Defence Security Asia

Germany has reportedly blocked a proposed sale of approximately 40 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters to Türkiye, a move widely seen as politically charged and coming just months after Berlin signaled openness to the deal.

Egypt and China are set to embark on their first-ever joint air force exercise this month, a move that underscores the shifting contours of Middle Eastern defence alignments and the quiet expansion of China’s military diplomacy across a region long dominated by U.S. influence.

The Philippines has signalled that it may be forced to abandon its high-profile plan to acquire F-16 multirole fighter jets from the United States—an estimated US$5.6 billion (RM26.4 billion) procurement—after Washington imposed retaliatory tariffs on the Southeast Asian nation.

High-resolution satellite imagery has confirmed the presence of Iran’s Matla Al Fajr-1 radar system at the Al Bahri Military Base, strategically located near Khartoum, Sudan.

Bangladesh is reportedly moving forward with plans to acquire the Chengdu J-10C multirole fighter from China, a step that would position Dhaka as the second operator of the advanced platform in South Asia after Pakistan, and mark a defining moment in the evolution of its airpower.

In a bold move to capture a strategic foothold in Southeast Asia’s defence market, Italian naval powerhouse Fincantieri and German submarine specialist Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have inked an industrial cooperation agreement aimed at supplying the Philippine Navy with next-generation submarines—escalating an already heated contest among global shipbuilders for one of Asia’s most closely watched defence procurements.

In a significant leap forward for bilateral defence ties, senior military officials from South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a milestone agreement to bolster comprehensive collaboration on Seoul’s flagship next-generation fighter aircraft, the KF-21 Boramae — a move that brings the Gulf nation closer to a possible acquisition of the advanced multi-role platform.

Iran’s indigenously engineered Bavar-373 long-range air defence system may now stand among the world’s few platforms theoretically capable of detecting and tracking the United States’ fifth-generation stealth fighter, the F-35 Lightning II, according to recently surfaced performance data from Iranian military exercises.

In what could mark a significant turning point in regional military dynamics, Indonesia has reportedly received an official request from the Russian government to deploy long-range military aircraft, including nuclear-capable strategic bombers, on Indonesian territory.

The unexpected arrival of six Chinese Xian Y-20 strategic airlifters in Egypt has ignited intense speculation regarding the classified nature of their cargo, which remains undisclosed by either party.

In a significant shift that signals a recalibration of Russian naval priorities, Moscow has officially scrapped plans to modernize and upgrade the nuclear-powered battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky, once hailed by Russian authorities as “the most powerful surface warship in the world.”

Türkiye’s donation of a Dogan-class fast attack missile boat, the TCG Volkan (P-343), to the Maldives has sent ripples across the Indian Ocean’s strategic landscape, drawing sharp attention from India as it watches Malé deepen its military cooperation with both Ankara and Beijing.

The unveiling of China’s latest nuclear-powered attack submarine, the Type 09IIIB—referred to in NATO reporting nomenclature as the Shang-III class—underscores Beijing’s intensifying pursuit of full-spectrum maritime superiority beneath the waves.

In a marked escalation of regional defence posturing, Israel is reportedly ramping up diplomatic pressure on Washington to block any reconsideration of the ban on the sale of fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to Türkiye, amid rising geopolitical turbulence across the Middle East.

In a calculated move that underscores the enduring relevance of legacy airpower, the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace, AAE) has officially reinducted a deeply upgraded variant of the Mirage 2000D into frontline service, now rebranded as the Mirage 2000DRMV.