Defence`s Feeds

Americas The Pentagon has awarded QinetiQ a $13.3-million contract to supply its Vindicator II uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) target support services to the US Navy (USN). As QinetiQ Target Systems is based in Canada, the deal was facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation as the prime contractor together with Public Services and Procurement Canada.  The five-year deal – with a six-month extension provision – came into effect in December and includes Canadian personnel deployed to provide services to the USN. Lockheed Martin won a $678.4 million modification to support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-US Department of Defense (DoD) F-35 program partners, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in December 2028. The order and contract being modified were not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Middle East & Africa Europe Norway said Friday it wants to reintroduce mandatory construction of air raid shelters in new buildings, one of around 100 proposals aimed at boosting preparedness in case of war. Norway, a NATO member that shares a northern border with Russia, […]

Footage from inside an Israeli Air Force KC-707 Re’em tanker aircraft was recently published on the official IDF Instagram page, providing a rare tour of the aircraft. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) uploaded a short Instagram reel on their official @idfonline page on Jan. 6, 2025, offering previously unseen footage inside one of the IAF’s […]

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Americas Lockheed Martin won a $678.4 million modification, which adds scope to procure various material modification kits, special test/tooling equipment, and associated seed assets to support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-US Department of Defense (DoD) F-35 program partners, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in December 2028. The order and contract being modified were not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Vigor Marine won a $7.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for the 50-calendar day shipyard availability for the mid-term availability of Military Sealift Command’s fast combat support vessel USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11). This contract includes a base period and two unexercised options for additional work and time, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of this contract to $7,991,778. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, beginning January 10, 2025, and is expected to be completed by February 28, 2025. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the sam.gov website and three offers received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Middle […]

NAVAIR is working to integrate the AGM-158C-1 LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) on the U.S. Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagles and F-15EX Eagle IIs, providing them with yet another tool for engaging surface targets at sea. The U.S. Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle IIs are now set to be armed with the […]

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The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has announced the completion of the upgrade program of the new B61-12 nuclear weapons, and the impending start of manufacturing for the B61-13 variant. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has just announced, seventeen years after starting the design process, that production of the most recent American tactical […]

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Americas Airbus US Space & Defense Inc., Arlington, Virginia won a $315,043,393 modification for UH-72 Lakota contractor logistics support and engineering services. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of December 31, 2025. Fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $85,621,324 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. The US Navy has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Next-Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system, taking a major step in providing the E/A-18 Growler an edge in electromagnetic spectrum warfare. Utilizing the latest software-based and electronically scanned array technologies, the NGJ-MB provides enhanced capabilities to deny and distract adversaries’ radars in the range of 2 GHz to 6 GHz of the overall threat spectrum. Middle East & Africa Elbit Systems has secured a significant $60 million contract with a NATO European country to supply its advanced ReDrone counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS). This deal highlights the growing concern amongst NATO members regarding the increasing threat of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and their potential misuse by terrorists and smugglers. Elbit Systems, a leading global defence technology company, is set to deliver the […]

Scheduled to fly in mid 2025, Leonardo has unveiled an updated design of its Proteus rotary wing uncrewed aerial system demonstrator for the UK Ministry of Defence. Proteus is the culmination of a £60 million contract awarded in 2022 to Leonardo by the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Future Capability Group. […]

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The European Defence Agency (EDA) has launched the Small Arms Ammunition Technologies (SAAT) project, a four-year initiative led by Belgian defence company FN Herstal and supported by a diverse European consortium to establish a common standard for small arms ammunition. 

The project, which brings together 18 partners from nine countries — including defence manufacturers, research organisations, and national Ministries of Defence — aims to strengthen interoperability among European armed forces and to also advance ammunition technology. The kick-off meeting, held in mid-December, laid the groundwork for the project’s governance and collaborative framework. 

With a budget of €8.3 million, the SAAT project demonstrates a shared commitment among participating EU Member States — Belgium, Czechia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and non-EU members Norway and Switzerland — to address the following objectives: 

• Establish performance criteria for small arms ammunition to counter present and future threats
• Analyse ammunition components such as projectiles, propellants, and cartridge cases
• Develop projectile prototypes
• Advance the design and functionality of key ammunition technologies

By creating a common standard for small arms ammunition, the initiative aims to reduce dependency on external suppliers and ensure a unified European Union response to evolving security threats.

As well as project coordinator FN Herstal, the project’s consortium brings together Beretta, CZUB, Eurenco, Fiocchi Munizioni, Mesko, Nammo, Nobel Sport, and Swiss P Defence. Complementing these companies are research institutions such as Switzerland’s Armasuisse, DGA Techniques Terrestres of France, FFI from Normway, FOI in Sweden, the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, TNO in the Netherlands, and the Military University of Technology in Poland. 

About EDA

EDA supports its 27 Member States in improving their defence capabilities through European cooperation. Acting as an enabler and facilitator for Ministries of Defence willing to engage in collaborative capability projects, the Agency has become the ‘hub’ for European defence cooperation with expertise and networks allowing it to address the whole spectrum of capabilities.

On 13 January, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will participate in his first exchange of views with Members of AFET and SEDE as well as in association with the Delegation for relations with the NATO PA (DNAT). Discussion topics will include EU-NATO cooperation, efforts to strengthen NATO defence and deterrence, Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine and its implications for transatlantic relations as well as other regional and global security threats and common challenges.
Meeting agenda and documents (AFET)
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Super Hornets, which have been armed with five AIM-120s and four AIM-9Xs since April 2024, were recently referred to as “Murder Hornets” in a year-in-review factsheet published by the U.S. Navy. In a recently published year-in-review factsheet, titled “Delivering Warfighting Advantage,” the U.S. Navy mentioned under the ‘Aviation’ column that the Super Hornet’s heavy air-to-air […]

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Americas Boeing won a $615.8 million contract for the F-15 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System full rate production. This deal provides for procurement of Group A and Group B kits, system engineering program management, and interim contractor support lay-in material. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri; and Nashua, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2030. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas bid farewell to its last T-1A Jayhawk last month, as the Air Force continues its drive to retire the heavy aircraft trainer. Laughlin’s last Jayhawk, from the 86th Flying Training Squadron, took off from the base December 17. It joined a pair of T-6A Texan IIs and a pair of T-38C Talons as the centerpiece of a five-plane flyover, which twice passed over Laughlin’s airfield and air traffic control tower. After the other planes split off, the T-1 continued to its final resting place at “The Boneyard,” an airplane graveyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Middle East & Africa Turkey said Monday that it was “only a matter of time” before Syrian Kurdish fighters – […]

The achievement of the IOC follows the first combat deployment of NGJ-MB with VAQ-133’s EA-18Gs embarked aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has disclosed on Jan. 6, 2025, that the U.S. Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system in December 2024. The […]

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The AN/ALQ-250 EPAWSS achieved the Initial Operational Capability in early 2024 and is currently being fielded on the new F-15EX Eagle II and retrofitted on the F-15E Strike Eagle. The U.S. Air Force has approved the full rate production of the F-15’s AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System. The service previously expected to award a […]

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13 January 2025:
A joint meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) - in association with the Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (DNAT) - with an exchange of views with NATO Secretary General Mark RUTTE, takes place on Monday, 13 January 2025 from 16:00-17:30 in Brussels (ANTALL 2Q2).

Meeting documents are available here.

27/28 January 2025:
The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is scheduled to take place on Monday, 27 January 2025 from 15:00-18:30 and on Tuesday, 28 January 2025 from 9:00-12:30 and 14:30-18:30 in Brussels (SPINELLI 1G3).

Further information about the meeting can be found here.

_______________________

SEDE missions 2024:

• Ukraine - 25-26 October 2024
• United Kingdom - 28-30 October 2024
  

SEDE meetings' calendar 2025
SEDE meetings' calendar 2nd half of 2024 - 10th legislature
EP calendar 2024
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Americas The US Air Force has conducted Exercise Reaper Castillo to test the mission capabilities of the MQ-9 Reaper drone in challenging environments. The drills involved the 65th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) to test dirt-strip landings, refueling, rearming, and rapid relaunches. Above the Melrose Air Force Range in New Mexico, an MQ-9 Reaper circled the area, surveying the terrain before landing on a dirt runway. Dutch shipyard Damen has signed an agreement with Alblasserdam-based Nevesbu to provide engineering support in constructing Colombia’s Sigma-class frigates. The contract encompasses basic and detailed engineering works to complete the program, which is expected to produce up to five modern warships for Bogotá’s naval force. It will also enable Bogotá’s local program partner Cotecmar to build the system under license domestically. Middle East & Africa The Turkish navy has begun the new year by announcing the construction of three warships based on domestic designs: a submarine, an aircraft carrier and the lead ship of the highly anticipated TF-2000 air-defense destroyer series. The shipbuilding programs are closely linked to the political and naval ambitions of Turkey, honing the country’s long-range force projection and strike capabilities, in particular. Europe Latvia’s government and local drone manufacturers are preparing a shipment of […]

According to unconfirmed Turkish reports, Saudi Arabia has discussed a possible purchase of over 100 advanced Kaan fighters, as the Middle Eastern country seeks to bolster its military capabilities. Turkish media are reporting that Saudi Arabia might be interested in acquiring over 100 TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries) Kaan fighter jets, the advanced fighter aircraft developed […]

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Americas The US Coast Guard has received a stand-in icebreaker ship to support the service’s polar cutter fleet modernization program. Handed over by Offshore Service Vessels, the MV Aiviq’s primary role is to retain the force’s presence in the Arctic until the arrival of the service’s new Polar Security Cutters by the 2030s. The $125-million deal to procure the commercially-available system was awarded to the Louisiana-based maritime company in November. After its induction, the MV Aiviq will be renamed USCGC Storis, which makes the system the second to bear the name. The US Army has chosen BAE Systems to prototype a new artillery cannon, envisioned to defend bases against a variety of threats including unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles and other advanced air threats. The system has been dubbed the Multi-Domain Artillery Cannon (MDAC) and Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) prototype. Middle East & Africa The United States has officially greenlit a potential arms deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking another significant step in the Gulf nation’s efforts to modernize its naval capabilities. The deal, approved by the State Department and reported to Congress by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency [DSCA], involves selling twenty MK 54 MOD 0 Lightweight Torpedoes [LWT], […]

U.S. Air Force E-11A aircraft equipped with the BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) payload took part in a C-UAS and IAMD exercise in the Arabian Peninsula. Airmen from the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing teamed up with their Saudi counterparts for Exercise Yellow Sands, a regional training event aimed at boosting teamwork in Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems […]

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JetZero is working on the subscale BWB aircraft demonstrator, named “Pathfinder,” while Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites division is fabricating the full-size airplane and has already produced test articles of components. The U.S. Air Force is collecting data from flight tests of a subscale version of its BWB (Blended-Wing Body) demonstrator to inform the full-scale aircraft’s […]

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The Hürkuş-II will replace the TAF’s current Hürkuş-B trainers, with the first 15 aircraft expected to be delivered this year and the remaining 40 being handed over by 2027. The new advanced version of Hürkuş, Turkey’s primary trainer aircraft, named Hürkuş-II, made its maiden flight on Dec. 30, 2024, marking its entry into the competitive […]

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