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Soldiers from the British Army and the Royal Army of Oman have completed a two-week long training exercise, Khanjar Oman, to hone their warfighting skills.
Held between 3-14 February, the exercise was carried out in Ras Madrakah, which is the Omani-British joint training area in Duqm.
This was the first main training event conducted as part of the British Army’s four-month long deployment to Oman.

During this joint activity, soldiers from the two nations operated together to build a mock assault on an enemy deployed in an urban area.

Rheinmetall is to be awarded manufacture of the centre-fuselage section of the F-35 as part of a wider industrial offset package for Germany. (Lockheed Martin via Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Rheinmetall is to be awarded manufacture of the centre-fuselage section of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as part of a wider industrial offset package for Germany.

BAE Systems has been awarded GBP1.4 billion to lead the UK’s Global Combat Air Programme effort as part of the Future Combat Air System Acquisition Programme’s Concept and Assessment Phase. (Crown Copyright)
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BAE Systems GBP1.4 billion (USD1.7 billion) to lead the country’s Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) effort.

My first Munich Security Conference, back in 2005, was a wonky gathering of transatlantic security policymakers. All the proceedings took place in the Bayerische Hof ballroom, and a cloud hung over the largely European (and theoretically nonsmoking) audience. Delegates’ eyes lit with excitement as they debated NATO’s strategic concept, evaluated the war in Iraq, and […]
The post Of Strategy and Schnitzel: Munich Security Conference 2023 appeared first on War on the Rocks.

In 1966, soon after Sweden abandoned its ambition to develop a nuclear weapon, Alva Myrdal, a champion of Sweden’s nuclear reversal and a later Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said that “If there is to be something of an eleventh commandment: Thou shalst not carry nuclear weapons—why should it only be valid for some?” For the […]
The post NATO’s Nordic Enlargement and Nuclear Disarmament: The End of Bridge Building appeared first on War on the Rocks.

The US Air Force sent B-1 strategic bombers to participate in joint drills with South Korea after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced on February 19 that it would hold joint drills with the US Air Force. During the exercise, Korean F-35A and F-15K fighters and US F-16 escorted B-1B bombers into Korea’s aviation identification zone (ADIZ). It is not clear how many B-1B bombers participated in the exercise.
“Through the timely and immediate deployment of extended U.S.

The Estonian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed its intent to procure a ‘significant quantity’ of loitering munitions in the near future.
This plan to acquire loitering munitions, that comes ‘as a consequence of Russian aggression’, was proposed by Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur in the government’s cabinet meeting on 16 February.
Pevkur said: “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of indirect fire in the development of Estonia’s defence capability, as aggressor nation Russia has caused destruction in Ukraine mostly with indirect fire strikes.

The US Army tests its Integrated Tactical Network during a demonstration featuring more than 200 Stryker combat vehicles. (US Army)
The US Army evaluated its Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) for the first time in a mounted configuration from 19 January to 5 February, Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) officials told Janes on 15 February.

US Coast Guard icebreaker
Healy
calls in Seward, Alaska, in July 2022, while embarking on a North Pole deployment. US Senator Lisa Murkowski wants to accelerate the acquisition of additional icebreakers.
(Michael Fabey)
Citing growing national security concerns in the Arctic, US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called for speedier acquisition of the proposed fleet of Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) and improvement of infrastructure for Arctic communications.

EndureAir’s Alakh nano UAV was displayed at Aero India 2023. (Janes/Akshara Parakala)
EndureAir, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, has delivered its Alakh nano unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the Indian Army. The Alakh was unveiled at the Aero India 2023 show held in Bangalore from 14 to 17 February.

EndureAir told
Janes
, “Work on [developing] Alakh started in early 2022 followed by flight tests in late 2022.