Archive: News & Articles

The UK Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond has shot down a missile fired by the Yemen-backed Houthi militia while protecting international shipping in the Red Sea region, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 26 April 2024. The crew of HMS Diamond used the ship’s Sea Viper aid defence missile system to shoot down […]

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) has opted to continue funding two companies, Anduril and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI), for detailed design work, manufacture and testing of production-representative test articles under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme, the US Air Force announced on 24 April 2024. The programme, part of the Next […]

Leonardo UK has been awarded a contract by the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply, develop and future-proof the tools that generate and analyse data used by the UK armed forces’ combat aircraft, the company announced on 25 April 2024. The contract is worth GBP 10 […]

Babcock has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to manage the Refit Support Group for the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates, the company announced on 24 April 2024. The contract, which follows more than five years of close working between the Royal Navy-led Refit Support Group and Babcock, frees up […]

The Czech Republic is to host the 15th edition of the biennial Future Forces Forum (FFF) defence and security exhibition and networking event, which is taking place in Prague from 14-18 October 2024. The primary objective of the event is to support state institutions and organisations in the fulfilment of their political-military ambitions and commitments, […]

The US government has supplied Ukraine with MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), multiple US media sources reported on 24 April 2024. The ATACMS missile transfers to Ukraine were approved by US President Joe Biden in February 2024 and quietly included in a USD 300 million (EUR 279.5 million) aid package supplied to Ukraine that was […]

Saab has delivered another GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking the delivery of the fourth such aircraft to the UAE in four years. The delivery took place on 18 April 2024 and follows Saab’s previous deliveries of three GlobalEyes to the UAE in 2020 and 2021. The […]

The US State Department has approving potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to both Poland and the Netherlands of AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles – Extended Range (AARGM-ERs), the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) announced on 24 April 2024. The potential AARGM-ER sales to Poland and the Netherlands, which are worth USD 1.275 billion (EUR […]

Saab has received an order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to support future development of the Gripen system, the company announced on 24 April 2024. The order, valued at SEK 540 million (EUR 46.4 million) and covering work during the 2024 business year, is an extension of an existing contract and enables continued […]

Unmanned aerial system (UAS) specialist Tekever has unveiled a new system comprising a primary ‘mother’ unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can deploy and co-ordinate a swarm of smaller UAVs. The system, known as the ARX, made its public debut at the Xponential exhibition, which was held in San Diego from 22 to 25 April 2024. […]

The UK government has announced that it will jointly develop the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155 mm (RCH 155) variant of the Boxer 8×8 multi-role armoured vehicle with Germany to address the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) requirement. The announcement was made on 23 April 2024 as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with German Chancellor […]

Rheinmetall has been commissioned by the Bundeswehr for a key tactical communications project across the German armed forces, the company announced on 24 April 2024. Under a seven-year framework contract with a potential order volume of up to EUR 400 million, Rheinmetall has been contracted to supply up to 191,000 sets of an ‘intercom with […]

The US Senate passed a long-delayed military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on 23 April 2024 that includes USD 60.8 billion (EUR 57 billion) to support Ukraine in its two-year-old battle to repel Russia’s invasion of the country. The Senate vote, which received wide bipartisan support and was passed by 79 votes to […]

The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Argentina of Basler BT-67 transport aircraft, the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) announced on 18 April 2024. The DSCA noted that the estimated value of the sale is USD 143 million (EUR 134 million), while a spokesman for the US State […]

UK radio system specialist PPM Systems announced on 24 April 2024 that its radio frequency (RF)-over-fibre architecture solutions can achieve a five-times increase in observational antenna radius by solving signal distribution limitations. RF-over-fibre is a technology in which light is modulated by an RF signal and transmitted over an optical fibre link, which gives lower […]

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on 23 April 2024 that the UK will increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 in what is being billed as the ‘biggest strengthening of [UK] national defence in a generation’. The move, at the very least, is a solid advance from the UK government’s previous aspiration […]

Polish President Andrzej Duda announced on 22 April 2024 that his country is prepared to host nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO decides to reinforce its strategic forces in Eastern Europe. “Russia is increasingly militarising the Königsberg oblast [Kaliningrad]. Recently, it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Duda stated in an interview […]

The Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) revealed on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on 1 March 2024 that it is testing a ‘dog-like’ unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) in a surveillance/base security role. This is the first time the JASDF has introduced UGVs. The system being trialled is the Vision 60 quadruped UGV (Q-UGV) developed […]

The keel was laid for the first block of the third defence and intervention frigate (FDI) for the Hellenic Navy at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient on 15 April 2024, the French company announced on 23 April. The construction of the frigate, to be called Formion, is being conducted in collaboration with Greek industry. […]

Head protection and power/data management specialist Galvion has received three new orders for its Batlskin Caiman head system through its framework contract with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), the company announced on 23 April 2024. These latest orders, combined with previously announced orders from Norway, Finland and Sweden, take the total number of […]

While Germany has signalled a change of approach toward its armed forces, a number of challenges remain to be overcome before the Bundeswehr reaches a sufficient level of capability and readiness. “As the most populous nation with the greatest economic power and a country in the middle of the continent, our army must become the […]