Today, small satellites must hitch a ride into orbit, but an array of small-payload vehicles are under development that promise low-cost, quick-response launches of spacecraft as slight as cubesat-size.
To counter distant threats, Israel has reinforced its “long arm”—first established to deter missile attacks—enabling the military to operate thousands of miles from Israel’s borders.
“To respond to threats, there must be a balance between the resources that are given to the armies and the missions entrusted to them,” Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of staff of the French armed forces, told lawmakers.
Big orders for antisubmarine warfare aircraft and helicopters, sea-based V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, a new-technology submarine and surveillance aircraft are priorities in Japan’s 2016 defense budget.
South Korea's 2016 defense budget request is 4% higher than the 2015 budget, a slight slowdown from the 4.9% increase of 2015. The share of investment for new equipment in the total defense budget will hit 30%.
Military customers focus on upgrades in the absence of clarity and funding for new programs, while the civil market races ahead in technology and numbers, but remains relatively small in value.
From terrorist attacks to China’s aggressive “terraforming” of new bases in international waters, threats to a rules-based international order have seldom been so diverse.
The upcoming fighter competition means defining an operational requirement—something that has received no serious attention since Canada originally joined the JSF program in the early 2000s.
With deployments in Afghanistan, Mali and northern Iraq, Germany is increasing its defense budget beyond original plans, with new weapons systems accounting for much of the rise.
The merger of Aeroflot’s subsidiaries is part of an effort to avoid competition between the groups carriers in a shrinking market, and strengthens the group’s position in all its segments.
