China and Thailand agreed on 23 December to step up defence industrial collaboration as part of an increasingly close partnership.
In meetings in Beijing between Chinese premier Li Keqiang and Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the two leaders said they would look to enhance bilateral
China, Thailand agree to increase defence industrial links
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Brazil announces new defence minister
Brazilian president Dilma Vana Rousseff announced on 23 December that Jaques Wagner would replace the current minister of defence, Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, who has been in the post since August 2011. The choice of Wagner as defence minister comes after Rousseff was re-elected as president on 26
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BAE wins Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle programme contract
BAE Systems has been awarded a contract for the US Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) programme worth up to USD1.2 billion, the company announced on 24 December. The contract guarantees USD383 million for slightly more than four years of work to produce 29 vehicles, which could be followed
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UK reviews Falklands defence as Russia offers Su-24s to Argentina
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to conduct a review of its plans for the defence of the Falkland Islands following reports that Russia is to supply Argentina with Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer' strike aircraft, UK media reported on 28 December.
The review follows a report in the Daily Express newspaper
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Saudi Arabia offers surplus F-5s for sale
Saudi Arabia is looking to offload its remaining Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II combat aircraft, according to a solicitation posted online on 18 December.
The proposed sale, details of which were posted on the AvBuyer website, will see the Kingdom divest itself of 79 F-5 aircraft that it procured in the
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KC-46A test aircraft makes maiden flight
A KC-46A-provisioned Boeing 767-2C aircraft made its maiden flight from Paine Field in Washington on 28 December, the company announced.
The flight, which lasted 3 hours and 32 minutes, involved a 767-2C freighter that has been provisioned for (but not fitted with) the aerial-refuelling equipment
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USS Tortuga repaired after allision with buoy off coast of Virginia
A US Navy (USN) amphibious dock landing ship that struck a buoy off the US eastern coast has been repaired.
Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD-46) completed a month-long period of repairs after making contact with a buoy while en route to a scheduled anchorage off the coast of
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US ends Afghan combat mission, shifts to Operation 'Freedom's Sentinel'
The US military's mission in Afghanistan will officially change from Operation 'Enduring Freedom' to Operation 'Freedom's Sentinel' as US and NATO personnel officially begin an advise and assist role there, Department of Defense announced on 28 December.
"At the end of this year, as our Afghan
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Russian rearmament programme one third complete at halfway point
Russia's 10-year state rearmament programme has reached its halfway point but is only one third completed, the deputy chairman of the government's military industrial commission has conceded.
Oleg Bochkarev added in an interview with the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper on 26 December that the updated
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Japan, South Korea, US sign North Korean intel-sharing pact
Japan, South Korea, and the United States signed an agreement on 29 December to share classified information on North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.
Under the agreement, South Korea and Japan will pass information to the US Department of Defense (DoD), which will then classify it under
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Japan receives second AN/TPY-2 BMD radar
The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 29 December that it has deployed a second high-resolution, phased-array X-band AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defence (BMD) radar system to Japan.
The Kyogamisaki Communications Site radar will augment an existing system located at Japan Air Self-Defence
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Italian government selects new defence chief
The Italian government selected Lieutenant General Claudio Graziano as the new chief of defence in a cabinet meeting held on 24 December. Lt Gen Graziano, who is currently the chief of staff of the Italian Army, will be promoted to general when he takes his new position on 28 February.
A mountain
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Brazilian Army receives upgraded lightweight helicopters
Airbus Helicopters' Brazilian operation, Helibras, has delivered an initial four locally modernised HA-1 lightweight helicopters to the Brazilian Army Aviation Command.
The delivery was announced on 26 December by Helibras, but effectively took place around mid-December, a company spokeswoman told
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USS Fort Worth arrives in Singapore on 16-month Asia-Pacific deployment
Key Points
USS Fort Worth, the US Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship, arrived in Singapore's Changi Naval Base on 29 December for a 16-month deployment in the Asia-Pacific region
Fort Worth will trial a number of new concepts and capabilities, including a four-month crew rotation and a composite
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MoD to fly damaged Voyager back to UK for repairs
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the AirTanker consortium hope to return to the UK an Airbus A330-200 Voyager tanker-transport aircraft that was damaged in a recent parking incident in Canada, an MoD spokesperson told IHS Jane's on 29 December.
The incident, which occurred at St John's
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Islamic State releases interview with downed Jordanian pilot
The Islamic State has released an interview purportedly with the Jordanian F-16 pilot who was captured by the militant group in Syria on 24 December. Although the interview includes some details that the militants would have been unlikely to know, the claim that he was shot down remains dubious.
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Saudi Arabia reportedly blocks arms shipment from Pakistan to Nigeria
Saudi Arabia is refusing to allow cargo aircraft loaded with defence items to fly from Pakistan to Nigeria through its airspace, This Day reported on 29 December.
Citing unidentified intelligence sources, the Nigerian newspaper said Riyadh's decision to block the deliveries was linked to the US
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Indian parliamentary committee slams government for defence failures
Key Points
A parliamentary report has strongly criticised the Indian government for serial failures to equip and maintain the country's armed forces
The report says a culture of 'ad hocism' in planning and budgeting had led to modernisation failures that was putting India at risk
India's
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India and South Korea reaffirm defence equipment collaboration
South Korea and India have reaffirmed a commitment to collaborate in defence production, it was announced on 29 December.
A statement issued following the India-South Korea joint commission in Seoul said co-operation in defence equipment and technology holds "considerable possibilities".
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First serial-production Il-76MD-90A airlifter makes maiden flight
The first serial-production Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A (Il-476) strategic transport aircraft has made its maiden flight, the Aviastar-SP production facility announced on 30 December.
Aircraft 0104 flew for more than two hours at Aviastar-SP's Ulyanovsk aircraft factory, about 700 km east of Moscow.
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