Well it seems not, judging by the development work that Thales has put into the F88 Austeyr, a derivative of the Austrian Steyr AUG STG-77 assault rifle.

The ADF is readying the launch of ForceNet, a new human resources portal akin to a social network.

Defence has awarded a $6 million contract for new navy facilities in Sydney to indigenous construction company, Pacific Services Group Holdings (PSG).

The Heights School at Modbury Heights in northern Adelaide will become one of the most technologically advanced high schools in South Australia following the State Government's announcement that it is to become the state's only specialist defence campus.

Ultra Electronics has won a multi-year contract totalling over US$21 million from submarine maker General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp to build naval power supply systems.

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The armour on five of Iraq's M1A1 Abrams tanks was penetrated by anti-tank guided missiles and six helicopters were shot down between 1 January and the end of May.

GD European Land Systems has upgraded its Piranha 3 APC to Piranha 3+ which the company says incorporates improvements as a result of feedback from customers.

The US Army has invited gun makers to compete for the chance to build a compact version of the service’s M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System.

The US Air Force has awarded a contract modification to Northrop Grumman to continue providing hardware and support for the AN/AAQ-24 LAIRCM missile defence system.

As the US Air Force reduces its strategic and intratheatrer airlift capacity, the head of the service's international affairs office is looking to increase the capacity of foreign partners to perform air mobility missions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.305 of 19 June 2014 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

John Harvey, writes on The Strategist this week that defence cooperation with Japan could be extended beyond submarine propulsion with this country well placed to assist Japan in another major capability area critical to both countries.

An export version of Thales’ innovative Hawkei light protected vehicle will be on display at Eurosatory, the largest international land and air-land defence and security exhibition, in Paris this week.

International demand for PHM Technology's MADe software is increasing with two of the largest MoD suppliers becoming the latest to sign up to use the Australian product.

Thanks largely to the efforts of Gary Waters, Desmond Ball and Ian Dudgeon, and their seminal paper Australia and Cyber Warfare we now have an Cyber Security Operations Centre.