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India, China agree to step up military exchanges
India and China have agreed to augment reciprocal visits by defence personnel in an effort to enhance communication between the armies of the nuclear-armed neighbours. At the 9th Annual Defence and Security Dialogue held in Beijing on 13 November the two sides also agreed to enhance joint military
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Merkel’s call for ‘common armaments systems’ faces huge hurdles, officials say
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has thrown her weight behind the creation of a European army, telling the European Parliament on 13 November that “the times when we could rely on others are past”. Matching her rhetoric to that of French President Emmanuel Macron a week earlier, she
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No timeline set for US withdrawal from INF Treaty
US leaders are in talks with major allies and partner nations about how to proceed if the US withdraws from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), according to the US State Department’s Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson. However, a
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UK invests in Ashchurch vehicle depot
Plans to run down the UK’s main armoured vehicle maintenance and storage depot have been halted, following the announcement by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) of investment plans to expand the site at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire. The GBP101 million (USD130 million) investment
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Pentagon to detail spending cut trade-offs for the White House
By early December Pentagon leaders will layout two fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) national security budgets for US President Donald Trump and detail the trade-offs associated with shrinking the budget by USD33 billion, said Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. Speaking with Pentagon reporters
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Russian defence minister outlines military development
The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) is intensifying training of military personnel, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a brief review of Russia's military development on 6 November. “This year, the Ground Forces [SV] have conducted more than 3,800 battalion-level tactical exercises.
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IDF satisfied with Iron Dome’s performance during latest escalation
Israeli military officials have expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Rafael Iron Dome air defence system during a brief but intense escalation with Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other groups fired approximately 460 projectiles
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US Air Force anticipates reprogramming funds to achieve fighter jet mission capability goal
The US Air Force (USAF) anticipates reprogramming funds to help achieve a defence secretary-mandated goal of 80% mission capability for three key fighter jet platforms. “We’ll have to shift resources from other areas to be able to get to that,” USAF Vice Chief of Staff General
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Latin American submarine drills underscore regional ASW partnerships
The recent trilateral submarine exercises off the South American coast conducted by US, Columbian, and Peruvian naval forces further honed and expanded more realistic anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training for the region. The exercise in waters off the coast of Colombia between 1 and 6 November
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Pentagon to prioritise increasing laser weapon power in future budgets
Key Points The Pentagon will prioritise laser scaling across several technologies in future missile defence budgets This could spur additional spending on laser weapons in other services The Pentagon will place renewed emphasis on laser scaling, or making laser weapons more powerful, across
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Polish president approves command reform
President Andrzej Duda signed legislation on 10 November to reform the Polish Armed Force's command structure, the Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced the same day on its website. The ministry said the legislation would simplify the command structure and eliminate the
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Ethiopia consulting several countries on re-establishing navy
General Berhanu Jula, the deputy chief of staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), has confirmed that his landlocked country is looking to establish a naval base in another country. In an interview published by the Ethiopian Press Agency on 8 November, Gen Berhanu said that Addis Ababa
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New NATO mission in Iraq to focus on training defence sector
A new, non-combat NATO-led mission will be stood up in Iraq next year to provide support to the country’s defence sector. UK Army Major General Christopher Ghika, the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve’s (CJTF-OIR’s) deputy commander for strategy and information,
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India, Indonesia hold inaugural edition of Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’
Key Points The Indian, and Indonesian navies are taking part in a new bilateral exercise known as ‘Samudra Shakti’ Exercise has been widely interpreted as part of New Delhi’s move to strengthen its presence in the strategic maritime region In a further sign of increasingly
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Beijing announces plan to transform PLAAF into a ‘world-class air force’
China has announced that it is implementing a three-stage plan to transform the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from an arm of national defence into a strategic asset. The first stage of the plan should be completed by 2020 and achieve the integration of air and space power and the
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No agreement with Pyongyang to dismantle Sakkanmol missile base, says Seoul
Following the publication of a report by a US-based think tank on North Korea’s Sakkanmol missile base, South Korea’s presidential office announced on 13 November that it has no specific agreement with Pyongyang for the site to be dismantled. The report, which was released a day earlier
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Russian Navy returns to Spanish enclave after two years
Russian Navy ships have begun using the Spanish enclave harbour of Ceuta again, two years after their resupply visits were suspended amid complaints from NATO allies about aiding Russia at a time when it was taking an increasingly active part in the Syria conflict. Three ships called at the port
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Seoul, Pyongyang withdraw personnel from 22 DMZ guard posts
The armed forces of North and South Korea have completed the process of withdrawing troops from 22 border guard posts (11 each) in the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) as part of a deal reached by the two countries in September aimed at preventing armed confrontation along the border areas. The
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UAE-backed Yemeni operation making progress in Al-Hudaydah
The renewed operation around Al-Hudaydah appears to be a major offensive to capture the Yemeni port city, rather than another incremental step to take new positions on its outskirts. Yemeni forces equipped and supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took the airport south of the city in June,
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US Army secretary: Permanently forward basing more units would hinder training
Repetitive US Army deployments to places like Europe and the Middle East are stressing the force; however, unit training would take a hit if the service moved to permanently forward base additional troops, according to US Army Secretary Mark Esper. During an 8 November American Enterprise Institute
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