Jane's Defense News

Americas Argentina WATCH FOR: Protests by Argentine shipyard workers in La Plata on 31 August Risk analysis: Workers at the Rio Santiago shipyard in Buenos Aires province, represented by the ATE Ensenada labour union, have called for protests and roadblocks in the provincial capital, La Plata, on

FOUR police officers were killed when unidentified militants opened fire on an escort party in the village of Arhama in Shopian district in India's Jammu and Kashmir state on 29 August, the Times of India reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The destroyer USS Jason Dunham seized a large arms shipment from a skiff in the Gulf of Aden on 28 August, the US 5th Fleet announced two days later. Jason Dunham located a dhow transferring covered packages to a skiff on 27 August and conducted a flag-verification boarding of the latter in

Boeing has been awarded a large-scale programme to develop and build the first unmanned aircraft for carrier air wings, besting rival bids from General Atomics and Lockheed Martin. The US Navy (USN) awarded Boeing a fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract on 30 August with a ceiling price of

The US Navy (USN) is working towards developing common unmanned surface platforms that could provide the service with augmented weapon-launching potential and logistics, as well as traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), Rear Admiral Ronald Boxall, USN Surface Warfare

The US Navy (USN) has set out top-level requirements for a non-lethal high-power microwave (HPM) weapon capable of disabling small high-speed craft powered by outboard engines. Being led by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), the effort is intended to result in the design

Americas Brazil – 30 August 2018: In Rio de Janeiro, the police said that there were 731 cargo theft incidents in July 2018, a 19% reduction compared with the same month in 2017. Ecuador – 30 August 2018: In Quito, the FUT national workers’ federation held a protest to oppose the

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 22 August that it had signed a contract for 59 Taifun 4×4 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles at the Army 2018 defence show in Kubinka near Moscow. The vehicles, the variant of which was not disclosed, will be delivered up to the

The Indian Navy’s (IN’s) sole aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya , is to be equipped with new marine hydraulic systems used by its combat air wing, officials said. IN officers told Jane’s on 23 August that installation supervision of the new systems used by helicopters and

Event On 22 August 2018, the Islamic State released a 55-minute audio message featuring Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first message issued by the group’s emir since September 2017. Baghdadi’s message, entitled “Give glad tidings to the patient”, mentioned the current Eid

Japan is seeking to strengthen its maritime security co-operation with Sri Lanka, according to a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on 21 August. The statement was released following a meeting held that same day between Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Itsunori

Northrop Grumman Armament Systems Division (NG-ASD) has outlined ongoing efforts to advance kinetic kill counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) capabilities and develop a family of networked systems to address unmanned air, land, and maritime threats. Jay Annis, portfolio director at NG-ASD told

The British government should be “extremely wary” of Russia’s military intentions in the Arctic and re-establish Cold War-type capabilities to counter emerging threats in the region, according to an influential parliamentary committee. In a report entitled ‘On Thin Ice: UK

The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) released a video on 21 August showing what it said were its F-16 fighters being refuelled by a US-led coalition tanker during a strike mission against Islamic State targets in Syria a week earlier. The footage showed an unarmed IqAF F-16D linking up with the

Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that US Forces Japan (USFJ) will deploy five Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey special mission tiltrotor aircraft to Yokota Air Base on 1 October as part of plans to station a total of 10 such platforms at the base by 2024. The MoD said on 22 August that

Russia for the first time publicly unveiled a serial production example of the Sosna short-range air-defence (SHORAD) system mounted on the MTLB chassis at the Army 2018 exhibition being held in Kubinka, near Moscow, on 21-26 August. The Sosna is a point defence turret developed by Nudelmann Design

The Russian armed forces will replace the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher (MRL) with the 9K51M Tornado-G, a military source told Jane's at the Army 2018 defence show being held close to Moscow on 21-26 August. “The Western Military District and the Southern Military District [SMD] have

The TsNIITochMash design bureau, a Rostec subsidiary, unveiled its new exoskeleton during the Army 2018 show held near Moscow on 21–26 August, saying it has been tested in a combat environment. The exoskeleton is made of lightweight carbon fibre and has a weight varying between 4 and 8 kg,

Key Points Four high-level FARC members have been absent from public view, with reports that several have fled to Venezuela. The disappearances coincide with rising legal uncertainty for high-ranking members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) resulting from President

Key Points If the referendum’s minimum turnout threshold is not reached, the government is likely to proceed with parliamentary ratification of the measure, seeking opposition support in exchange for the promise of early parliamentary elections, probably by mid-2019; this is likely to slow