Jane's Defense News

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) revealed on 25 August that it has ordered an additional 21 CM-34 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to add to the 284...

Rostec’s Kalashnikov Group unveiled the prototype of its new Spetsialnoye Korpusnoye Kolesnoye Shassi-568 (SKKSh-568) wheeled chassis for surface-to-air missile (SAM)...

The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) released the first imagery from the new Ofek 16 satellite on 25 August.

Russia’s Almaz-Antey Corporation unveiled the new 51P6E2 10×10 mobile surface-to-air missile launch platform for the 98R6E Abakan non-strategic ballistic missile defence...

Argentine state aircraft factory FAdeA has resumed its IA-100B basic trainer programme with the signing on 24 August of an agreement with the Financial Aid Institute of...

The Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a EUR2.08 billion (USD2.46 billion) contract with national consortium Tess Defence to build the first tranche of 348...

On 24 August, co-ordinated twin suicide improvised explosive device (IED) attacks took place on the island of Jolo in the Philippines’ Sulu province, killing at least...

Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has published a notice inviting foreign companies to engage with its project to develop next-generation fighter aircraft.

The Turkish armed forces’ ‘Claw Eagle’ and ‘Claw Tiger’ operations began in June 2020 and are the culmination of a gradual intensification of Turkish air activity...

South African media has reported that the sale of Umkhonto surface-to-air missiles by Denel Dynamics has fallen through after the company failed to raise the required...

An unspecified “safety incident” at Armtec Defense Technologies has forced the business to temporarily halt production at one of its facilities, according to officials...

A computer-generated visualisation of the Arafura class, which is being built under Australia’s Sea 1180 Phase 1 programme. (Lürssen Australia/ASC)

Australia is equipping its future Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) with inertial navigation systems and gyrocompasses from French sensors company, iXblue.

The systems are based on fibre-optic gyroscope technology, said the company in a statement on 25 August.

“...iXblue’s inertial navigation systems will provide the 12 new Arafura Class vessels with highly accurate and reliable navigation capabilities in all environments, including within GNSS [global navigation satellite system]-denied operational areas”, it added.

However, the company has stopped short of revealing further details on the systems that it would be supplying for the OPVs. iXblue has a range of four series of inertial navigation and gyrocompass products, one of which has been described as one with “military strategic grade”.

The product, which is referred to by the company as the Marins Series, features stealth autonomous navigation capabilities, and can be integrated with major combat managements systems on the market today.

Australia’s Arafura-class OPVs were procured under the country’s SEA1180 Phase 1 programme, which seeks to replace the Armidale- and Cape-class patrol boats. An AUD3.6 billion (USD2.6 billion) contract for the new OPVs was signed in late January 2018 with German shipbuilder Lürssen.

The OPV has a standard displacement of 1,640 tonnes, an overall length of 80 m, an overall beam of 13 m, and a hull draught of 4 m. It has a crew complement of 40 and can offer accommodation for up to 60 personnel.

Construction work on the first and second ships began in November 2018 and June 2019 respectively at Osborne Naval Shipyard, while construction work on the third ship in the programme began in March 2020 at the Civmec shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.

The US Air Force (USAF) is modernising its fleet of Lockheed LC-130H Hercules ‘Skibird’ aircraft as the service leadership expects to see increasing demand for the...

The three nations so far signed up to partner on the Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI) have begun industrial discussions on developing a...

Chinese state-owned media has released images of what it described as an “integrated protection system” in service with a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket...

The US Army is poised to begin field tests on a new suite of satellite communication (satcom) equipment for the service’s Expeditionary Signals Battalion-Enhanced...

The Turkish Navy’s first dedicated intelligence-gathering ship has started sea acceptance tests. Ufuk (A 591) was observed sailing in the Gulf of Izmit on 18 July.

The US Army has awarded BAE Systems with a USD32.3 million contract to refit two A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with hybrid electric drives (HEDs) in a bid to...

The US Air Force (USAF) has issued a request for information (RFI) to chart a course for future capability upgrades to its fleet of Boeing F-15 Eagle-series combat...

After four grueling days of talks in Brussels to revive Europe’s ailing economy, EU leaders agreed on 21 July to steep cuts to the future European Defence Fund (EDF) and...