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Images have emerged on Chinese online forums showing what appears to be one of the first Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (PAC/CAC) JF-17 Thunder/FC-1 Xiaolong multirole combat aircraft on order for the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) conducting test flights in China.

India's state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed Nag (Snake) anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). The third-generation fire-and-forget ATGM was test-fired on 13 June in the desert ranges of the northern state of

The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has signed a contract with Russia's military export agency, Rosoboronexport, for the purchase of five additional Mi-171Sh transport helicopters. The contract, the value of which is unknown, was signed on 12 June at the BAF's headquarters in Dhaka in a ceremony

Russia's Ministry of Defence announced on 9 June the start of construction of 40 Project 12700 glass fibre-hull mine-sweeping vessels, with delivery of the first two scheduled for 2018. Navy Deputy Commander Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk said Sredne-Nevskiy Shipyard in St Petersburg would build two

Turkey's Defence Industries Undersecretariat (SSM) has turned down Otokar's proposal for the initial series production of 250 third-generation main battle tanks (MBTs), mainly because of disagreements on the price. SSM will now open a tender for the series production of the MBTs. A statement posted

Czech Republic-based VOP CZ has partnered with the UAE's NIMR Automotive to modify the latter's Ajban 440A vehicle to meet NATO standards. The companies displayed an example at the IDET 2017 exhibition in Brno. The modified vehicle is the first from NIMR to meet NATO Standards. NIMR and VOP CZ

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has said it will issue another batch of shares to support financial and corporate restructuring. DSME said in a filing to the Korean Exchange on 13 June that it plans to sell new stocks worth KRW792.8 billion (USD703

Key Points The Janus protocol is now an approved NATO standard Janus has been extensively tested at sea in exercises involving a number of partners An underwater communications protocol developed by NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) has become the world’s

EVENT The grand coalition of 14 parties led by the centre-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës: PDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (Aleanca për Ardhmërinë e Kosovës: AAK) managed to secure first place in the snap election held on 11

Underwater warfare systems developer Kraken Sonar Systems announced on 13 June that it had signed a teaming agreement with Germany’s Atlas Elektronik. The teaming agreement will primarily focus on the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN’s) Remote Mine Disposal System (RMDS) requirement

Norway has revealed the roadmap for its future mine countermeasure (MCM) programme, adding details on its almost-complete concept of operations (CONOPS). Speaking at MAST Asia 2017, Morten Nakjem, from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, confirmed that Norway “is in the late stages

The United States is looking to field a laser-armed unmanned aircraft to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) towards the middle of the next decade, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) disclosed on 13 June. In a solicitation posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps)

Key Points Thailand's military government proposes 5% increase in defence expenditure Procurements, as well as operations, driving rise Thailand’s military government has proposed a defence budget of THB222.4 billion (USD6.5 billion) for 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of about

The US Air Force (USAF) is to increase the number of aircraft and additional airframe hours to be included in a planned service-life extension programme (SLEP) of its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft. While the service had previously stated that up to 300 of the

June 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - In a meeting with the head of Darfur hybrid peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) this week, two armed groups have condemned the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the western Sudan regional and called for an international response.

In a joint statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/R-MM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said they met with the UNAMID head, Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, in Paris on the 9th of June 2017.

The two groups who are part of the African Union-brokered peace process said they discussed with Mamabolo, the political situation in the country and the recent fighting that began on 19 May in North Darfur and East Darfur.

The meeting further discussed "the worsening of the humanitarian crisis and the need for an effective monitored and verifiable cessation of hostilities that paves the way for comprehensive political negotiations".

"The two movements urged the UNAMID and the international community to swiftly respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation," it further said.

In a humanitarian report released on Monday, the SLM-MM deplored the international silence over what is described as " humanitarian violations," and underscored that UN reports d not reflect the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.

Regarding the last month clashes in North and East Darfur states, the statement accused the Sudanese government of attacking the rebel positions and breaching the unilateral cessation of hostilities.

"The two movements reiterated commitment to their previously declared unilateral cessation of hostilities and expressed their commitment to peaceful resolution of the conflict in spite the fact that the Government of Sudan violated its own declared unilateral cessation of hostilities by initiating the ongoing military operations that led to the exacerbation of the humanitarian situation in the Region," said the statement.

The Sudanese government denies the accusations and says the assailant rebel fighters came from Libya and South Sudan, repeating that the region is free of rebels.

On June 1st, the Troika countries and the resident European Union Embassies in Khartoum called on the warring parties to return to the negotiating table to reach a cessation of hostilities. However, they pointed that the hostilities resumed in the region “after reinforcement from outside Darfur by the armed opposition elements”.

The SLM-MM and JEM, nonetheless, expressed their deep concern for the Government's violation of "International Human Rights Law relating to the treatment of POWs, the use of aerial bombardment against civilians, extrajudicial killings, and mass displacements".

In August 2016, the two holdout groups failed to reach a humanitarian cessation of hostilities with the government as they insisted on the need to clearly include that the political talks would not be based on the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

Since, the two armed movements held a series of meetings in Paris and Doha with the Qatari mediator, the head of UNAMID and former U.S. special envoy to define “how such a negotiation process for Darfur would operate and how it will relate to the ongoing AUHIP Roadmap Agreement process for resolving both the Darfur and Two Areas conflicts”.

Last month, the two groups handed over to Mamabolo, who is also the joint mediator for Darfur peace process, a position paper on how and what they want to negotiate to achieve peace in the west Sudan region of Darfur.

(ST)

June 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Blue Nile Liberation Council (BNLC) of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) has rejected decisions by Nuba Mountain Liberation Council (NMLC) to sack Movement's Chairman and Secretary General.

Last week, the NMLC decided to install SPLM-N Deputy Chairman Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu as temporary chairman of the Movement and relieved Malik Agar from the leadership of the armed group together with the Secretary General Yasser Arman.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Tuesday, the BNLC rejected the NMLC decision to sack Agar, Arman and the commander of the 2nd infantry front, Maj. Gen. Ahmad Al-Umda.

The statement, which was signed by Bashir Sifa Matar, said the NMLC has no constitutional right to remove Agar, Arman and Al-Umda from their positions, saying the decision to remove the Movement Chairman and Secretary General is reserved only to the National Liberation Council.

It also denounced the move by the SPLM-N spokesperson Arnu Ngutulu Lodi to support the NMLC decision, saying Lodi is no longer the spokesperson of the Movement but the NMLC.

Recently, Lodi has joined al-Hilu's group and issued a statement calling on the Movement base to support the new leadership.

In two executive decisions Monday, Agar relieved Lodi and the heads of SPLM-N chapters in United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, the Netherlands and Canada who issued similar statements in support of al-Hilu.

The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.

(ST)

The acceleration and proliferation of technology is creating the first real threat to guaranteed sea control for US naval forces in decades and is forcing the US Navy (USN) to recalculate how it views, accomplishes, and maintains such control, said Admiral John Richardson, the USN chief of naval

[Sweden’s New Lightweight Torpedo programme has set out to engineer an affordable but high-performance shallow-water ASW weapon system able to meet a taut programme schedule while accommodating upgrades. Richard Scott reports] Sweden claims an indigenous capacity in the design and manufacture

The US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) is building antennas using liquid metal to enable changes to the size, shape, and functionality of the electrical wiring. Currently, the research effort is using gallium, which is known for its use in radars (gallium arsenide and gallium nitride types) and

A remote base in the desert, close to Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan, has become a flashpoint that could pit Western special forces and allied Syrian rebels against the Syrian army and Iranian-backed Shia militias. Jeremy Binnie and Nicholas Blandford report The US-led coalition fighting the