Jane's Defense News

US Army General Austin S Miller is set to become the new commander of the NATO-led ‘Resolute Support’ mission and US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), replacing US Army General John W Nicholson, who has led the mission in the Central Asian country since March 2016. Gen Miller is set to take

IN A STATEMENT released via Telegram on 21 August, the Islamic State provided the purported names of the militants involved in a series of attacks in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on 20 August, adding further credence to the group's earlier claim of responsibility, BBC Monitoring

The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) has revealed defence contracting statistics for recent years, showing a significant increase on spending on US military equipment and also a continuing high dependency on local contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). A spokesperson from the MoD’s

MEDIA reports on 21 August, citing local sources, stated that two people, including a soldier, had been killed and two people had been wounded when a landmine, emplaced by unidentified militants, detonated targeting their vehicle near Lafoole University in Afgooye district in Somalia's Shabeellaha

Morocco’s Ministerial Council approved a draft law re-introducing compulsory military service on 20 August. The Ministry of Culture and Communication said Draft Law 44.18 stipulates that citizens aged between 19 and 25 will have to serve for 12 months unless they are exempted for physical or

Russia has unveiled a variant of the T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicle (HIFV) fitted with a 57 mm auto-cannon set in a remote turret at the Army 2018 exhibition being held in Kubinka, near Moscow, on 21-26 August. The cannon is most likely based on that used by the previous AU-220M combat

Near Samarra, Salah al-Din province, the Iraqi Security Forces killed a would-be suicide bomber and three other militants during a counter-terrorism operation.

Almaz-Antey and Kupol JSC have unveiled a multipurpose air-defence target training system at the Army International Military-Technical Forum being held in Kubinka near Moscow from 21 to 26 August. The 9F6021E Versatile Training Target System (VTTS) consists of four target types: missile air target

A Jordanian and a US pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed during a training mission in Texas on 22 August, the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) said in a statement. “A joint US-JAF investigative committee has been established to find the reasons behind the crash,” it said. It

Key Points Raytheon is developing a man-portable land-based JPALS system The system would allow the US Air Force to land aircraft where it does not have bases Raytheon is developing a smaller, expeditionary, land-based version of its Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) for a

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on 22 August reforms to introduce greater levels of transparency in military procurement. The MND said the measures are intended to support the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative, which was announced by the MND recently and is aimed at

The Military-Industrial Company (VPK) is displaying the upgraded Tigr 4x4 armoured vehicle at the Army 2018 defence show in Kubinka, near Moscow, on 21-26 August. The upgrade is based on combat experience gained during operations in Syria. Designated the ASN 233115 Tigr-M SpN, the upgraded vehicle

Lockheed Martin has secured a USD480 million, sole source undefinitised contract from the US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for the rapid prototyping of the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). Officially published by the US Department of Defense (DoD) on 13 August, the ARRW contract

Poland’s Armament Inspectorate has launched a tender with revised requirements for the procurement of 4×4 multipurpose vehicles. Poland is seeking to purchase 859 soft-skin vehicles and 41 armoured variants in 2019–22. The contract includes an option for an additional 812

Event Six people were killed in Burkina Faso’s Est province when a police-escorted convoy returning from the Boungou gold mine was ambushed on 11 August. Four gendarmes and a civilian died in the attack; the lead vehicle exploded after driving over an improvised explosive device (IED)

An arms trade agreement signed in October 2010 by Russia and Benin has taken effect, the Interfax-AVN news agency reported on 15 August. The report did not identify the specific equipment that Benin is receiving, but quoted the agreement as saying that, “The Russian side has the right to

The arrival of the remaining 56 of 60 M109A5 155 mm self-propelled artillery systems granted by the US Government to the Brazilian Army as excess defense articles (EDA) in a letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) in January 2018 is expected to take place in December, the service told Jane’s .

The Chilean Navy’s Marine Corps has ordered a Mavic Pro four-engine, rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Chinese manufacturer DJI to address a security requirement following an open tender. The UAV, which has no infrared capacity but features good low-light performance, will be

Key Points China announces establishment of ‘key laboratory’ dedicated to developing blockchain technologies Move part of China’s increasing efforts to create a blockchain ecosystem to support sectors including defence China’s Ministry of Industry and Information

AT LEAST two people were killed and six others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED), emplaced by unidentified militants, detonated in the predominantly Shia Muslim Sadr City district of Iraq's capital Baghdad on 14 August, Reuters reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility