01 avr 2014 marine-oceans.com (AFP)

Le Pentagone pourrait envoyer un navire en mer Noire et augmenter l'ampleur de manoeuvres militaires prévues cet été en Europe afin de rassurer les alliés est-européens inquiets de l'intervention russe en Crimée, a affirmé mardi un responsable américain de la Défense.

"Parmi les propositions envisagées figure l'envoi éventuel d'un autre navire américain en mer Noire", a confié ce haut responsable aux journalistes voyageant avec le secrétaire américain à la Défense Chuck Hagel, qui se rend à Hawaï pour une réunion de l'Asean.

Un destroyer américain, l'USS Truxtun, a croisé en mer Noire à la mi-mars pour des exercices avec les marines bulgare et roumaine mais a depuis quitté la zone.

Les stratèges militaires américains envisagent également de donner plus d'ampleur à des manoeuvres militaires prévues cet été en Europe avec une brigade de la 1ere Division de cavalerie, selon ce responsable.

Une délégation d'officiers de l'armée de Terre doit se rendre "prochainement" en Europe pour en discuter avec les pays partenaires, a-t-il ajouté sans plus de précision.

Si l'objectif américain est de conduire à une désescalade des tensions à la frontière russo-ukrainienne par la voie diplomatique, les Etats-Unis et l'Otan envisagent tout un ensemble de mesures pour rassurer les membres est-européens de l'Alliance atlantique qui se sentent menacés par les actions russes.

A la suite du rattachement de la Crimée à la Russie, les pays de l'Otan ont demandé au chef militaire de l'Alliance, le général américain Philip Breedlove, de présenter des propositions pour réaffirmer l'engagement des alliés au côté des pays membres d'Europe de l'Est.

"Nous lui avons demandé d'envisager toute une série de mesures", qui incluent notamment des manoeuvres et des entraînements conjoints, selon Chuck Hagel.

Le chef du Pentagone s'est en revanche refusé à dire si les Etats-Unis envisageaient de déployer sur une base permanente des troupes en Europe de l'Est.

"Nous continuons d'envisager différentes possibilités et options", a-t-il éludé. Quelque 67.000 militaires américains sont actuellement stationnés en Europe, pour l'essentiel en Allemagne.

Le secrétaire américain à la Défense accueille ces trois prochains jours à Hawaï ses homologues de l'Association des pays du Sud-Est asiatique (Asean), une première sur le territoire américain.

MOSCOU, 1er avril - RIA Novosti

Les Troupes balistiques stratégiques russes (RVSN) ont testé mardi pour la première fois des répliques gonflables de missiles sol-air Topol-M et Iars, a annoncé à Moscou le porte-parole des Troupes Igor Egorov.

"Pendant les tests, des rampes de lancement mobiles des missiles changeaient de position, alors que les unités du génie déployaient des fausses divisions à leur place. Une étape des tests prévoyait un déploiement simultané de maquettes gonflables par tous les engins du génie appartenant à l'unité des missiles de Teïkovo", a indiqué le colonel Egorov.

Selon lui, ces manœuvres effectuées pendant la nuit ont permis aux rampes de lancement de missiles de se déplacer en toute sécurité.

En 2014, sept engins du génie universels destinés à camoufler les armements viendront équiper les unités de missiles de Novossibirsk et de Nijni Taguil dotés de missiles sol-air Iars. Les Troupes balistiques stratégiques russes se doteront d'une cinquantaine de véhicules de ce type d'ici 2020.

April 01, 2014 Spacewar.com (AFP)

Brussels - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday said he could not confirm the withdrawal of Russian troops from near the Ukrainian border as announced by the Kremlin.

"Unfortunately I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops; this is not what we have seen," Rasmussen told journalists ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting on the crisis in Ukraine.

Ukraine and the United States have accused Russia of massing thousands of troops near the border and have expressed concern that Moscow intends to seize southeastern parts of Ukraine that are home to large populations of ethnic Russians, following the Crimea takeover.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said Putin had personally informed her of the troop pullback in a telephone conversation on Monday, and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the move "a small sign that the situation is becoming less tense".

Ukraine also reported Monday that Russian troops were leaving the flashpoint area.

NATO foreign ministers are meeting at the alliance headquarters in Brussels to forge a response to Russia's annexation of Crimea last month.

But as the talks began, NATO seemed to be stepping back from reinforcing military presence in countries bordering Russia, preferring for now to give more time to diplomacy.

"I think everybody realises that the best way forward is a political and diplomatic dialogue," Rasmussen said, though he added NATO was "very determined to provide effective defence and protection of our allies".

One counter-measure apparently off the table for now is the idea to set up permanent military bases in NATO countries bordering with Russia.

The move would be highly controversial for Moscow, reversing an informal agreement made when NATO expanded east to include former Warsaw Pact countries that were eager to break away from years of Soviet domination.

But Dutch foreign minister Frank Timmermans said that for now "we don't need NATO troops at the border with Russia," adding there was "no need for sudden moves".

The cautious line could come as a disappointment to eastern NATO members, who were expected to argue for a tougher stance against Russia at the meeting.

"There is a rather wide consensus among the allies, even if eastern countries -- such as the Baltics and Poland -- wish NATO would adopt a more pronounced stand against Russia," a diplomat said.

Before entering NATO headquarters for the talks, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his country "would welcome any forces" on its territory.

"All members should enjoy the same level of security," he said.

01 April 2014 Pacific Sentinel

 

On March 29, 2014 the representatives of Ukroboronprom, PLANT 410 CA and Spectechnoexport have supplied to the Air Forces of India the seventh batch of An-32 Transportation Aircrafts, which were upgraded in Kyiv in the framework of the contract concluded in 2009.

That very day the vehicles were departed from Kyiv to Kanpur (India). Taking into consideration the events in Crimea, the European partners, as an exceptional case, have opened the sky for the military transportation aircrafts, so that the vehicles will be able to arrive at destination place in time.  

 As Yuriy Tereshenko, Temporary Director General of Ukroboronprom, reported, Ukrainian and Indian parties are satisfied with the progress of contract implementation and count on development of cooperation within the Program.

“We are sure that our Indian partners are satisfied with a high quality of our works, conducted by Ukrainian enterprises. India was and remains to be a strategic Ukrainian partner in the area of military technical cooperation. We admit a mutual interest in further development of aviation program. We expect in the nearest future the bilateral cooperation will be continued by new contracts,” Yuriy Tereshenko stressed on.  

The contract, worth some USD 400 million, for the repair and upgrading of 105 units of An-32 vehicles of the Air Forces of India was signed in July 2009 between Air Forces of Ministry of Defense of India and subsidiary company of Ukrspecexport State Company – Spectechnoexport.

In accordance with the contract, that have become the largest in the history of Ukrainian Indian bilateral military technical cooperation, 40 aircrafts are to be modernized in Ukraine and the rest of the aircraft at the BRD-1 aviation plant of the Indian Air Force in Kanpur (North India). Ukraine’s Antonov Plant and Civil Aviation Plant 410 are executing the contract.

As part of the deep upgrade, the Indian aircraft is to be fitted with modern equipment made in Ukraine and other countries. In particular, these are aircraft collision warning equipment, collision with ground early warning equipment, satellite navigation system, aircraft rangefinders, modernized height finders, new radar set with two multifunctional indicators, new oxygen equipment, and modernized crew seats.    

The upgraded An-32 will be able to land on an ICAO category II approach. Whereas, fuel consumption and the mass of the empty upgraded aircraft will be lower than for the basic model.

In addition, in line with a three-year contract worth $110 million signed in December 2009 by Motor Sich OJSC (Zaporizhia) and the Indian Air Force, the AI-20 engines of the Indian An-32s are being upgraded.

As of today, 35 aircrafts, out of those that are to be upgraded in Kyiv, have been already upgraded and transferred to the Costumer.

The first 10 modernized aircrafts have been already transferred to the Costumer in 2011, and each year other 10 vehicles in 2012 and 2013 accordingly.  The next 5 transportations were sent to India in August of the last year. The supply of the final batch of aircrafts, the modernization of which is carried out in Kyiv, is planned for the summer. 

UkrOboronProm

01 April 2014 By William Kyle - PacificSentinel

Given resource constraints, the U.S. Navy may need to execute a pivot of its own.

Five years of Obama administration foreign policy are in the history books as the world continues to move beyond the era of the Global War on Terror. While the jury is still out regarding the ultimate impact of his post-GWOT redirection of American foreign policy, U.S. President Barack Obama’s initiatives since 2011 have clearly been designed to steer American policy in a profoundly Pacific direction. This shift has direct consequences for the U. S. Navy in the so-called “Pacific Century.”

In fact, this new direction leaves the U.S. Navy in the unenviable position of being at the vanguard of a “Pacific Pivot” while facing potentially dramatic reductions in force structure and modernization budgets. However, it is not clear that the Pacific “pivot” strategy actually requires a dramatic, Cold War-like increase in American naval presence for success—rather, it may be enough for the U.S. Navy to implement its own structural pivot to better match American foreign policy goals with resources.

In the wake of the GWOT and 2008 financial crisis, many assessments predicted the end of America’s “unipolar moment,” spurring the Obama administration to announce a new foreign policy direction in 2011. Fighting popular perceptions of previous regional neglect, Obama stressed that the United States was permanently turning its principal attention towards Asia. In November 2011, this new Asia policy directive got its own catchphrase when then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton published an article in Foreign Policy magazine titled “America’s Pacific Century,” emphasizing both the current and future importance of Asia and America’s desired role in the region. Thus was born the American “pivot” to the Pacific. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Apr. 1, 2014 - By USMAN ANSARI – Defense News

ISLAMABAD — Media reports that Pakistani Taliban splinter group Ahrarul Hind is planning attacks on Pakistani airbases in retaliation for punishing airstrikes carried out in February have raised questions about the adequacy of security at Air Force facilities.

There has not been a discernible reaction from the Ahrarul Hind thus far, and analysts say the ferocity of the airstrikes that killed a number of important members has left it somewhat stunned. Commentators and public opinion had demanded action against terrorists for some time, however, and the military, long the focus of terrorist attacks, has been itching to deliver it.

But the threat of attacks on Air Force facilities is real.

There have been a number of devastating attacks on airbases in recent years; one the highest profile attacks was on PNS Mehran in Karachi in 2011, resulting in a number of deaths and the loss of two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. A 2012 attack on PAF Base Minhas at Kamra destroyed one Erieye airborne early warning and control aircraft and damaged another.

Civil and military-related infrastructure continues to remain a target. A weekend attack by terrorists on the civil Pasni radar post in Balochistan left one dead and equipment damaged. The attackers escaped.

However, since the last major attack in 2012, perimeter security has been tightened at military airbases. Commercial satellite imagery has shown other improvements inside the bases, and an undetermined (though probably small, according to analysts) number of Eland 60 armored cars have been procured from South Africa for airfield defense.

The service is prepared to defend its assets, said Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Tariq Mahmood.

“All security measures at our installations, our airbases and other facilities are in place, and it’s a layered defense. We are guarding them according to our [standard operating procedures]. The threat is always there, we can’t be oblivious to the situation in the country, but we’re protecting our installations and taking all measures,” he said.

Mahmood was not able to comment on the purchase of Eland 60s, however.

Analysts are also reasonably confident the Air Force’s security should be able to handle any threat.

“Current security is good,” said Brian Cloughley, former Australian defense attache to Islamabad. “All that is needed is coordination and no relaxation of present measures.”

Protection is difficult at some airbases because many have been surrounded by urban sprawl, but Cloughley said the most obvious solution, relocation, is probably out of the question.

There is, however, still room for improvement in airbase security.

Analyst and former Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail says the Air Force could learn from examples of civil airbase security.

“A short answer is to defend them the way [the Airport Security Force] has done,” he said.

“None of the 20-odd [Civil Aviation Authority] airports have been intruded in for the last three decades. The ASF and CAA have quite simply treated perimeter security with the utmost importance, and the PAF could learn a thing or two from them,” he added.

Additional equipment is needed, Tufail says, and there is a long list of items to be improved or acquired to bring security at Air Force airbases up to the level of the civil airports.

“Armored cars for patrols, manned watch towers, motion sensors, spotlights, fencing topped with razor wire, and of course, trained guards — these are some of the essential measures that ought to be in place at PAF bases,” he said.

“The civil airports have had these measures in place for decades. Unfortunately, these were lacking at PAF bases in the past, and have been implemented only recently. It was simply a case of oversight of a very important issue, and a heavy price was paid for the neglect,” he added.

Cloughley highlights a more military-specific issue.

“They could ask for surveillance balloons,” he said. There are “plenty of them left over by US and British forces in Afghanistan. But I imagine they’re too high-tech to be given to Pakistan. They are undoubtedly the best means of detecting approaches by enemy.”

However, such systems are complicated.

“Balloons are not a total solution, of course. They work in conjunction with ground radars and other electronic detection devices, and, of course, physical patrolling. It can be done most effectively, given good organization, but there’s a great deal of expense in hardware and manpower,” he said.

April 2nd, 2014 defencetalk.com (AFP)

Japan on Tuesday lifted a self-imposed ban on weapons exports, introducing new rules covering the arms trade in a move supporters say will boost Tokyo’s global role, but which unnerved China.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a new plan that replaces the 1967 blanket ban, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Under the policy, arms sales are banned to conflict-plagued countries or nations that could undermine international peace and security, the sales must contribute to international peace and boost officially pacifist Japan’s security.

“Under the new principles, we have made the procedure for transfer of defence equipment more transparent. That will contribute to peace and international cooperation from the standpoint of proactive pacifism,” Suga said.

“And we will participate in joint development and production of defence equipment,” he said.

Japan’s post-World War II constitution, imposed by the US-led occupiers, banned the country from waging war.

That pacifism was embraced by the population at large and two decades later a weapons export ban was introduced.

Supporters hope the relaxation in the policy will boost home-grown arms manufacturers at a time of simmering regional tensions including a territorial row with China and fears over an unpredictable North Korea.

The new rules could allow Tokyo to supply weaponry to nations that sit along important sea lanes to help them fight piracy — an important strategic consideration for resource-poor Japan.

Japanese arms could potentially be shipped to Indonesia as well as nations around the South China Sea — through which fossil fuels pass — such as the Philippines, which has a territorial dispute with Beijing.

Japan already supplies equipment to the Philippines’ coastguard, an organization that is increasingly on the front line in the row with Beijing.

Any move to bolster that support with more outright weapon supplies could irk China, which regularly accuses Abe of trying to re-militarize his country.

On Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing was paying close attention to the relaxation of Tokyo’s arms ban.

“The policy changes of Japan in military and security areas concern the security environment and strategic stability of the whole region,” he said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

“Due to historical reasons, Japan’s security policies are always closely followed by regional countries and the international community.”

China and Japan are at loggerheads over the ownership of a string of islands in the East China Sea, while Beijing is also in dispute with several nations over territory in the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety.

The Tokyo-Beijing diplomatic relationship has long been marred by Japan’s expansionist romp across Asia in the first half of the 20th century.

15/3/2014 Tal Inbar - IsraelDefense

The tendency to regard reports of modern Iranian-made weapon systems as "merely a whim and PR spectacle" notwithstanding, the Iranian UAV industry succeeds in developing vehicles that are worthy of more serious consideration.

Observers of formal Iranian reports dealing with the development of various weapon systems have been familiar, for years now, with the ritual where various weapons are presented to senior officials, normally in the presence of the Iranian Defense Minister, who has the honor of unveiling “the world’s best and most advanced” weapon systems, as they are normally introduced. Knowledgeable authorities in the field of ordnance, platforms and weapon systems, upon carefully examining the images distributed by the various Iranian news agencies, often find themselves chuckling in the face of non-operational systems.

Do the armed forces of Iran rely on weapon systems made of fiberglass and sheet-metal? Apparently, various journalistic sources (worldwide as well as in Israel) tend to dismiss the Iranian presentations as a capricious whim of the Iranian regime or as a spectacle put on for the benefit of the masses of the Iranian people, who are not fully familiar with the intricacies and secrets of the trade.

Over the years, we have become accustomed to seeing tanks mobilized on trailers, old missiles repainted over and over again, and various other outdated items or mock-ups. It would seem, however, that with regard to very few categories, the Iranian presentations are not misrepresentations. This applies, for example, to Iran’s heavy missiles and satellite launchers. Recently, another category of Iranian products has joined the realm of “real stuff” rather than just a spectacle – Unmanned Airborne Vehicles.

In July 2006, during the second Lebanon war, UAVs operated by Hezbollah in Lebanon entered Israel’s airspace. These UAVs, shot down over Israeli territory, were identified by the media as Ababil (“swallow”) UAVs and their technical quality was rather poor. Over the years, Iran presented an extensive range of UAVs at exhibitions, military exercises and through various official publications.

Some of the Iranian developments make one wonder. One example that comes to mind is the Unmanned Combat Airborne Vehicle designated Karrar (“striker”): this turbojet UAV carries unguided GP bombs but does not have even a rudimentary surveillance system. Another example was the public introduction of a UAV fitted with an oversized canopy designed to accommodate a satellite communication system (like similar western vehicles) – while Iran has no communication satellites of its own, and relying on commercial communication satellites for communicating with an operational vehicle of this type appears questionable at best. Many of the experts who evaluated the Iranian capabilities in the field of UAVs tended to remain unimpressed. Apparently, however, the Iranian manufacturing capabilities in the field of UAVs have undergone a substantial change recently, and some of the vehicles unveiled by the Islamic Republic seem fairly advanced, although they tend to resemble western vehicles generally and Israel-made UAVs in particular.

Iran’s latest developments in the field of UAVs are based in part on direct copying of foreign UAVs that had crashed in Iranian territory and were subsequently salvaged, as in the case of the small, tactical ScanEagle UAV built by Boeing (through its subsidiary Insitu), which evolved in Iran into the Yassir UAV. An analysis of various images and video clips distributed by the Iranians has shown that an Iranian facility manufactures copies of the original UAV, and many dozens of UAVs were seen at the facility in various assembly stages. A close examination of the materials released by Iran revealed that the actual building of the Iranian UAV conforms to much higher quality standards than the cruder and more familiar UAVs, including those employed in the skies over Syria – a fact that signifies an improvement in the work and assembly procedures of aerial platforms made from composite materials. One bit of information that has not been clarified until now involves the source supplying the engines for these UAVs – that and the quality characteristics of the payload. It may be assumed, with a high degree of probability, that external resemblance, regardless of how high the quality of the copying has been, cannot necessarily indicate equally high quality standards of the avionics and surveillance systems. This UAV has two configurations that differ in their tail sections.

In October 2013, a Yassir UAV was presented to a Russian military delegation visiting Tehran as a gesture of goodwill, and possibly as an act of defiance toward the USA. In November 2013, clips filmed in Syria began to crop up on the web, showing an airborne Yassir UAV in the service of the Assad regime. Photographs of such vehicles that had crashed or were shot down and subsequently presented to the media by rebel organizations indicate with certainty that the vehicle in question is the Iranian-made UAV. Another interesting UAV presented by Iran is the Shahed-129 (“eye witness”) UAV, defined as a Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) UAV. This UAV was introduced to the world in 2012, and resembles the Elbit System Hermes-450 UAV made in Israel. The vehicle was unveiled initially through a series of rather blurred clips, with no breakdown of its capabilities. In September 2013, during the visit of senior Iranian officials at the plant that manufactures this UAV, additional information was made available. Of particular interest was the fact that this UAV is armed. The ordnance it carries looks like TOW antitank missiles, probably with a laser guidance head. The configuration in which the missiles were presented – carried under the wings of the UAV – was a departure from standard operational installation (which requires canisters), but it was obvious that the two armament suspension points under the wings of the UAV carried four missiles. Photographs enable a close examination of the payload carried by this UAV, which appears to be an industry standard product containing a stabilized camera with day and night channels, and possibly also a system for guiding precision guided munitions. A relatively advanced airborne vehicle, possessing a reasonable carrying capacity and an endurance of twenty hours or more constitutes a major breakthrough as far as Iran’s UAV capabilities are concerned. The operational implication for Israel is fairly obvious and presents a challenge to the Israeli air defense systems. Penetration by a single UAV from Lebanon during peacetime, against which IAF fighters may be scrambled to engage and shoot down the enemy UAV is not the same as the ‘trickling’ of numerous vehicles during an all-out confrontation, during which massive amounts of rockets are also launched into Israel. The status picture of the sky that Israel should assemble, as well as the advance identification required, present complex challenges. It should be stressed, however, that the damage sustained by the State of Israel thus far as a result of penetrating enemy UAVs was mainly a damage to morale, and the Israeli public perceives such incidents as serious and even as “failures”.

The latest innovation presented by Iran, for now (November 2013), is the Fotros UAV, defined by Iranian spokesmen as a “strategic” vehicle. It is a large UAV with a central fuselage and twin-boom configuration and a wingspan of about 15 meters. Its endurance is up to 30 hours, its official service ceiling is up to 25,000 feet and its range is 2,000 kilometers. If these performance characteristics, officially presented by Iran, are reliable, then for the first time, Iran possesses an indigenous UAV capable of flying from Iran to Israel. The UAV was presented in an armed configuration, carrying missiles that resemble the US-made AGM-114 Hellfire antitank missiles. It is unknown whether Iran actually possesses real missiles of the type described above. The resemblance between the Iranian Fotros UAV and the IAI Heron UAV made in Israel was clearly visible, and there is no doubt that the Iranian engineers were “inspired” by the Israeli UAV. One should not rule out the possibility that in their configuration selection considerations the Iranians did not just want to rely on successful and proven designs, but also attempted to reach a high degree of visual resemblance that would make it difficult to identify their UAVs as hostile, thereby improving their survivability should they be employed over Israel. In conclusion, it appears that the Iranian UAV industry has undergone a substantial transformation in recent years, as it currently presents products that are more advanced than those presented in the past. The UAVs we currently see in Iran are employed, in part, in various areas of conflict (Syria, Sudan) and are also being delivered to Hezbollah.

The Israeli defense establishment should pay heed and prepare to deal with these threats well in advance. 

***

The writer is the head of the Space Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies

Mar. 31, 2014 - By BURAK EGE BEKDIL  - Defense News

ANKARA — Turkish officials, increasingly wary of a controversial decision in September to select a Chinese company to construct the country’s first long-range air defense system, might consider a more time-consuming but entirely local option for the program.

A senior procurement official said he could not rule out the possibility.

“I think Aselsan has the essential capabilities for [the long-range air and anti-missile system]. This may be a challenge, but not something unattainable,” the official said.

Government-controlled military specialist Aselsan is Turkey’s biggest defense company.

But a second procurement official was more skeptical.

“A preliminary study ... says that it may take no less than 14 years for Aselsan to deliver the system,” he said. “And that’s an optimistic guess.”

An Aselsan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that his firm would be keen to set out for the job. “An altogether local solution would earn Turkey extremely strategic capabilities it may need for future programs in air defense.”

As for the risk of belated deliveries, he said: “Our development and production efforts may not come sooner than existing foreign options, but there are no guarantees any foreign option will not produce unexpected delays, either.”

Both the government and Aselsan have come under pressure from NATO allies to rethink a September decision to award the US $3.44 billion air defense contract to China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC).

Turkey’s Western allies have said if Turkey finalizes the deal with the Chinese manufacturer, its entire defense cooperation with Western counterparts, including defense and non-defense companies, could be jeopardized.

The Chinese contender defeated a US partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, offering the Patriot air defense system; Russia’s Rosoboronexport, marketing the S-300; and the Italian-French consortium Eurosam, maker of the Aster 30.

Turkish officials said if contract negotiations with CPMIEC fail, talks would be opened with the second-place finisher, Eurosam. Next in line would be the US bidder. The Russian option was eliminated.

This year, the Turkish government asked the European and US contenders to make new bids by April 30.

The Turkish program consists of a radar system, launcher and interceptor missiles. It has been designed to counter enemy aircraft and missiles. Turkey has no long-range air defense systems.

About half of Turkey’s network-based air defense picture has been paid for by NATO. The country is part of NATO’s Air Defense Ground Environment. Without NATO’s consent, it will be impossible for Turkey to make the planned Chinese system operable with these assets, some analysts say.

But NATO and US officials have said any China-built system could not be integrated with Turkey’s joint air defense assets with NATO and the United States. They also have warned that any Turkish company that acts as a local subcontractor in the program would face serious US sanctions because CPMIEC is on a US list of companies to be sanctioned under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

In December, Aselsan, potentially CPMIEC’s main Turkish partner in the contract, became the first casualty of US sanctions when Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a US investment firm, pulled out of a joint bid to advise Aselsan on the company’s second listing on Istanbul’s stock exchange, citing Turkey’s contract talks with CPMIEC.

Further talks with two other international banks, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, also have failed. Another Aselsan official said the second listing was not “on hold.”

Both procurement officials said the government is interested in further assessing whether a solution based on Aselsan’s local work would be a good idea. But such a decision would come from the top government levels, and it would await political calm after elections.

Turkey’s embattled government, fighting a series of scandals over fraud and undemocratic practices in the country’s judiciary system, is facing a strong challenge from opposition parties in local elections. Observers agree the polls would be a confidence vote on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, and that the results may force early parliamentary elections this year.

A Feb. 25 meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee, which is chaired by Erdogan and oversees top procurement decisions, was indefinitely put off due to political turmoil.

31/3/2014 Or Heller - israeldefense.com

Lebanese news agency reports that the IDF operates an Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV) patrolling along the northern border with Lebanon. Its purpose is to locate demolition charges and holes along the fence

Lebanese news agency reported a military robot moving along the barbed wire fence of Kfar Kila, along with combat aircraft. This is the first time that the IDF operates an UGCV along the fence on the northern border.

According to the report, this is an Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle which operates as well on the Gaza border. It can carry cameras, sensors, speakers and it can be equipped with weapon emplacements. Its purpose is to locate demolition charges and holes along the fence.

The vehicle is built on a platform of four-wheel vehicles, and is operated by the IDF's operations room near the border fence.

As stated, the project began around the Gaza Strip, and now, apparently, is extended to the northern border of Israel, apparently due to the deterioration of the security situation following the continued civil war in Syria

31 March 2014 By Salman Siddiqui - gulf-times.com

The “omnirole” fighter jet Rafale can “easily” meet all the requirements of Qatar’s defence needs for the present and the future, a top Dassault Aviation (DA) official said recently.

Benoît Dussaugey, DA’s senior executive vice-president (international), told Gulf Times that the French company was in the race to win the multi-billion dollar contract for new fighter jets for Qatar’s Emiri Air Force and was “very confident” of its chances given the “excellent capability” of its aircraft.

“The final decision, of course, is with the Qatari authorities and we are sure that they will choose the best aircraft,” he said.

Dussaugey spoke to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the recently held mega defence exhibition, Dimdex 2014.

The Rafale is in competition with other major fighter aircraft, including the Euro fighter Typhoon backed strongly by the British via BAE Systems and American conglomerate Boeing that was reportedly offering the Super Hornet F-18 and F-15 Strike Eagle.

When asked about the reason for his confidence given that the French company’s jet hasn’t had a major sale in the region yet, Dussaugey said the whole world acknowledges the high performance of Rafale. He also pointed out that while it was true Saudi Arabia went ahead with its Typhoon jet deal, the UAE had backed out of it.

A top BAE System official had told Gulf Times earlier that the Typhoon deal had not gone through in the UAE because of the country’s “budgetary” constraints and had nothing to do with their aircraft’s capability. Dussaugey admitted with a laugh that “we were very happy” when the Typhoon deal did not materialise in the UAE.

The French official said his company was still a big contender in the Middle East market and was looking to bag contracts not only in Qatar, but also other countries such as Bahrain .

Also, France is the only country apart from the US that is able to deploy a large aircraft carrier in the region.

According to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, recent years have seen a growing French naval presence in the region, led principally by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. At Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, France has opened a new naval base, where Charles de Gaulle in 2010 was one of the first French navy ships to visit.

The aircraft carrier comprises 10 Rafale M and 10 Super Etendard fighter aircraft, as well as two airborne early-warning and control E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, the weekly added.

When asked to comment on the performance of Rafale in the UAE,  the official said: “The Rafale has performed perfectly well in the UAE and we didn’t even need to modify our aircraft in anyway to suit the extremely hot weather conditions of the region.”

He also highlighted the jet’s past military engagements, including in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2011, Libya in 2011 and Mali in 2013.

Moscow Apr 01, 2014 Spacewar.com  (Voice of Russia)

The Pentagon's research unit is ready to launch a program that unites drones into teams allowing them to share data and act together on a battlefield while being operated by one human. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently announced that the Proposers' Day for its Collaborative Operations in Denied Environments (CODE) program will be held on April 11. CODE's goal is to unite "autonomy and inter-platform collaboration" of unmanned aerial vehicles.

DARPA intends to develop four "critical technology areas" for its future drones: single-drone flight autonomy; a human-systems interface that allows a "mission commander" to operate a drone fleet; drone-team collaboration; and an "open architecture" that allows drones to pass information between each other and humans.

According to DARPA, the CODE project will prepare today's relatively primitive drones for future conflicts, which will be characterized by "a higher level of threats, contested electromagnetic spectrum, and re-locatable targets." DARPA believes that in future, drone technology will be more widespread, and enemies will be more ready to counteract.

It was recently reported that DARPA is also doubling funding for its Hydra program, which develops underwater drones. Some of DARPA's other projects include inaudible military vehicles, the ATLAS robot, brain-reading technology and lasers to shoot down multiple enemy drones.

Smartphone-controlled drones to support US troops in combat zones
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to work with contractors to develop smartphone-controlled drones for US Army ground troops to use to stay better protected while out in the field.

"Many missions require dedicated vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) assets, but most ground units don't have their own helicopters," said Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager, in a press statement. "ARES would make organic and versatile VTOL capability available to many more individual units. Our goal is to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success."

The ARES is in its third and final phase, with Lockheed Martin currently taking the lead on DARPA's research.

There is increased interest in using smaller, field-deployable drones, so soldiers on the ground are able to do short-range reconnaissance - or to launch small-scale aerial assaults. Unlike civilian smartphone-controlled drones, DARPA is seeking technology able to carry up to 3,000 pounds, allowing for weapons and supply reinforcements as well.

Private sector companies and government contractors have already developed technologies for use by special forces, but ARES could be widely deployed.

DARPA's new search engine to crawl Deep Web, root out human trafficking and illicit business
A new kind of web search engine capable of ferreting out human trafficking operations and other illegal activities, hidden in the "deep Web" of the Internet, is expected to become reality in a few years as the US agency responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military is looking for a partner to create a project which may come in handy for law enforcement and military operations.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, is the agency which works on the development of new military technologies such as robots, satellites and body armor. It is currently seeking ways to technologically index the "deep Web" of the Internet - forums, chat rooms and other semi-hidden parts of the Web - which are not scanned by the majority of search engines such as Google and Bing and where a substantial part of illicit business takes place.

The brand-new project was dubbed "Memex " which is a combination of the words "memory" and "index." The main objective of Memex is rooting out human trafficking operations, including labor and sex trafficking. The system is supposed to replace sites that have enabled software that currently prevents them from being "crawled" by today's search engines. According to DARPA, "an index curated for the counter trafficking domain, along with configurable interfaces for search and analysis will enable a new opportunity for military, law enforcement, legal, and intelligence actions to be taken against trafficking enterprises."

Last year, Time magazine wrote about the "deep Web", emphasizing that it is an "electronic haven for thieves, child pornographers, human traffickers, forgers, assassins and peddlers of state secrets and loose nukes." The problem is that many of these sites hide in the less-monitored corners of the Internet and cannot be accessed with normal search engines as they require specific software programs.

Interestingly, the "deep Web" was crafted by the US government as a tool for espionage agents and law enforcement. However, over the past decade, it became widely used by people searching for privacy or ways to conduct illicit activities on the Internet secretly.

The Memex project was opened for proposals last week and companies can submit their final proposals until April 8.

Meet ARES: DARPA's newest transformer-style drones under development
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DAPRA, presented concept images of its scheme to pair up the US military with modular drones named Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES for short), capable of transforming to comply with the needs of different missions.

The ARES drone will be utilized as an unmanned vehicle that would be able to set military units down in dangerous environments. The UAV could also be used as a resupplying entity for troop deployments. If injured combatants need to be evacuated from an area, ARES can help facilitate such ventures.

The final variant of ARES has been shown off as a sort of drone that can buzz around air space but can also be connected to a variety of modules such as vehicles or special container units. It was created from a project called Transformer (TX) with the primary goal being to make "a ground vehicle that is capable of configuring into a VTOL [vertical take-off and landing] air vehicle that provides sufficient flight performance and range, while carrying a payload that is representative of four troops with gear."

"ARES would make organic and versatile VTOL capability available to many more individual units," Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager, said in a statement, "Our goal is to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success." Design assistance and system integration techniques are being taken care of by Lockheed Martin Skunkworks, with ARES in its last stage.

1 avril 2014 par Nicolas Laffont
 

Après des mois de tergiversations, l’Union européenne s’est décidée a enfin lancée son opération militaire en Centrafrique, alors que le pays connaît un regain de violence.

Dans un communiqué, le Conseil européen indique avoir lancé «une opération militaire en République centrafricaine afin de contribuer à la création d’un environnement sécurisé dans ce pays» plongé dans les tueries interreligieuses.

«La force comprendra jusqu’à 1.000 soldats, dirigés par le général de division (français) Philippe Pontiès», a précisé le Conseil, qui représente les Etats membres.

Le feu vert à la mission a été rendu possible grâce aux contributions de dernière minute de l’Italie, qui a offert des véhicules et une quarantaine d’hommes, ainsi que de l’Allemagne et du Royaume-Uni, qui ont mis à disposition des avions de transport de troupes.

L’Espagne, avec 90 hommes, et la Suède avec également des transporteurs, ont aussi renforcé les sept pays de départ (France, Estonie, Lettonie, Espagne, Pologne, Portugal et Géorgie).

Le Conseil européen estime que les coûts communs de l’opération sont estimés à près de 26 millions d’euros (45 millions $) pour la phase préparatoire et que le mandat peut aller jusqu’à six mois à compter de la date à laquelle la force aura atteint sa pleine capacité opérationnelle.

Le déploiement complet de la mission EUFOR-RCA, destinée à sécuriser l’aéroport et certains quartiers de Bangui, prendra cependant plusieurs semaines.