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Low-rate initial production B-21 aircraft have already been delivered to the US Air Force. Credit: Northrop Grumman

An Australian non-profit research organisation has recommended that Australia acquire the B-21 stealth bomber from the United States, as part of a series of initiatives intended to further cement Canberra’s ties with Washington.

In a 7 August 2024 paper, the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) provided six recommendations that Australia should undertake, one of which was the acquisition of the B-21 Raider “as an additional element” to the AUKUS trilateral defence and security initiative being undertaken between Australia, the US, and the UK.

Not only should Australia seek to procure the B-21, but also offer “to host a US B-21 contingent” in order to “strengthen deterrence in the 2020s and manage the risk of delays in the AUKUS submarine”, the IPA said.

The suggested purchase of the B-21 Raider by Australia would serve to provide a non-nuclear long-range deterrent more quickly than is going to be the case with the AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines, which are due to enter service from the early-2040s onwards. 

The Brazilian Navy has achieved a significant milestone in its fleet modernisation programme with the launch of the first Tamandaré-class frigate, named F200 Tamandaré on 9 August 2024 at the ThyssenKrupp Estaleiro Brasil Sul shipyard in Santa Catarina.

The frigates are a crucial element of the Brazilian Navy’s Corvettes Class Programme (CCT), aimed at enhancing national territorial defence and safeguarding the country’s extensive natural resources.

With the launch of the F200 Tamandaré, the CCT programme is on target to have the first in class vessel operational in 2024, with the remaining vessels scheduled for delivery by 2029.

These frigates will play a vital role in Brazil’s defence strategy, ensuring the security of the Blue Amazon and enhancing the Navy’s ability to respond to both conventional and asymmetric threats in its maritime domain.

Based on the MEKO A100 design, the Tamandaré-class frigates are multi-mission vessels, featuring a displacement of 3,500 tonnes, a length of 107.2m, and a draft of 5.2m. 

The rapid protoyping of two US Air Force (USAF) E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft will set the tone for the global platform.

US aerospace prime Boeing, and the original equipment manufacturer of the Wedgetail, will produce the protoypes in an effort to definitise the USAF programme under a contract modification valued at more than $2.5bn.

Work will take place in Tukwila, Washington, and is expected to be completed by 28 August 2029.

The US has already begun to prepare their forces for the incorporation of the Wedgetail for some time. The service has worked closely with partner nations to achieve this readiness. From as early as November 2023, Nato gave the green light for the production of six units, anticipating their induction by 2031.

At the time of approval, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underscored the strategic  importance of AEW&C aircraft: “Surveillance and control aircraft are crucial for Nato’s collective defence, and I welcome Allies’ commitment to investing in high-end capabilities.” 

A series of newly released figures on UK military equipment provision to Ukraine has shed further light on the scale of London’s support of Kyiv, with millions of rounds of small arms ammunition and hundreds of thousands of anti-tank missiles and artillery ammunition provided.

Figures released on 25 July 2024 by the UK government, state that the country has supplied more than 12,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine since February 2022.

Other munitions provided include six million rounds of small arms ammunition, 400,000 artillery shells, and more than 2,100 “air defence systems”, likely referring to systems such as the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile, HVM Starstreak, and Lightweight Multirole Missiles.

While it is not clear exactly how much of the provided stock has come from the UK’s own ammunition stockpiles and what has been sourced from the international market due to national security reasoning, whatever donations have come from within the UK’s own inventory cannot be readily replaced at speed. 

The planned attainment of the British Army’s Boxer mechanised infantry vehicle (MIV) initial operating capability (IOC) by Q4 2025 could be at risk due to global supply chain issues, it has emerged, as the service struggles to modernise an ageing vehicle inventory. 

With the British Army’s Ajax armoured cavalry vehicle also recently confirmed as not due to reach IOC until October 2025, two of the service’s landmark programmes are still over one year away from being able to deploy on the battlefield. 

Confirming the Q4 2025 IOC timeline for the Boxer platform, the UK government announced on 25 July that “wider global supply chain issues remained a delivery risk” which were being “closely managed”. 

It was reported in June 2024 that the British Army’s Boxer MIV had completed live firing trials at the service’s Lulworth Ranges. 

The firings represented the first time that British Army soldiers have operated the remote weapon station (RWS) on a UK Boxer platform, firing the general-purpose machine gun, heavy machine gun, as well as the grenade machine gun.