Russia offers NATO 5-year cooperation deal

Russia has offered NATO a mid-term military cooperation plan for a period of three to five years, chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Wednesday.

"This approach will help define exactly what we want to achieve as a result of our cooperation," he told reporters in Brussels.

"This will enable us to look beyond the horizon," Gen. Makarov said, adding that "corresponding instructions have already been issued to military representatives of the NATO-Russia Council."
Russian-NATO cooperation needs to be geared more toward practical results, he said.

Royal Navy Commissions Third Type 45 Destroyer

The latest of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 air defence destroyers has been formally commissioned into the fleet today.

HMS Diamond is one of six multi-role vessels being built to provide air defence using the Sea Viper missile system.

She can embark 60 troops and their equipment, supported by a modern medical facility that can deliver a surgical capability. She could also carry up to 700 people to support a civilian evacuation.

The Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said:

Turkish Company Upgrades Leopard 2, Plans New Tanks

Aselsan has modernized a Leopard 2A4, a German-manufactured tank. Aselsan is Turkey's largest defense company. The modernized Leopard 2 will serve partly as a testbed for Turkey's planned local tank design program. This program is the Altay. Aselsan calls the modernized tank the Leopard 2 Next Generation. Aselsan has replaced the tank's electronic, electro-optical, electro-mechanical, and electro-hydraulic systems.

Previously, Aselsan upgraded 171 Leopard 1 tanks for the Turkish Army. This contract was worth $160 million.

Otokar has a $500 million contract from the Turkish military to design and develop the Altay. The production of four Altay prototypes will take place by the end of 2015.

Many of the subsystems Aselsan used to modernize the Leopard 2A4 will be included in the Altay.

India Begins War Games Along Pakistan Border

Army and the IAF will begin Monday in the deserts of Bikaner and Suratgarh near Pakistan border. "Vihayee Bhav" the exercise, will involve tank-to-tank wars, helicopter operations and others, Army officials said.

According to the Army, it has conducted 10 major exercise near the Pakistan border in the past six years and this exercise will boost synergy between the Indian defence forces.

"Battlefield tactics for warfare are being practiced in the exercise which also aims at fine-tuning the concept of Cold Start doctrine," an official said. Cold Start was a military doctrine developed by the armed forces in 2004 and involves joint operations between the three main services Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Gibraltar slams new ‘incursion’ by Spanish navy

The Gibraltar government condemned as "provocative and unlawful" an incident on Tuesday in which it said a Spanish naval vessel incurred into its territorial waters and then called on commercial ships to leave the area.

Tensions in the disputed waters off the tiny British territory were already high since an incident on April 23 involving Spanish and Gibraltar police vessels.

A British military spokesman in the rocky promontory off southern Spain said the Royal Navy issued two radio warnings to the Spanish patrol boat "Atalaya" to leave after it entered the area on Tuesday morning.

Boeing Phantom Ray Completes First Flight

The Boeing Phantom Ray unmanned airborne system (UAS) successfully completed its first flight April 27 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The 17-minute flight took place following a series of high-speed taxi tests in March that validated ground guidance, navigation and control and verified mission planning, pilot interface and operational procedures. Phantom Ray flew to 7,500 feet and reached a speed of 178 knots.

"This day has been two-and-a-half years in the making," said Darryl Davis, president, Boeing Phantom Works.

TCG Multi-Link Ground Support System to Pakistan Air Force

Tactical Communications Group (TCG) has received its fourth consecutive order from the US Air Forces' Electronic Systems Center (ESC) for a Ground Support System (GSS) for use by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

TCG's GSS solution for the (PAF) will provide their pilots a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) capability to support Link 16 simulation training and operations situational awareness on Pakistani F-16 aircraft.

By using the GSS, PAF will now be able to connect to airborne networks at a low cost and conduct efficient and effective training of network operators and aviation personnel.

US Army Tranfers High Speed Vessels to Navy

The Department of the Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) May 2 with the Department of the Army transferring all five of the Army’s Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) to the Navy.

The intent of this MOA is to clarify relationships, identify the roles and responsibilities, and provide an implementation plan. In addition, this MOA formalizes and delineates the management, leadership, and requirements sponsorship roles required to deliver the capability encompassed by the JHSV to the combatant commanders.

“This agreement with the Army demonstrates our commitment to reducing redundancies and saving money for the taxpayer,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “This is a responsible step that will ensure our military remains the most formidable fighting force the world has ever known.”

China, Central Asian countries hold anti-terror drill

China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conducted a joint anti-terror drill in the restive western region Xinjiang, where anger against Beijing has led to attacks on police, state media reported Saturday.

The one-day exercise on Friday was aimed at better coordinating efforts between the countries to "locate and crack down on 'terrorists' in the border regions", the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The drill aimed to help the countries respond to the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism coming from the perceived threat of Muslim separatists in Xinjiang, a Chinese counter-terrorism agency spokesman said.

India to continue assisting Vietnam modernize its Armed Forces

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says that India will continue to assist Vietnam in the modernization of its armed forces, particularly the Navy and Air Force.

In a discussion with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, in Hanoi, Mukherjee said “India is also prepared to strengthen intelligence cooperation with Vietnam.” He met the Vietnamese Prime Minister on may 4th. Mukherjee said that the strategic partnership established between the two countries is based on implicit mutual trust, a convergence of interests including in the field of defence and security and similar approaches on global and regional issues.

“As two dynamic and fast growing economies of Asia, our effort is to add greater content, through concrete programmes and projects, to our strategic partnership, he added.

Dhruv choppers to be equipped with missiles

Marking a major step forward in technology development, India is expected to equip indigenously-built Dhruv helicopters with missiles in two years as part of an ambitious missile-development programme.

The guided air-to-ground HELINA, an upgraded version of Nag anti-tank missile, is being indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and will be in the final stages and ready for user trials in 2013.

"For the first time, we are developing indigenously a missile called HELINA for being deployed on the weaponised version of the ALH Dhruv helicopter," DRDO chief V K Saraswat told PTI in an interview.

Second indigenous carrier a long way off: Navy Chief

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, on Thursday said a second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) for the Navy “is a long way off.

This [aircraft carrier building] is an investment of very high proportions. We are doing conceptual studies and certainly it is not going to happen in a hurry. It requires huge investment and before that, the Navy has higher priory items to be tackled,” Admiral Verma said, in response to a query from the media, after presenting gallantry awards and honours to naval personnel at an investiture ceremony at the Southern Naval Command here.

“Currently, there are two carriers under construction. The future Navy is based on two carrier battle groups (CBG), one on either coast. And if you have to ensure two CBGs, there has to be a third one. But the stage at which it happens is obviously linked to funding and today, there are greater funding priorities over a third aircraft carrier for the Navy.”

India Looks At Laser Weapons For Air And Missile Defense

Indian scientists are on the path to develop an airborne missile-intercept system that employs high-powered lasers to destroy missiles during their boost phase.

The Laser Science & Technology Center (Lastec) at India’s secretive Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been building up technologies that can intercept missiles early in their flight.

The weapons will also be utilized for crucial exercises by the country’s armed forces that will involve space security, cybersecurity and hypersonic technology. These futuristic technologies will be incorporated in the Ballistic Missile Defense system being pursued by India.

Korean LIG Nex1 submits proposal for sale of Chiron MANPADs to India

LIG Nex1 Co, a South Korean weapons manufacturer, has submitted a request to sell its man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) Chiron to India. The very short range anti-aircraft missile (VSHORAD) Chiron ((Named “Shin-Gung” means “God’s Bow” in Korea), is designed and manufactured with Korean technology and boasts of an accuracy rate of over 95 percent. First deployed in 2005, the 14.4 Kg missile has a range of 7 Kms and can operate at an altitude of 3.5 Kms.

Speaking to Frontier India, Minsu Kim, a Director of LIG Nex1 liaison office in Delhi said “It is great to have a chance to introduce our MANPAD solution, Chiron in India Market.”

The manufacturers say that the preperation time for launch of the missile in less than 3 seconds. The missile has a velocity greater than 700 meters / second. The weight of the warhead is 2.5 Kg and it uses 2 colour IR seeker. The Chiron MANPADs receives the target information from the sensor system and transmits the information of position and engagement status to the Target Data Receiver (TDR) which has GPS function built-in to the system. Based on the above target information the VSHORAD system is able to provide target information before the target is within the engagement distance of the MANPADs. This integration of the sensor and C3 system increases the kill probability of the Chiron MANPADs and also increases the effectiveness of the point air defines.

Israel Introduces New Battlefield Management System

New battlefield management system developed by Elbit allows for tanks to be updated on changing battlefield situations within seconds.

The "Fast Road" system is the next generation of technology for battlefield management systems in tanks. The system, developed by Elbit, has begun to be integrated into some of the IDF's regular armored divisions.

The technological leap represented by the "Fast Road" system is in the speed that it can transfer data and messages, within seconds or less. In each tank connected to the system, an array of data related to what is occurring on the battlefield appears on monitors.

India May Refuse to Sign MoU, Derailing Future Deals with US

The Centre’s refusal to sign the contentious Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) with the United States is set to prove a further setback in the Indo-US relations after two US fighter jets were eliminated from the 12 billion-dollar deal for a 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) last week.

While the ministry of defence (MoD) maintained on Tuesday that discussions were on for the agreements and a decision had not been reached, there were indications that New Delhi was almost deciding against the [agreement].

US state officials said India was having internal consultations, and both nations needed to look at what would be its benefits.

Greece to Buy $100M Spares Package for F-16 Engines

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Monday of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Greece of spare parts and services for its F-16 aircraft, as well as associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $100 million.

The Government of Greece requests spare parts and services for F100-PW-229 engines for Hellenic Air Force F-16 aircraft, to include: Inlet/Fan Modules, Core Engine Modules, Rear Compressor Drive Turbines, Fan Drive Turbine Modules, Augmentor Duct and Nozzle Modules, and Gearbox Modules. In addition, the proposed sale will include support equipment, publications and technical documentation, U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering, logistics support services, and other related elements of program support. The estimated cost is $100 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO ally.

Sagem AASM Hits High-speed Moving Target

French defense procurement agency DGA successfully performed a demonstration firing test of the AASM modular air-to-ground weapon against a land target moving at high speed.

The test was carried out at the DGA’s missile test range in Biscarosse by a production Rafale fighter deployed by the DGA’s flight-test center in Cazaux. The AASM was fired from an extreme off-axis angle (90°) at a range exceeding 15 kilometers.

The impact was at a very low angle, against a moving target represented by a laser spot generated by a ground illuminator mounted on a turret, to simulate a vehicle moving at a speed of 80 km/h.

Navair Successfully Tests JSOW C-1 Variant

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet completed the first captive carriage test of the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 variant at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., March 4.

This variant of the combat-proven JSOW provides upgraded capability to strike moving maritime targets. The weapon’s data link allows the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft to relay targeting information to the weapon.

Captive carriage testing is executed to ensure the C-1 maturity is sufficient to support more extensive testing to ensure warfighter requirements are met.

Turkey to Unveil New Tank Prototype at IDEF

The Turkish National Tank Manufacturing Program (MITUP) is moving forward with the prototype of Turkey's first national tank, set to be unveiled on May 10 at [the International Defense Exhibition and Fair, IDEF] in Istanbul.

National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul announced the unveiling on April 30, stating the new tank would be an upgrade compared to those tanks in the inventory of the Turkish armed forces. Turkey currently operates Leopard 1A and 2A models, as well as ex-U.S. Army M60s and ex-West German M48s.

The new Turkish tank - called the "Altay" - has been designed by South Korea's Hyundai Rotem in tandem with Turkish automobile company, Otokar. In the competition for main foreign subcontractor on the contract, Rotem beat out Germany's KMW by full technology transfer of its new K-2 Black Panther main battle tank (MBT) design.