Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Building indigenous defence industries is strategically attractive but can be challenging to execute. Earlier Arab efforts, particularly Egypt’s post-1950s’ programmes, were ambitious but enjoyed limited success. Today, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are pursuing defence industrialisation on a far larger, and better-resourced scale. This article examines traces the path from early ambitions to the capabilities in the present day. While the logic of developing an indigenous defence production capability is inescapable, the difficulty comes in developing the ability to turn intention into action. For many of the Gulf states, the circumstances were just not conducive to investing in a domestic…

Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess probably thought he was giving a measured, grown-up answer about patriotism. Instead, he’s now the main character in a culture war pile-on featuring Sean Strickland and Jake Paul, two men whose job descriptions include punching things and tweeting like they’re still in high school. Sean Strickland & Jake Paul Fuss Over Hunter Hess At a recent Winter Olympic media availability, Hess said it brings up “mixed emotions” to represent the United States, explaining that “there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of” and adding, “just because I’m wearing the…

Berlin’s main airport reopened February 6, after hundreds of flights were canceled because of icy conditions that disrupted transportation systems across northern Germany.While some airlines resumed service, significant delays and cancellations were expected to continue, Berlin Brandenburg Airport said in a post on social media platform X on the afternoon of February 6. More than 190 flights at the hub were canceled in a 24-hour period, according to FlightAware.The closures started late on February 5, with the airport saying on its website that no takeoffs and landings were possible due to freezing rain and black ice.“Passengers need to be patient,”…

The Mercedes‑Benz Defence Trucks Zetros 4051 AS 6×6 is appearing at the World Defense Show in Riyadh in a configuration extensively optimised for the logistical demands of armed forces operating in desert, high heat, and dusty environments This evolution builds on the proven Zetros architecture while integrating a reinforced driveline, a higher‑performance heavy‑load handling system and improved crew accommodation tailored to long‑duration missions, in order to meet today’s requirements for strategic deployment of heavy equipment. At the heart of this 4051 AS 6×6 variant is the Mercedes‑Benz OM 460 Euro V engine, delivering 375 kW, or 510 hp, providing the…

When China’s property market collapsed in 2021, its leaders scrambled to find a new driver of economic growth to replace housing construction. More investment in infrastructure, which had powered much of the country’s boom for decades, wasn’t an option: the population was peaking, and a collapse in land sales meant that local authorities lacked the funds to spend on new airports and eight-lane highways. Nor could Beijing rely on more exports. China was already the world’s biggest exporter, and with labor and land costs rising the world’s factory no longer had as significant a cost advantage for cheap goods.That left…

The transatlantic alliance is on the ropes. Since the end of World War II, American power has underwritten European unification and integration—arguably Washington’s greatest foreign policy accomplishment. But the Trump administration has made clear that the United States is no longer interested in acting as Europe’s security guarantor. It has threatened to seize the territory of a NATO member, reduced funding to Ukraine, aggressively imposed tariffs on European allies, and, in its 2025 National Security Strategy, called for “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory.” The message could not be clearer: the continent can no longer rely on the United States…

At the World Defense Show the Saudi Eraf Industrial company has shown for the first time in public the third iteration of its Tares armoured vehicles, named Tares III of which three models could be seen at the exhibition, the Tares III-19TC1 MRAP, the Tares III-16TC1 MRAP, and the Tares III-10TC1, all available in the 4×4 configuration Created 30 years ago as a mechanical company, which main role was remanufacturing components for defence, mostly for land systems, as many other companies ERAF went through the typical learning processing, from reverse engineering to rebuild and upgrade, and finally in 2016 to…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org A few weeks after the Air Force announced its prestigious William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet would return in March, the service has decided to postpone the event to later this year, according to Air Combat Command. “The decision to postpone the competition was made to maximize available resources, and [William Tell] is intended to continue in the future,” an ACC spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine, adding that a new…

On 5 February, 2026, PIRIOU shipyard launched Trolley de Prévaux in Concarneau, Brittany. It is the first Patrouilleur Hauturier (PH)-class offshore patrol vessel built for the French Navy. The ship is the first of seven OPVs ordered by the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), France’s defense procurement agency, in November 2023. Construction began in May 2024, and delivery to the Brest-based fleet is scheduled for April 2027. The PH program involves a consortium of three French shipyards: PIRIOU, CMN (Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie), and SOCARENAM. Naval Group serves as design authority and provides the combat and management systems. Two additional…

K-1 kicked off 2026 with a statement. The K-1 World GP 2026 -90kg World Championship Tournament, held Sunday, February 8 at the Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium in Tokyo, featured a stacked 20-fight card with five title bouts, an eight-man tournament, and a wave of stoppages that may have produced the event of the year before the calendar even hit March. K-1 World GP 2026: Achterberg Steamrolls the 90kg Tournament The story of the night was Germany’s Lukas “Hightower” Achterberg, a 2-meter tall replacement who was originally slated for the reserve bout. After K-Jee pulled out with an injury, the 29-year-old Fair…