A Forecast International blog about the arms trade, geopolitics, defense and security, and military spending.
Just a few weeks before the U.S. presidential election, the Trump administration has cleared yet another billion-plus-dollar Foreign Military Sales package for Taiwan. The latest FMS package involves three sales …
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The German Defense Ministry has opted to scrap its current competition for a heavy transport helicopter intended to serve as a replacement for the Bundeswehr’s aging fleet of 1970s-legacy VFW-Sikorsky …
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Faced with an increasingly confrontational situation with neighboring Turkey in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, Greece is embarking on an upgrade of the Hellenic Armed Forces a decade after the …
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Japan’s abrupt decision to suspend deployment of U.S.-produced AEGIS Ashore missile defense systems amid cost and technical concerns came as a bit of a surprise. Announced by Defense Minister Taro …
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Germany’s Defense Ministry has put a halt to an ongoing midlife upgrade (MLU) of its fleet of Lockheed Martin P‑3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) as it shifts to examining …
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The South Korean government plans to trim around KRW300 billion ($245 million) from the country’s 2020 defense allocation in order to bolster its economic relief effort in light of the …
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China has announced a defense budget for 2020 that will result in a year-on-year nominal increase of 6.6 percent, the lowest such figure since the first half of the 1990s. …
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India intends to forgo a planned acquisition of 114 foreign-sourced combat aircraft in favor of more indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCAs). The move comes a little over two years …
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Barely two weeks after an announcement that government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requests by the Philippines to Washington for potential buys of U.S.-sourced attack helicopters had been cleared by the …
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The Hellenic Ministry of Defense plans to lease several Heron medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drones from Israel for use in maritime reconnaissance and surveillance missions. The lease of three Israel Aircraft …
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