Defense

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%.

Reported reforms could include slashing army troop levels by 300,000 but a great increase in the PLA’s ability to project power abroad.

Budget cuts amid political and economic instability in Brazil is forcing rethinking of major defense projects.

Commercial lows and military highs help define a challenging time for the rotorcraft industry.

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.

The government’s ability to boost the non-salary segment of the defense budget will be hampered by other commitments such as pension benefits.

Maritime patrol aircraft are also being sought.

Britain strengthens defenses in response to different threats, including Russian aggression and European terrorist attacks.

Middle East nations arm themselves for continuing conflict, from fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria to operations in Yemen.

“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.

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 gap between the Defense Department’s plans and actual funding is about $15 billion.

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.

Russia’s upgrade of military capabilities continues, though economic problems are weighing on the defense budget and forcing hard choices to be made.

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.

Aviation Week’s list of avionics companies and MRO services that help companies prepare for the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B Out mandate.

New Zealand-based space launch company Rocket Lab has announced the start of construction of an orbital launch site on the Mahia Peninsula, an outlying spit of land on the east coast of the country’s North Island.

The U.S. Air Force is reassessing its launch processing procedures with an eye toward dramatically increasing launches at its Eastern Range, according to Brig. Gen.

The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to further develop high-energy laser weapons to better defend Navy ships against attack, the company confirms.

Buffeted by this month’s Pentagon directive to cut its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and frigate fleets and a U.S. Government Accountability Office report questioning the fleet’s lethality and survivability, the U.S. Navy is spotlighting the LCS 3 USS Forth Worth’s successful year at sea in the Western Pacific.

The U.S. Navy has awarded Austal USA a $51.7 million contract for additional work on its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) line, as well as future frigate work.

Russia’s upgraded MS-1 Progress resupply capsule carried out an automated docking with the International Space Station early Dec. 23, delivering 5.8 tons of propellant, crew supplies, spare parts and research hardware.

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