MELBOURNE, Australia – China has for the first time showed off retired 1950s era fighter jets that have been converted to unmanned drones, with satellite photos of two of its east coast bases near Taiwan showing a large number of the jets on site. The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command published the photos of

WASHINGTON — For two decades, the Army led the U.S. military’s war in Afghanistan and, in the process, operations there and in Iraq transformed the service. It led to the purchase of billions of dollars of new weapons, the development of doctrine and adjustments to training. But while the Army was focused on counterinsurgency, the

MELBOURNE, Australia — Six light attack helicopters ordered by Malaysia are in the final phase of delivery and acceptance, according to the country’s defense minister. Hishammuddin Hussein replied to a question posed by lawmakers Sept. 30 that the six MD 530G helicopters will undergo another round of predelivery inspection at manufacturer MD Helicopters’ facility in

ROME — Italy announced it will purchase six new Piaggio Aerospace aircraft to help relaunch the Italian firm, and indicated the government is dropping long-held plans to buy drones from the company, ending the ill-fated story of the Hammerhead UAV. The Italian Defence Ministry said it would spend €171 million (U.S. $198 million) to buy

ANKARA, Turkey — Challenging Western sanctions, NATO ally Turkey has pledged to further its defense industry cooperation with Russia, including fighter jet and aircraft engine technologies, a second batch of S-400 air defense systems, and submarines. The end of September saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fail to mend ties with the Biden administration, instead

HELSINKI — The Finnish government has approved an expansion to its defense procurement budget for 2022 that takes into account preliminary costs associated with the €10 billion (U.S. $12 billion) HX Fighter Program and the acquisition of new multirole aircraft. The proposal for new budgetary measures was presented to Finland’s national parliament, the Eduskunta, on

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has criticized a U.S. decision to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and threatened unspecified countermeasures if it finds the deal affects its security. State media on Monday published comments from an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry official who called the arrangement between U.S., Britain and Australia an “extremely”

WASHINGTON ― Lawmakers have proposed $6.3 billion in emergency funding to resettle Afghan refugees, $1 billion for the Iron Dome air defense system and other Pentagon-friendly provisions in a stopgap government funding bill to avoid a government shutdown after Sept. 30. House Democrats offered a continuing resolution through Dec. 3 with a marquee provision to

LONDON — Britain’s Army chief came to DSEI to make a keynote speech about the Army’s transformation plans and efforts to embrace data, digitization and cutting-edge technologies. But reporters were more interested in asking him about Afghanistan and the recent withdrawal, in which the British military played a significant role. Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith, the chief

ROME – Leonardo has announced more details of the 757 test bed aircraft it will use in the Tempest program, including a 28 ton payload for equipment and six locations for sensors. Dubbed Excalibur, the aircraft has been remodeled with a pointed nose to mimic the likely Tempest design by Leonardo’s partner, UK firm 2Excel.