Asia Pacific

Turkey will buy 109 announce it plans to buy Sikorsky T-70S Black Hawk helicopters as part of the $3.5 billion Turkish Utility Helicopter Program (TUHP) program, announced last week. Accordfing to Sikorsky, the configuration of the T-70 baseline helicopter is based on the S-70i Black Hawk helicopter. The T-70S will be locally built by the state owned Turkish Aerospace...

Since September 2007 Sky Warrior and MQ-9 Reaper weaponized UAVs began flying combat sorties in support of coalition forces operations in Afghanistan. Currently, the USAF 42nd UAV attack squadron and US Army 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade are flying the armed UAVs while RAF No 39 squadron fly unarmed ISR missions in support of coalition forces in theater. The first of three British Royal Air...

// // Speaking to journalists on the occasion of the Russian Navy Day celebrations, the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Visotskiy confirmed the the Russian Navy is planning to deploy six aircraft-carrier groups with its Northern and Pacific fleets. They will be operated within a new, network-centric task groups, closely integrated with Russian air force and air-defense...

Tucked away between the hills of northern Kyrgyzstan, the large Manas air base found itself at the heart of global geopolitics. It is the last remaining U.S. base in Central Asia. Many observers believe that Russia, which operates its own Kant military airbase, just few dozen kilometers distant from Manas, had applied pressure on Kyrgyzstan to evict the U.S....

China Express Airlines is buying six Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft and has options to increase the number to 11, as part of a contract worth up to $491 million Bombardier announced yesterday. China Express, the first private regional airline in China, already operates fleet of five Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft. The expanded fleet will enable the company to expand its regional...

Bowed to pressure from the Navy, India’s ministry of defense (MoD) has ruled that foreign and government owned shipyards will be allowed to compete for the construction of new Project 75I submarines. This decision is a blow to the private sector shipyards such as Larsen & Turbo (L&T), ABG Shipyard and the Pipavav Shipyard that have counted on the program for defense-related contracts.

South Korea started the bidding process Tuesday to pick a contractor to provide 60 advanced fighter jets for US$7.3 billion, the Defense Acquisition Program and Administration (DAPA) said. Seoul faces a tough decision in selecting either the Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II stealth jet, Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle or the European Aerospace Defense and Space Company (EADS)'s Eurofighter Tranche 3...

An Assessment solving the Syrian crisis - By David Eshel According to latest reports from Russia, the large Landing Ship - Tanks (LST) Nikolai Filchenkov from the Russian Black Sea Fleet is on its way to the East Mediterranean, probably set for the docks at the Russian naval base Tartus, Syria. Having taken on board an unspecified "special cargo" at the...

The U.S. forces in Afghanistan conducted yesterday a strike on a tunnel complex built by the Islamic State's Khorasan (ISIS-K) terrorist organization. The strike used a 21,500 pound GBU-43 bomb dropped from an Air-Force Special-Operations Command (AFSOC) MC-130 aircraft. Media reports said 36 ISIS operatives reportedly killed in the attack.

The Indian Army is planning to equip its ground forces with thousands of anti-tank missiles to be built in India. The Indian military considers two options, both of them exclusive - the FGM-148 Javelin, proposed under a Government-to-Government (G2G) program via U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS), and the Spike MR, proposed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, being the only bidder in an international tender, which specified characteristics and specifications only the Israeli company could meet.

Krasnopol (152/155mm) and Kitolov (122mm) projectiles are fired with standard propellant charges into a ballistic trajectory. At the peak, the nose cap is ejected, and the laser seeker begins to scan the ground for laser designated targets. Krasnopol / Kitolov munitions are stowed in two separate sections – control section and projectile. Both are connected before firing when it...

As Russia continues the modernization of its strategic missile force, twenty additional RS-24s Yars ICBMs will be delivered in 2018. By 2020 these new missiles are expected to replace all the remaining 30 silo-based UR-100 (NATO Reporting name: SS-19 Stiletto) liquid-fueled ICBM.

The British Ministry of Defense announced today (February 26, 2007) that the UK will deploy an additional force of approximately 1,400 troops to southern Afghanistan at NATO's request. This will bring the total number of UK forces in Afghanistan to around 7,700 personnel. The UK will provide a maneuver battalion for Regional Command (South), an area which covers Helmand,...

The Japanese defense budget is the fifth-largest in the world. Tokyo is rated among the top military spenders in Asia, along with China and India. Japan's defense spending recorded a CAGR of 10.04% in the years 2007-2011. Japan has capped its defense budget at 1% of GDP, and is expected to continue to do so over the forecast period.