Jane's Defense News

Key Points A variant of Denmark’s Iver Huitfeldt class has emerged as a front-runner in Indonesia’s USD720 million two-frigate acquisition programme Development follows a defence industry co-operation agreement signed between Denmark’s Odense Maritime Technology, and the

The UK is forming a specialised Gurkha battalion, Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster announced on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) website on 11 March. Recruitment for the 3rd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles begins in 2019, the MoD said. The UK’s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will begin receiving the first of five Russian-made Almaz-Antei S-400 Triumf self-propelled surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems from October 2020, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told parliament on 2 January. Delivery of the four remaining systems will be

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is considering the acquisition of fellow unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer Aeronautics, it has been revealed. In a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) notification, Aeronautics claimed that IAI is in talks regarding the buy, adding in a separate notification

The US Defense Department officially reaffirmed its support for a US Navy (USN) plan to buy the service’s next two Ford-class aircraft carriers under a single contract on 31 December, sending over details of the plan to Congress on New Year’s Eve. Lawmakers have publicly supported the

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) is set to procure the YeSU TZ (Yedinaya Sistema Upravleniya Takticheskogo Zvena) battlefield management system, Deputy Defence Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said on 22 December during a visit to the Voronezh-based Sozvezdiye Concern, which is a subsidiary of

A team of engineers at the University of Delaware has built and demonstrated a real-time mobile video camera that sees the environment through radio frequency (RF) waves as opposed to optical or infrared (IR) waves. In early demonstrations, the device has shown that using high-frequency waves

On 28 December an extensively upgraded Tupolev Tu-22M3 ‘Backfire-C’ supersonic long-range strategic bomber, now designated the Tu-22M3M, made its maiden flight at an airbase belonging to the Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant (KAZ). According to the press office of Russia’s United

Firing tests with Çafrad, a multi-functional phased-array radar built indigenously by Turkish firm Aselsan, were carried out successfully in late December the company has stated. Çafrad was tested on board the frigate TCG Göksu (F 497), where it was integrated with a Raytheon

Key Points The USAF is adding US Navy and UK RAF participants to its next Pilot Training Next (PTN) class PTN is the USAF’s effort to decrease the time and cost of pilot training without sacrificing the depth of learning The US Air Force (USAF) is adding both US Navy (USN) and UK Royal Air

An Antonov An-26 transport aircraft belonging to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) crashed on 24 December after overshooting the runway at Beni Airport in North Kivu province, local media reported. The aircraft was reportedly transporting troops from Kisangani to Beni

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is considering the acquisition of fellow unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer Aeronautics, it has been revealed. In a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) notification, Aeronautics claimed that IAI is in talks regarding the buy, adding in a separate notification

Israel’s BIRD Aerosystems announced on 19 December 2018 that it had won a substantial contract with a new African military client for the provision of airborne surveillance, information, and observation (ASIO) aircraft. The company said the contract covers a “turnkey programme”

Following its launch in July 2018, the first students undertaking courses via the UK’s Defence Enterprise Export Programme (DEEP) have begun their studies at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire. DEEP was introduced by the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) to help individuals advance their

The Colombian Navy is set to receive two recently purchased Airbus AS365N3 Dauphin helicopters. The Dauphins have already been assembled at Guaymaral civil airport in Bogotá, painted in Colombian colours with serial numbers ARC 251 and 252, and are expected to be delivered on 7 January to the

Following its launch in July 2018, the first students undertaking courses via the UK’s Defence Enterprise Export Programme (DEEP) have begun their studies at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire. DEEP was introduced by the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) to help individuals advance their

The first Russian-made T-90S main battle tanks (MBTs) ordered by Vietnam in 2016 have arrived in the Southeast Asian country, and are expected to be delivered to the army in the next few days, a Vietnamese military source told Jane’s on 2 January. “The first batch of T-90S MBTs –

Germany’s GIWS, a joint venture company between Diehl Defence and Rheinmetall Weapons and Munitions, has confirmed that qualification of its relaunched SMArt 155 artillery projectile will be undertaken between 2022 and 2024. Qualification is to be followed by a Phase 4 production programme

Event On 1 January 2019, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un gave his annual New Year’s Address. The 30-minute speech focussed primarily on the economy, framing development and reforms as “socialist” and in keeping with North Korea’s “Juche” ideology of

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced in his New Year’s Day address that he is committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and willing to meet again with US President Donald Trump, but warned that Pyongyang “might be compelled to explore a new path” if Washington