An F-35A test aircraft has completed the first aerial weapons release of an AIM-120 AMRAAM from a conventional takeoff and landing aircraft.

In a recent edition of DWP ADM reported that the US Defense Department was to begin publicly exploring ways to open up select portions of the JSF program to competition.

More than 500 DCNS personnel and guests watched as the third of the 12 FREMM multimission frigates on DCNS's orderbook was floated out of the building dock at the Group's Lorient facility.

Unmanned aerial vehicle combat operations over Afghanistan will begin to be controlled from the UK from "early next month", when a new command centre opens at Royal Air Force Waddington in Lincolnshire.

As the US Navy pushes to open programs up to competition to drive down costs and increase flexibility, the service remains concerned by proprietary data rights that companies are unwilling to relinquish.

The US Navy wants the Standard Missile-3 Block IIB missile to be much more capable than previous variants and is willing to expand the design options to include modifications to existing missile-launching systems and the use of liquid propellants.

ViaSat has introduced a new portable broadband terminal featuring power-on, auto-acquire antenna pointing that greatly simplifies and speeds up deployment.

Rolls-Royce has won a contract to power the US Navy's future fleet of hovercrafts, known as the Ship-to-Shore Connector.

Portugal have announced a termination of its contract with General Dynamics European Land Systems - Steyr for Pandur II 8x8 armoured vehicles.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.227 of 18 October 2012 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here

LHD01 has arrived in Australia after two months at sea. The loading operation on board the heavy sea lift ship Blue Marlin started August 4, 2012 in La Coruna.

Nearly 400 defence and industry delegates from New Zealand, Australia, US and other countries gathered in Wellington, NZ, for the annual NZDIA forum.

Budget constraints mean the number of training days available to each Army Reservist "remains a key issue under consideration for Army", a Defence spokesperson told ADM October 11, 2012.

The government has this week approved the purchase of an additional two artillery batteries of Lightweight Towed Howitzers, comprising 19 M777A2 155mm howitzers for a cost of around $70 million.

German defence company Rheinmetall Defence is expanding its presence in Australia with the newly founded subsidiary Rheinmetall Simulation Australia Pty Ltd.

Over the past 18 months Thales Australia and Plasan have added Plasan's lightweight Flex Fence 2 RPG defeat system to the protective systems now available for these vehicles - should Defence want them?