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KMW and Rheinmetall have received an order for 50 more Puma IFVs. (Bundeswehr/Marco Dorow)
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall announced in a joint press release on 15 May that they had been awarded a EUR1.087 billion (USD1.18 billion) contract by Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr: BAAINBw) for 50 more Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

Why is the F-15I platform essential for the IAF (Israel Air Force)?
After years of stalling in January, the Israeli Defense Ministry publicly ordered 25 F-15EX fighters from the United States. Several defense publications have reported that the Israeli government has initiated the Foreign Military Sale procedure by sending a Letter of Request (LOR) to the United States.
According to Breaking Defense, Israel’s purchase of the new combat platform was slowed by the country’s persistent political instability, which has resulted in five general elections in less than four years.

USAF

The U.S. Air Force plans to test an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Adding an AESA would give these aircraft a valuable tool for spotting, tracking, and engaging targets, especially in bad weather and at extended ranges. The radar could perform more general intelligence-gathering and provide improved situational awareness, along with other functions, as well.
The forthcoming AC-130 AESA testing was highlighted during a briefing last week by members of U.S.

In light of Russia’s continued use of its strategic bombers, including the Tu-95 and Tu-160, to launch conventional resistance strikes against Ukraine, satellite images have revealed an unexpected increase in these bombers in northern Russia near the NATO border.
The Barents reported that a new set of satellite images of the Olenya airbase on Russia’s Kola Peninsula has revealed that some 16 strategic bombers have been deployed to this airbase near NATO countries Finland and Norway. The airbase is located in the closed city of Olenegorsk-2, an hour’s drive south of Murmansk.

A welcome sign stands outside of the Holcomb Gate on Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jan. 8, 2008. (U.S. Marine Corps photo).

For almost four decades, the ground water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was polluted with a toxic chemical used to degrease metal parts, dry clean clothes and even decaffeinate coffee.

The Italian Navy is planning the purchase of new ships to increase its onboard accommodation capacity for amphibious landing forces personnel and troops to 1,700, official sources have reported.
Three new 16,500-tonne ships will replace smaller ones and will be combined with the new Trieste landing helicopter dock to improve Italy’s ability to transport combat forces from the ship to shore, according to officials.

Howard Altman

Sitting at a small round table in the middle of the showroom floor at the SOFWeek special operations conference in Tampa last week, the representative of a Ukrainian company seeking weapons for his nation’s military sat down with The War Zone to talk about what Ukraine needs most.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, “Igor” talked about drones, optics, the challenge of developing a logistics chain for the wide array of armor donated to Ukraine and the frustrations of dealing with bureaucracy that can delay the fielding of equipment for months.

Senior U.S. military leaders spotlighted the services’ unique near- and long-term technology needs — and the combatant commands’ competing urge to accelerate such deployments — during a meeting with Defense Innovation Board Chair Mike Bloomberg earlier this month that Gen. Mark Milley hosted at the Pentagon. 
The engagement marked the first of two this year that Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will steer as part of his organization’s semi-annual Strategic Seminar Series. 
“Gen.

In May 2018, Florence Parly, then Minister of the Armed Forces, congratulated herself on the launch of the Tigre Mk3 program “in cooperation with Germany” [although Spain was also participating], underlining a “new step for the defense of Europe and the consolidation of our industry.”
As a reminder, the objective was to carry out a mid-life upgrade of the Tiger attack helicopter to standard 3.

On November 9, 2022, two U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J aircraft executed the first live fire demonstration of deploying a palletized Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) over the North Atlantic Ocean near Norway’s Andøya Space Defense Range. After being extracted from the C-130’s cargo bay by parachute, the missile shed its pallet, free-falling until its motor ignited. The JASSM then cruised low across the ocean surface at high speed along a pre-designated course until a controlled crash into the ocean was initiated.