Turkey’s defence and aerospace exports, the latter mostly drones, jumped by 48 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2021. It amounted to the equivalent of nearly US$2 billion and the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly said today that it expects the total to nearly double to a record high by year’s end. [node:read-more:link]
A new head at Roscosmos and expanded powers for Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov were confirmed July 15 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dmitry Rogozin was replaced at the space agency by Yuri Borisov, a deputy prime minister formerly in charge of weapons industries whose duties in that portfolio were assigned to Manturov, now ranked as a deputy prime minister. [node:read-more:link]
Bulgarian Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov said today he expects no significant impact from Russia’s decision to suspend certification of two Bulgarian companies which plan to maintain and repair Russian-licensed weapons and other military gear sent to Ukraine. Bulgaria had previously agreed to repair Ukrainian military equipment but refused to send weapons directly. [node:read-more:link]
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein-Amir Abdollahian said today that while his country is “against Russia’s military attack in Ukraine”, he was non-committal on reports that Iran’s military cooperation with Russia would include sales of weapons-capable drones. “We have various types of collaboration with Russia, including in the defence sector,” he said, “but we won’t help either of the sides involved in this war.” [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Air Force has taken delivery from Lockheed Martin of what the company says is the “smallest, lightest, high energy laser of its power class . . . built to date.” Mounted in a Boeing pod with a Northrop Grumman beam controller, the Laser Advancements for Next-generation Compact Environments (LANCE) will be the first used on tactical aircraft to counter airborne threats. [node:read-more:link]
Turkey’s successful international marketing of its TB2 weapons-capable drone has some U.S. legislators calling for a crackdown on the NATO ally, saying it’s exploiting its alliance status to obtain key parts from western manufacturers. Ironically, there also is pressure in Congress to have the U.S. help Ukraine to acquire more drones for its counter-offensive against Russia. [node:read-more:link]
The Russian government, in a bid to rebuild its military arsenal after nearly five months into its invasion of Ukraine, is reported to be preparing legislation that could force companies to supply the country's military and employees to work overtime. Open-source information indicates that thousands of tanks and other armoured vehicles have been destroyed, damaged and abandoned, or captured. [node:read-more:link]
Pakistan is reducing its Armed Forces Development Program by some 20 per cent in order to meet an International Monetary Fund demand that it achieve an overall budget surplus next year as a condition for reviving an economic bailout package. A former Australian defence attaché to Pakistan says “it is unlikely that this will have a drastic impact on Pakistan’s overall defense preparedness, and it certainly will not affect nuclear weapons.” [node:read-more:link]
The first test of a key component of future U.S. land-based nuclear missiles ended with an explosion 10 seconds after launch at Vandenburg Space Force Base in California July 6. There were no injuries and debris was contained to the immediate vicinity of the pad. The Minotaur II+ combines parts of decommissioned Minuteman ICBMs and an upper segment of the current Minuteman IIIs to create a missile used for suborbital test launches. [node:read-more:link]
A shipment of Iranian surface-to-air missiles and cruise missile engines was intercepted by the Royal Navy in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year. Confirming the development recently, British authorities say it was evidence that Iran is arming Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. [node:read-more:link]
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says his military has downed missiles fired from Ukraine and promises to respond “instantly” to any further attacks. Lukashenko, who offered no evidence to back his statement on stat media, has been offered Russian nuclear-capable Iskander missiles by President Vladimir Putin. [node:read-more:link]
Raytheon and Palantir Technologies each have received $36-million U.S. Army contracts designed to prototype designed to improve artillery targetting beyond line-of-sight. It’s the latest phase in development of a software-centric ground system the two countries have been working on since January 2021. The Army and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit have partnered with Northrop Grumman to develop two pre-prototype ground stations. [node:read-more:link]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today agreed to endorse NATO membership for Sweden and Finland in a trilateral deal to “support … each other's security.” The two Nordic states agreed not only to address concerns about their handling of Kurdish nationalists deemed terrorists by Turkey but also to lift restrictions on weapons sales to Turkey. [node:read-more:link]
The French Army wants to buy U.S. loitering munitions, specifically the Switchblade developed by Virginia-based AeroVironment, within six months as part as part of a long-term push to field remotely operated weapon. The U.S. had already announced plans to supply Ukraine with the munition as part of military aid in response to Russia’s invasion. [node:read-more:link]
South Korea’s Hanwha Corp. and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on developing an infantry fighting vehicle and a long-range precision fires system. The companies, including Hanwha’s division in Australia, which have already fulfilled several Australian procurements, are responding to similar Norwegian Defence Material Agency plans. [node:read-more:link]
