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Russia Tests New Kalashnikov AKV-521 Carbine
Russia’s Kalashnikov Concern has begun testing a new carbine for its AKV-521 rifle. The AKV-521 semi-automatic carbine is intended to provide shooters with modular, multi-caliber weapon platform which build on purpose of mounting... More of this article »
China’s JF-17, FC-31 Jet Engine Production Line Ready
China has completed construction of a third-generation medium-thurst aeroengine production line that will reportedly be responsible for the manufacture of engines that would power JF-17 and FC-31 fighter jets. The construction project... More of this article »
Russia’s Proposed Aircraft Carrier to Have Ski Jump, Electromagnetic Catapult Launch
The Russian Navy’s proposed nuclear powered aircraft carrier will have both ski-jump and an electromagnetic catapult launch system. According to Alexei Rakhmanov, General Director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC),... More of this article »
Russian PD-14 Engine for MC-21 Airliner passes ICAO Emission Certification Test
The PD-14 engine designed to power Russia’s MC-21 airliner has cleared emission tests conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The corresponding addition to the PD-14 type certificate was received by UEC-Aviadvigatel,... More of this article »
Russia’s Pantsir-S1 Systems Destroy ‘Enemy’ Drones Attacking S-400s
Russian military’s Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft systems destroyed “enemy” drones that were attacking S-400 air defense systems during a recent exercise in Crimea. The Southern Military District said in a statement that the Pantsir... More of this article »
Indian MoD to Buy Software Defined Radio from BEL Worth Over INR 1,000 Crore
The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) today signed a contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) worth over INR 1,000 crore ($137 million). The SDR-Tac, jointly designed... More of this article »
Indian Su-30MKI Upgrade Program to be Finalized in 6-9 Months
Upgrading of the Su-30MKI fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be finalized in the next 6-9 months with some aircraft undergoing the upgrade in Russia and the rest in India. Discussions with the IAF and the Russians (United Aircraft... More of this article »
Kalashnikov May Have Bagged Strela 9М333 Guided Missile deal in India
Russia’s Kalashnikov may have marked the first international sale of its Strela 9М333 Guided Missiles systems to India. Sources in the know told defenseworld.net that progress in the contract was made towards the end of 2020. A... More of this article »
China Replacing Russian Mi-17 Helicopters with Indigenous Z-20 Choppers
Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has started replacing its Russian-made Mi-17 series helicopters with locally-made Z-20 choppers in transport roles for PLA troops. During a recent PLA exercise, “the Mi-171 transport helicopter... More of this article »
France Orders 3,000 Thales O-NYX Night Vision Goggles
The French armed forces have placed an order for 3,000 O-NYX goggles with Thales. The additional 3,000 night vision goggles ordered by the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) will be delivered in 2021 for deployment into French... More of this article »
HAL to Fly Production Version of AESA Radar in Jaguar Darin III Aircraft in March
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will fly a Jaguar Darin III fighter with a production version of an ELTA-sourced Active Electronically Scanning Radar by March 2021. The radar will be a completely built up unit (CBU) but integrated... More of this article »
India’s HAL Readies New Plant to Double Tejas Jets Production Capacity
India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is preparing the third plant to produce 83 new Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A jets that the Air Force is expected to sign a contract for, during Aero-India 2021 event scheduled... More of this article »
HAL’s Displays RUAV Drone Concept for High-Altitude Cargo Delivery
India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has shown the concept of a helicopter drone called RUAV designed to carry load in high altitude regions. The concept shown at Aero India 2021 can be fitted with a surveillance payload... More of this article »
Is the Carting Away of Russian Pantsir S1 linked to U.S. Army’s IM-SHORAD Testing?
Speculation is rife that the U S military moving a Russian-made Pantsir S1 air defence system (ADS) from Libya to Germany may have something to do with the development and testing of the Interim Maneuver, Short-range Air-defense... More of this article »
Lockheed Receives Mission Planning Contract for Potential F-16 Sales to India, Pakistan, 21 Other Nations
Lockheed Martin received a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contract worth $64.3 million for F-16 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mission planning. It involves FMS to Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Morocco, Greece, United Arab Emirates,... More of this article »
First Serially Produced Su-57 Jet Delivered to Russian MoD
The first serially produced Su-57 has been rolled out from the hangar of a test center in Russia’s Akhtubinsk Air Base. The stealthy fifth generation jet will be handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense soon, state-owned... More of this article »
China Launches Type 075 LHD, Pakistan Navy’s Second Type 054A/P Frigate
China launched the third Type 075 landing helicopter dock (LHD), and second Type-054 frigate ordered by the Pakistan Navy at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard today. Development work on Type 075 helicopter carriers began in 2011. The first... More of this article »
U.S. Military Smuggled Pantsir System from Libya in 2020: No Impact Says Russian Expert
The U.S. military reportedly spirited a Russian-made Pantsir S1 anti-aircraft system out of Libya in June last year. The air defense system was allegedly captured from forces aligned with renegade commander Khalifa Haftar. A U.S.... More of this article »
Pakistan Receives CH-4 Drones from China
A shipment containing an unspecified number of CH-4 Drones from China was received in Pakistan on January 15. According to a customs extract quoted by Pakistani website Quwa, 21 pieces of equipment other than drones were exported by... More of this article »
Greece Confirms Plans to Buy F-35 Jets
Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday that the country plans to acquire 40 fighter aircraft inclusive of French Rafales and U.S.-made F-35 jets. “Sooner or later we will enter the discussion about a 5th generation... More of this article »
German Air Force Begins Phasing Out A310 MRTT Planes
The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) has begun decommissioning its special convertible version of the Airbus A310 plane, called the A310 MRTT. “The 10 + 27 is the first to be dismantled at Deutsche Lufthansa Technik. In the coming days,... More of this article »
Northrop Grumman to Deliver IBCS Air Defense System Hardware & Software to Poland
Northrop Grumman has won a contract worth nearly $10 million to supply Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) hardware and software to Poland. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an... More of this article »
First Export of Russian Orlan-E Drones Goes to Myanmar
Russia has bagged its first ever contract to provide Orlan-10E drones it has been aggressively marketing for several years. On January 22, Myanmar placed an order for Pantsir S1 anti-aircraft systems and Orlan-10E drones. Although... More of this article »
Bayraktar Vertical Take-Off UAV revealed in Company Video
A prototype of a Bayraktar vertical take-off surveillance UAV has been revealed in a video made by Baykar, the Turkish drone manufacturer. In a video posted by Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar Defense’s Technical Manager on social... More of this article »
Japan’s F-X Stealth Fighter To Rival US’ F-22
Japan has revealed the concept of its Mitsubishi F-X fighter jet project rivaling the US-made F-22 in size and performance. It is seeking to partner the UK’s Tempest program besides the European FCAS to develop and share crucial... More of this article »
Indonesia to buy Leonardo’s RAT 31 Air Defence Radar
Leonardo has signed a contract with Indonesian company PT Len Industri (Persero) to provide a RAT 31 DL/M radar system for the Indonesian Air Force (IAF). The IAF will operate the radar to strengthen the air defence system of the Republic... More of this article »
HAL Signs Contract to Export ALH Helicopter to Mauritius
Indian state-run firm Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has signed contracts to export its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv aircraft to Mauritius. “In-line with the government’s vision to boost defense exports, HAL signed a... More of this article »
Saudi Arabia Produces Combat Drones after Turkey’s Tech Transfer
Saudi Arabia has commenced production of Haboob drone using technology shared by Turkey. An image of Haboob armed with Roketsan’s MAM-L ammunition was shared by Advanced Electronics Company (AEC). The new drones are based on Karayel... More of this article »
Lockheed to Support U.A.E. THAAD Batteries for $255M
Lockheed Martin has won a contract valued $255 million to support U.A.E.’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries. In a statement today, the U.S. Department of Defense said: “Under this follow-on contract, the contractor... More of this article »
China’s WJ-700 Armed Reconnaissance Drone Completes Maiden Flight
China’s new WJ-700 high-altitude, long-endurance and high-speed armed reconnaissance drone successfully completed its maiden flight earlier this week. The “rare type” drone is capable of executing both attack and reconnaissance... More of this article »
Sukhoi Upgrading Superjet 100 with Domestic Engine, Avionics
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is working on a new version of the country’s first passenger aircraft, Superjet 100, under its SSJ New Project. Under the project, foreign-made systems and components of the aircraft... More of this article »
Huntington Ingalls to Assemble Boeing’s Orca Unmanned Undersea Vehicle at New Facility
Huntington Ingalls has completed the first phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence with the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility. The first of two planned buildings on the 20-acre campus in Hampton, Virginia will... More of this article »
Rostec Registers $24.3B Export Revenue in 2020
Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation, has said that the company has delivered $24.3 billion worth of goods last year of which $13 billion were military equipment. “Despite the difficult period (due to COVID-19), growth... More of this article »
Final Trophy Active Protection Systems Delivered for U.S. Army’s Abrams Tanks
Leonardo and Rafael announced today that they have completed the delivery of Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) ordered by the U.S. Army for installation on Abrams main battle tanks. Under contracts awarded on an urgent need basis... More of this article »
General Atomics to Manufacture Hypersonic Projectiles for U.S. Navy’s Railgun Project
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced today that it has been awarded a contract modification from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM AC) to further the development and... More of this article »
Lockheed Martin Wins $5B to Build Next Gen Missile Defense Satellites
Lockheed Martin was today awarded $4.934 billion to build three Next Generation Geosynchronous (NGG) Earth orbiting space vehicles (SV). The contract covers manufacturing, assembly, integration, test, and delivery of the spacecraft;... More of this article »
Boeing to Convert Saudi F-15S Jets Into F-15SA Configuration
Boeing has won a contract valued $22 million for Saudi F-15S to F-15SA (Eagle Fighters) aircraft conversion support. This contract provides support for the conversion of the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S into an F-15SA aircraft, which... More of this article »
Chinese J-10C, J-11B Fighters Simulated Indian Rafale, Su-30 Jets in China-Pak Exercise
China’s J-10C and J-11B fighters simulated India’s Rafale and Su-30 jets respectively in mock battles at the recently concluded Shaheen-9 China-Pakistan air exercises. China Central Television (CCTV) reported Saturday... More of this article »
After JF-17 Fighter, Chinese J-11B Jet could be next on Pakistan’s Shopping List
Pakistan’s new fighter jet buy could narrow down to China’s J-11B aircraft as the induction of Rafale jets by India has tilted the air power balance in favor of New Delhi. The participation of the J-11B fighter jets in the recently... More of this article »
In a First, Turkey’s Drones Suppressed & Destroyed Syria’s Russian Air Defenses: Turkish Expert
Turkish Bayraktar TB-2 and Anka-S drones executed “suppress enemy air defense (SEAD)” and “destroy enemy air defense (DEAD)” in Syria in tasks normally requiring F-16s. The incident, marking the first of drones... More of this article »
Pakistan Launches Local Production of JF-17 Block III Jets
Pakistan has launched local production of JF-17 Block III fighter aircraft, the most advanced variant of the JF-17 it developed along with China. “In-country production of JF-17 Block-3 formally launched by Air Chief Marshal Mujahid... More of this article »
Russian Military to Double its Tu-160 Bomber Fleet by 2027
The Russian military plan to operate well over 32 Tu-160 bombers and its variants by 2027. In an interview with the defense ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda on December 30, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko revealed that the... More of this article »
Israel’s Rafael Wins $200M Asian Deal for SPICE-2000 Bombs, Spike ATGMs
Israeli firm Rafael has said it won a $200 million contract to provide an Asian country with SPICE 2000 air-to-surface systems, Spike ATGMs, tactical, electro-optically guided missiles, and advanced communication systems. Citing official... More of this article »
U.S. Approves $128 million King Air B300ER Scorpion ISR Aircraft Sale to Kazakhstan
The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of King Air B300ER Scorpion Aircraft with Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) Mission Systems to Kazakhstan for $128.1 million. The Government of Kazakhstan had requested... More of this article »
In a First, Attack Drones Brought Down Using Smoke Screen, EW During Russian Exercise
Russian air defense artillery units brought down attack and reconnaissance drones using a smoke screen, electronic warfare equipment and radio intelligence. This is the first time that a combination of firepower and counter-measures... More of this article »
Russia’s Kalashnikov Starts Serial Production of New Strela-10M ADS Missiles
Russia’s Kalashnikov said today that it has launched serial production of new 9M333 guided missiles for Strela-10M mobile air defense systems. The company said field tests of the missile were completed at Donguz test site at Orenburg... More of this article »
Lockheed to Support S.Korea’s Peace Krypton Surveillance Aircraft
The U.S. Department of Defense today announced a $28 million contract to Lockheed Martin to support South Korea’s Peace Krypton surveillance aircraft. “Lockheed Martin Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $28,125,918... More of this article »
Chinese J-11B Jet Upgraded with AESA Radar Enters Series Production: Reports
China’s J-11B fighter aircraft equipped with an Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar has entered series production. The upgraded aircraft, possibly re-designated as J-11BG has entered batch production at the Shenyang... More of this article »