Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith was Friday forced to defend deep spending cuts after the announcement was called the worst day for national security since the Vietnam war ended in 1975.

Taiwan said it welcomed the pledge by the United States to reconsider a proposed sale of new fighter jets to the island, a defence deal likely to upset Beijing.

The White House promised "serious consideration" Friday to selling new US fighter jets to Taiwan, winning the support from a senator who had blocked a Pentagon appointment as a protest.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has used his trip to Brazil to lift doubts about Washington's pledge on technology transfer if Brasilia buys Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet.

Brazil will get US advanced technology transfers if it buys Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet to upgrade its air force, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said here Wednesday.

An Iranian military commander on Sunday said the Islamic republic is building a copy of a US spy drone captured in December 2011 and revealed what he said were "codes" gleaned from the unmanned aircraft.

An Iranian military commander on Sunday said the Islamic republic is building a copy of a US spy drone captured in December 2011 and revealed what he said were "codes" gleaned from the unmanned aircraft.

A personal transport plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday after circling in an "unresponsive" flight pattern for several hours, US officials said.

Taiwan Thursday tested its ability to defend one of it largest air bases against Chinese invasion, a scenario experts insisted remained relevant in an age of missile and cyber attacks.

A top Iranian military commander on Tuesday denied a US news report that the CIA has been successfully sending spy drones over Iran over the past three years.

All civilians initially listed as missing after a US Navy fighter jet crashed into a Virginia apartment complex have been accounted for, officials said Saturday, though no all-clear has been given.

Canada's auditor general on Tuesday accused the defense department of misleading lawmakers on the F35 fighter jet program's soaring costs, in a scathing report.

India said on Thursday that talks to finalise an already much-delayed $12-billion deal to buy 126 fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation could take many more months.

India's tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are "97 percent obsolete" and its elite forces need essential weapons, the country's army chief wrote in an explosive letter leaked on Wednesday.

India's tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are "97 percent obsolete" and its elite forces lack essential arms, the country's army chief wrote in an explosive letter leaked Wednesday.

The Pentagon said Tuesday it will request funding to expand Israel's "Iron Dome" short-range air defense system, which helped thwart rocket attacks out of Gaza earlier this month.

President Dilma Rousseff plans to use her New Delhi visit later this week to sound out Indian leaders on the French Rafale fighter jet, which she is considering buying to beef up Brazil's air force.

The international community will subsidise Afghan security forces by more than $4 billion a year for a decade after US-led combat forces leave Afghanistan in 2014, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.

Canada's associate defense minister on Tuesday said one of the most ardent supporters of the F35 program could back out of a multi-billion purchase of the fighter jets.

The United States will ensure Israel retains "military superiority" over its adversaries as the country faces the potential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday.