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EUROPE
29 Jul 25. Germany prepares huge orders for jets, armored vehicles, sources say. Germany is preparing a wave of multi-bn-euro procurement orders, including 20 Eurofighter jets, up to 3,000 Boxer armoured vehicles, and as many as 3,500 Patria infantry fighting vehicles, two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. The purchases are part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s push to build Europe’s most powerful conventional army, aiming to reduce reliance on an increasingly unpredictable ally, the United States, and take greater responsibility for European security. (Source: Reuters)
29 Jul 25. Belgium to replace NH90 TTH with H145M, to seek heavy-lift helicopter. Belgium is to replace its NHIndustries (NHI) NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters (TTHs) with the Airbus Helicopters H145M, at the same time as seeking a larger platform to take on the soon-to-be retired type’s heavier-lift duties. Speaking to Janes in late July, the Chief of the Belgian Air Component (Force Aérienne Belge: FAé), General Geert De Decker, said that the four NH90 TTHs that are to be prematurely retired in September will initially be replaced by 15 H145Ms that were ordered in 2024 and which will be delivered from 2026. At the same time, the service will look to acquire as many as eight heavy-lift helicopters. As Gen De Decker explained, the situation that has caused the retirement of the NH90 TTHs has been their problematic support. “Originally, these four aircraft were intended to support a ground company and for medical evacuation missions, with the required availability of two helicopters. The resulting availability was only 1.36 helicopters. The mechanical issues encountered are identical to those of the [four] NH90 [NATO Frigate Helicopters] NFHs [also in national service], but for these the capacity required by Belgium is only a single helicopter,” he said. The four NH90 TTHs will be preserved and maintained with the intention of being resold. As well as stepping into the NH90 TTHs’ troop transport and battlefield roles, the H145Ms will utilise manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) for the exploitation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Gen De Decker said, noting this synergy will optimise reconnaissance, support, and tactical engagement missions. (Source: Janes)
25 Jul 25. Germany, France to ‘clarify’ FCAS project by year-end as firms bicker. Germany and France will “clarify the situation” regarding their Future Combat Air System project by the end of the year, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said after a July 24 meeting with his French counterpart, in response to bickering between partner companies about work share.
“Some of the involved companies not only have enormous amounts of expertise, they also have – naturally – their own interests and their own will,” Pistorius said in a joint press conference with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu in Osnabrück, western Germany. “We knew that from the beginning. What’s important for the two of us is that the projects represent German-French cooperation and partnership, they don’t represent national egotism.”
French plane maker Dassault Aviation, the lead on developing a new fighter jet at the heart of the system, has been vocal about wanting a larger role. Its CEO Eric Trappier has repeatedly complained of delays due to wrangling over work share with Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain for the fighter segment of the project. France has proposed to partners Germany and Spain to reconsider the FCAS work share to ensure the project meets its 2040 deadline, the country’s armaments directorate said earlier this month. The FCAS project has arrived at a “moment of truth,” with the next step of phase 2 including the development of a demonstrator, Lecornu said. That raises “more operational questions, because the coming phases will tie us together definitely to produce an aircraft,” the French minister said. Pistorius acknowledged that hurdles exist, but said none of those are insurmountable. Lecornu said the partners audited what worked and what didn’t in phases 1A and 1B of the project, and the meeting in Osnabrück will allow the ministers to issue instructions to their armaments agencies as well as the companies involved, “since obviously everyone must participate in the solutions.” Strengthening Europe’s defense readiness can only succeed through close French-German cooperation, Pistorius said, adding that both ministers are fully committed to both FCAS as well as the future Main Ground Combat System. He said the future land-combat system is scheduled for 2040. The French minister said the first criteria for FCAS is that the project corresponds to the needs of the countries’ armed forces, trumping any other concerns. For France, those needs include being able to carry a nuclear weapon as well as being able to operate from an aircraft carrier.
“Basically, we are not here to carry out industrial operations or projects, but to carry out armament projects for our forces, and as a result, place orders with our manufacturers,” Lecornu said. “This is a slight novelty, as for years cooperation was sometimes aimed at developing our industries.”
The second criteria is that the FCAS project stick to its timetable, with a delay of three, four or five years meaning Germany and France could fall behind, according to Lecornu. While the timetable calls for FCAS to be fully operational by 2040, Trappier at Dassault has repeatedly said delays make 2045 more likely for the fighter. For France, a third consideration is that the project respects the country’s sovereignty, Lecornu said. Germany will not stand in the way of future exports related to the FCAS program, Pistorius said, stressing the question of arms exports is a national one, with no role for the European Commission. (Source: Defense News)
25 Jul 25. Belgium reconsiders FCAS role after Dassault CEO slams F-35 purchase. Belgium is reconsidering its role in the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) following sharp criticism of the country’s procurement policy from Dassault Aviation (AM.PA) CEO Eric Trappier, a Defence Ministry spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Trappier slammed the country’s push for full partner status in FCAS – whose primary industrial partners are Dassault Aviation and Airbus (AIR.PA) even as Belgium is buying 11 U.S.-made F-35A fighters, as well as committing 300m euros to the FCAS program. Dassault leads the design of the costly FCAS fighter, a key pillar of the complex project which seeks to integrate manned aircraft with autonomous drones, and its CEO took exception to the F-35A purchase. While announcing Dassault’s quarterly financial results last week, Trappier had said: “If (Belgium) gives up the idea of buying F-35s, they’d be welcome. If not, it’s really making a monkey out of us.” He added that joining FCAS requires a commitment to the European defence industry and warned against countries seeking program benefits without purchasing European-made equipment. Countries want the jobs created by the program, “but they buy from the United States. It’s all rather odd,” Trappier said. (Source: Reuters)
USA
30 Jul 25. US Navy calls for fast attack surface drones that could carry missiles. The U.S. Navy unveiled its new Modular Attack Surface Craft program, which would likely see unmanned surface vessels carrying missiles long distances at sea. The program calls for the development of a rugged, flexible and high-capacity unmanned surface vessel, or USV, capable of hauling a variety of “containerized payloads,” per a July 28 solicitation. Such payloads would include the maximum equivalent of more than four 40-foot containers — cargo that would roughly equal the size of the Navy’s anti-ballistic missile system, the Mark 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System.
“MASC seeks to leverage cutting-edge technologies and modular design principles to create adaptable and resilient solutions that can effectively counter evolving threats,” according to the solicitation.
As shipbuilding efforts have staggered over the years, the Navy has increasingly turned to containerized missile systems to add to the weapons capacity of existing warships, USNI News reported. The new USVs are requested to be “non-exquisite,” and be easily built and repaired, according to Navy documents. The solicitation also asked that they be compatible with the needs of international allies. The new solicitation comes on the heels of numerous attempts by the Navy to field new technology to solve cost, shipbuilding and modernization issues over the last several months. Autonomous vessels have been put forward as a solution to a decades-long struggle within the Navy to obtain new ships. Unmanned vessels featured largely in the Navy’s fiscal 2026 budget, with $203 m requested for surface vessels, $715 m for air systems and $668 m for underwater systems. Robotic vessels were also recently integrated into a major Baltic Sea warfighting exercise. (Source: Defense News)
30 Jul 25. US Army seeks commercial solutions for airborne EW family of systems. The US Army’s prime intelligence and electronic warfare (EW) directorate is shifting strategies on development of the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare (MFEW) family of systems (FoS), focusing on commercially developed platforms and subsystems to support programme requirements for drone-mounted EW payloads, service officials announced in July. The decision to primarily pursue commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and government off-the-shelf (GOTS) solutions for the service’s MFEW – Air Large (MFEW-AL) variant was driven by a need to close “gaps in extended-range, persistent ground, and airborne EW assets”, programme officials from the army’s Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) said in a June statement. As a result of the COTS and GOTS acquisition focus, service leaders will “utilize an incremental approach for delivery of capability that will evolve over time toward[s] the full Army’s Airborne Electromagnetic Attack requirements”, with regard to the MFEW-AL, the statement said. To this end, successful integration of commercial platform solutions to the MFEW-AL programme “will be key in meeting recent [Pentagon] direction … [to] achieve electromagnetic dominance by 2027”, programme officials added in the June statement. As designed, the MFEW-AL will provide “electronic attack and electronic warfare support capability” via an EW pod mounted aboard the ground service’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS), according to a US Department of Defense (DoD) fact sheet. (Source: Janes)
25 Jul 25. The Army wants to replace the M240B medium machine gun. The Army is on the lookout for a replacement for its M240B machine gun, according to budget documents. The replacement program, dubbed the Future Medium Machine Gun, or FMMG, is aimed to replace the M240B — which has been in service since the late 70s — for dismounted troops. The service has budgeted $3.6bn to replace the medium machine gun, which is chambered in 7.62 mm.
“The FMMG is a belt-fed, crew-served, direct-fire weapon system that will enable the rifle platoon to organically suppress and destroy enemy personnel targets and maintain operational tempo,” the Army wrote in its budget documents. “The FMMG will provide increased lethality and capability to the warfighter compared to present machine gun technologies fielded to operational units.”
The $3.6bn figure encompasses research, development, acquisition and contract award costs. The weapon is prioritized for soldiers in the close combat force such as infantry, scouts, special operations forces and combat engineers. Documents do not list a caliber for the new weapon. The War Zone first reported on the Army’s request for funding for the FMMG. The Army recently began fielding the 6.8mm Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle and automatic rifle to replace the M4 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, both chambered in 5.56mm. The 6.8mm has been compared to perform as well or better in accuracy and lethality as the 7.62mm, officials said. Special Operations Forces, the Marines and recently the Army have been evaluating machine guns chambered in .338 Norma Magnum. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Military Times)
REST OF THE WORLD
31 Jul 25. India rejects U.S. F-35 offer, prioritises local production and Russian jets – Bloomberg. India has informed U.S. officials that it is not interested in acquiring the F-35 stealth fighter jet, despite continued American efforts to expand defence exports to New Delhi. According to a Bloomberg report, the Modi government is unlikely to approve any significant new U.S. defence deals in the near future. The subject was reportedly raised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in February, where President Donald Trump personally pitched the F-35 as part of a wider strategic and defence partnership. However, Indian officials made clear that New Delhi remains focused on defence programmes centred on technology transfer and local manufacturing.
“The government is more interested in a partnership focused on jointly designing and manufacturing defence equipment domestically,” one official told Bloomberg. This stance aligns with India’s broader aim to strengthen indigenous capability through the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The F-35 proposal formed part of Washington’s wider push to deepen defence-industrial ties, as India has steadily expanded purchases of U.S. platforms in recent years, such as MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. But the Modi administration appears unwilling to pursue high-end imports without guarantees on local production and technology access. Meanwhile, Russia has advanced an alternative that more closely matches India’s defence priorities. In July, Moscow offered a package including the Su-57E fifth-generation stealth fighter and the Su-35M multirole aircraft, submitted by Rostec and aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi. Sources familiar with the discussions say the Russian proposal includes full technology transfer for the Su-57E, with domestic assembly planned at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Nashik plant, which has already produced over 220 Su-30MKI fighters. The localisation rate could reach up to 60%, enabling integration of Indian systems like the Astra air-to-air missile, Rudram anti-radiation missile, and Virupaksha AESA radar. Initial deliveries of 20 to 30 Su-57E aircraft could begin within three to four years, with full-scale domestic production to follow. The total deal may include 70 to 100 jets delivered into the early 2030s. (Source: Google/DIE)
28 Jul 25. Turkey, Indonesia sign multibn-dollar warplane, frigate deals. Turkey has secured a landmark defense export agreement with Indonesia, signing contracts for 48 KAAN fighter aircraft and two İstif-class frigates – a sign of Ankara’s growing defense industry footprint in Southeast Asia. On July 26, 2026, Turkey and Indonesia officially signed the commercial contract defining the technical annexes and implementation details of the government-to-government (G2G) procurement agreement for 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets. The original G2G framework agreement had been signed on June 11, 2025. The agreement includes comprehensive cooperation in engineering, manufacturing, and technology transfer. A key component is the establishment of a local aerospace infrastructure in Indonesia, which will serve as a tangible reflection of the strategic depth of the partnership. Deliveries of the 48 aircraft will be carried out over a 10-year period under a phased schedule. The contract also covers long-term industrial collaboration, engineering support, and joint technology development, with Indonesian partners including PT Republik Aero Dirgantara and PT Dirgantara Indonesia. The signing ceremony was attended by Haluk Görgün, President of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency; Şefri Şemsuddin, Indonesian Minister of Defense; Mehmet Demiroğlu, CEO of Turkish Aerospace; Ömer Cihat Vardan, Chairman of Turkish Aerospace; and Air Marshal Yusuf Zuhari, Head of Indonesia’s Defense Facilities Agency.
KAAN conducted its maiden flight on Feb. 21, 2024, and is expected to enter serial production by 2028, with the first deliveries to the Turkish Air Force planned for 2029. Separately, during the IDEF 2025 defense exhibition here, defense officials from both countries finalized a deal for the supply of two MİLGEM-class, İstif-type frigates. This contract marks the first export of a MİLGEM-class warship to Indonesia. The first İstif-class frigate, TCG İstanbul, was commissioned into the Turkish Navy in January 2024, with serial production of additional ships underway and deliveries expected to continue through the late 2020s. This frigate deal is the third major naval cooperation project between the two countries. The first is the ongoing construction of two 70-meter missile-equipped, fast-attack craft (FAC) by Turkey’s TAIS consortium at Sefine Shipyard. First steel was cut in October 2024, and the vessels will feature Havelsan’s combat management system. The second is the integration of Turkish weapons and combat systems aboard Indonesia’s future Merah Putih-class frigates. These ships, based on the Babcock Arrowhead 140 design, are equipped with Aselsan’s radar and sonar systems, Havelsan’s ADVENT combat management system and Roketsan’s Atmaca anti-ship missiles. (Source: Defense News)
26 Jul 25. Joint Statement on the Australia-UK Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty. On 26 July 2025 in Geelong, Australia, the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Australia and the Right Honourable John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom (UK) signed the bilateral Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty (the Geelong Treaty) at the UK-Australia Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Geelong, Victoria. On 26 July 2025 in Geelong, Australia, the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Australia and the Right Honourable John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom (UK) signed the bilateral Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty (the Geelong Treaty) at the UK-Australia Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Geelong, Victoria. The Geelong Treaty is a historic agreement, the commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defence cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I. The Geelong Treaty will enable comprehensive cooperation on the design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal of our SSN-AUKUS submarines. It will support the development of the personnel, workforce, infrastructure and regulatory systems required for Australia’s SSN-AUKUS programme, as well as support port visits and the rotational presence of a UK Astute-class submarine at HMAS Stirling under Submarine Rotational Force – West. The Treaty builds on the strong foundation of trilateral cooperation between Australia, the UK and the United States, advancing the shared objectives of the AUKUS partnership. It will enable the development of SSN-AUKUS and resilient trilateral supply chains. Importantly, the Geelong Treaty is consistent with Australia’s and the UK’s respective international nuclear non-proliferation obligations, including under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and its Protocols, and Australia’s safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the trilateral AUKUS Naval Nuclear Propulsion Agreement (ANNPA). Together with the ANNPA, the Treaty will enable Australia and the UK to deliver a cutting-edge undersea capability through the SSN-AUKUS programme, and in doing so, support stability and security in the Euro Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific for decades to come, drive defence as an engine for growth across our two nations, create thousands of jobs, build our respective submarine industrial bases and supply chains, and provide new opportunities for industry partners. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
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Since 1946, Industrial Electronic Engineers, IEE, has specialized in the design, test, support and fielding of display products for use in demanding military and aerospace applications throughout the world. IEE has developed an extensive product portfolio that today includes enhanced flat panel displays, smart displays and handheld devices.
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IEE is ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified.
IEE’s Advantage:
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