The ASMPA – seen here on the aircraft centreline – is scheduled to remain in service until around 2035. (SirpaAir/French Air Force)  France has approved the mid-life refurbishment of its Air-Sol Moyenne Portée Amélioré (ASMPA) air-launched nuclear missile inventory after a successful second qualification firing.  ‎Announced by France's Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) on 24 March, the firing of the unarmed ASMPA missile was undertaken from a Dassault Rafale combat aircraft operating from Cazaux Air Force Base in southwest France. In its...

A file photo of   Kurobe.   The vessel has been slightly damaged after an accident on 22 March 2022.   (Hachiro Nakai)  The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF's) sole Kurobe-class anti-air training vessel has been slightly damaged after it struck a navigation marker while navigating in waters off Shimonoseki.  Janes  has been informed by a source close to the matter that the vessel was navigating through a stretch of the Shimonoseki Strait, known as the Kanmon Passage, on 22 March when it encountered...

Roketsan's Levent close-in-weapon system. (Roketsan)  Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan displayed its newly developed Levent (‘Sea Soldier') close-in air defence system (CIADS) at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) 2022, held in Doha, Qatar.    The 21-cell missile system is designed to launch the naval version of the Sungur short-range anti-air missile, and is also capable of firing cruise missiles and sea-skimming missiles, a company spokesperson told   Janes  .   Levent has been...

The Russian Black Sea Fleet's Alligator-class large landing ship   Orsk  . The Ukrainian Navy claims to have destroyed the ship while it was near the port of Russian-occupied Berdyanskof on 24 March, although this remains to be confirmed.   (Cem Devrim Yaylali)  The Ukrainian Navy claims that it has destroyed one of Russia's large landing ships near the port city of Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov.  In a 24 March post on its official Facebook social media page, the Ukrainian Navy said it had destroyed the Black Sea...

The Australian government has introduced a ban on exports of aluminium ores and alumina to Russia. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on 20 March that the sales ban is intended to impact Russia's defence industry.  “The goods d...

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference after allied defence ministers met in Brussels on 16 March that they had tasked their military commanders to develop defence and deterrence options for the land, air, sea, cyber, and space domains for approval by a summit of allied leaders at the end of June. (NATO)  NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels on 16 March, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have tasked their military commanders with developing defence and deterrence options across all domains for appr...

Japan has introduced additional restrictions on exports to Russia of technologies and goods that can be used by its defence industrial complex. The move is coupled with new sanctions Tokyo has placed on several military enterprises operated by Mosc...

FNSS has presented initial production Kaplan MT medium tanks to the Indonesian Army at a ceremony held in Turkey. A prototype of the platform, which is known in Indonesia as Harimau, is pictured here undergoing trials. (FNSS)  Turkey's FNSS has handed over the initial Kaplan MT Modern Medium Weight Tanks (MMWTs) to the Indonesian Army.  The company said in a press release on 15 March that it has now built the first batch of MMWTs in “serial production configuration”. It said these vehicles were delivered to representatives of the Indonesian A...

An image of Bharath Electronic Limited (BEL) new tethered airbase surveillance drone. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)  Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is developing a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to thwart future infiltration attacks on air bases.  BEL officials said that the company is working on a programme to develop the tethered UAV system, which weighs 9 kg and is designed to loiter in a fixed position above airfields and army bases, providing 360-degree surveillance capability.  “The UAV is tethered by an optical fibre cable, which als...

The Norwegian Coast Guard's second Jan Mayen-class OPV,   Bjørnøya,  arrives at Vard's Langsten shipyard in Tomrefjord, Norway, on 10 March.  (VARD)  The second Jan Mayan-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) on order for the Norwegian Coast Guard has arrived in Norway for outfitting, Vard Shipbuilding announced on 11 March.  Bjørnøya is the second of three Jan Mayan-class vessels being built by Vard under a NOK5.2 billion (USD607 million) contract awarded in June 2018. The acquisition is one of the largest defence...

The Indian government has acknowledged that the crash of a supersonic missile in Pakistan was because of a technical malfunction.  The high-speed missile – launched on 9 March – travelled a distance of about 200 km, following its launch from Sirsa,...

Pakistan has claimed that an unarmed, high-speed missile originating from India violated its airspace before crashing in its territory.  The missile landed in Pakistan on 9 March, Major General Babar Iftikhar, the director-general of the Inter-Serv...

Bharat Electronics Limited may offer its 100 Mbps HCRR (pictured) to the Indian Army. (BEL)  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has recently issued a request for information (RFI) for high-capacity radio relay (HCRR) equipment for the Indian Army.  According to the RFI, the MoD will acquire 800 units of HCRR equipment for the Indian Army. In addition, the HCRR equipment should “meet the operational aim of engineering and setting up secure, high-bandwidth, point-to-point communication links networks in high-altitude areas, mountainous [areas...

The Philippines has taken delivery of the first two of six TAI T129B attack helicopters (examples of which are pictured above). (Turkish Aerospace Industries)  The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has received the first two of six T129B ATAK helicopters ordered from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).  The PAF said in a 9 March statement on its Facebook page that the units arrived at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, aboard two Airbus A400M transport aircraft from Turkey.  Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano, PAF spokesperson, told the s...

Ukraine has joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) as a contributing participant after all 27 sponsoring countries in the Steering Committee of the CCDCOE agreed to its membership, the centre announced on 4 March....

South Korea is preparing to test the performance of its indigenously developed active electronic scanned array (AESA) radar, meant for integration into the KF-21 fighter aircraft.  The announcement, which was made by the country's Defense Acquisiti...

France's Nexter Munitions and Mecar (both subsidiaries of Nexter Group) and Indonesia's PT Pindad signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to Medium Calibre Munitions and Large Calibre Munitions.  According to a press statement by PT Pind...

Daily anti-war protests have taken place across Russia since military forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February. According to the independent monitor OVD-Info, more than 13,000 people have been detained in 147 cities as of 7 March.  Reacting to the gro...

An Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster at Hindon Air Force station in Ghaziabad, India, on 3 March 2022. The aircraft carried 200 Indians, mostly students, who were stranded in Ukraine. This was the first evacuation flight to reach India from Romania. (Amarjeet Kumar Singh/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)    Ukraine has a large student population from countries such as China, India, Nigeria, Philippines, and Thailand. India had 20,000 nationals in Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion on 24 February, according to the Indian Ministry...

Ukraine flooded its lone frigate, the Project 1135.1 Krivak III-class ship   Hetman Sagaidachny,  to avoid its use by the Russian Navy, Ukraine's defence minister has confirmed.   In a statement on his Facebook social media pa...