Day: January 24, 2024

Exclusive: The UAE’s war on UN sanctions busters  Devex

The Russian Federation continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, uses terror tactics, launches missile and air strikes, and fires multiple launch rocket systems not only at military but also at numerous civilian targets in our country.

Goldman Sachs, Lazard, HSBC Hire CIA, GCHQ and MI6 Spies  Bloomberg

<div><img class=”invisible” style=”display: none” src=”[images%7COpenAccessDataProvider]d880b4d7-c257-44c3-89a1-729f1dc25957?sfvrsn=68d7f043_2″></div><div class=”w-100 position-relative”> <img src=”/ResourcePackages/Janes/assets/dist/images/placeholder-16-9.jpg” class=”invisible w-100″> <div style=”background-image: url(“https://www.janes.com/images/default-source/news-images/bsp_69471-jdw-24832.jpeg?sfvrsn=68d7f043_2″)” class=”news-hero bg-center bg-cover position-absolute left-0 top-0 h-100 w-100″></div></div>
<p class=”text-body text-muted small”>The Northrop Grumman B-21, shrouded in secrecy. (Northrop Grumman)</p>
<p>The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider has entered low-rate initial production (LRIP), according to a statement by the US Department of Defense’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante.</p>
<p>“Production of the B-21 ‘Raider’ stealth bomber is moving forward,” LaPlante said in a 22 January statement. “This past fall, based on the results of ground and flight tests and the team’s mature plans for manufacturing, I gave the go-ahead to begin producing B-21s at a low rate.”</p>
<p>
The US Air Force (USAF) told
<em>Janes</em>
that the B-21 had entered production, but declined to provide additional details, including the number of aircraft purchased or when the contract was signed, citing operational security concerns. Northrop Grumman previously disclosed that six B-21s were undergoing production at its Plant 42 factory, but when the next example is set to fly is publicly unknown.
</p>
<p>A single B-21, formally designated the T-1 test article and known informally as Cerberus, is undergoing testing at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California. The aircraft first flew on 12 November 2023 and has conducted at least one additional flight to date, although the USAF declined to confirm the number of flights or detail test activities.</p>
<p>The B-21 is intended to replace the B-1 and B-2 as the USAF’s primary large penetrating strike aircraft. The service intends to order at least 100 Raiders. The first operational B-21s are to be sent to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, where the operational training unit and first operational units are set to be based. Following aircraft are allocated to Whiteman AFB, Missouri; and Dyess AFB, Texas.</p>

<div><img class=”invisible” style=”display: none” src=”[images%7COpenAccessDataProvider]9e6100b0-db1b-4ac2-8d42-f3fe7c8b965b?sfvrsn=b67a4a29_2″></div><div class=”w-100 position-relative”> <img src=”/ResourcePackages/Janes/assets/dist/images/placeholder-16-9.jpg” class=”invisible w-100″> <div style=”background-image: url(“https://www.janes.com/images/default-source/news-images/bsp_69473-jdw-24831.jpeg?sfvrsn=b67a4a29_2″)” class=”news-hero bg-center bg-cover position-absolute left-0 top-0 h-100 w-100″></div></div>
<p class=”text-body text-muted small”>Trials of the Challenger 3 MBT, featuring Epsom armour, the Trophy-MV APS, a fully digitised turret, and a 120 mm smoothbore gun, will begin in the coming weeks. (RBSL)</p>
<p>The first prototype of the Challenger 3 main battle tank (MBT) will begin trials in the coming weeks, <em>Janes </em>learnt on the first day of Defence iQ’s International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) 2024 conference being held in London from 22 to 25 January.</p>
<p>The MBT will feature Epsom armour and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Trophy-MV (Medium Vehicle) armour protection system (APS), a fully digitised turret, and Rheinmetall’s 120 mm L55A1 smoothbore gun, which conducted its first firing in 2023.</p>
<p>The UK’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organisation announced on 18 January that it had awarded Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) a contract for a new modular armour system for the Challenger 3. The system was designed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and was jointly developed with RBSL. Initial integration trials were conducted in 2023, and RBSL will test, manufacture, and integrate the new armour into the Challenger 3.</p>
<p>DE&S awarded RBSL an GBP800 million (USD1 billion) contract for 148 Challenger 3s in May 2021, with a total of eight prototypes being manufactured.</p>
<p>The upgrade covers the areas of digitisation, replacing the 120 mm rifled gun with Rheinmetall’s 120 mm L55A1 smoothbore gun, a new suite of sights providing tank commanders with improved day and night targeting capabilities, improving the tank’s protection, and increased mobility with an upgraded engine and new hydrogas suspension.</p>

BREAKING:

The Turkish Parliament has voted in favor of approving Sweden’s NATO membership application.

Erdogan will still have to sign off on it, but it should be a mere formality.

🇹🇷🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/0aTKrPYTQm

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 24, 2024

One day after it whitewashed the Palestinian death toll, NYT now describes an Israeli attempt to raze Palestinian homes and make their area unlivable as an attempt to “help create a buffer zone.” Nazi propagandists would be impressed. pic.twitter.com/3KkNa7stRO

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) January 24, 2024

Pentagon: Lack of funds for Ukraine prevents maintenance of previously provided weapons  Ukrinform

US finds no misuse of weapons provided to Ukraine — Secretary Austin  Yahoo News Australia

Here’s what to know about Sweden’s bumpy road toward NATO membership  WTOP