Jane's Defense News

China has signed a preliminary contract with an African country for the first sale of its low-cost Chengdu/Guizhou FTC-2000 supersonic trainer. First revealed as a private initiative by Guizhou Aircraft Industries Corporation at the 2001 Zhuhai Airshow, the FTC-2000 combines the engine, empennage,

Airborne troops will be used to form the backbone of new Russian rapid reaction forces in the coming years, according to Russian airborne forces (VDV) commander Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov. "There is a plan to create Russian rapid reaction forces based on the VDV. The new forces are

Key Points The USAF's Air Education and Training Command released its official accident report on a 2014 F-35 engine fire Total mishap damage is estimated to be in excess of USD50 million, the report said The US Air Force (USAF) on 5 June said an engine failure that led to a fleetwide grounding

Russia has grounded its fleet of Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear' strategic bomber aircraft following a runway excursion and engine fire on take-off that occurred on 8 June, state media has reported. The suspension of flight activities covers all 71 Tu-95MS6/16 bombers currently in service with the Russian Air

Key Points The first flight of a P-8A Poseidon configured with the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor was completed on 20 May The APS-154 AAS radar will replace the capability provided by the APS-149 Littoral Surveillance Radar System carried on a number of modified P-3C Orions The US Navy (USN)

China has recently established a committee to oversee defence industrial development and push forward reforms, although such an initiative is unlikely to be wholly effective without significant restructuring of the country's systems for defence development and production. The National Defence

Cobham has completed its sale of Weinschel and Inmet, the company announced on 9 June. The two groups were sold to US company API Technologies for USD80 million. Weinschel and Inmet, both previously part of Cobham subsidiary Aeroflex, specialise in electronics subsystems and will be added to API's

The Czech Ministry of Defence (MoD) has officially denied that it has selected a CZK5.9 billion (USD241 million) 3-D mobile air defence radar (MADR) solution from Israeli firm Elta Systems via a direct government to government contract. The Czech business daily E15 claimed it had obtained copies of

Brazilian company Embraer will be offering notes valued at a total of USD1 billion as part of an effort to raise capital for investment and paying down outstanding debt, the company announced on 8 June. The notes are intended to increase in value only marginally, being offered at just shy of 100%

Key Points MBDA's RM programme is exploring ways to augment warhead capabilities, increasing lethality with a more targeted effect A TRL 5 prototype RM warhead is expected to be fired in 2017 MBDA is invested in a three-year, company-wide IRAD (Internal Research & Development) funded

EVENT Leaders of four political parties signed an agreement on 8 June on a new Nepalese constitution. The move ends disagreement since 2008 when the first Constituent Assembly (CA) formed following the end of the civil war in 2006, tasked with replacing the interim constitution. The agreement was

Key Points An SM-3 Block IIA interceptor missile, jointly developed by the United States and Japan, first flew on 6 June The weapon is to have great ranger and capabilities than legacy SM-3s The United States and Japan conducted the first flight test of a next-generation Standard Missile-3

Pakistan has announced a 2015-16 defence budget of PKR781 billion (USD7.6 billion): an 8.5% increase over the revised budget for 2014-15. The new allocation for Defence Affairs and Services represents a 11.6% climb against the initial 2014-15 budget of PKR700 billion, which budgetary documents show

The Philippines has introduced additional procurement reforms to promote accelerated acquisitions across all government agencies - including the Department of National Defense (DND) - and encourage more efficient public spending. An announcement made on 9 June calls on government departments to

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reportedly re-established the 1st Tank Army with its headquarters at Bakovka, southwest of Moscow. The army withdrew from Germany in 1992 and disbanded in 1999. The Moscow-based Centre for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies reported this

Key Points Russian corvettes pulled alongside a group of 46 multinational ships sailing as part of 'BALTOPS 2015' Two Su-24 jets also overflew the ships, but all of the incidents were characterised by 'BALTOPS' officials as non-aggressive Russian warships and aircraft have trailed and approached

SAIC reported its first quarter earnings for 2015 on 9 June, with revenue increasing by 4%, while operating income slumped by 3%. The company had USD1 billion in revenue for the quarter ending 1 May, compared with USD0.98 billion in 2014. Operating income was USD57 million compared with USD59

AN ALLEGED would-be suicide bomber - reported to be a 13-year-old boy - was detained by security forces in the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan's Kunduz province on 18 May, Pajhwok Afghan News reported. The suspect was allegedly planning to attack a military base in the area.

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Finmeccanica and Thales, is creating a new subsidiary to operate in Poland, the company announced on 8 June. The new group, Thales Alenia Space Polska, will be based in Warsaw with an aim to grow its parent company's footprint in Poland specifically in

Thales Optronique has revealed the first firm export order for its TALIOS long-range airborne targeting pod. The company declined to identify the customer or say how many pods have been ordered. The TALIOS pod - formerly known as the New-Generation Laser Designation Pod (Pod de Désignation