Oracle will invest over $6.5 billion to set up a public cloud region in Malaysia to support the growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud services in the country and the region.The Texas-based tech firm said the new cloud infrastructure will help Malaysian organizations modernize their applications, transition workloads to the cloud, and encourage innovation...
The naval services of the United States, Australia and Japan participated in a six-day multilateral exercise last week aimed at enhancing interoperability to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. The event saw participant ships from the three nations, including U.S. Navy's USS Dewey Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the HMAS Stuart Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Ariake Murasame-class destroyer. A wide range of training was held throughout, including combined communication, formation sailing and replenishment-at-sea.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has expanded its Validated End User program to include foreign data centers, allowing for general authorization of imported designated items rather than requiring multiple individual permits for exporters. The Bureau of Industry and Security within the department said data centers seeking to be part of the VEU program must pass through an interagency review, a rigorouse process that aims to establish safeguards that prevent the diversion or misuse of U.S. technology in ways that could harm national security. “This update will contribute to the development of a trusted ecosystem for the responsible use of advanced computing and artificial intelligence,” said the BIS announcement.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and its counterparts from India, Japan and Australia have pledged to back research efforts to advance emerging and agricultural technologies that would benefit food security in the Indo-Pacific region. They hope to support multilateral research by launching an initiative called AI-ENGAGE, short for Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen AGriculturE, that will accept proposals that focus on artificial intelligence, communications, robotics and sensing. According to NSF chief Sethuraman Panchanathan, the four nations expect the collaborative research opportunity to introduce new ways to use these emerging technologies to secure the world's farms in the future.
Lockheed Martin has secured a $3.2 billion Foreign Military Sales contract from the U.S. Air Force to supply joint air-to-surface standoff missiles and long-range anti-ship missiles to Japan, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland. The company will work on the single-source contract in Orlando, Florida, with completion expected in July 2032. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida is the contracting activity, according to a U.S. Department of Defense announcement on Friday.
DRS Laurel Technologies, a subsidiary of Leonardo DRS, has secured a $66 million firm-fixed-price U.S. Navy contract for the manufacture and delivery of AN/SPQ-9B anti-ship missile defense radar systems. The award includes options providing a potential total value of nearly $236 million for the supply of the radars to the U.S. Navy and Japan under...
Indian telecommunications and defense solutions provider HFCL has partnered with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. to develop and deliver subsystems for advanced unmanned aircraft systems. According to HFCL, the contract win reflects the research and development capabilities it has built over the years, contributing to the design, development and delivery timelines envisioned by GA-ASI for...
Royal Netherlands Navy Adm. Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, highlighted the importance of strengthening the alliance’s cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific, noting how the developments in the region could impact Euro-Atlantic security. Bauer made the remarks at the 26th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Hawaii, where senior military...
The Hong Kong Transport Department has awarded Serco two six-year contracts with a combined value of $164.36 million to manage, operate and maintain four key tunnels. Under an $84.82 million contract for the Shing Mun Tunnels and Tseung Kwan O Tunnel and a $79.54 million contract for the Kai Tak Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel,...
Airbus will provide four units of the latest Airbus H145 helicopter variant to PT Dirgantara Indonesia. Also known as PDTI, the state-owned aerospace company is under contract with the Indonesian Air Force to deliver the aircraft customized for military pilot training and search and rescue missions. PTDI will install mission equipment and perform other aircraft...
