RIYADH, Saudi Arabia --- Based on the agreement reached between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Russian Federation on the procurement of several armament systems, whereas the Ministry of Defense in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed contracts to procure: -- the S-400 air defense system, the Kornet-EM system, the TOS-1A, the AGS-30  and  the Kalashnikov AK-103. 
 

ISTANBUL --- The Kaplan MT Modern Medium Weight Tank, the first tank-class vehicle exported by Turkey's defense industry, was presented to the public Thursday by the Indonesian Army in Cilegon, during an official parade on National Armed Forces Day. 
 

Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec State Corporation) is expanding the sphere of its foreign trade activities. As the state intermediary agency for the export and import of the whole range of end products, technologies and services of military and dual use character, Rosoboronexport is planning to enlarge its competences since 2017 with the export of the Russian security products operating at different levels, including the national security one. 
 

MOSCOW --- Export contracts of Russian arms trade agency Rosoboronexport amount to $44 bln for the time being, Chief Executive Officer of parent corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov said on Wednesday. 
 

KIEV — Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak said on Tuesday he had discussed with his Canadian counterpart Harjit Sajjan the 2018 Canadian military equipment imports to Ukraine and the construction of an ammunition plant in the country.

Today the Defence Secretary has welcomed Qatar’s intent to proceed with the purchase of Typhoon aircraft and the further strengthening of the United Kingdom’s defence relationship with the State of Qatar. 
 

BERLIN --- Germany has put all major arms exports to Turkey on hold due to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country and increasingly strained ties with its NATO ally, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sept. 11. 
 

SMi's Defence Exports 2017 Conference to feature industry-driven presentations from BAE, Boeing, Leonardo, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce and more. The ever-changing regulatory environment for the defence trade landscape continues to be increasingly complex. Thus, companies within the sector continue to improve their programmes to ensure adaptation and compliance. In line with this, SMi Group’s 12th annual Defence Exports Conference will highlight 6 key elements that surround the growing global arms trade.

SMi Group has announced that Claire Harrison, Head of Business Awareness of the Export Control Joint Unit at the UK Department for International Trade has joined the speaker lineup for the 12th annual Defence Exports Conference & Exhibition. One of the key themes of the conference, taking place on the 27th and 28th of September 2017, is a focus on how critical political and security developments of 2017 have made - and will make - a profound impact on the defence trade, including the much-anticipated Brexit.

The Ognyan Gerdzhikov caretaker cabinet only “validated” the ranking of bids to supply new jet fighters to the Bulgarian Air Force, and left it to the next government to decide with whom to negotiate, former interim Defence Minister Stefan Yanev said.

WASHINGTON --- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia for Gulfstream G550 Aircraft with Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems. The estimated cost is $1.3 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on June 23, 2017. 

WASHINGTON --- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India for C-17 transport aircraft. The estimated cost is $366.2 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today. 

The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Monday he would block US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) until a diplomatic spat with Qatar is resolved. 

The arrival of the first Typhoon aircraft, part of a batch of 12 of the combat jets scheduled to be delivered to the Sultanate of Oman, was marked with a ceremony, held on June 21 2017 in the presence of the Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman - Air Vice-Marshal Mattar bin Ali bin Mattar Al Obaidani, at Adam Air Base, Oman. 
 

This report reviews the process and procedures that currently apply to congressional consideration of foreign arms sales proposed by the President. This includes consideration of proposals to sell major defense equipment, defense articles and services, or the re-transfer to third party states of such military items. 

TOKYO, --- The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has signed a contract for one H215, making it the first operator in Japan to operate the rotorcraft when it is delivered in 2020. Currently operating a fleet of 14 helicopters, the largest police air corps in Japan plans to enhance its law enforcement activities with this new H215. 

TEL AVIV, Israel --- Israel's Ministry of Defense has signed an agreement with Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, to supply spare parts and associated engineering services in support of the CH-53D heavy lift helicopters operated by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) since 1969. 
 

When it comes to weaponized flying robots, the German army is determined not to be left behind - if only it weren't for those inconvenient German laws. 

SMi Group’s 12th annual Defence Exports Conference, taking place on the 27th & 28th of September in Rome, will showcase 4 exclusive workshops that will highlight best practice for complying with export controls and regulations led by key sector experts.

PENTAGON — U.S. officials told VOA they were close to confirming that the Iranian-made drone shot down by an American fighter jet early Tuesday was being operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

NEW DELHI --- The Indian Army has issued a global request for information (RFI) regarding a potential procurement of some 200,000 close-quarter battle carbines in 5.56mm caliber. The order is expected to eventually grow to 500,000 in order to equip internal security forces as well. 
 

Amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis between Qatar and a number of its Gulf neighbors, the US has agreed to sell $12 billion worth of American F-15 fighters to the country.

Germany has claimed that its arms export policy is "responsible and restrictive" after a new export report shows a dip in sales. But one of the customers is Qatar, a country Donald Trump called a "funder of terrorism." 

An executive at one of the country’s biggest defense companies has bemoaned government barriers to exporting military equipment, as changes to the law have failed to bring the bonus some expected for the domestic industry.

SMi Group has announced the addition of Mr Kenneth Oukrop, Director of Licensing at the Defence Technology Security Administration (DTSA), to the conference speaker lineup for Defence Exports 2017 conference on September 27 & 28, 2017 in Rome.  As Director of Licensing at DTSA, Mr Oukrop is responsible for coordinating the Department’s US national security review of State Department export and import licensing of defense articles and services, and Commerce Department export licensing of dual-use items.

NEW DELHI --- The largest defence sector foreign direct investment (FDI) is coming soon via French aircraft manufacturer Dassault. 

NEW DELHI --- Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) today announced the delivery of the first crown and tailcone assembly for the Indian configuration of the CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Manufactured by TASL in Hyderabad, the parts will be delivered to Boeing for final assembly of the 15 helicopters on delivery to the Indian Air Force. 

The Boeing Co., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $39,662,335 cost-plus-fixed-fee foreign military sales (Iraq) contract to acquire engineering and technical services necessary to support the Avenger. 
 

A Pentagon report says Beijing may be looking to build a base in Pakistan. The document also suggests that China may be spending a great deal more on defense than it has admitted. 
 

In 2016 the Ministry of Defence granted a total of 212 authorisations for permanent exports of defence materiel. Most export licences were granted for exports to Europe (148). In euros, exports to Turkey, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United States accounted for the biggest share of defence materiel exports. 
 

ROME --- The GrandNew light twin helicopter expands in the Republic of Korea with the order of three units by HeliKorea for Emergency Medical Service. The order is a testament to the success of the type as the benchmark light twin EMS helicopter on the market. The first two helicopters will be delivered at the end of 2017 while the third will be added to the fleet in 2018. 

SMi's Defence Exports 2017 Conference to feature insights from the Top 5 European Defence exporters and European Commission. As Europe continues to be major player within the defence trade as leading global exporter, SMi has announced the participation of Stephane Chadron, Export Control Coordinator at the Directorate General for Trade for the European Commission, at the 12th annual Defence Exports Conference in Rome this September.

A German court on Wednesday dismissed a legal challenge from U.S. weapons maker General Atomics to Germany's plans to lease armed drones from Israel Aerospace Industries, clearing the way for the drone program to go ahead.

A new and crucial wrinkle has emerged in the Liberal government's first major military equipment purchase: the ongoing saga to replace the air force's fixed-wing search and rescue planes.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) offered to include Ukraine’s defense industry enterprises to the list of defence manufacturers. Thus, the State Concern “UkrOboronProm” can be approved to participate in tenders for supply of products and services for the benefit of members and partners of the Alliance, under the “Non-system brokerage services” program. 

HAIFA, Israel --- Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today that it was awarded a contract, in an amount of approximately $390 million, to supply an array of ground electronic intelligence capabilities to a European country. 

BEIJING --- Chinese-developed aircraft have been in the global spotlight recently with a series of maiden flights of export-oriented models.

Marine battalion of Indonesian Marine Corps has officially began using of five Ukrainian BTR-4M, which were delivered by "SpetsTechnoExport" in January this year. This was announced by director of "SpetsTechnoExport" Pavlo Barbul. 

SMi's Defence Exports 2017 Conference to feature industry-driven presentations from BAE, Boeing, Leonardo, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce and more. The ever-changing regulatory environment for the defence trade landscape continues to be increasingly complex. Thus, companies within the sector continue to improve their programmes to ensure adaptation and compliance. In line with this, SMi Group’s 12th annual Defence Exports Conference will showcase 8 key presentations that will highlight best practice for complying with export controls and regulations led by key industry accounts.

Israel is in talks to buy Leonardo's training helicopters on condition that the Italian government will agree to reciprocal defense procurement. 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia --- Today the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) took major steps to enhance global security and stimulate economic progress in the United States and the Middle East. KSA has expressed its intent to procure more than $28 billion worth of Lockheed Martin integrated air and missile defense, combat ship, tactical aircraft and rotary wing technologies and programs. 
 

President Donald J. Trump met today with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia, and Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. 

OTTAWA, Ontario --- The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:

ZARAGOZA, Spain --- On June 8 the new European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC) will be officially opened by Head of the EDA, High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini and Minister of Defence of Spain Dolores de Cospedal. ETAC represents one of the largest transfers of a project, created and developed by the EDA, to one of its Member States on a permanent basis. 

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today welcomed the first deliveries of a new generation of trucks and trailers to Army’s 7th Brigade at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane. 

KREUZLINGEN, Switzerland --- The Piranha, the latest member of the Piranha family of 8x8 wheeled vehicles of General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), which has been selected by the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) for the Armoured Personal Carrier (APC) requirement, enters the next stage in the procurement program. 

MANILA -- From Singapore to the Philippines, Southeast Asian nations are spending big on submarines and other vessels to ramp up their naval capabilities amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands --- Today at the International Training and Education Conference (ITEC), Europe's largest show for military training and simulation, CAE announced that the company has completed a major upgrade on the German Navy's Sea King MK41 helicopter simulator ahead of schedule and it has re-entered service at the Nordholz Naval Airbase in Germany. 

While in Japan for the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank earlier this month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also doubles up as Defence Minister, made some significant observations on the prospects and challenges of India acquiring defence equipment and technologies from Japanese companies.

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Lockheed Martin received a delivery order from the U.S. Air Force to provide Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP) to the Kuwait Air Force for its F/A-18C/D Hornet aircraft. 

SYDNEY --– Northrop Grumman Corporation is making a $AUD 50 million investment to develop an advanced defence electronics maintenance and sustainment centre located in Western Sydney. The centre will ultimately be located at the Badgerys Creek precinct, where Northrop Grumman will be the anchor tenant for an advanced aerospace and defence industries precinct. 

The first Eurofighter Typhoon and Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) have been formally presented to the customer in a ceremony held at BAE Systems’ Military Air & Information business in the UK. 

BEIJING --- The Philippine government is considering the acquisition of military equipment, including fast boats and drones, from China’s biggest arms exporter to enhance anti-terrorism and security capability. 
 

TAIPEI --- Two Perry-class guided missile frigates purchased by Taiwan from the United States arrived in Kaohsiung on Saturday, an acquisition that Taiwan's Navy hopes will increase its anti-submarine capability. 
 

The U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Vilsek, Germany, is now evaluating Saab’s Barracuda Mobile Camouflage System (MCS) on their Stryker fighting vehicles. This is the first field evaluation of the MCS conducted by the U.S. Army. 

NEW YORK --- After a robust 60 percent surge from 2010 to 2015, growth in U.S. aerospace and defense (A&D) exports have slowed, according to the "2017 Deloitte U.S. Aerospace and Defense Sector Export and Labor Market Study." 

WASHINGTON --- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India for CBRN support equipment. The estimated cost is $75 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on May 10, 2017. 

In line with the Turkish Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) contract for the Undersecretary for Defense Industries (SSM) and with the clear objective to increase the cooperation with the local industry, Navantia has reached an agreement with the local company AYESAS for the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for the Turkish LHD. 

HAIFA, Israel --- Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today that it was awarded a contract from the Brazilian Marine Corps for the supply of advanced C4ISR, Electronic Warfare (EW), radio and communication systems. The contract, in an amount, of approximately $40 million, will be performed over a two-year period. 
 

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on Monday signed a contract with a Chinese company to procure a S26T diesel-electric submarine, a move experts believe will promote China's export of conventional submarines. 

Peace protesters brought a (decommissioned) tank to Rheinmetall's annual general meeting in Berlin. The German weapons manufacturer wants to avoid controls on arms exports by building tank factories in Turkey. 

A confidential report by the German Defence Ministry has warned that technical challenges and contractual wrangling with Airbus could impair full operational use of Europe's A400M military transport plane. 

Washington is working to push through contracts for tens of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, some new, others in the pipeline, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to the kingdom this month, people familiar with the talks told Reuters this week.

WARSAW -- The Polish Ministry of National Defense has kicked off a competition to supply its armed forces with new maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs). The request for information (RFI) issued by the MoND requires participating vendors to provide offers to the Polish Armaments Inspectorate by May 31. It calls for the new platforms to be able to conduct missions involving reconnaissance and anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. 

On behalf of the United States, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard today presented over 1000 machine guns to the Lebanese Armed Forces as part of the LAF’s ongoing efforts to improve border security. The equipment includes 800 heavy machine guns and another 320 crew-served weapons, adding to battle-tested equipment already in the hands of the LAF.

BMD-4 airborne fighting vehicles will be parachute-dropped from military transport aircraft in course of trials in the Ryazan region. 
 

BEIJING --- The Japanese government sent the quasi-aircraft carrier Izumo-class helicopter destroyer under its Maritime Self-defense Force to escort the US supply ships in high profile on May 1, 2017, based on the security legislation passed in July 15 in 2015. 
 

MALANPUR, India --- Diversified conglomerate Punj Lloyd and its JV Partner, Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), today inaugurated the country’s first private-sector small arms manufacturing plant at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh. 

The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $143,414,164 modification (P00005) to foreign military sales (Saudi Arabia) contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 for a directed change for the Saudi Arabia National Guard II and III unique modifications to 24 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. 

Esteemed export control regulations expert Gary Stanley, President of Global Legal Services, returns as Conference Chair for SMi’s Defence Exports 2017 event this September in Prague. Gary says "With major political shifts on both sides of the Atlantic, amendments to US and European export controls reflecting those shifts, and the growing challenges that cyber compliance brings to the defence trade community, the need for clarity and a clear view of the future has never been greater. This year’s Defence Exports conference will assess how these key influences will affect export controls and will provide expert insight into best practices for future compliance..."

Robonic Ltd Oy (a subsidiary of Safran Electronics & Defense) working with Kratos has delivered two of its third-generation Kontio (type MC2555LLR) pneumatic launchers to the U.S. Army Targets Management Office, part of PEO STRI (Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation). After successfully completing testing last month, the two Kontio launchers are now operational. 

MOSCOW --- Russia’s exporter of military hardware Rosoboronexport (an affiliate of Rostec corporation) is discussing a number of projects with Turkish partners for the development of new generation weapon systems, the deputy chief of the company’s marketing department, Vladimir Goncharov, said on Wednesday. 

WASHINGTON --- African military expenditures have finally slowed down after more than a decade of steady increases, according to a new report on global defense spending. The main reason, the report found, is a drop in oil prices. 

BAE Systems has contracted Czech manufacturer Ray Service to deliver key components for the Swedish vehicle-mounted mortar system known as Mjölner. 

MONTREAL, Quebec --- CAE announced today at the 2017 World Aviation Training Conference and Tradeshow (WATS) a series of commercial aviation training solutions contracts and agreements with airlines worldwide, including Scandinavian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Korean Air and new Chinese customer Donghai Airlines. 

EVENDALE, OHIO – GE’s Marine Solutions reports that the FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne was delivered to the French Navy on April 11 in Toulon, France. All of the French Navy’s new Aquitaine-class FREMMs feature the same power dense GE LM2500+G4 gas turbine in a COmbined Diesel eLectric Or Gas turbine (CODLOG) propulsion system. 

LONGUEUIL, QUEBEC --- Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) celebrated the production of its 100,000th engine this month, as a testament to P&WC's longevity and leadership in the global aerospace market. P&WC is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. 

The UAE’s focus on its defense industry indicates its aims to become a more credible military actor by enhancing use of equipment and exporting arms globally. 
 

The latest deployment of British troops has arrived in South Sudan to continue support to the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping mission. 
 

WASHINGTON D.C. --- A group of Connecticut and New England lawmakers are trying to persuade Israel to buy Stratford-based Sikorsky helicopters as they work to modernize their military. 

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- Lockheed Martin's advanced tactical Group 3 unmanned aerial system (UAS), Fury, is regularly flying long-range endurance test missions as the company prepares it for low-rate production. 

Implementation of NATO standards in production and development of new military equipment – for compatibility with weapons and military equipment of Alliance countries – is one of the priorities of UOP development and reform. This was stated by UOP Deputy Director General for Foreign Economic Activity Denys Gurak at the presentation and panel discussion “International Cooperation in the Defense Industry: Challenges and Risks”, organized by Truman Agency.