China Supplies Air Defense Systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Uzbekistan

China has supplied its new generation medium- to long-range HQ-9 air defense systems to Uzbekistan, according to the country’s news website 12news.

Tashkent has also received at least one percussion UAV, the Pterodactyl (Yilong-1), which was developed by China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.

Similar deliveries have been made to Turkmenistan, the website quotes Chinese newspaper "Huantsyu Shibao" as saying.

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U.S. Air Force delays competition for ground surveillance planes

The U.S. Air Force's fiscal 2016 budget released on Monday delayed a long-awaited competition for a new air-ground surveillance aircraft to replace the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS).

The budget plan said it had restructured the program's acquisition strategy to allow more time for technologydevelopment and reduce risk, which delayed the target date for initial combat use by one year to fiscal 2023.

The JSTARS program has been delayed repeatedly, although potential bidders had been heartened by statements from Air Force officials in recent months, as they began to talk about the program as a key priority.

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In budget docs, Air Force again pushes to retire A-10

The Air Force again unveiled plans Monday to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt as part of its proposed budget for the coming year.

The Warthog, as it’s also known, faces the ax as a way to save money under all the service’s budget scenarios, but the Air Force warned that the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone and the procurement of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, among other key initiatives, are being threatened by a potential cap on defense spending.

However, the Air Force’s $167.3 billion budget plan largely sidesteps impending cuts and instead proposes moderate hikes in spending and manpower, which the service says are necessary to recover from sequestration reductions in fiscal 2013 that pinched operations and reduced readiness to its lowest levels since the early 1980s.

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Analysis: The Philippines’ Naval Build Up

Like many of its regional peers, the Philippines is in the midst of a defense buildup, motivated in no small part by China’s assertive moves in the western Philippine Sea and the resource-rich Spratly islands.

The donation this week of two Balikpapan-class Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) from Australia was the most recent boost to Philippines defense efforts.

The LCH donation is particularly timely, as it complements the upcoming pair of Strategic Sealift Vessels (SSV), being built by PT PAL Indonesia.

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North Korean pilots vow to use suicide attacks

Amidst growing tensions between North Korea and the United States, Pyongyang issued Monday yet another threat that it will destroy enemies with suicide attacks by its military pilots.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with a group of fighter jet pilots who showed outstanding performances during the first combat exercise of this year, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Monday.

During the meeting, the pilots pledged their commitment to “completely destroy the enemies with the most powerful weapons - their commitment to guard the leader with suicide attacks.”

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UK-Russia Tension Escalates After Reported Nuclear Missile In Intercepted Russian Bomber

The Russian bomber jet intercepted over the English Channel last week had reportedly carried nuclear missiles designed to target Trident submarines. Royal Air Force fighter planes were scrambled after the UK detected two Russian TU-95 bombers flying over the Channel.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon were informed after it was confirmed that the Russian plane’s nuclear payload was detected by a Norwegian military listening post, Express.co reports.

The information was also shared with the Ministry of Defence. According to ministry sources, one of the Russian bombers was carting at least one “nuclear warhead-carrying missile” designed to seek and destroy a Vanguard submarine.

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Hayward Tyler to supply 9 pumps for Royal Navy’s submarines

Hayward Tyler Group plc has won contracts worth more than £1.0 million to supply nine specialist pumps for deployment in the British Royal Navy’s Astute Class and Vanguard Class submarines.

Ewan Lloyd-Baker, CEO of Hayward Tyler, said: “We are greatly encouraged by the progress we continue to make in our core markets both domestically and internationally, which allows us to proceed with our expansion plans with confidence.”

Hayward Tyler is currently expanding its main manufacturing facilities in Luton, UK. The expansion, which started in December 2014, will increase the Luton's factory’s footprint by around 40%, enhance the group’s capabilities in the civil nuclear and subsea oil & gas markets, and result in a potential doubling of capacity.

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Navy's $160B Proposed Budget Increases Sea Pay and Submarines

The Navy received the largest boost of any of the services in the Pentagon's 2016 budget proposal announced Monday as the Navy looks to buy two new Virginia-class submarines, refuel the George Washington aircraft carrier and offer increased sea pay to its sailors, amongst other initiatives.

The Navy's 2016 budget request asks for $10 billion more than last year to pay for increases in shipbuilding, research, operations and maintenance, readiness and personnel. Overall, the Navy's budget proposal is $160.9 billion.

"Across the full scope of the request there was a strong focus on innovation and reform," said Adm. William Lescher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Budget.

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DF-21D ballistic missiles deployed to Guangdong: Kanwa

To stop US carrier groups from entering South China Sea waters, the Second Artillery Corps, China's strategic missile force, has recently deployed DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles to the southern province of Guangdong, according to the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review.

The expansion of the Second Artillery Corps unit in Guangdong began in 2010, according to a report from the Pentagon. It has nine parking lots for the mobile launchers and an additional 13 lots for other vehicles.

The facilities apparently also contain a training field, office building and checkpost, according to a satellite photo.

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Kuban Military Aviation Base to Get 25 New Yak-130 Training Planes in 2015

The Zhukovsky and Gagarin Air Force Academy in Armavir, Krasnodar is set to receive five new Yakovlev Yak-130 light attack training aircraft this week, with twenty more to be delivered before the year is out, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.

The completed planes, which have been undergoing testing in the Irkutsk region in Siberia at the Irkut Corporation plant, are set to make their long journey across the country this week.

The subsonic two-seater advanced trainer/light attack aircraft, NATO code-named Mitten, was developed by the A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau, and is being produced by Irkut, a member of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation.

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NATO sees resilience as key issue in AWACS replacement

Resilience, innovation and advances in technology will be key factors as NATO maps out a multibillion-dollar effort to replace its aging fleet of 17 Boeing Co E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, a top NATO official told Reuters.

French General Jean-Paul Palomeros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said NATO was starting to map out its requirements for the next-generation of weapons to detect air and surface threats, which will be needed between 2030 and 2035.

Growing threats and greater ability to share information pointed to a so-called "system of systems" approach, rather than a straight one-for-one replacement of a few, highly visible aircraft that would be vulnerable to attack.

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Kinloss rescue centre closure confirmed

The UK Government has confirmed that the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC ) at Kinloss will close and operations will be moved to Fareham in Hampshire. The confirmation that the life saving services are to be moved to the South of England came in a letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon from Prime Minister David Cameron.

The confirmation is the latest in a series of disproportionate MoD defence cuts in Scotland which have included the ending of RAF flight operations at two out of three airbases, the scrapping of the entire maritime patrol fleet and the lowest personnel numbers in living memory.

SNP Westminster leader and defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP for Moray said:

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More news leaks point to China's plans for second aircraft carrier

News that China is building its second aircraft carrier leaked out again on the weekend, once more through official civilian channels before the reports were pulled.

A city government microblog and an official newspaper in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, separately mentioned on Saturday that a power cable manufacturer in the city had "won a tender for the second aircraft carrier". The sources cited a city government economic and information technology conference held on Friday.

In January last year, Liaoning party chief Wang Min reportedly told a provincial people's congress panel that the second carrier was being built in Dalian , home to the country's first carrier.

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BAE Systems to develop ASW drone to help Navy P-8A hunt enemy subs from altitude

Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts at BAE Systems are developing an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sensor payload able to look for submerged enemy submarines by detecting small variations in the Earth's magnetic field.

Officials of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., announced an $8.9 million contract to the BAE Systems Electronic Systems segment in Merrimack, N.H., for the High Altitude ASW (HAASW) Unmanned Targeting Air System (UTAS) program for the Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol jet.

HAASW UTAS seeks to integrate a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) and algorithms for use on an air-launched drone that the P-8A will use to detect and pinpoint enemy submarines.

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PLA's Type 091 nuclear submarine 'based on US toys'

Huang Xuhua, China's chief submarine designer, has told Shenzhen Satellite Television that China's Type 091 Han-Class nuclear-powered submarine was designed and developed based on two toys from the United States.

After Huang took over the position as chief designer of the Type 091 submarine from Peng Shilu in 1983, he argued that the linear-shape design is no longer suitable for nuclear-powered submarines which operate at high speeds and at depths of up to 300 meters.

Since each tangent plane of the hull is round in a streamlined water-drop shape, Huang believes the boat will be subject to minimum friction or drag while maintaining stability at great depths.

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Longest serving Irish naval vessel is decommissioned

The longest serving vessel in the naval service, LÉ Aoife, has been decommissioned at a special ceremony in Waterford.

In 35 years of service to the State she travelled in excess of 600,000 nautical miles, an equivalent of circumnavigating the globe 28 times, and her crew has boarded over 4,700 vessels at sea and detained over 440 fishing vessels.

During her service LÉ Aoife was involved in numerous successful operations, primarily involving her role as a fishery protection vessel, but also search and rescue missions, most notably, the recovery in 1985 of the black box from Air India Flight 182 off the south west coast.

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TKMS offers Type 209 and Type 210 submarines to Royal Thai Navy

Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has made a double submarine offer to Thailand featuring the company's Type 209/1400mod and Type 210mod platforms, IHS Jane's understands.

The company highlighted the capabilities of the two submarines in meetings in Bangkok recently as part of the Royal Thai Navy's (RTN's) continuing review of submarine platforms, said sources.

This evaluation programme - which has also featured Russia's Kilo-class Project 636 submarine and China's Yuan-class (Type 041) platform - is in support of the RTN's plan to procure up to three submarines within the next few years.

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Missile man signs off on high

The head of the defence research establishment, Avinash Chander, who was told to demit office earlier this month, today signed off after a test-launch of his pet Agni-V missile that was reported to be successful.

Chander, who was in Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast when the missile was launched shortly after eight this morning, said the weapon was now in "deliverable configuration".

This was the third test-firing of the missile that has a range of about 5000km and can deliver a nuclear warhead weighing 1.1 tonnes. The range of the missile means that it can be fired from, say, Kanyakumari, to hit targets north of India.

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MiG-21 Fighter Jet Crashes in Gujarat's Jamnagar, Pilot Safe

A MiG-21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force today crashed near Bed village in Gujarat's Jamnagar disrtict.

The pilot was able to eject safely before the crash. The jet was on a routine exercise mission. "The pilot safely ejected and landed in tide-pool created by the sea water near the spot," said Suerintendent of Police Neeraj Badgujar.

The pilot who has sustained minor injuries was rescued by an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper immediately after the crash.

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Northrop Ad To Run During Super Bowl: Hints At Next-Gen Bomber

It will be one of the great weapons competitions of the 21st century. Northrop Grumman is competing against a team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin to build the Long Range Strike Bomber.

The company has also created design teams to work on so-called sixth generation fighters for the Air Force and the Navy.

With the Pentagon budget due out on Monday — and the bomber program expected to occupy a proud place in the Air Force budget – Northrop Grumman will air its new ad during America’s hottest television ad event — the Super Bowl.

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Missile defense ships face arms race, high op tempo

There may be rough seas ahead for the Navy's ballistic missile defense force.

Demands are high for the Navy's BMD-capable ships and, soon, land sites, and for good reason. More than 1,200 ballistic missiles have been added to the arsenals of potential adversaries in the past five years, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

North Korea, Syria and Iran are making strides in development and production, with Iran ready as soon as this year to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, according to reports by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

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Intercepted Russian bomber was carrying a nuclear missile over the Channel

RAF Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled on Wednesday after two long-range TU-95 “Bear” bombers were detected flying over the English Channel.

The incident was last night described as “yet another in a series of deliberately provocative” measures by President Vladimir Putin which confirmed that Nato’s status had moved firmly from “rival to adversary”.

Sources within the Ministry of Defence last night revealed that one of the two long-range bombers was carrying at least one air-dropped “seek and find"d nuclear warhead-carrtying missile, designed to seek and destroy a Vanguard submarine.

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Lawyer: Lax rules preceded submarine shower videos

A dozen male sailors are waiting to see whether they'll be charged for recording, distributing or not reporting videos of their female shipmates in a submarine's shower changing area for over a year.

And one suspect's attorney is building a defense based, at least in part, on the contention that personal electronics rules aboard a sub are muddy and unevenly enforced.

Attorney James Stein, based near Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia, contends that not only is the PED instruction confusing, most sailors and officers don't follow it.

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S. Korean Navy launches submarine command

The South Korean Navy on Sunday inaugurated a submarine command as part of efforts to bolster its underwater capabilities and combat readiness against North Korea.

The fleet of the command, based in the southern port city of Jinhae and led by a rear admiral, is composed of 13 submarines under the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, the Navy said in a statement.

The Navy operates nine 1,200-ton submarines and four 1,800-ton subs, while planning to add five more 1,800-ton submarines to be built by 2019. In addition, it plans to deploy nine 3,000-ton submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles, starting in 2020.

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India's Agni-V missile: Five things you need to know

Marking a historic day in India's nuclear deterrence, India on Saturday successfully launched its longest range ballistic missile Agni-V from the Wheeler's Island off the Odisha coast. Being triumphant in the previous two test launches (once in 2011 and another in 2012) Agni-V has now made India a missile superpower.

Agni-V is India's first intercontinental ballistic missile and is a significant achievement by the Defence Research and development Organisation of India (DRDO). The DRDO started the development of IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Project)- Agni missiles, in 1983 under the office of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Here are some interesting facts you must know about this super missile:

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