DefenceTalkGermany has started withdrawing its soldiers and material from Afghanistan. The move poses a great logistical challenge and will also be expensive. Despite the Bundeswehr’s experience in overseas assignments, getting its equipment out of Afghanistan will prove to be an unprecedented logistical challenge. According to information provided by the German military, it will have to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-starts-moving-equipment-out-of-afghanistan-48626/

DefenceTalkDespite Taliban resistance, U.S. military objectives in Afghanistan are on track, senior U.S. military leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told the committee during their reconfirmation hearing that the International Security Assistance Force mission is on track to achieve its objectives […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-on-track-in-afghanistan-military-leaders-tell-senate-48529/

DefenceTalkThe Army’s Project Manager Stryker Brigade Combat Team took the first steps in retrograding their equipment from Operation Enduring Freedom when it accepted the final repaired Stryker from its forward deployed Battle Damage Repair facility in Qatar. The facility has been instrumental in keeping Strykers in the fight on the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. “Due […]https://www.defencetalk.com/stryker-forward-deployed-battlefield-damage-repair-facility-closes-doors-48427/

DefenceTalkPakistan reached an understanding with the United States on drone strikes targeting Islamist militants and the attacks can be useful, according leaked remarks from a former intelligence chief. Pakistan publicly condemns US missile attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives as a violation of its sovereignty, but the new revelations are the latest sign of double-dealing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/report-reveals-pakistan-us-understanding-on-drones-48334/

DefenceTalkSoldiers with 2nd Platoon, 49th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), supported the Afghan National Army’s EOD team from the 4th Kandak, 1st Brigade, 203rd Corps, with running a counter improvised explosive device lane for the 4th Kandak Route Clearance Company, June 20, at Camp […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eod-supports-afghan-armys-counter-ied-training-48246/

DefenceTalkBrigadier Duncan Capps has recently completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan where he was Commander Joint Force Support (JFS). He briefed media representatives in MOD Main Building in London about the progress being made processing and redeploying kit and equipment in theatre in readiness for the drawdown of troops in 2014. Redeployment As UK […]https://www.defencetalk.com/redeployment-of-kit-from-afghanistan-48216/

DefenceTalkThe US military has destroyed more than 77,000 metric tons of military equipment — including mine-resistant troop transport vehicles — as it prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan in late 2014, the Washington Post reported Thursday. More than $7 billion worth of military equipment is no longer needed, or would be too expensive to ship back […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-scraps-tons-of-gear-as-it-leaves-afghanistan-report-48201/

DefenceTalkThe United States and the Taliban cleared the decks for peace talks Tuesday even as a deadly attack on US troops underlined the still furious nature of their decade-long war. US officials welcomed the Islamist insurgent group’s opening of an office in Qatar to serve as a front for talks with Washington and President Hamid […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-open-peace-talks-with-taliban-48181/

DefenceTalkAn RAF Tornado Squadron is being put through its paces at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland this week as it makes final preparations for a deployment to Afghanistan. Dubbed ‘War Week’, the exercise is the culmination of months of training for 12 (Bomber) Squadron who will soon depart for a 4-month tour at Kandahar Airfield. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raf-tornado-squadron-prepares-for-afghanistan-48134/

DefenceTalkRaytheon Company’s jam-resistant, battlefield radio recently transmitted data securely over the air to more than 30 Stryker combat vehicles, proving that it could meet the U.S. Army’s need for a tactical wireless Internet via a vehicle-mounted mobile radio system. The EXF1915, an upgraded version of Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS) radios, completed several months […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raytheon-demos-radio-based-network-in-afghanistan-48112/