Reports indicate 11 Russian-backed contractors have been killed in the Central African Republic (CAR) since August: the first consistent reports of Russian fatalities since their deployment in 2018.  Correlating reports from local news organizations, Janes has identified four instances that resulted in the deaths of Russian-backed contractors.  Most recently, on 12 October, five foreign contractors were killed in an ambush laid by rebels in the Bombo area in western CAR. Three contractors were reportedly killed in an ambush near Bombo on 2 Oc...

Vendors trade heroin and hashish at a drug market on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 24 September 2021. Although the country's economy is close to collapse, opium traders claim that prices for their goods have skyrocketed since the Taliban takeover. (Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images)  India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on 21 September announced that nearly three tonnes of heroin had been seized at the port of Mundra in Gujarat state. According to the BBC, the consignment had originated from Afghanistan, was transshi...

US-based Rocket Lab has continued to expand beyond its core business of launch vehicles by acquiring Advanced Solutions Inc (ASI), which develops flight software for spacecraft, Rocket Lab announced on 12 October.  ASI will become part of Rocket La...

French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly addresses the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) on 22 January 2019 in Lille, France. At the 2021 iteration of the FIC, Parly announced an increase in the country's recruitment of ‘cyber-combatants'. (Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)  At the International Cybersecurity Forum (Forum International de Cybersécurité: FIC) in Lille on 7 July 2021, French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly announced an additional recruitment effort by the Ministry. In addition to 1,100 new job openings...

Jonathan Toebbe, an engineer for the US Navy (USN) Naval Reactors, and his wife Diana, both of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested on 9 October in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Naval Crimina...

A report on the Western Sahara released by the UN Secretary General on 8 October confirmed that Western Saharan rebels have been carrying out attacks against Moroccan forces since they renounced the 30-year ceasefire in November 2020.  Since then,...

North Korea's Academy of Defence Science (ADS) has test-launched what it claims to be a newly developed surface-to-air missile.  The test-launch was conducted on 30 September to confirm the “general combat functions” of the missile and its accompan...

UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace has revealed that his ministry is working to streamline the approval process for future kinetic strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan.  Speaking during a Policy Exchange think-tank panel at t...

Nuclear flight trials of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have been completed, paving the way for the type receiving its nuclear design certification.  The US Air Force (USAF) announced on 4 October that two F-35As...

A French naval vessel in the port of Abidjan on 8 November 2019 participates in an exercise with Côte d'Ivoire authorities to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. International co-operation is key for regional states' efforts to tackle the problem. (Patrick Fort/AFP via Getty Images)  The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency's (NIMASA's) Director-General Bashir Jamoh stated on 16 September that costs incurred by piracy in the Gulf of Guinea amounted to USD783 million in 2021. Since 2016, the Gulf of Guinea has become a global ho...

Jon Grevatt, principal at Janes takes a look at the plan to allocate TWD240 billion to enhance sea and air combat capability  Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has advanced its plan to allocate TWD240 billion (USD8.6 billion) in additional military funding to enhance the island’s sea and air combat capability. The MND submitted its funding plan for approval to the island’s Legislative Yuan on 4 October. The proposal was approved by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan in September.   The funding plan was submitted on the same day that the MND an...

A girl and her brother stand on a donkey cart next to their tent at a displacement camp for people affected by intense flooding in Beledweyne, Somalia, on 14 December 2019. (Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)  This article is the fifth in the 2021 Climate Change & Terrorism series, which explores the intersection of climate-related trends and non-state armed group (NSAG) activity across the globe.  Drought is currently affecting several regions in Somalia, particularly in Bari, Gedo, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nuugal, Sool, and Toghdh...

As Airshow China 2021 kicks off,  Kelvin Wong, unmanned systems editor at Janes explores the unique flavour of China’s premier national aerospace and defence exhibition series and previews the some of the new systems that will debut at this year’s event  The 13th iteration of the biennial China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China, promises to be yet another brief but valuable window of opportunity to observe China’s growing ability to indigenously develop and field advanced equipment.   This year’s edit...

Australia's Collins-class submarines seen here in formation off Western Australia. The country is procuring a fleet of nuclear-powered boats to replace the Collins class, and the move has evoked varied reactions from Canberra's Southeast Asian neighbours including Malaysia. (Commonwealth of Australia)  A Malaysian delegation will visit China to hold talks with the country's leadership on AUKUS and understand the concerns that Beijing may have over the newly announced partnership.  The matter was disclosed by the country's Defence Minister Hi...

India's Union Minister for Environment and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry launch the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD) under the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, in New Delhi, India, on 13 September 2021. India's armed forces are beginning to address the security challenges posed by climate change. (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment report (AR6)...

The RN's second-in-class aircraft carrier HMS   Prince of Wale  s (foreground), pictured sailing with sister ship   Queen Elizabeth  for the first time in the North Atlantic in May 2021.  (Crown copyright/UK Ministry of Defence)    The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) second-in-class aircraft carrier HMS   Prince of Wales  is participating in NATO Maritime Command's (MARCOM's) ‘Dynamic Mariner' exercise as a final sea trials phase for certifying its availability for operations.     On...

The US Coast Guard (USCG) needs to develop a better system to improve the way it conducts surge operations, according to 21 September report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  “The coastguard must often rely on surge operations to redu...

Four of the RAN's six Collins-class submarines in close formation while transiting Cockburn Sound in Western Australia. These conventionally powered boats will now be replaced by a fleet with nuclear propulsion. (Lt C Prescott/Commonwealth of Australia)  Australia's far-reaching strategic decision to procure a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the assistance of the United States and United Kingdom was driven by three convergent situations, according to sources familiar with the background to the surprise 16 September announcement.  The...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officially released its quarterly report on Iran's nuclear programme on 16 September, revealing a significant decrease in the overall size of its uranium stockpile since the last report in May.  It esti...

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has moved to calm a war of words with the French government over Australia's ditching of a deal to build conventionally powered submarines with French assistance in favour of nuclear-powered submarines based on UK a...