Jane's Defense News

Key Points A four-party militant coalition under the Northern Alliance - Burma (NAB) umbrella has placed substantial pressure on the Myanmar military since early March in a new offensive in Kokang, Shan State. The fighting has underscored the military's strategic weaknesses and gaps in its

Orbital ATK Armament Systems has confirmed that the ARTEC Boxer (8x8) infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to be supplied to Lithuania will be armed with its 30 mm MK44 dual-feed cannon. The company will deliver the first of 90 MK44 cannons in mid-2017 and these will be installed in Rafael Advanced

US president Donald Trump sent a supplemental request to Congress on 16 March, asking for an additional USD30 billion for the Pentagon for the current fiscal year over capped levels. There would be USD24.9 billion dedicated to increasing the base budget, while USD5.1 billion would go towards ongoing

The Portuguese Ministry of National Defence has authorised the Portuguese Air Force to acquire a number of single-engine, lightweight multi-purpose helicopters. The procurement, worth a maximum of EUR20.5 million (USD22 million) in line with the Portuguese Military Programming Law 2015-26, comes

The White House named six new nominations for jobs at the Pentagon on 16 March, including a new number two to serve as secretary of defense Jim Mattis' aid. Patrick Shanahan, a Boeing executive who has worked for both the commercial and defence side of the company, was nominated to serve as deputy

Indian group Reliance Infrastructure has said it will look to generate funds worth INR20 billion (USD305 million) to support expansion in the defence sector. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on 16 March, Reliance said the funds will be raised through a "qualified institutional

EVENT Malaysian police stated on Monday (13 March) that they had arrested seven people, five Filipinos and two Malaysians, for suspected involvement with the Islamic State. Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said most of the arrests were made during an operation in Sabah earlier in

The state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Naval University of Engineering have signed an agreement to collaborate on military technologies, CSIC has announced. The accord will focus on civil-military integration, the development of naval

Key Points With no credible impartial broker in Libya, the most likely outcome of the escalation in the oil crescent is further fighting. The poor performance of the LNA, and the loss of the terminals, has undermined Khalifa Haftar's political power, although his foreign backers are unlikely to

Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is to collaborate with local company Grollo Aerospace in the further development of the Evader autonomous supersonic aerial target system, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne announced on 10 March. Pyne said the collaboration would

Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) has completed the qualification of its extended-range 155 mm M2005 Velocity Enhanced Artillery Projectile (V-LAP) for an international client, the South African company announced on 9 March. Full-scale production is under way and the first production batch has been

Saab is positioning its Swordfish maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to meet a requirement in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) for a future air surveillance capability, the company has confirmed to Jane's . A Saab spokesperson said that the company has already briefed New Zealand procurement

Kenya Army units serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) used a Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to facilitate a successful intelligence-driven attack on the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen group in southern Somalia, according to a Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF)

Thales is working to defend security systems against cyber threats through the use of 'genetic behavioural algorithms', with the concept already deployed and being tested on a number of customers' networks. The company's genetic behavioural algorithm is designed to detect a cyber attack on a

Iranian and US reports have corroborated a successful test of Iran's new Hormuz-2 radar-guided anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) in early March. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on 9 March that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had carried out the test. "We fired the Hormuz-2

The military base that China is building in Djibouti will be completed "later this summer", General Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of the US military's Africa Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on 9 March. Noting the proximity of the Chinese base to the US military's Camp

The Brazilian Army has ordered additional RBS 70 man-portable very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) systems from Saab, the company announced on 6 March. Deliveries will take place throughout 2017 and 2018. The contract, worth SEK105.046 million (USD11.640 million), was placed on 1 March by the

Brazilian aerospace and defence manufacturer Embraer published its financial results for 2016 on 9 March, showing growth in revenue and profit. Sales exceeded USD6.2 billion, a rise of 4.9% from 2015. Net income, adjusted to take account of non-recurring items, expanded 6.8% to USD290.5 million.

Meeting in Brussels on 9 March, EU leaders said that they want the decisions of their previous December 2016 summit about the EU's external security and defence "set in motion and reinforced". "In the present international environment, Europe must do more … including by

The European Union (EU) should directly fund the European Defence Agency (EDA) and any arrangement for a permanent structured co-operation (PESCO) in defence by a core group of EU countries, say members of European Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Constitutional committees. In a joint resolution on