Login
Allies and enemies are anxiously waiting to see if the Israeli government will escalate regional conflict further after more than 300 projectiles were fired from Iran at Israel on 13-14 April in Tehran’s retaliation to the Israeli strike that killed IRGC commanders in Damascus. Most of the drones and missiles were shot down, but a few hit Israeli military bases, causing limited damage.
Former minister Najah Al-Shammari is alleged to have fraudulently claimed benefits in Sweden at the time he was serving as defence minister in the Baghdad government.
Qassem Khamoushi has taken over as head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation, replacing Yousef Ghorbani, who had been in the post since 2017
The Onaiza corvette was launched at King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah in early March, with another vessel from the Sarawat project arriving at the Royal Saudi Navy base later in the month.
Seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp were killed when missiles levelled the consular office next to Iran’s embassy in the Syrian capital. While other IRGC officers have been killed by Israeli strikes in Syria in recent months, this attack appears the most serious yet.
Bahrain’s new order, approved by the US State Department, includes 50 Abrams main battle tanks, as well as tank munitions, machine guns and smoke grenade launchers
A batch of three fighter jets arrived at the Isa Air Base on 8 March, with a further 13 due to be delivered to Bahrain
Critics say the trial of 84 people on terrorism charges amounts to the defendants being retried on the same charges they were previously convicted of a decade earlier
Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum reshuffled the top team at the Dubai's State Security Department via a series of decrees in early March
The Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (Dimdex) featured a Russian naval vessel and Iranian anti-ship missiles, alongside western defence firms. Not only did Dimdex accommodate an unusual line-up of government participants, the organisers said a record number of contracts were signed
Edge’s radar venture will target non-Nato customers, in a similar arrangement to a recent agreement between Edge and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to manufacture frigates in Abu Dhabi
King Salman Bin Abdelaziz’s nine years on the throne have seen a concentration of power in the 88-year-old monarch’s immediate family – who are the subject of the latest GSN profile series – that is unprecedented in modern Saudi history. Other significant branches of the Al-Saud have gone into retreat as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has taken an iron grip on the kingdom
Khalid Bin Salman has been named chairman of the fast-growing state defence industry conglomerate in a reshuffle that reduced the size of Saudi Arabian Military Industries’ board to eight, while bringing in three new well-connected directors
A new Emirati/Italian joint venture, which aims to build and sell large warships to non-Nato countries around the world, claims to have a pipeline of $32bn of orders at launch – and could expand into mid-sized submarines in the future.
Growth in defence spending by Gulf Co-operation Council countries slowed significantly in 2023, but heightened tensions as a result of the Gaza war could prompt another acceleration in military outlays this year.
