Jane's Defense News

Turkey has begun work on its first long-range regional air and missile defence system, named Siper (bulwark or shield), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on 31 October. The project involves the state-owned Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Board (Tübitak) Defence

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on 1 November that Turkish and US troops had begun combined patrols around the northern Syrian city of Manbij. Meanwhile, the Turkish military shelled positions of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a US-allied force, further to the east in

Key Points Australia has completed further trials of the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter on board its first Canberra-class vessel Aircraft will provide the amphibious assault ship with forward scouting, strike capabilities The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has inched closer towards fully

The Czech Army has unveiled a prototype of a new mobile electronic intelligence (ELINT) system called the (Direction Finding and Measuring Radar Searcher SRTP). The fully passive system, developed by military research institute VVÚ Brno, provides broadband seeking, detection, and

General Dynamics has launched its updated Bluefin family of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), with the Bluefin-9 being the first product in the refreshed line-up. The Bluefin-9 is 2.41 m long, 238 mm in diameter, 264 mm wide, and 264 mm high. It has a dry weight of 70 kg. The UUV has a stated

India and Indonesia have pinpointed areas of potential defence industrial collaboration as part of their deepening defence partnerships, a statement by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on 23 October. The statement did not elaborate but said the two countries had also agreed to establish a

Key Points Papua New Guinea has decommissioned its first Pacific-class patrol boat The retirement paves the way for delivery of the country’s first Guardian-class patrol vessel The Papua New Guinea Defence Force’s (PNGDF) Maritime Element has decommissioned its first Pacific-class

Key Points China has begun construction work on Malaysia’s second Littoral Mission Ship The Royal Malaysian Navy is on track to receive the programme’s first-of-class by 2019 Chinese state-owned company Wuchang Shipbuilding has laid down the first Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) on order

The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has announced that it is looking to sell off its shipbuilding business as part of its continuing restructuring. The state-owned group said on 22 October through its Hong Kong-listed international trading company, AVIC International Holdings, that it

French engineering group CNIM has upgraded the shore-to-shore variant of its L-CAT fast amphibious landing catamaran to provide increased speed performance for amphibious operations. A low-speed version was first launched in 2016 with a maximum speed in light ship conditions of 22 kt. The upgraded

The Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN) Type A19 submarine HSwMS Gotland has begun sea trials after completing an extensive mid-life upgrade (MLU) at Saab Kockums’ Karlskrona shipyard. Gotland is the first of two RSwN Type A19 Gotland-class submarines receiving the MLU embodiment, which is designed to

Lockheed Martin is examining a different propulsion system layout for its US Navy (USN) guided-missile frigate (FFG(X)) offering, which is based on the company’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the contractor said on 23 October during a media briefing at Euronaval in Paris. The

Lockheed Martin will deliver the ninth and final MH-60R Seahawk multirole maritime helicopter to Denmark in December. Denmark ordered nine MH-60Rs for USD686 million under a US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement in 2012 as replacements for the Royal Danish Air Force’s (RDAF’s) eight

The Indian Navy (IN) began sea trials of INS Vikramaditya (ex- Admiral Gorshkov ), its sole 44,750 tonne refurbished Kiev-class carrier on 23 October, following completion of its second refit after joining service in 2014. The INR7.05 billion (USD96 billion) five-month long retrofit executed by

The Netherlands’ Defence Material Organisation (DMO) has contracted Thales for the supply of new Mode 5/S identification friend-or-foe (IFF) systems for retrofit to the six M-class frigates serving in the navies of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal. As well as the supply of the IFF

Northrop Grumman is pursuing the development of a surface-launched stand-off derivative of the AGM-88E Block 1 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) to address, in the first instance, US Army long-range precision fire requirements. Designed to engage traditional and advanced land and

French engineering group CNIM has developed a new landing craft assault (LCA) vessel for amphibious operations. The LCA concept, launched at Euronaval 2018 in Paris, has been designed to transfer equipment and ground forces ashore efficiently from a mothership. “It is a modern version of a

Thales has begun systems integration activities for the drone-based French/UK Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) programme ahead of beginning full contractor trials in 2019. Being jointly funded by the two partner nations, the MMCM programme covers the design, development, integration, and

South Africa’s Milkor has developed a new protected vehicle, the Milkor 4×4, using internal research and development funding. Development began in 2017 and the first prototype was rolled out in August 2018. The vehicle is now undergoing company trials before the design is finalised,

The Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) is increasing ammunition stocks by 2033, State Secretary for Defence Barbara Visser informed parliament on 22 October. She said an extra EUR250 million (USD287 million) to EUR1 billion would be spent on ammunition ranging from bullets and grenades to high-tech