TASS: ANKARA, June 14. /TASS/. Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli slammed the US demand to give up the deal to purchase S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia as ‘blackmail,’ the Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday. “Such a demand goes beyond any permissible norms of diplomacy and trade relations. The fulfillment of this demand… read more
Sputnik International: Former Turkish air force base commander Lieutenant General (ret.) Erdoğan Karakuş told Sputnik that Russo-Turkish arms cooperation is expanding in leaps and bounds and will impact the balance of power in the region, which is currently embroiled in several conflicts. He added that it could possibly prevent further escalation such as a Israeli-US strike on Iran. “Amid this uncertainty… read more
Al Masdar News: BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:00 A.M.) – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Mid-East Affairs, David Schenker, recommended that Saudi Arabia and other allies not purchase Russian-manufactured military equipment, including the S-400 air defense systems, an RIA Novosti report claimed on Friday. “I will (if approved) interact with our allies to dissuade them or… read more
Wall Street Journal: South Korea is quietly upgrading its military hardware, acquiring new fighters and missiles, and weighing purchases of nuclear submarines, even as Seoul pursues a peace track with North Korea that has brought Pyongyang to direct talks with the U.S. The moves reflect the country’s ambition to create a force able to fight… read more
Arutz Sheva: A senior Iranian military official said on Wednesday that the Bavar 373 air defense system will be put into action in the near future. Brigadier General Ali Balali, Deputy coordinator of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as having said that Iran has made great progress… read more
Sputnik International: Ankara is looking forward to the joint production of a new generation S-500 air and missile defense system with Russia, President Recep Tayyip has said. I have contacted President Putin with a proposal about the joint production of the S-500,” Erdogan said in an interview with 24 TV. He didn’t mention the Russian president’s response to the idea or when exactly it… read more
Defense News: TALLINN, Estonia — Estonia says it has agreed to buy a short-range air defense system complete with Mistral surface-to-air missiles from MBDA Missile Systems, a major €50 million (U.S. $59 million) military deal for the small Baltic country. Tuesday’s contract by Estonia’s state defense investment agency and the pan-European armaments and missile manufacturer… read more
CNBC: The process of “denuclearizing” the Korean Peninsula is going to take a lot more than the hopeful promises President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to at the Singapore summit on Tuesday. A map of the nuclear arsenal Kim has built up in the just the last few years shows… read more
Jane’s 360: Switzerland’s Rheinmetall Air Defence has completed its first example of a new-generation Oerlikon Skyranger Gun 35 mm mobile air-defence system integrated onto an ARTEC Boxer 8×8 Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) platform. Rheinmetall Air Defence told Jane’s that there will be a live firing of the complete system at the company’s Air Defence User… read more
Arab News: DUBAI: The Saudi Air Defense Force intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militias from Saada province, Yemen, towards Saudi territories, UAE state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday. The official spokesman for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Col. Turki Al-Maliki, stated that at 3:46am the Saudi Air Force… read more