At LWC 2008 UK firm Selex Communications Ltd (formerly Marconi) announced it had secured a follow-on order from the DMO for a further 4,000 Personal Role Radios (PRR) under Project Land 125.

A soldier wearable system, known as Boomerang Warrior, is claimed to provide the same reliable performance and features as the vehicle mounted system but is smaller, lighter and integrated with tactical vests.

The safety of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is constantly being threatened by both trained snipers and rogue shooters in Iraq and Afghanistan, which are reported to be the second greatest cause of fatalities.

With the their AN/PRC-152 now selected for the dismounted requirements of Land 200's Combat Radio System and the mounted requirements when docked into a AN/PRC-110 vehicle adaptor, we suspect that Harris Communications will be looking to increase their reach into the ADF possibly through future replacements for the Army's Personal Role Radio acquired under Land 125.

The Australian Army might still get a new family of Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles, or TUAVs, by early-2010 as originally planned - which says something about its original acquisition process which was cancelled in September last year.

A specialist sector of the global defence industry is waiting for the Defence White Paper and the new Defence Capability Plan to set out the ADF's requirements for a new generation of non-lethal, or less-than-lethal weapons and capabilities.

A little-known but high priority project is underway to increase the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) ability to operate in a chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear (CBRN) environment.

Our reading has suggested that, in addition to technology, there are perhaps more important issues to be understood and managed, on the road to Land NCW. Relevant here is Henry Thoreau's observation that technology can offer ‘improved means to unimproved ends.'

Fears persist that Land 17 will see the purchase of only towed 155mm howitzers to replace Army; but Defence believes self-propelled guns are a key component of a Hardened and Networked Army and is arguing its case strongly.

Nearly 700 personnel from Defence, the public service and contracted private companies - the approximate numerical equivalent of an infantry battalion - are now directly involved in boosting recruitment to the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

On 8 November 2008, a National party government was elected to govern New Zealand and Dr Wayne Mapp is now New Zealand's Minister of Defence. He spoke exclusively to ADM in early December 2008.

As is entirely appropriate, there is much discussion in the defence commentariat about the forthcoming Defence White Paper.

Following over a year of work by the DMO on a Draft Agreement on Materiel Cooperation between the Australian DoD and the Turkish MoD, it has finally come to fruition with a planned visit by the Turkish Minister for Defence Mr Vecdi Gonul on 3-5 March 2009 to sign the Agreement and to also meet with Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon to progress negotiations towards a Bilateral Security Initiative to facilitate exchange of classified information relating to materiel cooperation.

Ultra Electronics, the UK-led group that was the surprise choice to supply the undersea warfare sonar systems for the RAN's three air warfare destroyers (AWD), intends using its win as a catalyst for access to opportunities in the Pacific rim.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has flown supersonic for the first time in December, achieving another significant flight test milestone.

The P3 Accord, an alliance between the DMO's Maritime Patrol Systems Program Office (MPSPO), Australian Aerospace and BAE Systems Australia has won a major accolade at the Engineers Australia National Excellence Awards.