BDA, teamed with Thales, Airbus and Turbomeca, has been awarded a $600 million contract to train Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army helicopter pilots for the next 25 year, broadening the company's partnership with this country's armed forces.

On behalf of the UK MOD, the Ascent consortium recently selected the Beechcraft T-6C as the aircraft to complement the BAE Systems Hawk T2 in the training pipeline to conduct fixed wing flight training for the RAF, RN and Army Air Corp pilots.

Robust capability in science, technology and engineering has historically underpinned the ability of the ADF to maintain technological superiority over other countries in our region, along with our ability to operate effectively with our key allies.

Media and invited guests assembled in a hangar at Avalon Airport on November 14 for the official launch of the 2015 Australian International Airshow.

Australia's Department of Defence has signed a three year $16.5 million agreement with Esri Australia that will provide more than 65,000 military and civilian personnel with access to GIS technology.

When Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his ice team set off on the Coldest Journey, Codan Radio Communications was selected to provide the HF radios that would guarantee communications from the harshest environment on the planet.

Is there a case for Australia to acquire F-35B JSF STOVL aircraft to operate from the two new Canberra-class LHDs?

The Army's Directorate of Future Land Warfare has commenced work on a new capstone future operating concept and supporting functional concepts intended for publication in 2015.

The latest in defence appointments.

Finmeccanica - Selex ES, Thales UK Ltd and Lockheed Martin have recently formed a partnership with the UK MoD and UKTI that will optimise the performance of UK-exported equipment.

The US Navy is asking Congress for additional funding to buy 15 Blackjack unmanned air vehicles to support the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to a service spokeswoman.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.326 of 13 November 2014 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

Austal CEO Andrew Bellamy has nominated the Alliance structure as largely responsible for cost overruns in the AWD program, and confirmed Austal's potential interest in the acquisition of ASC should it be offered for sale by the Commonwealth.

Opening the 2014 event, Chief Information Officer Dr Peter Lawrence gave delegates some context about how CIOG has been operating over the last 12 months and the likely effects of 2015 given the raft of new defence documents set to be released.

Lobbying by European companies vying to build Australia's Future Submarine has intensified, with the chief executives of French naval systems group DCNS and Sweden's Saab both in Australia within a week of each other.

Profits from running Australia's immigration detention centres have been substantially propping up the finances of UK outsourcing company Serco, which is facing increased losses from other contracts it holds.