Jane's Defense News

Key Points Organised crime and corruption continue to represent one of the biggest challenges for foreign investors in Bulgaria and Romania. Bulgaria is lagging significantly behind Romania in terms of tackling corruption and limiting financial and political leverage for criminal groups. While

France will hand over the FREMM (Frégate Européenne Multi-Missions) frigate Normandie (D651) to the Egyptian Navy on 23 June at the company's shipyard in Lorient, Western France. The ship will retain its pennant number, although despite reports suggesting it will be re-named Al-Cairo ,

Airbus Defence and Space has delivered the sixth and final A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to Saudi Arabia, IHS Jane's was told by a company official at the Paris Air Show on 18 June. This is the third aircraft in a second batch of three MRTTs ordered by the kingdom in 2009. The previous

Significance The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan released a document on social media condemning the Islamic State and criticising the policies of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Implications This public denunciation indicates a growing presence of Islamic State affiliates in Afghanistan,

The Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, TNI-AL) is reviving an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aviation squadron that was last operational in the 1970s, the service's chief of staff, Admiral Ade Supandi, has said. The formation, known as Skuadron Udara 100, will provide

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) has handed over to the US Navy (USN) a third Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) - the first MLP to be configured as an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB). Lewis B Puller (MLP 3/AFSB 1) was delivered earlier in June at NASSCO's San Diego,

Georgia signed a contract with ThalesRaytheonSystems at the Paris Air Show that would be "key to its defence capabilities", the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced. Although no information was released about the content or value of the contract, it is believed to ultimately be

EVENT Senior jihadist commander Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi was wounded in fighting between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militants and Al-Murabitoun militants near the city of Gao in Mali's Gao region on 14 June, according a report by Algerian newspaper El Watan on 17 June, citing unnamed

HARAKAT al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen militants attacked a political conference in the town of Abado in Somalia's Galguduud region on 17 June, Reuters reported. A suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) was detonated at the gates before three militants attempted to storm the building.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued a statement on 17 June outlining the facilities to be built on the new islands in the South China Sea. The NDRC repeats recent statements that the islands in the Spratlys are being created "for the protection of Nansha [China's

A MAN, who had been kidnapped by suspected Lord's Revolutionary Army (LRA) militants in 2014, managed to escape from their captivity in the area of Bangana in Central African Republic's Haute-Kotto province on 26 May, LRA Crisis Tracker reported. Information provided by the LRA Crisis Tracker cannot

EVENT Fighting in western Libya has diminished in intensity in recent weeks, as local councils and tribal elders implement a series of bilateral peace accords. Leaders from Misratah, Sabratha, and Zliten agreed to cease fighting as of 16 June. Other notable deals include a peace agreement between

The US Navy (USN) has taken its first step on the road to acquiring a non-developmental over-the-horizon (OTH) weapon system to meet the requirements of its Frigate (FF) modified Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme. Releasing a request for information (RfI) to industry on 15 June 2015, the Naval

Northrop Grumman is making further efforts to enhance collaboration with Australian suppliers in a bid to expand its footprint in the national defence market. The US corporation said on 17 June that it has recently held a series of meetings in Washington with Australian defence industry suppliers

At least 38 civilians were killed in attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants targeting the villages of Lamana and Ungumawo in the Gueskerou area of Niger's Diffa region, close to the border with Nigeria, late on 17 June. According to local officials cited by Reuters, the attackers drove into the

The Algerian newspaper El Watan , citing unnamed security officials, reported on 17 June that a senior commander of jihadist group Jamaat Tawhid wal-Jihad fi Gharb Afriqa (better known by its French acronym MUJAO), Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi (alias Abu Walid Sahraoui), had been wounded in armed clashes

Spain has now lifted a suspension on flights by production models of the Airbus A400M transport that was introduced on 11 May. The grounding was ordered by the Defence Airworthiness Authority, the Directorate-General of Armament and Equipment (DGAM) at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) two days after

Unidentified militants opened fire on the governor of the Gerishk district of Afghanistan's Helmand province during an attack in the district on 17 June, killing two of the governor's bodyguards but leaving him unharmed, the BBC reported. No immediate claim of responsibility was made.

The US Army has taken another step towards buying a new XM17 Modular Handgun System (MHS), and announced on 17 June that a draft solicitation was released to industry. Programme specifications have continued to evolve - the army is hosting its fourth industry day on 7-8 July to evolve them further

The German Navy has formally qualified the Saab Dynamics/Diehl Defence RBS15 Mk 3 anti-ship missile following a successful operational flight test off the coast of Sweden. Performed from the K130 corvette Magdeburg on 28 April 2015, the end-to-end test - undertaken on the Swedish Defence Materiel