For counter-fire operations against insurgents in Afghanistan, 80mm airburst mortar rounds may be called in by Australian Joint Fires Observers, usually operating in teams of two to 'keep heads down' and only used away from housing or villages.

Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare announced recently that two new Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar Giraffe radars had been delivered and were currently in operation in Afghanistan.

Logos Technologies has been awarded $111.8 million by Naval Air Systems Command to develop an additional 22 Kestrel wide-area persistent surveillance systems to support US forces in the field.

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UK-based science and technology group QinetiQ has been awarded a contract by the UK MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory to manage a four-year ISTAR ICS program.

The Pentagon's acquisition chief recently approved the Army's Warfighter Information Network Tactical Increment 2 battlefield communications system for a third lot of low-rate initial production, but only under the condition that contractor General Dynamics C4 Systems correct certain "deficiencies" in its performance.

According to Inside Defense, the Pentagon next month will begin publicly exploring ways to open up select portions of the Joint Strike Fighter program to competition.

An "aggressive" Pentagon analytical effort to identify critical and fragile niches in the defence industrial base has turned up several areas of concern for senior military acquisition officials, who have developed plans to intervene if necessary, according to a new government report.

While the military fighter aircraft market is set for a period of great activity over the coming decade there are concerns in the US that unless planning for the next generation fighter begins in the 'near term' the US could lose its current technological advantage over European manufacturers.

Defence and security company Saab has received an order from the Royal Thai Navy for the upgrading of the Combat Systems on the frigates HTMS Naresuan and HTMS Taksin.

The US Army is seeking counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities that could be included in next year's Black Dart exercise, designed to allow officials to test systems against drone threats.

The Su-30SM multirole fighter, developed by JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau and designed for the Russian Ministry of Defence, is undertaking a series of test flights at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant's airfield.

The Russian Army is testing a future high-tech soldier equipment system and plans to stage exercises with the equipment as part of state trials, Defense Ministry ground forces spokesman Lt. Col. Nikolai Donyushkin said.

Ukrainian defence electronics enterprise Adron has developed a precision-guidance kit for Soviet-designed 'dumb' bombs.

New Zealand has announced plans on 20 September to buy a range of land-based C4ISR systems to support its development of a network-enabled army.

Moscow hopes that the NATO will be using Russian aircraft for its cargo deliveries to and from Afghanistan via the Ulyanovsk transit base in the Volga area, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.