Jane's Defense News

The UK Ministry of Defence has opened a competition to find a new in-field temporary fortification for small groups of dismounted soldiers. This will focus on protection from ballistic threats, directed energy, blast, and fragmentation caused by weapons such as small arms, grenades, mortars and

National armaments directors and heads of capability development and defence research and technology (R&T) from across the European Union will in September-October examine the results of the six-month trial Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) completed by the European Defence Agency

Key Points Saudi tankers have belatedly conformed with the suspension of oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandab strait. Three tankers that have clustered off Oman could be convoyed through the strait. Three Saudi very large crude carrier (VLCC) tankers that were heading towards the Red Sea have

Key Points A USAF officer wants to leverage new space capabilities to improve equipment mobility The goal is to decrease the time and cost of moving Pentagon equipment around the world The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) top mobility officer is seeking ideas from industry on how to best use

The US Navy (USN) is looking to find the right mix of quantity and quality with its guided-missile destroyer DDG 51 Flight III, which will include the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defence Radar (AMDR), Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Michael Petters said. “The navy came to this

The Uruguay Defence Ministry recently approved several acquisitions and transfers to reinforce and recover at least some of the degraded capabilities of the country’s navy, focusing mostly on aerial search, rescue, and general patrol missions. The Navy Aviation branch will be reinforced with

The US Coast Guard (USCG) is holding off on commitment to a specific plan to deploy National Security Cutters to the Western Pacific as the new USCG and regional US commanders discuss the best way to employ naval resources to the region. Admiral Karl Schultz, the USCG commandant, and Admiral Philip

Airbus Group released details of its financial performance in the first half of the year on 26 July, revealing sales of EUR24,970 million (USD29,037 million), down slightly from EUR25,175 million in the first half of 2017. Although the company’s adjusted measure of earnings before interest and

The second of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers (AWDs) was officially handed over to the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) on 27 July. Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, who attended the acceptance ceremony of NUSHIP Brisbane

The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is pursuing a solar-electric, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development programme called Qi Mingxing (Venus), Chinese aviation news portal CAN News reported in late July. According to the report, AVIC’s First Aircraft Institute

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has signed an agreement with the China Development Bank (CDB) to support a range of initiatives related to industrial modernisation and defence research and development. In a press release on 24 July CASIC said that its financial

The Colombian Navy (Armada de la República de Colombia: ARC) commissioned the amphibious landing vessel ARC Bahía Colombia (244) during a ceremony in Cartagena on 23 July. The ship is a rapid-reaction unit variant and features a Sormec crane, two 90 kW emergency power generators, and a

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected teams from academia and commercial industry to explore flexible computer architectures that can exploit specialised hardware to quickly and efficiently solve a range of computing problems. These selected teams have also been

India’s indigenously designed classified missile tracking and ocean surveillance ship (OSS) is undergoing harbour trials at Vishakhapatnam on the country’s east coast, ahead of starting sea trials by the end of the year, security sources told Jane’s. Thereafter, the 15,000-tonne

Key Points Indonesia has installed Chinese-made fire-control, search radars on two of its KCR-60M fast attack craft Equipment provides vessels with a more potent defence against hostile aircraft and precision-guided munitions In line with the installation of Type 630 30 mm close-in weapon system

Key Points An attempt by the National Oil Company (NOC) of Libya in Benghazi to issue its own contracts for the sale of oil would raise the likelihood of legal disputes over Libyan energy contracts and associated payments and receipts, and would likely pave the way for future litigation over

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on 25 July that it had reactivated and upgraded 10 Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft. Iranian media outlets reported that IRGC commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari and IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh had

Key Points Marsun has launched another five M21-class patrol boats for the Royal Thai Navy The service is now anticipating delivery of 10 vessels in the class Thai shipbuilder Marsun Company Limited has launched another five M21-class patrol boats for the Royal Thai Navy (RTN). The vessels,

Key Points IHS Markit expects a smooth transition of power to the PTI and its eventual coalition, with a federal cabinet being formed in August 2018. A PTI-led government’s policy platform is likely to centre on governance reforms, countering corruption (particularly at the local level), and

US missile and defence electronics supplier Raytheon published its second-quarter results on 26 July, reporting strong growth in sales and earnings. The company’s revenues were up 5.5% compared with the same period in 2017, reaching USD6.62 billion. Year-on-year income growth was far stronger,