The US Army last week began fielding its first M17 Modular Handgun System (MHS) sidearms to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which is to receive about 2,000 of the pistols. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas, and "one of the army’s new security force assistance brigades" will be next to receive the M17.

Spain committed €1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) of funding for a series of special armament programs, with funding now falling under core ministry of defense spending in line with an announcement made by the government in March 2017, according to janes.com.

Syrian state media on Monday said Israel had fired missiles at a Syrian military facility in the Damascus countryside. The missiles reportedly targeted Jamraya, a city approximately three miles northwest of the Syrian capital. Witnesses told Reuters they heard three loud explosions and that smoke was seen near the Jamraya area.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed on December 3, 2017, that they had launched a cruise missile towards the Barakah nuclear power plant, which is under construction in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, or NCEMA, has denied claims made by the Houthis of a missile launch towards the UAE's airspace. In a statement, NCEMA emphasized that the UAE's air defense system is capable of dealing with any threats.

Norwegian defense officials have caught one of their F-35A stealth fighter jets sending sensitive data back to its US manufacturer – Lockheed Martin, according to a report on news.com.au.

Norway is the first non-US user of the F-35 to have a mission-critical software package enabled through the provision of Mission Data Files.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced today (Tuesday) the establishment of its new representative office in Mexico. The event was marked in an opening ceremony with the participation of the Israeli Ambassador, Mr. Jonathan Peled, and local representatives.

Mexico's security arms imports grew by almost 200% between 2012 and 2016, placing the country as the 2nd largest importer of defense systems in Latin America during this period.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced it had called off a test of the Arrow-3 missile defense system in light of a safety violation concerning the simulated target.

According to Col. (res.) Moshe Patel, the head of IMOD's Missile Defense Program, the joint test of the Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile system by the Israeli Defense Ministry and American Missile Defense Agency (MDA) was cut short after the target missile did not meet the predetermined safety conditions needed to carry out the test.

Meprolight Ltd., a member of the SK Group and manufacturer of electro-optical systems, thermal and night vision equipment, self-illuminated sights, and Laser Range Finder systems for military, law enforcement, and civil applications, has completed construction of two advanced maintenance laboratories for electro-optical products for an undisclosed Latin American Army.

Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military training and simulation software, launches new image generation technology called VBS Blue IG.

Turkey has been heavily investing in the defense sector with local and global partners, and the rate of domestic production whereby local resources are used in the development of defense projects and equipment has increased to 65 percent, the Daily Sabah reports.