Defense News reports that after Rafael has been chosen to field Trophy on the Abrams tank, the US Army continues to assess active protection systems for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Stryker combat vehicle. In this context, the service is reportedly qualifying IMI System’s Iron Fist on the Bradley.

The Philippine Navy will conduct the first test fire of its Spike-ER surface-to-surface missile next month, Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said in an interview with military-run radio DWDD last Wednesday.

“(This) July, we might be testing our very first missile aboard our small ships, (the) MPACs (multi-purpose assault crafts where the weapon is now being fitted),” he said.

Empedrad stressed that pending a successful test, the service will acquire more missile boats.

The US Army Cruise Missile Defense Systems Project Office awarded Lockheed Martin a $2.6 million contract to mature the Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK) interceptor, evaluate its effectiveness, and demonstrate manufacturing readiness as part of the Extended Mission Area Missile Program. Announced by the company at the Eurosatory exhibition, this award marks the MHTK's transition from the Science and Technology (S&T) phase to the Development phase.

Trident Juncture 2018, NATO’s largest military exercise since 2002, will be held from October 25 to November 7, with more than 40,000 personnel from 30 NATO and partner counties participating.

Fortinet announced that it had formalized its threat sharing with the Interpol. The goal of the agreement is to proactively combat cybercrime and threats to privacy globally through the sharing of threat information generated by Fortinet FortiGuard Labs global threat research team.

In the context of a government-to-government (G2G) project undertaken by the Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) and Israel's Ministry of Defense earlier this year, Elbit Systems will upgrade 49 M113A2 armored personnel carriers with remote controlled weapon stations (RCWS) and battlefield management systems (BMS).

A new cabinet headed by newly appointed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who previously served as the housing minister, was sworn in before Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on June 14, 2018.

The new cabinet replaces that of former PM Sherif Ismail, which submitted its resignation to President El-Sisi last week, following the latter’s swearing-in for a second term as president on June 2, 2018. 

The new cabinet includes 12 new ministers out of a total of 32, including new ministers for the defense and interior.

A ground station for satellite missions has been built at Technion for the Adelis-SAMSON project, to be launched into space at the end of 2018 by a Dutch company that specializes in launching nanosatellites, with the support of the Adelis Foundation and the Israeli Space Agency of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Following the launch, the nanosatellites will be monitored by Technion’s ground station, which will monitor the satellites’ activities and receive transmitted data.

Israel’s national security picture at its 70th anniversary of its independence shows its definite military superiority over the neighboring adversaries. At the same time, as far as the Israeli civilian home front is concerned, the picture that emerges is quite problematic and seriously challenging.

For many Israelis, North Korea is located so far away (nearly 9,000 km away, to be precise), as to pose no tangible threat to Israeli national security.