The Spanish Navy underlines the need to update its fleet of combat aircraft, with emphasis on the transition from the  Harrier to the fifth-generation F-35B.
The Spanish Navy reaffirms the prevailing need to obtain alternative combat aircraft to the  Harrier. Captain José Emilio Regodón, leader of the Navy’s air fleet, has expressed that the migration of the  Harrier to the fifth-generation American F-35B  should not suffer further delays.

HII Mission Technologies will support the MDA in developing a missile defence system that protects the US against ballistic threats.
The post HII to develop an air defence system against ballistic missile threats appeared first on Army Technology.

In a recent simulated aerial confrontation, the F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighter jet faced an unexpected challenge from the Korean FA-50 fighter belonging to the Philippine Air Force.
The  F-22 Raptor, known for its stealth capability and designed specifically to overcome adverse air defenses, had a surprise confrontation with the  Korean-origin FA-50 fighter. This encounter occurred in the sky over  Luzon, with the   Philippine  Air Force [PAF] FA-50  challenging and reportedly “shooting down” the powerful American aircraft.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces adopted new strategies with the  Storm Shadow missile against Russian targets, while the Russian defense quickly adapted its responses.
The  Ukrainian Armed Forces [FAU] adapt their tactics in missile attacks aimed at Russian territory. One of the innovations has been the introduction of decoys alongside the  Storm Shadow missiles, simulating air assault weapons. However, Russian defense units have managed to identify genuine threats and intercept them properly. Military analyst Alexei Leonkov revealed this information in a conversation with Izvestia.

Military.com
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, was hospitalized after experiencing a “medical emergency” Sunday evening, according to a service press release.

BrDef
“What’s really going to matter is how these various departments and agencies actually start building the rules and interpreting the guidance that they received in the executive…

Hadley, A&SF
The Space Development Agency added 38 more satellites to its growing list of contract awards on Oct. 30, with the agency agreeing to a $732 million deal with Northrop Grumman….

Forbes
For Boeing Defense, Space & Security—which encompasses most of the aerospace giant’s military business—Europe presents itself as a market worthy of increased focus.

Sandboxx N.

The inclusion of Patria’s Pansarterrängbil 300 to Sweden’s military arsenal has strengthened the country’s defence capabilities.
The post Swedish forces bolster defence with Patria’s six-wheeled armoured vehicles appeared first on Army Technology.

The United States — and its allies — cannot continue in their security endeavors in the way they have heretofore. Business as usual will not lead to success. My RAND colleagues and I published these findings in Inflection Point, which warned that in today’s dynamic security environment, in which the capabilities of U.S. adversaries are changing and the nature of warfare is rapidly evolving, policymakers risk the nation’s security if they fail to understand and better prepare for future challenges. One of the countries in our study — and an increasingly critical U.S.

In this photo taken in March 2023 members of ethnic rebel group Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) take part in a training exercise at their base camp in the forest in Myanmar’s northern Shan State. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The Myanmar Army is facing unprecedented pressure to respond to the sharpest military reverses it has suffered since the coup of 2021 that have severed the country’s overland trade routes to China and seen the loss of a border town.

The R‐Han rocket, pictured above, being test‐fired from a locally developed Rantis MLRS. (Kementrian Pertahanan Indonesia)
The Indonesia Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced in late-October that state-owned arms manufacturer PT Pindad has completed the development of a 122 mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) known as the R-Han 122B.
In a social media post, the MoD said that PT Pindad conducted a “series of successful trials on the system” before declaring its completion of development.

An F-35A Lightning II drops a mock B61-12 at Sandia National Laboratories’ Tonopah Test Range in November 2020. The new B61-13 will augment the B61-12. (Sandia National Laboratories)
The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it would construct a new type of nuclear gravity bomb, designated B61-13, to complement B61-12 production.
The new bombs are intended to replace some of the B61-7 stockpile while retaining a similar nuclear yield, according to a 27 October announcement.

Following the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces have been front and center in world news. With some 360,000 reservists called up from around the globe, the IDF is preparing for what could be its largest military operation in the 21st century. Most viewers can distinguish an AR-style rifle like those carried by the IDF from an AK-style rifle. However, Israeli troops are also issued another rifle that many people may not be able to identify. Let’s dig into the history of Israel’s current standard issue rifles.

Since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, tensions in the Middle East have escalated. Israel Defense Forces are engaged with Hamas in and around the Gaza Strip as well as with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Additionally, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fired missiles and flew drones from Yemen, “potentially toward targets in Israel,” which were intercepted by the destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64), according to the Pentagon. Moreover, Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria launched at least 16 rocket and drone attacks U.S.

Precision fires is a critical aspect of modern warfare. Delivering munitions directly to a target limits collateral damage while also maximizing the efficiency of the fighting force. Employing weapons with a high degree of accuracy is especially important to the Israel Defense Forces, who face an enemy that hides within civilian, urban environments. While laser-guided precision bombs are regularly employed by the Israeli Air Force, IDF ground battalions lack organic precision indirect fire systems to respond to individual targets of opportunity; that’s where Iron Sting comes in.

DoD
A significant portion of the U.S. Army’s Patriot surface-to-air missile force have been or are in the process of being deployed to the Middle East in response to the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis. This is in addition to many other obligations around the globe. Though this reflects the immense ability of the U.S. military to project power worldwide, it also underscores the stark limitations of its existing ground-based air and missile defense capacity.
Concerns about what this means for the prospect of adequately defending U.S. forces deployed overseas, as well as the U.S.

President Biden on Monday signed an executive order that, among other things, would require the Department of Defense to conduct a pilot aimed at finding ways to use AI to protect national security networks.
The EO on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” gives the Pentagon 180 days to conduct the pilot.

Google Earth image
Ukraine made another big push today at destroying Russian air defenses in western Crimea. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, independent Russian media and an influential Russian Telegram channel on Monday all reported that an unspecified air defense system was hit on the western portion of the peninsula. There was a difference in reporting on how and exactly where it was attacked.

Six vendors have been selected for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency initiative aimed at demonstrating ways to develop better lab-grown diamond materials for microelectronics, DefenseScoop has learned.
Microelectronics are critical components of U.S. military systems and other national security-related technologies, and they’re a top priority of the Pentagon’s research-and-engineering enterprise. The Large Area Device-quality Diamond Substrates (LADDIS) program, which falls under DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, is geared toward helping to create a U.S.

The Air Force and Space Force are increasing the age for recruitment to 42 years old for certain jobs. Photo by Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo.
The Air Force and Space Force have upped the age limits for new recruits to 42 years old.
The update comes after the Air Force missed its recruiting goals for the first time since 1999, falling short by nearly 2,700 airmen. Hopeful Airmen and Guardians between 17 and 42 are now eligible to join the two branches.

Gen. Eric Smith, acting commandant of the Marine Corps, was hospitalized on Sunday with a medical emergency. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images).
The head of the Marine Corps is in the hospital after a medical emergency, according to the service.
Gen. Eric M. Smith, the Marine Corps Commandant had a medical emergency on Sunday evening.

Gen. Eric M. Smith, @CMC_MarineCorps, experienced a medical emergency on the evening of Oct. 29, 2023, and is currently receiving care at the hospital.

Jariko and Jesse Denman, father and son, share a common bond as Rangers. They traveled to Grenada for the 40th Anniversary of Operation Urgent Fury — an experience and history not too many fathers and their sons can say they share. Photo by Joshua Skovlund/Task & Purpose.
Just before the sun peaked over the horizon, Army Ranger veterans of Operation Urgent Fury unloaded from vehicles along the perimeter fence of the Maurice Bishop International Airport on Oct. 25. Instead of automatic gunfire, the sound of waves hitting the beach and moos from cows filled the air.

Israel Defense Forces
There is mounting evidence that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is now advancing in two directions around Gaza City, with reports of Israeli tanks cutting the main north-south Salah al-Din road south of Gaza City as well as operating in the Zaytoun and Shajaiya neighborhoods of the city.
“They have cut the Salah al-Din road and are firing at any vehicle that tries to go along it,” one Palestinian resident told the AFP news agency.

Israeli forces have pushed deeper into areas of Gaza as their major ground operation intensifies in what all indications will be a prolonged campaign. This included raids along the northern stretch of the strip, including the beach, and further south on its eastern flank.
The IDF has released images of its operations in Gaza, of Merkeva tanks and armored vehicles rolling on the beach in northern Gaza. Some of the Merkavas have additional cage-like armor on top of their turrets, intended primarily to protect against armed drones.

The Space Development Agency has tapped Northrop Grumman and York Space Systems to build and operate satellites that will be part of the agency’s second tranche of data transport spacecraft that are intended to provide warfighters with persistent global communications capabilities, SDA announced Monday.
The latest contracts — which combined are worth approximately $1.3 billion — are for the Alpha variants of SDA’s Tranche 2 transport layer.

The Russian Defense Minister said Ukraine lost more than 90,000 soldiers and thousands of armored vehicles after nearly 5 months of counter-offensive operations.

“Since June 4, when Ukraine began the counteroffensive campaign that was widely promoted and generously aided by the West, Kyiv has lost more than 90,000 soldiers killed or wounded, about 600 tanks.

The Israeli army and intelligence announced the rescue of a female soldier from Hamas during a night raid on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced today that they had rescued Corporal Ori Megidish during an overnight ground operation in the Gaza Strip the previous day.
Megidish was stationed at the Nahal Oz base and was taken hostage by Hamas gunmen in a surprise attack on October 7.

Four members recognized as terrorists, including an Islamic Jihad leader, were killed in Jenin during a clash with Israeli forces.
During an operation carried out in  Jenin , Israeli troops killed four Palestinian terrorists . Among the dead was  Wiam Iyad Hanoun , 27, identified as founder of the  Jenin Brigade branch  of  Islamic Jihad . The other three terrorists killed are  Amir Abdullah Sharbaji ,  Nawras Ibrhaim Zidane Bajawi  and  Musa Khaled Jayarin.

Jordan seeks to strengthen its border defenses through the deployment of the United States Patriot system in a context of growing tension following the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Jordan has officially called on the United States to strengthen its defenses with the Patriot air defense missile system. ‘We have requested the collaboration of the United States to reinforce our protection through the Patriot systems,’ the representative of the Jordanian army told state media, a quote that Reuters reported.

The World Bank warns that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas after the murder of 1,400 people could drive oil prices to historic levels, affecting the cost of food globally.
The  World Bank noted that the escalation of the war between  Israel and  Hamas could push oil prices into uncharted territory. The World Bank’s Commodity Market Outlook report indicates that while the impact on oil prices would be limited if the war does not escalate, the outlook would quickly turn negative as the conflict escalates.

A Fictional Scenario

Valley Forge-Washington & Lafayette. Winter 1777-78.

“Any idea why we’re here, Mark?”

“Not a clue. Got the same order-gram you did,” General Mark Milley snapped. He nodded to acknowledge the other joint chiefs-of-staff clustered nearby. “Don’t know who ‘Commander-in-Chief’ is, either. I checked with the White House and all the president’s gofers claimed Joe didn’t order this get-together.”

“Our CINC has no clue even what he downed for breakfast,” the Air Force chief-of-staff growled.

Army National Guard veteran David Lee Cote was killed in Ukraine on Oct. 1. (Photo courtesy of Vicki McQuade).
Another American military veteran has been confirmed to have died fighting in Ukraine. David Lee Cote, who served in the Michigan Army National Guard from 2008 to 2014, was killed by a Russian drone on Oct. 1, his mother Vicki McQuade told Task & Purpose.
“I want my son to be remembered as someone who cared about others,” McQuade said. “He fought for good over evil. He stopped and fed the dogs, played with the children. He met and talked with the Ukrainian people.

The third quarter of 2023 saw a slight fall in deal activity after the recovery in the global M&A market in the second quarter.
The post M&A market performance suffered in Q3 2023 appeared first on Army Technology.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to tackle fears surrounding AI in a speech ahead of the world’s first AI safety summit next week. 
The post Rishi Sunak addresses existential AI threats ahead of UK safety summit appeared first on Army Technology.

Poland formally accepted the first two of 32 Leonardo AW149 armed battlefield utility helicopters on 30 October. (Polish Ministry of National Defense)
Poland has formally accepted the first two of 32 Leonardo AW149 armed battlefield utility helicopters.
The acceptance ceremony was held on 30 October at the type’s future operating station at Nowy Glinnik Airport, some 70 km southwest of Warsaw, and was attended by the Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak.
News of the handover came around 17 months after Błaszczak announced the AW149 procurement in June 2022.

On 27 October, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo gave remarks at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, UK, regarding recent developments in America’s international sanctions regime.
The post US Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo briefs RUSI on new international sanctions appeared first on Army Technology.

GM Defense displays a mission power system on the back of an infantry squad vehicle. It can power one of Hoverfly’s unmanned aerial vehicles, pictured on the back of the vehicle. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

GM Defense has begun vehicle integration testing for its contract with the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) mission power system and is looking at how it can expand its electric and hybrid-electric options for expeditionary military power, an executive told
Janes
at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2023 annual conference.

One of two MANTIS C-RAM systems received by the 11th Slovak Air Force Brigade Nitra from Germany on 24 October. (MOCR)
The 11th Slovak Air Force Brigade Nitra received two Modular, Automatic and Network-capable Targeting and Interception System (MANTIS) counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) defence systems from Germany on 24 October, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo obrany SR: MOSR) announced on its website the same day.

The post Anduril begins third phase of UK MoD’s integrated force protection facilities appeared first on Army Technology.

This schematic shows components of the proposed Defense of Guam (DoG) programme to neutralise incoming ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats. (Janes)
The United States has embarked on a plan to protect its assets and those of its allies in the Indo-Pacific amid escalating regional security threats. Central to this plan is securing the base of the US 7th Fleet in Guam by providing a multilayered air-defence shield against threats ranging from ballistic missiles to hypersonic glide weapons and cruise missiles.

Frequentis C4i has secured a contract to provide its VOICE C2 system to Lockheed Martin to support the Joint Air Battle Management System that will be delivered under the second tranche of Project Air 6500 Phase 1. (Lockheed Martin Australia)
Melbourne-based C4i, a part of Austrian communications and information systems company Frequentis, has secured a contract to provide its internet protocol communications system to Lockheed Martin for the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF’s) Project Air 6500.

Patria is focusing on its production capacity after increased orders, according to its Q3 financial results.
The post Signal: outlook on Patria’s operational efficiency measures appeared first on Army Technology.

Belgium’s defence strategy and modernisation plans are being propelled by amplified military expenditure and global cooperation.
The post Belgium’s defence modernisation soars as budget surpasses $8.6bn by 2028 appeared first on Army Technology.

A number of countries have committed to the replenishment of artillery ammunition stocks in 2023 through existing or new supply lines.
The post Elbit Systems to establish artillery ammunition factory for unnamed customer appeared first on Army Technology.

Army Tech.
The Aegis Combat System successfully intercepted multiple anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles simultaneously as part of Vigilant Wyvern.

A&SF M.
U.S. Air Force bombers have been a regular sight in the skies over Europe in recent days, integrating with a host of NATO allies along the way.
On Oct.

Park NatDefM
Despite achieving its inaugural flight in 2023, the Air Force’s Red Hawk T-7A trainer jet is still suffering from extended delays that will cost the service precious time and…

Trimble, et al.