Global defense news, analysis and opinion

The Defense Post Digest #2

A collection of The Defense Post's recent favorites from around the site and around the web.

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Rheinmetall Defense posts 3% sales growth for 2017

Rheinmetall Defence saw three percent growth in 2017, an increase of €90 million ($109.7 million) in sales compared to the previous year's figures, the company said in preliminary earnings figures

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German citizen arrested with Taliban in Afghanistan

A German national has been arrested with the Taliban in Afghanistan's insurgency-racked Helmand province, a rare example of a European among the insurgents

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Turkey is using refugees to justify attacks on Efrin, Syrian Kurds say

Syrian Kurdish officials, including those opposed to the PYD, say Turkey is using refugees to justify its attacks on the enclave of Afrin and wants to use Operation Olive Branch to change the demographics of the region

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Red Army in the grey zone: Russia’s greatest threat to the US is ‘less-than-war’

Crispin Burke argues that a credible US military deterrent may encourage Russia to use less-than-war measures, including military contractors and cyber power – designed to create plausible deniability and preclude the US from striking back

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US Air Force orders 570 Small Diameter Bomb II glide bombs from Raytheon

Raytheon has been awarded a $77,392,758 contract to produce 570 Small Diameter Bomb II glide bombs and associated equipment for the U.S. Air Force

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Afghan President Ghani lays out plans for peace talks with Taliban

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani unveiled plans for a possible peace settlement with the Taliban that are hoped to end decades of violence.

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Five Colombian soldiers killed in suspected ELN rebel attack

Bogota (AFP) – Five Colombian soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in a bomb attack near the Venezuelan border blamed on National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, the head of the army said Tuesday. The attack comes a day after the ELN announced a temporary ceasefire to coincide with next month’s legislative elections. Army General Ricardo Gomez said the soldiers were on highway security duty in a rural area near Tibu, in the Norte de Santander department, when a blast hit the first vehicle of their convoy. “We have five of our men assassinated and 10 wounded,” Gomez told W Radio station, blaming ELN guerrillas active in the region. The survivors have been hospitalized, one of them in serious condition, Gomez said. “Absolute repudiation of the cowardly attack against our heroes,” tweeted President Juan Manuel Santos, vowing to “go after those responsible” – without mentioning the ELN by name. Stalled peace talks The ELN, which took up arms in 1964, began peace talks with the Colombian government a year ago in the Ecuadoran capital Quito. Talks however broke down in January. Santos is hoping to reach a peace deal with the 1,500-strong rebel force similar to the one he struck …

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Leonardo SW-4 Solo helicopter flies for 45 minutes with no pilot aboard

Leonardo announced the maiden flight of its SW-4 Solo single-engine optionally piloted helicopter with no safety pilot on board

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US airstrike on al-Shabaab in Somalia kills 2 near Jilib, Africom says

An airstrike targeting al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab in Somalia killed two fighters and injured a third on February 26, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said.

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