Failure in two of four pitch rate gyroscopes caused the crash of a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16 fighter jet on 8 May 2024, as concluded by a RSAF investigation published 19 June. The F-16 digital flight control computer (DFCC) was presented with ‘erroneous but similar’ readings from the failing gyroscopes, and took these inputs as “correct”, rejecting alternative readings, including the backup gyroscope. As the DFCC manoeuvred in response to the erroneous readings, the jet becam

At the Future Artillery conference in Paris running from 21-23 May, Dr Gennady Yumshtyk gave a presentation that was precise and clear, but left members of the audience with an astonishing question: After 100 years of using chrome plating on artillery barrels, wherein we have found the material to be a highly carcinogenic environmental hazard, why do we not adopt an alternative that is safer, more effective, and has a lower operational cost? Why do we not use EPVD? “It seems like a no-brainer,”

The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter will take on the Nato’s nuclear role for the first time on 1 June 2024, as the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), one of few Nato Allies contributing dual-capable aircraft to this mission, transfer the task from its F-16 fighters to the new fifth-generation airframe. The step up to the F-35 stealth aircraft mitigates issues surrounding the credibility of Nato’s nuclear deterrent. To date, the nuclear deterrent has been a system of American made B-61

Exclusive satellite imagery of Belarus from the start of September has captured covert radiological warfare exercises by an alliance of post-soviet states, provoking concern among analysts that Russia is committed to hosting nuclear weapons in Belarusian territory. The intra-day imagery, gathered by geospatial intelligence company BlackSky and then independently verified by specialist defence services company Preligens, exposes the radioactive decontamination of a formation of military vehicles

The construction of a secret naval staging facility for Chinese military vessels off the coast of Cambodia was detailed at the DGI London conference on 28 February by geospatial intelligence company BlackSky. This will be only the second staging facility China has outside of its territory and poses a challenge to Cambodia’s neighbours in the region. In addition, such a facility would allow China further power projection in any future crisis over Taiwan. On 22 February published satellite image

It’s become a common habit: customers fill up online carts with multiple sizes and colours of the same items. The plan is to try them on at home, decide what they like and send back the rest. The practice of over-ordering online in pursuit of the right size or style, known as bracketing, seems innocent but is wreaking havoc on retailers’ bottom lines. Bracketing increases the number of items going back to the fulfilment centre; the backwa

PVH chief supply chain officer Sarah Clarke announced the company would be closing down its operations in the Hawassa Industrial Park, a major manufacturing plant run for over five years and the first of its kind in Ethiopia, where PVH employed approximately 1,450 of the site's 30,000-person workforce as of last week. Due to the “speed and volatility of the escalating situation” surrounding the national emergency in Ethiopia, PVH said tha

Political campaign groups with no obvious affiliation to any of the UK’s main parties have bought thousands of Facebook ads in the first month of the general election campaign, in a digital battle for votes that transparency campaigners warn is too opaque to be adequately monitored. According to Financial Times analysis, these non-party groups, sometimes referred to as shadow campaigns, have spent more than half a million pounds on ads with Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram, as well as other online networks such as Google and Snapchat.

Martin Fayulu was the clear winner of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential elections last month, a Financial Times analysis of two separate collections of voting data shows, contradicting claims from authorities that rival contender Felix Tshisekedi had won the historic vote. The analysis points to huge fraud in the first change of power since Joseph Kabila took over the presidency of the mineral-rich central African nation almost 18 years ago. It is likely to embolden critics of Mr