Defence`s Feeds

Violence cost the world nearly $20 trillion last year, but investment in peace and conflict prevention has been steadily decreasing, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on peacebuilding.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año has reiterated Manila's "unassailable rights" in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) amid China's latest aggressive actions on air and sea.

The Philippines is reportedly considering broadening the scope of provisional arrangement with China to ease tensions in the South China Sea.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have banned UN's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Richard Bennett from entering the country, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying by private Afghan broadcaster Tolo.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik denied on August 21 that the Serbian entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina has ever pursued a policy of secession and or disputed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia under the Dayton agreement.

World Food Program trucks carrying urgently needed food and nutrition supplies have entered Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations agency said Wednesday.

As attacks on farmers intensified across Nigeria, Fatima Bello from Sokoto abandoned dry season farming.

The unfounded conspiracy theory that the United States orchestrated the ouster of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina dominates Russian disinformation narrative. The propaganda campaign involves top state officials and news media.

The first food supplies destined for desperate communities in Sudan's Darfur region have crossed the Adre border from Chad, after it was reopened this week by the Sudanese authorities following a six-month closure.

Cameroon is trying to register voters before the nearing deadline. But the political opposition and civil society say most qualified voters are reluctant to register because they think President Paul Biya plans to rig elections. Barely 50% of qualified civilians have registered for the election expected in October 2025.

Ukraine needs a real mechanism that will enable Russian frozen assets to work for the country in the coming months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

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Americas X-Bow Systems announced that it has completed the preliminary design review of its solid fuel hypersonic booster rocket engine. The New Mexico-based defense tech company reported that completion of this phase marks the second major technical review for the program, demonstrating design maturity and reduced risk for critical technologies. X-Bow is on track for the next major review of its hypersonic rocket motor, the critical design review, which typically indicates the end of architecture and system design. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) has successfully deployed a new training capability known as ‘Simulators at Sea’ aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). This innovative system allows aviators across the carrier’s air wing to train together in advanced simulators, even while deployed. Previously, joint mission training on this scale was significantly limited due to the risks involved in practicing wartime scenarios, the high cost of flight operations, and the potential for exposing tactics to adversaries. Simulators at Sea offers a safer and more efficient alternative, enabling aviators to rehearse naval missions, including complex wartime scenarios, without leaving the ship. Middle East & Africa The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Tunisia of […]

CH-47Fs take off (click to view full) DII FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record; this FOCUS Article covers the CH-47F/MH-47G Chinook helicopter programs, in the USA and abroad. These helicopters’ distinctive “flying banana” twin-rotor design stems from the brilliant work of aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki. It gives Chinooks the ability to adjust their positioning very precisely, while carrying a large airframe whose load capacity has made it the world’s most popular heavy-lift helicopter. The USA expects to be operating Chinooks in their heavy-lift role past 2030. The CH-47F looks similar to earlier models, but offers a wide range of improvements in almost every aspect of design and performance. While the related HH-47’s $10-15 billion CSAR-X program win was terminated, delivery orders continue for CH-47Fs and for MH-47G Special Forces configuration helicopters. International orders or formal requests have also come in from Australia, Britain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the UAE, with India and other countries expected to follow. The New Chinooks: CH-47F, MH-47G, HH-47 CH-47F Family: Initial Improvements CH-47D Chinooks (click to view full) These new aircraft are part of the U.S. Army Cargo Helicopter Modernization Program, but they are based on a […]

Recent weeks have witnessed a substantial wave of COVID-19 infections across the United States, primarily driven by the emergence of new variants and exacerbated by the hot summer weather.

Americas Boeing won a $27.6 million modification to a cost-plus-fixed-fee-order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. This modification exercises an option to procure three retrofit A-Kits for Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A aircraft with Increment Three Engineering Change Proposal Six Capabilities. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (79.6%); San Antonio, Texas (10.9%); and Mesa, Arizona (9.5%), and is expected to be completed October 2026. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $130-million contract modification to ramp up the production of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM). Tooling and test equipment will be procured for the US Air Force contract, required for production increase. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by December 15, 2027. Middle East & Africa Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched several rocket salvos at Israeli army positions in the annexed Golan Heights on Tuesday “in response” to Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon the previous day. Hezbollah fighters launched “intense rocket barrages” at two Israeli army positions in the occupied Golan Heights “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attack on the Bekaa” Valley — […]

P-8A Poseidon (click to view full) Maritime surveillance and patrol is becoming more and more important, but the USA’s P-3 Orion turboprop fleet is falling apart. The P-7 Long Range Air ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) Capable Aircraft program to create an improved P-3 began in 1988, but cost overruns, slow progress, and interest in opening the competition to commercial designs led to the P-7’s cancellation for default in 1990. The successor MMA program was begun in March 2000, and Boeing beat Lockheed’s “Orion 21” with a P-8 design based on their ubiquitous 737 passenger jet. US Navy squadrons finally began taking P-8A Poseidon deliveries in 2012, but the long delays haven’t done their existing P-3 fleet any favors. Filling the P-3 Orion’s shoes is no easy task. What missions will the new P-8A Poseidon face? What do we know about the platform, the project team, and ongoing developments? Will the P-3’s wide global adoption give its successor a comparable level of export opportunities? Australia and India have already signed on, but has the larger market shifted in the interim? Program Summary [youtube:v=EcgIjsRo3uM] A P-8 primer The Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft program to replace the P-3 fleet began in earnest in 2000, and […]