Russia has begun airstrikes in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with Moscow stating it intends to attack Islamic State militants but US officials saying the strikes are against other rebel forces.
Over the past several weeks Russia has built a significant military presence in
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Russia begins airstrikes in Syria
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Pentagon budget 2016: Reconciled authorisation bill bolsters USN's shipbuilding
Key Points
House and Senate negotiators have added around USD1 billion to the USN's shipbuilding and conversion budget
The additions provide for acquisition of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and accelerate procurement of two amphibious ships
Lawmakers have agreed to boost funding for certain
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Pentagon budget 2016: Policy bill adds aircraft, reduces two key USAF efforts
Key Points
Congress is recommending the purchase of more than USD2 billion worth of new aircraft not requested by the DoD in FY 2016
Lawmakers want to fund additional UH-60M Black Hawks for the Army National Guard, F/A-18E/Fs for the USN, and F-35Bs for the USMC
House and Senate negotiators are
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Pentagon budget 2016: lawmakers fund up-gunned Stryker project
US Congress defence committee leaders agreed to authorise USD411 million to add heavier weapons to the US Army's Stryker wheeled personnel carriers in fiscal year 2016, lawmakers announced on 29 September.
The reconciled version of the House and Senate defence authorisation legislation, which still
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Pentagon budget 2016: Congress avoids shutdown with temporary spending bill
The US Congress reached a last-minute deal to temporarily fund federal government activities, including for the Department of Defense (DoD), for fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) which begins on 1 October.
FY 2016 budget legislation has been stalled for months due to various differences between majority
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Pentagon budget 2016: Authorisers support GMD, accelerate MOKV
House and Senate negotiators agreed to include provisions in the fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) defence policy bill supporting the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile defence system and accelerating a possible new multi-object kill vehicle (MOKV) as well as more 'East Coast' defences.
The
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Pentagon budget 2016: acquisition-reforming policy bill completed
Defence committees in the US Congress on 29 September announced they had reconciled their versions of the fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) defense authorization bill, which includes some notable acquisition reforms but could be vetoed by the White House for its funding precedent.
Democratic congressmen
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Pakistan to get ScanEagle UAVs
Pakistan is to receive an unspecified number of Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems (UAS) under a USD15,180,214 contract awarded on 29 September.
The ScanEagle contract, processed via the Foreign Military Sales route and run through US Naval Air Systems Command, comes seven years after
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New Danish defence minister appointed
Peter Christensen was appointed as Denmark's new Defence Minister and Minister for Nordic Co-operation on 30 September.
Christensen replaces Carl Holst, who had only held the defence brief since the formation of the Venstre minority government in June.
Holst resigned on 29 September following a
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NATO faces uphill struggle on collective cyber-defence doctrines
Cyber security will be a major topic at NATO's next summit in Warsaw in July 2016, but NATO, national, and industry officials have admitted that their collective differences in the definition of a serious cyber attack is preventing the alignment of their individual doctrines. Moreover, there is no
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MDHI rejects Afghan criticism of MD 530F helo
MD Helicopters Inc (MDHI) has rejected recent criticism of its MD 530F Cayuse Warrior ('Jengi' [Warrior]) light attack platform by a senior Afghan Air Force (AAF) official, saying that the helicopter not only meets the service's requirements but actually exceeds them.
In a statement issued to IHS
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Lithuania plans 35% increase in 2016 defence budget
Lithuania intends to expand its defence budget by 35.2% in 2016, according to the country's new draft budget released on 28 September.
Total expenditure on defence is expected to reach EUR574 million (USD644 million).
Under the increase planned for 2016, the Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) budget
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Iran shows increasing interest in Eastern European defence technology
There has been a dramatic increase in activity by Iranian defence industry 'procurement specialists' in central and eastern Europe, according to Ukrainian defence industry firms and intelligence officials.
"If you visit some of our main aerospace design institutes in cities like Kharkiv you
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India, US agree to UN peacekeeping training mission
India and the United States have agreed to jointly train military personnel from six African states for deployment on UN peacekeeping missions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry made the announcement in Washington on 23 September following talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on growing
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India commissions second Kolkata-class destroyer
The Indian Navy (IN) commissioned INS Kochi , the second of three locally designed 7,500-tonne Project 15A stealth missile destroyers, in Mumbai on 30 September.
Built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) for INR40 billion (USD615 million), Kochi is the second Kolkata-class destroyer, the first of which
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Estonia to increase defence spending to 2.1% of GDP
Estonia has announced plans to increase its defence budget by 9% in 2016. If approved the increase will represent the largest boost to the country's defence spending since 2012 and will see the Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) budget increase to EUR449 million (USD505 million), a EUR37 million boost
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Denmark looks to acquire additional C-130J, rejects A400M on cost grounds
Denmark is looking to increase its fixed-wing airlift capacity with an additional Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules as the four it currently fields are struggling to satisfy the country's expanding requirements, a senior military official disclosed on 30 September.
Speaking under the Chatham House
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Cost of Mistral re-sale to French taxpayer revealed
France's Senate released a report on 29 September outlining the cost to the French government and industry of the failed sale of the Mistral-class amphibious assault vessels to Russia.
Should the sale of the vessels to Egypt proceed, the French government is expected to see a shortfall of between
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British officers outline Operation 'Shader' challenges
Several senior UK military officers outlined the challenges facing Operation 'Shader' - the codename for the UK's contribution to the US-led coalition attempting to suppress the Islamic State - during the DSEI show held in London in September, saying the militant group has considerable armed and
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Brazilian Navy M113 upgrade now on track
The Brazilian Navy's Marine Corps (CFN) modernisation programme for its M113-series armoured personnel carrier (APC)-equipped units is now back on schedule after suffering delays.
The project is to update 24 BAE Systems M113A1 APCs, two M577A1 command posts, two M125A1 mortar carriers, one XM806E1
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