April 02, 2014 Spacewar.com (AFP)

Paris - Renault Trucks Defense said Wednesday its project to develop an armoured infantry fighting vehicle together with a Russian manufacturer is on hold due to the Ukraine crisis.

"The project is on hold because of the political situation, but that is not saying it has been halted," RTD marketing director Marc Chassilian told journalists in Paris.

The project to develop the wheeled combat vehicle named Atom with Russia's state-owned Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) is at risk due to its use of a Volvo motor, the Swedish daily Dagens Industri said Wednesday.

RTD is owned by Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo AB, and the use of the Volvo motor requires Swedish government approval.

The newspaper wrote that there is a risk the government would now veto the deal as "its policy is clear: Swedish companies shouldn't furnish the Russian military or defence industry with military equipment that risks being used against Swedish troops."

Sweden is not part of NATO, whose members including France have yet to block weapons sales to Moscow over its annexation last month of the Crimea from Ukraine. NATO members have suspended military cooperation with Russia, however.

RTD and UVZ signed in February 2013 at the Idex arms show in Abu Dhabi what the Russian company calls a cooperation agreement to jointly develop the Atos.

Neither company has provided any details.

Last September a mock-up of the Atom was shown at a Russian arms fair, according to several specialist publications.

KIEV, 2 avril - RIA Novosti

L'Ukraine envisage de présenter à la Russie la liste des biens, y compris 70 navires, dont elle demande la restitution, a annoncé mercredi lors d'un point de presse le chef de l'administration présidentielle par intérim Sergueï Pachinski.

"J'espère que tout ce qui figure dans la liste nous sera restitué. On y trouve des munitions et des armes que nous ne voulons pas récupérer. Mais les ministères de la Défense et de l'Intérieur ont dressé la liste des biens que nous demandons de nous restituer en premier lieu et qui, je l'espère bien, nous seront rendus. Cette liste comprend, entre autres, 70 navires et la corvette Ternopol", a déclaré M. Pachinski  cité par l'agence UNN.

Selon le commandant en chef des forces navales russes, l'amiral Viktor Tchirkov, 79 bâtiments de guerre et navires auxiliaires relevant de la Flotte ukrainienne de la mer Noire sont déployés en Crimée. La corvette Ternopol figure parmi les bâtiments les mieux équipés d'Ukraine. Il devait effectuer en avril une mission dans le golfe d'Aden dans le cadre de la lutte contre les pirates somaliens.

L'amiral M. Tchirkov a fait savoir que ces bateaux seraient prochainement remis à l'Ukraine.

31/3/2014 Ami Rojkes Dombe

The "Altius-M" UAV is produced by okb-sokol (Kazan) along with "Transas", and the chief designer is Mr Alyaksandr Gomzin. The development and initial design began in early October 2011, and won the Russian Defense Ministry contest to develop a UAV with a takeoff weight of up to 5 tons (the other bidder was RAC, the Russian manufacturer of the MiG aircraft). The contract for the research and development of the "Altius -M" is worth 28 million dollars (billion rubles).

According to the report, the experimental model should begin flight tests during 2014-2015. The assembly of the UAV will be conducted by CAPO-composites

.

According to militaryrussia.ru website, the UAV weighs about 5,000 kg, has a range of 10,000 km and is capable to stay aloft for 48 hours. It will include electro-optical payloads and a radar system. The drone is driven using two RED A03 type diesel. Details about arming of the UAV have not yet been exposed, but it appears that this is a UAV with offensive capabilities

03 April 2014 By Amaani Lyle -American Forces Press Service – Pacific Sentinel

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2014 – Readiness is critical to thwarting North Korea’s effort to develop nuclear arms and long-range missiles, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea told the House Armed Services Committee here today.

Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who commands United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command in addition to U.S. Forces Korea, said his organizations will work closely with the South Korean military to develop its capabilities and stanch an increasing asymmetric threat on the Korean Peninsula.

“We will … combine [communications] systems, an alliance countermissile defense strategy, and a procurement of precision-guided munitions, ballistic missile defense systems and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms,” Scaparrotti said.

The general noted that North Korea has the fourth-largest military in the world, with more than 70 percent of its ground forces deployed near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. “[North Korea’s] long-range artillery can strike targets in the Seoul metropolitan area, where over 23 million South Koreans and almost 50,000 Americans live,” he said.

In addition to violations of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, Kim Jong Un’s regime also is aggressively investing in cyberwarfare capabilities, the general reported.

“North Korea brings risk to the world’s fastest-growing economic region, which is responsible for 25 percent of the world’s [gross domestic product] and home to our largest trading partners,” Scaparrotti said. “Against this real threat, our nation is committed to the security of South Korea and to our national interests.”

The general pledged to transform, sustain and strengthen the alliance, maintain the armistice to deter and defeat aggression, and be ready to fight. Priorities, he added, also include sustaining the force and family readiness and enhancing the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea teams.

“An essential part of this is a positive command climate that focuses on the covenant between the leader and the led and our mission together,” he said. “At the core of mission success is the close relationship we share with our South Korean partners; we benefit from an important history forged on many battlefields, shared sacrifices and democratic principles.”

Over the past 60 years, the general said, the United States and South Korea have built one of the longest-standing alliances in modern history.

“We will continue to ensure strong and effective deterrence posture so that Pyongyang never misjudges our role, commitment or capability to respond as an alliance,” he added.

US DoD

Apr 01, 2014 brahmand.com

NEW DELHI (PTI): India has signed a deal worth over Rs 2,600 crore with Russia to procure 66,000 anti-tank shells to meet the shortfall of critical ammunition faced by its armoured fleet including the latest T-90 tanks.

The two sides signed the deal on March 27 for the supply of anti-tank shells to the Army and agreement in this regard was inked by Defence Ministry officials from India and Rosoboronexport officials from the Russia side, Defence Ministry told PTI here.

The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister had recently cleared the proposal to acquire 66,000 3UBK20 (Mango) tank ammunition from Russia, they said.

Under the deal, Russia will also undertake transfer of technology on the production techniques of the specialised tank ammunition to the Ordnance Factory Board, which will produce it indigenously, they said.

Faced with shortage of weapon systems, the Defence Ministry has decided to form JVs with the Russian manufacturers to produce them in India like the rockets for the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher systems.

The severe shortage of tank ammunition was first highlighted by former Army Chief Gen V K Singh in a top secret letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March this year which later found its way to the media.

Gen Singh had noted in his letter that only three to four days of this particular ammunition was left in the inventory of the armoured regiments.

Later on, the Army had also informed the Standing Committee on Defence about the shortage and how the situation had worsened by the recent blacklisting of its supplier Israeli Military Industry (IMI).

BRUXELLES, 2 avril - RIA Novosti

Kaboul appelle l'Otan et la Russie à régler leurs divergences sans toucher aux projets qu'elles réalisent conjointement en Afghanistan, a déclaré mercredi le vice-ministre afghan des Affaires étrangères Ershad Ahmadi.
 
"Nous demandons à la Russie, à l'Otan et aux Etats-Unis de séparer leurs problèmes bilatéraux de la coopération sur l'Afghanistan. Nous poursuivrons bien entendu un partenariat constructif et fructueux avec la Fédération de Russie sur une base bilatérale", a indiqué M. Ahmadi. Le vice-ministre répondait à la question de savoir s'il regrettait la décision de l'Alliance de suspendre la coopération avec la Russie en matière d'entretien des hélicoptères afghans et de formation portant sur la lutte antidrogue.
 
Les ministres des Affaires étrangères des pays alliés avaient antérieurement déclaré qu'ils suspendaient la coopération civile et militaire pratique entre l'Otan et la Russie, mais maintenaient le dialogue politique au sein du Conseil Russie-Otan au niveau des ambassadeurs et à un niveau plus élevé.
 
Les ministres ont convenu de revenir à l'examen des relations avec la Russie lors de leur prochaine rencontre en juin. 
 
Un haut responsable de l'Otan qui a requis l'anonymat a annoncé mercredi aux journalistes que l'Alliance avait gelé la coopération avec Moscou en matière d'entretien des hélicoptères afghans et de formation relative à la lutte contre la drogue. L'Otan envisage de trouver un acteur capable de remplacer la Russie dans ces projets.

April 1, 2014 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Damen Shipyards Group; issued April 1, 2014)

Mexican Navy Orders Sixth Damen Stan Patrol 4207

The Mexican Navy and Damen Shipyards Group (the Netherlands) signed another contract for a license, material package and technical assistance of a Damen Stan Patrol 4207. The agreement also includes crew training in the Netherlands.

This contract, the sixth patrol vessel of the Tenochtitlan class, underlines the excellent ongoing relationship between the Mexican Navy (Secretaria de Marina or SEMAR), and Damen. As all five previous vessels, this vessel will be built in the Mexican Navy Yard ASTIMAR 1 in Tampico, a city and port on the Gulf of Mexico.

Damen Shipyards Group operates 40 ship- and repair yards, employing 8.000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 5.000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers approx. 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Apr 03, 2014 Spacewar.com (SPX)

Washington DC - Technology, like biology, constantly evolves. It is DARPA's mission to stay ahead of the shifting technology curve by making critical, early investments in areas that cut across fields of research and enable revolutionary new capabilities for U.S. national security.

Now DARPA is poised to give unprecedented prominence to a field of research that can no longer be considered peripheral to technology's evolving nature. Starting today, biology takes its place among the core sciences that represent the future of defense technology.

DARPA has created a new division, the Biological Technologies Office (BTO), to explore the increasingly dynamic intersection of biology and the physical sciences. Its goals are to harness the power of biological systems by applying the rigorous tools of engineering and related disciplines, and to design next-generation technologies that are inspired by insights gained from the life sciences.

BTO's programs will operate across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales-from individual cells to humans and other organisms and the communities in which they operate, and from the time it takes for a nerve to fire to the time it may take a new virus to spread around the world one sneeze at a time. All told, BTO will explore the intricate and highly adapted mechanisms of natural processes and demonstrate how they can be applied to the mission of national defense.

BTO expands on the instrumental work undertaken by DARPA's Defense Sciences (DSO) and Microsystems Technology (MTO) Offices. Recent progress in such diverse disciplines as neuroscience, sensor design, microsystems, computer science, and other longstanding areas of DARPA investment has begun to converge, revealing newly emergent potential ready to be realized.

"The Biological Technologies Office will advance and expand on a number of earlier DARPA programs that made preliminary inroads into the bio-technological frontier," said Geoff Ling, named by DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar to be the first director of BTO.

"We've been developing the technological building blocks, we've been analyzing our results, and now we're saying publicly to the research and development community, 'We are ready to start turning the resulting knowledge into practical tools and capabilities.'"

The initial BTO portfolio includes programs transferred from DSO and MTO, but will also include new opportunities, beginning with the recently announced Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) program that expands on the work of DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics and Reliable Neural-Interface Technology programs.

In keeping with DARPA tradition, future programs will be created from ideas brought to the agency by program managers and through conversations with the research community.

"Before BTO, DARPA had a handful of biologists, neuroscientists, engineers, and the like, interested in synthesizing their work but distributed across different offices," Ling said. "Now we're under one roof, so to speak, and looking to attract a new community of scholars, who will bring a host of new ideas at the intersection of traditional and emerging disciplines."

Three research focus areas reflect the scale and scope of BTO's mission.

+ Restore and Maintain Warfighter Abilities: Because military readiness depends on the health and wellbeing of service members, a critical focus is on cultivating new discoveries that help maintain peak warfighter abilities and restoring those abilities as quickly and fully as possible when they are degraded-including through the development of advanced prosthetics and neural interfaces. BTO will seek to develop new techniques and therapeutic strategies for addressing current and emerging threats, but its work will extend beyond medical applications to include exploration of complex biological issues that can affect a warfighter's ability to operate and interact in the biological and physical world.

+ DARPA's Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies (SUBNETS) program is an example of work to restore lost function. It pursues advanced therapies to reduce the burden and severity of neuropsychological illness in afflicted troops and veterans.

+ The Autonomous Diagnostics to Enable Prevention and Therapeutics (ADEPT) program, which seeks novel ways to identify and protect against infectious disease, is an example of work to mitigate or neutralize biological threats.

+ Harness Biological Systems: The highly evolved functional and synthetic capabilities of biological systems can be harnessed to develop new products and systems in support of national security with advantages over what even the most advanced conventional chemistry and manufacturing technologies can achieve. BTO seeks to establish a fundamental understanding of natural processes and the underlying design rules that govern the behavior of biological systems, and apply that knowledge to forward-engineer new systems and products with novel functionality.

+ DARPA's Living Foundries program, for example, is focused in part on creating a biologically based manufacturing platform to provide rapid, scalable access to new materials with novel properties that can enable a new generation of mechanical, electrical, and optical products.

+ The Chronicle of Lineage Indicative of Origins (CLIO) program, meanwhile, aims to make biological engineering safer by establishing enduring control elements that protect against intentionally harmful genetic engineering, prevent illegal acquisition or misuse of proprietary strains, provide novel forensic tools to assist in the investigation of biological incidents, and allow responsible investigators to document compliance with safe biological manipulation practices.

+ Apply Biological Complexity at Scale: Biological systems operate over an enormous range of spatial, physical, and temporal scales. Some organisms thrive as individual cells but most depend on dynamic interactions with other species; humans, for example, are colonized by communities of foreign cells that greatly outnumber their own and have potentially significant but still largely mysterious impacts on metabolism, psychological state, performance, and health.

A better understanding of the interactions between mammalian and non-mammalian species and micro- and macro-organisms could foster new approaches to enhancing mental and physical health in routine and threatening situations. Similarly, disease vectors migrate around the globe slowly and stealthily at times, and at other times in devastating waves of breathtaking speed-reflecting poorly understood dynamics that can undermine national security.

And because they are so difficult to parse from larger biological and ecological phenomena, population-level effects of relevance to agriculture and food security remain largely unplumbed. BTO is looking into pursuing new insights derived from biological complexity and living-system dynamics with the goal of developing applications to enhance global-scale stability and human wellbeing.

+ The Biochronicity program studies the role of time in biological functions. By looking for temporal instructions, or "clock signatures," in biological organisms, the program aims to make it possible to manage the effects of time on human physiology.

Because BTO programs push the leading edge of science, they will sometimes be society's first encounter with the ethical, legal, or social dilemmas that can be raised by new biological technologies. For that reason, DARPA periodically convenes scholars with expertise in these issues to discuss relevant ethical, legal, and social issues.

Apr. 2, 2014 – Defense News (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS — A total of 18 countries filed documents Wednesday ratifying a UN treaty to regulate the $80 billion-per-year conventional arms trade.

One year after the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was adopted by the General Assembly, 31 countries have ratified it.

The treaty will take effect once 50 UN member states ratify it. So far, 118 countries have signed it.

“It is fair to say that at the current pace of signature and ratification, the ATT could well enter into force in the second half of this year,” said Virginia Gamba, deputy to the UN high representative for disarmament affairs.

The 18 countries to file their ratifications during a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York were members of the European Union except for El Salvador. Among the EU members submitting documents were Germany, France and Britain.

The treaty aims to force countries to set up national controls on arms exports. The countries must assess whether a weapon could be used to circumvent an international embargo, be used for genocide and war crimes, or be used by terrorists and organized crime.

The first major arms accord since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the ATT covers international transfers of everything from tanks to combat aircraft to missiles, as well as small arms.

The United States — which is the world’s biggest arms producer — signed the treaty only after a regulation on ammunition was dealt with separately, providing for less comprehensive controls. Meanwhile Russia expressed reservations over the criteria used to authorize transactions.

A UN statement Wednesday said secretary-general Ban Ki-moon “calls on all states that have not yet done so to sign and/or ratify the ATT without delay.”

Anna Macdonald, a representative from the NGO Control Arms, said that “nowhere is the need for an effective treaty more apparent than in the devastating humanitarian crisis in Syria.”

The conflict there, she said, “has been fueled by transfers of arms and ammunition from outside parties.”

April 1, 2014 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Vector Aerospace UK; issued March 31, 2014)

Puma Mark 2 Trials Hosted By Vector Aerospace UK

Vector Aerospace UK, a leading provider of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services recently supported the characterisation trials of the Radar Warning Receiver on the Puma Mk 2 at its Fleetlands site in Gosport, Hampshire.

Working alongside Airbus Helicopters and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the company hosted two separate weeks of trials which constitute part of the new integrated defensive aids suite fitted as part of the Puma Life Extension Programme currently being carried out across the RAF Puma fleet.

"This shows how our working relationship with major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and the UK MoD continues to expand", said Vector Aerospace UK's Operations Director Ross Powlesland. "The variety of rotary wing platforms we can support continues to grow in both the military and civil sectors; having the heliport on site enables us to offer a fly-in, fly-out facility to our diverse customer base".

"During the trials we offered our full flight test capability and specialised storage facilities to ensure that the potential of this new integrated defensive aids suite could be rigorously examined", said Michael Tyrrell, Managing Director for Vector Aerospace UK. "Naturally we were delighted to be involved in such a cutting edge programme and the experience has further developed our strong working relationships with both Airbus Helicopters and the MOD".

Vector Aerospace is a global provider of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. Through facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, South Africa, and Kenya Vector Aerospace provides services to commercial and military customers for gas turbine engines, components and helicopter airframes. Vector's customer-focused team includes over 2,700 motivated employees.

April 1, 2014 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: General Dynamics Land Systems; issued April 1, 2014)

General Dynamics Awarded $75 Million for Cougar Survivability Upgrade Program

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. --- The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems – Force Protection a contract valued at $74.7 million for egress upgrade kits in support of the Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) program.

The company will develop, design and produce 916 egress kits for the Cougar vehicles. The kits will include upgrades to the Cougar's front doors, rear doors, rear steps and exhaust system. General Dynamics will complete delivery of the kits by September 2015.

General Dynamics Land Systems – Force Protection is part of General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics .

02 avril 2014 Romandie.com (AFP)

BARBY (France) - Premier site militaire à faire sa mue écologique, le quartier du 13e bataillon de chasseurs alpins (BCA), en Savoie, a réduit de moitié sa consommation d'énergie et pourrait servir de modèle aux autres casernes hexagonales.

Ce qui est fait ici sert évidemment de laboratoire, estime le colonel Jacques Massot, chef de division au service d'infrastructure de la défense de Lyon.

Le quartier Roc Noir de Barby (Savoie), qui accueille quelque 1.100 chasseurs alpins au pied du massif des Bauges, a connu ces deux dernières années une mutation profonde mais presque invisible.

Les bâtiments à deux étages des années 1970 ont gardé leur façade grisâtre et sans charme. Mais des moquettes solaires installées sur les toits permettent désormais de produire de l'eau chaude. L'isolation a été revue de fond en comble et les chauffages électriques, installés à l'âge d'or du nucléaire, ont été remplacés par une chaufferie au bois, alimentée par les massifs forestiers de la région. Un réseau de chaleur court sous le gazon et des pompes à chaleur font l'appoint.

Au total, ce sont 30 bâtiments (pour une superficie chauffée de plus de 41.500 m^3) qui ont été rénovés. Et le contrat passé avec une filiale d'EDF (EDF Optimal Solutions) prévoit une baisse de 46% de la consommation d'énergie et une réduction de 50% des émissions de CO2. Plus de la moitié des besoins (58%) sont couverts par des énergies renouvelables. Et l'ensemble est piloté par informatique.

Lancés dans le cadre du Grenelle de l'Environnement, ces travaux étaient rendus nécessaires par la vétusté des installations, à bout de souffle, qui tombaient régulièrement en panne, selon le colonel Massot.

Parfois, le chauffage ne marchait pas et il y avait très souvent des coupures d'eau chaude. Au retour de 15 jours de mission en montagne, on était obligé de mettre une veste et d'allumer un chauffage d'appoint, témoigne le caporal Clément Moreau, 28 ans. Aujourd'hui, ça s'est bien amélioré.

- Des sources d'économie considérables -

Cela participe au confort de nos hommes. Et en tant que montagnards, on est très attaché à la préservation de l'environnement, appuie le lieutenant-colonel Thomas Guérin, commandant en second du 13e BCA.

C'est EDF Optimal Solutions qui a financé les travaux dans le cadre d'un partenariat public-privé. Pendant 18 ans, l'Etat paye un loyer d'environ 1,5 million d'euros par an, comprenant notamment l'exploitation des installations et le remboursement de l'investissement.

En contrepartie, l'Etat réalise un gain financier de 300.000 euros par an sur sa facture d'énergie.

Une deuxième opération similaire a d'ores et déjà été lancée pour le camp militaire de La Valbonne (Ain), qui accueille le 68e régiment d'artillerie d'Afrique et le régiment médical (3.000 militaires).

Le marché a cette fois été conclu avec Cofély, une filiale de GDF Suez, avec des travaux financés directement par l'Etat.

Il y a d'autres projets qui vont se nourrir de cette expérience, avance le Colonel Massot. Car, en cette période de disette budgétaire, dépenser moins, c'est rendre plus acceptable la contrainte qui pèse sur nos budgets, souligne-t-il.

Et les sources d'économie d'énergie au sein du patrimoine immobilier de l'armée sont potentiellement considérables.

Selon un rapport du Sénat, le ministère de la Défense utilisait, au 31 décembre 2008, 90 bases aéronavales et 8 bases navales, 41 camps d'entraînement, 99 camps militaires, 5.552 casernes, 25 centres de recherches et d'essais, 179 dépôts et 151 entrepôts, 875 locaux de bureaux, 98 immeubles administratifs ou à usage de bureau, 7.635 appartements, 737 immeubles collectifs d'habitation, etc.