France and Germany seek to revive EU defence policy

The EU needs to do more for international security France and Germany have said as they call for improved battlegroups and the use of drones in civilian airspace.

In a joint letter and ideas paper, dated Friday (26 July), the foreign ministers of both countries say that amid "asymmetrical threats" the EU needs to "assume increased responsibility for international peace and security."

They add that they are committed to making a planned EU defence summit in December a "success" with "tangible results."

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The initial HAD/E Tiger assembled in Eurocopter Spain performs its first flight

Eurocopter’s Tiger combat helicopter program has reached an important new milestone with the maiden flight yesterday of the initial Tiger HAD/E variant assembled at Eurocopter's Spanish facilities in Albacete, Spain.

This is an important achievement for both the Tiger program and for Eurocopter Spain,” said Juan Luis Cordero, the Eurocopter Tiger program manager in Spain.

“The assembly of this helicopter was made possible thanks to a significant investment in both industrial and human resources and also to the close coordination with other entities in the Group.”

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Rolls-Royce receives $195.5 million contract for Liftsystem production, support for F-35B Lightning II

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a $195.5 million contract to produce and support LiftSystems™ for the F-35 Lightning II program, the unique technology that provides vertical-lift for 5th-generation combat aircraft.

The Rolls-Royce LiftSystem® enables F-35B aircraft to perform short takeoffs and vertical landings (STOVL) and is currently in service with the US Marine Corps in Yuma, Arizona.

The final agreement with Pratt & Whitney for the fifth production lot includes three complete LiftSystems, spares, sustainment, program management, engineering and field support.

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BrahMos air version to be tested before year-end

The aerial version of BrahMos cruise missile with reduced weight would be fitted with deep fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30MKI to undergo the first flight trial before this year end, said CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace A. Sivathanu Pillai here on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of ‘BrahMos Aerospace Industry Consortium Meet’, he said one missile would be integrated with aircraft and “we will carry out flight tests initially with the missile not having propellants.” It would be a weight simulated missile.

He said live flights would be carried out next year and the Air Force version inducted into service by 2015.

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President Obama Sending Drones All Around the Globe

The “next phase of drone warfare” will extend “far beyond traditional, declared combat zones," the Washington Post reports.

Africa, according to the report filed July 20, will see an enormous increase in the sorties of unmanned aerial vehicles remotely piloted by U.S. airmen.

The commander of U.S. forces in Africa has purportedly requested a “15-fold increase in surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering on the continent.”

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Committee probes German ministry's drone debacle

An investigative committee in the German parliament is aiming to explain why the Euro Hawk drone, after years in the making and investments of more than 600 million euros, can't receive flight permission.

If you ask someone to explain the role of parliamentary investigative committees in Germany, expect to hear some martial arts language.

These committees are often called "the opposition's sharpest swords" because opposition parties are able to push through such committees with just a quarter of the votes in parliament and can flex their muscles in public.

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China puts Japan on notice that warship drills are now routine

Japan may not like the reality, but the fact is that Chinese warships are in the neighborhood--and here to stay.

As Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Geng Yansheng pointed out July 25, “Drills by the Chinese Navy in the Western Pacific have already become routine.”

While its warships brazenly pass through Japanese straits, Chinese submarines also roam unchallenged around Japanese waters. Even its aircraft are not above entering Japanese airspace.

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China’s Military Preparing for ‘People’s War’ in Cyberspace, Space

China’s military is preparing for war in cyberspace involving space attacks on satellites and the use of both military and civilian personnel for a digital “people’s war,” according to an internal Chinese defense report.

“As cyber technology continues to develop, cyber warfare has quietly begun,” the report concludes, noting that the ability to wage cyber war in space is vital for China’s military modernization.

According to the report, strategic warfare in the past was built on nuclear weapons. “But strategic warfare in the information age is cyber warfare,” the report said.

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F-35 Prices Drop 8 Percent In $7 Billion Deal

The Pentagon and F-35 maker Lockheed Martin have agreed on the terms of a deal for the Defense Department to buy two lots of F-35s for $7 billion.

The big question now is the average price per plane for each tranche (LRIP 6 and 7). While we’ve confirmed with two sources that the deal is as Reuter’s Andrea Shalal-Esa has reported it, no one has yet squealed on the money question.

This will be the number that JSF critics probably will fasten on. The last batch (LRIP 5) of 32 F-35s went for $3.8 billion.

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China opens doors of secretive military base to journalists

China has allowed a rare visit to a secretive military base in an effort to allay concerns over its strategic intentions.

The base was in the western-city of Xi'an, which falls under the Lanzhou Military Region; one of the seven the country is divided up into.

The Lanzhou region is important because China's restive far-Western region of Xinjiang also lies within its boundaries. Xinjiang itself borders central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Chinese paper hits AFP move to Subic

Subic Bay
China believes the Philippine plan to relocate major air force and navy bases to the former US naval base in Subic Bay in the West Philippine Sea is aimed at increasing pressure on it and bringing in more outside forces to the region.

In a report in the state-owned newspaper China Daily, Li Guoqiang, deputy director of the Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Philippines is building up and concentrating military forces near the South China Sea to target China.

“If all related parties resort to military means as Manila has for a resolution, the region will surely become a powder keg,” Li said.

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Russian intercontinental ballistic rocket R-36M2 Voyevoda: 25 years in service

Exactly 25 years ago the intercontinental ballistic rocket R-36M2, which received the name Voyevoda in Russia and SS-18 Satan in the NATO classification, was launched into service.

Being extremely powerful in its destruction capabilities and unique in overcoming any missile defense systems, this rocket became one of the legends of the Cold War.

Experts talked to the Voice of Russia about the role of this rocket complex in the global policy of nuclear containment and what will come to replace it.

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Video gives insight into latest Barrow nuclear-powered super sub

The footage shows how part of the sixth Astute Class submarine, Agamemnon, was taken along the streets of Barrow into Devonshire Dock Hall and put into position for the keel laying ceremony.

The ceremony was held at BAE Systems earlier this month to formally mark the transition from fabrication in the New Assembly Shop to full construction in DDH.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne, who used the occasion to re-iterate the government's commitment to commissioning the Vanguard Class replacement programme, unveiled the keel.

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Senate Defense panel approves $594B Pentagon appropriations bill

The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Defense on Tuesday passed a $594.4 billion bill that keeps Pentagon spending at pre-sequester levels in 2014.

The bill, which includes $516.4 billion in base defense spending and $77.8 billion in war spending, does not take sequestration into account, following the same path as the other three Defense bills Congress has moved this year.

If sequestration is not averted, the Pentagon’s 2014 budget proposal would face a $52 billion cut.

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Sen. McCain calls for pause in funding of U.S. Navy's ships

U.S. Senator John McCain, who has railed for years against wasteful Pentagon arms programs, on Tuesday took aim at the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship program, urging better oversight and a pause in funding until certain concerns are lifted.

Speaking on the Senate floor, the Arizona Republican said he worried that the Navy would have bought half of a planned total of 52 of the new warships before they and their interchangeable mission packages had been fully tested and proved effective - a milestone they are not expected to reach until 2019.

McCain's comments came a week after a critical report by congressional Government Accountability Office, and the release of an older, equally critical internal Navy study on the new ships, which are designed to patrol coastal waters while addressing threats including mines and enemy submarines.

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Submarine Furor Returns to Malaysia

A central figure in the massive bribery case of Malaysian officials for the purchase of submarines from a subsidiary of the French defense contractor DCN has caused a furor in Malaysia with an exclusive interview with the Kuala Lumpur-based political party broadsheet New Straits Times.

In the interview, Jasbir Singh Chahl told the newspaper, which is owned by the United Malays National Organization, the country's biggest political party, that the murdered Mongolian party girl and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu had never acted as a translator in the affair.

He also said Perimekar Sdn Bhd., then a wholly owned subsidiary of a company owned by one of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak's best friends, actually had done legitimate work to earn a €114.96 "commission" that has been characterized as a bribe by French officials.

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Iraq requests Bell 412 EP helicopters sale from US

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of Bell 412 enhanced performance (EP) helicopters and associated equipment to Iraq.

Under the estimated $300m FMS, Iraq has requested the supply of a total of 12 Bell 412 EP helicopters fitted with Star SAFIRE III electro optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems, Pratt and Whitney PT6T-3DF engines, KDM-706 distance measuring equipment, KNR 634 VOR/LOC with MB/HSI, and MST67A transponder.

Additional equipment to be supplied include the Artex C406-1HM emergency locator transmitter, Wulfsberg FlexComm II C5000 system with synthesised guard, KTR-908 very high frequency radios, NAT AA-95 audio system, 660 weather radar, AAI radome, night vision imaging system (NVIS) compatible cockpit lighting, and SX-16 Nightsun systems.

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F-16 pilots may soon be using small Windows 8 tablets in flight

Inside the cramped cabin of an F-16 fighter jet, military pilots have to bring in a lot of gear: printed reports, flight maps, manuals, and paper checklists for their missions and aircraft procedures.

"It's like sitting in a tub," an F-16 pilot who asked for anonymity told CITEworld. "They have side arm controllers, so the flight controls are where you rest your arms. It's a tight cockpit. There's not a lot of room for stuff."

To try to solve those space problems, Netherlands-based PaceBlade Technology is working to develop a digital flight bag for F-16 pilots using 8-inch Windows 8 tablet computers.

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Sea Kings could be retired sooner under proposal from US aircraft maker

The Harper government has been asked to accept the air force’s long-delayed CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopters as they are currently configured and gradually phase them into service using regular software upgrades intended to make the aircraft fully operational.

The proposal is being floated publicly by Sikorsky aircraft in the wake of a federal cabinet shuffle that has left both National Defence and Public Works with seasoned but not yet fully acclimatized ministers.

At the same time, the aircraft-maker and Defence have agreed to a separate plan that would allow flight testing to begin on four helicopters that have been delivered to the military air base in Shearwater, NS. Twenty-eight of the aircraft have been ordered.

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Keeping the USS Wasp Ready to Respond

We're thrilled to welcome the U.S. Navy’s amphibious assault ship, USS Wasp (LHD 1), to our Norfolk, VA shipyard where our team will execute a $110 million contract to perform maintenance and modernization to the vessel.

The contract modification secures a fiscal 2013 drydocking planned maintenance availability, which includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities.

Accommodating aircraft and amphibious vehicles, the USS Wasp was the Navy's vessel of choice in responding to Hurricane Irene in 2011 as well as Super Storm Sandy in 2012, offering emergency communications assistance, air traffic control capabilities, and carrying aircraft and equipment.

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Lockheed Martin Completes Long-Range Surveillance Radar Demonstration

Lockheed Martin successfully operated its full-scale prototype long-range air surveillance radar during a recent capability demonstration to the U.S. Air Force.

The Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) will serve as the principal Air Force long-range, ground-based sensor for detecting, identifying, and reporting aerial targets. This next-generation system will replace the Air Force’s AN/TPS-75 air search radar.

During the event, the 3DELRR full-scale prototype showed its maturity, flexibility, scalability, and the benefits of its open technology design.

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Turkey’s $50 billion jet program in question

When Ankara plans to build its own weapon systems or just buy them off-the-shelf, it plans big and no one seems to be worried.

But the Turkish ambitions to build a “made-in-Turkey” fighter aircraft and buy scores of the new generation, multinational combat jet F-35 may go beyond Turkey’s financing capacity.

Defense industry officials estimate that building eight prototypes for what will become the Turkish national fighter would cost Ankara over $10 billion. “Any figure in the range of $11 billion to $13 billion would be realistic,” a senior official familiar with the program said.

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Boeing Defence Australia Takes on Prime Role for Wedgetail Sustainment

Boeing Defence Australia (BDA), a local subsidiary of The Boeing Company, has taken over prime responsibility for supporting the Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) fleet from Boeing in the U.S.

The move ensures a continued high level of readiness for the nation’s command and control aircraft fleet.

Through a contract modification signed by the company and the Commonwealth of Australia, BDA will now execute the E-7A Wedgetail In-Service Support Performance-Based Logistics contract, with other Boeing organizations acting as subcontractor.

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Royal Navy pulls out of Nato commitments

Defence ministers have admitted the UK has been forced to pull out of key Nato naval defence groups in a sign of just how stretched the Royal Navy has become.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acknowledged it has not provided a frigate or destroyer for Nato’s maritime group defending the North and East Atlantic since 2009.

Written answers also reveal the Royal Navy stopped providing either of the ships for Nato’s second standing maritime group in the Mediterranean since 2010.

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Thai navy awaits cabinet nod for new frigate

The cabinet is on Tuesday expected to approve the navy's plan to procure a new frigate worth 14.6 billion baht from South Korea, a navy source said.

Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reportedly backs the plan and met navy commander Adm Surasak Rounroengrom last Friday to discuss it, the source said.

Under the proposal, the navy will contract Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to build the frigate that will include stealth technology.

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South Africa’s military meltdown

The South African military – once feared across much of Africa – is today in steep decline. Its budget has been slashed; its equipment unserviced and unserviceable and its troops demoralised.

In the 1980s – at the height of apartheid – the country spent four per cent of GDP on the military. Today that figure stands at around one per cent. While cuts were certainly justified, the scale of the reductions has done lasting damage to the Defence Force.

This is, of course, not the impression the Ministry of Defence provides the South African public. On the face of it, life continues as normal. A major military exercise is currently under way with the United States military.

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Russia to Hand Over ‘Black Hole’ Sub to Vietnam in November

The first of six Russian submarines, dubbed by the US Navy as “black holes in the ocean” because they are nearly undetectable when submerged, will be delivered to Vietnam in November, the shipbuilder said Monday.

The Varshavyanka class (Project 636M) of diesel-electric submarines have very low noise emission and can hit targets at long distances without being detected by an enemy’s anti-submarine warfare assets.

“We are expecting the signing of the acceptance act and the sub’s sailing to Vietnam in November,” the press service of Admiralty Shipyards said from St. Petersburg.

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Israel gets ready to expand its submarine fleet

The Israeli navy is getting ready to expand its fleet of German-built Dolphin-class submarines that are widely believed to give it the only seaborne nuclear missile capability in the Middle East.

Three early-model Dolphins are already in service and reportedly range as far as the Indian Ocean south of Iran.

But the navy's moving closer to deploying two more of the 1,720-ton, diesel-electric boats built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in the Baltic port of Kiel. HWD is a unit of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

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N-powered sub Arihant all set to sail out from Vizag

Indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, is finally set to sail out from its base at Vishakhapatnam.

The 6,000-tonne submarine, armed with nuclear missiles, is ready after years of efforts interspersed with sanctions in 1998 and impediments due to non-availability of cutting-edge technology.

“The nuclear reactor that will power the submarine can be formally declared ‘critical’ anytime now, while the nuclear-tipped missiles to be launched from underwater are in place,” sources said.

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Israeli navy to begin installing system to counter Yakhont missile

Israel's Navy has begun installing a new defense system on its missile boats which would protect them from the feared Russian Yakhont anti-ship missile.

The Barak 8 medium range missile is designed to intercept airborne threats, including enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles.

"History has never seen ships capable of controlling territory as well as Israel's Navy using the Barak 8 missile," according to a source familiar with the weapon.

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Indian Air Force at war with Hindustan Aeronautics; wants to import, not build, a trainer

Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne has assailed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which builds most of the fighter aircraft the IAF flies.

Writing directly to Defence Minister A K Antony in the first week of July, Browne has savaged HAL's proposal to design and build a basic trainer aircraft (BTA) for rookie IAF pilots.

Rejecting the proposal, Browne has urged Antony to import 106 PC-7 Mark II trainers from Swiss company Pilatus.

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U.S. Navy eyes C-2, H-60 replacement programs

The Sikorsky H-60 Seahawk helicopter and Northrop Grumman C-2 Greyhound carrier-on-board delivery (COD) plane are longtime stalwarts of Navy operations.

The 35 Greyhounds constantly shuttle passengers and cargo to and from the fleet’s aircraft carriers, while some 460 H-60s of various models carry out a wide range of missions.

Both aircraft types will become due for replacement, and the way ahead for each has yet to be determined.

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INS Vikramaditya comes out with flying colours during exhaustive sea trials, Navy relieved

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (also Gorshkov), the Indian Navy's last remaining vessel to be delivered by a foreign shipyard, came out with flying colours when it was operated on full throttle during exhaustive sea trials in Barents Sea in Russia on Saturday.

The trial feedback helped in overcoming anxiety in New Delhi about the performance of the ship which had faltered during high speed runs last year when its boilers faulted resulting in engines failing to produce adequate power to propel the 45,000-ton vessel.

It was a major setback as the delivery of the ship, India's second aircraft carrier, was pushed by a year. After extensive repairs, the ship was back in the sea earlier this month for final delivery trials.

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U.S. surveillance planes conduct patrols in South China Sea

A classified government document seen by Kyodo News on Friday confirmed that U.S. Navy surveillance planes conduct routine maritime patrol to monitor activities in the disputed South China Sea.

"(There were) confirmed flights of U.S. P3C Orion aircraft over the South China Sea especially (in the contested Spratly Islands)," according to the document.

Last year, Philippine President Benigno Aquino revealed that Manila was seeking U.S. deployment of P3C Orion spy planes over the disputed sea since the Philippines lacks the capability to monitor its territorial and maritime claims in the sea.

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GA-ASI Successfully Flight Tests Improved Gray Eagle

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems, today announced the successful first flight of the U.S. Army's Improved Gray Eagle® (IGE), a next-generation derivative of the combat-proven Block 1 Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) that has accumulated over 70,000 flight hours since 2008.

The flight occurred today at the company's El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Adelanto, Calif.

"Improved Gray Eagle will provide a game-changing capability, adding more endurance, more payload carriage, with increased reliability for our Army customer", said Frank W. Pace, president, Aircraft Systems Group, GA-ASI. "The first flight of this aircraft ushers in a new era in unmanned aviation, building upon the successes of its predecessor and providing unmatched, life-saving support for our troops abroad."

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Manila to move air force, navy near disputed sea

Subic Bay
The Philippines plans to relocate major air force and navy camps to a former U.S. naval base north of Manila to gain faster access to waters being contested by China in the South China Sea, according to the country's defense chief and a confidential government report.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Sunday that as soon as relocation funds are available the government plans to transfer air force and naval forces and their fleets of aircraft and warships to Subic Bay, which has become a busy free port since the 1992 departure of the U.S. Navy.

"It's for the protection of our West Philippine Sea," Gazmin told The Associated Press by telephone, using the name adopted by the Philippine government for the disputed South China Sea.

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America Needs To Develop A New Bomber Now

The existing bomber force cannot cope with new challenges indefinitely.

As countries like China pursue anti-access strategies and more agile air defenses become available to potential adversaries, the U.S. must recapitalize its aging bomber fleet.

Failure to do so could eventually result in major military setbacks, since future enemies will doubtless attack the joint force where it is weakest.

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India Readies Aircraft Carrier For Aug. 12 Launch

Indian government officials recently told journalists that the first vessel of the country’s Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) program would be launched Aug. 12.

The 45,000-ton, 284-metre INS Vikrant, currently under construction at the Cochin shipyard, is expected to enter sea trials ten months after launch, and would be ready for operational service after another five years, according to a report in Aviation Week.

The ship had originally been slated for full operations by 2014, though difficulties with steel supplies and the ship’s gearbox have delayed this until 2018.

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Russia's Mediterranean Fleet Foreign Policy Tool – Ex-Navy Chief

Russia’s task force created in the Mediterranean Sea should be an effective tool of the country’s foreign policy, an ex-navy chief said on Sunday.

Russia began setting up a naval task force in the Mediterranean in March, sending several warships from the Pacific Fleet to the region for the first time in decades, including the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the Peresvet and the Admiral Nevelsky amphibious warfare ships, the Pechenga tanker and the salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov.

Warships from Russia’s Northern, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets are also currently staying in the Mediterranean on a rotating basis. Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov said in May the Mediterranean task force may be enlarged to include nuclear submarines.

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US confirms Taipei submarine request still being reviewed

The Pentagon has confirmed that Taiwan’s request for a diesel submarine “design and feasibility study” is still under review and that no decision has yet been made.

“The Department of Defense will continue to consider carefully any Taiwan requests for defense articles and services,” US Under Secretary of Defense James Miller said.

“To date, Taiwan has not submitted any requests for technical assistance or export licensing support pertaining to a submarine program,” Miller said in a letter to US Representative Robert Andrews.

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Ingalls Shipbuilding Delivers DDG 1001 Aft PVLS to U.S. Navy

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division announced today it has delivered the final aft peripheral vertical launch system (PVLS) assemblies to the U.S. Navy for the Zumwalt-class destroyer Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001). The two units for the PVLS were delivered a week early.

"Our shipbuilders have done an outstanding job in incorporating lessons learned from the first aft PVLS products," said Ingalls DDG 1000 Program Manager Steve Sloan.

"Delivering these products a week early demonstrates smart shipbuilding by using previous experiences to integrate an improved plan to do it better the second time around. With a constant focus on safety and quality, our shipbuilders have done outstanding work on these units."

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Russian Defense Ministry Signs $100 Mln Deal to Overhaul 3 Tu-160 Bombers

Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, Tupolev said Friday.

The delivery date for the supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber is December 31, 2015, the company said.

The ministry said last year at least 10 of the Russian Air Force’s Tu-160 bombers will be modernized by 2020, after which the upgraded aircraft will remain in service until a new-generation strategic bomber known as PAK-DA is developed.

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Untold Tale Behind USS Guardian Reef Grounding: NGA’s Map Was Wrong By 8 Miles

The January grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian in a Philippine coral reef was caused in large part by a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) map that was, quite simply, wrong by eight nautical miles, Breaking Defense has learned.

“It really was just a terrible fluke that caused the error,” NGA spokeswoman Christine Phillips said in a frank discussion of the incident and its aftermath.

The Sulu Sea grounding prompted NGA to order an agency-wide review of the nautical charts detailing the entire surface of the earth covered by the oceans. Also, NGA and the Navy have convened a team of maritime experts to take “an exhaustive look to make sure we are as sound as we can be,” Phillips told me.

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Dutch receive F-35 test aircraft

The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands reports it has officially been transferred the first of two F-35s ordered in 2009 and 2011.

The aircraft is for test purposes and is in the conventional takeoff and landing variant.

The next-generation fighter, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin-led industry team, was officially handed over earlier this month at Fort Worth, Texas, and is being stored at a U.S. Air Force base in Florida.

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Lockheed Martin Delivers Upgraded Orion In 10 Months

Lockheed Martin achieved an unprecedented milestone by delivering a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) P-3 Orion aircraft in 10 months – and 78 days early -- on July 18.

This is the eighth of 14 aircraft in the program to receive Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) modifications and phased depot maintenance. It will soon join the CBP P-3 MLU fleet conducting homeland security and drug interdiction missions.

“Our Greenville team continues to demonstrate a high level of excellence in the complex work associated with maintenance, repair and overhaul,” said Ray Burick, Lockheed Martin vice president for Modification, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Greenville Site and Field Team Operations.

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Russia’s latest attack submarine to have advanced sonar system

Russia’s latest Project 885M Yasen-class attack submarine will have an advanced sonar system allowing it to detect enemy ships at an early stage, the submarine’s engineering bureau said on Friday, according to RIA Novosti.

The Novosibirsk, the third of eight Yasen-class boats (designated Graney-class by NATO), is to be laid down at the Sevmash shipyard near the White Sea on Friday.

The boat’s designer, the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau company said ahead of the ceremony that the new Yasen-M will be have an advanced design that would significantly increase its ability to detect enemy vessels at speeds far higher speed that those of its predecessors.

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EUCOM head touts U.S. Air Force mission in Poland; signals commitment to region

A severe budget crunch will not force U.S. European Command to downsize its military mission in Poland, where a forward-based aviation detachment works alongside Polish pilots, EUCOM commander Gen. Philip Breedlove said on Friday.

The aviation detachment survived the first round of budget cuts, and there are no plans on the horizon to downsize the mission at Lask Air Base in Poland, Breedlove told reporters during a conference call.

“We are getting great results,” Breedlove said. “We intend to stay with this round of exercises.”

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No New Weapons at North Korea Military Parade

North Korea has staged a huge military parade in the sprawling Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. But there were no signs of new weapons on display.

The parade, dubbed as the largest-ever held by North Korea, gives a rare opportunity to defence experts across the world to closely scrutinise North Korea's latest additions to its arsenal.

Although no significant new weapons were paraded, the show did not disappoint spectators as the defiant nation showcased its military might to the fullest.

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North Korea unveiling its greatest Cold War prize: captured US Navy spy ship USS Pueblo

If there was ever any doubt about what happened to the only U.S. Navy ship that is being held by a foreign government, North Korea has cleared it up. It's in Pyongyang. And it looks like it's here to stay.

With a fresh coat of paint and a new home along the Pothong River, the USS Pueblo, a spy ship seized off North Korea's east coast in the late 1960s, is expected to be unveiled this week as the centerpiece of a renovated war museum to commemorate what North Korea calls "Victory Day," the 60th anniversary this Saturday of the signing of the armistice that ended hostilities in the Korean War.

The ship is North Korea's greatest Cold War prize, a potent symbol of how the country has stood up to the great power of the United States, once in an all-out ground war and now with its push to develop the nuclear weapons and sophisticated missiles it needs to threaten the U.S. mainland.

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FAA Certifies First 2 Types Of Drones For Civilian Use

Federal regulators say they have certified two types of unmanned aircraft for civilian use, a milestone expected to lead to the first approved commercial drone operations later this summer.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday the drones are Insitu's Scan Eagle X200 and AeroVironment's PUMA.

Both weigh less than 55 pounds, are about 4.5 feet long and have wingspans of 9 to 10 feet.

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Royal Navy frigates sold off for scrap for £3m

Four decommissioned Royal Navy frigates are destined for the scrapyard, the BBC has learned.

Type 22s HMS Cumberland, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Chatham and HMS Cornwall are currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) expects to receive just under £3m from the sales agreed earlier this month.

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MMRCA deal still some way off as irritants remain

Though India and France failed to ink the much-awaited $10.4-billion 126 MMRCA deal during the French defence minister's visit on Friday, the two sides discussed military cooperation, including high-technology areas involving joint research and development, and transfer of technology as well as the security situation in the Af-Pak region.

During the 90-minute talks, defence minister AK Antony and his counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, highlighted the ongoing military hardware cooperation, including the Dassault's Rafale combat aircraft deal.

Besides the $6-billion Maitri surface-to-air missile defence system, delays in several deals, involving French interests such as the Rs 15,000-crore 197 light utility helicopters (LUH), Rs 7,500-crore six midair refuelers and Rs 13,000-crore six Scorpene conventional submarines, came up during the talks.

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Submarine Alexander Nevsky to test-fire Bulava ICBM in September

Russia's strategic missile carrying nuclear submarine Alexander Nevsky, Project 955 Borei, is expected to test-fire a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the second half of September, a Russian Navy spokesman told Interfax-AVN on Friday.

"During the final stage of its state-commissioned trials, the nuclear submarine Alexander Nevsky in submerged position will conduct practical work with a Bulava missile in the second half of September," he said.

On orders from the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, the submarine will test-fire one Bulava missile using its new automatic missile launch control system, he said.

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Trials of Arjun Mark-II main-battle tanks to be completed this year

The advanced version of the homegrown main-battle tank, Arjun, is all set to complete its protracted trials this year, which will include firing the Israeli-origin laser guided LAHAT missiles from its main gun.

This Mark-II version of the Arjun has "89 upgrades or improvements'' over the earlier 124 Mark-I tanks inducted by the Army. "The trials began in June 2012 at the Mahajan field firing ranges in Rajasthan.

Phase-II of the trials, which basically revolve around the armaments, kicked off in May-June this year,'' said an official on Thursday.

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Man says plane part fell into backyard

Neighbors on the city's Northwest Side had a big scare Thursday morning after a part of a U.S. Air Force C-17 fell in a San Antonio man's backyard.

It happened around 8 a.m. in the 6500 block of Spring Hurst Drive.

Robert Coultress-Rodriguez said he was walking his friend home when they saw something drop out of the sky.

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First Tranche 3 Typhoon is on the move

The first Tranche 3 Typhoon, BS116, has been transferred from final assembly to the paint shop facility where it spent two weeks getting a makeover.

Next pit stop
The Tranche 3 jet will progress to the hush house, our sound-proofed engine testing facility, for a series of engine ground runs in the next few weeks.

First test flights are expected to take place in September/October 2013.

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Northrop Grumman to Supply Steering Gear Systems for Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded contracts totaling $14.4 million by prime contractors General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries to supply the steering gear system for three new DDG 51 Class Arleigh Burke destroyers.

The steering gear system is vital for the control and maneuverability of the ship and is directly linked to the integrated bridge, as well as the navigation and inertial navigation systems that Northrop Grumman is supplying under separate contracts for the DDG 51 Class destroyers.

Northrop Grumman has been the sole provider of the steering gear system for the DDG 51 Class since production began during the 1980s.

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