India, France to hold joint air combat exercise next month

Six Indian Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft and a IL-78 mid-air refueller will be leaving for France for a joint air combat exercise with the French Air Force next month.

The exercise, Garuda-IV, will be held at the Istres airbase in France from June 14 to 25. "The exercise will help to further enhance interoperability between the Indian and French air forces since pilots as well as the ground crew will get to see each other's operational, technical and administrative practices from close quarters,'' said an officer.

The exercise comes at a time when India and France are all set now to ink the around Rs 10,000 crore deal to upgrade the 56 Mirage-2000 fighter jets in IAF's combat fleet.

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First cut for first boat of new class of SSKs for Brazil

Today, DCNS launched the industrial production phase of the Brazilian submarine programme, the Group's biggest contract ever for an international customer.

DCNS is thus contributing to a major Brazilian acquisition combining world-class solutions and an advanced technology transfer agreement.

Some 100 people were in attendance at DCNS's Cherbourg centre for the official ‘first-cut' ceremony for the first conventional-propulsion submarine, or SSK, of a new class for the Brazilian Navy.

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Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza.

More than 10 people were killed and dozens injured when troops stormed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the Israeli military said.

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast.

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Drone crew harshly criticized over Afghanistan civilian deaths

A U.S. military investigation has harshly criticized a Nevada-based Air Force drone crew and ground commanders in Afghanistan for misidentifying civilians as insurgents during a U.S. Army Special Forces operation in Oruzgan province in February, resulting in the deaths of up to 23 civilians.

Six U.S. officers will be punished and a sweeping review of counterinsurgency training will be undertaken, U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said Saturday.

McChrystal, who called civilian deaths "heartbreaking," issued letters of reprimand to four high-ranking officers, including brigade and battalion commanders, and letters of admonishment to two junior officers. A letter of reprimand usually means an officer's career is in effect over.

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Russia wins large contract to modernize Indian Su-30MKI fighters

India has placed orders with the Russian defense industry to modernize Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters produced in India under the Russian license, India Today magazine reported in its June issue, without disclosing the sum of the contract.

The project codenamed Super 30 stipulates the installation of new radars, onboard computers, electronic warfare systems and BrahMos supersonic missiles on 40 Su-30MKI fighters, the magazine said.

The Indian Air Force currently operates about 100 Su-30MKI fighters and plans to produce another 170 aircraft in the next 10 years under the Russian license.

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Warplane crashes in central Russia, crew ejects safely

A Russian warplane crashed on Saturday near the city of Lipetsk in central Russia but both pilots ejected safely, the Defense Ministry said.

Spokesman Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said the Yak-130 crashed at 16:58 Moscow time during takeoff at the Lipetsk Air Force Training Center.

He said the pilots were "in satisfactory condition."

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USS Texas leaves for first deployment

The USS Texas has left Pearl Harbor on the first six-month deployment conducted by a Pacific-based Virginia-class submarine.

The Navy did not say where the Texas will be at sea after leaving its berth May 19.

"USS Texas is flexible and ready to rapidly respond to a wide range of situations on short notice in support of national security," said Cmdr. Bob Roncska, Texas' commanding officer, in a written statement. "I am extremely proud of my Texas crew -- no doubt the best crew I have had the opportunity to serve with in all my 20 years of naval service.

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Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.

The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.

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N.Korea rejects evidence over sinking of S. Korean ship

North Korea has flatly rejected evidence showing it torpedoed a South Korean warship with the loss of 46 lives, saying it does not even own a midget submarine allegedly used for the March attack.

The North's powerful National Defence Commission (NDC), chaired by leader Kim Jong-Il, held a rare press conference on Friday and denied Pyongyang's involvement, according to official North Korean media.

Major General Pak Rim Su, director of the policy department of the NDC, said the North does not have a 130-tonne "Yeono (salmon)-class" submarine, which the South says torpedoed its 1,200-ton corvette, the Cheonan, in the Yellow Sea.

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India To Open Competition for New Aerostats

India, which bought three radar-equipped aerostats from Rafael in 2005, has thrown open the competition for a new batch of three to the global market.

Last month, Indian Air Force officials asked the Defence Ministry to prepare a request for information, which is to be issued in the next two to three months to BAE Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rosoboronexport and Thales, ministry sources said.

The aerostats must be able to carry a payload of 2,400 kilograms to 15,000 feet for 28 days at a stretch, including radars that can spot aircraft and missiles up to 30,000 feet and out to 300 kilometers.

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$9B pricetag likely for Canada's next-generation fighter aircraft

Replacing Canada's CF-18s with a new generation of fighter aircraft will cost taxpayers around $9 billion, one of the most expensive military equipment purchases ever, the Ottawa Citizen has learned.

The Conservative government confirmed in 2008 its plans to purchase 65 fighter aircraft and is expected to approve the project some time this year, air force officials say.

The Defence Department would not provide a cost estimate, claiming that to make the figure public would undercut the procurement process for what is being called the next generation fighter.

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Indo-Israeli missile successfully test-fired: DRDO chief

The Indo-Israeli Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) was successfully test fired in Israel last fortnight. "The 70-km missile was fired at an electronic target and met with its initial objectives," DRDO chief Dr Vijay Saraswat said in an exclusive interview with India Today.

The second test of the missile will be held in India sometime later this year. The missile will be integrated by Indian technicians. The LR-SAM area defence missile is being jointly developed by India and Israel under a Rs 2500 crore project which began in 2006.

The missile, also called the Barak-2 are to equip the three guided missile destroyers of the Project 15A class. The three destroyers are to join the Indian navy in one year intervals beginning in 2012.

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Analysts question Korea torpedo incident

How is it that a submarine of a fifth-rate power was able to penetrate a U.S.-South Korean naval exercise and sink a ship that was designed for anti-submarine warfare?

Such questions are being fueled by suggestions in the South Korean and Japanese media that the naval exercise was intended to provoke the North to attack. The resulting public outcry in the South, according to this analysis, would bolster support for a conservative government in Seoul that is opposed to reconciliation efforts.

As fanciful as it may sound to Western ears, the case that Operation Foal Eagle was designed to provoke the North has been underscored by constant references in regional media to charts showing the location where the ship was sunk -- in waters close to, and claimed by, North Korea.

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Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract For Kuwait Air Force KC-130J Tankers

Lockheed Martin has received a $245 million contract from the U.S. Government for the Foreign Military Sale of three KC 130J tanker aircraft to Kuwait. The program will be managed by the U.S. Navy.

The Kuwait Air Force’s new KC-130Js will provide aerial refueling for its F 18 fleet and augment its current airlift fleet of three Lockheed Martin L-100s.

Kuwait’s KC-130Js also will perform air mobility, disaster relief and humanitarian missions throughout the world.

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India Thought Leaders: Hypersonic BRAHMOS Missile By 2015, CEO Says

The Indo-Russian BRAHMOS supersonic missile programme has made its mark in the international arena with a series of successful launches and subsequent rapid induction by the Indian Army and Navy.

Now an air version of the missile is currently under development and will be fitted onto the Su-30MKI platform when ready.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with BrahMos Aerospace CEO and Managing Director Dr. A Sivathanu Pillai published in the Aviation Week (AW).

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Vandenberg to Launch Nuclear-Capable Missiles After Completion of Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall IslandsOn June 6, 2010, the United States plans to launch a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The missile will likely carry one or more "unarmed" warheads to the Ronald Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The launch, the first of two planned for the month of June, will come just nine days after the completion of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations.

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American Patriots to occupy rural Polish town

In 800 years, the town of Morong in northern Poland has survived several military invasions and epidemics. Since the end of World War II it’s been quiet here, but now this rural town finds itself in the headlines.

There is a military base in Morong where the first battery of American Patriot missile complexes will be placed. Poised to be a purely ground-to-air defensive installation, it represents a change in Washington’s initiative of building a missile defense shield in Central Europe. Warsaw says the Patriot complexes – which will be operated by US servicemen – are a cheaper and more convenient alternative to the multi-billion-dollar hardware of the initial plan.

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Boeing Receives 1st F-16 for Conversion into QF-16 Aerial Drone

The first retired F-16 Falcon arrived at Boeing's Cecil Field facility in Jacksonville on April 22 to begin conversion into a QF-16 aerial drone.

Boeing received a $69.7 million contract from the U.S. Air Force on March 8 for the first phase of the QF-16 program.

The Boeing-led team, which includes BAE Systems, will begin engineering, manufacturing and development of the full-scale manned and unmanned QF-16s during Phase 1.

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Jammer Competition Spurs New Technology

The growing overlap of elec­tronic warfare and cyber-invasion is generating excitement around the U.S. Navy’s competition for the Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ) and the U.S. Air Force’s reentry into the world of airborne electronic attack.

A key enabling technology is a six-sided active, electronically scanned array (AESA) that more than doubles the field of view of today’s electronically scanned antennas on advanced aircraft such as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

Other technologies include broadband AESA, advanced radars, digitized exciters and techniques generators that produce exotic waveforms and algorithms for electronic and cyber­warfare.

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Australia prepares for first Wedgetail inspection

A Boeing 737 Wedgetail will enter heavy maintenance for the first time in July, six months before the Royal Australian Air Force will receive its first example with full capability.

Boeing delivered the service's first of six Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system aircraft in 2003, but the programme fell three years behind schedule because of problems with structural modifications and radar performance.

Last November the RAAF accepted the first two Wedgetails with limited capability. Another aircraft will be delivered with full capability by the end of the year, with the remainder scheduled to follow in 2011.

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Billion Dollar Defense Contract Up For Grabs In Australia

Victoria has further cemented itself as a national leader in advanced defence manufacturing after Bendigo-based Thales Australia was short-listed as one of three Australian companies vying for a $1 billion defence vehicle contract.

Industry and Trade Minister Jacinta Allan welcomed the announcement by Commonwealth Defense Minister Greg Combet that Thales Australia would be shortlisted as one of three Australian companies to bid for a $1 billion contract building light armored vehicles for the Australian Defence Force.

She said it followed a meeting she had with him in April during which she promoted Victoria’s excellence in defence manufacturing.

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Italian Military Hit by 10% Budget Cut

Italian defense officials struggling to cope with reductions in their budgets are bracing for a fresh 10 percent cut delivered by an emergency debt reduction package launched by the Italian government on May 26, a spokesman for Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said May 27.

The cuts would hit defense ministry coffers in 2011 and may also endanger the top-up funds Italy's armed forces receive from the industry ministry and other sources, a senior defense source warned.

The austerity package would also trim state wages and take other measures. In all, it is aimed to save 24 billion euros ($29.4 billion).

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Pak-China defence cooperation enhanced

General Liang Guanglie, China’s Minister for Defence, led a 17 member high powered delegation to Islamabad earlier this week during which the two countries concluded three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at enhancing Pakistan’s capabilities to fight terror.

Under the accord, the three services of the two countries would hold joint military exercises, while China would provide four trainer aircraft for PAF and 60 million Yuan for Armed Forces training.

Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar and his Chinese counterpart Gen Liang Guanglie signed the agreements and agreed to strengthen the military cooperation and strategic communication at all levels to overcome challenges being faced by the two countries.

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SKorea stages anti-submarine drill amid tension

A fleet of South Korean warships fired artillery and dropped anti-submarine bombs Thursday in a large-scale military exercise off the west coast despite North Korea's warnings that such drills will drive the peninsula to the brink of war.

Tension on the divided peninsula has risen dramatically since a team of international investigators said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine tore apart and sank a South Korean warship on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

South Korean and U.S. troops are on their highest alert since North Korea's second nuclear test in May last year, reports said Thursday.

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Kongsberg Delivers Surveillance System for JHSV Helicopter Operations

Kongsberg Maritime has successfully delivered the first state-of-the-art Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Helicopter Operations Surveillance System (HOSS) to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.

Camera hardware and logistical support have been provided to successfully complete the first-in-class system, following the contract award in November 2009.

The JHSV will be capable of transporting troops and their equipment, supporting humanitarian relief efforts, operating in shallow waters and reaching speeds in excess of 35 knots fully loaded.

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IAF to test Arrow 3 early next year

The Israel Air Force will hold its first test of the Arrow 3, under development by Israel Aerospace Industries, in early 2011, officials said on Wednesday.

Jointly developed by IAI and Boeing in the US, the Arrow 3 will serve as Israel’s top-tier missile defense system, adding another layer of defense to that provided by the Arrow 2, which is already operational and deployed throughout Israel.

The initial test of the Arrow 3 will not include the interception of a mock enemy missile. An interception test will likely take place in 2012.

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Boeing Conducts Test Flight of ScanEagle Compressed Carriage

The Boeing Company successfully flew its ScanEagle Compressed Carriage (SECC) unmanned airborne system (UAS) at a testing facility in eastern Oregon on May 12.

The 75-minute flight evaluated the aircraft's airworthiness and flight characteristics in a simulated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission.

The SECC -- powered by a six-horsepower, heavy-fuel engine -- was launched from a ground vehicle, flew an autonomous flight plan at various altitudes and provided streaming video from its electro-optical/infrared sensor package to a nearby ground station.

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Exclusive: Flying Above Afghanistan on F-15E Fighter Combat Mission

I am now an official "combat aviator" with 5½ hours in the back seat of an F-15E Strike Eagle, flying two separate combat missions over Afghanistan.

The takeoff from Bagram Airfield is steep and fast, with the fighter jet's afterburners creating thrust that can rocket us up to 20,000 feet in just over a minute.

It is a deadly serious combat mission, but it's hard not to be exhilarated by the power of that aircraft.

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Rust and Roll For F-22; HASC Watches JSF

Rust is not something the average person thinks much about when it comes to designing high-tech weapons.

But several years ago I reported on a major missile test defense test that was ruined because a part rusted that helped hold the missile in place before liftoff.

And in February the entire F-22 fleet was grounded “due to poorly designed drainage in the cockpit.”

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US Air Force tests hypersonic cruise missile

The US Air Force on Wednesday test launched a hypersonic cruise missile, with the vehicle accelerating to Mach 6 before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, officials said.

The Air Force said the test flight of the X-15A Waverider lasted more than 200 seconds, the longest ever hypersonic flight powered by scramjet propulsion. The previous record was 12 seconds in a NASA X-43 vehicle.

"We are ecstatic to have accomplished most of our test points on the X-51A's very first hypersonic mission," Charlie Brink, program manager with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

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Northern Fleet to get helicopter carriers first

Russia’s Northern and Pacific Fleets will be the first to get new helicopter carriers of the French Mistral class.

Russia has reached the final stage in the negotiations with France on purchase of four Mistral helicopter carriers, RIA Novosti reports.

The first two carriers will be deployed in the Northern and the Pacific Fleet, says Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov.

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Britain's nuclear warhead total revealed

Britain revealed for the first time yesterday the full size of its atomic weapons -arsenal in an effort to boost international confidence in the scope and nature of its independent nuclear deterrent.

But while the announcement allowed William Hague, the foreign secretary, to bring the UK into line with recent reform of nuclear weapons policy in the US, it still left key questions unanswered on the future of the submarine-launched deterrent.

Addressing the House of Commons in the Queen's Speech debate on foreign policy, Mr Hague said the UK would for the first time be revealing the total number of nuclear warheads in its possession. Until now, Britain has said it has no more than 160 operationally available warheads, which can be fired immediately by four nuclear-armed submarines.

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New U.S. Navy Fleet Unaffordable: CBO

The U.S. Navy's plan to build a new fleet over the next 30 years doesn't provide for enough replacement ships, a study says, and the Navy's planned budget for that time period falls far short of supplying enough money.

The Navy envisions buying a total of 276 ships over the next 30 years at an average annual cost of about $16 billion in 2010 dollars for new construction, or about $18 billion for total shipbuilding, which adds in the cost of refueling aircraft carriers.

Using a different calculus, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the cost for new ships at an average $19 billion per year, or $21 billion per year for total shipbuilding.

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New Lynx AMR Successfully Integrated and Flown on a Predator B UAS

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and surveillance systems, today announced that it has successfully completed a set of flight tests of its next generation Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) radar, the Lynx® Advanced Multi-channel Radar (AMR), on the company’s capital Predator® B UAS.

The flights were completed on May 7 at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., following software testing and aircraft payload integration.

“This first flight of the Lynx AMR on Predator B marks the first time that radar dismount detection capability has been demonstrated on a Predator-class aircraft,” said Linden Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

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India to fire over 5000 km range Agni V in 2011

After the successful launch of the Agni II missile, India is all set to test fire its first Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, Agni-V, in Mach-April 2011.

Agni V is being designed by adding a third composite stage to the two-stage 3,500-km Agni-III, having a range of over 5000 km to carry multiple warheads and will have countermeasures against anti-ballistic missile systems.

It is a three-stage solid fuelled missile with composite motor casing in the third stage. Two stages of this missile will be made of composite material. The Agni V will be the first canisterised, road-mobile missile in India.

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Germany suspends EADS helicopter purchase

Germany is suspending its 3 billion euro (2.6 billion pounds) purchase of EADS's Tiger attack helicopter due to technical problems, potentially delaying delivery to its forces in Afghanistan until end-2011.

An internal ministry report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday said the step was being taken because of serious problems with the wiring of the helicopter built by EADS unit Eurocopter.

"Until the faults have been effectively and systematically rectified, the defence ministry plans to suspend the purchase of the ... helicopters," the report said.

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U.S. Air Force Awards Raytheon $97 Million for More Miniature Air Launched Decoys

The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Company $96.7 million for a third production lot of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy.

MALD™ is a state-of-the-art, low-cost, decoy flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300 pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (about 575 statute miles).

"MALD protects aircrew and their aircraft by mimicking the signatures and combat flight profiles of U.S. and allied aircraft," said Ken Watson, the U.S. Air Force's MALD program manager. "This contract delivers additional capabilities to the combatant commanders by giving them more options to shape the battlespace."

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New Gripen fighter makes intl debut, flies over Leh

Making its debut in the international skies, a multi-role Gripen Next Generation (NG) fighter aircraft has flown in the harsh environment of Leh airbase in Jammu and Kashmir as a contender for the Indian Air Force's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal.

The aircraft took part in the last phase of the MMRCA flight trials last week.

“To date the aircraft has flown some 135 test flights in Sweden and is now testing its wings abroad, showing the international arena that next generation Gripen fighter development is on track.”

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Navy Needs F-35’s Capabilities, Admiral Says

The Navy needs the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter’s fifth-generation capabilities, the service’s acting director of air warfare said yesterday.

Navy Rear Adm. Michael C. Manazir spoke to reporters because he wanted to “completely dispel the rumor that the Navy is soft on F-35C.”

The F-35C is the aircraft-carrier version of the joint strike fighter. The F-35A model is for the Air Force, and the F-35B will be a vertical take-off and landing model for the Marines.

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BAE Systems Delivers First Piece of Production Hardware for U.S. Navy's Advanced Gun System

BAE Systems, along with partner General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, delivered to the U.S. Navy the first automated magazine for the 155-mm Advanced Gun System (AGS) being developed for the DDG 1000 (Zumwalt) Destroyer Program.

The magazine is the first major production component to be delivered under the AGS program.

It is one of a total of four magazines that will be built under a Navy contract to produce four AGS weapon systems for the Navy's first two Zumwalt class destroyers.

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Russia sends its mightiest warships for drills in Far East

Flagships of three Russian fleets have united in Russia's Far East for the upcoming large-scale naval exercises, a Pacific Fleet spokesman said on Wednesday.

The flagship of the Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, arrived at a naval base near Vladivostok on Wednesday and teamed up with the flagship of the Northern Fleet, the Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, and the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the Varyag guided-missile cruiser.

"After the Moskva crew has had a short rest, warships of three Russian fleets will sail to the Sea of Japan to complete combat training tasks and hold naval drills," the official said, adding that the exact date of the drills is yet to be specified.

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4 N.Korean Subs Disappear from Radar

Four 300-ton North Korean submarines disappeared in the East Sea on Monday, the government said Tuesday, and the military is trying to track them down.

"Four shark-class submarines left Chaho Base in South Hamgyong Province on Monday" when President Lee Myung-bak delivered a nationally televised speech about sanctions against North Korea, "and their whereabouts are unknown," a government official said.

"It is rare for four North Korean subs to disappear at once."

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New Navy Sub May Cost $1 Billion More, CBO Says

The Navy’s new nuclear-missile submarine could cost on average about $1 billion more than the service projects, according to congressional budget analysts.

Each submarine could cost about $8.2 billion, or almost 14 percent more than the Navy’s estimate of $7.2 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said.

The first ship of the class -- typically the most expensive -- could run as high as $13 billion, or $4 billion over the Navy estimate, the nonpartisan agency said in a report released today.

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Next phase of BAE export order heads for Spain

The shipyard’s first export order for a decade is going well with pressure dome ends delivered for another new Spanish submarine.

The export deal with Spanish shipbuilder, Navantia, was won by BAE Submarine Solutions under Murray Easton’s tenure after the yard brought pressure dome manufacture for its own, much bigger subs, in house.

Pressing equipment from a former supplier to the yard in Scotland was bought, refurbished and installed at Barrow.

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South Korea in the line of friendly fire

The South Korea-led multinational investigation team of the March 26 night sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan held a news conference in Seoul on May 20 to unveil its finalized forensic report with false findings pointing a finger at North Korea.

The report has all the hallmarks of rushing to invoke an all-too-familiar North Korean bogeyman in a bid to cover up the US role in a friendly fire incident.

The May 20 report is the only visible part of the iceberg-like "proof" that the South Korean people and the world public have all been lied to.

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Rebuilt submarine HMAS Dechaineux returns to service

Adelaide shipbuilder ASC has returned one of the trouble-plagued Collins Class submarines to sea after a four-year refurbishment.

The Royal Australian Navy announced yesterday that following a "full-cycle" docking at Osborne, HMAS Dechaineux now was operating as the best-equipped submarine in the country.

The return to service comes as the navy and the ASC seek to improve the performance of the Collins fleet, which has been criticised for its poor service record.

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Exposed? 'Official proof' of Israel having nuclear weapons

A UK news website claims Israel intended to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa, but Jerusalem denies the charges.

The Guardian news website, citing the work of an American academic, has reported that declassified South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear weapons to the apartheid regime in 1975.

The office of Israeli President Shimon Peres, who was defense minister at the time of the alleged agreement, has vehemently denied the claims.

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New AFM patrol aircraft rolled out

The new maritime patrol aircraft of the Armed Forces of Malta was rolled out at Hawker Beechcraft's facilities in Wichita, Kansas, USA last week.

The B200 aircraft, serial numbered BB2016, is now undergoing flight and systems testing by the company before being flown to Germany.

Once there, Aerodata AG in Braunschweig will fit the aircraft with the Telephonics Corporation's RDR-1700B maritime surveillance and imaging radar, besides other mission related electronics before being delivered to the AFM's Air Wing early in February next year.

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Royal New Zealand Navy increase REMUS AUV capability

Hydroid, Inc., the leading manufacturer of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), announced today that the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has recently contracted to buy an additional Hydroid REMUS 100 AUV. This purchase will bring the fleet to four complete systems.

The RNZN purchased two REMUS 100 systems in 2006 and followed up with a third in 2007.

Along with the new vehicle, the RNZN has also ordered a number of sensors and upgrades for their existing systems, designed to increase their operational capability.

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Navy: Extending old F-18s shrinks fighter gap

Keeping its oldest F/A/-18 Hornets flying through 2020 is the Navy’s main weapon against a decline in fighter numbers, the service’s acting chief of air warfare told reporters Monday.

The service expects a shortfall of up to 177 jets by 2017 unless it flies its old Hornets longer, buys more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or speeds its purchase of F-35 Lightning IIs.

With the F-35 program delayed by at least one year, the Navy is “totally focused, [airplane] bureau number by bureau number” on keeping its oldest Hornets in the air while hashing through other options as it crafts its 2012 Program Objective Memorandum, said Rear Adm. Mike Manazir during a press conference at the Pentagon.

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Taiwan issue spurs China to build up missile forces

China's rapid development of ballistic and cruise missile forces is altering the balance of power in Asia and threatens U.S. forces in a conflict over Taiwan and beyond, according to a forthcoming report.

"Driven in large measure by a Taiwan scenario, China's capacity to conduct a successful aerospace campaign to quickly gain a decisive advantage in the air is growing faster than the defenses that its neighbors, including Taiwan, Japan, perhaps India, and even U.S. forces operating in the Western Pacific, can field," stated the report by the Project 2049 Institute, a private research institute, that highlighted "significant advances" in Chinese air and missile power.

China's long range precision-strike weapons, such as sophisticated conventional ballistic and ground-launched cruise missiles, are "altering the strategic landscape," the report said.

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‘Joint Strike Fighter’ Really 3 Different Jets, Pentagon Says

The idea was to build a single jet that could take off from a runway, roar from an aircraft carrier — or just lift straight up into the sky. Sure, there’d be small differences in the three “variants” of the Joint Strike Fighter. But the common parts would far, far outweigh them — allowing the Defense Department to buy thousands of the planes at tag-sale prices.

At least, that was the plan. And that was what JSF-maker Lockheed Martin promised: three planes sharing 80 percent of their parts. But the Defense Department no longer believes it. An influential Pentagon team now says that the aircraft “being developed by the F-35 program [may] have as little as 25 percent in common,” Inside Defense reports.

Production costs once estimated at $59 million per plane today are looking more like $112 million. R&D costs have gone up another 40 percent, lifting the total price to $323 or so billion for 2,443 fighters.

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South Korea begins mass torpedo production

South Korea has begun mass production of Red Shark torpedoes, designed for destroying hostile submarines, a Russian business daily quoted the South Korean Navy as saying on Monday.

"New underwater missiles are one of the main kinds of weaponry, that can bring us victory in the anti-submarine battles of the future," Kommersant quoted a South Korean Navy statement as saying.

The statement said the 20-km range torpedoes will be launched vertically from South Korean destroyers.

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China to give 4 trainer aircraft to Pak Air Force

Seeking to cement its close defence ties with Islamabad, China on Monday agreed to provide four trainer aircraft and nearly $ 9 million to Pakistan to train its armed forces.

The two countries signed agreements to implement decisions made during a meeting between Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar and his Chinese counterpart Gen Liang Guangile here.

China will provide the four trainer aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force. The 60 million yuan ($ 8.78 million) will be used to fund various training programmes.

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India’s first attack copter takes flight

India's first indigenous attack helicopter took to the skies on Sunday morning, marking the country’s entry into a league of select nations that can design and manufacture the complex rotary wing attack aircraft.

The maiden flight of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) was kept a low-key affair after Defence Minister A K Antony cancelled his visit in the wake of Saturday’s air crash at Mangalore.

The LCH, which has been developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of Rs 376 crore, will now go through a series of rigorous tests and evaluations over the next few years before its planned induction into the Army and Air Force by 2014-15.

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Work on maritime patrol aircraft to start this year

Work on the Indian Navy's latest acquisition, the long-range maritime patrol aircraft that will add strength to its ability in domain awareness and deal with threats below the surface, will get underway later this year.

For the present, the United States Navy is gearing up to put the second plane (T2) to test its primary mission system next month, having conducted preliminary trials for airworthiness during April on test plane one (T1) at its facility.

The Boeing Company is developing the long-range patrol aircraft for the U.S. Navy, called P8A, and the Indian Navy is getting the P8I to specifications as provided by it. The contract was signed in January 2009, with the first delivery scheduled 48 months from the date.

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Britain's Defense Choices: What To Cut

Britain's new coalition government faces interrelated challenges: reining in the country's soaring debt by quickly cutting spending, and spearheading a defense review to shape the country's military future.

Although the new Strategic Defence and Security Review won't be finished for another six months, it's clear that major cuts are coming. Last week, the new government said it is working to reduce operating costs by 25 percent and will shrink Ministry of Defence's top-line budget.

That's a tall order for Britain's ever-shrinking military. With large and continual combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, it's easy to forget how tiny the U.K. armed forces is: about 185,000 uniformed personnel, smaller than the U.S. Marine Corps.

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South Koren navy to get new course after loss of Cheonan

The conclusion that a North Korean torpedo sunk the naval warship Cheonan in March provoked many emotions in South Korea - including chagrin that the Navy was caught off guard in the middle of its own waters, totally unprepared for a surprise attack.

Academics, retired military generals and even President Lee Myung-bak have said the military is on the wrong track in general, and has gotten to the point where it is almost ignoring the enemy under its own nose.

Two weeks ago, Lee called for a sweeping reconsideration of the existing military reform plans, dubbed Defense Reform 2020. It was formulated in 2005 and revised last year. The plan is aimed at emphasizing and bolstering South Korea’s advanced weapons systems and restructuring all branches of the forces. It also calls for a reduction in military manpower.

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Socialists protest Patriot missiles in Morag

A group of Young Socialists is demonstrating against the stationing of Patriot missiles in northern Poland.

The protest comes after what the group believes to be a hasty and uninformed decision by local authorities to allow the Patriot batteries to be stationed in Morag.

“We are against the continuing vassalisation [sic] of Poland to the United States,” the group has said, adding that they do not want Poland to be “another base of American imperialism and militarism.”

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GPS is getting an $8-billion upgrade

Improvements, including the replacement of satellites, aim to make the system more reliable, more widespread and much more accurate.

Without it, ATMs would stop spitting out cash, Wall Street could blunder billions of dollars in stock trades and clueless drivers would get lost.

It's GPS, and it's everywhere.

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