13 Apr 15. Poland to increase defence budget by 19 percent? The largest country in Central and Eastern Europe will increase its budget for national defence by a fifth, “In contrast to most of Western and Central Europe, Poland is likely to exceed the NATO two percent target in
2015,” read a report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Between 2005 and 2014, Poland increased its military expenditure by 38 per cent in real terms. This included a
13 percent increase in 2014, with an additional boost of 19 per cent in real terms planned in 2015.
MPI Comment – Poland continues to fund military modernisation which includes upgrades to existing equipment as well as investing in new technology such as UAVs, communication systems, sensors, and supporting infrastructure. Plans are underway to procure new helicopters, anti-aircraft missiles, cruise missiles, various kinds of UAVs, submarines and electronic systems. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information/Thenews.pl)
10 Apr 15. Russia’s Defence Ministry plans no army downsizing despite budget cuts. Russia’s Defence Ministry does not plan to reduce the numerical strength of the Russian Armed Forces or expenditures on servicemen’s pay, despite budget cuts, Deputy Defence Minister Tatiana Shevtsova said on Thursday. “The Defence Ministry of Russia does not plan to make a decision on reducing the personnel of the Armed
Forces or the size of pays,” Shevtsova said at a meeting with the heads of financial bodies in Rostov-on-Don.
Russia’s Defence Ministry will be able to avoid cuts in spending on personnel through optimizing expenditures on the army maintenance and equipment, she said.
MPI Comment – There have been reports in the Russian media about making the military more cost-effective and reducing wastages. In late 2014 there was a report about an initiative called the “Effective Army” programme. This was to supply boiler houses with gas, equipment of the MoD buildings with thermostat instruments for water, electrical and heating efficiency. The estimate was that this would allow savings of up to RUB 2.7bn every year. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information/RBTH)
13 Apr 15. USA – Service-based helicopter training model proposed to ease budget pressures. Reuters reported that helicopter suppliers AgustaWestland, Bristow Group, Doss Aviation and Rockwell Collins proposed a new service-based system for training US military pilots using AgustaWestland’s AW119 single-engine helicopter. The companies would “allow access to new training helicopters, simulators and ground instruction, as well as management and maintenance of the entire fleet of aircraft, for far less than the cost of buying, owning and operating the same equipment”, the report said.
The bottom line of this proposal appears to be the need to modernise the force and meet training needs under budget pressures and sequestration. As per plans, the proposal is expected to allow the US military to get new equipment for no additional cost beyond what it already spends annually to operate and maintain the existing, aging training helicopters. “Although the drug trade is by no means new to Latin America, there has been an uptick in narcotics trafficking led by the regional insurgent groups. These groups are well funded by the illicit drug industry and have access to advanced weapons which the governments must counter,” Edwards said. Overall, prospects for the market in Latin America are looking robust, and Latin American military procurement shows little sign of slowing at this time. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information)
02 Apr 15. Australia – Satellite communications acquisition. The Defence Materiel Organisation has issued a Request for Tender (RFT) for the procurement of a Satellite Ground Station (SGS) & Network Management System (NMS) as part of the Joint Project (JP) 2008. JP2008 aims to develop a long-range, satellite-based communications capability for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).