Defence`s Feeds

Event On 22 August 2018, the Islamic State released a 55-minute audio message featuring Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first message issued by the group’s emir since September 2017. Baghdadi’s message, entitled “Give glad tidings to the patient”, mentioned the current Eid

Japan is seeking to strengthen its maritime security co-operation with Sri Lanka, according to a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on 21 August. The statement was released following a meeting held that same day between Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Itsunori

Northrop Grumman Armament Systems Division (NG-ASD) has outlined ongoing efforts to advance kinetic kill counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) capabilities and develop a family of networked systems to address unmanned air, land, and maritime threats. Jay Annis, portfolio director at NG-ASD told

The British government should be “extremely wary” of Russia’s military intentions in the Arctic and re-establish Cold War-type capabilities to counter emerging threats in the region, according to an influential parliamentary committee. In a report entitled ‘On Thin Ice: UK

The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) released a video on 21 August showing what it said were its F-16 fighters being refuelled by a US-led coalition tanker during a strike mission against Islamic State targets in Syria a week earlier. The footage showed an unarmed IqAF F-16D linking up with the

Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that US Forces Japan (USFJ) will deploy five Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey special mission tiltrotor aircraft to Yokota Air Base on 1 October as part of plans to station a total of 10 such platforms at the base by 2024. The MoD said on 22 August that

Russia for the first time publicly unveiled a serial production example of the Sosna short-range air-defence (SHORAD) system mounted on the MTLB chassis at the Army 2018 exhibition being held in Kubinka, near Moscow, on 21-26 August. The Sosna is a point defence turret developed by Nudelmann Design

The Russian armed forces will replace the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher (MRL) with the 9K51M Tornado-G, a military source told Jane's at the Army 2018 defence show being held close to Moscow on 21-26 August. “The Western Military District and the Southern Military District [SMD] have

The TsNIITochMash design bureau, a Rostec subsidiary, unveiled its new exoskeleton during the Army 2018 show held near Moscow on 21–26 August, saying it has been tested in a combat environment. The exoskeleton is made of lightweight carbon fibre and has a weight varying between 4 and 8 kg,

Key Points Four high-level FARC members have been absent from public view, with reports that several have fled to Venezuela. The disappearances coincide with rising legal uncertainty for high-ranking members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) resulting from President

Key Points If the referendum’s minimum turnout threshold is not reached, the government is likely to proceed with parliamentary ratification of the measure, seeking opposition support in exchange for the promise of early parliamentary elections, probably by mid-2019; this is likely to slow

US Army General Austin S Miller is set to become the new commander of the NATO-led ‘Resolute Support’ mission and US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), replacing US Army General John W Nicholson, who has led the mission in the Central Asian country since March 2016. Gen Miller is set to take

IN A STATEMENT released via Telegram on 21 August, the Islamic State provided the purported names of the militants involved in a series of attacks in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on 20 August, adding further credence to the group's earlier claim of responsibility, BBC Monitoring

The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) has revealed defence contracting statistics for recent years, showing a significant increase on spending on US military equipment and also a continuing high dependency on local contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). A spokesperson from the MoD’s

MEDIA reports on 21 August, citing local sources, stated that two people, including a soldier, had been killed and two people had been wounded when a landmine, emplaced by unidentified militants, detonated targeting their vehicle near Lafoole University in Afgooye district in Somalia's Shabeellaha

Morocco’s Ministerial Council approved a draft law re-introducing compulsory military service on 20 August. The Ministry of Culture and Communication said Draft Law 44.18 stipulates that citizens aged between 19 and 25 will have to serve for 12 months unless they are exempted for physical or

Russia has unveiled a variant of the T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicle (HIFV) fitted with a 57 mm auto-cannon set in a remote turret at the Army 2018 exhibition being held in Kubinka, near Moscow, on 21-26 August. The cannon is most likely based on that used by the previous AU-220M combat

Near Samarra, Salah al-Din province, the Iraqi Security Forces killed a would-be suicide bomber and three other militants during a counter-terrorism operation.

Almaz-Antey and Kupol JSC have unveiled a multipurpose air-defence target training system at the Army International Military-Technical Forum being held in Kubinka near Moscow from 21 to 26 August. The 9F6021E Versatile Training Target System (VTTS) consists of four target types: missile air target

A Jordanian and a US pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed during a training mission in Texas on 22 August, the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) said in a statement. “A joint US-JAF investigative committee has been established to find the reasons behind the crash,” it said. It