France’s Thales has launched a lightweight, remotely controlled electronic warfare payload for deployment by small drones to detect and locate radio signals, capable of being operated without any specialised training.
Although no order has been placed yet, France has decided to purchase two Saab GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft with an option for two additional aircraft, while Saab has ordered two Bombardier 6500 aircraft platforms for the GlobalEye.
It turns out the U.S. Army was right about the M10 Booker. It was definitely not a light tank, being too heavy to be operated in many of the typical service conditions where it was expected. Plans for buying 96 M10 Booker vehicles at a cost of $1.14 billion are now scrapped.
The Bundeswehr had a strength of 181,150 soldiers at the end of 2024, falling short of previous recruiting targets. NATO member states are to be assigned new national targets for their military capabilities, including weaponry, that are expected to be increased by around 30%.
Sweden’s Saab announced the selection of its Gripen E/F fighters by the Royal Thai Air Force, which already operates the older Gripen C/D variants, beating out the U.S. Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 aircraft.
Figures from the Germany’s Economy Ministry show arms exports to Israel worth €485 million between October 7, 2023 and May 13, 2025, as a new poll shows a majority of Germans support suspending arms exports to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce on Monday ‘the UK’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be significantly expanded, with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS boats to be built,’ as his government publishes a long-awaited Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
The frigates, Spanish ESPS Reina Sofia, and Italian ITS Antonio Marceglia are part of EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA and are visiting Mumbai for the first joint exercises of the formation with the Indian Navy, with which they have only conducted “Passing Exercises” (PASSEX) at sea in the past.
Germany’s Federal Court of Audit warned that a ‘signal of unlimited willingness to incur debt’ could lead prices in defence industry to soar, with incentives for industry to charge higher prices for the same services due to ‘almost unlimited availability of financial resources and increased demand.’
The €150 billion SAFE fund will come into force on May 29, offering loans to EU states for defence procurement, that will require 65 percent of all purchases to be of European origin, with contractors required to fully control design to avoid new dependencies.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found the number of personnel deployed on peacekeeping operations around the world fell by over 40 percent between the years 2015 and 2024 because of budget cuts, refusal of host states and geopolitical tensions, and noted the growing reliance being placed on private military companies.
A greenfield facility being set up by Reliance will support the supply of explosives for medium and large caliber ammunition to Rheinmetall and is expected to have an annual capacity of 200,000 artillery shells, 10,000 tons of explosives and 2,000 tons of propellants.
The German military has stationed a permanent presence abroad for the first time since the Second World War with the activation of a new brigade in Lithuania that will number 5,000 and with headquarters near the Belarusian border.
U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 in a widely-criticised and mismanaged evacuation of over 120,000 people from Kabul, with around 200 casualties.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius outlined a plan for Germany to increase military expenditure as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.2 percentage points per year over a period of seven years.
