Archive: News & Articles

The autonomous guidance and control of several DT-25 target drones in flight from an A310 MRTT tanker aircraft has been successfully carried out by Airbus Defence and Space together with its subsidiary Airbus UpNext, Airbus announced on 28 March 2023. According to Airbus, the technologies used are a first step towards autonomous formation flights as […]

The training of Ukrainian tank crews on the British Challenger 2 main battle tank (MBT) has been completed and the crews have returned to Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 27 March 2023. The following day the first of the promised 14 Challenger 2s arrived in Ukraine, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) and other media […]

On March 28th, 2023, the Spanish International Fair of Defense and Security (FEINDEF) announced that it has put an end to the commercialisation of its exhibition spaces for the third edition of FEINDEF 23 which will take place from 17-19 May at IFEMA in Madrid. With seven weeks to go, there are more than 400 […]

On Monday, March 27, 2023, the Chief of the National Defence General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, had a meeting in his office with the organisers of DEFEA 2023 Exhibition, together with the President of the Hellenic Defense Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEKPY), Mr. Anastasios Rozolis. Participants in the meeting from DEFEA’s side included the President of […]

Another five nations – Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Hungary and Poland – have joined the European Defence Agency’s (EDA’s) Collaborative Procurement of Ammunition (CPA) initiative, the agency has announced. At their meeting on 20 March 2023, the defence ministers of 17 EDA states and Norway agreed on the CPA project, under which Ukraine is to be […]

Denmark became the 27th member of the European Defence Agency (EDA) on 23 March 2023. The head of the agency, Josep Borrell, received the official notification of Denmark’s accession to the EDA from acting Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen. This means that all EU member states are now members of the EDA. In addition, […]

The Baykar Bayraktar TB3 armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be exhibited publicly for the first time at the Teknofest exhibition to be held in Istanbul from 27 April to 1 May 2023, Baykar revealed in a tweet on 27 March 2023. The Turkish manufacturer added that the UAV was “counting [down] the days for […]

The Finnish and Swedish armed forces signed a framework agreement with Finnish firearms producer Sako on 27 March 2023 to jointly procure a range of small arms. The agreement was signed at the Sako factory in Riihimäki by Major General Jari Mikkonen, Director of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) Logistics Command, Brigadier General Jonas Lotsne, […]

The manufacturing of Boxer armoured vehicles for the British Army under the United Kingdom’s Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme officially started at the Hadley Castle Works (Telford) site of Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) on 27 March 2023, the company announced the same day. The event is a significant milestone for UK industry because, as […]

Australia’s intention to buy up to 220 RGM-109E Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States was approved on 16 March 2023 by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which estimated the deal to be worth USD 895 M (EUR 830.54 M). The purchase, which still awaits approval from the US Congress, would consist of up […]

France’s Safran Electronics & Defense has entered into a collaboration agreement with Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA)  to leverage smart technologies and nurture local talent, the French company announced on 24 March 2023. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 22 March the sidelines of the Singapore Defence Technology Summit […]

German armour specialist Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has signed a co-operation agreement with the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA): the procurement organisation of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the German company announced on 24 March 2023. According to KMW, the company intends to co-operate with the DSTA in the field of data analytics; machine-learning models […]

The US Air Force (USAF) announced on 23 March 2023 it had awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defense a USD 320.28 M contract to produce and deliver 1,500 StormBreaker glide bombs under the weapon’s production Lot 9. Previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) and officially designated the GBU-53/B, StormBreaker is a winged […]

Raytheon Technologies has delivered all 23 contracted Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) low-rate production units to the US Navy on time or ahead of schedule, the company announced on 23 March 2023. JPALS is a software-based GPS navigation and precision approach landing system that is deployed on all US Navy aircraft carriers and […]

A ceremony was held at Eindhoven Air Base on 23 March 2023 to mark the initial operational capability of the European Multi Role Tanker Transport Capability (MRTT-C). The initiative, agreed at the NATO summit in Chicago in 2012, optimises the use of existing and planned air-to-air refuelling (AAR) assets in developing a European Multinational MRTT […]

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s review of his 2022 Annual Report, which was released on 21 March 2023, included a clear call for further efforts among NATO nations to reach the alliance’s 2% of GDP spending target. Over 172 pages the annual report sums up NATO’s work, including its support for Ukraine. NATO’s response to […]

The US government has offered to provide 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to the Slovak armed forces at a heavily discounted price as compensation for the MiG-29 fighters it is donating to Ukraine. Announcing the offer on 21 March 2023, Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad’ said the helicopters will be new and would come with […]

The procurement of an automatic cannon-armed Boxer armoured vehicle for direct tactical fire support of German infantry units has now cleared another hurdle. On 23 March 2023 the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Thomas Hitschler, and the Australian Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, signed a co-operation agreement on the intended procurement […]

US aircraft upgrade specialist Field Aerospace recently completed its work on the Avionics Modification Program (AMP) for the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) T-1A Jayhawk twin-engine jet trainer, the company announced on 21 March 2023. The goal of the AMP is to address avionics obsolescence issues in order to increase availability and decrease sustainment costs of […]

With a symbolic first weld, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has inaugurated the production of Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRVs) in Australia, Rheinmetall announced on 20 March 2023. Australia ordered 211 Boxer 8×8 wheeled reconnaissance vehicles from Rheinmetall for EUR 2.7 Bn in 2018 as part of the Land 400 Phase 2 defence programme. As agreed, […]

The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) has unveiled a new type of 5.56 mm ammunition known as J3 High-Power Ammunition, it emerged at DSEI Japan, held in Toko from 15 to 17 March 2023. The ammunition is suitable for Japan’s new Type 20 rifle, which will replace the Type 89 rifle in Japan Ground Self […]