The defence industry briefing

The news, views and numbers you need to know about this month

News in numbers

$51.9bn

Total foreign military sales cases cleared by the US State Department in fiscal 2020

$100bn

Total sum Middle Eastern defence spending is forecast to reach in 2019, led predominantly by Saudi Arabia and the UAE

30 years

Anniversary of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber's first flight, marked by a US Air Force celebration in Palmdale, California, in August

$1bn

Value of the US ballistic missile interceptor programme cancelled by the Pentagon, with the Missile Defense Agency citing design problems

8,600

Number of US troops that could stay in Afghanistan after the US military withdraws from the country

7.4%

Defence budget increase sought by South Korea for next year as part of a five-year plan to spend $240bn

400,000

Number of flight hours reached by  F/A-18A/B Hornets since entering service with the RAAF in the 1980s

This month on twitter

The long road to DSEI

Futuristic combat kit

The F-22 demo team in action

HMS Montrose persists in the Gulf

A brief history of Mars observations

A look at China's amphibious assault ship