Australian Submarine Corporation is working on a plan with South Korea to design and build two or three Aegir 18As, 180m long warships with hospitals, self-defence systems, flight decks and hangars.

Newcastle firm Forgacs has signed a contract with the Defence Materiel Organisation to build a 30-metre landing craft as a gift to Tonga from the Australian government.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is collaborating with the RMIT University, to study airworthiness requirements for operating unmanned aircraft systems in Australia.

Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat's highly impressive 98 metre wave piercer, HSV 2 SWIFT is a vessel that incorporates an impressive array of capabilities including a top speed of 48 knots, a range of 8,350 nautical miles, a gross tonnage of 5,936, a 2130 m2 roll on roll off cargo/mission deck and importantly, it can operate in shallow water.

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Spain has awarded Navantia a US$558 million contract to build two more BAM patrol vessels for the Spanish Navy, it was announced on 7 May.

India successfully flight-tested its indigenous Astra air-to-air beyond-visual range missile from an IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter off the Goa coast on 4 May.

Designed for versatility and affordability, the new Lockheed Martin Vector Hawk addresses a broad set of unique missions and operating needs within a single system.

Israel Aerospace Industries presents SAHAR - an autonomous robotic route clearance system.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.299 of 8 May 2014 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

The Commission of Audit review into government programs and spending has recommended the reintegration of the DMO into the Department of Defence and significantly reducing its size.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has delivered nine of its next-generation TAC-MAAS processing, exploitation and dissemination systems to the US Special Operations Command.

In this country's somewhat belated approach to cyber warfare - it was mentioned for the first time in the 2009 Defence White Paper - the casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that most effort appears to be focussed on the defensive aspects rather than on its employment for offensive operations.

Defence plans to release an RFP for an enhanced simulation system to support individual training and qualification of all rank levels in the TACEW category and the continuation training and preparedness assessment of shipboard EW teams.

Land Defence Australia, organisers of the Land Forces 2014 exposition to be held in Brisbane in September, has announced a range of initiatives designed to assist Australian Small and Medium Enterprises.

The RAAF's Air Lift Group was renamed Air Mobility Group on April 1, according to the May 8 issue of Air Force News.