The United Kingdom is sending thousands of drones to Ukraine to aid in the fight against Russia. On Thursday, Grant Shapps, the U.K.’s defense secretary, unveiled a $160 million funding package during his visit to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. The funding is in addition to the $256...
Category: Technology
Ursa Space, Maiar to Deliver Enhanced Geospatial Analytics to UK Defense Customers
Ursa Space Systems and British company Maiar have joined hands to provide defense customers in the United Kingdom with enhanced geospatial and open source analytics. George Flick, vice president of U.S. government at Ursa Space, said the partnership aims to address customer demands for expedited data processing and response times. Ursa offers a platform designed...
North Macedonia Requests to Acquire Fleet of Oshkosh Armored Vehicles
The U.S. Department of State has cleared the way for North Macedonia to buy more Joint Light Tactical Vehicles from the United States. The department approved Skopje’s request to acquire 18 M1278A1/A2 JLTV Heavy Guns Carrier units and seven M1278A1/A2 JLTV General Purpose variants for an estimated cost of $111 million. The Defense Security Cooperation...
Canada Secures Approval to Access US Military Satcom System
The U.S. Department of State has approved Canada’s request to access the Lockheed Martin-built Mobile User Objective Systems for $138 million to provide Canadian armed forces with satellite connectivity on the battlefield. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said General Dynamics is the prime contractor for the potential foreign military sale. General Dynamics, which provided the...
Arcfield Secures $157M Contract for Continued Avionics Support of Canada’s CF-18 Fleet
The Canadian Department of National Defence has awarded Arcfield Canada a $157.4 million follow-on contract for continued avionics in-service support of the country’s CF-18 aircraft fleet. Jacques Comtois, vice president of operations at Arcfield Canada, said the agreement will ensure fleet availability and mission readiness for the CF-18 fighters until the fleet is deactivated. According...
European Defence Agency Teams Up With Netherlands, Austria on Military Satellite Project
The European Defence Agency said it has partnered with the Netherlands and Austria to launch within two years a constellation of two to four satellites maneuverable within the low-Earth orbit and very low-Earth orbit space domains. Dubbed LEO2VLEO: Military Crisis-Response Satellite Constellation, the $10.9 million project seeks to design, develop, launch and operate space capabilities...
United States Authorizes South Korea’s $170.6M Purchase of Subsonic Sea-Skimming Aerial Targets
The United States has approved the potential sale of subsonic sea-skimming aerial targets to the government of South Korea. According to a press release from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Korea requested five BQM-177A SSATs, typically used during military training, for its Aegis destroyers. The potential $170.6 million purchase includes GQM-163 target drones, training and...
European Commission Unveils Defense Industrial Strategy With $1.6B Seed Program
The European Commission has recently introduced the European Union’s first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy. The proposal suggests creating a regulatory European Defence Industry Programme that would activate a budget of $1.6 billion from the EU. The allocation is planned for 2025-2027, and it aims to continue enhancing the competitiveness of the defense technological and industrial...
Lockheed Ships First F-16 Block 70 Jet Fighters for Bahrain
Lockheed Martin announced that the first ferry cell of three F-16 Block 70 jet fighters took off from Greenville, South Carolina, to Bahrain on Wednesday, making the Arab island nation the first Gulf Cooperation Council member armed with the warplane. The aircraft’s features include an active electronically scanned array fire control radar, advanced avionics, and...
Palantir Aims to Accelerate Ukraine’s Demining Efforts Using AI Tech
Palantir Technologies has agreed to support Ukraine’s demining efforts using the company’s artificial intelligence-enabled software. Palantir’s deal with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine will see the two parties collaborate to digitize and automate humanitarian demining operations in the war-torn country. The partnership will also improve digital capabilities to coordinate better land release and assessment...