Today's headlines

EADS, Lockheed team to bid for US Army helicopter
Europe's EADS on Monday said it was teaming up with U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp to offer an armed version of EADS' UH-72A Light Utility Helicopter in a new multibillion-dollar U.S. Army helicopter competition.
Reuters

US Navy wants more progress on LCS costs
Both Lockheed Martin Corp and General Dynamics Corp have made progress in lowering the cost of the new shore-hugging Littoral Combat Ships, but the U.S. Navy wants to see more improvements, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead said on Monday.
Reuters

Former Defence Secretary wants new SDR

Ten years without a new strategic defence review (SDR) is too long, former Defence Secretary Lord Robertson has told peers. Speaking during a debate on defence in the House of Lords, the former Defence Secretary and Secretary General of NATO told peers that the 1998 SDR was outdated and no longer relevant in 2009.

Defence Management

Australia commits to 100 F-35s in defence white paper

Australia plans to buy up to 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as part of a comprehensive plan to revamp its defence force capabilities and prepare for a changing security environment in the Asia Pacific over the next 20 years.

Flight Global

CAE concludes fiscal year 2009 with record order intake over C$1 billion for Military segments

CAE has ended fiscal year 2009 with record order activity in its military segments. Order intake for CAE's military segments totaled C$1.09 billion, including more than C$540 million in the fourth quarter alone. The total order intake represents a 47 per cent increase over the last fiscal year and the largest annual military order intake in the Company's history.

Defpro

Russian, Polish foreign ministers to talk missile defense, energy

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski arrives in Moscow on Tuesday for a two-day working visit to discuss European security, energy supplies and missile defense issues with his Russian counterpart.

RIA Novosti

Jobs in balance in £1bn Eurofighter order

British ministers are grappling with the potential costs to jobs and the UK defence industrial base if the government abandons a planned £1bn order of Eurofighter Typhoon jets, as a decision on whether to pull out of the contract nears.

Financial Times

Fresh setback for £1.2bn nuclear submarine HMS Astute

Work on HMS Astute, billed as the first of a new generation of nuclear submarine, stopped at Barrow-in-Furness last month when a fire broke out in the conning tower as 20 people were working on board. Now it has emerged that there are problems with the vessel's propulsion system, a fault which engineers have been unable to rectify because of the fire.

The Telegraph

Middle eastern training facilities will transform armed forces training for operations

A brand new £14 million training area officially opened yesterday at Stanford Training Area (STANTA) in Norfolk that will provide all troops deploying to Afghanistan with the most advanced and relevant training facilities in the UK.

MoD Press Release