German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck: “Ukraine does not have enough defensive weapons to protect the lives of its people. It is only logical that Ukraine should defend itself by being able to prevent attacks from Russia. Prohibiting it from doing so would mean the death of more people.”
Seventy-four Israeli companies were supposed to exhibit at the Eurosatory defence exhibition on the outskirts of Paris, later this month, before they were banned after French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israeli attacks on Rafah to stop. Israeli stands were empty at the Dubai Airshow held last November, shortly after the October 7th attack by Hamas. But they were back on display at the Singapore Airshow held last February.
The German Ministry of Defence said in order to “compete for the best minds, the use of TikTok is indispensable”. Special measures are being introduced for the use of TikTok. These include the technical separation between the Bundeswehr‘s networks and the TikTok platform. Dedicated end devices should be used without access to the Bundeswehr‘s IT structure. TikTok software is still neither authorized nor technically possible on official IT.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is resisting a possible Western expansion in military backing for Ukraine, saying on Sunday he does not favour allowing Kiev to use German weapons to hit targets in Russia as German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Saturday in Italy the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized democracies still have “a lot of work to do” on using interest generated from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
Norway, Spain and Ireland will recognize an independent Palestinian state, their leaders said in near simultaneous announcements on Wednesday, defying staunch opposition from Israel. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in Oslo he hoped other countries would join in the initiative, believing it will advance the prospects for peace after more than seven months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Scholz: “At best, it’s the start of a process that could lead to direct talks between Ukraine and Russia. In Switzerland, it will be about the safety of nuclear power plants, grain exports, the issue of prisoner exchanges and the necessary taboo on the use of nuclear weapons. Once again, this is all still in its infancy.”
Pistorius said that military spending should be excluded from the so-called debt brake rules that are written into Germany’s constitution, which were added to the German constitution in 2009, and only allow the government to rely on borrowing for deficit spending under certain conditions.
Using a digital F/A-18 Super Hornet and an MQ-25 Stingray unmanned refueler in a simulator lab, “a Boeing-led team virtually demonstrated an F/A-18 pilot commanding an unmanned MQ-25 to release a refueling drogue and refuel the Super Hornet, using existing communications links on both platforms,” according to a statement by the company.
Nicaragua argued that by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and by defunding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.”
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described the delivery of U.S. ATACMS missiles to Ukraine as a “reaction to the Russian escalation” in Ukraine, to which Germany must also respond.
The Main Ground Combat System project is conceived around not just a new main battle tank design, but also a series of systems and vehicles built off that platform that will connect battle tanks in a data network with support weapons such as drones and other unmanned systems.
The €100 billion ($107 billion) special fund created to update
Germany’s military after Russia invaded its neighbour in 2022 will be used up in a few years, Lindner said.
The armed forces will then have to be upgraded from regular funds. But this won’t be possible with a limited budget and
ever-growing debt, the finance minister went on.
Saab will begin production of the Carl-Gustaf M4 from its site in Jhajjar in Haryana next year, with the first-ever 100 percent ownership of a venture by a foreign manufacturer in India. The production is intended to largely service the Indian Army-requirements with additional potential for exports.
Germany stopped selling weapons to Saudi Arabia over the war on Yemen’s Houthi militia. It has now started selling weapons to Saudi Arabia again, to intercept missile attacks from the same Houthis aimed at Israel.
The Republic of Korea has selected the Brazilian Embraer C-390 for its transport aircraft requirement for an order estimated to be approximately worth USD 540 million. The C-390 was competing against the Lockheed Martin C-130J and the Airbus A400M, in a contest similar to the ongoing airlifter requirement of the Indian Air Force.
