New opportunities for defence firms as EU steps up support for Ukraine
The European Commission is looking for startups and other innovators to address challenges across the land, air and sea domains.
airBaltic is to launch flights from Riga to Umeå in Sweden and between Vilnius and London.
The start date for the former is 29 March, with the latter’s commencement still to be confirmed.
Tero Taskila, the airline’s chief commercial officer commented, “airBaltic will become the first airline in history to link Umeå and Riga – two cities that have been nominated to become Europe’s cultural capitals in 2014. airBaltic made a similar step already at the end of last year when the link between two European Capitals of Culture 2011 Turku and Tallinn was established.
“airBaltic has worked hard to expand its list of destinations in Scandinavia. We want to allow people from the region to visit Latvia or to use Riga as a transit airport for flights to destinations such as Barcelona, Berlin, Zurich, Venice, Vienna, Moscow, Kaliningrad, and many others. Umeå is a lovely destination, and the new airBaltic route will surely attract increasing numbers of travellers from Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the CIS.”
Until 30 May, airBaltic will fly from Riga to Umeå four times a week – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (from Umeå to Riga on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). Beginning on 31 May, the flights will be offered daily. The flights to and from Umeå will make a stop at the Finnish town of Vaasa and will be operated with Fokker 50 aircraft.
The European Commission is looking for startups and other innovators to address challenges across the land, air and sea domains.
Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.
The Singapore-based technology company unveiled its new rifle family at this week’s airshow. Chen Chuanren spoke with the ST Engineering’s head of small arms to find out more about how the weapons have been refined.
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.