DefenceTalkLockheed Martin and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have successfully tested a prototype air-launched Extended Medium-range Ballistic Missile (eMRBM) target at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. In the test, a full-scale prototype of the eMRBM target was released from the cargo bay of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft at 25,000 feet. The system’s parachutes […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lockheed-and-the-mda-conduct-test-of-new-air-launched-missile-target-prototype-47780/

DefenceTalkThe US Defense Department has decided to stop buying EADS Lakota helicopters for the Army next year, according to the head of the European aerospace’s US-based unit. “The Lakota is built by a highly skilled workforce, more than half of which are military veterans, at my company’s Columbus, Mississippi, helicopter production facility,” Sean O’Keefe, chairman […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eads-says-pentagon-ending-helicopter-program-47765/

DefenceTalkA Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed in south-eastern Turkey on Monday near the Syrian border, and its pilot is believed to have safely ejected, an army statement said. “Radio communication was cut around 2:15 pm (1115 GMT) with the F-16 fighter plane on mission in the Amanos mountains,” shortly after the pilot signalled he was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkish-fighter-jet-crashes-near-syrian-border-47761/

DefenceTalkDuring a Senate hearing yesterday on President Barack Obama’s $9.5 billion military construction budget request for fiscal 2014, Defense Department Comptroller Robert F. Hale said the severe and abrupt budget cuts imposed by sequestration are devastating the U.S. armed forces. Hale and John Conger, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, testified on […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dod-comptroller-sequestration-devastates-u-s-military-readiness-47759/

DefenceTalkThe Department of Defense’s (DOD) Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has made some recent progress gaining important knowledge for its Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) by successfully conducting several important tests. In addition, the agency made substantial improvements to the clarity of its cost and schedule baselines since first reporting them in 2010, and declared the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/missile-defense-opportunity-to-refocus-on-strengthening-acquisition-management-47747/

DefenceTalkThe Defence Reform Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech in May 2013 will enable the Ministry of Defence to make radical changes to defence acquisition. The proposed reforms are significant. The Government wants to change Defence Equipment and Support, the body responsible for procuring and supporting defence equipment, into a Government-owned, Contractor-operated entity, known as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/in-brief-outsourcing-defence-procurement-47744/

DefenceTalkCommander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) will forward deploy five patrol coastal (PC) ships to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Manama, Bahrain, May 14. USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Squall (PC 7) and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) are scheduled to arrive this summer. Two additional ships are expected to transfer next year. Commander, Patrol […]https://www.defencetalk.com/navy-forward-deploys-additional-patrol-boats-to-bahrain-47740/

DefenceTalkThe Indian Navy has commissioned its first squadron of MiG-29K/KUB shipborne fighters, dubbed the “Black Panthers,” a MiG spokesperson in India said on Saturday. The ceremony at an airbase in Dabolim, in the state of Goa on India’s west coast, was attended by India’s Defense Minister A K Antony, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral D […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indian-navy-commissions-first-mig-29k-fighter-squadron-47738/

DefenceTalkA carrier-borne aviation force has been formally established as part of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, military sources said on Friday. The forming of the force, approved by the Central Military Commission (CMC), demonstrates that the development of China’s aircraft carriers has entered a new phase, the sources said. The force comprises carrier-borne fighter […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-navy-forms-first-carrier-borne-jet-force-47733/

DefenceTalkThe F-35 Flight Test Update in the Volume 27, Number 3 issue of Code One concluded with the first aerial release of an AIM-120 AMRAAM on 19 October 2012. This tenth installment in the series of flight test updates on the F-35 program covers numerous other weapon releases as well as other achievements of the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35-flight-test-update-10-47757/