Defence Talk News

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The commander of US forces in the Pacific on Thursday accused China of "aggressive" behavior after a showdown between the two nations' navies.

The French parliament voted Tuesday in favor of rejoining NATO's military command more than 40 years after France pulled out complaining of U.S. dominance.

Members of the Royal Moroccan air force traveled 6,000 miles to speak with Luke Air Force Base Airmen and tour the installation for an insider's perspective on how an F-16 Fighting Falcon base operates in mid-March.

The Boeing Company today in St. Louis unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed to meet the future needs of international customers.

The H-3 Sea King helicopter community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the aircraftâ??s historic first flight March 11.

The US military must continue to develop its capability to wage irregular warfare for the foreseeable future, the chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command told the House Armed Services Committee here today.

Deterrence remains as central to America's national security as it was during the Cold War, U.S. Strategic Command's top officer told the Senate Armed Services Committee March 19.

The Iraqi government is using the Defense Departmentâ??s Foreign Military Sales program to rebuild and strengthen Iraqi security forces, a colonel involved in the effort said.

French President Sarkozy's government survived a confidence vote in parliament Tuesday prompted by plans to rejoin NATOâ??s integrated command, more than four decades after it pulled out in protest against US dominance.

One service-member suicide â??is too many,â? and each military service now has programs designed to combat the problem, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters at a Pentagon news conference today.

Washington has approved the sale to India of eight Boeing anti-submarine aircraft, a 2.1 billion dollar transaction which would be the largest ever sale of US arms to India, the State Department said Tuesday.

U.S. officials are keeping a close watch on the current unrest in Pakistan, a country that is key to NATOâ??s efforts in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.

Program managers from the United States and Iraq, along with representatives from the General Dynamics Contract Logistics Support group, met on Mar. 4 to discuss the fielding of M1A1SA Abrams tanks for the Iraqi Army.

Taiwan has renewed a drive to buy advanced U.S.-built F-16 fighter aircraft, confronting President Barack Obama with a delicate decision.

The first batch of the new Ridgback protected vehicles are currently being tested by the Army, and are expected to be going to work in Afghanistan later this year.

Taiwan's military will concentrate on a more preventive policy as relations with rival China improve, the Ministry of National Defense reportedly said in its first-ever Quadrennial Defense Review published on Monday.

The Boeing Company successfully completed the first test flight of the U.S. Air Force's third C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) aircraft on Jan. 17, three weeks ahead of schedule.

WASHINGTON: Coalition jet fighters shot down an Iranian drone that was hovering over Iraq late last month, Multinational Force Iraq officials confirmed today.

The incident occurred Feb. 25, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, officials said in a statement.

Two coalition aircraft were directed to visually identify the unmanned aerial vehicle after it was detected hovering inside the Iraqi border. The pilots confirmed that it wasnâ??t a coalition aircraft and that no collateral damage would result from a shoot-down.

Coalition air forces tracked the UAV for nearly one hour and 10 minutes before the pilots engaged and shot it down "well inside Iraqi airspace," officials said.

Officials said they believe the drone to be an Iranian-made Ababil 3 model UAV.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and military leaders have long accused Iran of interference in Iraq. Iran poses â??a real problem,â? Gates said on PBSâ?? â??Tavis Smiley Showâ? March 11.

â??I think itâ??s one of the significant challenges that weâ??re going to face over the next several years,â? he said.

US officials on Tuesday said Russia's plans to renew its military and nuclear arsenal were not cause for alarm and dismissed Moscow's criticism of the NATO alliance.