France plans to reduce its military footprint in Africa and deploy more security forces in the Indo-Pacific region, according to Gen. Stéphane Mille, the chief of staff of the French Air and Space Force. At a news briefing on Monday, the general said France will pull back military forces from Africa in the future. He...
Category: Defense Security Cooperation
EU’s Airborne Electronic Warfare Capability Buildup Enters Second Phase
The European Union’s Responsive Electronic Attack for Cooperative Tasks program will enter its second phase in the next few months, Indra Sistemas, the Spanish defense contractor heading the consortium working on the project, told Defense News. The project aims to provide a design for airborne electronic attack capabilities as well as a system to protect...
Australia Outlines Six ‘Cyber Shields’ Strategy Against Digital Threats
Australia has introduced its first national strategy to address the increasing number of cyberattacks targeting individuals and organizations across the nation. Clare O’Neil, the nation’s first cabinet minister for cybersecurity, unveiled the plan during the Australian Financial Review’s 2023 Cyber Summit on Monday. According to O’Neil, who is also the minister for home affairs, the strategy...
Germany Joins Artemis Accords for Sustainable Space Exploration
Germany has become the latest signatory country to NASA’s Artemis Accords, an international agreement to promote sustainable space exploration. Walter Pelzer, director general for the German Aerospace Center, signed the accords during a ceremony held Thursday at the Washington residence of German Ambassador Andreas Michaelis. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. National Space Council Executive Secretary Chirag...
Canada Pledges $24M to UK-Led Effort to Equip Ukraine Air Defense
Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair has announced his country’s $24.4 million contribution to a United Kingdom-led partnership that aims to provide Ukraine with short and medium-range air missiles and associated equipment. “Together, Canada and the United Kingdom are standing with Ukraine as it fights to defend itself against Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion,”...
UK Defense Chief Calls for Integration of Emerging Tech Into Armed Forces
The British military needs to advance the development and deployment of new technologies most useful in the modern battlefield, according to Royal Navy Adm. Tony Radakin, chief of the defense staff at the U.K. Ministry of Defence. In his keynote speech at the 2023 Defence and Security Equipment International trade show on Thursday, Radakin said...
Australia Lays Out AUKUS Investment Plans for Nuclear Submarines
Australia is investing early in American shipyards so that delivery of Virginia-class nuclear submarines to the Royal Australian Navy can be fast-tracked to the early 2030s, the service’s Vice Adm. Jonathan Mead said during an Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference in Canberra on Friday. Appointed in July as the inaugural director-general of the Australian Submarine...
US, Saudi Arabia Conclude 3-Day Red Sands Counter-UAS Drill in Riyadh
The United States and Saudi Arabia have conducted the second iteration of Red Sands, a joint military exercise that aims to demonstrate counter-unmanned aerial system technologies. The three-day drill, held at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center in Riyadh, builds on the insights gained from the first Red Sands. The latest development sprint tested nine systems...
New US, Canada-Funded Radioactive Waste Storage Facility Opens in Kazakhstan
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has completed building a radioactive waste management center at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kazakhstan, with funding from Global Affairs Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program. The facility, which replaced an old storage site, started its operations in 2022. About 3,500 disused radioactive sources were transferred...
NATO To Prioritize Arms Standardization in New Action Plan
The Defence Production Action Plan that the heads of state of NATO members agreed to during their Vilnius summit in July prioritizes standardization of materials and weapons interoperability, according to Wendy Gilmour, the alliance’s assistant secretary general for defense investment. Gilmour told Defense News that the plan does not seek to have every NATO member...