Author: Michael

Understand the impact of the Ukraine conflict from a cross-sector perspective with the Global Data Executive Briefing: Ukraine Conflict

The German Ministry of Defence (MoD) is planning to allocate €12bn in additional funds to strengthen the defensive capabilities of Ukrainian soldiers.
This announcement comes after the Budget Committee of Germany’s parliament, Bundestag, granted its approval during a meeting held on 29 March.

The meeting was also attended by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
Out of the total sanctioned funding, around €3.

The ESG report highlights the company’s achievements in emissions reductions, diversity and inclusion, human rights, and ethical business operations. 
Additionally, Northrop Grumman has released its Task-Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures report, again highlighting its progress on climate-related governance, risk management, strategy, and metrics and targets since its first report was published in 2022.

RUSI
An early analysis of the evidence sheds light on Russia’s unconventional operations in its war against Ukraine.

J. Pomfret & M. Pottinger, Foreign Affairs
The World Should Take Him Seriously
Chinese leader Xi Jinping says he is preparing for war.

WashTimes
Russia is staging wide-scale military exercises in Siberia involving its strategic missile forces in a show of nuclear strength amid the fighting in Ukraine following…

John C. K.

Mark Temnycky, RCDefense

An artist’s rendition of the Flight III DDG 51 shows the new AN/SPY-6(V) radar antenna array. (Huntington Ingalls Industries)
The US Navy (USN) awarded Raytheon Technologies a USD619 million contract to continue producing AN/SPY-6(V) radars, the company confirmed on 29 March, exercising the second option from the March 2022 hardware, production, and sustainment contract that is valued up to USD3 billion over five years.
The work is expected to be completed by September 2026, the Department of Defense (DoD) said. About USD470.

Thales Sophie Ultima. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Thales demonstrated the Far Target Location (FTL) capabilities of its Sophie Ultima thermal imager at the SOFINS 2023 exhibition in Bordeaux, France.
Sophie Ultima features an optical day channel with a 20º wide field-of-view and unlike earlier members of the Sophie family is fitted with a continuous zoom function, which helps to maintain the target in sight at extended distances. The system is equipped with a cooled thermal imager that supports a 6 km detect, recognise, and identify range for a standard NATO tank-sized target.

BAE Systems in collaboration with the US Army has successfully test-fired a sub-calibre artillery long-range projectile with enhanced lethality.
The test was conducted as part of the US Army’s XM1155 extended-range artillery projectile programme. BAE Systems is under contract to develop and test the projectile for this programme.
It was performed from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

For this test, the company validated the compatibility of the projectile with a 155mm Extended Range Cannon Artillery Howitzer Test Bed, as well as with propelling charges.