The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the United Kingdom of defense articles and services for continued follow-on support to the MQ-9 Reaper program for an estimated cost of $500 million.
On April 6, 2018, during the rehearsal of military parade for Victory Day 2018, taking place every year May 9 in the center of Moscow, Russian army has unveiled new BMPT fire support combat vehicle. During Army-2017, the International Military Technical Forum that was held in August 2017, Russia’s Ministry of Defense has signed a contract for the supply of the first BMPT fire support combat vehicles to the Russian army.
The ROK Army is estimated to have already exceeded 1,150 units of the K9 155mm self-propelled howitzers. This figure doesn’t mean the end of the production, as two European countries have signed contracts to equip their forces with the K9, renamed according to their own specifications.
Regiments operating the Yars (NATO name: SS-29 Yars) missile system from the Strategic Missile Force’s large unit based in Nizhny Tagil, in the Ural Mountains, are performing maneuvers to move to new field positions during a command post exercise, the Defense Ministry’s press office said. They are also exploring new combat patrol areas, the press office added.
The Senegalese Gendarmerie showcased its recently purchased military vehicles produced by Nurol Makina, a Turkish defense manufacturer, on its Independence Day. Ejder Yalcin and Ejder Toma armored vehicles will be used to fight terrorism and organized crime.
Russia’s Army has received more than 10,000 items of military and special hardware under the state armament program, the Defense Ministry’s press office quoted Army Commander-in-Chief Colonel-General Oleg Salyukov as saying.
According to the "Sofia Globe" newspaper website, Bulgarian Defense Minister Krassimir Karakachanov has decided to ask for Cabinet approval for two acquisition projects, for 16 fighter jets and 150 combat vehicles for the land forces. Bulgaria needs to modernize its land forces and increase their capabilities to response to new combat missions.
An upgraded Russian antimissile was tested in Kazakhstan. The only operational ICBM defense facility in Russia is the A-135 Amur deployed in the Moscow region to defend the so-called Moscow administrative and industrial area. It became operational in 1995 and replaced the previous-generation A-35M.
The U.S. Army wants to keep able to respond at once to potential global threats. For the soldiers of the 82nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division (the “Big Red One”), that kind of decisive action was recently put to the test during a rapid response readiness exercise in eastern Europe.
There are no military or political restrictions for the joint production of S-400 (NATO code: SA-21 Growler) air defense missile systems with Turkey or the transfer of the relevant technologies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is a purely commercial issue, Putin added.
BAE Systems has delivered all of the AMPVs (Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle) built under the Engineering and Manufacturing Design (EMD) phase to the U.S. Army to begin the testing phase of the program. BAE Systems was awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion from the Army in December 2014 for EMD and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phases of the AMPV program.
The situation in Syria is much more complex than in Iraq, Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, said on 3 April at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Why? Because more factors are present there: Russia, the Assad regime, Iran, Turkey, Kurd movements, the United States and coalition forces are all involved there, Votel said.
India's Ministry of Defense is planning to acquire 6,500 sniper rifles to replace ageing AK-57 Dragunov SVD marksman rifles.
On April 3, administration officials, military leaders, senior Iraqi representatives and regional experts discussed views on Iraq at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Military efforts to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are about six to eight months ahead of where officials thought they would be at this point, Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, said. The success throughout the campaign has been quite extraordinary, he added.
Belarus will receive from Russia the fifth battery of Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missiles and four Yak-130 combat-training aircraft by the end of the year, Belarussian Defense Minister Andrey Ravkov said. "We signed contracts and provided financing to procure the fifth battery of Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile complexes and four Yak-130. We made upfront payments and expect the deliveries of the arms to be completed by the end of the year," he said.
While president Trump has announced he is considering pulling the US forces out of Syria, the same forces are reported to reinforce their positions and personnel in the northern Syrian city of Manbij to confront any potential Turkish military operation for which the city might be a battlefield in the war against Kurdish militias.
According to the Russian press agency TASS, the first regiment of Russian-made S-400 Triumf (NATO code SA-21 Growler) surface-to-air defense missile has been delivered to China. In January 2018, Russia has started to delivery of S-400 missile systems to China under a contract signed in 2014.
As already reported on Army Recognition.com, Peru and Chile have shown interest in acquiring the BrahMos cruise missile that India has jointly developed with Russia at a budget of $300 million. Particularly since a successful test fire carried on by a Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
In October 2017, US Army Field Artillery soldiers successfully tested the Joint Effects Targeting System Target Laser Designation System (JETS) in the Cold Regions Test Center at Fort Greely, Alaska. The testing procedure nears its end.
According a statement releases on March 30, 2018 to the official web site of the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Company Lockheed Martin was awarded a $278,839,837 modification (P000015) to Foreign Military Sales contract for Saudi Arabia to increase fiscal 2018 PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 production contract to include Cost-Reduction Initiative missiles and associated ground support equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of new offensive weapons capable of breaking through existing missiles shields, including the US ground and seaborne missile defense under deployment. His statement triggered a wave of publications about the weapons. However, the legal aspects of the design, flight tests and deployment of the weapons in the context of international treaties, including START-3, have not been covered so far, the Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie (Independent Military Review) writes.
An air defense missile unit of the Russian Eastern Military District’s air and air defense large unit has received advanced S-400 (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) surface-to-air defense missile systems, the district’s press office said.
Air and Missile Defense is one of the top modernization priorities of United States Army including the acquisition of a new SHORAD (Short Range Air Defense) mobile system. Air and Missile Defense systems will include the ability to defeat missile threats against the U.S., the deployed forces and the allies and partners.
According a statement published on March 29, 2018 on the Polish Ministry of Defense website, Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defense of Poland has signed contract with the Polish Company PIT-RADWAR S.A. to launch the first stage of the "WISŁA" country's Air Defense system program. The first phase of the program concerns the acquisition of two PATRIOT batteries in the 3+ configuration with the IBCS system.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces signed a contract with Israel’s company IAI ELTA this month on procuring five gap filler short-range air surveillance radars and logistic maintenance services. The radars are planned to be installed in Varėna, Švenčionys, Vilnius, Jurbarkas and Pagėgiai.