Military Weapon

India, Italy to boost defence framework for military co-production

India and Italy on Thursday resolved to develop a defence industrial framework for co-production of military hardware, a move that came as both nations navigate an evolving security landscape, including the ongoing crisis in West Asia. The decision to bolster bilateral defence and strategic ties was reached during talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in New Delhi. Following the meeting, the two sides unveiled a bilateral military cooperation plan (MCP) 2026-27 regarding military engagements between the armed forces of both the countries. "We discussed a wide range of regional and global issues including the current situation in West Asia," Singh said on social media. "We also discussed the avenues to further develop mutually beneficial defence industrial cooperation under India's Atmanirbhar Bharat programme and Italy's defence cooperation initiative," he added. The defence ministry said Singh and Crosetto reiterated that the ...

Why Japan has lifted WWII-era arms curbs to allow lethal arms exports

Japan has lifted decades-old curbs on lethal arms exports, signalling a major shift from its post-war pacifist stance as Tokyo seeks a bigger role in global defence supply chains

Japan removes most restrictions on weapon exports in historic policy shift

Japanse PM Sanae Takaichi approved changes to defence export rules that will create a larger market for companies in the arms business

Defence ministry issues EoI for indigenous 1000-kg aerial bomb for IAF

The defence ministry has initiated the process for the indigenous design and development of a 1000-kg aerial bomb akin to Mk-84 for the IAF, aiming to boost India's 'Aatmanirbharta' in the sector, according to senior officials. The project is structured in two phases. The first involves design and development of six prototypes (live and inert), including associated tail units and equipment, they said. The second is the procurement phase, which will commence with the issuance of a commercial Request for Proposal (RFP) to the qualifying development agencies. The system is intended to be "compatible with both Russian and Western-origin aircraft" currently operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), a senior official said. The Ministry of Defence has "issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for design, development and procurement of 1,000-kg aerial bombs (akin to Mk-84) along with tail units and associated equipment under the provisions of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020", the

AI's dangerous turn: Weaponisation of surveillance is an undeniable reality

Anthropic is unhappy about fully autonomous weapons, claiming frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough at this instant to power fully autonomous weapons

Adani Defence hands over first batch of 2,000 'Prahar' LMGs to Indian Army

In a boost to the Indian Army's firepower, a defence major on Saturday delivered the first batch of 2,000 'Prahar', light machine guns (LMGs), manufactured under the 'Make in India' initiative. The 7.62 mm-calibre weapon has been manufactured by Adani Defence and Aerospace at its Small Arms Complex located on the outskirts of Gwalior. A ceremony was held on its premises on Saturday to hand over the LMGs to the Army, which was attended by A Anbarasu, DG Acquisition, Ministry of Defence, Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence and Aerospace, and other senior officials of the private firm. Anbarasu later flagged off a series of trucks carrying the first batch of the LMGs meant for the Army. Interacting with reporters after the flagging off, Rajvanshi said, "The journey that has begun today took us six years, starting from bid submission, and we have delivered it 11 months ahead of schedule." "The original timeline, which was given to us by the customer, was over seven years, but I can

Switzerland stops US arms exports over Iran war citing neutrality policy

The move comes as war involving Iran approaches three-week mark, intensifying the humanitarian crisis and pushing global energy prices higher

Why tiny atomic clocks are key to China's next-gen warfare ambitions

China has built a tiny, highly accurate atomic clock that could boost drones, missiles and satellite navigation, highlighting how precise timing is becoming crucial in modern warfare systems

Taiwan reports large-scale Chinese military aircraft presence after lull

Taiwan saw a surge of Chinese military planes near the island, its defence ministry said on Sunday, after a sharp drop in flights over the past two weeks had sparked discussions among observers. The ministry detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island on Saturday, with 16 of them entering its central and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone. Seven naval ships were spotted around the island, it reported. The increased number of aircraft came after the ministry reported a fall that left analysts scratching their heads about what China's military may be up to. Taiwan didn't report any Chinese military planes that went beyond the median line and entered the zone for a week from Feb. 27 to March 5. After two were detected on March 6, the next four days had none. Such flights resumed in small numbers between Wednesday and Friday. The drop coincided with the annual meeting of China's legislature. While such flights have fallen in the past during major events and public

North Korea fires 10 missiles toward sea in show of force, says Seoul

South Korea's military said Saturday it detected North Korea firing at least one projectile toward its eastern sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew. The launch came as the United States and South Korea conduct their annual springtime joint military exercises. The North has long described the allies' drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.

Blueprint for multi-domain military reforms, capability upgrades unveiled

An ambitious vision document broadly outlining a series of strategic reforms, capability enhancements and organisational changes required to bolster the Indian military was unveiled by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. The document, prepared by the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), is a strategic blueprint to transform the Indian armed forces into a modern, multi-domain, and integrated force by the centenary of India's Independence. The release of the 'Defence Forces Vision 2047: A Roadmap for a Future-Ready Indian Military' came eight months after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. Following the May 7 to 10 conflict, all the three forces were asked to work on the lessons learnt from it. The vision document envisages the transformation of the military into an integrated, multi-domain and agile force capable of deterring adversaries and to effectively respond to any conflict. A central pillar of the vision is the emphasis on jointness and synerg

Ukraine to Iran: How modern war is altering the math of defence production

Modern conflicts are shifting arms production from exclusive high-end weapons to scalable, affordable systems that are built for sustained warfare

Icebreakers, key to unlock Greenland, built only by US allies or rivals

The cold, hard reality facing any US, NATO or European plans for Greenland is the ice. It chokes harbours, entombs minerals, and freezes shorelines into minefields of white and blue shards that threaten ships all year. And the only way to break through all that is, well, with icebreakers: enormous ships with burly engines, reinforced hulls, and heavy bows that can crush and cleave ice. But the United States has only three such vessels, one of which is so decrepit as to be barely usable. It has entered agreements to obtain 11 more, but can only source additional ships from adversaries - or allies it has recently rebuffed. The key technology in the Arctic ----------------------------------- Despite toning down his rhetoric, US President Donald Trump seems set on the US owning Greenland for security and economic reasons: to keep what he calls "the big, beautiful piece of ice" out of the hands of Moscow and Beijing, to secure a strategic Arctic location for US assets, and to extract t

North Korea says latest missile tests involves hypersonic weapons system

North Korea said Monday that leader Kim Jong Un observed test-flights of hypersonic missiles and underscored the need to bolster the country's nuclear war deterrent, as the country dials up weapons displays ahead of its major political conference. North Korea reported on the drill a day after its neighbours said they detected multiple ballistic missile launches and accused the North of carrying out provocations. The tests came just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday's drill involving a hypersonic weapon system was meant to examine its readiness, enhance missile troops' firepower operational skills and evaluate operational capabilities of the country's war deterrent. Through today's launching drill, we can confirm that a very important technology task for national defense has been carried out, Kim said, according to KCNA. We must continuously upgrade the ...