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Iranian F-4 crashes on training exercise
Iran has lost a number of its US-supplied F-4s over recent years as international sanctions have limited its ability to source spares and parts. Source: PA PhotosKorean Air wins RoK Army UAV contract
The confirmed specifications for the RoKA UAV contract match the KUS-FT tactical UAV unveiled at the ADEX 2015 defence exhibition in Seoul in October 2015. Source: IHS/James HardyRussia 'freezes' India out of MTA project, to proceed alone as Il-214
A model of the MTA showing the basic twin-engined design concept. Russia has decided to drop its Indian partner and to go it alone with the rest of the project, which it has designated the Il-214. Source: Paul JacksonRussia to activate three new ballistic missile warning radars by end of 2016
A Voronezh-type missile warning radar station in the village of Lekhtusi about 50 km north of St Petersburg, Russia. Source: PA Photos
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Airbus and Provincial Aerospace announce new search-and-rescue JV
Airbus, having submitted a bit for Canada's fixed-wing search-and-rescue (FWSAR) replacement programme, is teaming with Provincial Aerospace on a new company that would provide services for Airbus' entry, the company announced on 11 January. 11 January was the final date for bidders to submit their
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Artillery and small-arms fire to persist in Myanmar's Shan, Kachin, and Rakhine states despite peace dialogue
EVENT On 12 January 2016, Myanmar's Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the opening of the peace conference, following the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). Suu Kyi pledged to end decades of conflict with the country's armed insurgents
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Bangladesh Navy receives two new corvettes
The Bangladesh Navy (BN) has received two new Chinese-built corvettes, according to a BN press release. The statement said that the C13B corvettes BNS Shadhinota (F 111) and BNS Prottoy (F 112) had arrived at their home port of Chittagong on 10 January. The corvettes, a variant of the Type-056
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FZ set finalise development of new 2.75-in laser guided rocket
Forges de Zeebrugge (FZ), a subsidiary of the Thales Group, is set to finalise development of its new 70-mm/2.75-in semi-active laser (SAL) folding fin aerial rocket (FFAR) following completion of series of test firings from a South African Air Force Rooivalk attack helicopter at the Denel Overberg
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HEICO completes fuel system firm acquisition
US aviation and defence firm HEICO announced on 12 January that it had completed the acquisition of Robertson Fuel Systems. The deal, first announced on 21 December, saw HEICO pay Robertson's private equity owners American Securities USD255 million in cash for the business. Robertson designs and
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Implementation of shoot-down law moderately increases commercial and civilian aviation risks around Peru's VRAEM region
EVENT Peru started implementing on 12 January 2016 the Law of Control, Surveillance, and Defence of the Aerial Space, which gives the Air Force the right to shoot down aircrafts considered hostile or carrying drugs. The law had been approved on 12 August 2015 but its implementation had been
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Islamic State influence threatens the Western Balkans
Since 2012, approximately 1,000 fighters from the Western Balkans have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join Islamist militant groups. Adrian Shtuni examines the foreign fighter phenomenon in each country and assesses the growing domestic security threat in the region. -
Great expectations: The US Navy's first Ford-class aircraft carrier prepares for debut
Fitted with all-electric technologies, the future USS Gerald R Ford is poised to usher in a new era in US naval air power when it is delivered in mid-2016. However, the eponymous lead ship in the US Navy's new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier class has had its share of first-in-class challenges. Grace Jean reports -
Known unknowns: Future Operating Environment 2035
Published with little fanfare less than a month after the UK Strategic Defence and Security Review, Future Operating Environment 2035 attempts to characterise key defence and security challenges 20 years hence. Richard Scott looks at how the report assesses technological change.
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Iranian F-4 crashes on training exercise
A McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) crashed on 12 January, killing both crew members. The aircraft came down in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan after suffering unspecified 'technical problems', state
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Rheinmetall reveals Thai air-defence contract
Germany's Rheinmetall has announced it has secured a contract from the Royal Thai Army (RTA) for four Skyguard air-defence systems. The contract, which was signed in July 2015 but only announced on 11 January, covers the provision of four Oerlikon Skyguard 3 fire-control systems and eight 35 mm
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Russia to activate three new ballistic missile warning radars by end of 2016
Russia is to activate three more of its 'Voronezh'-series long-range early warning radar systems in 2016, as it looks to fully recapitalise its ground-based ballistic missile defence network by the end of the decade, state media announced on 12 January. Along with a further two radar stations that
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Saudi Arabia denies cluster bomb attack on Sanaa
Saudi Arabia has denied the coalition it is leading to restore Yemen's ousted president dropped CBU-58 cluster bombs on the capital, Sanaa, on 6 January. In an interview broadcast by CNN on 11 January, Saudi military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri admitted the coalition had used Textron
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Constitutional reforms in Algeria likely aimed at facilitating presidential succession
Key Points The reform package completes the process begun at the height of the so-called 'Arab Spring' protests in 2011. The changes are primarily aimed at smoothing the presidential succession and securing Bouteflika's legacy through a moderate increase in parliamentary powers. Constitutional
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US flies B-52 over South Korea to ward off Pyongyang
The US Air Force (USAF) flew a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress strategic bomber over South Korea on 10 January in a display of support for Seoul following a nuclear bomb test by Pyongyang days previously. The B-52H was escorted over South Korea by a USAF Lockheed Martin KF-16 Fighting Falcon and
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North Korea carries out fourth nuclear test
Key Points North Korea's fourth nuclear test is unlikely to have been of a hydrogen (thermonuclear) weapon, as claimed by Pyongyang. Other possibilities are that the test involved tritium in a 'boosted bomb', or that it was a simple fission weapon. Ultimately, North Korea is unlikely to have
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Mexican Navy captures 'el Chapo' Guzman, again
Key Points The Mexican Navy, likely the Marine Corps Special Operations Unit, captured fugitive Joaquín Guzman Loera The joint operation was based upon an urgent intelligence collection effort that began after Guzman's elaborate July 2014 prison escape On 8 January Mexican President Enrique
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China developing new rail-mobile ICBM, say US officials
On 5 December 2015 China was observed conducting a launcher test of a new rail-mobile version of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to US officials. It was not a full test, but just a trial of the 'cold launch'
