The United Arab Emirates Coast Guard has placed an order valued at €400 million ($435 million/Dh1.6 billion) for 10 advanced offshore patrol vessels from the newly established MAESTRAL shipbuilding joint venture between Italy’s Fincantieri and UAE’s EDGE defense group. The formal agreement creating MAESTRAL, with EDGE holding a 51% stake, was announced in February. The […]
The UK Ministry of Defence is making steady progress towards operationalizing the DragonFire laser weapon system, according to new statements from Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. Responses to parliamentary questions reveal validation analysis and rigorous testing are already underway. “DSTL have conducted operational analysis of the proposed system and have confirmed with the Royal Navy that […]
The China-Cambodia Golden Dragon-2024 joint military exercise is proceeding smoothly, with Cambodian troops gaining hands-on experience with some of China’s latest weapons and equipment. The drills highlight the high level of mutual trust between the two militaries, experts say. Over the weekend, the exercise entered its adaptation phase where participating forces conducted skills exchanges and […]
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were on board a helicopter that reportedly made a “hard landing” in northwest Iran early Thursday morning local time. The aircraft carrying the two leaders has gone missing amid adverse weather conditions, prompting a massive search and rescue operation. According to Iranian state media, the helicopter […]
French aerospace manufacturer Dassault Aviation plans to significantly increase production of its Rafale multirole fighter jet to three units per month in 2023, up from two per month currently. The production ramp-up comes in response to a surge in new orders from both foreign militaries and the French Air Force itself. “We are moving from […]
The UK Ministry of Defence has provided cost details for the British Army’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopter program in response to a parliamentary question. The figures reveal over £2.1 billion in procurement and long-term support costs for the advanced helicopters to date. According to Defence Procurement Minister James Cartlidge, the initial acquisition of 50 AH-64E […]
The joint UK-French Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) program has made significant strides recently, according to the British Ministry of Defence. Ministers provided progress updates in response to parliamentary questions on the advanced missile development effort. “The FC/ASW program is now in its third year of the assessment phase with joint Anglo-French teams designing novel technological […]
Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar has completed delivery of 24 Bayraktar TB2 armed unmanned aerial systems to Poland, fulfilling a $270 million contract signed in 2021. The final batch was handed over in a ceremony on May 16th attended by officials from both nations. Under the deal, Poland procured a total of four TB2 systems, each […]
The U.S. Navy has tapped BAE Systems to develop the cutting edge Dual Band Decoy (DBD), one of the world’s most advanced airborne radio frequency (RF) countermeasure systems. DBD will provide advanced jamming capabilities to shield fighter jets from enemy radar and missile threats. Building on BAE’s proven AN/ALE-55 towed decoy, DBD consists of an […]
The United States and Japan have signed a formal agreement to jointly develop an advanced interceptor system designed to defeat hypersonic missile threats during the glide phase of flight. The Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) cooperative project arrangement was announced on May 15th by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Japanese Defense Ministry. According to the […]
