Austal has recently celebrated the keel-laying ceremony for the fifth vessel of eight patrol boats that Austal is designing, building and supporting for the ACBPS.

ASPI has once again been rated as a world class Institute in the University of Pennsylvania's 2013 Global Go-To Think Tank Index.

While the death knell continued to sound last week for the US Army's Land 400 lookalike, the Ground Combat Vehicle, the Army quietly released a notice to industry requesting information about a new, air-droppable ULCV.

News that the Philippine Army is planning to purchase up to 14 M113 APCs to help enhance its fire support capabilities in 2015, suggests an opportunity for this country to provide defence equipment to a regional neighbour, still reeling from a massive natural disaster and the ongoing impact of insurgency.

The Australian Government has re-established a resident Defence Attache office in Burma with the arrival in Rangoon of RAN Captain Jon Dudley who will fill the post left vacant since 1979.

The Assistant Minister for Defence, Stuart Robert, has praised recruiting result for this year's appointments to the Royal Military College - Duntroon.

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The US Navy is planning an at-sea demonstration with an electromagnetic railgun on board an Austal-built Joint High Speed Vessel sometime in fiscal year 2016.

The P-8A Poseidon Maritime Surveillance Aircraft has been cleared for full-rate production, according to the US Navy.

The US Navy's newest littoral combat ship, the future USS Coronado, departed from the Austal USA shipyard, January 27.

Final preparations by Rheinmetall AG of Dusseldorf and Ferrostaal GmbH of Essen to establish the new joint venture company Rheinmetall International Engineering GmbH are now complete.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.284 of 23 January 2014 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

Thales Australia has selected Steyr Mannlicher's SL40 grenade launcher as its preferred choice for Thales's new EF88 rifle currently under development for the ADF.

While Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney and others, may be wringing their hands over news that 44 boxes of documents and plans relating to the F-35 JSF were found from shipping containers destined for Iran, Russia appears much less concerned about divulging secrets about PAK FA.

It is gratifying news that Boeing has selected Lovitt Technologies Australia and Marand Precision Engineering to make components for the F-15 multi-role strike fighter jet.

Unisys will continue to provide information technology support processes to the Department of Defence under a two-year, $52 million contract extension.