Africa

The Kazakh-South-African joint venture, “Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering” (KPE) introduced the new Barys 8X8 armored fighting vehicle at the KADEX - Kazakhstan's defense expo. The JV will start producing the vehicles at the new 15,000 square meters assembly plant opened in 2015 in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The Algerian Navy is believed to have ordered six AgustaWestland Super Lynx 300 helicopters for its new Meko A200 class frigates. The acquisition is part of an 80 helicopter buy Algeria has signed with the Italian-British group, which has remained under wraps

Kenya's sudden spiral into chaos after years being regarded as a regional stability in the turbulent Black African continent, will no doubt strike a heavy blow on the economies of a wide swathe of neighboring nations. But while the present scale of internecine violence came as quite a surprise, it was not the first time that this African nation...

Russia is offering 18 ex-Indian Air Force Su-30 fighters to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Air Force already operates 17 Su-27 models, along with earlier models of jet fighters, including ageing MiG-23, MiG-21 and Su-25. "We proposed to modernise them in order to improve their tactical and technical characteristics and equip modern air-to-ground missiles" said the deputy general director of the...

All photos taken by Eros satellites, Copyright: Imagesat International.

An unmanned aircraft used by U.N. peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo was damaged yesterday while landing at the airport near the eastern town of Goma. The incident occurred as the Falco drone was returning from a mission, and no casualties were reported, said Lt. Col. Felix Prosper Basse, a military spokesman for the country’s peacekeeping mission. The United...

Following the delivery of the first four batteries of S-300 PMU2 surface to air missiles from Russia, Algeria has begun inducting the systems, partly replacing former S-125 (SA-3) systems. In the following satellite images taken recently by the Eros B spy satellite operated by the geospatial services company ImageSat International, two of the SA-3 sites are seen converted to serve the S-300.

March 25 - April 19, 2011 As seen by satellite photos, The Libyan Airbase at Al Jufra remains dormant for years, as aircraft suc as the Tu-22 seen at the lower-left corner havent moved for more than seven years. Nevertheless,since the base is active, and is part of the Libyan air defense network. As part of the NATO counter-air strike,...

The U.S. Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) is testing seven Active protection Systems, mostly from international vendors, to determine the maturity and potential of such systems, protecting U.S. forces against Rocket Propelled Grenades and other Anti-Armor weapons. The Active Protection Systems Live Fire Test and Evaluation effort, which was mandated by Congress in 2008 provides U.S. with comparative...

The German forces will soon deploy Heron 1 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to Mali. Airbus Defense and Space announced yesterday it had signed a contract with the German Defence Procurement Agency (BAAInBw) to provide such surveillance drones in support of the Bundeswehr missions in Africa.

United Nations peacekeepers in Africa are expanding the use of drones to improve force protection and better secure the civilian communities in conflict areas. The UN is expected to select a supplier for a larger MALE drone to succeed the Falco UAVs operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2013. Such drones will soon launch operations from two bases in Mali, in support of UN operations in the Sahara.

The conflict between Somalia's transitional government and Islamic militants has escalated dangerously, as Islamist leaders threaten Jihad "holy war" against advancing government troops spearheaded by allied Ethiopian forces approaching Mogadishu, held since last June by Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), also named Islamic Courts Union (ICU) alliance. The ICU seized the capital from U.S.-backed warlords, also taking control of...

China has begun construction of a logistics base in Djibouti, Chinese Ministry of Defence confirmed today; the base at the Horn of Africa will be China's first military facility overseas.

The Indian Army has a fleet of more than 150,000 vehicles. The services buy around 7,000 new trucks every year, a volume attracting commercial vehicle manufacturers to invest in meeting peculiar military standards. This year at DefExpo 2012, traditional truck manufacturers Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland were joined by the new competitor Asia Motor Works, each taking aim at specific segments of this huge market.