Will Russia get the Bulava?

Problems besetting tests of the Bulava - a promising intercontinental ballistic missile for the navy - have long been in the focus of discussion.

Bulava abortive launches are putting at risk the re-equipment of Russia's naval strategic nuclear forces, which badly need replacements for aging Soviet-built missile-carrying submarines and missiles.

Russia has inherited two classes of strategic missile submarines from the Soviet Union. One is Project 667, now represented by six 667BDRM submarines built in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and five older 667BDRs. The other is Project 941, developed as a response to Ohio-class submarines that were designed in the United States.

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Boeing Transfers 3rd KC-767J Tanker to Japanese Partner Itochu

The Boeing Company on Feb. 25 transferred the third KC-767J tanker to the company's Japanese partner, Itochu Corp., for delivery to the Japan Ministry of Defense (MOD) and Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).

When Itochu officially delivers the aircraft in March, it will join two KC-767J tankers that Japan received in 2008.

The KC-767J departed Boeing's tanker modification center in Wichita on a 12-hour, nonstop flight to Gifu, Japan, near Nagoya. Delivery to the MOD and JASDF will follow a final formal review and in-country acceptance processes.

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Russian Navy back in Syria

Russian warships have returned to the naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, used by the Soviet Union since the late sixties, after more than a decade of absence.

In August 2008, Syrian president Bashar Assad, during his visit to Russia, pointed out that his country is open for talks with Russia about reactivating the use of the naval base in Tartus.

It was in 1967 that the Soviet Navy started using this Syrian port as one of its main Mediterranean stations.

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Lockheed Martin Successfully Validates ATACMS Missile Long-Term Reliability

Lockheed Martin successfully fired a U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile in a recent stockpile verification test at Fort Bliss, TX.

The missile was fired from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher.

The test used an ATACMS Unitary variant missile to destroy a target approximately 175 kilometers away. The operation met all mission objectives, which included:

• Demonstrating of the missile/launcher interface and missile reliability;
• Collecting performance, technical and reliability data for assessment of production missiles;
• Validating missile performance and accuracy;
• and Proving performance of system software.

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RQ-4N spreads Global Hawk brand to maritime patrol

The US Navy was the slowest and perhaps most reluctant of the armed services to embrace the potential of unmanned aircraft for the purpose of persistent surveillance.

After a false start in 2003, the USN initiated a competitive procurement process for a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) fleet in 2006.

The multi-billion dollar contract predictably drew wide and intense interest from industry, affording the USN's selection team an unusually wide array of options.

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3 Boeing engineers believed dead in jet crash

It appears that three employees of The Boeing Co. were among those killed in the Turkish Airlines crash in Amsterdam, as they returned from a business trip to Ankara, Turkey. A fourth employee was critically injured.

The four Boeing engineers from Seattle were in Ankara to assist with the modification work on 737 jets that will be used as airborne electronic warfare planes by the Turkish military.

They were returning home on the same kind of plane, a Boeing 737, when it crashed Wednesday about a mile short of a runway at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

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'No chance' $20bn submarine wish list will be passed by Government

A defence wish list for a $20 billion submarine fleet has virtually no chance of making it past the Government's razor gang.

Defence wants to buy 12 new submarines when the current fleet of six Collins boats retires after 2020.

That would value the new vessels at about $2 billion each and make them the most expensive conventional submarines in history.

However, sources have told the Herald Sun the global financial crisis and a lack of crew numbers for the current fleet means the plan will run aground.

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Obama’s Defense Budget Is on Target

President Barack Obama’s topline budget projections for fiscal year 2010 allocate $534 billion to the Department of Defense, the largest allocation of any department.

The amount represents roughly a 4-percent increase over the $513 billion allocated to the Pentagon in FY2009 under the Bush administration, and $6.7 billion more than the outgoing administration’s projections for FY 2010.

Supporters of a vastly increased defense budget, including many who support the Pentagon’s internal request for $584 billion for FY2010, have argued that Obama’s baseline represents a budget cut in a time of war.

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Future Combat Systems Program Completes Integrated Mission Test-1

Boeing and Science Applications International Corp.,together the Lead Systems Integrator for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, have successfully completed Integrated Mission Test-1 (IMT-1), verifying that the integration of FCS systems and Battle Command software is proceeding as planned.

The test, conducted in January at the FCS Common Control Node at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., caps more than two years of software development, integration and testing involving nearly every FCS Integrated Product Team and One Team Partner, as well as soldiers from the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The AETF is evaluating and testing FCS capabilities for incremental fielding and the development of full FCS Brigade Combat Teams.

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Boeing Delivers 1st CH-47F Chinook Manufactured Under Multiyear Contract Award

Boeing today announced delivery of the first CH-47F Chinook manufactured under a five-year U.S. Army contract awarded in August 2008.

The helicopter will be assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., the fourth unit scheduled to be equipped under the Army's ongoing Chinook modernization program.

"The timely delivery of our first multiyear CH-47F helicopter signifies the continued commitment of the U.S. Army and its Team Chinook partners to keep pace with our soldiers as they continue to serve this great nation," said Lt. Col. Thomas Todd, CH-47F product manager.

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U.S. navy says no sign yet of new Iran naval bases

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The U.S. navy has no information that Iran has begun construction of planned new naval bases on the eastern approach to the Gulf, a senior commander said on Wednesday.

An Iranian navy commander said in October that Iran had begun building a series of bases along its southern coast on the Sea of Oman and up to the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance to the Gulf, to improve its defensive capabilities.

"Not that I'm aware of," vice-admiral William Gortney, commander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Manama, when asked whether he had any evidence that construction had begun.

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Second Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL Fighter Achieves Successful First Flight

Lockheed Martin's second short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B Lightning II accomplished its first flight on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

The aircraft, known as BF-2, joins a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A and another STOVL F-35B that already have logged a combined total of 84 flights.

During its flight on Wednesday, BF-2 went through a series of maneuvers to assess its subsystems and basic handling qualities, and to check on-board instrumentation.

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Pakistan foreign minister pushes US for drones

Pakistan's foreign minister said Wednesday that his country has asked the United States to provide unmanned aircraft that would allow Pakistan to strike extremists hiding in rugged terrain along the Afghan border.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors that Pakistan, and not the United States, should have control of the missile strikes that have killed high-level extremists but also civilians.

Qureshi said he is defending, in meetings with top Obama administration officials, his government's decision to offer a peace deal to militants, and is trying to reassure Americans worried about the release from house arrest of Abdul Qadeer Khan, a scientist whose smuggling operation shipped nuclear technology to North Korea and Iran.

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Australia: Wedgetail to Perform as Specified

Australia still expects to get the full radar performance required under its contract for six Boeing 737 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, whose program is more than three years behind schedule.

"The system has the potential to continue to grow into a worldclass AEW&C capability," the Defense Department manager for the project, Air Vice Marshal Chris Deeble, tells an Australian parliamentary committee.

"We have made no concessions to Boeing," he says. "Neither have they sought any concessions to a reduction in the performance."

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UAE defence spending spree hits 4.6 billion dollars

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday continued its buying spree at the country's biennal IDEX defence show, lifting its orders to a record 4.6 billion dollars despite the global credit crunch.

"Total orders up to date have reached 16.8 billion dirhams" (4.6 billion dollars), IDEX 2009 defence show spokesman General Obeid al-Ketbi boasted.

The enormous spending tally excludes a large order for 48 trainer aircraft M346 from Italian manufacturer Alenia Aermacchi which was announced Wednesday, as the value of that contract has yet to be finalised, he said.

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Russian authorities accept blame for massive oil spillage

The Russian naval authorities have accepted responsibility for an oil spill off the Irish coast as authorities here prepare to discuss contingency plans if the slick should come ashore.

For the past week, an international monitoring operation has continued after 300 tonnes of oil were spilled into the sea about 40 miles off the south coast as two Russian vessels, the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Kuznetsov' and the 'Admiral Chabanenko' destroyer were refuelling.

Department of Transport officials will tomorrow meet local authorities in Waterford and Wexford to discuss contingency plans in the "unlikely event" the oil is washed ashore, a spokesman said yesterday.

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Russia focuses on upgrading its nuclear arsenals

Modernization of Russia's strategic nuclear forces is a top priority for the government, a senior Cabinet official said Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said that upgrading ground, sea and air components of the nation's strategic forces is costly but necessary.

"It's expensive, it's very expensive, but there is no other way," Ivanov told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. "We will develop and modernize our strategic deterrent forces."

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Russia says stolen weapons heading for China found

A senior Russian prosecutor said Wednesday that his office has exposed an attempt by military officers to smuggle $18 million worth of stolen Russian weapons to China, news reports said.

Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Wednesday that some officers and businessmen shipped the weapons
to the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan for smuggling to neighboring China.

Fridinsky said the stolen weapons included 30 anti-submarine missiles and about 200 bombs.

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Buying two engines for the F-35 wastes billions of dollars

The Obama administration has begun "rebalancing" the United States' defense posture to focus on emerging threats and free up money for domestic initiatives.

As was the case under Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the budget ax looks likely to fall first on weapons programs.

Fortunately, there are any number of programs begun during the Bush years that the joint force can do without, such as Space Radar and the U.S. Navy's DDG-1000 destroyer.

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India, Israel to co-develop medium-range SAM system

India and Israel will jointly develop a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) in a bid to counter emerging and existing threats to cities and important installations in their countries from enemy aircraft and missiles.

"We are jointly developing a 70-km range MR-SAM in partnership with Israeli companies," senior DRDO scientist Dr Prahlad told reporters on the sidelines of a DRDO function here.

"We may take around 12 years but the requirement of the services is that they want it (MR-SAM) fast. The only way to make it four to five years is to partner with a country which has already developed some of the hardware. If they have got some hardware and we have got some knowledge, we can do it in 4-5 years," Dr Prahlad said.

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Obama won't reveal direction on F-22 until April

President Obama will not reveal his decision on whether to continue funding for Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft until a detailed budget is sent to Congress sometime in April, a Pentagon official told Reuters.

Congress, when it passed the fiscal 2009 defense budget last fall, directed the president to decide by March 1 whether to continue F-22 production or shut the program down.

The Air Force continues to argue that it needs more F-22s than the 183 authorized to date and prime contractor Lockheed Martin and program supporters in Congress have been pressing the administration to provide funding in 2009 and 2010 for additional F-22s, saying funding approval was needed very soon in order to preserve production capacity and jobs.

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Guns of 12 Halifax-class patrol frigates to be upgraded to Mk3 configuration

BAE Systems has been awarded a US $50 million contract from the Canadian navy to upgrade the 57 mm guns of its 12 Halifax-class patrol frigates from the Mk2 to Mk3 configuration.

The Mk3 gun can fire Bofors 57 3P ammunition with six different mode capabilities, including armor piercing mode and time mode, which can strike small fast-maneuvering surface targets and concealed on-shore targets.

Each round can be individually programmed and the gun will fire 220 rounds per minute.

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Northrop Grumman Successfully Redelivers USS Toledo (SSN 769)

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NSYE:NOC) has successfully redelivered the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Toledo (SSN 769) to the U.S. Navy. The redelivery took place Feb. 21 following successful sea trials.

The ship began its Depot Modernization Period in 2007 at the company's Shipbuilding sector in Newport News, Va. The work included upgrades to the submarine's sonar, combat and weapons systems and maintenance work on the propulsion, auxiliary and habitability systems.

Additionally, preservation work was performed on all ballast and internal tanks.

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Russia showcases 'black hole in the ocean' submarine

Russia is displaying a model of its famous Kilo-Class attack submarine at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference 2009 (Idex) in Abu Dhabi in a series of advanced warships intended to demonstrate its naval muscle.

Three of the Kilo-Class submarines were delivered to Iran during the 1990s despite strong protests from the United States and other Western powers.

Delegates at Idex said several Kilo-Class submarines had also been sold to other countries along with the Russian army, including China, India, Indonesia, Libya, Romania, Poland and Venezuela.

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Joel Fitzgibbon admits 'challenge' manning Collins-class submarines

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has admitted there are serious problems in manning the Collins-class submarines and says the government is working hard to retain the crews it already has.

Mr Fitzgibbon was speaking after The Australian revealed warnings contained in a confidential defence report which said the submarine fleet was in danger of becoming unsustainable because of a chronic shortfall of qualified sailors.

"Our people and skills shortage is the single biggest challenge facing the Australian Defence Force in the coming decades,'' Mr Fitzgibbon told ABC Radio.

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MSDF may divert oiler to Somalia task force

The Defense Ministry might divert a refueling ship engaged in U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in the Indian Ocean to back its expected antipiracy mission off Somalia, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tuesday.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force ship is refueling destroyers from Japan and ships from other nations, but sending it to the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden might provoke criticism that the missions are being mismanaged.

"Although we are not yet at the stage to state with any certainty, we are considering various options," Hamada told a news conference.

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GE contracted for Harrier radar tech

The U.S. Navy has contracted General Electric Aviation to support the AV-8B Harrier aircraft with next-generation radar-display technologies.

U.S. company GE was contracted by the Navy to develop new radar-display computer technologies that strengthen the functionality of the system for the AV-8B Harrier II Plus, a short-takeoff vertical landing tactical strike aircraft.

"GE is applying new technology to the AV-8B's radar display computer, enabling the addition and modification of software functionality for the Harrier," Stuart Mullan, president of the military business unit for GE Aviation Systems, said in a statement.

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Fire Scout LRIP 3 Brings VTUAV Closer To OpEval

Northrop Grumman Corporation's MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) program moves closer to Operational Evaluation (OpEval) with a recent U.S. Navy modification award to a previous firm fixed-price contract for the procurement of three VTUAV systems.

This award, for an amount not to exceed $40 million, is the last of three planned low-rate initial production (LRIP) buys. The Navy authorized an LRIP 1 contract to Northrop Grumman for the Fire Scout VTUAV program in June 2007.

The program achieved a series of program milestones and the Navy awarded an LRIP 2 contract in September 2008.

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US promises Poland Patriot missiles

American Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Rzeczpospolita that if the threat from Iran disappeared there would be no need to base an anti-missile shield in Central Europe.

This is another signal from Washington that if Russia puts pressure on Iran, then the US could withdraw from the shield.

The defense secretary said during the NATO summit in Kraków that the USA needs time to reach a final decision over the shield.

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Northrop says scout plane on track for 2010

Northrop Grumman Corp. said the E-2D plane, the next-generation version of the E-2C Hawkeye surveillance aircraft, is "on track" to enter service in 2010 for the U.S. Navy and that the company hopes to also sell the plane to the United Arab Emirates.

The U.A.E. is the only country authorized by the U.S. government to use the E2-D and talks are ongoing to make the airplane available to other countries, said John Brooks, president of Northrop Grumman International, today at the Idex International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.

The Hawkeye has been the Navy's primary surveillance and patrol aircraft since its first use in 1973. The planes have been continually upgraded to keep pace with new technology since then.

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Indian women may get to serve on warships

Shivalik class frigates
The last symbol of male supremacy in the Indian navy could soon be consigned to history.

The navy is laying the groundwork for putting women on warships, a role they have never been considered fit for in an overwhelmingly male-dominated military culture.

Though the government is yet to give its approval to deploy women in combat roles, the naval headquarters is thinking ahead. A senior navy officer, wishing not to be named, said all future warships would have exclusive berthing facilities for women.

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SA Navy set to take on pirates

South Africa's navy could be escorting billions of dollars worth of cargo through treacherous East African waters within weeks as attacks by pirates around the continent continue to escalate.

This was revealed on Friday during a media briefing by the South African National Defence Force's joint operations division in Pretoria.

In scenes reminiscent of convoy escorts during World War 2, the South African Navy could soon be involved in patrolling and escorting hundreds of vessels off the coast of Somalia and the rest of the continent's eastern coastline.

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BAE Systems Sting RAy MOD 1 To Meet Anti-Submarine Torpedo Requirement In Norway

The Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation has selected BAE Systems Sting Ray Mod 1 lightweight torpedo to meet the requirements of its Norwegian Antisubmarine Torpedo (NAT) programme.

Sting Ray Mod 1 will arm the new Fridtjof Nansen class frigates and will be integrated with the new NH90 Anti Submarine Warfare helicopter and the Orion P3-C Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

The £99 million contract, won in competition against other leading defence companies, marks the first export success for Sting Ray Mod 1.

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Arctic forces fleet to look north

Sailors should expect more deployments to the icy North, thanks to the melting ice caps and opening of waterways, the Navy’s top oceanographer said.

Rear Adm. David Gove, the oceanographer and navigator of the Navy, said increased maritime traffic, combined with international disputes over access to oil, minerals and natural gas, will mean sailors used to the Atlantic and Pacific soon will be sailing into a realm known only to submariners and icebreaker crews.

“I’d say junior sailors in the Navy today will likely see increasing operations in the Arctic, including exercises, freedom of navigation demonstrations, deterrent [patrols] and possibly security deployments,” Gove said.

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U.S. nuclear supercarrier sent to fight Somali pirates

The pirate threat off the Horn of Africa is now so bad that the heavy hitters have to move in: The Pentagon has deployed a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the area.

Rear Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, commander of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, has announced that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower has been dispatched to patrol nearly 7.5 million square miles in the Middle East region, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.

The move makes a great deal of sense both strategically and operationally. Russia, India and China all have made significant gains in influence and prestige by deploying their own warships to the Gulf of Aden region off the coast of Somalia to combat pirates who have been operating from there with increasing impunity and daring.

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Montenegro gives subs as gifts

Montenegrin Army CoS Dragan Samardžić said that the country's navy will be giving its Tisa submarines as gifts to Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

“We have four submarines of the same kind and in good faith we want them to become museum pieces.

We spoke about that with officials from the submarine associations of Serbia and Slovenia, and we have recently talked to Croatian military officials,” Samardžić said in Tivat according to daily Slobodna Dalmacija.

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Cochin Shipyard to build 5 aircraft carriers

The keel of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, to be the second warship christened INS Vikrant, will be laid on February 28 at Kochi.

But it is now clear that while Cochin Shipyards will build three aircraft carriers in the current 37,500-ton category (the second and third are to be christened INS Viraat and INS Vishaal apparently), design work has already begun in earnest to develop and build two more aircraft carriers with not only much larger displacements, but possibly nuclear propulsion as well.

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EADS denies new A400M aircraft delay

European aerospace group EADS denied a report on Sunday that its A400M military aircraft project had been pushed back by another year as it seeks to reach a settlement with NATO governments about existing delays.

La Tribune business daily said on its website that the plane commissioned by seven European NATO countries was unlikely to be delivered before late 2013.

It also reported disquiet in the military about a "lightweight" approach to managing the project.

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RAF bomber delayed by concrete farce

RAF chiefs are facing an embarrassing delay to the deployment of Tornado bombers to replace Harriers in Afghanistan because a new concrete parking area is not ready.

The four-month wait means that summer holidays for the over-worked Harrier pilots and aircrew are likely to be cancelled as they are called back for one further tour.

Delivery of eight Tornado GR4s to Kandahar airbase has also been delayed by a failure to clear new ground attacks bombs for use and over the fitting of missile defence aids.

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Amnesty urges arms embargo on Israel

The human rights group Amnesty International called on the United States to stop weapons sales to Israel and on all countries to impose an arms embargo on both Israel and the Palestinians.

"As the major supplier of weapons to Israel, the USA has a particular obligation to stop any supply that contributes to gross violations of the laws of war and of human rights.

The Obama administration should immediately suspend US military aid to Israel," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East director.

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Pakistan Defence and Security Report Q1 2009

The Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008 rocked South Asia and have sparked fears of regional instability and a flare up of tensions between India and Pakistan.

The only terrorist captured alive, Mohammad Ajmal Amir, disclosed that the group of attackers belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistani militant organisation.

Pakistan has responded to a number of India’s requests in the aftermath of the attacks, and has arrested some twenty members of the terrorist group residing within the country.

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Bangladesh Defence to get extensive facelift

The government today (Sunday) unveiled an extensive plan to strengthen the country’s defence system by equipping the armed forces with more sophisticated weapons including tank-destroying missiles, frigates, choppers and patrol aircraft.

Planning Minister AK Khandker told the parliament that the government would purchase the weapons and necessary equipment for the armed forces in the current and next financial year.

The planning minister did not specify the approximate cost of the purchases.

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Bill may let MSDF only help ships nearby

The government may let the Maritime Self-Defense Force protect unrelated ships from pirates off Somalia and elsewhere, but only if they are nearby, government sources said Saturday.

A bill for a new antipiracy law that is being drafted will not force MSDF ships to protect foreign vessels attacked in distant waters, the sources said, implying that restrictions on their use of weapons during antipiracy operations under the Self-Defense Forces Law is not likely to be significantly eased.

The bill will be submitted to the Diet after Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet approves it early next month.

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Russia postpones Iran missile deal

Russia Today TV reports Russia keeps missile sale on table as it holds cards in Afghanistan Pt.2

Gareth Porter says that the US needs Russian and Iranian support in Afghanistan, while Russia wants to use its leverage to stop US missile deployment in Eastern Europe. The possible sale of a Russian defensive missile system to Iran gives even more cards to Russia as the Obama Administration tries to work out a strategy for their Afghan war.

Source

Armed forces continue to maintain vigil over peninsular India

While no special alert has been sounded in peninsular India after LTTE's air strikes in Colombo on Friday, the armed forces continue to maintain a stepped-up air defence coverage over the region.

IAF, for instance, has deployed several TRUs (travelling radar units) and air defence units, which can detect intrusions up to 300 km away, near the coastline in Tamil Nadu and other parts of south India to detect any intrusion into the Indian airspace.

"Air defence measures were put in place in south India after LTTE first displayed its aerial strike capability two years ago. They include robust `spot air defence' for installations like the Kalpakkam nuclear power plants,'' said an official.

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Raytheon says UAE to buy advanced missiles

The United Arab Emirates is buying 224 advanced version missiles from Raytheon Co. for its F-16 Block 60 fighter aircraft, a senior Raytheon official said on Sunday.

The UAE and the U.S. government have executed a letter of offer and acceptance for the purchase of Raytheon's AIM-120 C-7 missiles, equipping the UAE with the most advanced version of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missile (AMRAAM).

"The value of the deal is sizeable and deliveries will start mid to late 2011," P.T. Mikolashek, President of Raytheon Middle East & North Africa told Reuters, declining to state the value.

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Naval pilots undergoing training on MiG-29Ks in Russia

The Navy’s acquisition of the 45,000-tonne Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov may have run into serious cost and time overruns.

But it has not come in the way of the type conversion training in Russia of Indian naval pilots who will fly the MiG-29K aircraft that are going to be part of the carrier once it gets commissioned into the Navy as INS Vikramaditya.

Speaking to The Hindu during the recent Aero India 2009, the Director-General of the Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) MiG, Mikhail Aslanovich Pogosyan said naval pilots were presently being given flight training, with the training in theory just completed.

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BrahMos missile test postponed

The field test fire of surface-to-surface missile BrahMos has been postponed. Sources say DRDO called off the test at the last moment since technical hitches were noticed.

Last month, a similar test carried out by the army had failed due to a software glitch in the missile. Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor had rejected the induction of Brahmos in the Army until all drawbacks were rectified.

Friday's test was supposed to have been carried out by DRDO alone.

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New Sukhoi Jets ‘Attacked’ by Malfunctions

Two of the Air Force’s three new Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters were struck with what are believed to be minor mechanical problems during a training session over the Makassar Strait on Friday.

Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Chaeruddin Ray said two SU-30MK2 fighters, each flown by one Indonesian and one Russian pilot, were undergoing interception exercises when an alarm signalled in both aircraft that they were under attack from a foreign jet fighter.

The pilots reported the warnings to the Makassar Airbase, which ordered both fighters to return to base where they landed without incident, Chaeruddin said.

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Iran navy moves to international waters

Iran has deployed naval ships to the high seas as part of a full-fledged campaign initiated by the highest level of government.

Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Friday indicated that Tehran had overcome the self-imposed barrier of warship deployment in its own territorial waters to establish a powerful naval presence in international waters.

"We have a right to have a naval presence in international waters. Our initiative will work to protect the national interests of the Islamic Republic and will hoist the Iranian flag with pride," explained the navy commander.

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U.S. warships handover to Ukrainian Navy doubtful

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has not considered the mechanisms of the transfer of the U.S. frigates to the Ukrainian Navy.

"The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has not considered any mechanisms of the transfer [of the U.S. frigates] to the Ukrainian Navy," the deputy head of the military cooperation department in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ivan Kharchenko, told a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

According to earlier reports, in January U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor said he doubted that the issue of Ukraine purchasing U.S. Navy ships had been resolved.

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U.S. Seeks Successor to Trident Submarine

The U.S. Navy has started the process to find a 21st-century successor to the Trident strategic missile submarine, senior Defense Department officials said yesterday.

"We're just at the opening phases right now, going through the proper systems engineering that will advance that particular design approach," Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter told reporters at a news conference.

Tridents are nuclear-powered, Ohio-class submarines. At 560 feet long and 42 feet wide, Tridents are the largest submarines in the U.S. Navy's inventory. The first Trident ballistic-missile submarine, the USS Ohio, was commissioned in 1981.

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Submarine makes 3am move into Faslane

Peace activists have filmed a nuclear submarine being moved in the early hours of yesterday to the Faslane base in a secret operation.

The vessel, believed to be the HMS Vanguard, which was dented after a collision with a French nuclear submarine in the Atlantic, was moved from the explosive handling jetty at Coulport on Loch Long to the naval base at Faslane on Gare Loch, Scottish CND said.

It was filmed arriving at around 3am after being escorted by a convoy of tugs, military police boats, Royal Marine inflatables and helicopters hovering overhead after an operation which is thought to have started at around 8pm on Thursday.

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Israel Unveils Loitering Anti-Missile Drone

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing a loitering killer drone that has the capability to hunt illusive ground targets, such as anti-aircraft systems and mobile or concealed ballistic missile launchers.

This expendable unmanned aerial vehicles, known as Harop, can be launched over a suspected area without specifically acquiring a specific target.

Designed to reach targets at distances over 1,000km away, the UAV loiter over a suspected area for hours, spot target as they are exposed before activation and attack them immediately.

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Northrop Grumman-Built Laser Demonstrates Long-Duration, Lethal Lasing Onboard Airborne Laser Aircraft

The high-energy laser built by Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully fired multiple long-duration blasts onboard the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Airborne Laser (ABL) during intensive ground tests concluded Feb. 12.

Lasting up to three seconds each, the lethal-power firings were conducted to 'tune' the megawatt-class laser by adjusting and balancing the mixture of chemicals that fuel its engine for peak operating efficiency.

These settings can now be used for future testing, including the planned shoot down of a ballistic missile later this year.

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Kazakhstan to buy used Russian missile launchers

Kazakhstan will buy up to 40 second-hand Russian surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers to boost its air defences, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

A spokesman for the ministry said the refurbished S-300 launchers, known in the West as SA-10, would be shipped "in the nearest future". He declined to say how much Kazakhstan would pay Russia for the weapons.

Kazakhstan inherited its military forces from the Soviet Union and it relies on Moscow for most of its defence contracts. Any deviation from this tradition annoys Russia which sees Central Asia as part of its sphere of interest.

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Sukhoi confirms Su-35 deliveries to Russian Air Force in 2011

Russia's Sukhoi aircraft maker confirmed on Thursday that the advanced Su-35 Flanker multi-role fighter would enter service with the Russian Air Force in 2011.

"The current progress of the Su-35 testing program confirms the earlier announced timeframe for the deliveries of the aircraft to Russian and foreign customers in 2011," the company said in a statement.

The first two Su-35 prototypes have successfully conducted 87 flights since July 2008, demonstrating the aircraft's superior technical and combat characteristics.

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HAL to deliver 350 combat jets, choppers by 2012

State-owned aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has sharply ramped up its manufacturing capacities and is set to deliver 350 combat jets, trainers and helicopters worth Rs.500 billion ($10 billion) to the Indian armed forces by 2012, its chairman Ashok Baweja said here Thursday.

“The orders pertain to the manufacture of 350 aircraft and helicopters to be delivered by 2012,” Baweja said at a press conference here.

“Even as we were in the process of executing these orders, another demand for almost the same number of aircraft and helicopters was likely to emerge for the 2012-2017 period,” he added.

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Singapore gets first new early-warning jet

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) received the first of its new early-warning aircraft yesterday evening.

The Gulfstream550 Airborne Early Warning, or G550-AEW, will replace the RSAF's ageing E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, which have been in service for more than 20 years.

The new jet-powered planes will be used to detect, identify and keep track of targets in the sky.

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