Jane's Defense News

Key Points Russian corvettes pulled alongside a group of 46 multinational ships sailing as part of 'BALTOPS 2015' Two Su-24 jets also overflew the ships, but all of the incidents were characterised by 'BALTOPS' officials as non-aggressive Russian warships and aircraft have trailed and approached

SAIC reported its first quarter earnings for 2015 on 9 June, with revenue increasing by 4%, while operating income slumped by 3%. The company had USD1 billion in revenue for the quarter ending 1 May, compared with USD0.98 billion in 2014. Operating income was USD57 million compared with USD59

AN ALLEGED would-be suicide bomber - reported to be a 13-year-old boy - was detained by security forces in the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan's Kunduz province on 18 May, Pajhwok Afghan News reported. The suspect was allegedly planning to attack a military base in the area.

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Finmeccanica and Thales, is creating a new subsidiary to operate in Poland, the company announced on 8 June. The new group, Thales Alenia Space Polska, will be based in Warsaw with an aim to grow its parent company's footprint in Poland specifically in

Thales Optronique has revealed the first firm export order for its TALIOS long-range airborne targeting pod. The company declined to identify the customer or say how many pods have been ordered. The TALIOS pod - formerly known as the New-Generation Laser Designation Pod (Pod de Désignation

Turkey is to create a military base in Qatar, the official Turkish state gazette announced on 8 June. The move forms part of an agreement signed between Turkey and Qatar on co-operation in military training, defence industry, and the deployment of the Turkish Armed Forces in the territory of Qatar.

EVENT Unrest in the Tunisian town of Douz between protesters and police involving Molotov cocktails, stone throwing, and police use of tear gas started on 2 June and continued on 4 June. The unrest began after police arrested protesters who were heading to a sit-in outside the offices of Brinco

Nigeria's newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari appears to be on a collision course with the military after acknowledging that some of its actions have empowered the militant group known as Boko Haram. The group grew into a major force in northeast Nigeria after a crackdown in 2009 in

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has formally inducted two locally built cutters to enhance the service's maritime patrol capabilities, an official from the CGA's international affairs division confirmed on 8 June. The 3,000-tonne vessels, Yilan (CG 128) and Kaohsiung (CG 129), were

Key Points Antonov is seeking to establish links with Polish industry to improve its aircraft equipment and marketability. The negotiations come as Ukraine seeks to increase collaboration with Western companies to improve its technical capability and product quality. Ukrainian aircraft producer

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari met with Brazilian Minister of Defence Jaques Wagner in Brasilia on 2 June, mainly to seek Brazilian military support for Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State by exploring potential defence cooperation and procurement programmes. No further details of

Democrats and Republicans are heading towards a budget battle in the coming weeks, as the latter try to increase defence funding and the former try to initiate negotiations for increasing funding more broadly. ANALYSIS The Senate is in the process of considering amendments to the annual defence

THREE soldiers, six vigilantes, and dozens of Boko Haram militants were killed during armed clashes that broke out after militants attacked a military base on the outskirts of the city of Maiduguri in Nigeria's Borno state on 14 May, AFP reported. The attack was reported to have been commenced by

EVENT A Mai Mai militia group led by Kambale Malonga on 2 June attacked the airport in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), killing four members of the country's elite Republican Guard, which shares guard duty at the airport. A DRC government spokesperson

An expert advisory panel to oversee the competitive evaluation process that will assess the merits of the French, German, and Japanese contenders for Australia's Future Submarine programme was announced on 5 June by Defence Minister Kevin Andrews. Andrews said in a statement that the panel would

Officials from the Indian Navy have arrived in Perth, Australia, to hold discussions in preparation for the countries' first bilateral maritime exercise, the Australian Department of Defence has confirmed. The Indian Navy delegation includes the service's eastern naval commander, Vice Admiral

Bangladesh announced a fiscal year 2015-16 defence budget of BTD183.8 billion (USD2.3 billion) on 4 June. The figure represents a 3.5% rise over the revised military expenditure in 2014-15. The increase represents the slowest rate of growth since 2008-09 and will see military spending contract by

Chinese vehicle equipment manufacturer Qingdao Sunsong announced on 5 June that it had acquired US-based vehicle component manufacturer Harco Manufacturing. Details of the deal were not disclosed. Harco Manufacturing produces a range of components, such as fittings and brake hose assemblies, for

EVENT On 3 June, Al-Jazeera aired the second part of an interview with the leader of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Fateh Abu Muhammad al-Golani, (the first part was broadcast on 27 May). In the interview, al-Golani confirmed once again his group's affiliation to Al-Qaeda,

Egypt is planning to acquire new mobile surveillance systems to monitor its border with Libya under a US Foreign Military Sales programme worth an estimated USD100 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) revealed on 4 June. The DSCA said the proposed sale would include mobile