking data shows the C-17 that transported the equipment over northern Japan on April 15. NAVAIR says this deployment will allow the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Fleet (MPRF) to have additional geographic flexibility to support operations beginning in summer 2021.

Today’s Video

Watch: Top 10 ICBM | Top 10 Longest Range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

Tomer is an Israeli state-owned defense firm that produces propulsion systems for missiles and rockets, including the Shavit satellite launcher and the EXTRA artillery rocket. Videos circulated on social media Tuesday morning of a large explosion occurring at the factory with speculation that it was a form of retaliation by Iran.

Representatives from ally and partner nations in southeast Europe today spoke at a conference about the important role women play in their armed forces.

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A powerful explosion has rocked a sensitive Israeli missile factory during a test for advanced weapons, according to a report.

At today’s 13th EDA REACH plenary meeting, experts from the Ministries of Defence of participating Member States exchanged views with representatives of the European Commission, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Space Agency (ESA), national space agencies as well as the European defence industry on the latest developments regarding the implementation of the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and other relevant EU regulations on chemicals and waste regulations in the defence domain. 

The main aim of the meeting was to jointly explore ways and means to meet the objectives of these EU regulations and ensure their coherent application in the defence sector while, at the same time,  mitigate their possible impact on the operational capabilities of participating Member States’ Armed Forces and the competitiveness and innovation of the EU defence industry, as an important stakeholder in support of European defence capabilities. The discussions were based on EDA’s ongoing activities in the area of REACH and other relevant EU chemicals and waste regulations, as well as recent regulatory developments at European level such as the EU Green Deal  and EU Chemical Strategy for Sustainability towards a toxic-free environment.

The European defence industry was represented at the meeting by some 70  representatives from a wide range of stakeholders with expertise/activities in the area of REACH and other relevant EU chemicals and waste regulations such as the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), National Defence Industry Associations (NDIAs), individual industries, research and technology organisations, and academia. 

The main conclusion of the debate was that, while EDA participating Member States and the EU defence industry strongly support the implementation of REACH in the defence domain (for its positive effects on human health and the environment), it is crucial to ensure that potential negative impacts of its implementation on defence are identified at an early stage in order to be mitigated appropriately. To this end, EDA’s work on REACH is considered very important.

Background

EDA is addressing REACH and its defence implications since 2009, at the request of its participating Member States and in close coordination with the European Commission. 
The Agency’s work in this field was guided until recently by the EDA REACH Roadmap 2018-2020  which was adopted by Member States in October 2017 and contained a comprehensive list of activities, the majority of which have recently been successfully completed, or are continuous in nature. 

A follow-up EDA REACH Roadmap for years 2021-2023 is currently in the last stages of approval by EDA participating Member States. In addition to REACH, this roadmap also covers activities related to other relevant EU chemicals and waste regulations, on the basis also of the outcome of a recent EDA study.

EDA closely engages with and regularly invites key stakeholders to EDA REACH meetings, such as the European Commission, the European Chemicals Agency, the European Space Agency and (under the overarching comprehensive EDA approach on industry engagement) EU defence industry, in order to facilitate closer and more transparent interaction on defence-related REACH issues, which is seen as an important success factor for EDA’s work in this field. 

More information

• EDA REACH Activities

As US and coalition troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by 11 September, the commander of US Central Command (USCENTCOM), US Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, said...

Surplus CTA International 40 mm CT40 cannons worth over GBP70 million (USD97.7 million) are expected to be put up for sale by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) following...

US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on 21 April that the first of 24 MH-60R multirole naval helicopters on order for the Indian Navy (IN) conducted its...

A ballistic missile based on Iran’s new Zoljanah satellite launch vehicle would be able to carry a 1 tonne warhead 5,000 km, according to an estimate of the rocket’s...

The United Kingdom has begun discussions with NATO on increasing the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) contribution to Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) and its five RQ-4D...

North Korea and Iran continue to advance their counter-space threats through cyberattacks, jamming, and electronic warfare, US Army General James Dickinson, the...

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is currently configuring its Barak surface-to-air missile (SAM) for the first of the Israeli Navy’s four Sa’ar 6 corvettes, Boaz Levy,...

Chinese defence prime China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is developing a new medium/high-altitude, long-endurance (MALE/HALE) armed reconnaissance...

As the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to modernise, an increasingly capable and lethal Chinese joint force “will almost certainly be able to hold US and allied...

India has offered Vietnam support in developing capability to build and support naval vessels. The offer was communicated in a webinar held on 20 April between senior...

Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has reported major declines in revenue and profit for fiscal year (FY) 2020.

An Indonesian Cakra (Type 209/1300)-class diesel-electric submarine (SSK) has been reported as missing and an attempt to rescue it is currently underway.