The Nigerian Navy took delivery of its first-ever purpose-built Hydrographic Research Vessel, NNS Lana (Offshore Survey Vessel 190 MKII) in Saint Nazaire, France. The ship was constructed by French shipyard OCEA. The new ship was conceived as a replacement to the previous NNS LANA, a survey ship that was decommissioned about 10 years ago. The new NNS LANA (A499) is designed and purposely built to enable the NN conduct hydrographic and oceanographic surveys. Survey services and charting waterways play a crucial role in ensuring safe navigation. The construction of NNS Lana commenced in Decembe ..read more

Leonardo will supply to Lockheed Martin Canada four OTO 127/64 LightWeight (LW) Vulcano naval guns, including the Automatic Ammunition Handling System (AAHS) as an optional solution, for the new Canadian Surface Combatants (CSC), which will be built by Irving Shipbuilding Inc. at the Halifax shipyard in Nova Scotia. The first three systems will be installed on-board the new naval units, while the fourth will be used for training activities. The CSC programme’s aim is the construction of 15 advanced and multi-mission combat ships as part of the broader National Shipbuilding Strategy, a long-te ..read more

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is pausing its efforts to field replacement software for the F-35′s troubled logistics system due to a lack of funding, the head of the F-35 program office said Thursday. In 2020, the F-35 program executive office announced plans to develop a replacement for the Lockheed Martin-made Autonomic Logistics Information System currently used by maintenance crews to perform functions such as ordering spare parts or logging repair work. Known as the Operational Data Integrated Network, or ODIN, the new system would combine hardware produced by Lockheed with so ..read more

The U.S. military is mulling how to position its aircraft throughout the Middle East and Asia to continue air strikes and intelligence-gathering missions in Afghanistan, as American forces prepare to leave key installations like Bagram Air Base behind, the head of U.S. Central Command said this week. Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie told lawmakers he is drawing up options for keeping counterterrorism forces on call in the region. Those alternatives are due to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin by the end of April. Manned or unmanned air ..read more

The Admiral Nakhimov guided missile destroyer. (via Twitter) The Russian battlecruiser, ‘Admiral Nakhimov’, will soon be armed with the naval variant of the S-400 SAM system and Zircon hypersonic missiles, reports said. The Russian Navy claims this will be the world’s most lethal warship after the upgrades.  Severnoye Design Bureau (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) CEO Andrei Dyachkov told Russian news agency TASS on Thursday on the occasion of the company’s 75th anniversary. Project 11442M is the third battlecruiser of the Russian Navy’s Kirov-class nuclear-powered guided-mi ..read more

During high-level talks, the Chinese side showed reluctance in disengaging from the remaining friction points at Gogra Heights, Hot Springs, Depsang plains and CNN Junction near Demchok. The Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries, including their HQ-9 air-defence system with a strike range of 250 km, continue to be deployed close to Indian territory in Ladakh. Top government sources told India Today TV that the Indian agencies are closely monitoring these air-defence batteries, which may pose threat for Indian fighter aircraft and helicopters operating in the region. “The Chinese Peopl ..read more

SHADIAN, China—“Assalamu alaikum,” Ma Zhijun greeted me in Arabic, extending me peace and a broad toothy smile. We were strangers eyeing the same beef skewers in front of Shadian’s Grand Mosque, the largest in southwestern China, at the end of Ramadan in 2019. Food stalls lined Moslem Avenue; Eid al-Fitr had finally arrived, and Muslims in the Chinese town were eager to make up for a month of daytime fasting. “Are you one of our Muslims?” he asked when I returned his greeting, perhaps puzzled by my proper beard but poor Arabic. “No,” I replied, prompting Ma’s invitation to the shade of palm t ..read more

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Canadian defense leaders have highlighted climate change and Chinese expansion into the Arctic as future issues the country will have to grapple with in the far north. The warnings came as the Royal Canadian Navy recently completed ice testing and trials for the first of its new fleet of Arctic offshore patrol ships. Acting Chief of the Defence Staff Lt. Gen. Wayne Eyre sent all Canadian forces personnel a message on March 24, highlighting some of defense issues the military will face in the future. He noted that the military is currently supporting northern ..read more

Indian defence industry is the most modern and the fastest growing industry of India. In fact, it is second only to the construction industry. With such a huge importance on defence spending in the country, defence news is one of the leading sources for breaking stories on all sorts of defence-related news. It’s not just the big news, but also the lesser-known news that get everybody interested. The first page of any good news magazine will be devoted entirely to news from the defence industry. There will be pictures, charts, and graphs, and sometimes videos as well. Most news related articles ..read more

China, which boasts a fleet of advanced fifth-generation J-20 fighter jets, is now developing a fourth-generation, carrier-capable stealth aircraft, according to reports. China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), recently unveiled its plans to build a new fourth-generation fighter. “The company aims to make breakthroughs in its fourth-generation fighter jet program by boosting related technologies, including additive manufacturing, control over surface electromagnetic defects, and automated fiber placement so that the ..read more