Australia will increase defence expenditure by 8.3% in 2017-18, with funding rising by AUD2.7 billion to AUD35.2 billion (USD25.9 billion). Budget projections show spending reaching 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020-21, in line with commitments made in the country's 2016 Defence White
Australian defence budget rises 8.3%
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Xponential 2017: US Army's SMET programme advances cautiously
The US Army plans to move quickly into experimentation with a Squad Maneuver Equipment Transport (SMET) system as the service seeks to finally determine if such a capability is worthwhile.
"We're still struggling to understand this device and what we want it to do for us," Lieutenant
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Xponential 2017: US Army to trial new Robotic Complex Breach Concept
The US Army is working on a new Robotic Complex Breach Concept that will explore how to use robotics and autonomous systems during a combined arms breach mission.
Combined arms breach operations are among the army's hardest missions - generally involving a defending enemy force whose position must
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Xponential 2017: Risk-averse DoD hopes to speed robotics acquisitions
Developing and fielding equipment in rapidly advancing realms such as software and robotics is consistently problematic for the risk-averse US Department of Defense (DoD), but officials are exploring some new pathways to speed processes.
Technology is being developed faster than the Pentagon can
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Xponential 2017: CRS-I leads US Army small ground robotics advancements
The US Army ultimately hopes to have robotic and autonomous systems as partners, but in the near term is primarily concerned with small ground robotics for 'dull, dirty, and dangerous' tasks, according to Lieutenant Colonel Bill Venable, the US Army's chief of its Electronics and Special
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US arming Syrian Kurds for Raqqa fight
Key Points
President Trump has approved arming Syrian Kurds as the US-led coalition prepares to fight for Raqqa
The announcement is likely to further strain relations with Turkey, which believes some of the Kurdish fighters have ties to the PKK
US president Donald Trump has approved the arming of
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Kazakhstan parades newly acquired UAVs
Kazakhstan displayed several newly acquired foreign-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a parade to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Kazakh armed forces on 7 May: an indication of the Central Asian country's growing capabilities in this sector.
Astana revealed that it has
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Exercise reveals NATO vulnerabilities to Russian hybrid threats in North Atlantic
NATO is currently digesting the lessons of a tabletop exercise held at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington, DC, in February 2017 that confronted participants - including former senior alliance officials - with Russian asymmetric threats in the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap,
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Xponential 2017: New US Army UAS opportunities emerge
US Army unmanned aerial systems (UAS) programmes are slowly emerging for runway-independent systems, as well as for a new smaller munition to allow commanders to engage more targets per sortie.
For near-term opportunities the army has an 'operational need statement' for a smaller,
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Wilson to serve as Pentagon's top space adviser
The US Air Force's (USAF) newest secretary, Heather Wilson, will serve as the Pentagon's top space adviser, according to a key service official.
David Hardy, associate deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space, and the deputy director, principal Department of Defense (DoD) space adviser
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Serbia unveils ALAS-C missile system during 'Celik 2017' manoeuvres
On 9 May Serbia celebrated its Armed Forces Day, Victory Day, and Europe Day during the 'Celik 2017' ('Steel 2017') military exercise, held at the Serbian Armed Forces' Nikinci testing ground 45 km west of the capital Belgrade.
The exercise involved the participation of 560 Serbian military and
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Pantsir-SA firing tests to start in June
Firing trials of Russia's new Arctic Pantsir-SA surface-to-air missile (SAM) system will begin in June, a source in the Russian defence industry has told Jane's .
"Two [Pantsir-SA] systems will be deployed at a test range for firing trials after their demonstration at the Victory Day 9 May
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Spanish Air Force retires last of its SA330 Pumas
The Spanish Air Force retired the last of its Airbus Helicopters (previously Eurocopter) SA330 Puma helicopters on 28 April, more than four decades after taking its first delivery of the aircraft.
The last Puma flew into a retirement ceremony at Cuatro Vientos Air Base just south of Madrid from Son
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Small arms manufacturing facility opens in India
Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and Punj Lloyd have set up India's first private-sector small arms manufacturing plant under a joint venture (JV) arrangement.
The facility, which is located at Malanpur in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was inaugurated on 4 May, according to an IWI press
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IDEF 2017: Aselsan, Antonov team up on aircraft electronics
Ukraine's Antonov and Turkish defence and electronics compay Aselsan announced on 10 May that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to avionics and integrated electronic systems for the Antonov An-148 family of aircraft.
The agreement is primarily focused on An-158 regional
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Israel orders Elbit SATCOM on-the-move systems
The Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD) has ordered dozens of ELSAT 2100 satellite communications on-the-move (SOTM) systems from Elbit Systems, the company announced on 8 May.
Elbit did not say how much the contract was worth, but said it will be fulfilled over a two-year period.
The ELSAT 2100 is
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Russia shows off upgraded T-72B3 MBTs in Moscow parade
Russia displayed the first of 150 upgraded T-72B main battle tanks (MBTs) at the 5 May Victory Day Parade in Moscow.
Under a 2016 contract with UralVagonZavod the MBTs are to be brought to what the Russian Ministry of Defence has referred to as the T-72B3 standard, although the upgraded tanks
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NATO asks UK to send more troops back to Afghanistan
NATO has asked the United Kingdom to despatch additional troops to Afghanistan to strengthen the alliance's mission in the central Asian country, a development in which the UK troop presence in Afghanistan could rise by around 100 personnel, according to UK defence officials knowledgeable of the
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China tests new missile in Bohai Sea
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force has successfully test-fired a new missile in the Bohai Sea amid tensions with Seoul and Washington over the deployment of the US Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea.
In reply to a media enquiry about a recent
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Xponential 2017: USAF seeks to leverage booming commercial UAS market
The US Air Force (USAF) wants to be more agile in its systems acquisition and be capable of quickly buying and fielding simple and cheap unmanned aerial systems (UASs) that would complement higher-end USAF platforms, said Reid Melville, the unmanned air systems strategy lead for the US Air Force
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