Airbus Defence and Space has booked a two-year contract to conduct a risk assessment study on modifying an A321XLR twin-engine jet into a maritime patrol aircraft called A321 MPA for the French Navy. The company said the contract from the French defense procurement agency DGA follows an architecture and feasibility study on the conversion launched...
Category: National Security
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Philippines Lines Up Projects for Increased Defense Spending
The Philippine government has increased its 2025 defense budget by 12.3 percent to $4.65 billion from 2024. The increased spending covers air force, army and navy equipment acquisitions to support the Department of National Defense’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept to protect Philippine territory, Defense News reported Tuesday. Aircraft Fleet Buildup The military acquisitions include additional...
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Rheinmetall Secures Major Contract for Bundeswehr’s Tactical Network
Rheinmetall has received a multibillion-dollar framework contract from Germany’s Bundeswehr to develop the Tactical Wide Area Network for Land-Based Operations, or TaWAN LBO for short. Representatives of the German military procurement office and Rheinmetall Electronics signed the 10-year agreement. According to the company, an initial order worth $1.96 billion has been placed to equip a...
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Riyadh Wooing Defense Companies With Incentives, Saudi Official Says
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries has invited defense companies to explore business opportunities in Saudi Arabia. GAMI Governor Ahmad Abdulaziz bin Al-Ohali, addressing participants at a recent defense and aerospace conference in Antalya, said the agency has partnered with industry stakeholders to create investment incentives for companies serving local and international defense markets....
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Bulgaria Receives First F-16 Block 70 From Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin has delivered the first of Bulgaria’s 16 F-16 Block 70 fighter jets, making Bulgaria the second European nation to operate the aircraft. A handover ceremony took place on Jan. 31 in Greenville, South Carolina, where the F-16s were constructed, with Bulgarian Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov and other American and Bulgarian officials in attendance....
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US, Japan Launch First Joint National Security Space Mission
Japan has launched a U.S.-developed space domain awareness payload aboard its Quasi-Zenith Satellite 6, marking the two nations’ first bilateral space collaboration focused on national security. The satellite, locally known as Michibiki No. 6, launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on Sunday aboard a Japanese H-3 launch vehicle. It is the first of two launches...
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US Approves Potential $304M Radar Sale to Egypt
The U.S. Department of State has approved a possible $304 million foreign military sale to Egypt for AN/TPS-78 long-range radar systems and related logistics support. Egypt requested AN/TPS-78 radar turnkey systems, KIV-78 cryptographic devices, GPS units with selective availability anti-spoofing modules, spare parts, software, training, engineering and technical support. Northrop Grumman will serve as the...
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UK Taps Leidos for Geospatial Intelligence Support
Leidos has secured a seven-year contract from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence to provide meteorological and oceanographic data information and services to support the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence. The award covers the delivery of THOR, a scalable data and services capability that would provide the MoD with enhanced environmental insights. THOR will succeed...
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Collins Aerospace Division Secures Navy’s $65M E-2D Training Platform for France
Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions, a Collins Aerospace division, has received a $65 million firm-fixed-price contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division to deliver a weapons system training platform for France’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft fleet. The sole-source award, a foreign military sale to France, also covers related technical data and...
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Diehl Defence to Develop New Variant of IRIS-T Missile for Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy
Germany’s military procurement office, BAAINBw, has partnered with Diehl Defence to develop and produce the next variant of the IRIS-T missile system. The IRIS-T Block II program agreement was finalized in late December, with BAAINBw signing the contract on behalf of a four-nation development program that also includes Sweden, Spain and Italy. The IRIS-T, short...