Defence`s Feeds

The Commander UK Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG) has been conducting transatlantic exercises in a bid to learn how to work as part of a combat force with the country’s new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Nammo Energetics Indian Head (NEIH) has signed a public-private partnership (P3) agreement with the US Naval Surface Warfare Centre Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD).

US-based shipbuilder Austal USA has conducted keel authentication of the US Navy’s ninth expeditionary fast transport (EPF), the future USNS City of Bismarck, as well as fabrication for its 11th EPF, USNS Puerto Rico.

IEDD and EOD solutions provider EXPAL Systems is a developer and manufacturer of products and services such as clearance of terrains and soil remediation works. EXPAL has been integrated within solutions for defence and security industries for the pa…

TWO people - kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants off the coast of the town of Pangutaran in the Philippines' Sulu province on 25 October - were released by the group in the town of Indanan on 19 January, GMA Network reported. Reports did not specify whether a ransom was paid for their

An undisclosed number of Anti-UAV Defence Systems (AUDS) have been supplied to US forces and are now in operational service. The AUDS has been developed in a collaborative effort by a UK defence consortium comprised of Blighter Surveillance Systems, Chess Dynamics, and Enterprise Control Systems

EVENT Cameroon's government on 18 January banned the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) and the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) from operating in the country. The CACSC has called for a return to a two-state federation, while the SCNC has long advocated for both

As the US military transitions to a more open and modular version of the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), the services continue to encounter hurdles as they seek ways to get more intelligence data into the hands of analysts. The US Air Force (USAF) is moving off the legacy baseline DCGS

China on 22 January launched an agency to head the country's programme to boost capability through civil-military integration (CMI). The Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development will be chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and will "decide and co-ordinate"

Croatia unveiled its defence procurement plan on 20 January, with spending increasing USD57 million, the country's Ministry of Defence announced. The procurement plan calls for USD243 million in procurement and sustainment spending, which is about 40% of the country's overall defence budget. Of

Forces from at least three of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are preparing to launch a military intervention to oust The Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh after he rejected a 19 January ultimatum to stand aside for his democratically elected successor. ECOWAS troops are

France's defence exports reached a record high of more than EUR20 billion (USD21.3 billion) in 2016, according to a speech made by the country's defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on 19 January. Le Drian, speaking during an event at the National Navy Museum in Paris, said that although official

EVENT On 21 January, insurgents from the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) released an unnamed foreign citizen who had been kidnapped by the group in a remote part of Colombia's Chocó department. The move followed a joint announcement by the government and the guerrilla group on

EVENT Thailand's military-led government is setting up a national reconciliation panel to resolve a decade-long political conflict between supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the predominantly middle-class royalists who oppose him. The panel will be chaired by General

Key Points The anti-immigration mood is rising among far-right supporters, as demonstrated in a recent series of racially motivated hate crimes in several Polish towns. The lack of an effective government reaction is likely to aggravate the situation in the coming weeks and months. Further

IN A STATEMENT released by Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) on 18 January, the group claimed responsibility for an improvised explosive device (IED) that was discovered and defused by army personnel on 14 January in Brians Well Road area of Poleglass in Northern Ireland's Belfast, the Irish News reported.

Key Points The announced African Union-Burundian deal on troop payments risks rejection by the European Union. A United Nations peacekeeping mission is likely to be authorised during 2018-19 to meet a funding gap left by the EU's withdrawal of financing. Negotiations over AMISOM's future are

US Avionics and communications supplier Rockwell Collins published results from the first quarter of its 2017 financial year (FY) on 20 January, showing a 2% growth in revenue year on year. In the three months to December 31 the company generated sales of USD1.2 billion, while net income rose 7.4%

Saab has agreed to buy an additional 10% of Brazilian aeronautics group Akaer, the company announced on 23 January. The additional purchase will increase Saab's holding in Akaer to 25%. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Saab had originally acquired a stake in Akaer in 2012, when it made a

Americas

• The USAF is looking into testing a new low-cost light attack aircraft as soon as this spring. While Pentagon plans to acquire a new light attack platform are not new, the funding and scope of an earlier effort, the OA-X program, has never materialized into contracts being signed. However, if the experiment is approved and funded fully, the new platform will compliment the A-10 in close air support and reconnaissance missions.

• Industry has been asked by the US Army to submit proposals for a missile that can dispense a swarm of quadcopters. Once released, the drones will decelerate and seek out their target and terminate them by landing on them, detonating explosively formed penetrators. Possible targets named in the solicitation are tanks and large caliber gun barrels, vehicle roofs, fuel storage barrels, and ammunition storage sites. The call out comes shortly after the launching of a swarm of 103 Perdix micro-drones from three separate F/A-18 Super Hornets as part of Pentagon efforts to integrate micro-drones for use on surveillance missions.

• Boeing is developing a parachute kit to fit on the Sensor-Hosting Remote Autonomous Craft (SHARC) unmanned surface vehicle. The company purchased SHARC’s developer, Liquid Robotics, last month and sees great potential in SHARC as a persistent sensor platform for long-dwell surveillance needs, such as anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. SHARC is capable of towing underwater sensors and sensor arrays and is being promoted as an ideal solution for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions.

Middle East North Africa

• Rolls Royce will provide MTU diesel engines to the Turkish Coast Guard for use in their six new search and rescue vessels currently under construction at Damen Shipyards. Ankara is expecting all of the boats to be delivered by the end of 2017 with the EU providing financial support for the effort. Since 2015, the UK has sold $405 million-worth of arms to Turkey, representing a growing market for UK defense exports. However, human rights and anti-arms trade campaigners have criticized the deals, saying London is putting arms deals ahead of human rights, a reference to the ongoing political crackdown by Turkish authorities in the wake of a failed coup against the Erdogan regime.

Europe

• Safran Electronics will acquire fellow French aerospace firm Zodiac Aerospace in a $9 billion deal, creating the world’s third-largest aircraft equipment provider. Following the acquisition of Zodiac, Safran will gain access to the companies assets, which include seats, cabin interiors, power distribution, and fuel equipment. Safran says it will use its new capabilities to push for the development of “more electrical aircraft.” The pending merger will now be subject to approval from regulatory agencies and is expected to be finalized by early 2018.

• UK PM Teresa May has come under fire following news that ministers covered up a failed test of the Trident nuclear deterrent weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of the £40 billion program. Previous tests have been publicized by the Government. Details of the test, which happened last July, still remain undisclosed to the public, and opposition MPs are calling for an inquiry into the incident.

Asia Pacific

• Stocks of certain munitions in the Indian armed forces are so low, they are at half the reserves necessary to conduct 40 days of intense fighting. Urgent requirements for the Indian Air Force call for 50,000 rounds of 30mm ammunition for the GSh-30-1 gun and more than 60,000 rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition to be fired from the Yak-B Gatling gun. The munitions are used on IAF Su-30MKI and Mi-35 platforms. Efforts in the last three months have seen New Delhi rush to buy $1 billion worth of arms and ammunition from Russia and Israel for the Indian Army and Navy under a fast track procedure instead of relying on the notoriously slow bureaucratic channels.

• Confusion is rife in Indonesia as military and government fail to collaborate over the purchase of AW101 helicopters. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacud told reporters that he needs to “coordinate” with the new Air Force chief over the procurement. Initially planned to be used as Presidential VIP transport before being scrapped by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the deal was then pursued by the air force for use in combat and rescue operations.

Today’s Video

Boeing’s SHARC: