DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTen countries, including for the first time France and Norway, will meet NATO’s target of spending two percent of their output on defence this year, the alliance said Wednesday. European countries have been under intense pressure from an angry US President Donald Trump to share more of the burden in the world’s biggest defence alliance […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ten-allies-meet-nato-target-for-defence-spending-76508/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkUS Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Tuesday that he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit India next week to strengthen the two countries’ alliance in the face of China’s strategic challenge. “India will well be the most consequential partner for us, in the IndoPacific for us for sure, in this century,” Esper said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-defense-diplomacy-chiefs-to-visit-india-for-talks-76494/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkEspionage in Australia had eclipsed Cold War levels, the country’s spymaster told parliament on Tuesday, in a speech warning that citizens were being monitored and harassed by foreign powers. Several politicians across the ideological spectrum have become embroiled in investigations into suspected overseas influence operations — most notably from China. Australia’s normally tight-lipped spy chiefs […]https://www.defencetalk.com/espionage-in-australia-at-higher-levels-than-cold-war-spy-chief-warns-76484/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIran on Monday said it is more inclined to sell weapons rather than buy them, after it announced the end of a longstanding UN conventional arms embargo. Tehran said the ban imposed more than a decade ago was lifted “automatically” as of Sunday, based on the terms of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-will-sell-more-arms-than-buy-after-embargo-lifted-76478/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkSweden said Thursday it would boost military spending by 40 percent over the next four years as it seeks to ramp up defence capabilities in the face of European tensions. An extra 27 billion Swedish kronor ($3 billion, 2.6 billion euros) will be added to the country’s defence budget from 2021 to 2025, Defence Minister […]https://www.defencetalk.com/sweden-to-ramp-up-defence-spending-by-40-pct-76468/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNATO needs a new strategic concept adjusted to the global rise of new technologies, terrorism and China to replace a plan developed a decade ago, the head of the alliance said on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron famously branded the alliance “brain dead” last year, demanding a new strategy that would, among other things, reopen […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-chief-calls-for-new-strategy-on-cyber-china-76447/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkSudan is celebrating a landmark agreement to end decades of war, but the first step to turn promises on paper into peace is also one of the most explosive — disarmament. Collecting weapons in a country left awash with guns after years of conflict in which hundreds of thousands died is one of most delicate […]https://www.defencetalk.com/after-sudans-peace-deal-the-hard-task-begins-of-gathering-the-guns-76440/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkEurope and the United States need to face up to a “new Cold War with China” together, regardless of who wins the White House in November, Germany’s point man on transatlantic ties told AFP. With just five weeks to go until the US election, the German government’s coordinator for relations with the United States and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-cold-war-with-china-demands-us-europe-united-front-germany-76408/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTaiwan on Tuesday demanded that China “back off” and accused it of threatening peace, after a Beijing official rejected a largely respected marine boundary following recent incursions. Foreign minister Joseph Wu urged Beijing to “return to the civilised international standards” after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said there was no so-called median line in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-must-back-off-says-taiwan-76366/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkGreece’s defence minister on Wednesday dismissed reports that his country would spend 10 billion euros on an arms overhaul announced at the weekend. “It’s not a 10-billion-euro spending spree, let me make that very clear. It’s a series of very calculated, prioritised, smart moves addressing our needs to the maximum,” Nikos Panagiotopoulos told an Economist […]https://www.defencetalk.com/greek-arms-spending-will-not-cost-10-billion-euros-minister-76339/