Canada is considering buying fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-35′s because of escalating costs associated with Lockheed Martin’s troubled Joint Strike Fighter program, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday. Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government needs to ensure a balance between military and taxpayer interests. MacKay said Canada needs to have all viable options…

Maj. Gen. Abdul Wahab Wardak, commander of the Afghan air force, and Brig. Gen. Steven Shepro, commander of NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan, signed the first-ever combined strategy into effect at a Nov. 28 ceremony at the NATC-A headquarters at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. All three Wings and key leaders witnessed the ceremony. The…

European aerospace and defense company EADS announced Dec. 7 a new ownership structure in which Germany is set to join France and Spain as state shareholders – even as overall government influence shrinks at the company. The parent company of plane maker Airbus, the archrival of U.S.-based Boeing, said the deal would eventually give the…

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is confident Afghan security forces will be able to take full responsibility for Afghanistan’s security by the end of 2014, he said Nov. 26 during an interview with the Pentagon Channel. His confidence comes from discussions with senior Afghan and International Security Force officials during a recent visit to…

The U.S. will work closely with its NATO allies to determine the best way to respond to a recent request from Turkey for Patriot missile support, a defense official said Nov. 21. Turkey is seeking to deploy the Patriot missiles along its southeastern border in an effort to de-escalate crisis conditions due to the civil…

A lot has happened in Asia while the United States was off fighting its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most of it can be summed up in one word – China. Fueled by China’s amazing growth and the promise of its huge and expanding consumer market, the Asia-Pacific region is now, as experts like…

A prominent Iranian parliament member said Nov. 9 that a U.S. drone violated Iran’s airspace a week ago, when the Pentagon says it was fired on. The U.S. maintains the pilotless craft was over international waters. Lawmaker Mohammad Saleh Jokar told state-owned yjc.ir news website that Iranian fighters shot at the U.S. drone because it…

President Vladimir Putin Nov. 9 reshuffled the nation’s top military brass following the defense minister’s ouster, and instructed the new top military officer to be friendlier to Russia’s defense industries. Putin’s advice to Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, appointed chief of the armed forces’ General Staff, appeared to shed more light on the reasons for the…