CASIC is enhancing its Sky Hawk low-observable UAV for improved stealth characteristics and greater range. This graphic is based on the most recent imagery of the UAV, from February 2024. (Janes)
China’s Tianying (Sky Hawk) tailless low-observable, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has started flight-testing following upgrades to its “main parameters”. According to Chinese state-owned media, the changes improve the UAV’s “stealth” characteristics and “endurance”.

The Netherlands has donated additional materiel and funds for Ukraine, from patrol boats to contributing to an artillery fund.

Headlines would lead one to conclude that the age of killer robots has arrived. In Ukraine, autonomous drone swarmssupposedly hunt for enemies and independently decide what to attack. Because Ukraine and Russia are employing many different types of drones, which are omnipresent over the frontlines, some observers have concluded that drones have fundamentally changed the character of war and are the key factor that will decide who prevails in the conflict.

Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government, spoke about the history of isolationism in the United States, its role in the formulation of American foreign policy, and how the idea is now resurgent in U.S. domestic politics. The conversation is based on Charlie’s most recent book, Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World.

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon in Canadian markings. (Boeing)
The US Navy (USN) has ordered 17 Boeing P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft on behalf of foreign customers, according to the US Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) 29 February contract announcement. The Royal Canadian Air Force is to receive 14 P-8s, while the remaining three are destined for Germany. The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract is worth USD3.4 billion.
Canada and Germany ordered P-8s to replace their respective fleets of P-3 Orions (designated CP-140 Auroras in Canadian service).

The U.S. Coast Guard says it is planning to buy an existing commercial icebreaker to help support operations in the highly strategic Arctic region, a possibility that has been discussed since at least 2015. This comes as work on a new class of Polar Security Cutter heavy icebreakers for the Coast Guard has suffered substantial delays, with the first of those ships now potentially not set to be delivered until 2028. The service currently only has one operational heavy icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, which is becoming increasingly difficult to operate and maintain.

A Fort Bliss Army Captain was found not guilty of murder by a Texas jury in the death of a fellow soldier in late 2023.(Photo by Capt. Joselyn Sydnor, 653rd Regional Support Group).
A Fort Bliss Army Captain was found not guilty of murder by a Texas jury in the death of a fellow soldier in late 2023.
Capt. Clevy Muchette Nelson-Royster was riding in a jeep that struck a car driven by Capt. Malcom Xavier Perry. Perry was killed, and both the driver and Nelson-Royster were charged with his death.

Spc. Jeremy Armstrong, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 1st Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, U.S. Army Reserve, eats a meal, ready to eat while he waits on repair parts for his unit at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, June 10, 2021. (Mississippi National Guard photo/Sgt. Taylor Cleveland).
The U.S. military has always had menu options, although no one expects a five-star buffet. But when your leadership tells you to cut those ties and bust open a Meal, Ready-To-Eat (MRE) box after a long day in the field, you can expect that you are now entering the Hunger Games.

MilitaryView

Top 3 Unmatched Russian Weapon Systems

Top 3 Unmatched Russian Weapon Systems: This article refers to the most advanced and superior military technologies developed by Russia, which have no equal or rival in the global defense market. These systems are characterized by their cutting-edge features, unmatched performance, and the capability to outmatch any potential adversaries.
These weapon systems are a testament to Russia’s military technology prowess and commitment to maintaining a strategic edge in the modern battlefield.

Following the first sighting of one of the 31 U.S.-supplied M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks in action on the front lines in Ukraine, as well as the confirmation of a first loss of the type, more evidence is coming to light of the tank being used in combat — and a second combat loss. The photo below, purportedly originating from the village of Berdychi, in the eastern Donetsk region, shows the Ukrainian M1 in question, after it shed its track, apparently when it ran over a mine.

In this image grab from an AFPTV video, a US aircraft carrying food parcels flies above a beach in the Gaza Strip before dropping the humanitarian aid attached to parachutes. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images).
The thousands of meals that U.S. C-130 cargo planes dropped onto a beach in Gaza included many that U.S. troops would recognize like spaghetti with beef sauce, chili with beans, and chicken noodles in vegetable sauce, according to a video shared on X.

The U.S. military did not attempt to intervene or offload any of the fertilizer on the Rubymar cargo ship between the time it was hit by a Houthi-launched missile on Feb. 18 and completely sank on March 2 in the Red Sea, where its wreckage is now presenting serious environmental risks, according to an official.
During a media briefing Monday at the Defense Department, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh responded to questions regarding this incident — and possible responses the U.S. is weighing in the aftermath, particularly as it continues to lead Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Signs are growing that the U.S. Air Force is about to conduct another live-fire test of its AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW, but this time staged from Guam.
Last week, the service showed off a live AGM-183A under the wing of a B-52H bomber at Andersen Air Force Base on the highly strategic U.S. Pacific island territory, stating it was there for show and tell of sorts with deployed B-52 crews.

The Italian Navy has become the latest participant in the naval protection force in the Red Sea to shoot down a Houthi drone or missile. The incident over the weekend came as Houthi officials vowed to continue their attacks on shipping in the region and celebrated the sinking of the first merchant vessel since their campaign began in response to Israel’s operation against Hamas in Gaza following the group’s October 7th attacks on Israel.
The Italian Navy Andrea Doria class destroyer Caio Duilio engaged a Houthi drone on Saturday, shooting it down at a relatively close range of four miles.

Former Mass. Air National Guard airman Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking military secrets.
A Massachusetts Air National Guard airman who leaked a trove of classified military secrets to impress an online gaming community agreed to a 16-year prison sentence Monday in exchange for a guilty plea with federal prosecutors.
Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, changed a previous plea of not guilty to guilty during a hearing in federal court in Boston on Monday, March 4.

Former Mass. Air National Guard airman Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking military secrets.
A Massachusetts Air National Guard airman faces between 11 years and more than 16 years in prison after pleading guilty on Monday to leaking a trove of classified military secrets to impress an online gaming community.
Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira changed his initial plea of not guilty to guilty during a hearing in federal court in Boston on Monday.

As Saab commences the construction of its facility in India, it simultaneously finalises a contract with Poland for the Carl-Gustaf Systems.

An artist’s rendition of Sierra Space’s T2TL low Earth orbit satellite prototype for the PWSA. (Sierra Space)
Arizona-based sensor payload company GEOST is betting big that improved focal plane fidelity, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled imagery processing at the edge, will be the solution for the new fire-control payload being developed for the Pentagon’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

Changes to the projected spending profile for Canada’s Strong, Secure, Engaged defence policy over time. (Canadian Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer)
Projected capital spending under Canada’s Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) defence policy has increased by CAD51.5 billion (USD38 billion) since 2022, according to the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), a nonpartisan agent of the Canadian Parliament.
The SSE policy, unveiled in June 2017, projected CAD553 billion in spending over a 20-year period ending in 2036–37.

Reunited with Buck Cleven, Bucky Egan and other men from the 100th Bomb Group, including Crank Cruikshank, Frank Murphy, Hambone Hamilton and Benny DeMarco, face the struggle of survival in the Stalag Luft III POW camp. Their German captors, called “goons” by the prisoners, fed them little more than cabbage water and moldy rye bread. For protein, POWs relied on canned meat in Red Cross packages…or whatever they could catch in the Stalag, as DeMarco was shocked to learn.

KNDS’s Nexter qualified its Shard 120 mm APFSDS tank ammunition in late 2023. (Nexter)
KNDS’s Nexter announced in a press release on 29 February that it had qualified its Shard 120 mm armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) tank ammunition in late 2023 and that it is now ready for production.
The ammunition was demonstrated against rolled homogeneous armour with Leclerc and Leopard 2 main battle tank (MBT) users in Alcochete.

Denmark is replacing its coastal air-defence radars, including the fixed long-range 3D RAT-31DL radar acquired back in 1995. (Selex ES)
Denmark has launched a EUR220 million (USD238.4 million) competition to replace its coastal radars in Bornholm and Skagen as well as on the Faroe Islands.

Discussions on work share agreements for the sixth-generation GCAP fighter aircraft are scheduled to start in March 2024. (BAE Systems)
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom are in talks on the preliminary design of the sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) aircraft, with discussions on the division of responsibilities for the overall programme expected to start in March.

According to GlobalData, US investment in simulation is predicted through 2028 in light of the changing geopolitical environment.

Airforce Tech.
General Atomics validates the ‘genus/species’ concept, focused on building several aircraft variants from a common core chassis.

Citizen Soldier, RealClearDefense
George Bernard Shaw wrote “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.” And, he who cannot teach, does “foreign policy” in Washington, DC.

Joe Buccino, RealClearDefense

The M1A2 Abrams MBTs – pictured above from a US Army exercise – are protected by composite armours, armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun, and powered by a bespoke gas-turbine engine. (US Army)
The Republic of China Army (RoCA) will receive 38 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs), 11 M142 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and associated ammunition, and 81 ‘BGM‐71F tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) 2B’ anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from the United States in 2024, a RoCA officer told Janes on 3 March.

The UK will unveil its Spring 2024 Budget, in which its defence commitments will provide a good headline for a struggling Government.

Industry experts say battlefield comms, perimeter security, drone use and space satellites are driving growth of IoT in defence.

China accounted for 46% of total APAC defence spending in 2024. (Janes)
In a global geopolitical and economic context of ever-increasing uncertainty, Asia-Pacific’s defence spending growth in 2024 is, at first glance at least, remarkably pedestrian – even subdued. With a significant proportion of the region’s budgets published at least in draft form, military expenditure in Asia in the year is expected to have risen to USD603.9 billion.
This represents a nominal rise of 4.9% but is just 2.1% larger after the effects of inflation are taken into account.

“It is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union,” George Kennan wrote in 1947, “must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” When Kennan devised this famous sentence, he did not only have Europe in mind: Asia and the Middle East were catalysts of early Cold War contestation. Soviet expansive tendencies proceeded from the universal sway of communism and from the legacy of the Russian empire, which had been active in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The US Army wants to add more robust cold weather survival equipment such as tents to the survival pod on its AH-64 Apache and other helicopters. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

In the High North, fast winds can steer rotor blades while icy precipitation can reduce visibility.

MilitaryView

8 Current & Upcoming ICBMs That have the ability to destroy a Nation
In today’s volatile geopolitical landscape, the capabilities of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) are increasingly relevant. This article delves into 8 current & upcoming ICBMs with the potential to wield catastrophic power capable of devastating entire nations.
Whether it’s the Hwasong-15 from North Korea, the RS-28 Sarmat from Russia, or any other on this list, each missile represents a significant advancement in military technology, underscoring the delicate balance of global security.

A T-7A Red Hawk sits in a frozen McKinley Climatic Lab chamber Jan. 22, 2024 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The Air Force’s newest training aircraft experienced temperature extremes from 110 to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit as well as heavy humidity during the month of testing. The tests evaluate how the aircraft, its instrumentation and electronics fared under the extreme conditions it will face in the operational Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.).
The U.S. Air Force is one step closer to adopting its new training jet for pilots.

Connecticut Army National Guard soldiers participate in a class to prepare them to retest and raise their Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, scores, Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose Armed Forces Reserve Center, Middletown, Connecticut, August 6, 2020. Soldiers may take improvement courses in order to retest on the ASVAB after enlisting to become eligible for more job options and progression, to commission as a warrant officer officer and to commission as a commissioned officer. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Lucibello).

Host L Todd Wood speaks to French intelligence analyst Thierry Laurent on the situation in-country.
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Seen at a media event at the type’s Wattisham Airfield home operating station, the AH-64E will soon be declared to be ‘operationally ready’ by the British Army. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
The British Army is to declare its Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter force to be “operationally ready” in the coming days, a senior official said on 28 February.

MilitaryView

US Underwater Supremacy: Invisible Guardians of the Ocean
US Underwater Supremacy: Invisible Guardians of the Ocean”: this article explores the critical role of US Navy submarines in maintaining dominance beneath the waves.
The United States Navy leads this field with an unparalleled fleet of 71 submarines distributed in four classes: Ohio, Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia.
Breakdown of the Ohio, Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia classes, pillars of the United States maritime strategy.

FILE: A CV-22 Osprey assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command prepares to land during an aerial demonstration at Wittman Regional Airport, Wis., July 30, 2021. (Senior Airman Miranda Mahoney/U.S. Air Force).
V-22 Ospreys could soon be flying again in the coming week. That’s according to the Associated Press, which reported yesterday that the Pentagon is preparing to let different branches of the military implement plans to start Osprey operations in the next few days.

MilitaryView

Lancet: Russian kamikaze drone identifies its own targets
The Lancet, weighing approximately 11.3 kilograms, has the ability to neutralize tanks, artillery pieces and various vehicles at a distance of up to 48.3 kilometers.
In recent assessments, the Russian Lancet munition has been noted to have incorporated an advanced “targeting” capability.

An American C-130 cargo plane being loaded with supplies for Gaza. (Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force).
American and Jordanian C-130 cargo planes airdropped more than 38,000 meals into the Gaza Strip today, the first such American operation to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians there since the war in Gaza began. United States Central Command says that more are to come. 
The C-130s dropped 66 bundles over the Gaza coastline, containing more than 38,000 meals ready to eat as well as water for Palestinians in need of supplies.

Host L Todd Wood speaks to Maj Gen Joe Arbuckle (USA, Ret) on his time as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Army during the largest NVA offensive of the war.
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Lolita C.

Military Motivation – “DESTRUCTIVE”
✓ i

The U.S. Marine Corps’ stealthy XQ-58A Valkyrie has successfully completed its second flight test with the service. The Marine Corps is currently testing the drone against a whole range of potential uses, including as electronic warfare platforms, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, and wingmen for crewed fighters, including in kinetic roles.
The flight test took place on February 23, and was conducted from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where the Marine’s XQ-58A testing efforts are based. The test saw Marines working in conjunction with the U.S.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly preparing to take custody of what may be the remains of another spy balloon recovered by fishermen off the coast of Alaska. The news comes a week after the North American Aerospace Defense Command sent fighters to investigate another balloon over Utah, which was assessed to not be a threat to national security or a hazard to aviation. This all follows a string of similar incidents last year, including a Chinese spy balloon that intruded into U.S. airspace and was eventually shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Germany is acquiring 60 Chinook helicopters, for which the first engine contract has now been placed. (Boeing via Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Germany has placed the first award related to its procurement of Boeing CH-47F Block II Chinook Standard Range (SR) air-to-air refuelling (AAR)-capable heavy-lift helicopters, contracting Honeywell to provide the engines.
Announced on 26 February, the award covers 105 T55-GA-714A engines for the EUR6.98 billion (USD7.57 billion) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme to deliver 60 Chinook ER helicopters to the Luftwaffe.

MilitaryView

Why Did Russia Fail to Build a Robust Aircraft Carrier Fleet?
Why Did Russia Fail to Build a Robust Aircraft Carrier Fleet?: A Look at the Historical, political, and Technical Factors that Contributed to Russia’s Lack of a Robust Aircraft Carrier Fleet Despite its Military and Naval prowess during the Cold War Era.
Despite the outstanding military exploits and naval development of the former USSR during the Cold War era, the ambition to build a robust aircraft carrier fleet was never fully realized.

The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office’s “embed” at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii — who is tasked with helping service members there more rapidly access and adopt data-driven and digital capabilities to support their missions — is Dan Tadevich, DefenseScoop has learned.