Author: Defenceline Webdesk

English (Original) Spanish – Español French – Français German – Deutsch Arabic – العربية Chinese – 中文 Japanese – 日本語 Russian – Русский Portuguese – Português Italian – Italiano Korean – 한국어 Dutch – Nederlands Turkish – Türkçe Polish – Polski Hindi – हिन्दी 🤖 Hi! I’m here to help you understand this article. Ask me anything about the content! Send By Ben Farmer Ethiopian government forces have recaptured the capital of a rebel stronghold, less than a fortnight after the country tipped back into a conflict many fear heralds a wider war in the Horn of Africa. Leaders of…

This November, Taiwanese voters go to the polls to elect mayors, city councilors, and village chiefs. Many foreign policy observers will read the results as a verdict on Taiwanese attitudes toward China, President Lai Ching-te, Trump, or a potential war. That would be an analytical mistake. The outcomes cannot be explained by how voters feel about independence, unification, China, the United States, or any other national issue. As the saying goes, local elections are about local issues. Decades of data show that Taiwanese voters prioritize China, sovereignty, and Taiwan’s future in national elections, but we have little longitudinal data on…

Tajikistan’s Humo Bank has warned its Russian clients that their cards will be blocked on October 1 unless they visit one of its offices in Tajikistan by September 30 to undergo biometric identification. “If you can’t come to Tajikistan in person and complete the identification, unfortunately, your card will be closed,” the bank told Russian news site Lenta.ru, advising clients to move their remaining balances to ruble cards before the deadline. The bank cited the need to protect clients from fraud. A Russian client, however, told the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti that the bank’s support staff explained it had decided…

WASHINGTON — The Army is standing up a new command and a new acquisition office dedicated to further prioritizing autonomous technology, according to a service spokesperson and a memo reviewed by Breaking Defense. The changes, first reported by Axios, come on the heels of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s newly announced initiatives at the Pentagon to create a new four-star command, called Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), centered on drones and similar technology as well as a new working group on the future of defense.  According to a Thursday memo reviewed by Breaking Defense and signed by Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle,…

To the outside world, Brunei, the tiny Southeast Asian monarchy, looks like a Shangri-La. The country, with a population of less than half a million, has one of the highest levels of GDP per capita in the world. Its benevolent Sultan has ensured free healthcare and education and highly subsidized food and housing for his subjects. There is no income tax. Brunei has the highest per capita car ownership in ASEAN – an average of two cars per household – and a high prevalence of foreign domestic workers, locally called “amah,” predominantly hailing from Indonesia and the Philippines. Given this…

BELFAST —  French manufacturer Thales said today that Ireland’s procurement of five company-made Ground Master long and shorter range radars, will “be instrumental” to Dublin developing what it calls a “first fully Recognised Air Picture.” The firm’s assessment, laid out in a company statement, comes weeks after the Irish Department of Defence announced the order with France’s military procurement arm, Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA). The militarily neutral nation is acquiring four Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) sensors and one Ground Master 200 Multi-Mission All-in-one (GM200 MM/A) system, as it looks to build out a primary radar capability — a top…

On September 28, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump to review progress in bilateral cooperation. In a post on X, Modi described the conversation as “productive.” “We reviewed our bilateral cooperation in trade, defence, energy, critical technologies and other areas. We agreed to maintain close engagement to take our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership forward,” he said. While Modi’s post about his conversation with Trump was not negative, it was far less effusive than in the past, even bland. As Yashraj Sharma observed in an article in Al Jazeera, it was a “cold…

WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) today announced the replacement of its longtime president Amy Gilliland. Gilliland, who has led GDIT since 2017, “is no longer with the company,” according to a brief statement posted on the company’s website. “We thank Amy for her contributions to our company and wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” Phebe Novakovic, GD’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in the statement. Paul Nedzbala, who the release says “currently serves as senior vice president and chief business officer at GDIT,” has been appointed acting president. He joined the company in 2018.…

The arrival of the first pair of the 66 F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft on order to the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) has been a long time coming – and not just because of production delays. First sought as 66 F-16C/Ds under U.S. President George W. Bush, the request was blocked by his administration and remained unapproved under President Barack Obama, before the sale was signed off in 2019 during the first term of President Donald Trump. Yet their arrival comes after years of debate over whether Taiwan’s vulnerable air bases could sustain fighter operations in wartime, raising questions…

WASHINGTON — After years of informal cooperation, today the Pentagon’s research and engineering arm announced a formal agreement with the CIA-backed investment firm, In-Q-Tel (IQT), to aid in systematic “technology scouting” for military use. “Over the next 12 months, our benchmark for success is simple and unambiguous: moving validated commercial prototypes out of the lab and into active operational field evaluations with our combatant commands,” said Michael Dodd, Assistant Secretary for Critical Technologies, in the Pentagon release. Dodd’s organization leads the Pentagon’s side of the partnership, which will focus on the six Critical Technology Areas set by Pentagon CTO Emil…