Author: Defenceline Webdesk

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the China-Tajikistan Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 12, the political capstone of Rahmon’s four-day state visit. The two leaders also signed a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era and witnessed the signing of roughly 31 intergovernmental cooperation documents covering trade, investment, artificial intelligence, green mining, agriculture, culture, education, housing, inspection and quarantine, and market supervision. The partnership had been elevated to “comprehensive strategic cooperative” status during Xi’s July 2024 visit…

The Indian Air Force has confirmed that it has received no formal communication from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited regarding the delivery of TEJAS MK-1A fighters, despite earlier assurances from former HAL CMD D K Sunil that handovers would begin in the first week of May.This disconnect between HAL and the IAF underscores the deepening crisis in India’s most important indigenous fighter program.The situation reflects a troubling lack of synchronisation between the manufacturer and the end user. HAL has repeatedly stated that five TEJAS MK-1A aircraft are structurally complete and ready, yet the IAF insists that without certification of critical systems, including…

Mike Schuler, gCaptain The Arctic Security Cutter program has become one of the centerpieces of the Trump administration’s push to rapidly expand U.S. polar capabilities as Russia and China… Source link

WASHINGTON — US operations during Operation Epic Fury have severely “degraded” Iran’s Navy to the point it could take a decade for Tehran to build it back up, the head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, told lawmakers today. Cooper also said that the operations have been successful in effectively cutting Iran off from being able to provide weapons and support to its proxy partners in the region, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. “The defense industrial rates for their drones, and their missiles and their Navy were degraded by 90 percent. They have about 10 percent left,”…

The FAAZ-SL (FAAZ Surface Launched), also designated E-SHORADS (Enhanced Short-Range Air Defence System), is an indigenous short-range air defence missile system under development by Pakistan’s state-owned enterprises. Global Industrial and Defence Solutions (GIDS), the commercial arm of Pakistan’s defence conglomerate including the Air Weapons Complex (AWC) and NESCOM, is marketing the system. The FAAZ-SL repurposes the FAAZ beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) airframe as a ground-launched surface-to-air missile. With a stated range of 20–25 km and dual-seeker options — active radar-homing (RF) and imaging infrared (IIR) — the FAAZ-SL is designed to fill Pakistan’s SHORAD gap alongside imported systems. It sits…

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a bilateral summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. It was Trump’s first visit to China since 2017. It was also the first time since 2001 that a U.S. president has visited China and not stopped in the capital of at least one U.S. ally in the region, whether Japan, South Korea, or Australia. The two sides agreed on the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, and Beijing reaffirmed its hawkish stance on Taiwan. By comparison, neither Trump nor Xi made any…

India has strongly condemned the recent attack on an Indian‑flagged commercial vessel off the coast of Oman, describing the incident as unacceptable and reiterating its firm stance on safeguarding freedom of navigation and civilian maritime activity amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal issued a statement deploring the continued targeting of commercial shipping and civilian mariners in regional waters, stressing that such actions undermine international maritime security and stability.The Ministry confirmed that all Indian crew members aboard the vessel are safe following rescue efforts carried out by Omani authorities. India expressed gratitude to…

Rojoef Manuel, The Defense Post The U.S. Navy has launched a new training program for sailors operating laser weapons at its Directed Energy Systems Integration Laboratory (DESIL) Source link

SĒLIJA, Latvia — Roughly two hours from Latvia’s capital city, Riga, a Ukrainian-made unmanned ground vehicle stomps over small trees, swiftly clearing an uneven and wild grazing land. Dubbed ‘Simba’ and taking part in a NATO exercise for the first time, the robotic platform belongs to a Ukrainian manufacturer that has kept a low profile under the name UGV Laboratory. Simba was handpicked for testing unmanned systems, along with a handful of other robots, under Task Force X for the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, aimed at accelerating the procurement and integration of new land-focused technologies. The UGV was among hundreds…

The LoMADS (Low-to-Medium Altitude Air Defence System) is Pakistan’s most ambitious indigenous air defence programme. Under development by state-owned enterprises within NESCOM and marketed by Global Industrial and Defence Solutions (GIDS), the LoMADS is designed to provide medium-to-long-range area air defence with a stated range of 7–100 km, a 20 km altitude ceiling, and the capacity to engage 12 targets simultaneously. If realised as specified, the LoMADS would give Pakistan an indigenous capability to fill the critical gap between the short-range FAAZ-SL (20–25 km) and the imported Chinese HQ-9 (260–280 km). It would sit within Pakistan’s integrated air defence system…