PH to buy 5 French patrol boats

The government will spend P4.8 billion for the acquisition of five patrol vessels from France next year, the Philippine Coast Guard announced on Monday.

Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, Coast Guard officer-in-charge and commandant for operations, did not specify the manufacturer and class of vessels they plan to acquire, but stressed that the vessels will be brand new and French made.

“The President has ordered the procurement of additional ships for the Coast Guard,” said Tuason. “We have a forthcoming one unit 82-meter and four 24-meter long brand new patrol vessels from France.”

Read more

2nd Philippine Navy warship from US to arrive February

The second warship to be acquired by the Navy from the United States (US) is expected to arrive by February, Defense Secretary Voltraire Gazmin said Monday.

Gazmin said US Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Locklear III gave him the assurance of the second warship's delivery during their meeting in Hawaii early this month.

“Our new ship will be coming sometime next year, about February. I met with Admiral Locklear in Hawaii before I joined the trip of the president to Australia and New Zealand. He assured us that the ship will arrive by February 2013,” he said.

Read more

China’s New J-31 Stealth Fighter Takes Off on Maiden Flight

China’s J-31, the new stealth fighter prototype developed by AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) took off on its maiden flight today, October 31, 2012 on 10:32 Beijing local time.

The flight lasted only ten minutes. SAC developed the J-31, China’s second stealth fighter prototype, in only 19 months.

This model is positioned to become China’s leading export fighter. It will also be positioned as an alternative to the larger and assumingly more costly Chengdo J-20.

Read more

Pilots survive Sukhoi bomber crash in Russia

Two pilots in Russia escaped death Tuesday when their Sukhoi jet crashed but both of them ejected safely.

The defence ministry said a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer fighter-bomber crashed during a training flight in the Chelyabinsk region when its nose cone came off.

“After an unsuccessful attempt to make an emergency landing, the pilots decided to steer the falling aircraft away from populated areas and ejected safely,” the ministry said in a statement.

Read more

Selex Galileo To Supply Janus Naval Electro-Optic Solutions To Maltese Armed Forces

SELEX Galileo has been awarded a contract by the Maltese Armed Forces to deliver two Janus Naval (Janus-N) electro-optic observation and fire control panoramic sights.

The sights will be installed on patrol boats operated by the Armed Forces of Malta.

The contract for the “Upgrade of Maritime Squadron Fast Response Craft” is part-financed by the External Borders Funds 2011 (EBF): 80% EU funds, 20% National Maltese Funds.

Read more

Cobham Receives 2-year, £105M Contract Extension for Aerial Maritime Surveillance from Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Cobham has reached agreement with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to extend the existing Sentinel aerial maritime surveillance contract by 2 years.

This £105M contract extension secures the contract until the end of 2021.

Cobham Aviation Services has been protecting Australia’s borders since 1995 under a performance based service contract involving the full turnkey operation of 10 highly modified Bombardier Dash 8 maritime patrol aircraft that fly 2,500 missions and 15,000 hours each year.

Read more (pdf)

Enterprise scheduled to arrive home Sunday

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is scheduled to arrive home at Naval Station Norfolk on Sunday, its final homecoming after 51 years of military service, the Navy announced Tuesday.

In all, more than 5,500 sailors and Marines assigned to the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group will reunite with families and friends after a 7.5-month deployment that took them to the Mediterranean and Arabian seas.

The other ships in the strike group are the guided-missile destroyers Porter, Nitze and James E. Williams, all based in Norfolk. The strike group also includes Carrier Air Wing 1, composed of numerous squadrons of fighters, helicopters and early-warning aircraft.

Read more

Air Warfare Destroyer tests torpedos

Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced that firing tests of torpedo launchers for the new Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers (AWD) have been held in Adelaide.

The tests were part of acceptance testing of the weapon systems for the second destroyer Brisbane and involved firing an MU-90 practice delivery torpedo from an MK32 Mod 9 Surface Vessel torpedo tube.

The system is made up of three main components – a launcher, an air charging panel and a torpedo loading tray.

Read more

Southern African Shipyards refurbishing Navy strike craft

Durban-based Southern African Shipyards is refurbishing the South African Navy’s three surviving strike craft, converting them to offshore patrol vessels.

Southern African Shipyards told defenceWeb that the main work being performed on the vessels related to electrical, mechanical and general hull maintenance and involved refurbishment, replacement and repainting.

The first vessel, SAS Isaac Dyobha (P1565), arrived in Durban on 11 October and after discharging all her fuel, oils and stores, was transferred to SA Shipyards’ floating dock and mounted on specially constructed cradles, where refurbishment began. The vessel was due to be brought out of the water yesterday.

Read more

Russia is preparing to overhaul its nuclear-missile shield

Russia is planning to increase annual defence spending from its current level of 3 percent of GDP to 3.7 percent in 2015, which equates to more than 3 trillion roubles.

The Strategic Rocket Forces will consume a substantial part of this money, with the nuclear missile programme benefitting the most from the projected increase in budget allocations.

According to Vladimir Komoyedov, head of the State Duma’s Defence Committee, spending on nuclear-missiles will reach 101.15 billion roubles in 2013–2015, compared to just 27.4 billion roubles in 2012.

Read more

New Moroccan Sigma class frigate Allal Ben Abdallah sails through Sea Acceptance Trials

Recently, the third and last of the Royal Moroccan Navy’s new Sigma class frigates was subjected to its Sea Acceptance Trials (SAT).

All Thales systems on board of the ship as well as the functional chains for Anti Air Warfare, Anti Surface Warfare and Electronic Warfare performed flawlessly.

Tacticos, Thales’s Combat Management System is the first CMS in the world to have been successfully teamed with the MBDA VL MICA. The ship was commissioned in September 2012.

Read more

Retiring frigates leave stamp on Mayport

Navy Cmdr. Joe Thomas stood on the deck of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate De Wert last week talking about what he called “frigate life.”

“It’s kind of unique and challenging,” Thomas said. “Some of our frigates have a crew of 175. Right now we have a company of 200 sailors.”

He motioned across the Naval Station Mayport basin at a cruiser. He said it carried a crew of about 300.

Read more

Russia's space forces launch missile shield rocket

Sary-Shagan test site
Russian Aerospace Defense forces have successfully launched a short-range missile as part of the country's missile shield test, Space Forces spokesman Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin told reporters Tuesday.

He said a missile crew of the Sary-Shagan test site together with space forces and some defense industry representatives successfully conducted a launch of a short-range anti-missile rocket at 12.01 a.m. Moscow time.

Pantsyr-S shoots down cruise missile
The Russian armed forces have successfully carried out live firing tests of the Army's Pantsyr-S short-range gun-missile air defense system against cruise missile targets for the first time at the Pemboi range in the country's northern Komi republic.

Read more

DCNS presented an export version of its FREMM Frigate and its Gowind range at Euronaval

At Euronaval 2012, DCNS displayed for the first time an export version of its FREMM Multi-mission Frigate with various weapons never seen before on this class of ship.

The French Shipyard also showcased its range of Gowind Corvette and OPV.

The FREMM is a front-line warship designed to form the operational backbone of major navies.

Read more

US Navy’s LCS 4 completes main engine light-off

The US Navy's second Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship, Coronado (LCS 4), has successfully completed its main engine light-off following completion of the fuel load and testing of all four generators.

Conducted by Austal, the main engine light-off onboard the 127m-long LCS 4 included two MTU 9,100kW 20V 8000 M71 propulsion diesel engines and two GE Aviation-built 22,000kW GE LM2500 gas turbine engines.

Austal USA interim president and chief financial officer Brian Leathers said the LCS team would now move towards sea trials in the near future.

Read more

First Ka-52K Choppers for Mistral Ships to be Built in 2013

The Russian Navy will receive the first batch of Kamov Ka-52K attack helicopters for Mistral class amphibious assault ships in 2013, Kamov General Designer Sergei Mikheyev said.

“The first serial Ka-52K will be assembled in 2013,” Mikheyev said on Monday. “By the time the first Mistral enters service in 2014, we are ready to make as many helicopters as the Defense Ministry will order.”

Prototypes of the naval version of the Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter are under construction at the Progress plant in Russia’s Far East, he said.

Read more

Iran dispatches warships to Sudan after Israeli airstrike on missile base

Iran risked Israeli military retaliation Monday with the dispatch of a naval task force to Sudan just days after a widely reported airstrike by the Jewish state against a missile base run by Tehran in Khartoum.

Sudanese state media said that a docking ceremony was staged in Port Sudan to receive the convoy led by an Iranian naval frigate and corvette warship.

Commanders of the Iranian flotilla reportedly met Sudanese navy chiefs as a gesture of "peace and friendship".

Read more

MiG and Sukhoi have signed a cooperation agreement in the network of development of UAVs

Russian aircraft corporations MiG and Sukhoi have signed a cooperation agreement in the network of development of UAVs, Lenta.ru reports.

According to CEO of RAC MiG, Sergey Korotkov, the corporation will take part in the project launched by Sukhoi after winning the corresponding tender.

Russian Ministry of Defense selected Sukhoi as the developer of heavy attack UAV in July 2012. The possible specifications of this UAV have not been unveiled yet.

Read more

PLA’s Last Q-5 Attack Aircraft Delivered

The Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Group Corporation Limited under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) held a final assembly and delivery ceremony of the last Q-5 attack aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on October 25, 2012.

The Q-5 is a light supersonic attack aircraft developed by the China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (CNAMC) in the 1960s.

It is mainly used to directly support operations of ground forces by attacking deep targets and effective strength of ground or water tactics and battles at a low altitude or a very low altitude.

Read more

Indonesia, Germany to sign tank sale deal next month

Indonesia is to sign a 280-million-dollar deal with Germany for the purchase of 130 Leopard 2 battle tanks, the Defence Ministry said Monday.

The deal between the government and Munich-based defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG would be signed on November 7 in Jakarta, said ministry spokesman Hartind Asrin.

"The memorandum of understanding will stipulate the transfer of technology and the provision of spare parts," Asrin said.

Read more

Ghana’s President commissions new surveillance aircraft, hangars, ships

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned three Diamond DA 42 aircraft, two hangars, and two fast attack craft.

The government is strengthening Ghana’s armed forces, which plan to take delivery of more helicopters, ships and aircraft in the near future.

The three DA 42 aircraft, two of which are used for surveillance and the third for training, were commissioned at Takoradi Air Force Base on October 19.

Read more

Navy to Launch New Rescue Ship

The Navy will launch a new search-and-rescue ship Tuesday at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg, the Defense Ministry said.

Among the guests at the launch of the Igor Belousov will be Navy commander Viktor Chirkov, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and United Shipbuilding Corporation president Andrei Dyachkov, the ministry's press service told Interfax.

Construction started on the Igor Belousov on Dec. 24, 2005, but has faced several delays. The ship will undergo about two years of open-water trials before entering the naval fleet in 2014, Interfax said.

Read more

Upgraded Indian Submarine starts Sea Trials in Russia

An Indian Kilo class diesel-electric submarine that has been overhauled at the Zvezdochka shipyard in northern Russia has sailed for two-week sea trials, the company said.

INS Sindhurakshak, which was handed over to the Indian Navy in 1997, has been upgraded under a direct contract between the Zvezdochka shipyard and the Indian defence ministry, signed June 4, 2010.

"The Indian submarine, which has been repaired and modernized at the Zvezdochka shipyard, sailed for sea trials on Monday," the company said in a statement.

Read more

Tories and LibDems at war over contract to build Trident sub: £350m deal is jumping the gun, warns Clegg

A row erupted over the future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent yesterday.

Tories and Lib Dems clashed over whether to build a new generation of Trident submarines.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond announced contracts worth £350million to design the boats now based at the Scottish naval complex of Faslane – an apparent bid to show voters in Scotland what they would be losing if they vote for independence.

Read more

PAC-2 Missiles Flunk Intercept Test

South Korea's PAC-2 ballistic missiles have an intercept rate of less than 40 percent, according to joint South Korean-U.S. research released Sunday.

The military is looking at buying PAC-3 missiles from the U.S. to make up for the deficiency.

The PAC-2 missile was developed as an anti-aircraft missile in the U.S. in 1990. It can approach targets at an altitude lower than 15 km and destroy them by detonating sub-missiles.

Read more

Rescuing a submarine and its sailors: India practices with US help

What happens if one of India's 15 submarines malfunctions underwater and sinks with its crew on board?

As India is forced to operate an aging fleet - some over two decades old - the prospect of facing such a situation is almost real.

It is perhaps to address this gap that for the first time India-US will be carrying out an exercise to rescue its trapped submarines.

Read more

DND reviewing South Korea's offer to supply fighter jets

An Air Force technical team is evaluating whether 12 FA-50 fighter jets that a South Korean firm is offering can deliver medium range missiles.

Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told The STAR a private company, Korean Aerospace, has offered to provide the fighter jets at about P18 billion, not including the munitions.

“What we are looking for is an aircraft that can be considered a fighter aircraft that can deliver missiles and other types of ammunition,” he said.

Read more

Is NATO’s approach to Turkey satisfying?

“For the second time in five months, Turkey has turned to NATO for support in the face of Syrian attacks that have killed Turkish citizens. Unfortunately, the transatlantic alliance has responded both times with words rather than deeds.”

This is the view of Jorge Benitez, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, an influential Washington-based think tank on military and NATO issues, who recently wrote an outspoken opinion for the Christian Science Monitor.

Is Benitez right?

Read more

Aircraft carrier's hull en route from Govan to Fife

An 11,000-tonne section of aircraft carrier is starting a 600-mile journey around the north coast of Scotland to the Rosyth dockyard in Fife.

The largest hull section of HMS Queen Elizabeth left BAE's shipbuilding hall at Govan two weeks ago and was loaded on to a huge sea going barge.

Since then, preparatory work has been carried out such as sea fastening, which secures the hull during transit.

Read more

Official: Iran possesses photos of Israeli bases shot by Hesbollah UAV

Iran posesses photos of Israeli military bases shot by Hesbollah UAV "Eyyub", Vice-Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmail Kowsari said, Mehr reported.

"We own very sensitive images of Israeli military bases that were shot by the drone," Kowsari said.

According to Kowsari, the drone managed to transfer the photos of the Israeli bases before it got shot down by Israeli destroyers.

Read more

Nuke test that says: Don’t mess with the UK

The Royal Navy has test fired a nuclear missile in an awesome show of military strength.

The unarmed Trident II was blasted skywards by the nuke-powered submarine HMS Vigilant in the Atlantic.

It was Britain’s first ballistic missile launch in three years — and sends a strong message to rogue nations like Argentina and Iran.

Read more

MoD promises £350m for Trident replacement design work

The UK government has promised a further £350m for design work on a possible replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear-armed submarines.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who is to visit the Faslane navy base on the Clyde, said the move would create 1,200 jobs.

He is also expected to ask the Scottish government how its opposition to nuclear weapons would affect jobs.

Read more

Navy techical sailors lured by mine cash

A shortage of technical sailors, blamed on the resources boom, has forced the navy to tie up two frontline warships indefinitely while its remaining 10 frigates lost 459 days in just six months this year due to "unscheduled" repairs and maintenance.

The navy describes the temporary withdrawal from service of the WA-based frigate HMAS Arunta and the Sydney-based HMAS Stuart as "extended readiness" and it blames the mining boom's high wages for cornering the market in highly qualified technicians.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs said it would take the senior service until 2018 or 2020 to recover from the shortage depending on what happened in the resource sector.

Read more

Israel’s bombing of Sudan missile site a 'dry run' for Iran attack

Israel has conducted an air strike on Sudan’s Yarmouk factory on the southwestern outskirts of Khartoum, in what can be seen as a “dry run” for a war on Iran.

The attack occurred in the early morning of October 24, when eight Israeli F-15I jets – four of them carrying two one-ton bombs, escorted by four fighters – struck a gigantic Yamrouk missile site.

The evidence is that this strike is a general rehearsal before the Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Read more

VVIP helicopter shadow on billion dollar torpedo sale

Italian defence company, Finmeccanica, is grappling with allegations that kickbacks were paid in group company AgustaWestland’s Euro 560 million (Rs 3,880 crore) sale to India of twelve AW101 VVIP helicopters, which are intended to fly Indian dignitaries in safety and comfort.

Given the MoD’s penchant for “blacklisting” arms vendors suspected of wrongdoing, the defence industry is watching developments with bated breath.

Any ban on Finmeccanica would mean that recent contracts won by group companies would be up for grabs again.

Read more

Eight arms deals under the microscope

Up to eight arms deals signed by the Greek government since the late 1990s are being investigated by judicial authorities for possible illegal bribes and kickbacks to state officials and politicians, Kathimerini understands.

Some of these investigations, such as the purchase of four hovercraft from Russia and Ukraine, are at a preliminary stage while others, such as the purchase of US-made Patriot missiles and the Greek army’s Hermes program, are in the hands of an investigating magistrate, according to Kathimerini.

Investigators are probing bank accounts and offshore companies in a bid to trace millions of euros received by senior state officials as sweeteners for the arms deals.

Read more

S. Korea moves to upgrade Patriot defense system

The South Korean military's Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) system has a success rate of less than 40 percent in intercepting ballistic missiles, government sources said Sunday.

Due to the noticeable inefficiency in deterring North Korean missiles, the PAC-2 system can only be useful in intercepting airplanes, prompting the South's military to rush to introduce the more advanced PAC-3 system, said the sources.

PAC-2 has been deployed to counter increasing threats from the North's low-flying, short- and medium-range missiles, as part of Seoul's plan to build an independent theater missile defense shield, dubbed the Korean Air and Missile defense (KAMD) network system.

Read more

Khartoum threatens Israel after Iranian generals examine missile factory rubble

Sudanese President Omar Bashir pledged decisive steps against “Israeli interests which are now legitimate targets.”

He spoke Saturday, Oct. 27 after a team of Iranian generals completed a secret examination of the rubble left of the Khartoum Shehab ballistic missile factory after an air attack on Oct. 24.

Israeli officials have refused to comment on the attack. However, Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Belal Othman said “military experts" who surveyed what was left of the Yarmouk Industrial Complex had determined that it was destroyed by Israel-made missiles.

Read more

US pips Russia as 'lowest bidder' for heavy-lift 15-chopper deal

The US is now all set to bag yet another mega Indian defence deal, with the iconic Boeing-manufactured Chinook heavy-lift helicopters emerging as the cheaper option than its strong contender the Russian Mi-26 choppers.

Defence ministry sources said the commercial bid for the twin-rotor Chinook, which has seen recent action in Iraq and Afghanistan, has emerged as the "L-1 (lowest bidder)" in comparison to the Mi-26 after both the huge helicopters passed the extensive technical field trials conducted by Indian Air Force (IAF).

"The present contract is for 15 such multi-mission helicopters. The Chinook bid was lower both in terms of initial direct acquisition cost as well as life cycle cost. The contract negotiation committee will now finalize the deal for the Chinook," said a source.

Read more

Navy replaces admiral leading Mideast aircraft carrier strike group pending investigation

The U.S. Navy said Saturday it is replacing the admiral in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into undisclosed allegations of inappropriate judgment.

Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette is being sent back to the USS John C. Stennis' home port at Bremerton, Washington stae, in what the Navy called a temporary reassignment.

The Navy said he is not formally relieved of his command of the Stennis strike group but will be replaced by Rear Adm. Troy M. Shoemaker, who will assume command until the investigation is completed.

Read more

Shipyard christens new Navy attack submarine Minnesota

Newport News Shipbuilding has christened the new U.S. Navy fast-attack submarine Minnesota.

Ellen Roughead, a Minnesota native and wife of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, broke a bottle of American sparkling wine across the hull to christen the Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarine Saturday.

Construction of the vessel began in February 2008 and is 88 percent complete. The company says as many as 1,000 shipbuilders worked on the Minnesota.

Read more

Panetta seems to confirm North Korean missile threat to the U.S.

During a news conference at the Pentagon, on October 25, 2012 Leon Panetta spoke about the situation in North Korea. He also took the time to answer some reporter’s questions.

One in particular dealt, was very interesting, and dealt with the claim that North Korea has a missiles that can reach the American mainland.

See article: North Korea says it has missiles that can reach the United States.

Read more

Watch a Robotic Navy Boat Shoot Missiles for the First Time Ever

Killer robots have officially gone out to sea. For the first time, the Navy has fired missiles from a remote-controlled boat, as shown in the video above.

The firing came as part of a test off the Maryland coast on Wednesday. Six of Rafael’s anti-armor Spike missiles got fired off a moving inflatable hulled watercraft, aiming for a floating target about two miles away.

The missile firings and the boat’s controls were all handled remotely by Navy personnel on shore at the Navy’s Patuxent River base.

Read more

Rolls-Royce creates dedicated team focused on naval ship design

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has broadened its capability in ship design with the establishment of a new team dedicated to the development of naval ship designs.

Rolls-Royce has been at the forefront of innovative ship design for nearly 40 years, designing over 800 vessels, used mainly in the commercial sector.

This new team will develop vessels for customers such as navies, coast guards and other maritime agencies. The new designs, which include variants of the award winning Environship merchant ship concept, will leverage innovative and cost effective technologies from commercial Rolls-Royce ship designs and products, adapted and integrated for the specific requirements of naval operations.

Read more

Turkish Army inducts missile with 200-km range

Turkey completes development of missile with range of 200 kilometers.

Turkey has successfully completed development of a ground-to-ground missile with a range of 200 kilometers that has now entered the Army inventory, said Nihat Ergun, the country’s science, industry and technology minister.

“Tubitak [Turkish scientific research organization)] has completed the 200-kilometer stand-off munitions [testing], and the system has entered the inventory of the Army,” Ergun told reporters.

Read more

India’s Ayni military base in Tajikistan is Russia-locked

India’s Ayni dream is Russia-locked
Ayni is the much-spoken word in Indo-Russian strategic engagement.

The Ayni air base in Tajikistan happens to be India’s first and only foreign military base.

And yet, this base is not fully operational for the simple reason that an air base cannot be operational without deployment of fighter aircraft, something that is unlikely to happen without Russia’s green signal.

Read more

U.S. Expands Secretive Drone Base for African Shadow War

Camp Lemonnier
The Pentagon’s secretive drone and commando base in the Horn of Africa is getting a lot bigger and a lot busier as the U.S. doubles down on its shadowy campaign of air strikes, robot surveillance and Special Operation Forces raids in the terror havens of Yemen and Somalia.

Camp Lemonnier, originally a French colonial outpost in Djibouti, a tiny, impoverished nation just north of Somalia, has been the epicenter of America’s Indian Ocean shadow war since just after 9/11.

What was once little more than a run-down compound adjacent to Djibouti city’s single-runway international airport is now a sprawling complex of hangars and air-conditioned buildings housing eight Predator drones and eight F-15E fighter-bombers plus other warplanes, as well as around 300 Special Operations Forces and more than 2,000 other U.S. troops and civilians.

Read more

British And French Navies Team Up For Drill

Thousands of sailors and marines and a flotilla of warships from Britain and France are on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean in preparation for combined operations around the world.

Codenamed Corsican Lion, the operation - the biggest since the two countries signed a military cooperation treaty in 2010 - is designed to get both sets of troops used to each other's fighting methods.

The exercise, which involves 6,000 service personnel, is using a range of vessels from both navies, although the centrepiece is the French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and her fast jets.

Read more

Army beats Navy in missile intercept test

The final score: Army 3; Navy 1.

That’s the number of missiles each service shot down in the largest missile shield test ever, a joint exercise held in the western Pacific on Oct. 24. The Army shot down two ballistic missiles and one cruise missile at Kwajalein Atoll.

In contrast, the destroyer Fitzgerald engaged a cruise missile but missed the ballistic one. The reasons for the miss are unclear, but the Missile Defense Agency chalked up the whole exercise as a success.

Read more

US offers cheap planes, warships

The United States has offered to sell Thailand second hand military equipment ranging from helicopters to frigates at a special price, a Defence Ministry source said on Friday.

The US Defence Department made the offer in talks last week in Washington between permanent secretary for defence Gen Thanongsak Apirakyothin and US Defence Assistant Secretary Marc Lippert.

Thailand is eligible for the sales as a non-Nato ally of the US, the source added.

Read more

USS Crommelin retired in Pearl Harbor ceremony

The ongoing evolution of the U.S. Navy came to Pearl Harbor today with the first of two frigate decommissionings — a class of warship being replaced by new littoral combat ships.

For about 20 Crommelin family members, who came from California, Oregon, and even Australia, the retirement amounts to a loss of one of their own — the USS Crommelin, named for brothers who fought in the Pacific in World War II.

John G. Crommelin the fifth, 32, who lives on the Hilo side of Hawaii island, said it was an honor to be a part of the decommissioning.

Read more

The Greek patient is stable, now it’s time to work on a cure

Forget “Grexit,” the ugly little term invented by some wit-challenged economist to describe Greece’s impending exit from the euro zone.

A year or so ago, a lot of economists, commentators and scribblers – myself among them – thought Greece was a goner.

Some still do, but the number is dwindling rapidly. So now we have to invent a term to describe Greece’s non-exit (my imagination fails me here).

Read more

Submarines May Leave Groton To Weather Storm At Sea

The Naval Submarine Base in Groton is preparing in case it has to send attack submarines out into the ocean to avoid the effects of what some are calling “Frankenstorm.”

Base officials said Friday that they are also preparing for the installation of building flood gates.

Hurricane Sandy is now near the Bahamas. It’s expected to move up the coast and collide with a winter storm moving across the country and frigid air from Canada.

Read more

DCNS unveils the new FREMM-ER sporting phased-array antenna and anti-ballistic missile capability

At the 23rd EURONAVAL show, DCNS unveiled the new FREMM-ER (for Extend Range) Frigate dedicated to Air Defense missions.

The new design is based on the Aquitaine class of Frigates therefore retaining all the qualities of the existing multi-mission frigate while bring some extra capabilities to tackle future threats such as ballistic missiles.

The FREMM-ER (Extended Range) brings enhanced anti-air capabilities.

Read more

Govt kicks off program to replace the navy's aging frigate, destroyer fleet

The federal government is taking a first step towards replacing some of the navy's aging ships by calling private companies to a meeting in Gatineau, Que., next month to talk about new vessels.

An invitation posted on a government contract site is aimed at firms offering everything from ship design to systems integration and logistical support.

The Public Works posting says it's the kick-off for the Canadian surface combatant project, a program to replace the navy's 1970s-era destroyers and frigates from the 1990s.

Read more

DCNS introduces a new weapon system for submarines: anti-aircraft self-defense

Currently, submarines have no alternative but to flee when detected by helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. But thanks to a new air defense system developed by DCNS in cooperation with MBDA, the game is about to change.

Indeed, to meet the needs of navies to protect their submarines from air threats, The DCNS-designed A3SM comes in two versions, both fully integrated with Subtics® combat systems:

- Mast version: Comprises a missile housing (that remains watertight throughout the submarine’s operating range and down to maximum diving depth) mounted on a hoistable mast and containing several short-range Mistral missiles that can be fired from periscope depth.

Read more

Dutch Warship Destroys Somali Pirate Boat

Another Somali pirate boat goes up in flames as attacks hit a three-year low.

Somali pirates may not be as active as they once were off the coast of African waters, but they still pose a danger.

AK 47s are no match for the power of a Nato warship, as a group of alleged pirates learned today. Early Wednesday, the crew of the Dutch warship HNLMS Rotterdam, spotted a dhow close to the Somali shore.

Read more

US Army takes delivery of first OH-58F

The US Army has taken delivery of the first of two prototype OH-58F Kiowa Warriors as part of that aircraft's Cockpit and Sensor Upgrade Program (CASUP).

The handover, on 24 October at Meridianville, Alabama, concludes the aircraft's build phase.

Now the 1968-vintage aircraft will be fitted out with flight test instrumentation in readiness for the first flight, expected to take place in April 2013.

Read more

U.S. Navy just two years away from arming warships with laser weapons capable of destroying incoming missiles and aircraft

Once the stuff of science fiction and James Bond movies, the U.S. Navy is now just two years away from arming it’s ships with the first generation of ‘directed energy’ laser weapons.

The weapons are designed to track and fire on threats to a warship that could include anything from armed drones and small 'swarm' boats to incoming missiles and aircraft.

According to Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, the chief of the Office of Naval Research, a series of successful tests in recent months have enabled the Navy to halve its predicted timeline for mounting laser weapons on vessels.

Read more

CCS clears 10,000 Russian anti-tank missiles for Army

A Rs 1,200 crore proposal for procuring 10,000 anti-tank guided missiles for the Army from Russia was cleared today by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

The CCS cleared the proposal to acquire Russian-origin 10,000 Konkurs-M anti-tank guided missiles for the Mechanised Infantry and Infantry battalions of the Army, sources told PTI here.

The Konkurs-M are part of the weapon systems being procured by the force to augment the anti-tank arsenal in the Army, they said.

Read more

UK reveals Hermes UAV crash rate in Afghanistan

British Army operations involving leased Elbit Systems Hermes 450 tactical unmanned air vehicles have recorded 11 crashes in the past five years, armed forces minister Andrew Robathan has revealed.

"Since 2007 there have been 11 Hermes 450 crashes in Afghanistan," Robathan said in response to a parliamentary question on 24 October.

No accidents involving the type occurred in the UK during the same time period, he added.

Read more

Hypersonic Plane: After X-51A Waverider Failure, Military Plans New Test Flight

The U.S. military said Wednesday it is planning another unmanned hypersonic flight in the wake of a failed attempt.

The flight, scheduled for next spring or summer, would be the fourth test of the experimental X-51A Waverider designed to reach Mach 6, or 3,600 mph, after being dropped by a B-52 bomber.

The Air Force has been studying hypersonic technologies with the hopes of deploying fast strikes around the globe.

Read more

Support contract for FLASH sonars on French Navy NH90s

The NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA), in the name of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), has awarded Thales a two-year contract, with a three-year extension close, to support 14 FLASH dipping sonars on the French Navy's 27 NH90 NFH helicopters.

Thales has extensive experience in the delivery of through-life support services for underwater warfare systems and offers a broad range of options to meet the individual requirements of each customer: documentation, supplies and replacement parts, logistics, hotline assistance, repairs, obsolescence management, test and maintenance benches, all-inclusive performance-based contracts and more.

This contract includes an array of on-demand and fixed-fee services delivered on a local basis to ensure a rapid response.

Read more