U.S. pledges $16 billion to train, equip Afghan army

KABUL  – The United States has pledged $16 billion to spend on training and equipping Afghanistan’s army and air force, but the country needs more to build a force that can guarantee stability, an Afghan army official said on Wednesday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy said Kabul hoped a donor conference in London next month would [...]

Romanian, Dutch soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL , Apr 07, 2009 — A Romanian officer was killed in a roadside blast Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, where a day earlier rockets killed a Dutch soldier and wounded five others, officials said.

U.S. soldiers keep watch near a site where a captured roadside bomb exploded in Naad Ali district of the southern Helmand province [...]

India to begin fighter jet trials soon

NEW DELHI, Apr 2, 2009 – India will soon begin trials of fighter jets competing for one of the world’s biggest arms deals, a defense ministry official said Thursday, brushing aside speculation the upcoming election could affect the deal.

Lockheedmartin’s Super Hercules C-130js (Lockheedmartin)
Last year, six international companies submitted bids to supply India with 126 [...]

Iraqi Air Force chief says US officials supportive

WASHINGTON, March 31  - Iraq wants to buy an initial squadron of Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighter aircraft this year to help guard against perceived threats from Iran and Syria after U.S. forces leave, the head of the Iraqi Air Force told Reuters on Tuesday.

An Iraqi Air Force C-130 Hercules taking off from the runway [...]

Japan sends Aegis destroyers to Sea of Japan ahead of N. Korean launch

SASEBO, Mar. 28, 2009  –  Japanese Aegis guided-missile destroyers set sail for the Sea of Japan Saturday to prepare to intercept a rocket North Korea plans to launch if it falls into Japanese territory, Defense Ministry officials said.

Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis guided-missile destroyers, Chokai (R) and Kongo (R), leave their base in Sasebo, Nagasaki [...]

Japan OKs deployment of missile defense system

TOKYO, March 27, 2009  — Japan’s military mobilized Friday to protect the country from any threat if North Korea’s looming rocket launch fails, ordering two missile-equipped destroyers to the Sea of Japan and sending batteries of Patriot missile interceptors to protect the northern coastline.

Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada smiles at the Upper House’s budget committee [...]

Anti-tank missile fired at IDF patrol

Mar 27, 2009  — Following reports of an apparent IAF strike on a Gaza-bound arms convoy in Sudan, and after the successful test of the Iron Dome anti-rocket shield, Palestinians in Gaza continued to launch attacks from the Strip on Friday, firing an anti-tank missile at an IDF patrol along the border fence.

An Israeli soldier [...]

Poland will send 400 more troops to Afghanistan

WARSAW, Mar 24, 2009  – Poland will bolster its 1,600-strong contingent in Afghanistan with 400 more troops to help improve security in the leadup to an August election there, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.

Armoured military vehicles roll down a downtown avenue during a military parade marking the Polish Army Day, in Warsaw, Poland, [...]

Japan expresses doubts over missile defense

TOKYO,March 24, 2009 — Japan may not be prepared to intercept debris that falls into Japanese territory if North Korea’s planned rocket launch fails, the country’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

Japanese Aegis-equipped destroyer Chokai fires an interceptor missile to shoot down the target in space, off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Wednesday, Nov. [...]

Japan’s antipiracy operations off Somalia to begin around March 30

TOKYO, Mar. 19, 2009 –Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers dispatched last week on an antipiracy mission off the coast of Somalia will begin escorting ships in the Gulf of Aden around March 30, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Crew members of Sazanami, one of the two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers dispatched to Somali waters, wave [...]