Europe

Plans to modernise the Admiral Kuznetsov have been downscaled due severe cuts to the Russian defence budget, according to Russian media reports.

In a country where good news stories about the military are few and far between, recent years had been kind to the German Navy. 

According to local media, the fuel used by the German Tornado fleet appears to have been mixed with 'too much bio-diesel'.

The German military is under-equipped to take on its upcoming role as leader of NATO's Russian-aimed Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, a leaked document shows.

"It's a real disaster for the Navy, it’s the first time in history that there will not be any submarine operating for months," warns the president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament, Hans-Peter Bartels, in an interview published on Sunday in the Berlin weekly Bild am Sonntag.

NATO defence ministers have approved plans to form two new alliance commands, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today in Brussels.

Alliance head Stoltenberg said Tuesday that efforts to boost EU defence spending were welcome, but only if they were coordinated with NATO plans, warning there was "no way" the EU could replace the transatlantic alliance in guaranteeing European security.

BAE Systems will produce and deliver Bofors 40 Mk4 Naval Guns for the Finnish Navy and its Hamina Class Squadron 2000 fast attack craft.

The European Commission yesterday welcomed the decision adopted today by the European Council formally establishing Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).

Earlier in the year, German defence ministry sources appeared to favour the F-35 to replace Tornado but now some have spoken out in favour of Typhoon