The Ukraine has issued a draft memorandum for Russia's consent. It outlines the dates for the withdrawal of the Russian fleet from the Crimean peninsula. The date is 2017. The Russians had agreed to do this by signing an agreement in 1997 with the Ukraine. It must feel like the US losing access to the Pacific Ocean. The Ukrainian Air Force is cooperating with Denmark, in an operation to re-supply the Danish station at Greenland called Nord. The base had been previously supplied by the Danish Air Force, then a company from the Ukraine was hired to do the job, two years ago. The Ukraine is truly trying to become a good neighbor to the rest of Europe.

A new type of Special Operations Craft is about to go head to head with the current U.S. SOC in tests that will be conducted in the middle of this year. The new craft is a composite and is about eighty two feet long. The new craft is said to be stronger and more comfortable, along with being safer.

Northrop Grumman has won the contract to build a platform management system for the Royal Navy, in the U. K. The system will be installed on the Astute class submarines. They were actually selected by another contractor, BAE Systems. It is not unusual for major contractors to subcontract parts of, or all subsystems on a project. They received, what is known as, preferred bidder status, which means that they will get the contract, but further negations will be conducted for a few weeks. This is more or less pro former. On another front, the United States Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for STARS engines, along with a second contract for testing and certification of the engines. The contracts are worth about 300 million currently. The new engines will be used in the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (STARS).reconnaissance surveillance aircraft.

Not to be outdone, General Dynamics has won a contract to upgrade F-15 AESAs. The contract was awarded by Raytheon for the building of a radar component that is essential to the system. The new systems will be installed on the F-15E Eagle aircraft. General Dynamics is developing a new machine gun. It is said to be a 50-calibre and very lightweight. It is known as the LW50MG. The company was given an initial nine million dollars to develop an alternative to the Browning M2HB. The Browning has been used by the U.S. for an incredible seventy five years.

Slovakia is waiting for their shipment of MI-17 SAR helicopters. They are waiting for their four upgraded MI-17 LPZS copters, which they state will be used for search and rescue operations. The upgrades started in 2005 and are being done by LOTN, which is a Slovakian company.

Pakistan is all set to receive it's first AEW&C aircraft. The aircraft is the first of five that have been manufactured for that country by Swedish contractor Saab Aerotech. The planes cost about one billion dollars and will be part of an early warning and control system. The planes contain Erieye active, phased array surveillance radar and associated systems to complete their mission.

Israel just finished conducting the first flight of the British Watchkeeper WK450 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle. These are commonly known as UAVs. The plane is an Elbit Systems Hermes 450 medium altitude, long endurance vehicle. The company declined to give any more information about the craft, or it's performance.

It seems that many of the western nations are starting to either build or experiment with friendly bombs and missiles. These are warheads that are made of some sort of fiberglass or plastic to reduce the casualties of those living near a target. They are for use in urban areas. This point was brought home in the U. K. when Air Commodore Graham Wright stated during a speech, that the U. K. was working hard to perfect these weapons. The U. K. is about to send it's Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles into combat. They will carry Hellfire missiles and Paveway bombs that have been purchased from the U.S.

The Lebanese Army is facing a tough situation. Fighting has broken out between the Shiites and Druze in the Chouf mountains. This is not their only problem however, fighting has also broken out between the Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. A large troop contingent was moved into Tripoli. Troops were also moved into some villages in the Chouf mountains. Lebanon wants to restore order without all out war. An Arab delegation arrived on May 14 to try and mediate peace among the warring factions.

Japan, in a switch of policies, has moved to have their laws changed to allow the use of their space assets by the Japanese Self Defense Force or JSFD. This is thought to mean that some satellites will now be used for surveillance.

Canada was all set to buy the F-35A, Joint Strike Fighter aircraft from the U.S., but it now looks like they are going to change their mind and buy the F-35C instead. The F-35C is the version of the Joint Strike Fighter that is going to be used on aircraft carriers. No the Canadians are not building a carrier, it seems that this version of the plane is better suited to the cold temperatures that Canada experiences.

Czech Republic forces have increased in size in Afghanistan. They have added more troops and specialized vehicles to their force. No doubt we have asked them to do this.

The U.S. Army has issued it's first night vision helmet mounted monocular. It is called an Enhanced Night Vision Goggle or ENVG. It is manufactured by ITT Night Vision.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation has just entered the offices of Patria and is investigating their contracts with Slovenia and Egypt. They had contracted to supply the Slovenian Government with 135 Patria Armored Vehicles and 120mm mortars. The contracts from the 1990s, with Egypt, for howitzers is also being investigated. As of this writing the reasons for the investigation are not clear.

Boeing has reopened the Pennsylvania production line that produces Chinook helicopters. Sabotage had been suspected for damaging two Chinook CH-47F machines. The investigation by the Army and the DCMA are still ongoing.

A white paper published recently in France is recommending a sharp cut in the number of troops and aircraft stationed outside France. It is also calling for cuts in the French Navy. The navy is not very happy about this. The paper projects France's military needs for the next fifteen years. It is said that after a few changes, the French Cabinet will endorse the paper on June 11, 2008.

The U.S. Navy is under a lot of pressure to convert all it's ship's propulsion systems to nuclear power. The higher the price of oil goes, the more pressure is put on the navy. The navy is resisting putting all it's eggs in one basket. In this instance, disposal of nuclear waste probably shouldn't enter into this decision, but it is an undeniable problem. Where are all the old fuel rods going to go?

The U. K. program to build two new aircraft carriers has gotten the go ahead. The ships will be about 65,000 tons each. The cost is projected at 7.65 billion dollars. One has to wonder at the advantage that will be gotten from carriers in the future, now that torpedoes can travel at anywhere from 300 miles per hour and might even get to 600 miles per hour. Will the aircraft carrier become a sitting duck, because of these torpedoes and missiles? Maybe the Japanese had the right idea in World War II, they had built a few submarines that had hanger decks. Maybe it is time for a submersible aircraft carrier, or one that would be in low Earth orbit and be able to move out of the way of threats, while still maintaining the ability to launch vehicles anywhere on earth.

Do you think that you have hit projects that take a long time? Look at poor Taiwan, they placed an order for eight new submarines to be built in the U.S. The order was placed in 2001 and the design phase has not been started yet. Because of these tremendous delays, their new Defense Minister is reviewing the entire submarine procurement program. Hey they got along without the subs this long, maybe they really don't need them.

While most Defense budgets are under review with the objective of cutting funds, New Zealand has increased theirs by over sixteen percent. Their entire Defense budget represents only about one percent of their gross product.

The Germans have unveiled their first unmanned ground vehicle. While not fully operational yet, the Germans plan to have the first system working within five years. I guess we will have to wait on this one and see if it comes into it's own.

It is said that the U.S. has quietly decided to drop out of some of the human rights accords that it had previously accepted at the U.N. and that the reason for this is that the U.S. would have been embarrassed, because of certain procedures that were performed at different military prisons.