Nosint on a break

Due to other commitments next update will be jan 9 2012.
Happy new year to all.

START may be sunk by a nuclear torpedo

Washington has once again signaled its desire to negotiate reductions in Russia’s tactical nuclear arsenal.

According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, the United States wants Russia to reenter the tangled web of interdependence spun around the issues of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons and antimissile defense.

There will be no further progress on nuclear disarmament unless the countries can cut this Gordian knot.

Read more

N.Korea closer to nuclear-tipped missile

North Korea likely is closer to mounting nuclear warheads on its ballistic missiles than generally reported, possibly only one or two years away, the U.S. Congress's former top expert on the issue has concluded.

Larry Niksch, who tracked North Korea for the nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Research Service for 43 years, concludes in a new paper that the North probably would need as little as one to two years to miniaturize and mount a nuclear warhead atop its medium-range Nodong missile once it has produced enough highly enriched uranium as the warhead's core fuel.

A North Korea armed with nuclear-tipped missiles would rattle East Asia and present new policy and military challenges to the United States and its allies.

Read more

Taiwan navy retires two missile boats

Taiwan retired two patrol boats, the navy's first vessels armed with ship-to-ship missiles, that were hailed as "critical" to safeguarding the island, officials said.

Hundreds of former and active soldiers who had served on board the 240-tonne Lung Chiang and Sui Chiang bid farewell to the ships at a ceremony in southern Kaohsiung city, the navy said.

Vice Admiral Chiang Lung-an said the ships "have played a critical role in safeguarding Taiwan over the past 30 years".

Read more

Russian nuclear sub 'ready' for India transfer

Russia’s Nerpa nuclear submarine has finished sea trials and is now ready to be leased to the Indian navy in the next few days, an engineer said on Wednesday.

“The submarine is now fully ready to carry out its tasks,” a senior executive at the Amur Shipyard, where the submarine was built, told RIA Novosti. “It will be handed over before the end of the year.”

When Russia makes the delivery, it will make India only the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world. Earlier this month, it launched the first of its own nuclear submarines.

Read more

South Korean Navy To Hold Surprise Anti-submarine Drills Next Year

The Navy will perform random drills with its patrol ships to prepare against North Korean submarine infiltrations, officials said Wednesday.

"We will simulate enemy infiltration using our own submarines for surprise exercises starting early next year," Yonhap News Agency quoted a Navy official as saying.

"These have been designed to enhance our Navy's capability to detect infiltrating North Korean submarines," the official said.

Read more

DDG-1000: Back To The Future

The DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer brings out the split personality of U.S. Navy brass.

Depending on which admiral is speaking on which day, the ship is either a science-project testbed or one of the most technologically advanced and needed destroyers for the fleet.

Analysts disagree about whether the ship is a joke, or potentially the Navy’s most valuable surface warship.

Read more

Chinese Navy Practices Anti-Pirate Exercises

Recently, the 3rd anniversary of Chinese navy escort missions throughout the Somalia seas and near the Gulf of Aden has passed.

Throughout the course of those three years, 4,380 ships have been escorted and 55 ships have been rescued from emergency situations successfully.

While on their 404th mission, the tenth escort team has carried out anti-pirate exercises.

Read more

Russia test launches Stiletto missile

Russia successfully test launched an RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval said.

“The goal of the test launch is to prove the stability and basic technical characteristics of missiles of this kind,” Koval said.

The Russian Strategic Missile Forces are considering the possibility of extending the RS-18 missiles’ service term by one year to 33 years, he added.

Read more

South Australia 'neglecting' defence and submarine negotiations

The South Australian government has been neglecting critical defence negotiations since the departure of Mike Rann and Kevin Foley, the state's opposition has warned.

Opposition defence industries spokesman Steven Marshall yesterday said the government had lost precious time in negotiations with the federal government over the building of 12 submarines in SA.

"Since Mike Rann has left we've heard nothing on defence and it's difficult to see whether the government is taking it seriously; there's nowhere near the same amount of energy as Kevin Foley had," Mr Marshall said.

Read more

Russian Navy Rejects Project 12322 Zubr Air-Cushion Landing Ships

Russian Navy command made a decision not to purchase Project 12322 Zubr small-size air-cushion landing ships, reports Izvestiya referring to a source in Navy Main HQ.

Instead, it is planned to build new dynamic and static buoyancy boats which will be based on various landing ships including Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

Development of Zubr small-size air-cushion landing ships started in the USSR in 1978, and the first serial ship joined Soviet Navy in 1988.

Read more

F-35 production a troubling example of Pentagon spending

There are 56 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters being assembled at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth. But because only 20 percent of the testing for the most advanced fighter-bomber in U.S. history is completed, each will probably have to get million-dollar-or-more fixes later.

The F-35 is already the most costly U.S. weapons program underway at about $385 billion. But that figure may go higher with overrun of the per-plane contract price for the 56 craft being assembled — along with the future multimillion-dollar fixes likely to be required for them — and the 15 F-35s completed but not yet delivered to the military services.

The plane is being built with the most sophisticated stealth technology, but initial flight tests have turned up hot spots and cracks associated with metal and composites used on most new aircraft.

Read more

Spy plane ‘Peace Eye’ to fly in exercises

A U.S.-made advanced surveillance aircraft will take part in live military drills next year for the first time since joining the Air Force here in September, an official said Tuesday.

An Air Force official said the E-737 aircraft by Boeing will join the joint Max Thunder exercises between South Korea and the U.S. The biannual exercises are scheduled for May and October next year.

The airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) was dubbed “Peace Eye” after a naming contest in 2008.

Read more

Japan eases decades-old weapons export ban

The Japanese government on Tuesday announced a controversial decision to relax a decades-old, self- imposed ban on weapons exports, in a political shift that will allow the nation to jointly participate it arms development and production with other countries.

Following the official announcement being confirmed in a report delivered to local media organizations, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said in a press briefing Tuesday that the decision to reverse the ban will pave the way for Japan to participate in joint weapons development projects that are primarily associated with humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.

"Japan and the U.S. have jointly conducted weapons research and development to step up their security alliance, but that's not enough as Japan is expected to play a greater role in international peacekeeping," Fujimura said in a statement.

Read more

Bulava missile ready to deploy

The flight tests of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile have been completed and it will now be adopted for service with the Russian Navy, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

“We have made a very important step - we have completed the cycle of flight tests… of the Bulava missile,” he said. “Now it will be put into service.”

Russia successfully test launched two Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles on Friday.

Read more

China’s Noisy Subs Get Busier — And Easier to Track

The military’s latest secret assessment of China’s rapidly modernizing submarines has good news and bad news for the U.S. Navy.

On one hand, the roughly 60 submarines in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet are spending more and more time on combat-ready patrols — signaling China’s increasing naval competence and growing seriousness about influencing the western Pacific Ocean.

On the other hand, the flurry of undersea activity gives American forces more opportunities to tail and examine Chinese subs. And U.S. analysts discovered a silver lining in the gathering strategic storm clouds.

Read more

Azerbaijan doesn’t allow NATO’s AWACS planes to use its airspace

Azerbaijan didn’t allow the NATO’s aircrafts of the Airborne Warning and Control System to fly over the country’s air space, the governmental sources told APA.

According to the report, NATO has recently addressed Azerbaijan and Georgia and asked for the use of their airspaces during the flight of AWACS planes to Afghanistan.

Though Georgia officially allowed it, Azerbaijan didn’t allow the AWACS aircrafts to pass through the air space.

Read more

Finland Says Ship Can Sail Again, Without Missiles

A Finnish port official says a ship held after 69 surface-to-air missiles and 160 tons of explosives were found onboard has received permission to travel again, but without its cargo or captain.

British-registered cargo ship M/S Thor Liberty was originally destined for China.

It is not immediately clear if it will go there now.

Read more

U.S. Navy and Royal Navy future SSBNs to get Common Ballistic Missile Compartments

The U.S Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $191.3 million contract modification to continue concept studies, engineering and design of a Common Missile Compartment for the United Kingdom’s Successor ballistic-missile submarine and the U.S. Ohio replacement submarine.

Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.

The award modifies a contract announced in December 2008 for engineering, technical services, concept studies and design of a Common Missile Compartment for the next-generation ballistic missile submarines under development for the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy.

Read more

Government daily denies reports Russian spy chief resigned

Russian government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta denied on Monday media reports about the resignation of the chief of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU), Col. Gen. Alexander Shlyakhturov.

The Kommersant business daily said in an unattributed report on Saturday that Shlyakhturov, 64, had resigned from his post.

Rossiiskaya Gazeta quoted an unidentified source as saying Shlyakhturov continues working for the GRU and has not handed over his duties to anyone.

Read more

New Spy Plane to Watch N.Korean Missile Launches

The South Korean military will introduce new high-tech reconnaissance aircraft capable of intercepting communications and detecting missile launches in North Korea.

A government source on Sunday said the existing reconnaissance aircraft -- the Geumgang for visual information and the Baekdu for communications intercepts -- have only limited capabilities, so the military will buy two Falcon 2000s from French firm Dassault.

The planes will chiefly intercept North Korean wireless communications or detect the frequencies of weapons and equipment.

Read more

Elecon to supply gears for India's first aircraft carrier

Gujarat-based industrial gears and material handling equipment maker Elecon Engineering Ltd is likely to deliver a pair of marine gearbox to the public sector shipbuilding major, Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) for construction of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy in the first quarter of the next fiscal, a source close to the development informed.

Elecon has joined hands with a German capital goods maker, Renk AG for a technical collaboration to build the marine gears for the Indian Navy.

"The order for a pair of marine gears from Cochin Shipyard is likely to be delivered by the March 2012 or latest by the first quarter of the next fiscal. There were certain preconditions to qualify for the order.

Read more

US willing to help Philippines get fighter jets, says official

The United States is open to assisting the Philippines in upgrading its air defence capabilities, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

Reports quoted Del Rosario as saying that the Philippine government is trying to secure a commitment from Washington to provide frontline air defence hardware particularly, F-16 Fighting Falcons, to bolster the country's security.

"We are trying to get the assistance of several countries to be able to take minimum and credible defence posture and the US expressed willingness to help us with two Hamilton-class cutters, and the second one is coming.

Read more

Half-price super subs tempt Australian navy

Australia can build a new fleet of 12 state-of-the-art submarines in Adelaide for $18 billion, less than half the cost of initial estimates, according to a major report to be released next month.

The report, by strategic think tank the Kokoda Foundation, will be embraced by the Gillard government, which has been under pressure from critics to opt for smaller, cheaper, ready-made submarines from Europe rather than pursue Navy's more expensive but preferred option of building a next generation of the Collins-class boats.

Source

Novosibirsk aircraft plant of Sukhoi delivered two more Su-34 frontline bombers to the Russian Air Force

Today two more serial Su-34 frontline bombers went up in the sky from the runway airport of the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) and off to the place of their deployment at the air base in Voronezh.

The first four aircraft arrived there on December 12. According to the official announcement of the Western Military Command, as from the beginning of the year 2012 all Su-34 aircraft will take part in the military drills.

The aircraft delivery is carried out in the framework of the five-year state contract signed in 2008 to supply 32 Su-34 frontline bombers to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Read more

Army to Deploy Vertical Take-off UAS

The U.S. Army is using a hybrid-type acquisition approach to develop a helicopter-like, Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing Unmanned Aerial System with a so-called ARGUS wide-area surveillance sensor suite designed to beam back information and images of the surrounding terrain, service officials said.

Beginning in May or June of next year, the Army will deploy three Boeing-built A160 Hummingbird VTOL UAS to Afghanistan as part of a Quick Reaction Capability, an acquisition approach aimed at delivering cutting-edge and emerging technologies to theater to add capability and inform requirements while simultaneously developing a formal Program of Record approach, said Lt. Col. Matthew Munster, product manager, UAS Modernization.

"These aircraft will deploy for up to one full year as a way to harness lessons learned and funnel them into a program of record," Munster said.

Read more

Korea Coast Guard receives third CN-235 MPA

The Korea Coast Guard (KCG) received on Friday its third CN-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) from state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) in Bandung.

The South Korean agency placed an order in December 2008 to acquire four CN-235 MPAs in a total contract worth US$94 million.

“Before the third CN-235 MPA is flown to South Korea, the aircraft had undergone a testing series according to existing procedures and has carried out an admissions test,” PT DI aircraft integration director Budiman Saleh was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

Read more

Russia successfully test fires Bulava missiles

Russia successfully test launched two Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles on Friday, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov said.

The missiles were launched from the Borey-class Yury Dolgoruky nuclear-powered submarine in the White Sea and hit designated targets at the Kura test range on Kamchatka, some 6,000 kilometers to the east.

This was the troubled Bulava’s 18th test launch. Only 11 launches have been officially declared successful.

Read more

Lights Out For The Airborne Laser

After nearly 16 years of development and more than $5 billion spent, culminating in a series of ballistic missile target engagements, the Pentagon has finally decided to mothball the Boeing-led 747-400F project known as the Airborne Laser.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is now looking toward a new generation of lasers that could operate on unmanned vehicles at very high altitudes owing to advancements in laser technology, power generation and beam control work made possible in part by the foundation laid in the ABL years.

The program was established by the U.S. Air Force in the 1990s with an aim of employing a multi-megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) to burn through the propulsion systems of boosting ballistic missile targets, sending the rockets and their potentially lethal payloads raining back down upon the area from which they were launched.

Read more

US Navy Subs to Deploy Switchblade UAV

The US Navy plans to launch AeroVironment's Switchblade small, expendable unmanned aircraft from a submerged submarine during the RIMPAC 2012 naval exercise in the Pacific.

A contract has been awarded to Raytheon, which has developed the submerged launch vehicle (SLV) that allows the UAV to be deployed via the submarine's trash disposal unit when the boat is at periscope depth.

The SLV gets the UAV to the surface dry and then ejects it into flight.

Read more

US earmarks $235 million for Israel's defense systems

The Unites States has announced it will allocate $235 million for the development of safeguards against rockets and missiles that could be launched towards Israel by Hezbollah and Iran.

A large part of the funds will go towards the development of the David's Sling system, designed to intercept medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, and the Arrow 2 and 3 systems against long-range ballistic missiles.

This unprecedented sum comes at an unexpected time, while the American government is dealing with large budget cuts, including at the Pentagon.

Read more

US-Romania Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement Comes Into Force

Deveselu Air Base
The Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement on deployment of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Romania has entered into force on Friday.

The U.S. ballistic missile defense interceptor site will be located at Deveselu Air Base as a part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach to missile defense in the 2015 timeframe.

"This base represents a significant contribution by our two nations to NATO's missile defense efforts," the United States and Romania said in a joint announcement.

Read more

Bolivia to Buy Six H-425 Helicopters from China

Bolivia and China signed an agreement on Wednesday to purchase six H-425 helicopters to strengthen the state''s armed forces and provide immediate aid in case of natural disasters.

According to the state-owned TV Bolivia, China's ambassador in La Paz, Shen Zhiliang, highlighted the cooperation projects between the two countries and the five lines of credit granted to Bolivia for about 300 million dollars.

The agreements cover gas pipelines, aircraft, road construction machinery, drills and helicopters.

Read more

Aircraft carrier sinking plans given £3m boost

The charity behind plans to sink the Ark Royal off the coast of Torbay to create a money-spinning artificial reef has secured the £3 million bond needed to purchase the ship.

The latest announcement comes just weeks after Wreck the World, the charity behind the idea to see the Royal Navy's former flagship aircraft carrier sunk to create a reef, launched a public appeal to find the money.

It was announced on Tuesday that A&P in Falmouth, a global company dealing in ship repair and marine services, would foot the bill.

Read more

Russia ranked 2nd biggest global arms exporter – arms think tank

Russia became the world’s second largest arms exporter in 2011 after the United States, the head of the Moscow-based arms think tank Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT), Igor Korotchenko said on Friday.

The CAWAT ranking revealed that Russia occupied the second position for world arms sales in 2011 with $11.29 billion in revenues, which accounts for 16.1 percent of all international arms supplies, Korotchenko said. “The forecast for 2012 is $11.3 billion or 17.3 percent of global arms sales.”

The Unitied States, however, dominates world arms exports, with over 40 percent of trade globally, or $28.76 billion.

Read more

Iran to hold naval drills around Hormuz straight

Iran will launch 10 days of naval drills from Saturday around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route, media said, after a rumour earlier this month that it planned to close the waterway.

"Our naval drill will begin from 24 December lasting 10 days covering east of Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman to the Gulf of Aden", navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari was quoted as saying on Thursday by the Fars news agency.

"This is the first time that we are covering such large area", he added.

Read more

Sukhoi has completed a state contract for the supply of new multi-role Su-27SM(3) fighters to the Russian Air Force

The Sukhoi Company has completed delivery of 12 new multi-purpose Su-27SM(3) fighters to the Russian Air Force. The last batch of aircraft was sent to the place of deployment.

They were released under a state contract, signed between the Sukhoi Company and the Ministry of Defence at the MAKS-2009 air show. The production was organized at the Sukhoi’s KnAAPO aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The Su-27SM(3) fighter aircraft has a strengthened airframe to enable takeoff weight increased by more than 3 tons and additional suspension points to accommodate weapons.

Read more

Seized Patriot missiles are legal shipment, Germany says

A shipment of Patriot missiles that Finnish authorities found and seized was legal and authorized, the German government said Thursday.

A Germany Defense Ministry official said the missiles, found on board the Thor Liberty, were part of a German delivery for South Korea under a longstanding agreement.

This was to be the last such delivery, said Lt. Col. Holger Neumann.

Read more

Mistral for Russia: the third and fourth LHD will be built in Sevmach shipyard, Severodvinsk

The hulls of the third and fourth Mistral type French helicopter carrier, command and landing ship purchased by Russia will be built by Russian shipyard Sevmach in Severodvinsk (north), announced Wednesday the Russian Minister of Defense Serdyukov Alexander.

"It's the French shipbuilder to decide where to start preparations for the construction of the ships. . Sevmach plant is the best candidate, it will be easier and shorter" said the minister in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper to published on Thursday.

The CEO of the Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Issaïkine said in September that third and fourth vessels would be manufactured 80% in Russia and 20% in France.

Read more

RS-24 deployment in Teykovo, Novosibirsk, and Kozelsk

The Rocket Forces added a new battalion of three RS-24 Yars missiles to the missile division in Teykovo.

Together with the first full RS-24 regiment that began combat duty in August 2011, this brings the total number of RS-24 missiles to 12 missiles.

One more battalion is expected to be deployed in the remaining days of 2011, which means that by the end of the year Russia will have 15 operational RS-24 missiles.

Read more

The defence ministry (MoD) indicates a decision is imminent about whether the Air Force will buy the Typhoon or the Rafale; that Army chief, General V K Singh, will not get another year in office; and that indigenous ballistic missiles are the success story of this year.

These are the highlights of the MoD’s ‘Year-end Review’, an annual summary released on Wednesday.

The review terms 2011 ‘The Decisive Year for the MMRCA’, suggesting the winner of the contest to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft could be announced this fortnight.

Read more

MiG-29K gets on board Indian aircraft carrier

With work on the Indian navy's future aircraft carrier the INS Vikramaditya now 90% complete, an RSK MiG-29K fighter has been placed aboard the vessel for the first time.

Pictured on the carrier's deck at the Sevmash dockyard in Severodvinsk, northern Russia during November, aircraft Side 311 was deployed using a crane to serve as a mock-up only.

According to Sevmash, the Vikramaditya will start sea trials in May 2012, with these to involve take-offs and landings using two industry-owned aircraft.

Read more

China's carrier on 3rd sea trials

China's aircraft carrier set off for its third sea trials yesterday with experts saying they may involve the first tests of aircraft landing and taking off.

The Ministry of National Defense said previously that the carrier had completed all refitting and testing work as scheduled and the following sea trials would be for scientific research and experiments.

The carrier was towed out by five tugboats at 2:30pm from the port of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province to the Yellow Sea.

Read more

U.S. Destroyer Plans In Doubt

An exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network investigation into the U.S. Navy destroyer fleet and its accompanying combat systems strongly suggests the service will have to upend some $121.8 billion worth of plans for their development, effectively solidifying the grip of incumbent contractors on the work at the very time Navy brass say they’re trying to break such monopolies.

Given rising maintenance costs and the current budget environment, it’s unlikely the Navy will be able to afford newly designed DDG-51s, wholesale new changes to their Aegis systems or the proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar.

The Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s (AWIN) five-part “Come About” series details the Navy’s miscues in building its destroyer fleet and developing an accompanying shipboard combat system.

Read more

Kazakhstan: We're Building Up Navy To Compete With Neighbors

Kazakhstan is boosting its naval presence in the Caspian to compete with the other littoral states, the country's naval commander, Captain Zhandarbek Zhanzakov, has said.

In an interview with the newspaper Express-K (in Russian). This contradicts somewhat his assertion to EurasiaNet last year that Kazakhstan was building a navy to deal with "terrorists," but seems more in line with reality.

Translation via BBC Monitoring:

Read more

Naming Navy ship after Cesar Chavez makes waves

The naming of a new Navy cargo ship after farm labor leader Cesar Chavez continues to rankle conservatives in Congress who want to tighten controls over the ship naming tradition.

The angst over the Chavez decision boiled over earlier this month when the same lawmakers demanded that a review of how military ships are named be conducted.

A clause in the Dec. 12 congressional report accompanying the defense authorization bill calls on the defense secretary to review the policy for naming vessels, which has been a centuries-old prerogative of the Navy secretary.

Read more

Finland impounds Patriot missiles, explosives

Finnish authorities on Wednesday impounded 160 tons of explosives and 69 surface-to-air missiles found on a British-flagged cargo ship ultimately destined for Shanghai, China, officials said.

The M/S Thor Liberty sailed from the north German port of Emden on Dec. 13 and two days later docked in Kotka, southern Finland, to pick up a cargo of anchor chains, Finnish Customs spokesman Petri Lounatmaa said.

Investigating officers didn't know the origin of the Patriot missiles or who was supposed to receive them, he said.

Read more

USS Olympia Finishes Magnetic Silencing Treatment

Los Angeles-class submarine USS Olympia (SSN 717) finished undergoing deperming at the new drive-in submarine magnetic silencing facility (MSF) at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam's Beckoning Point, Dec. 15.

Olympia is the first submarine to complete this treatment at the facility.

"After a culmination of 11 years of work by numerous Department of the Navy civilian contractors and Navy personnel, the completion and success of this treatment marks a milestone for future evolutions of this type," said Aaron Leong, MSF Pearl Harbor project lead supervisor.

Read more

NZ team makes Antarctic airdrop to aid stricken boat

The Royal New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is to deliver another fuel pump to a listing Russian fishing boat that is stranded in Antarctic waters with 32 crew on board.

A Hercules plane, which has already delivered one pump to the stricken Sparta crew, will be used for the seven-hour flight to the Ross Sea.

On Tuesday, the NZDF released video of the first mission to the scene, about 3,700km (2,300 miles) from New Zealand.

Source

French Navy (Marine Nationale) receives 25 new MU-90 torpedoes

Operational in France since February 2008, the MU90 is intended to be deployed by aircraft and warships such as Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, Lynx helicopters, frigates and Horizon destroyers for current platforms.

MU90 torpedoes will ultimately be deployed by CaÏman helicopters (NH90) and FREMM.

The MU90 is a third generation torpedo used for anti-submarine warfare. It was designed to counter the threat of conventional or nuclear propulsion submarines in any environment or scenario.

Read more

Turkish Karayel Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Begin Flight in 2013

Chairman of the Executive Board of Vestel Corporation, Omer Yungul, said Monday that their unmanned aerial vehicle “Karayel” will begin flight missions at Turkey’s borders as of 2013.

In an exclusive interview with the Anadolu Agency (AA), Yungul said that they were at the final stage of manufacturing “Karayel”.

“A tender held by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was completed two years ago. The signature process took a year. There have been some delays in the project. We expect ‘Karayel’ to go into service in 2013.

Read more

U.S. probes French tech sales to China

U.S. lawmakers and Obama administration officials say France has stymied a 3 1/2-year State Department investigation into whether a French defense contractor illegally gave U.S. satellite technology to China.

The officials also say Obama administration political appointees derailed efforts by career State Department security officials to impose sanctions on Thales Alenia Space (TAS), fearing the penalties would undermine a White House-led effort to loosen technology export controls.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of their access to details of the investigation, said the French government has refused to allow the company to cooperate in the probe.

Read more

Syrian Navy and Air Force Conduct Live Fire Maneuvers

According to the operational training plan for 2011, the Air Force and Air Defense on Tuesday conducted a live fire demonstration with the participation of formations of Air Force fighters, fighter bombers, fire support helicopters and the Air Defense formations.

The demonstration was aimed at testing the combat capability and readiness of the Air Force and Air Defense to confront any possible aggression that might target Syria's land and airspace.

The participant formations showed a high level of coordination and cooperation under conditions similar to a real battle.

Read more

Strategic unit receives 2 Topol-M launchers

A unit of Russia’s strategic missile forces located in the Volga region has received two new Topol-M mobile launchers, a Defense Ministry official told reporters Tuesday.

He added that by the end of the year, another three launchers will be delivered to the unit.

According to military experts, Topol-M missiles render US anti-missile systems practically useless. The Defense Ministry’s program envisages equipping all of Russia’s strategic missile units with Topol-M systems by 2021.

Source

Glitch halts test-launch of Prithvi missiles

Plans to launch two nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missiles in a salvo mode within a few minutes of each other were aborted at the last minute on Wednesday after a technical glitch developed in one of them.

The missiles which were to be launched by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Armed Forces from the Integrated Test Range, Balasore, were held back, after the problem was detected during the countdown, a top official of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told The Hindu.

The problem was being looked into and it was not yet known when the rescheduled test-firing would take place.

Read more

£40m keeps UK drone design ahead of game

The Ministry of Defence has signed a new £40 million contract with BAE Systems to ensure the UK retains a leading edge in the next generation of combat air systems.

The four-year Future Combat Air System (FCAS) Focused Research contract aims to sustain and develop the UK’s critical technology and skills in this field.

It will inform the MOD’s unmanned air system strategy over the coming decades to ensure that the best use is made of these new technologies.

Read more

Chinese Navy Weapons Ambitions

The new phase of Chinese naval development could include even more new weapons and sensors than the previous phase, if the recent launch of another specialized testing ship is any indication.

Last month, the PLA Navy launched “Ship 893,” its third new weapons trials vessel since 2005. Trials ships are equipped with systems to track and analyze new missiles and sensors during testing.

The People’s Liberation Army develops and builds weapons in five-year cycles, the most recent of which began in late 2010.

Read more

Defence delivery delays hit 63 years

The combined scheduled delivery delays of defence hardware have blown out to total 63 years, further exposing gaps in Australia's defence capability.

An Australian National Audit Office report, published yesterday, revealed that major defence equipment acquisition projects continued to run behind schedule and over budget.

The 2010-11 major projects report covers 28 of the largest defence projects in the country, worth a total of $46.1 billion.

Read more

80 new warships to invigorate the Indian Navy in couple of years

The Navy is all set to get younger with over 80 new warships, including two aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines each, scheduled to join its fleet.

Due to the scheduled inductions in next couple of years, the average age of the fleet would come down making it a comparatively younger force, Navy Spokesperson Commander PVS Satish said on the sidelines of President's Fleet Review (PFR) in Mumbai, pti reported.

'The present average age of the naval fleet is around 12 to 15 years. But by the time the next PFR takes place, the force would be younger by three to four years,' Satish said.

Read more

Russian Navy gets new Arctic transport vessel

The Zvezdochka yard in Severodvinsk starts the construction of a vessel designed for Arctic transportation of military hardware.

The Zvezdochka yard on the 20 December offically started the construction of the ”Akademik Kovalyov”, a military transport vessel of the 20180TV-class.

The 107 meter long ship will be built to resist the harsh ice conditions of the Arctic, the yard informs in a press release.

Read more

New Trident spend to near £4bn by 2016

The government will have spent £3.9bn on the programme to replace Britain's nuclear deterrent submarines before it makes the final 'main gate' decision on renewal in 2016, it has been revealed.

Answering questions from Labour MP and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament vice chair Jeremy Corbyn, who described Trident as a "vanity project", defence equipment minister Peter Luff told Parliament that the money was preserving the option of renewal for the next government.

"We expect to spend £3.9bn on the successor submarine programme by the main gate decision-point in 2016. We have deferred the decision on the future warhead until the next Parliament," said Luff.

Read more

Daewoo wins submarine contract for Indonesian navy

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering signed a contract to build three submarines for the Indonesian navy on Tuesday.

The contract calls for DSME to build three 1,400-ton submarines for the Indonesian navy for a total of $1.1 billion, making the contract the largest single defense contract to be awarded to a Korean firm.

With the addition of the latest contract, the value of Korea’s defense exports so far this year has been pushed up to $2.4 billion, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said. This year’s defense export figure is more than double that recorded last year.

Read more

Congress notified on possible missile sale

A possible U.S. Foreign Military Sale of Javelin missiles to the United Arab Emirates has been reported by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

The agency, in its required notification to Congress, said the package deal to the United Arab Emirates is worth $60 million.

"The proposed sale of these missiles will provide the United Arab Emirates with a medium-range, man-portable, shoulder-launched, fire-and-forget anti-armor weapon system," it said. "The proposed sale will enhance (the Emirates') existing anti-tank capability to meet current and future threats."

Read more