* The UK awarded a £1.5 billion contract ($2.4B) to Aquila, a joint venture set between Thales and NATS to update and sustain military air traffic management. They're merging what used to be about 70 contracts into a single program called Marshall, whose geographical...
Keeping track of...(click to view full) For the last 50 years, newer fighters have been sold as requiring less maintenance than their predecessors, due to technical advances. As people like Chuck Spinney and the Congressional Research Service have documented, the...
* After years of belt-tightening by postponing procurement programs, Spain's Defense State Secretary and former Boeing executive Pedro Argüelles announced a €10B investment plan that includes F-110 frigates and 8x8 infantry vehicles, writes La Semana [in Spanish]....
* US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) reached $31.2B in FY14 (i.e. ending Sept. 30), and with additional exports handled through other mechanisms, total sales announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) reached $34.2B. That's slightly above the previous...
* Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo introduced [WSJ] what appears to be a business-friendly cabinet on balance, though political patronage remains [Sydney Morning Herald] part of the equation. Former army Chief of Staff Ryamizard Ryacudu is the new defense...
* Poland has adopted [Defence24] a new national security strategy, which explicitly recognizes "a risk of local and regional conflicts in direct vicinity of Poland." The Economist profiles Ewa Kopacz, Poland's prime minister since last month, as a pragmatic leader...
* General Dynamics had basically flat Q3 2014 revenue, with total sales of $7.7B, masking a 13% drop in information systems balanced by growth of about 7% in aerospace, combat systems, and marine systems. Their total backlog reached $74.4B and has been robustly...
* Lockheed Martin reported Q3 2014 sales down 2% to $11.1B, a trend that they expect will continue through next year. That was reflected in all segments but Space Systems. At $76.5B, total backlog is $6.1B below where it was at the end of 2013, most of that decline...
* Finnish Defence Forces have started researching [Uutiset] how to replace an aging Hornet fighter fleet, for an estimated €6B. Greater air defense cooperation with Sweden could give the JAS-39E/F Gripen a "second time lucky" edge; the original JAS-39A/B Gripen lost...