Archive: News & Articles

Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) are troops who direct combat aircraft, helicopters or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles engaged in close air support. Previously known as Forward Air Controllers (FAC), their role today is often part of the Joint Fire Support Team (JFST) as they also make use of indirect fire weapons (artillery and mortars) and ship-borne […]

Based in Suhl in the German state of Thuringia, small-arms manufacturer C.G. Haenel still thinks it has a good chance that the MK556 will be the Bundeswehr’s future assault rifle. The company is still fighting for the contract, which was withdrawn from the company after it was awarded last September. Three lawsuits are currently pending […]

The French Navy has selected the SonoFlash new-generation sonobuoy from Thales. Three decades ago, only the superpowers had a true undersea warfare capability, but numerous countries now deploy modern submarine fleets. At the same time, forces increasingly operate in littoral waters, which are much more complex for sonar systems, rather than in the relative certainty […]

At the present rate using current methods, it will take hundreds of years to rid the world of hidden mines left behind by conflict. Demining by hand is slow and dangerous and an obvious worldwide need exists for more unmanned demining systems. Thousands of people are killed each year by land mines and unexploded ordnance […]

The MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has a long list of features that are now being tested for multi-domain missions, such as maritime surveillance, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and broad-spectrum Electronic Warfare, including in high-threat scenarios. Its features include long endurance, the ability to operate at low and high altitude […]

Korhan Ozkilinc The organisers of the 2020 EURASIA Air Show have announced that the event, originally scheduled to take place between the 22nd and 26th April, has been postponed until the 2nd to 6th December. Announcing the new date in an online press conference, Chairman of  the Organising Committee Hakan Kurt said the event, which […]

When fighting a peer or near-peer adversary, there is always an imminent threat of counter fire in response to your mortars or artillery engagement. Radars and drones in all variants have proven to be effective assets in providing target information. To defend the counter-fire threat, the Danish Army will have to change the way we […]

Interview with Martin Sonderegger, Head of Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse. Switzerland’s military procurement is unique, in that all defence projects are subject to a parliamentary decision, and in individual cases also to a referendum. ESD spoke with Martin Sonderegger, the Swiss Armament Director and Head of the Federal Office for Defence Procurement […]

It’s just embarrassing in many ways – for the Croatian political elite, for the Israeli programme officials involved and for the Croatian pilots who now have to risk their lives again in the worn-out MiG-21. The question in the title – “What now? – is followed by the sobering answer “Back to the beginning”. In […]