Rolls facing inquiry over Indian jet bribes claim

Rolls-Royce is facing a new corruption inquiry over allegations that it paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk trainer jet engines to an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Indian government.

According to officials, Indian defence minister A. K. Antony called in detectives from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which handles high-profile cases, after allegations of bribes were made in an anonymous letter.

The letter alleged bribes were paid to staff at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the state-owned aircraft manufacturer based in Bangalore, to help Rolls-Royce win deals to supply Hawk advanced jet trainers between 2007 and 2011.

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A big step in India's Rafale jet deal with France

The Indian government and French aerospace major Dassault have sealed a work share agreement in what is being described as a big step forward, almost two years after negotiations began in the deal for 126 Rafale fighter jets to be bought by India.

The government's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL will do 70 per cent of the work on the 108 planes that will be manufactured in India. Dassault would do the rest of the work, sources said.

The first 18 of the fighters will be fully manufactured in France and will be brought to India in "fly-away" condition.

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Military Pilot Dies in Fighter Jet Crash in Nevada

A day after a fighter jet went down during a training exercise in western Nevada, the Navy said late Sunday that the military pilot had been killed in the crash.

It took rescue crews several hours to reach the site of Saturday's crash on a Navy range training complex east of Naval Air Station Fallon because of a snow storm and mountainous, remote terrain. But there was no immediate word released about the pilot.

U.S. Pacific Fleet said officials determined the pilot's status on Sunday, according to Naval Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Reagan Lauritzen.

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Russian 201st military base in Tajikistan puts new drones into service

New unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been put into service in the Russian 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan.

The code names are "Zastava", "Granat" and "Leer", the representational office of the base informed.

"New models, delivered on the terms of public contracts under the state defense order, will be used to support the troops and make a more effective use of the artillery. They significantly enhance the combat capabilities of the base in terrain reconnaissance in both daytime and night-time," the statement says.

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Air Force Bets $41 Billion on Sequestration

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has placed a $41 billion bet that Congress will ease off on the mandatory spending cuts in the sequester process and also go along with a White House proposal to raise taxes.

“We will be working hard to convince Congress that there’s too much risk” to the Air Force and the nation if the $41 billion in additional funding is rejected, James said last week at a defense issues forum.

In offering the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget plan last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also put forward a five-year projection calling on Congress to boost military spending by $115 billion through sequester relief.

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Taiwan to launch new prototype missile boat later this month

A locally developed prototype missile boat will be launched later this month as part of Taiwan's efforts to beef up its naval defense capabilities, the Navy said Sunday.

The launch ceremony for the prototype, which is around 500 tons, is slated to take place March 14 in Suao in the northeastern county of Yilan, the Navy said.

The Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co. was commissioned to build the high-performance boat, a type of patrol craft.

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China's aircraft carrier leaves for tests, training

China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, Sunday left its homeport of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province on tests and training missions.

The journey is the first of its kind for Liaoning in 2014 and is part of its yearly tests and training schedule, according to sources with he People's Liberation Army Navy.

The aircraft carrier and its crew have conducted a series of tests and trainings, including landing and takeoff by various aircraft on its deck.

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Navy jet crashes in Nevada, search for pilot underway

More than four hours after a Navy F/A-18C Hornet crashed in a remote mountainous region in northern Nevada, officials said they had not yet reached the scene and had not established the status of the pilot.

The single-seat jet went down during a training flight at 3 p.m. Pacific time about 70 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon, where the plane is based.

Fallon is about 60 miles east of Reno. Rugged terrain and the remote location have made it difficult for helicopters and ground crews to reach the crash site, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Reagan Lauritzen told the Los Angeles Times.

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ICBM coalition senators urge DoD to retain missile silos

Members of the Senate ICBM Coalition this week pressed Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to retain the intercontinental ballistic missile silos in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The coalition group members included Senators John Hoeven, R-N.D., Jon Tester, D-Mont. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., John Walsh, D-Mont., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo.,

Hoeven and Tester, as members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, authored a provision in the Department of Defense appropriations bill that explicitly blocks the administration from undertaking any environmental analysis to reduce the number of active silos containing Minuteman III ICBMs, all of which are located at bases in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

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Eglin F-35 flights under scrutiny

The Air Force has acknowledged that many of the F-35 flights at Eglin Air Force Base that have drawn concerns about noise and possible impact on nearby property values could be moved elsewhere, but not without considerable expense.

And anywhere the F-35 flights might go, a new Air Force study states, some area residents are still going to hear the next-generation attack aircraft.

Thus the Air Force’s new Environmental Impact Statement recommends that the training operations continue just about as they are now.

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Latest version of J-20 fighter jet completes maiden test flight

China's new version of its J-20 fighter jet completed its first test flight successfully Saturday, escorted by a J-10S fighter, a leading Chinese-language infotainment web portal cited sources as saying Saturday.

The mil.news.sina.com.cn website said the plane landed successfully at around 12:30 p.m.

Reports also said that the J-20 No. 2011 has undergone several improvements and upgrades in terms of engine capacity, as well combat and stealth ability.

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Work well underway on China's two new aircraft carriers: Military Parade

The Moscow-based Military Parade has revealed more details on China's mysterious indigenous aircraft carriers currently under construction in Dalian and Shanghai.

In an report on Feb. 28, the Russian website said that the first vessel — known as 001A and designed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation — is being built in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province and will be equipped with a steam catapult.

The new carrier is expected to have a greater tonnage than China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was originally a Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier purchased from Ukraine in 1998.

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U.S. Navy eyes greater presence in Arctic

The U.S. Navy is mapping out how to expand its presence in the Arctic beginning about 2020, given signs that the region's once permanent ice cover is melting faster than expected, which is likely to trigger more traffic, fishing and resource mining.

"The Arctic is all about operating forward and being ready. We don't think we're going to have to do war-fighting up there, but we have to be ready," said Rear Admiral Jonathan White, the Navy's top oceanographer and navigator, and director of the Navy's climate change task force.

"We don't want to have a demand for the Navy to operate up there, and have to say, 'Sorry, we can't go,'" he said.

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Test of Sub-Launched Missile Soon

The DRDO is getting set to conduct a crucial trial of sub-marine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) B-05, earlier known as K-15, from an underwater platform off the Visakhapatnam coast soon.

The test would pave the way for its first ever test from a nuclear powered submarine later this year.

A reliable source at the Chandipur test range told this paper that the nuke-capable missile is likely to be test-fired from a pontoon (replica of a submarine) nearly 20 metre under sea off the Vizag coast on March 10.

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Navy to get 2 submarines by 2015: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said two submarines would be inducted in Bangladesh Navy by 2015 to build it as a "three dimensional" force.

"A process for induction of two submarines in the naval force has been finalised as part of the present government's firm determination and commitment to turn Bangladesh Navy into a "three-dimensional force," she said, adding the two submarines would be added to the naval fleet by 2015.

Besides, she said, the work on setting up the country's biggest naval base in Ramnabad area in coastal Patuakali district has already been launched.

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Crimean Leader Appeals to Putin, Confirms Russian Troop Presence

New video shows 12 Russian Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters in Crimea
The Crimean Prime Minister said Saturday that Russian troops are operating on the Ukrainian peninsula and made a personal appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for more assistance.

The Kremlin said in a subsequent statement that it would not ignore the request for help.

Sergei Aksyonov, who was appointed prime minister after a parliamentary vote Thursday, said that an agreement was in place with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet for Russian soldiers to perform guard duties at strategic locations.

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Design of future Damen SIGMA 9814 Corvettes for Vietnamese Navy revealed

During Vietship 2014 Nava Exhibition in Vietnam, Dutch shipyard Damen unveiled for the first time the design of the Sigma 9814 Corvette ordered by Vietnam.

It was announced in October 2011 that Damen shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands will build four Sigma corvettes for the Vietnamese Navy.

The first two ships will be built in Vlissingen (Netherlands), and the last two (options) will be built in Vietnam, under Dutch supervision.

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HMCS Protecteur Stranded in Mid-Pacific After Fire

A fire in the engine room of the Canadian warship HMCS Protecteur has left the vessel stranded in the mid-Pacific in heavy seas, according to Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, the commander of the navy's Pacific fleet.

Local media reports that the fire broke out Thursday around 10:20 p.m. PT as the Protecteur was returning from operational duties with nearly 300 on board.

Auchterlonie called the fire significant as the crew battled it over a significant period of time to save the ship. The fire has damaged propulsion equipment, and several people suffered minor injuries.

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IRGC Navy Choppers Equipped with Indigenous Cruise Missiles

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy was able to mount the air-launched version of the home-made Nasr (Victory) radar-evading cruise missiles on its helicopters.

In September 2013, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan unveiled the air-launched version of two indigenous cruise missiles, Qader (Capable) and Nasr (Victory).

The two home-made products had been originally designed and mass-produced as anti-ship cruise missiles.

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Myanmar to be formidable force with Chinese missiles: report

Myanmar may soon have the capability to shoot down advanced US fighters in its territory if the country introduces HQ-12 medium-range surface-to-air missiles from China, according to Global Times, an English-language paper under the auspices of People's Daily.

The Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies reported that Myanmar purchased enough KS-1As, the export version of the HQ-12, to equip four of its air defense battalions last November. Beijing will begin the delivery of those KS-1As to the country's military this June.

The Myanmar government currently favors the weapon as it is can lock on multiple targets simultaneously, Global Times said.

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B61-12: First Pictures Show New Military Capability

The U.S. government has published the first images of the Air Force’s new B61-12 nuclear bomb. The images for the first time show the new guided tail kit that will provide new military capabilities in violation of the Nuclear Posture Review.

The tail kit will increase the accuracy of the bomb and enable it to be used against targets that today require bombs with higher yields.

The guided tail kit is also capable of supporting new military missions and will, according to the former USAF Chief of Staff, affect the way strike planners think about how to use the weapon in a war.

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Russian military regains its clout

Refitting Soviet-era warships, fielding new aircraft and tanks and seeking new overseas bases, the Russian military — which now has troops on alert amidst a crisis in Ukraine — is more potent than the force that briefly fought Georgia six years ago.

Moscow is seriously investing in building its clout. Since 2008, it has raised military spending by almost a third and drastically reformed both the armed forces and defense industry to tackle post-Cold War decay.

But Russian forces remain much weaker than at their Soviet peak and face huge problems ranging from corruption to a long-term shortage of recruits, not to mention the risk of insurgency if they set foot in Ukraine.

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US behind Turkey's purchase of Chinese missile system: Kanwa

The primary reason for Turkey, a major US ally and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to purchase the FN FS-2000, the export version of the Chinese HQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missile, was not to defend its airspace but to steal critical information regarding the missile for the United States, according to Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang, a military analyst based in Canada, also known as Pinkov.

Turkey's national interests rely on the acceptance of the United States and European Union, the article said that and for this reason it is very hard to imagine that some day Turkey will side with potential NATO adversaries such as Russia or China.

The government in Ankara also realizes how much pressure will be on them if they chose to purchase Chinese instead of American air defense systems.

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Revealed: Delay in changing submarine batteries could have caused INS Sindhuratna tragedy

Red tape has crippled the blue water capabilities of the Indian Navy, and the nation is now paying in blood for it.

A shortage of submarine batteries after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) objected to the acquisition process may well be the starting point of the series of unfortunate events that resulted in the INS Sindhuratna mishap early on Wednesday.

Sources say that the batteries on the INS Sindhuratna were not changed during its refit that ended in December 2013.

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Bangladesh, Pakistan set to get Chinese submarines

China has also signed an agreement with Pakistan to sell two Type 035G Ming-class diesel-electric submarines to Bangladesh.

China will provide submarines to Bangladesh and Pakistan, Times of India reported on Saturday.

India's submarine crisis comes just around the time China has begun arming two other neighbors, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with submarines.

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