* The Economist and the Telegraph urge Western leaders to confront not just Ukraine's government but also Vladimir Putin. After 3 months of unrest the country is now expected to have early elections (the official presidential statement in Ukrainian doesn't say when)...
* CNA's Center for Strategic Studies assessed [PDF] for the US Congress the state of the Afghan National Security Forces and recommends that the ANSF change their composition to provide more support, relative to over-abundant infantry units. The research organization...
* An announcement [in Chinese] from the PRC's ministry of defense seems to indicate that production of Hongdu's L-15 Falcon light attack trainers may soon pick up. So far they haven't delivered more than a few prototypes and early units. According to the ministry,...
* CBS' 60 Minutes did a decent job outlining challenges and hot issues in its F-35 report, within the significant constraints of limiting their sourcing to DoD, the program office, the services, and Lockheed Martin. A broader perspective that includes allied...
Polish F-16C(click to view full) Poland is looking for at least 16 Lead-in Fighter Trainer (LIFT) aircraft to replace its aged fleet of over 100 PZL Mielec TS-11 Iskra trainer jets. The Iskras were initially going to be retired by 2009, but the tender's submission...
Kuwaiti C-17(click to view full) In September 2010, Kuwait added itself to the list of existing and potential Gulf Cooperation Council C-17 customers. Within the Gulf Cooperation Council, both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have bought the aircraft, even though...
(click to view full) In February 2010, a EUR 280 million contract launched the Athena-Fidus (Access on THeatres for European allied forces NAtions-French Italian Dual Use Satellite) satellite program. The program is similar to the concept behind the US/Australian WGS,...
USAF OV-10(click to view full) As natural resources and exports have fueled its economy, Indonesia has been looking to replace its fleets of BAE Hawk Mk.53 trainer jets, and OV-10F Bronco forward air control/ counterinsurgency aircraft, as part of a more general...
* A plan for a Chinese military port got planning approval in Hong Kong, despite tensions between residents and the mainland that translate into protests denouncing Chinese "locusts." * Australia was surprised to see the Chinese navy conduct an exercise in the Indian...