The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS   Barry  is seen here launching a Tomahawk cruise missile. The JMSDF will soon be equipped with this capability.  (US Navy)  Japan has concluded a letter of acceptance (LOA) that paves the way for the country to acquire the Tomahawk cruise missile and its related equipment from the US.  This acquisition milestone was concluded on 18 January, the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on the same day. The weapons will be procured under the Foreign Military Sa...

The Saniya C-UAS fitted on the turret roof cage of a Russian 1st Army Corps T-80BVM tank. (Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)  A new counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) known as Saniya, developed by Russian company 3MX, has been equipped on one of Russia's T-80BVM tanks.  The system was seen onboard a Russian 1st Army Corps T-80BVM tank operating near Pervomayskoye, Ukraine in a video posted by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on Telegram on 14 January.  Tests of the C-UAS were scheduled to be completed by the...

France has announced a package of air-launched munitions for Ukraine, including the AASM Hammer guided bomb. Although seen here in its baseline GPS/INS-guided version in front of French Rafale fighters, they will likely be used by Ukraine on the F-16. (Safran)  France is to send to Ukraine the Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer guided bomb for the first time while pledging more MBDA SCALP EG cruise missiles. At the same time, Germany has refused to transfer the Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile.  French President Emmanuel Macron sai...

US marines with Marine Corps Systems Command fire a Stinger Missile from the Marine Air Defense Integrated System at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona on 13 December 2023. (US Marine Corps )  Marines recently got their hands on a Marine Air-Defense Integrated System (MADIS) for the first live fire of an initial rate production model, US Marine Corps (USMC) officials announced on 11 January.  As one of the marine's central air-defence capabilities, MADIS is being developed to take on the threat of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other...

A Bayraktar TB2 carries a Desert Sting 16 guided bomb during an integration test flight. (Edge)  The Emirati defence group Edge is working with Baykar to integrate its Desert Sting guided bomb on the Turkish company's Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it was announced on 17 January.  In a statement, Edge said the plan is to initially integrate the Desert Sting 16 (DS-16) with the TB2 before the end of this year as part of its strategic alliance agreement with Baykar, with other payloads to follow.  “Integration of the Desert Sting...

An artist's portrayal of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. (Northrop Grumman)  Northrop Grumman has fired the second-stage solid-fuel rocket motor for the LGM-35A Sentinel nuclear missile for the first time, the company announced on 16 January.  The test was conducted inside a vacuum chamber at the US Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee, intended to simulate the high-altitude and space environments in which the motor would operate. Data from the test is to be compared against digitally simulate...

The DRDO conducted a successful flight test of the new-generation missile from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha, in mid-January. (Indian Ministry of Defence)  India's state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has test-fired the new-generation Akash (Akash-NG) surface-to-air missile (SAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off India's northeastern coast of Odisha, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a press release in mid-January.  According to the MoD, the flight test...

The M142 HIMARS – pictured above from Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre' 2019 – is a 227 mm (six-round) MLRS. HIMARS can hit targets at a range of 70 km using GMLRS missiles. (Australian Department of Defence)  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has awarded a contract worth AUD37.4 million (USD24.9 million) to Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA) to manufacture guided multiple launch rocket system (GMLRS) missiles in Australia, the DoD said in a press release on 16 January.  Under the ‘Guided Weapons Production Capability (GWPC) Risk Reduction Acti...

Serbia is procuring equipment including 81 Miloš II 4×4 multi-purpose armoured combat vehicles (pictured during a live-firing demonstration at the Nikinci testing range on 18 July 2023). (Serbian MoD)  Serbia will spend nearly EUR740 million (USD810. million) in 2024 on new military equipment, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on 13 January during a visit to Serbia's Military Security Agency.  He said, “We currently have EUR186 million of free funds in the bank account of [state-owned intermediary for export/import of defence equip...

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on 14 January. North Korea was said to have fired a ballistic missile that day and this was confirmed by Pyongyang on 15 January. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)  North Korea has claimed that the weapon it tested on 14 January was a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that was tipped with a hypersonic warhead.  The latest test was carried out to verify the gliding and manoeuvring capa...

A WMA301 fire-support vehicle displayed during an inspection of new equipment by the president of Burkina Faso on 12 January 2024. (Présidence du Faso)  Burkina Faso is the latest African military to procure 105 mm WMA301 fire-support vehicles made by Chinese company Norinco, it was revealed on 12 January when President Captain Ibrahim Traoré attended a ceremony to mark the delivery of a consignment of new military equipment.  A video released by the president's office showed Traoré inspecting six WMA301s with a command vehicle, along with ei...

The US Navy combined a CUSV with a UAV for a recent live-fire targeting demonstration. (Textron Systems)    The US Navy (USN) recently combined different types of unmanned platforms for    a successful live-fire demonstration, Captain Matthew Lehmann, programme manager for Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules (LCS MM), noted on 10 January during a briefing at the Surface Navy Association (SNA) National Symposium 2024.   According to the USN's Unmanned and Small Combatants (USC) programme office, during a C4F Fleet Experimen...

Kosovo has requested 246 FGM-148F Javelin missiles and related equipment from the US. (Javelin Joint Venture)  The US State Department notified the US Congress on 11 January of a possible Foreign Military Sales of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Kosovo for an estimated cost of USD75 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced in a press release later the same day.  Kosovo has requested 246 FGM-148F Javelin missiles, including six fly-to-buy missiles; 24 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LWCLUs); Javelin LWCLU ba...

A photograph released on 10 January 2024 shows a Rafael SPYDER All in One air-defence system launching a Python missile in a test. (Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)  Rafael and the Israel Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) Directorate for Defense Research and Development have completed a successful test of the All in One (AiO) variant of the company's SPYDER air-defence system, it was announced on 10 January.  Carried out in December 2023, the test included the interception of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) “in a challenging operational scenario...

The US Navy is buying more John Lewis-class oilers to meet deployment refuelling needs. (General Dynamics NASSCO)  As the US Navy (USN) continues to deploy its surface fleet to hot spots around the globe, the service must hone its ability to rearm and refuel those ships at sea, according to USN Secretary Carlos Del Toro.  “Every day, our ships respond to aggression and illegal activities with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, the Arabian Gulf, the Caribbean, and across Europe,” Del Toro said on 10 January during a keynote speech at...

The USN is looking to combine live and virtual elements in exercises as it did during ‘Large Scale Exercise' 2023. (Janes/Michael Fabey)  The US Navy (USN) needs to shift its global force management plans to better reflect the more dangerous and competitive nature in the world, according to Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander, US Fleet Forces Command.  “We typically generate forces with our model to support global force management presence requirements for peacetime rotations,” Adm Caudle said on 9 January during a keynote speech at the Surface N...

HMS   Richmond   deploys to the Red Sea to help safeguard international shipping.  (Crown copyright)  The UK Royal Navy (RN) has deployed a third ship to the Gulf to provide resilience to UK naval presence in the region amid ongoing attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on merchant shipping.    The Type 23 Duke-class frigate HMS   Richmond  (F 239) departed Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth, the UK on 6 January and is now en route to the Gulf to support the international effort to protect shipping...

The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a new 7.62×51 mm assault rifle known as ‘Ugram' for the Indian Army. (Defence Research and Development Organisation/Janes)  India's state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) subsidiary Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) has developed a new 7.62×51 mm assault rifle known as ‘Ugram' for the Indian Army, an ARDE spokesperson told Janes on 9 January.  The rifle can strike at a maximum range of 500 m and is developed in collaboration with Hyder...

South Korea's domestically developed TAipers anti-tank missile is scheduled to start replace the Republic of Korea's (RoK's) military stocks of ageing TOW missiles from 2024. (Janes)  South Korea is preparing to mass-produce its domestically developed TAipers (‘Tank Snipers' or Cheongeom) air-launched anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).    The TAipers will go into mass production from 2024 to 2031, a spokesperson from South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told  Janes  . According to the agency, the prog...

The ECDI has delivered the Piorun to the EDF (photo of Lt Col Lelov holding the MANPADS). (ECDI/Kermo Pastarus)  The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) announced in a press release on 8 January that it had delivered Polish Piorun short-range manportable air defence systems (MANPADS) to the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF).  An ECDI spokesperson told Janes on 9 January that deliveries were ongoing from 2023 to 2025 but would not disclose numbers. He said training mainly for reservists had begun in mid-2023 as part of the planned deliv...