Presented at the Singapore Air Show 2024, the medium-altitude, long-endurance platform features an atypical design because it has a puller configuration engine located in the nose.

It boasts an operating speed of up to 120 knots (222 kilometers/138 miles per hour) and an auto-taxi capability to operate on short runways.

But the most distinguished feature is its outstanding flight endurance of at least 24 hours, according to Elbit vice president Ziv Avni.

He said the drone uses satellite communication, so “theoretically, you can take off at one point, fly 24 hours straight, and land in a different location.”

Another important characteristic of the new unmanned platform is its ability to carry up to 120 kilograms (264 pounds) of payload without compromising flight endurance.

It has a total of eight modular storage stations, accommodating large payload bays in the fuselage and six hard points on the wings.

‘An Important Milestone’

Elbit Systems has two other unmanned systems under the Hermes family: the Hermes 450 and the Hermes 900.

But Avni said the Hermes 650 Spark is “different from everything we’ve done so far.”

It features the highest standards of safety, survivability, and immunity while maintaining a low life-cycle cost.

The new drone also integrates high-quality electro-optics, radar, signals intelligence, and other advanced functionalities to support a variety of military missions.

Elbit Systems General Manager Yoram Shmuely said the launch of the Hermes 650 Spark is an important milestone for the company as it continues to “push the boundaries of technology and exceptional capabilities.”

“I am confident that this new addition to our diverse and innovative aerospace defense portfolio will further solidify our commitment to advancing defense technology, ensuring security, and meeting the dynamic needs of the modern battlefield,” he explained.

Without providing specific details, the company said it has already secured a customer for the next-generation drone.

The post Elbit Introduces Hermes 650 Spark Drone With 24-Hour Endurance appeared first on The Defense Post.

Earlier this month, the military said it would enforce a law allowing it to call up all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years as it struggles to quell opposition to its 2021 coup.

“While wounded and increasingly desperate, the Myanmarmilitary junta remains extremely dangerous,” the UN’s Tom Andrews said in a statement.

“As the junta forces young men and women into the military ranks, it has doubled down on its attacks on civilians using stockpiles of powerful weapons.”

The junta faces widespread armed opposition to its rule three years after seizing power from an elected civilian government and recently suffered a series of stunning losses to an armed alliance of ethnic minority groups.

Andrews said that with the conscription law, the junta was trying to justify and expand its pattern of forced recruitment.

In recent months, young men have reportedly been kidnapped from city streets or otherwise compelled into joining the military’s ranks, he said.

“Young people are horrified by the possibility of being forced to participate in the junta’s reign of terror. The numbers fleeing across borders to escape conscription will surely skyrocket.”

Former US congressman Andrews is the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

Special rapporteurs are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but are independent figures and do not speak for the United Nations.

Andrews deplored the “inaction” of the UN Security Council and urged countries to strengthen measures to reduce the junta’s access to money and weapons.

He also called on the international community to increase humanitarian aid to the conflict-stricken country.

“Now, more than ever, the international community must act urgently to isolate the junta and protect the people of Myanmar.”

The junta came to power in the February 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi‘s democratically elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the Southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil.

The post Myanmar Junta ‘Increasingly Desperate’: UN Expert appeared first on The Defense Post.

The new role would focus on bolstering Europe’s “defence industrial base” in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine, said the head of the European Union’s executive.

“Citizens want more Europe in defence,” she told journalists.

“They want us to invest more. They want us to invest better. They want us to invest European and smarter.”

The EU is holding elections for the European parliament in June, and the new commission will be chosen in the months that follow.

Von der Leyen is the favorite to claim another five-year term after getting backing from a string of European governments.

She was speaking in Brussels alongside Manfred Weber, the head of the center-right European People’s Party, which will anoint her as its candidate for the top job at a congress next month.

The drive to ramp up Europe’s defense capabilities comes two years into Moscow’s invasion and as the specter of a return to the White House for an isolationist Donald Trump looms over the United States.

The Republican frontrunner to face President Joe Biden in the November elections has rattled America’s European allies in NATO by suggesting he wouldn’t protect those not meeting financial obligations.

That has added to calls for the EU to ratchet up its efforts on defense, launched after Russia unleashed Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.

Despite a raft of measures to bolster arms production in Europe, the continent is struggling to manufacture enough weapons to keep Ukraine in the fight and refill its stocks.

The 27-nation bloc is set to fall well short of a pledge to give Ukraine a million artillery shells by March.

In the meantime, Russia has managed to step up its own production and has been receiving major deliveries of ammunition from North Korea.

Brussels is set to unveil a new plan to try to boost European production and joint purchases between EU states early next month.

At present, the handling of European defense issues is divided between the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and internal market commissioner Thierry Breton.

The post Von Der Leyen Wants New Defense Tsar in Second EU Term appeared first on The Defense Post.

The estimated $75-million sale includes cross domain solutions, high assurance devices, GPS receivers, and communications equipment.

“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s ability to meet current and future threats by enhancing communications and network security, and providing infrastructure to allow the secure flow of tactical information,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency stated.

The principal contractor will be decided through a competitive process.

NATO Link-22 Upgrade

Washington last year decided to upgrade Taiwan’s Link 16 data link system to NATO’s Link-22, offering greater range and a direct connection to the US military.

Link-22 is a secure beyond-line-of-sight communications capability that interconnects “air, surface, subsurface, and ground-based tactical data systems,” Focus Taiwan wrote, citing head of Department of Strategic Planning Lee Shih-Chiang.

Chinese Sanctions US Firms

It comes as China sanctioned five US defense contractors last month in response to their arms sales to Taiwan, freezing their properties based in China.

The firms are BAE Systems Land and Armaments, AeroVironment, Viasat, Alliant Techsystems Operation, and Data Link Solutions.

The post US Approves $75 Million Taiwan Tactical Data Link Upgrade appeared first on The Defense Post.

The first indigenous M60T upgrades include an Aselsan fire control system, STM Savunma tank command, control, communication information system, and additional armor from Roketsan.

The US gave the tanks to Turkey after the first Gulf War in exchange for its support.

Israeli Involvement in Upgrades

In 2002, Ankara signed an agreement with Israel’s Elbit Systems for the upgrade of 180 M60s, receiving the last upgraded tank in 2010. 

However, deteriorating bilateral relations and other factors reportedly ended the cooperation between the two countries.

“The difficulties experienced in the maintenance of the M60 Tanks…and the problems faced by the countries providing products and services have pushed us to become a country that researches, develops, produces and prepares original solutions,” SavunmaSanayiST quoted Defence Industry Agency of Turkey President Haluk Gorgun as saying.

The post Turkey Receives First Batch of Locally Upgraded M60 Tanks appeared first on The Defense Post.

As part of the agreement, Ukrainian firms could start with the weapon’s final assembly followed by licensed production, Hartpunkt revealed, citing a DND spokesperson.

Ukraine Deployment

The Panzerfaust is one of the portable anti-tank systems the West has been delivering to Ukraine since the start of the war.

The 15-kilogram (33 pounds) recoilless system features a range of around 400 meters (1,312 feet) and is capable of penetrating 1 meter (328 feet) of steel armor, including reactive protection.

As part of its military support, DND has been commissioned to produce thousands of additional Panzerfausts for Ukraine.

Panzerfaust Successor

Production in Ukraine will increase supply and allow DND to focus on other products, such as Panzerfaust’s successor, the RGW110, according to Hartpunkt.

The GW110 is in the starting blocks of production, featuring a lighter weight (four kilograms/nine pounds) than its predecessor and a comparable warhead with twice the range.

The post German Firm Explores Producing Anti-Tank System in Ukraine appeared first on The Defense Post.

The capture, if confirmed, would mark another step westwards for Moscow, which last week took over Avdiivka after months of battle.

“On the Donetsk front, units of the ‘Southern’ group of troops liberated the village of Pobeda and improved their position along the front line,” the Russian defense ministry said.

Ukraine said in a briefing minutes later that it was “holding back enemy forces” in Pobeda.

“Russians are concentrating their main activity on the Donetsk region,” said Ukraine’s senior commander in the area, Oleksandr Tarnavsky.

After more than a year of deadlocked fighting, Moscow is back on the offensive in eastern Ukraine, throwing manpower and artillery at the front line in a bid to make gains.

Kyiv has meanwhile been suffering from a shortage of ammunition and hold-ups to much-needed Western aid amid political wrangling in the United States, its biggest ally.

The post Russia Says Captured Pobeda Village in East Ukraine appeared first on The Defense Post.

“After a month of consultations, we came to an agreement with the security groups that they will leave the capital soon,” said Imad Trabelsi, a member of Libya’s internationally recognized government.

“There will only be city police officers, emergency police, and those who do criminal investigations,” he told a news conference.

The deal will see the General Security Force, the Special Deterrence Force, which controls the east of Tripoli, Brigade 444 in southern Tripoli, and Brigade 111, attached to the general staff, quit the capital.

The decision also concerns the Stability Support Authority, a group based in the neighborhood of Abu Salim, where 10 people were killed at the weekend, including SSA members.

These groups evolved from the myriad of militias that filled a security vacuum after the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

Heavily armed and equipped, they are not under the direct authority of the ministries of interior or defense, though they receive public funds.

They operate independently and have been granted a special status by the prime minister and the presidential council in 2021.

The groups are most visible at roundabouts and main street intersections, where their often-masked members install checkpoints, blocking traffic with weapon-mounted armoured vehicles.

They have sometimes been involved in violent clashes, even in Tripoli’s residential areas, as was the case last August between the Special Deterrence Force and Brigade 444. The fighting left 55 people dead and 146 wounded.

“From now on, their place is in their headquarters,” Trabelsi said.

“We will use them only in exceptional circumstances for specific missions,” he said, adding that the leaders of the groups “have all shown that they understand.”

“After Tripoli, it will be time for the other cities, where there will be no more checkpoints and no more armed groups” on public roads, he said.

Libya has been battered by armed conflict and political chaos since the 2011 uprising.

The country is divided between the internationally recognized Tripoli-based government led by interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in the west and an administration in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

The post Libya Ex-Militias Agree to Leave Capital After Clashes appeared first on The Defense Post.

Under the 10-year pact, close ally Turkey will help defend Somalia’s long coastline and also rebuild the naval forces of the fragile Horn of Africa nation, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told reporters after a joint session of parliament.

“The agreement submitted to parliament today is solely about cooperation between Somalia and Turkey on maritime defence and economy, it is not in any way aimed at creating hatred or feud with another country or government,” he said.

But he added: “We have been at war with terrorists to liberate our country and today we will start engaging in another war to defend our maritime territory from the terrorists or those who have violated our lawful rights and the international rule of law.”

In January, Ethiopia infuriated Somalia when it signed a maritime deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland that would give the landlocked country long-desired sea access.

“Somalia made its stance clear: that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia can never be negotiated, and this has led to this historic agreement today,” Deputy Defence Minister Abdifatah Kassim told AFP.

“Turkey is the best choice to defend Somalia coasts,” he added.

Turkey’s Largest Overseas Foreign Base

NATO member Turkey has close relations with Somalia and is its leading economic partner, notably in the construction, education, and health sectors, as well as in military cooperation.

Somalia is also home to Turkey’s largest overseas military base and training facility, which has already trained more than 5,000 members of the Somali security forces, according to Turkish media reports.

It is among several nations training soldiers to take over from an African Union peacekeeping mission known as ATMIS, whose troops are set to leave by the end of the year.

The Horn of Africa nation has been blighted by decades of civil war and a bloody Islamist insurgency by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab jihadist militant group.

Al-Shabaab continues to carry out attacks against security and civilian targets despite a military counter-offensive launched in August 2022, with US air strikes and the AU troops on the ground.

Turkey is among those to have voiced support for Somalia’s sovereignty following the January 1 Ethiopia-Somaliland memorandum of understanding.

Under the pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast.

In return, Somaliland — which unilaterally declared independence in 1991 — has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although these assertions have not been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa and one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world, has been searching for an outlet to the sea ever since Eritrea declared independence in 1993.

Somaliland, a former British protectorate of 4.5 million inhabitants, enjoys relative stability when compared to Somalia.

But it remains isolated because of the lack of international recognition, preventing it from benefiting from its position on the Gulf of Aden, leading to the Red Sea, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been harassing the vital shipping lane since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

“With this pact, Turkey will protect the Somali coast from pirates, terrorists… anyone that violates our maritime borders like Ethiopia,” Somalia’s deputy defense minister said.

The post Somalia Endorses Defense Deal With Turkey appeared first on The Defense Post.

This is despite the government in 2017 calling to ramp up the recruitment of cyber specialists and provide them with training needed to fend off sophisticated cyberattacks.

According to an internal evaluation obtained by Ottawa Citizen, the cyber force has struggled to meet the call because of “inefficiencies with everything,” from procurement to security clearances.

“Security clearance processes and timelines have adverse impacts on ensuring cyber units are adequately staffed and able to perform their duties,” the internal review noted without elaborating.

Because of the shortage, the Canadian military’s cyber force reportedly struggles to plan and implement cyber solutions, risking various cyber initiatives.

84% Say Cyber Operators Insufficient

Composed of a mix of military personnel and civilians, the cyber force is tasked with protecting the networks of the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian military.

It detects and responds to attempts to hack military systems and provide necessary cyber support for a variety of military missions.

But according to 84 percent of the personnel interviewed by the evaluation team, “there are not enough cyber operators” to perform these defense operations.

The staffing and training issues could have contributed to several successful attempts to breach Canadian military systems.

In September 2023, a group of Indian hackers claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that temporarily took down Canadian military websites.

Despite the websites being inaccessible to mobile users for almost two hours, the Canadian defense ministry called the attack a “minor inconvenience” that happens often.

A month later, the DND reported a hacking incident that targeted a company that arranges Canadian military movements.

The post Canadian Military’s Cyber Force Lacks Training, Personnel: Report appeared first on The Defense Post.