Author: Defenceline Webdesk

BELFAST — The UK says it will spend up to £400 million ($533 million) over the next decade on locally produced Tekever AR5 surveillance drones as a replacement for its troubled British Army Watchkeeper aircraft. Near term, the UK MoD plans on ordering a first batch of six AR5s and expects to receive a fleet of up to 24 units by 2029, according to an MoD statement. The MoD said Tekever, a British-Portuguese firm, will make the aircraft in a new production facility envisioned as opening in the summer of 2026 in Swindon, England. Watchkeeper intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and…

Recent China-U.S. trade negotiations raised hopes that economic ties may be stabilizing after years of escalating tensions. A key milestone was U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to China in mid-May 2026, during which he and President Xi Jinping explicitly agreed to build a “constructive relationship of strategic stability” based on “fairness and reciprocity.”  Yet the ongoing negotiations have done little to alter the institutional machinery of U.S. trade policy toward China. Behind the headlines, anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations, together with recurring “sunset reviews,” continue to advance under established statutory procedures. During Trump’s visit to China, Beijing and Washington…

Siyu Huang, RealClearDefense Batteries now sit at the center of the systems that define national power. Source link

WASHINGTON — Select members of industry gathered on Friday in a scenic conference venue overlooking the Potomac River and the Washington skyline to pitch capabilities in a Shark Tank-type exercise to solve some of the toughest problems for the special operations world. The first-ever Accelerator Event, sponsored by the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC), billed itself as “a different kind of industry day,” according to SO/LIC Assistant Secretary Derrick Anderson. “It’s the direct manifestation of acquisition reform and our priority of pioneering for SOF and serving as a pathfinder for the…

In late April, Sebastian Strangio and I penned separate articles for The Diplomat highlighting how Thailand’s ambition to build a “land bridge” across its upper southern provinces as an alternative trade route to the Strait of Malacca – via two deep-sea ports linked by a dual-track railway and a six-lane motorway – was increasingly framed by Thai leaders as an imperative amid deepening geopolitical volatility. What we said lost relevance quickly, with the shelving of the one-trillion-baht megaproject coming to light on July 24. The announcement was made verbally by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, citing unfavorable…

Naval N. Sailing past the impact holes left by Harpoon, Spike, and LRASM missiles, two U.S. Navy one-way attack surface drones closed in on a decommissioned amphibious assault ship before… Source link

The Philippines on Saturday wound up a series of joint maritime exercises with the United States and Japan in the South China Sea, against a backdrop of tension between Philippine and Chinese vessels at two disputed features. The 17th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity, which began on July 21, brought together warships, coast guard vessels, and surveillance and fighter aircraft, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said in a statement yesterday. “Throughout the five-day activity, participating forces carried out a series of advanced maritime interoperability exercises,” the AFP said. These included communication exercises, replenishment at sea operations, and division tactics.…

Vietnam is set to order social media platforms to limit the access of children under 16 to social media, becoming the latest nation and the third in Southeast Asia to tighten online safety provisions for minors. According to a draft amendment to a decree on internet management, the new rules would bar children under the age of 16 from posting, commenting, sharing, or reacting on social media, leaving them able only to view content, Vietnamese state media reported on Friday. At a meeting to discuss the new rules the day prior, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, deputy director of the Authority…

Boeing claim its MQ-28 Ghost Bat is the most readily available CCA in the market at a time when emerging CCAs are still in development. Source link

the interpreter Ukraine’s drones achieved sea denial – but that’s not what a blue-water navy needs to maintain. Source link