Kicking off the National People’s Congress session on 5 March, China announced a defence budget of RMB1.107 trillion ($175 billion), which equates to an increase of 8.1% compared to a year ago.
Significantly, this marks a greater increase than in 2017, when the defence budget expanded by 7% to RMB1.044 trillion ($151.5 billion).
In 2016 the budget had grown 7.6%, the first time in recent years where defence spending dropped below double-digit growth. The new norm for China thus appears to be single-digit growth.
Delivering the national budget, Premier Li Keqiang said his nation would ‘advance all aspects of military
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In a partnership with Emesent, Teledyne FLIR will equip its autonomous air, ground and detection systems with the Hovermap LiDAR payload in a move that highlights a broader market shift towards modular architectures, shared payloads and interoperability across platforms.
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes an impressive increase in the procurement of interceptors, with the number of the US Army’s PAC-3 MSE rounds expanding by 683%, the US Navy’s Standard Missile by 365% and the MDA’s SM-3 IIA by more than 1,000%.
Global Military Products was selected by the US Army to operate the Quad Cities Cartridge Case Facility and ramp up the production of various calibre shell cases.
Future operational superiority will be defined by the ability to connect systems, data and personnel into a wider network. For armed forces, this creates the need for a digital backbone that integrates and enhances sensors and effectors of all kinds.
Estonian-made equipment is being put through the toughest of evaluations in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers resisting the full-scale Russian invasion which began in 2022. The country has long seen the threat and is continuing to adapt for the future.
Estonia is looking to boost its local defence industry with directed funding, industry parks, support through international orders for equipment and rapid prototyping.
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