Iran mass producing anti-ship cruise missile

Iran has begun mass production of an anti-ship cruise missile, state television's website said on Saturday.

The Zafar missile, as it is dubbed in the report, "is a short-range, anti-ship cruise missile capable of destroying small- and medium-sized targets with high precision."

It can be mounted on speed boats and other light vessels, can withstand electronic warfare, and is able to fly in low altitudes to avoid detection, the report said.

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Russian Strategic Subs to Resume Routine World Patrols

Russian strategic nuclear submarines will resume routine extended patrols in international waters around the world in June 2012, Russian Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said.

“On June 1 or a bit later we will resume constant patrolling of the world’s oceans by strategic nuclear submarines,” Vysotsky said at a meeting with naval personnel on Friday.

The annual number of extended patrols performed by Russian strategic nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered attack submarines has dropped from more than 230 in 1984 to less than 10 today.

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Rafale: Why it is the last plane standing

Big-ticket defence deals are rarely based on technical merit alone. The French-built Rafale isn’t the first – nor will it be the last – aircraft to be picked for geopolitical or strategic reasons.

When diplomatic hardsell failed, did France and Britain choreograph the air war on Libya to showcase their aircraft in a bid to influence India’s decision on the fighter aircraft deal?

Let’s not get outraged here. For the West, war is a small price to pay if it can help win some orders for their beleaguered companies. After all, there's no better hardsell than real combat.

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US Navy to launch E-2D's operational test and evaluation

The US Navy is poised to launch the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) process for its new Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye surveillance aircraft, with the airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system type expected to achieve initial operating capability status in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Four E-2Ds have been transferred to the navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VX-1), with IOT&E work to commence in the second quarter of fiscal year 2012, the service said.

Activities will be performed at various locations in the USA, with the process due to conclude in the fourth quarter of FY2012.

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The Russian Navy Grows from Bottom up

While the nation’s leaders work at overhauling the Navy organization, the Navy itself continues to order new ships.

Last year’s persistent scandals over nuclear submarine contracts proved a hard nut to crack when assigning government contracts in 2011. For a time, the submarine scandals confused the process for ordering surface ships.

Meanwhile the focus there is being shifted to the production of time tested projects built around today’s armaments.

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Iran begins naval exercises near Gulf strait

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard began naval maneuvers Saturday in the latest show of force near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the critical Gulf oil tanker route that Tehran has threatened to close in retaliation for tougher Western sanctions.

Plans for new Iranian war games in the Gulf have been in the works for weeks. But they got under way following stern warnings by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, about any possible U.S. or Israeli attacks against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

The month-long maneuvers also come after Western forces boosted their naval presence in the Gulf led by the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

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Nuclear sub on Falklands patrol... as the flames of fury continue in Argentina

The Royal Navy is sending a nuclear submarine to the South Atlantic to protect the Falkland Islands from the threat of Argentine military action.

Prime Minister David Cameron has personally approved plans for one of the Navy’s most sophisticated Trafalgar-class submarines to sail to the region.

Significantly, the heavily-armed vessel is set to be in the islands’ waters by April – the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1982 war.

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EUNAVFOR, NATO and Russian Navies Exercise Together Off the Horn of Africa

On 31 January 2012, the EUNAVFOR flagship ESPS PATIÑO conducted a Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with the NATO Flagship TGN GIRESUN watched by Russian observers before the exercise was repeated by the Russian Flagship Admiral Tributs with the Russian Fleet Tanker Pechenga with NATO and EU NAVFOR observers embarked.

During the morning, the EU NAVFOR and NATO ships demonstrated to several Russian observers on-board the two Flagships a RAS manoeuvre where the ships steer parallel courses only 40 – 50 metres apart while passing fuel between the ships.

In the afternoon, the same challenging seamanship exercise was performed by the Russian Task Force units, this time watched by EU NAVFOR and NATO observers.

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Iran Missile Threat Fears Grow with New Satellite Launch

Iran has launched a satellite into orbit, raising concern over its military ambitions.

The satellite, Navid, or Gospel, was sent into space to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters, the state news agency IRNA reported.

This is the third small satellite that Iran has launched in recent years and many Western leaders are wary of the country's space programme, because the same technology used to launch satellites can be used to fire warheads.

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NATO to consolidate air command operations at Ramstein

Ramstein Air Base
As part of a plan to consolidate its air command headquarters, NATO officials have decided to make Ramstein Air Base the hub for alliance missions that range from NATO’s air police operations to a growing missile defense program, according Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein.

Currently, NATO has two air command headquarters: Ramstein Air Base in the north and a southern headquarters in Izmir, Turkey.

“That means you will now only have one air command headquarters left,” said Manfred Reudenbach, a spokesman for the NATO air command mission.

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U.S. plans $2.8 billion upgrade of F-16 fighter

The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it plans a $2.8 billion upgrade of about 350 of its aging F-16 multi-role fighter planes to help offset slower purchases of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The work, running into the 2020s, will extend the service life of select F-16 airframes. Other upgrades include advanced radar, sensors, cockpit display, electronic warfare and communications capabilities, the service said.

"We have worked through the implications of the delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program," Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the Air Force Association earlier in the day. "And we have made a further commitment this year to modernize about 350 F-16s in the fleet going forward."

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Raytheon, US Navy Complete JSOW C-1 Developmental Testing

The U.S. Navy completed developmental testing (DT) of the Raytheon Company Joint Standoff Weapon C-1. The conclusion of DT brings U.S. and allied warfighters one step closer to being able to engage moving ships as far as 60 nautical miles (70 statute miles) away with an air-launched weapon. Developmental testing finished when the JSOW C-1 struck a small, fast-moving ship target during the weapon's second flight test.

"The JSOW C-1 is a network-enabled weapon which will be capable of receiving third party target updates in-flight and strike a precise point on a moving ship using its autonomous terminal seeker," said Cmdr. Samuel Hanaki of the U.S. Navy's Precision Strike Weapons program office.

"In addition to marking the completion of DT, this test keeps the program on track for reaching initial operational capability in 2013."

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Disposal of Russian Third Generation Nuclear Subs Suspended

Russia has decided to suspend the planned disposal of third-generation strategic nuclear submarines currently in service with the Navy, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday.

“The most successful projects will undergo two repairs instead of one.

The subs' period of service will be extended to 30-35 years instead of the current 25,” Rogozin told journalists.

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N. Korea's new leadership to continue WMD exports

The U.S. intelligence chief warned Tuesday that North Korea will continue its exports of weapons of massive destruction despite its leadership change.

"North Korea's export of ballistic missiles and associated materials to several countries, including Iran and Syria, illustrates the reach of the North's proliferation activities," James Clapper, director of national intelligence, told a congressional hearing.

"We don't expect Kim Jong-un, North Korea's new young leader, to change Pyongyang's policy of attempting to export most of its weapons systems."

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Destroyer shoots down missiles in exercise

The Chinese-made missile destroyer DDG-169 Wuhan successfully shot down missiles during a navy exercise, the PLA Daily reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said that during the exercise in which "dozens of main warships participated," the Wuhan destroyer shot down all the incoming targets by launching its surface-to-air missiles.

The report said navy sailors shortened the reaction time of the surface-to-air missile system by 18 percent through improving the method of training.

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US defence cuts may affect Seoul's deals

Washington's decision to curtail defence spending is expected to affect Seoul's efforts to acquire stealth fighter jets and spy drones, and sell its homegrown trainer jets to its ally, experts here said Thursday.

The Pentagon unveiled its 2013 budget plan last week with the aim of saving US$487 billion (S$607.7 billion) over the next decade, as a debt-laden US winds down a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It has set a defence budget of US$525 billion - a decrease of US$6 billion from the request for the current fiscal year ending in September. The proposal is expected to be submitted to Congress in the middle of this month.

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F-16, F-18 unbeatable, no F-35 offer for India

After losing out to the French, the US asserted its F-16 and F-18 fighter jets would have provided India unbeatable platforms with proven technologies, but said it had not offered India more advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF).

"We are extremely confident that the F/A-18IN and F-16IN would have provided the Indian Air Force unbeatable platforms with proven technologies at a competitive price," Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr Leslie Hull-Ryde said.

"As you know, our platforms are derived from combat proven fighter aircraft and represent the cutting-edge of proven technology," Hull-Ryde said.

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JSF Testing Finds Additional Problems

At one level, the end of 2011 brought good news for Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter program, which for the first time was performing test flights and delivering aircraft on schedule—albeit a new schedule that was announced at the beginning of the year.

Japan also selected the JSF as its next fighter aircraft, planning a long-term program of co-production and changing its policies to allow Japanese-made parts to be exported.

But then came bad news as well. First, as the flight-test rate built up and fatigue testing was underway, faults and problems were found.

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U.S. Navy still sees savings on its version of Northrop drone

The U.S. Navy still hopes to find cost savings on its version of Northrop Grumman Corp's unmanned Global Hawk spy plane, despite concerns that the Pentagon's decision to scrap the Air Force model will eliminate promised economies of scale.

Neither the Navy nor the Air Force are providing many details until the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget is released on February 13, but the Navy says both military services will continue to look for synergies on the unmanned aircraft programs.

U.S. Navy spokeswoman Captain Cate Mueller declined comment on whether cancellation of the Air Force's Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft would raise the per-plane cost of the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program.

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Russian Arms Exporter Reports $11 Billion In Sales In 2011

Russian state-run arms exporter Rosoboroneksport has reported sales of $11 billion in 2011, a rise of more than $2 billion from the previous year.

Anatoly Isaikin, general director of Rosoboroneksport, said the jump came despite billions in lost sales as a result of a UN arms embargo on Libya that targeted then-leader Muammar Qaddafi's regime.

Isaikin said Russia's main arms consumers include India, Venezuela, and Asia-Pacific states, and that air-defense technology accounted for just over half of all exports.

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Secret weapons account for 30% of LIG Nex1 sales

LIG Nex1, one of the country’s top three defense contractors, researches and develops, and produces a “classified arsenal” worth 300 billion won ($268 million) annually, an industry source said Thursday.

“Secret weapons account for 30 percent of the company’s gross sales, which can be translated to about 300 billion won,” the source familiar with the production of classified projects said asking for anonymity.

Sales by LIG Nex1 were the second highest in the country in 2009 at 938.1 billion won, making it one of the world’s top 100 arms manufacturers, according to figures from the Korea Defense Industry Association (KDIA).

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Russia to Build 6 Submarines Annually

Russia will start producing six submarines and one aircraft carrier annually starting in 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday.

“By 2013, production capacity [at Russian shipyards] will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year,” Rogozin told reporters, adding that the number includes both nuclear and diesel-powered submarines.

As a result, the production output will surpass that of the Soviet era when Russia built an average of five submarines annually, he said.

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Raytheon and Kongsberg to fire first land based ESSM

The first land-based firing of an Evolved Sea Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) will take place in Norway in early May, Rick Nelson, Raytheon’s vice-president of Naval Weapon Systems, told ADM on February 1.

Nelson said the scheduled launch was part of a Raytheon strategy to adapt its sea-based anti-air systems to land basing to fill a market gap left by the eventual decommissioning of Hawk, Skyguard and the Soviet SA-6 Gainful air defence systems.

The May ESSM launch at a test range in northern Norway would be carried out in conjunction with Kongsberg, with whom Raytheon was in discussion on a possible long-term business relationship in the anti-air sector, Nelson said.

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Destroyer sails through Suez Canal

Images of the first of the Royal Navy's new high-tech destroyers passing through the Suez Canal have been released.

HMS Daring, the first-in-class of the Type 45 destroyers, took 12 hours to pass through the 120-mile canal which links the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

The navy's most powerful warship set off last month from its home base of Portsmouth, Hampshire, for its maiden deployment which is to last seven months.

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No S-400 Missile Exports Before 2015

Russia has no plans to export S-400 Triumf air-defense systems before 2015 and may not start deliveries to Belarus and Kazakhstan until after 2014, a state-controlled arms exporter said on Thursday.

“Until 2015 all the S-400s will be manufactured for Russian needs only,” Rosoboronexport head Anatoly Isaikin said.

The S-400 (SA-21 Growler) air defense system is expected to form the cornerstone of Russia's theater air and missile defenses by 2020.

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