A $6.5 billion cabinet-approved order for 83 LCA Tejas light combat aircraft will be India’s largest indigenous defence deal. State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics will manufacture 73 fighter versions and 10 trainers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been advised that Iran has begun installing equipment for producing metallic uranium, another violation of its multinational agreement to constrain its nuclear capabilities. Iran has told the IAEA that the new development is part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.” Germany, a party to the 2015 agreement which the U.S. eventually abandoned, says the development is “not likely to build trust.”

Haiying General Aviation Equipment, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., is reported to have successfully completed its first flight of a new armed reconnaissance drone. Similar in profile to some western drones, the jet-powered WJ-700 first appeared at a prototype at Airshow China 2018.

The world’s two largest defence suppliers, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, have joined the roster of U.S. companies suspending political donations after last week’s riot in Washington which resulted in several deaths and a breach of the capitol.

Admiral Art McDonald was appointed Canada’s new Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) during a change of command ceremony held virtually in Ottawa today.

Donald Trump has become the first U.S. President be to be impeached a second time when the House of Representatives voted 232-197 in favour of a Democratic Party resolution accusing him of “incitement of insurrection.” Prompted by his incitement of a mob which stormed Congress last week, the resolution was supported by a small number of Republicans. Trump now faces a trial once the Senate returns from a seasonal recess.

BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are on a growing list of defence suppliers which have suspended political donations in the aftermath of last week’s riot in Washington. Northrop Grumman, which contributed a total of $4.8 million to Democrats and Republicans last year, was first up as it considers “the way forward.”

The U.S. has declassified, with minor redactions, a blueprint for its role in the Indo-Pacific region. Drafted in 2018, it originally was not expected to be made public until 2043.

Boeing has secured a $1.7 billion contract this week to build 12 more KC-46A tankers for the U.S. Air Force. The multirole platform, also capable of carrying passengers and cargo, can refuel allied and coalition aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures. Boeing has delivered 42 since August 2016 in a program beset by cost overruns and delays.

In a bid to head off potential disruption at next week’s presidential inaugurations, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have warned that any protests by service members would be a bad idea. Citing last week’s ransacking of Congress, in which several veterans were involved, they have told personnel that “the rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection.”

Former trade minister Jim Carr has returned to the cabinet fold in a mini-shuffle announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Carr stepped down last year for health reasons. His return as a special representative for the Prairies was precipitated by Innovation, Science and Industry Minister to step down to spend more time with his family. Bains is replaced by former Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne who in turn is replaced by former Transport Minister Marc Garneau. Toronto MP Omar Alghabra, first elected in 2006 and who has been serving as a parliamentary secretary to Trudeau for public service renewal as well as to Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, succeeds Garneau at Transport.

Britain is seeking observer status in a French-German program which could yield their next-generation tank, replacing the Leclerc and Leopard 2 platforms. The latter has been sold to armies worldwide, including Canada, where they have been undergoing extensive modernization.

Reversing a move by President Barack Obama in 2015, the lameduck administration of President Donald Trump has put Cuba back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The move, dismissed by Cuba as “political opportunism”, comes just days before he is replaced by president-elect Joe Biden, who has said he wants to improve relations with Cuba.

Federal public health officials reportedly failed to act on warnings by Canadian military intelligence sources last January as the COVID-19 crisis began evolving, opting instead to rely on World Health Organization data. Based largely on classified information, the warnings by the military evidently were several weeks ahead of other sources.

Some six years after Canada deployed troops to fight Islamist militants, ISIS, the presence of more than 500 who remain in several countries is uncertain as their mission faces the expiry of $1.39 billion in funding at the end of the current fiscal year. Defence Minister Minister Harjit Sajjan declined to say whether it will be extended but Canada would remain “a reliable partner” in the region.

More than two dozen domestic terrorism cases have been opened in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 protests and breach of Congress security by extremists supporting outgoing President Donald Trump. Six deaths have been attributed to the riot and firearms and various explosive devices have been recovered.

Gen Mark Milley, Chairman of th U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been asked by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi about safeguards to prevent President Donald Trump from launching a nuclear attack in his final days in office. “The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy,” Pelosi says.

Looking ahead to a NATO defence ministers meeting next month, the alliance’s Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, says 2021 will be a critical year for relations between North America and Europe. “Any attempt to divide Europe and North America will not only weaken the transatlantic bond . . . but also divide Europe, so we need to stand together,” he says. Key issues to be addressed included NATO’s presence in Afghanistan and the future of the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty.

Boeing will pay $2.5 billion to settle a criminal charge of defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration in connection with development of its 737 Max aircraft. The Justice Department says the total includes a criminal fine as well as payments to the families of victims of two crashes and to airlines and prospective passengers affected by the grounding of the global fleet. Federal prosecutors said Boeing employees had concealed critical information from the regulators.

Ralph Goodale, the former federal cabinet minister advising the government on the Iranian military's downing of a Ukrainian passenger aircraft a year ago, is dismissive of Tehran's offer of $150,000 to the victims’ families. He says compensation remains subject to negotiations. 176 people on board. The 176 victims included 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and 53 others travelling to Canada.

A judge in Baghdad has issued an arrest warrant for outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump in connection with the killing of a visiting Iranian general and an Iraqi militia leader last January. Year. However, the warrant on a charge of premeditated murder is seen as largely symbolic.

The U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier Nimitz has been ordered back to the Middle East as President Donald Trump reversed a directive from acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller to withdraw. Miller’s decision, ostensibly designed to ease tensions in the region, reportedly caught the Navy leadership by surprise.

The U.S. has positioned a squadron of General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones and 90 personnel at Campia Turzii Air Base in Romania. The unspecified number of drones will be tasked with ISR missions and also work with U.S. allies in the region.

In a move unprecedented during President Donald Trump’s four years in office, the U.S. Senate rejected his attempted derailment of a $740.5 billion defence bill that boosts pay and benefits for troops and adds care for thousands of Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange. The bipartisan 81-24 vote overrode Trump’s veto of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act after it had been approved by majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Travel restrictions are being reinstated at a majority of U.S. domestic and foreign military installations as COVID-19 continues to spike and the government’s vaccine rollout continues.

NATO’s quick reaction force will be under the command of the Turkish Army this year. “Turkey has made substantial investments into the unit – amongst the most mobile in NATO – particularly in its logistics and ammunition requirements planning,” the alliance says.

The frigate HMCS Halifax is Canada’s latest naval contribution to Operation Reassurance in central and eastern Europe, a key element of NATO’s collective defence. The 15th RCN deployment since 2014, the frigate, which departed 1 Jan., will serve as the flagship of the alliance’s Standing Maritime Group 1, which normally comprises four to six destroyers and frigates.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is turning to experienced civilian professionals for senior roles in the Department of Defense. He plans to tap Kathleen Hicks as Deputy Secretary and Colin Kahl as Undersecretary for Policy. Both veterans of the Obama administration, they would report to retired Army Gen Lloyd Austin, Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.

Although impacted by COVID-19, Lockheed Martin managed to deliver 123 F-35s to domestic and international customers in 2020, 18 short of its initial target. The problem was exacerbated by pandemic-related difficulties in the supply chain, which the company had flagged as a possibility in April.

At least 22 persons are dead and 50 injured after an explosion at the airport in the temporary Yemeni capital of Aden.  A second blast was reported near a palace in the southern port city where cabinet members had been moved after the airport attack.

A live-fire exercise by the Chinese navy from an expanded base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea included helicopter-launched missiles. Also, satellite imagery show progress on a new dry dock at the base, capable of accommodating China’s new supercarrier.

Former U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned in 1985 after pleading guilty to spying for Israel, has been welcomed to Tel Aviv by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pollard was paroled in 2015 but prohibited from foreign travel for at least five years. Israel had granted him citizenship in 1995.

The Royal Australian Air Force says its 33 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters have reached initial operational capability, making Australia the seventh country to achieve that status. RAAF crews have flown more than 8,780 flight hours with more than 45 pilots and 600 maintainers supporting the fleet.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government continues to insist that Turkey will not yield to U.S. or European pressure over the acquisition of a Russian anti-missile system. Responding to U.S.-led sanctions, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has threatened unspecified “retaliatory steps.