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Jakarta meeting seeks to revive stalled KF-21 fighter program

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Defense officials from South Korea and Indonesia have recently convened in Jakarta in a bid to breathe new life into the troubled KF-21 joint fighter jet development program. The high-level meeting, the first of its kind since a sensitive technology leak incident involving Indonesian engineers came to light, saw Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) head, Seok Jong-gun, engage with Indonesian Vice Defense Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto to discuss avenues for bolstering defense cooperation, with the KF-21 initiative taking center stage.


Indonesia Ministry of Defense
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Ground broken on Joint Malaysia-Australia infrastructure upgrade at RMAF Butterworth

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A new chapter in Malaysian-Australian defence collaboration has begun with a ground-breaking ceremony on Mar. 20 at RMAF Butterworth. The ceremony signified the commencement of the Malaysia – Australia Infrastructure Airfield Works Project (Stage 1). This joint initiative underscores the strong bilateral defence relationship between the two nations, which is underpinned by Australia’s Australian Defence Force (ADF) presence at Butterworth, shared engagement under the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and defence cooperation activities, also known as the Malaysia-Australia Joint Defence Program (MAJDP).


Photo: RMAF

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F-35 Training Centre cost surges to $1.2 Billion at Fort Smith

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Fort Smith’s burgeoning role in global F-35 fighter pilot training has taken on sharper definition, with the price tag for the training centre now estimated at $1.2 billion, a notable climb from earlier projections of around $800 million. This development at Ebbing Air National Guard Base was brought into focus during a recent meeting of the Fort Smith Regional Airport Commission, where the scope and timeline of the ambitious project were further detailed.

The 33rd Fighter Wing and Ebbing Air National Guard Base welcomed the arrival of the first two Polish Air Force F-35A Lightning II
aircraft at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Fort SMith, Arkansas on December 23, 2024. This marks a significant milestone in the Foreign Military Sales training program and highlights the strong partnership between the U.S. and Poland. The aircraft’s arrival will kickstart Polish pilot training at Ebbing ANGB, beginning in January 2025. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by A1C Miles Chrisman)

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Australia’s ‘Biggest defense export’: JORN radar heads to Canadian Arctic

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In a move signaling a determined assertion of Arctic sovereignty amid a shifting global security landscape, Canada has announced a significant partnership with Australia to deploy a cutting-edge early warning radar system. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during his inaugural domestic tour to Iqaluit, Nunavut, revealed the initiative to build an Arctic Over-The-Horizon Radar system in collaboration with Canada’s “long-standing defence and security partner,” Australia. This project, underpinned by a Canadian investment exceeding $6 billion already earmarked in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernisation plan, aims to bolster Canada’s capacity to “detect and respond to both air and maritime threats over our Arctic, faster and from further away,” ultimately ensuring the safety of all Canadians.


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