DefenceTalkFlorence Parly, France’s minister of the Armed Forces, officially welcomed the country’s first C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to the Armée de l’Air’s 62st Transport Wing with a ceremony at Orléans-Bricy Air Base today. Government officials from France and the United States also attended the ceremony, along with representatives from Lockheed Martin. France will receive a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-takes-delivery-of-first-c-130j-super-hercules-71076/

DefenceTalkThe first structurally complete airframe for the new BelugaXL rolled out from its assembly hangar in Toulouse, France this month. Once operational, a fleet of these next-generation airlifters will be used to transport completed sections of Airbus aircraft among the company’s European production sites and to its final assembly lines in France, Germany and Spain. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-beluga-xl-transporter-rolls-off-assembly-line-71033/

DefenceTalkCanada has rejected an offer from a consortium of French and Italian shipbuilders to build 15 warships to renew its naval fleet, the group said Thursday. Naval Group and Fincatieri proposed building the new ships based on their Fremm frigate design, which is already in use by both the French and Italian navies. Their bid […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canada-rejects-fincantieri-naval-group-warships-offer-70982/

DefenceTalkSAINT-CLOUD, France — In the presence of the President of the French Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, and his Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatar Armed Forces and Dassault Aviation signed an agreement on future cooperation and the exercise of an option for 12 Rafale. This new order follows on from the contract […]https://www.defencetalk.com/qatar-acquires-an-additional-12-rafale-70978/

DefenceTalkFrance’s defence procurement agency, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), has accepted the delivery to the French Armed Forces of the first batch of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts from the new MMP system. The deliveries were conducted between 15 and 23 November. The new system will gradually replace the Milan, the HOT missiles […]https://www.defencetalk.com/french-armed-forces-ministry-receives-first-mmp-missiles-70910/

DefenceTalkFrance’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday encouraged African nations calling for greater autonomy over their security to “go for it”, following the launch of a regional anti-jihad force in the Sahel. France currently has its own a 4,000-strong counter-terror force named Barkhane tackling militants and banditry in West and Central African nations targeted […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-says-go-ahead-to-african-security-initiatives-70784/

DefenceTalkThe EU will move towards closer defence ties Monday with more than 20 states signing a landmark pact that aims to boost cooperation after Brexit and counteract Russian pressure. Similar efforts to deepen military links have been frustrated for decades, partly by Britain’s fierce opposition to anything that might lead to a European army. But […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eu-takes-step-towards-closer-defence-cooperation-70770/

DefenceTalkA large number of national representatives currently attending the General Assembly in New York have already signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. They seek a world free from “doomsday weapons,” as secretary-general Antonio Guterres put it. Yet the nuclear powers themselves have so far refused to sign on. Who has nuclear […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nuclear-weapons-who-are-the-worlds-haves-and-have-nots-70519/

DefenceTalkFrance will boost defence spending next year by 1.6 billion euros, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Thursday, just two months after a row over planned cuts to the budget triggered the resignation of the armed forces chief. Philippe said it was the biggest increase in six years. “This will be continued in 2019 and 2020 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-to-boost-defence-budget-by-1-6-bn-euros-in-2018-70424/

DefenceTalkUS Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday urged France to continue its African anti-terror operations under its new presidency, as he visited strategic Djibouti on the day of France’s first-round election. “I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-counting-on-french-anti-terror-ops-in-africa-mattis-69796/