Jane's Defense News

In downtown Caracas, six to eight hooded gunmen, allegedly members of armed 'colectivos' group, attempted to break into the offices of the controller commission at the National Assembly, threatening the employees. Parliament's security personnel temporarily detained the men before freed them.

Strong political support underpins Saab Kockum's efforts to re-establish itself in the premier league of submarine builders. Richard Scott provides the second part of IHS Jane's assessment of the A26 programme. Recent years have seen submarines rise up the political agenda in Sweden. There are two

EVENT Three people were killed and four wounded on 24 October by a group of assailants who opened fire on a toll station at Sanankoroba, 30 kilometres from Mali's capital, Bamako, and made off with millions of CFA francs. The attackers' identities are unknown and the authorities are unclear

Australian naval shipbuilder ASC posted mixed results for fiscal year 2015-16 as it prepares to be split up by the government into three separate companies. The state-owned corporation said in its annual report - published 28 October - that total company revenues declined year-on-year by 22% to

Key Points The Canadian government began a significant shipbuilding programme for new surface combatants No details on cost or number of vessels have been provided The Canadian government on 27 October announced it had released a request for proposal (RfP) for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC)

The Chilean Army is planning to buy a first batch of four to six medium transport aircraft to replace a number of CASA C212 Aviocar aircraft that the service has recently paid off, military sources in Santiago told IHS Jane's . The army expects to place the order, for which the Airbus C295M and

The Philippine government said on 28 October that China Coast Guard vessels appear to have left the area around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea (SCS). "Regarding fishing on Scarborough Shoal, for the past three days, it has been observed that there are no longer any

Cobham has been awarded a contract by Bell Boeing to develop a palletised aerial refuelling system to give the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft in-flight aerial refuelling capability, the company announced on 25 October. The V-22 Aerial Refueling System (VARS)

Commencing in January 2017 DARPA will begin collecting data on how its Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) conducts fully autonomous operations in preparation for international certification. Additionally, ASW track and trail testing of ACTUV could be delayed

Ethiopian Communications Minister Getachew Reda confirmed during a 26 October press conference that his country is withdrawing troops from Somalia, although attributed it to the financial burden of the deployment rather than the state of emergency at home. "We have been making a very conscious

On 28 October the EU added 10 more names to its list of individuals subject to restrictive measures for their violent repression of Syria's civilian population. It brings the total number of persons targeted with an EU travel ban and freeze on their assets to 217. The names include four Syrian

Key Points Saab Light Weight Torpedo to enter water at Saab's training facility in 2017 The company says it is on track to deliver the system on time to the Royal Swedish Navy Saab's new lightweight torpedo is due to enter the water for the first time in 2017, the company has confirmed. Thomas

European and US defence companies began publishing reports covering the third quarter of their 2016 financial year on 24 October, with results revealed ranging from a 21.5% rise in operating income at Saab to a 29.3% fall in Airbus's profits on a similar measure. Airbus and Safran The same day as

Key Points USNS Lewis B Puller (T-ESB 3) completed IOT&E in August 2016 General Dynamics NASSCO in Norfolk is to perform a post-shakedown availability, including modification for special operations forces The US Navy (USN) has released details of the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation

Three French military personnel and two contract aircrew were killed when a surveillance aircraft crashed at Luqa airport in Malta on 24 October. A camera on the dashboard of a local vehicle filmed the moment the aircraft hit the ground and was engulfed in a fireball. Air crash investigators are

Key Points Intermarine begins build of two high-speed multipurpose vessels The vessels are being delivered as one of a number of programmes put in place under the 'Legge Navale' to provide new capabilities for the navy Italian company Intermarine has begun building two high-speed multipurpose

IOMAX demonstrated the capabilities of its Archangel Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA) to the US Marine Corps (USMC) during a series of recent training courses in southern California and Arizona. In mid-October a pair of Archangels took part in a Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course at the Marine

THIRTEEN power plant workers - including four Iranian technicians - were killed and three Iranians were wounded when three Islamic State suicide bombers assaulted the power plant in the town of Dibis in Iraq's Kirkuk province before detonating their explosives on 21 October, the New York Times

The Islamic State has "pulled out all the stops" to defend Mosul, according to Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US-led coalition that is supporting the Iraqi offensive. Speaking during a 26 October press briefing, Lt Gen Townsend said that the Islamic State had

EVENT On 25 October 2016, the Ukrainian hacking group 'Kiberkhunta' (CyberJunta) leaked over 2,000 emails allegedly retrieved from the inbox of Vladislav Surkov, a top aide to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Surkov was reported by credible Russian media to be a key mentor of Russian policy in