In this episode of the Weekly Defence Podcast we focus on China’s defence budget as well as other defence developments from across the Asia-Pacific while our team of experts look at the latest special forces news following the vSOFIC event.

News-round (00:35)

Three UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships could be mothballed for longer than originally planned in order to reduce defence expenditure in 2020.

Spain has released operational, technical and logistics requirements for its Light Vehicle for Special Operations, to replace variants of the Nissan ML6. 

In Brazil, these are difficult times for Embraer. Despite making progress on key military programmes, the Brazilian company has suffered a 17% year-on-year drop in sales in the first quarter of this year for its defence and security business. 

In Britain, a US senator weighed into the Huawei 5G debate earlier this week, warning that American personnel could be put at risk on British territory. 

News Focus:

Air Editor Tim Martin discusses details about Bell’s first delivery of its 505 Jet Ranger X to Montenegro. The news comes after the Montenegro Air Force placed a €3.3 million order for two helicopters.

Land Reporter Flavia Camargos Pereira catches up on Canada’s attempts to enhance the protection of its ground troops. The Canadian Department of National Defence has confirmed initial delivery of the Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV) for this year. 

Deep Dive – News from the Asia Pacific (14:20)

Gordon Arthur is on the line for the monthly brief on developments in defence procurement in South-East Asia.

Tensions are escalating along the Sino-Indian border as Chinese troops intruded up to 3km across what Indian views as its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in May, setting up tents and digging in.

On the naval front, the Indian Navy is looking at new multirole/ASW helicopters, and the procurement of MH-60R aircraft has now progressed to an FMS contract being awarded to Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin.

China has released its yearly defence budget, revealing an increase of its expenditure by 6.6%. 

The new upcoming budget of $179 billion has been defined necessary to prepare for future combat, by the country’s general secretary.

Panel discussion - Special Forces Operations (36:49)

VP content Tony Skinner hosts a conversation among SOF experts to get an insight on the virtual SOFIC event where US Special Operations Command leadership explained current challenges and requirements for the Special Forces.

Music and sound mixing by Fred Prest