A French Defense Update from Minister Parly, July 2021

07/04/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - It was natural for the U.S. president, Joe Biden, to encourage the Swiss authorities to opt for an American fighter jet in the Swiss competition, Florence Parly, armed forces minister said July 2. “There is nothing new under the sun,” she told the defense journalists…

The Bundestag Budget Committee’s Green Light on FCAS

06/25/2021
Paris - The German parliament approved Berlin’s share of a budget worth €4.5 billion ($5.4 billion) for development work on a European Future Combat Air System, an industry source said June 24. That long awaited June 23 vote by the Bundestag budget committee authorized funding for the German share of…

The European Intervention Initiative Conference: An Update on European Defense Cooperation

06/22/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French air and space force should not have to wait for a future combat air system to gain access to a highly capable command and control network, a senior French air force officer said June 22. “We cannot wait for SCAF/NGWS. "We need to…

Tracking Chinese Engagement with Western Universities

06/22/2021
By Audrey Fritz When the University College Cork in Ireland withdrew from a partnership with Minzu University of China (MUC) in 2021, speculation cited concerns linking MUC with human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. This included the arrest of a Uyghur professor at MUC who was accused of separatism and escalating…

The FCAS Industrial Package: The Saga Continues

06/15/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - France, Germany and Spain said last month they had reached agreement to launch a long awaited development phase for a European future combat air system, but it has emerged  there were still industrial and political issues to resolve. What has emerged is that the key…

SofaGate: EU-Turkish Relations

04/27/2021
By William Gourlay It’s said that politics makes for strange bedfellows. In diplomacy, it would seem that it’s seating arrangements that can be tricky. At a 6 April meeting of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel with Turkey’sfamously combative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, von…

Aussie Liaison Officer Assigned to Japanese HQ Component Command

04/23/2021
According to a story published by the Japanese Ministry of Defence: On January 13, 2021 Major Howlett of the Australian Army was appointed as liaison officer at the HQ Ground Component Command. It is the first time for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) to accept a liaison officer from…