Italy boosts presence along North African coast
Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti announced on 19 March that the naval and air assets deployed by Italy in reaction to the increasing terror threat emanating from North Africa have been boosted....
View ArticleGerman defence budget bolstered by EUR8 billion over four years
The German cabinet approved on 18 March an increase in the defence budget by a total of EUR8 billion (USD8.6 billion) spread out over the next four years until 2019. The new budget outlook is now...
View ArticleAnalysis: Congress struggles to fund defence while cutting overall spending
Republicans, who now control both the House and Senate for the first time during Democrat Barack Obama's presidency, are considering adding tens of billions to a 'supplemental' budget account to...
View ArticleUK mothballs quarter of Apache fleet with end of Afghan ops
The UK has mothballed a quarter of its AgustaWestland-Boeing WAH-64 Apache Longbow AH.1 helicopters following the end of combat operations in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to IHS...
View ArticleLIMA 2015: MD Helicopters unveils MD 530G scout attack helicopter
MD Helicopters Inc (MDHI) has unveiled a new scout attack platform called the MD 530G at the LIMA 2015 exhibition in Langkawi. The company's chief commercial officer, Craig Kitchen, told IHS Jane's...
View ArticleUSAF expects KC-46A first flight schedule slip
Key Points The first KC-46A Pegasus tanker test aircraft is unlikely to make its scheduled first flight in April Following first flight, the programme's next significant milestone is the planned...
View ArticleUSN converting fast-attack submarine into moored trainer
The US Navy (USN) is converting the first of two Los Angeles-class fast-attack nuclear-powered submarines into moored training ships (MTS). USS La Jolla (SSN 701) arrived at the USN's Norfolk Naval...
View ArticleUS seeks new helo type for Belize
The United States government has issued a request for information (RfI) to provide Belize with a helicopter type under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The RfI, which was disclosed on the...
View ArticlePortugal begins modernisation of F-16s
The Portuguese aerospace company Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal (OGMA) recently began to upgrade three Lockheed Martin F-16A Block 15 Fighting Falcon fighters for the Portuguese Air Force (FAP), the...
View ArticlePentagon sending additional MLRS battalion to South Korea
US forces in South Korea in June are to receive additional artillery as the US Army reorganises its brigade structures and focuses on the Asia-Pacific region. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter...
View ArticleNATO's Stoltenberg trades verbal blows with Russian MP
The tensions created between Russia and the West by the conflict in Ukraine were on display for all to see during the German Marshall Fund's annual Brussels Forum of security leaders, held in the...
View ArticleLibya Dawn aircraft crashes during raid on Zintan
The Libyan National Army (LNA) announced on 23 March that an aircraft belonging to the rival Libya Dawn coalition had crashed after it carried out an attack on Zintan airport. Photographs of the...
View ArticleCongressman previews defence acquisition reform push
Members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in the US Congress will be releasing a bill targeting defence acquisition reform on 25 March, the committee's chairman said during a 23 March...
View ArticleAustrian Air Force postpones basic pilot training due to shortage of suitable...
The Austrian Air Force (AAF) officer responsible for flight training has revealed that initial aptitude screening for basic training cannot be held because of a lack of suitable candidates. "We had to...
View ArticleUSAF releases T-X requirements
Key Points The USAF has released requirements for its T-X trainer aircraft Five industry teams are expected to bid for one of the decade's few new US military aircraft competitions The US Air Force...
View ArticleDRDO makes progress with more Astra BVRAAM tests
Two Astra (Mk I) air-to-air beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles have been test fired from an Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter off the Odisha coast, the Defence Research and Development...
View ArticleUSAF deploys F-16s to Estonia for training exercises
The United States Air Force (USAF) has despatched 14 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the Baltic region for multinational joint training exercises, as tensions with Russia...
View ArticleSpain's long-term helicopter plan sees reduction in types
A new helicopter master plan drawn up by the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MdD) envisages the number of different models used by the services being reduced from the current 14 to four by 2040. Three...
View ArticleF-35 procurement cost estimate drops
Key Points The Pentagon has lowered its procurement cost estimate for the F-35 The DoD now says that it will cost about USD391.1 billion to buy 2,457 of the stealthy combat aircraft - a reduction of...
View ArticleUSAF receives first production QF-16 drone
The first production Boeing QF-16 optionally manned target drone has been delivered to the US Air Force (USAF), the service announced on 20 March. Aircraft QF-007 arrived at Tyndall Air Force Base...
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