* After years of belt-tightening by postponing procurement programs, Spain’s Defense State Secretary and former Boeing executive Pedro Argüelles announced a €10B investment plan that includes F-110 frigates and 8×8 infantry vehicles, writes La Semana [in Spanish]. Spain’s economy is starting to recover from a deep-seated post-bubble crisis, but that comes at the cost of painful adjustments [The Telegraph].
* A Spanish news website reports that according to anonymous sources within the Spanish Air Force, only 6 of its 39 Eurofighters are fully ready to fly. This will bring Schadenfreude to their German peers facing similar issues. El Confidencial Digital [in Spanish] | The Local.
Euro Pooling
* American, Czech and Slovak air defence units tested last week their interoperability in sharing air space information. While this involved ground-based radars and missiles, it’s also a crucial proof of concept for proposals to integrate the Czech and Slovak fighter fleets in a joint defense concept.
* It didn’t take long for Russia to test [The Local] Germany’s Eurofighter deployment in Estonia set up last month [Estonian World] to support the Baltic Air Policing mission.
* EU members Belgium, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as Norway, agreed to start [EDA] work on future Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) capabilities called MMCM-NG (New Generation) in a spurt of creativity.
Aussie SAR
* Cobham has won a 12-year, A$ 700 million contract [PDF] to provide 4 modified Bombardier Challenger 604 jets for search and rescue (SAR) services. Australia’s SAR territory is a jaw-dropping 52.8 million km2, over 1/10 of the earth’s surface. A number of different bodies are involved in related activities, but the AMSA SAR contract is separate from Cobham’s multi-year CoastWatch border patrol contract as a matter of both focus and geography.
J-31 Prototype
* According to the PLA’s China Military Online, a prototype of the J-31 stealth fighter will be shown at the Zhuhai airshow next month. China Defense Blog and Alert 5 have purported pictures of test flights made ahead of the show.
Boss Told Me to Think Out of the Box – 2014 Misc Threats Edition
* Radio Prague: Police investigating Ebola blackmail. The request for 1 million Euros seems low by Dr. Evil proportions, but maybe that was the point.
* BBC: Quadcopter drone flew ‘too close’ to Southend-bound plane. Apparently that was deliberate too.
Helicopters! Hum the Soundtrack of Your Choice
* Today’s video was shot earlier this month by the US Marines at Final Exercise 3 (FINEX-3) near Yuma, AZ, with their CH-53E Super Stallions:
