As part of plans to retain the qualitative edge of Israeli military, the US may make F-35 jets it plans to sell to the UAE, visible to Israeli radar systems.

The Defense Ministry will seek a budget of over ¥5.4 trillion ($US 51.39B.)  for fiscal 2021 — another record — government sources said Monday, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed to continue with his predecessor’s policy of bolstering Japan’s capabilities in new domains. The seventh consecutive year of all-time high requests compares with the ¥5.31 trillion sought in the ministry’s initial budget for the year ending in March. The plan comes amid growing concerns about the country’s fiscal health, the worst among major economies, with over ¥1.1 quadrillion worth of public debt. In fiscal 2020, the new government debt issuance is set to exceed ¥90 trillion to a record high in response to a coronavirus pandemic.

Former Mali defense minister and retired colonel Bah Ndaw was named interim president on Monday while the leader of the junta that seized power last month, Colonel Assimi Goita, was appointed vice president, Goita said in a statement.

Ndaw

Ndaw and Goita were appointed by a group of 17 electors chosen by the junta to oversee an 18-month transition leading up to fresh elections. They will be sworn in on Friday, Goita said on state television.

The Argentine Senate approved the creation of the National Defense Fund (Fondef), the purpose of which is to finance the re-equipment of the Armed Forces. The project had already received approval from the Chamber of Deputies last November. According to the new law, the Fondef will be made up, in 2020, of 0.35% of the total current income foreseen in the consolidated annual budget for the national public sector. This figure will increase by 0.15% annually until reaching 0.8% in 2023. The regulation of the law and how the percentages will be accommodated is pending.  

The Colombian Air Force (FAC) has received the first of three Lockheed Martin C-130H aircraft purchased, in 2018, from Systems, Arms and Surplus Defense Articles (EDA) of the United States, after a process started in 2017. The planes are priced at $ 30 million. The Hercules will soon be transferred to the Air Maintenance Command (Caman), to undergo a greater PDM maintenance process, which will be carried out by the Corporation of the Aeronautical Industry of Colombia (Ciac).

About a month after the Salvadoran Congress investigation of Defense Minister, Admiral René Merino, for the unjustified military intervention in the legislature, last February, the majority of legislators recommended to the Executive the "unavoidable and necessary" dismissal of the high military Chief. For his part, President Nayib Bukele rejected the legislative resolution, since he is not obliged to comply with said recommendation as it is not binding.

US Air Force researchers in October will test whether a software version of the service’s developmental weapons swarm can make its way through a combat mission and reroute itself as conditions change.

The United Kingdom has donated at least 27 vehicles and a fully-equipped mechanical workshop to help improve the logistical capabilities of the Somali National Army (SNA) in fighting the Islamist Al Shabaab insurgency.

 The US Army has donated 30 surplus M577 A2 armored vehicles to the Brazilian Army. The vehicles  will be modernized and adapted to Brazilian Army's standards in the Regional Maintenance Park of the 5th Military Region.

Austrian Air Force has opted for the military version of Leonardo’s AW169 twin-engine intermediate light helicopter, as a successor to the 1960s  Alouette IIIs.