Jane's Defense News

The Indian Army (IA) will soon begin retiring its ageing fleet of licence-built Chetak (Aerospatiale SA 316B Alouette III) and Cheetah (Aerospatiale SA 315B Lama) light utility helicopters (LUHs) following a series of recent accidents. An IA official told IHS Jane's on condition of anonymity that

US president-elect threatens to restructure intelligence agencies United States president-elect Donald Trump is planning to restructure the country's intelligence community (IC) when he comes into office, The Wall Street Journal reported on 5 January. The report came after Trump had engaged in a

Key Points The government will be forced to meet mutineers' demands, but their basic loyalty to the president means the risk of a return to generalised civil conflict is minimal. Militant soldiers, particularly recent recruits from former northern rebels, will continue to make demands that

Japan and France have strengthened defence links, agreeing to start talks on sharing supplies and the co-development of military equipment. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on 8 January that the agreements were reached during talks in Paris between France's defence and foreign

The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing a system of sensors that could shorten the time it takes for a ship's network administrator to identify anomalies, determine the cause of a problem, and fix the issue. The Integrated Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Tactical Resiliency Risk

Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez, through an official Presidential Resolution, has finalised the controversial purchase of an aircraft to serve as VIP transport as well as for medical evacuation and navigation aid calibration. The aircraft, an HS 125-700A built in 1979, was purchased for USD1

Army Research Laboratory engineers flight tested a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was largely assembled with 3-D printed parts, as the service is seeking ways to quickly create on-demand systems to meet soldier's needs. The demonstration was held in December as part of the Army

Key Points USN, USAF to add new EO/IR systems to MMA and AC130-J fleets L3 Webcam gets first MX sale in Thailand L3 WESCAM announced it has received several defence contracts valued at more than USD90 million for a range of airborne and maritime domain MX-series electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR)

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired its Agni 4 and Agni 5 nuclear-capable ballistic missiles from the Integrated Test Range on Abdul Kalam Island off the country's east coast. An Agni 4 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was tested to a

Turkey's military is on track to receive its first serially-produced Anka unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) this year, a well-informed Turkish defence industry source told IHS Jane's . Known as Anka-S, the production standard UAVs are fitted with additional capabilities above and beyond those of the

Key Points Testing of a laser weapon prototype will start in 2019 The United Kingdom could begin to deploy laser weapons on the front line from the mid-2020s The UK armed forces could deploy high-energy laser (HEL) weapons within a decade if an MBDA-led prototype programme yields positive

Key Points The USN's plan for a 308-ship fleet requires spending about one-third more annually than the service has for several decades, according to the CBO A 350-ship navy proposed by the Trump administration could cost around USD25 billion per year The US Navy's (USN's) 2017 shipbuilding plan

An Angolan Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft is being refurbished at the Belotserkovsky Cargo Aircraft Complex (BVAK) in Bila Tserkva, central Ukraine, to extend its operational life, the company announced on 26 December. It released photographs and a video showing an Angolan Il-76TD,

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced in his New Year's Day address that his country will continue to enhance its military capabilities, including the development of nuclear weapons. "We will continue to build up our self-defence capability, the pivot of which is the nuclear forces, and

Rheinmetall and Steyr Mannlicher have partnered to offer the RS556 assault rifle in 5.56 x 45 mm to the Bundeswehr as a potential replacement for the service's G36 standard issue rifle. The RS556 (RS stands for Rheinmetall Steyr in 5.56 mm calibre) is a derivative of the AR-15 and a variant of

Bangladesh's Khulna Shipyard (KSY) launched the first of two locally built, Chinese-designed large patrol craft (LPC) on order for the Bangladesh Navy (BN) on 29 December 2016. Named Durgam (with pennant number P 814), the LPC is identical to the two Chinese-built 64.2 m-long Durjoy-class LPCs that

Curtiss-Wright announced on 4 January that it had completed the acquisition of data acquisition and flight test equipment firm Teletronics Technology Corporation. The acquisition was first announced in early December, and was valued at USD233 million.

Raytheon will provide new mission computers for the US Air Force's fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, which will more than double the processing capability and increase the memory of the legacy mission computers. Based on commercial technology, Raytheon's Modular Mission

Mauritania and Saudi Arabia signed a defence co-operation agreement that 'cements' relations between the two countries on 4 January. The Mauritanian Information Agency (AMI) reported that the agreement covers military training, the exchange of secure information, logistical support, visits by each

The US military will resume aerial refuelling exercises from 6 January for Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotors stationed in Japan's southern Okinawa Prefecture, according to a 5 January statement issued by Japan's Ministry of Defense (MoD). The MoD said the United States had taken measures to