Defence`s Feeds

The Indian Army (IA) has launched a programme that will see 811 of its licence-built BMP-2/2K ‘Sarath' infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) upgraded with more powerful...

The first of four Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker-transport aircraft ordered by Japan has conducted its first refuelling flight ahead of the planned start of deliveries to...

South Korea and Australia are negotiating an updated accord that will pave the way for deeper defence-industrial engagement between the two countries, Janes has learnt.

US military forces struggled to clear civilians off the runway at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on 16 August so that it could resume flights, while also...

Ultra Electronics' board of directors has approved Cobham Group's previously disclosed takeover bid for GBP2.6 billion (USD3.6 billion) in cash, moving the two companies...

UAV Propulsion Tech is promoting the Compass Aircraft Europe (CAE) GmbH-Suter TOA288 two-cycle piston engine being used by Martin UAV's newest model of the V-Bat...

The US Navy (USN) is pursuing a science and technology effort intended to yield a new unmanned influence minesweeping payload based on a high-temperature superconducting...

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, got underway on 15 August as Taliban fighters took control of the city.

Americas

The Defense Department’s Space Development Agency (SDA) plans to launch an experimental payload, developed together with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), to study the infrared background created by the Earth. The experiment is called Prototype Infrared Payload or PIRPL and is foundational for developing DoD capabilities to detect and track dim, fast-flying hypersonic missiles, SDA officials said in a briefing last week.

The US Army says it’s developed a combat-capable prototype of a high-energy laser weapon. According to an army press release, the laser can be mounted on a Stryker military vehicle and used to defend troops against drones as well as rockets, artillery and mortars. Over the summer, the new weapon was successfully tested in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in a “combat shoot-off” against a series of possible combat scenarios.

Middle East & Africa

Two US CH-47 Chinook helicopters arrived in Turkey to aid the country suppress major wildfires. According to a release from the US Ambassador to Turkey, David M. Satterfield, the helicopters along with 18 crew members, arrived Friday at Dalaman Airport in Mugla.

The USS Monterey visited Egypt’s Berenice Naval Base on Thursday, the first time a U.S. warship has pulled into the Red Sea base. The Navy announced the visit to the Berenice Naval Base, which officially opened in January 2020, in a press release.

Europe

According to local media, the Cypriot cabinet had recently approved the start of negotiations for the sale of 11 Mi-35P attack helicopters to Serbia. In documents seen by Politis, Cyprus intends to replace the Mi-35P with 12 new attack helicopters. The proposal involves buying six aircraft initially and another six later, over a 10-year period.

Asia-Pacific

Indian state run firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) announced the completion of Ground Run and Low Speed Taxi Trials (LSTT) of its indigenously developed civilian aircraft Hindustan-228. Hindustan-228 is the first fixed wing aircraft built in India.This is also the company’s first foray into the manufacturing of civilian aircraft with its services being tended to only defence customers till present. The trials were a part of the country’s 75th Independence Day.

Today’s Video

Watch: Mil Mi-35P Phoenix in Action

China respects the choices of the Afghan people and hopes for a smooth transition in the Afghan situation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

The Pentagon has announced it will send another 1,000 American troops to Afghanistan to help secure Kabul's airport after thousands of Afghan civilians stormed the airport, attempting to flee the country taken over by the Taliban.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against the rise of a "global terrorist threat" in Afghanistan following the collapse of the country's government by the Taliban militant group, calling for measure to be taken to guarantee the rights of the entire Afghan people across the country.

China says it is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban's takeover of Kabul.

The deputy commander of Iran's Air Defense Force has assured the Iranian people that the country's eastern borders with Afghanistan are safe and secure amid Taliban's rapid takeover of the war-ravaged country.

The head of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party has called the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan the "biggest NATO debacle" since the founding of the US-led military alliance.

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has held talks with China's special representative for Afghanistan affairs Yue Xiaoyong in Tehran over the latest developments in the Central Asian nation in the wake of Taliban's takeover of the capital Kabul.

Russia has taken the United States to task over the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan, saying the Taliban's takeover of the country stems from America's failure two decades after the invasion.

United States allies are reacting mutely to the Taliban's victory march into the Afghan capital city of Kabul 20 years after a US-led invasion removed the militants from power, expressing concerns for civilians caught in the violence but falling short of pointing to the catastrophic failure of the longest war in US history.

Kabul International Airport has been overwhelmed with scenes of disorder and confusion as panicked Afghan residents and foreign nationals hoping to find seats on the last flights leaving the country have dashed to the airport, with reports of several deaths after US troops were said to have fired in the air to disperse a desperate crowd of thousands.

Not long after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country to safety, the Taliban militant group tops its exponential advances in the country by running into the presidential palace in the capital Kabul.