The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plans to retire 190 fighter aircraft by 2020, according to comments attributed to an unnamed senior Pakistani defence official quoted in Pakistan's well-respected Dawn newspaper on 15 March. "We do need to retire 190 planes by 2020. And we are already looking for
PAF's plans to retire 190 fighters by 2020 prompt talk of replacements
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NATO deploys second AWACS aircraft to Turkey
NATO has deployed a second Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to Turkey under ongoing reassurance measures recently agreed by the alliance, it was announced on 16 March.
The aircraft deployed from its homebase at Geilenkirchen in Germany to Konya to provide a Recognised
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Islamic State claims Iraqi Cessna shoot-down
Islamic State claimed its fighters downed an Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) Cessna 208B Grand Caravan in the Al-Hawijah in Al-Tamim province on 16 March.
One of the group's media organisations released a video showing the aircraft crashing, as well as the resulting wreckage and the remains of its crew on
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IAF's depleting assets preclude two-front war option
Key Points
IAF leaders are increasingly concerned by the atrophying of their fighter force
India's strategic precept of being able to fight a two-front war is being fatally undermined
The Indian Air Force (IAF) sounded an alarm on 10 March by declaring that its rapidly depleting fighter inventory
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HAL and Pawan Hans to form helicopter MRO joint venture
Indian aerospace group Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Pawan Hans, a domestic helicopter service company, have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services (MRO) for military and commercial helicopters.
HAL said in a press
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Finmeccanica to rebrand as Leonardo as profits recover
Finmeccanica released its most positive set of financial statements in several years on 16 March, describing its 2015 annual results as "a turning point … in terms of strategy and organisation, operating performance, and cash flow". As part of its attempts to mark a break with years
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Thales completes acquisition of Vormetric
Thales has completed its acquisition of California-based data security specialist Vormetric, the company announced on 17 March. The deal, worth EUR375 million (USD417 million), extends Thales's existing 'e-security' offerings, which mainly focus on hardware security modules, into data at rest
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Pentagon, Congress seek to reform 'Goldwater-Nichols' defence structures
The US Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress are exploring potential updates to a 30-year-old legislation that fundamentally changed how the US military's top chains of command were structured, a scheme some now believe is outdated.
Among many other things, the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department
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Kongsberg to acquire 49.9% stake in Patria
Norwegian defence manufacturer Kongsberg Gruppen announced on 17 March that it is to acquire a 49.9% stake in armoured vehicle producer Patria Oyj from the Finnish state.
Kongsberg, itself 50% controlled by the Norwegian Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, is pursuing investment in the
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Afghan forces still struggling to implement 'just-in-time' logistics
Despite NATO and Afghan officials claiming that "world-class" procurement processes had saved the Afghan defence and interior ministries more than USD1.4 billion in 2015, the logistics operations of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) still face fundamental challenges.
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Ukraine's new military doctrine officially declares Russia principal threat
Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, finally made it official on 16 March that Ukraine's military and national security policy now regards Russia as the most pressing threat to the former Soviet republic.
The policy is based on Russia now being in the category of presenting the most pre-imminent
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Saudi-led coalition says scaling down operations in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition is to scale down its military campaign in Yemen, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, the spokesman for the coalition, told the AP on 17 March.
On the same day, Saudi TV channel al-Arabiya quoted Brig Gen Ahmed Asiri as saying that "the major fighting in Yemen is at an end
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Russian fighters continue to flow into east Ukraine, US official states
Large numbers of personnel continue to flow into east Ukraine from Russia, according to the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States' mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
In an address to the OSCE in Vienna on 17 March, the wording of which was obtained by
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Putin reveals units deployed to Syria
President Vladimir Putin confirmed on 17 March that Russian special forces, artillery, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) units have been operating in Syria.
In a ceremony held at the Hall of the Order of St George in the Kremlin, Putin presented medals and decorations to 17 service personnel,
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Putin announces Syria mission 'generally complete'
The first Russian combat aircraft began leaving Syria on 15 March a day after President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal of some Russian forces in Syria.
Videos released by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and various media channels showed three Su-34 strike aircraft, eight Su-25s in
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PLAAF claims KJ-500 AEW&C aircraft is 'indigenous' design
Officials from China's defence industry are claiming that their latest airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system, the Kong Jing (KJ)-500, is an "indigenous" Chinese product.
Statements to that effect by Xiong Qunli, chairman of one of the country's largest and fastest-growing
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MiG-35 pre-production batch to start flight tests soon
The first pre-production batch of Mikoyan MiG-35 (Fulcrum-F) multipurpose fighter aircraft will start undergoing flight tests this year, Sergei Korotkov, the CEO of the MiG Aircraft-Manufacturing Corporation (RSK MiG), said on 17 March.
The RSK MiG CEO did not specify how many MiG-35 fighter jets
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Colombia, Panama discuss border security post-FARC
The potential demobilisation of Colombia's FARC guerrilla group and its possible consequences for transnational crime around the Darien Gap on Colombia and Panama's border was a key topic during the latest Binational Border Commission's (COMBIFRON's) meeting, highlighting the difficult peacetime
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Russian hypersonic missile project reaches flight test phase
Russia's defence industry has started testing the 3M22 hypersonic missile of the 3K22 Tsirkon (lit: Zirkon) missile system, a defence industry source told news agency TASS on 18 March.
"The hypersonic missile development programme has reached the stage of flight tests; they have begun,"
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EU condemns ballistic missile launch by North Korea
The launch of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 17 March is "another clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions, the EU said.
"We call again on the DPRK to refrain from actions that increase tensions in the region and threaten
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