DefenceTalkThe Air Force will see few force structure changes this year, but readiness and modernization accounts will be in flux this year and next, Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley said here today. The secretary also told the Defense Writers’ Group that now is the time for another base realignment and closure process. Readiness and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/readiness-modernization-in-flux-air-force-secretary-says-47577/

DefenceTalkRussia and Belarus agreed on Tuesday a draft treaty on the exchange of geostrategic information between their military, Belarusian Defense Minister Yuri Zhadobin said. “We have approved a draft treaty on exchange of geostrategic information between our armed forces,” Zhadobin said at a news briefing after a meeting of the joint board of the Russian […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-belarus-agree-geostrategic-data-exchange-47571/

DefenceTalkChina on Tuesday issued a white paper on national defense elaborating on its new security challenges in peacetime and the employment of armed forces to cope with them. The document, the eighth of its kind issued by the Chinese government since 1998, warns that the Asia-Pacific region has become an increasingly significant stage for world […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-defense-paper-stresses-new-military-employment-47501/

DefenceTalkWorld military expenditure totalled $1.75 trillion in 2012, a fall of 0.5 per cent in real terms since 2011, according to figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The comprehensive annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today at www.sipri.org. The fall—the first since 1998—was driven by major […]https://www.defencetalk.com/world-military-spending-falls-but-china-russias-spending-rises-47478/

DefenceTalkThe world spent less on weapons and military services in 2012 than the year before, the first annual drop since 1998, a Swedish think tank said on Monday. But despite the overall decrease, driven mainly by budget cuts in the Western countries, China and Russia both boosted spending last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research […]https://www.defencetalk.com/world-spends-less-on-military-sipri-47470/

DefenceTalkNewly-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping has affirmed that China and Russia will continue to strengthen and develop their military, political and strategic relations, including cooperation between their armed forces. Xi Jinping, who is on a three-day visit to Russia – his first foreign visit since becoming Chinese president last week, met on Saturday with the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-leader-vows-stronger-military-ties-with-russia-47256/

DefenceTalkChina will increase its defense budget by 10 percent this year. The country’s growing military spending is a trend that has many of its neighbors worried. Beijing sees the increase as natural. China has planned a defense budget for the year 2013 that will total around 90 billion euros. That is an increase of 10.7 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-defends-military-expansion-47079/

DefenceTalkChina’s military has introduced new rules to combat “extravagance and waste” in spending, state media said Sunday, as the country’s new leaders stress austerity to fight official corruption. New Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, approved the rules which aim to promote austerity and control expenditure, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-takes-aim-at-extravagance-in-military-spending-46949/

DefenceTalkTurkey sent jets across its border with Iraq to strike separatists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a local military source said Thursday. The jets bombed 12 targets in the Kandil Mountains in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on Wednesday, the source told AFP without providing any casualty figures. Pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkish-jets-strike-kurd-rebels-in-iraq-military-source-46901/

DefenceTalkThe Defense Department has revamped its approach to communicating and interacting with the defense industrial base after applying lessons learned from previous economic downturns, a senior defense official said here today. Brett B. Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base, spoke during an Atlantic Council panel session. Lambert said he was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-revamps-approach-to-industrial-base-46890/