As outlined in the 2013 Defence White Paper the government intends to replace the AP-3C fleet with P-8A Poseidon aircraft, complemented by unmanned aircraft capable of undertaking broad area maritime surveillance and fleet overwatch.

Reports that Qantas Airways is looking for a buyers for its defence services division, which is expected to generate between $80 million and $100 million, with Boeing Australia, BAE Systems Australia and Northrop Grumman as possible targets, suggests some interesting possibilities.

The introduction of armour to each of the Army's three multirole combat brigades will be one of the service's most important and most obvious changes over the next five years.

Griffon Defense Systems (GDS) has successfully completed the crash testing of the Australian Defence Forces award-winning crashworthy CH-47 troop seat.

Lithgow Arms is showcasing a prototype of the first new civilian rifle to be designed and built in Lithgow for over 40 years, which will be the only mass-produced rifle currently made in Australia.

Victoria's advanced manufacturing strengths in defence, aerospace and automotive will be on show during a trade mission to the US led by Minister for Manufacturing David Hodgett and supported by the Chair of the Defence Council Victoria, Ric Smith AO PSM.

The next meeting of the Land Environmental Working Group (LEWG) will be held on 21 June 2013 at the National Convention Centre, Canberra.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney hosted a reception in Brisbane on Wednesday night (22 May 2013) to introduce Queensland's newly-appointed defence industry envoy Lindsay Pears.

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Lockheed Martin has revealed that an F-35B fighter jet made its first vertical takeoff on May 10 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

The US Navy and its Littoral Combat Ship builders, Austal and Lockheed Martin, have agreed to delay delivery of the ship for the sake of holding down cost as the two builders transition from prototype construction to serial production under a block buy of 10 ships each, officials said last week.

BMT Group Ltd (BMT) has announced another strong financial performance for the year to September 30, 2012.

The UK MOD has signed a GBP15 million contract to replenish the Army's stock of supersonic Hellfire missiles used by Apache helicopters.

Cubic Corporation has been awarded a $21 million foreign military sales contract for its Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 (EST 2000) Plus, virtual small arms training system.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.253 of 16 May 2013 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

The Budget's capability activities in 2013-14 will include further consideration of Australia's Air Combat Capability, P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, land mobility, future armoured vehicles, afloat support vessels, communications and interoperability capabilities, intelligence and surveillance systems, electronic warfare, space and cyber.