Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps have signed a new defense and security cooperation agreement to strengthen the partnership between Canberra and London on common issues and concerns. The U.K. government said the pact was signed during the annual Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, held Friday...
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Category: Policy Updates
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Defense Industry Seeks Clarification on Ottawa’s Arms Export Freeze to Israel
Canadian arms exporters to Israel with permits approved before Jan. 8 can proceed with the transaction, even as Canada’s House of Commons passed on March 18 a measure temporarily halting such sales over human rights concerns from Tel Aviv’s military actions in Gaza. The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, however, still wants specific...
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Report: US Stalls AMD Bid to Supply China With AI Processor
The United States has reportedly stalled Advanced Micro Devices’ bid to sell an artificial intelligence chip with lower performance capability to China. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials informed AMD that the AI processor was still classified as powerful. They advised the chipmaker to secure a license from the Department...
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US Designates Procurement Networks Supporting Iranian Defense Sector; Brian Nelson Quoted
The United States has imposed sanctions on three procurement networks for supplying designated Iranian entities with materials for the production of military weapons under Iran’s ballistic missile, nuclear and defense programs. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated Iranian-German national Maziar Karim, his companies Mazixon GmbH and Co KG and...
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US, 4 Other Countries to Lead Work on Global Military AI Guardrails
The United States, Canada, Portugal, Bahrain and Austria will spearhead a one-year program to seek new safety standards for military use of artificial intelligence and automated systems. Breaking Defense reported that the countries were chosen during the inaugural plenary meeting of delegates from 46 out of the 53 countries that endorsed the U.S. Political Declaration...
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Norway Responds to ‘Deteriorating’ Security Environment With Increased Defense Spending Plan
Norway wants to increase defense spending in preparation for a potential conflict with Russia. “As our security environment is deteriorating, we need to spend more on and pay more attention to defense and preparedness,” said Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, the country’s minister of finance. Under the Norwegian government’s long-term defense plan, about $60 billion will be invested over...
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NATO Adopts New Force Augmentation Concept Offering More Flexibility to Allies
NATO’s North Atlantic Council has approved a new framework providing more flexibility for partner nations to augment the alliance’s forces. The concept, dubbed Partners Augmentation Forces to NATO, was announced at the opening of the Military Strategic Partnership Conference scheduled from April 8 to 12 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. NATO’s Allied...
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US Treasury Seeks to Enhance Foreign Investment Committee’s Compliance, Enforcement Powers
The Department of the Treasury has proposed boosting the authorities of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews foreign investment in U.S. businesses for national security concerns. In a proposed rulemaking notice released on Thursday, the department said the changes would help CFIUS accomplish its national security mission while supporting the...
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SAP NS2’s Procurement Solution Achieves ITAR Compliance
SAP National Security Services has achieved International Traffic in Arms Regulation compliance for its end-to-end procurement solution SAP Ariba, enabling the company to deploy the product on Google Cloud Assured Workloads. The Google Cloud platform is designed for running more secure and compliant software on the cloud environment, including ITAR workloads. Integrating SAP Ariba with...
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Reuters: US Updating Restrictions on Exporting AI Chips, Chipmaking Tools to China
A U.S. official revealed that China has been informed of U.S. plans to update the rules banning the export of artificial intelligence chips and chipmaking tools to Beijing, according to a Reuters report. The rules were first implemented in October 2022 as part of Washington’s effort to address national security concerns, hinder China’s efforts to...