Aug. 26, 2013 By HARUMI OZAWA – Defense News

TOKYO — Japan could be a key participant if conflict breaks out in Asia, the defense minister said Monday, warning China is seeking to exploit difficulties between allies.

The comments by Itsuno Onodera, who said Japan needs new equipment and must reconfigure its defense, come as Tokyo is embroiled in an ongoing spat with Beijing over disputed territory that has sparked warnings of a possible armed skirmish.

“The crisis that Japan faces now may lead to situations in which the country may have to be involved as a main player,” Onodera told a symposium in the capital.

“Before, it was expected that Japan would only be part of a group (involved in any confrontation),” he said, in apparent reference to the US-Japan security alliance.

“Or that a conflict might occur only in areas surrounding the country,” he said.

“Japan’s defense has been designed for that scenario.

“But Japan (now) needs to have a good defense to protect the country, which can mean equipment, new aircraft, defense systems or cyber protection.”

Onodera said Tokyo needed to be wary of China’s maritime expansion in the South and East China Sea.

“China has made more and more advancement into the seas,” he said.

“When it did not have as much military capability, China tried to promote dialogue and economic cooperation, setting territorial rows aside.

“But when it sees a chance, any daylight between a nation and its ally, it makes blunt advancements. This is what is happening and what we should learn from the situation in Southeast Asia.”

Onodera’s speech came as he readied to head to Brunei to participate in the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) starting Wednesday.

The group gathers defense ministers from Southeast Asian nations and eight other regional powers — Japan, China, South Korea, the US, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Onodera said he will “repeatedly explain Japan’s position to his Asian counterparts” and that Tokyo’s motives were entirely defensive.

Hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this year boosted Japan’s defense budget for the first time in more than a decade against the backdrop of growing concerns among many countries in the region about China.

But any move to strengthen military capabilities rouses hostility and suspicion in the region, much of which labored under the brutal yoke of Japanese occupation until the end of World War II.

Since coming to power in December, Abe has repeatedly made noises about altering Japan’s pacifist constitution, which bars the country from offensive action.

The defense ministry last month published a paper saying Japan needed amphibious units and surveillance drones to protect its outlying islands.

Japan’s moves come against a backdrop of increasing Chinese activity in waters far from its mainland coast.

The two countries have spent the last year involved in a dispute over the sovereignty of the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.

Vessels and planes from both sides have played cat and mouse in their seas, with some observers warning a slip from either nation could provoke a military confrontation, with possibly wide-ranging ramifications.

On Monday, Tokyo scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese government plane approached airspace Japan claims as it own

Aug. 26, 2013 – Defense News (AFP)

WASHINGTON — The United States provided Iraq with intelligence on preparations for an Iranian offensive during the Iran-Iraq war even though it knew Baghdad would respond with chemical weapons, Foreign Policy magazine reported Monday.

Citing declassified CIA documents and interviews with former officials, the magazine reviewed the US record as Washington weighs military action against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons near Damascus last week.

The magazine said the US knew in 1983 that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would not hesitate to resort to shelling Iranian forces with sarin or mustard gas.

“As Iraqi attacks continue and intensify the chances increase that Iranian forces will acquire a shell containing mustard agent with Iraqi markings,” a top secret CIA report said in November 1983.

“Tehran would take such evidence to the UN and charge US complicity in violating international law,” the agency warned.

In late 1987, US satellite imagery showed that Iran was concentrating a large force east of the southern Iraqi port city of Basra in preparation for a spring offensive.

The images also showed that the Iranians had identified a strategic weakness in the Iraqi defenses.

The report, titled “At the Gates of Basra,” was shown to President Ronald Regan, who wrote a note in the margins that said, “An Iranian victory is unacceptable,” according to Foreign Policy.

The United States decided to inform Baghdad of its findings and help the Iraqis with intelligence on Iranian logistics centers and anti-aircraft defenses.

Saddam’s forces smashed the Iranian buildup before it could get off the ground, launching a vast offensive in April 1988, backed by bombardments with chemical weapons, on the Fao Peninsula.

Chemical agents were used four times, each time killing between hundreds and thousands of Iranian troops, according to the CIA.

“The Iraqis never told us that they intended to use nerve gas. They didn’t have to. We already knew,” said retired Air Force Col. Rick Francona, a military attache in Baghdad during the 1988 attacks.

During the same period, in March 1988, Saddam used chemical agents in an attack of the Kurdish village of Hallabja, killing 5,000 people, also with total impunity.

August 27, 2013 armyrecognition.com

Turkey will join any international coalition in the event of a military invasion to the Syrian Arab Republic. This was stated by Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs. It seems that Ankara is very zealous in this regard. The Turkish authorities are ready to support a military intervention even without the mandate of the UN Security Council.

According to Davutoglu, in the absence of a unanimous decision within the framework of a UN Security Council meeting, there will be other options for resolving the conflict.

A U.S. military intervention in the Syrian conflict is becoming more likely. The pretext is the use of chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21st. Washington hurried to place the responsibility for the attack on the government troops.

Turkey, a NATO member bordering Syria, has emerged as one of Assad's most vocal critics during the two-and-a-half year conflict, sheltering half a million refugees and allowing Syrian rebels to organise on its soil.

As a regional power-player and the Islamic world’s sole NATO member, Turkey is likely to play a significant role in any prospective US-backed strike against Damascus.

Aug. 27, 2013 – Defense News (AFP)

DAMASCUS — Syria vowed Tuesday that it will fight off any Western military strikes with what it called “surprise” defenses, while raising the specter of Islamists benefiting from such intervention.

“We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the best; we will defend ourselves,” said Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

He was speaking at a news conference as the United States and its allies edged closer to launching strikes against the Syrian regime amid accusations it used chemical weapons against its own people.

Muallem said the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has been fighting an insurgency for the past 29 months, had defenses that would “surprise” the world.

“Syria is not an easy case. We have defenses which will surprise others,” he said in Damascus.

Russian news agency Interfax said Tuesday that the Damascus government had enough air defense systems to rebuff attacks.

“If the US Army together with NATO launch an operation against Syria, there won’t be an easy victory,” the agency quoted a military-diplomatic source as saying.

The Syrian minister said he was confident that Russia, a key ally of the Assad regime, would not abandon Damascus.

“I can assure you that Russia has not abandoned Syria. Our relations continue in all fields, and we thank Russia for its support,” Muallem told reporters.

Muallem also charged that strikes would benefit Israeli and jihadist groups in the Middle East.

“The war effort led by the United States and their allies will serve the interests of Israel and secondly Al-Nusra Front,” an Al-Qaida-linked jihadist group in Syria, said Muallem.

He challenged Western states to present evidence that the Assad regime used chemical weapons.

“We are hearing war drums around us. If they want to launch an attack against Syria, I think using the excuse of chemical weapons is not true at all. I challenge them to show what proof they have,” Muallem said.

The minister also said foreign military intervention in the country would not stop the government’s campaign against rebels.

“If they think they can stop the victory of our armed forces like that, they are wrong,” he stressed.

The intensifying Western moves to take military action came as a team of UN arms experts collected evidence from the site of the alleged chemical weapons attacks on the outskirts of Damascus on Aug. 21, which reportedly killed more than 300 people.

The inspectors had been due to visit the sites again Tuesday, but Muallem said their trip had been postponed for a day because rebels failed to guarantee their security.

“Today, we were surprised by the fact that they were not able to get there because the rebels did not agree to guarantee the mission’s security. So the mission has been delayed until tomorrow,” said Muallem.

The group was originally due to leave Syria on Sunday, but its stay could be extended as team members investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.

Aug. 26, 2013 - By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

WASHINGTON — Air Force Space Command has released a new white paper laying out its argument for moving towards a new architecture for military space programs.

That strategy, known as “disaggregation,” has been promoted for some time by Gen. William Shelton, the head of Space Command. But this document, released Aug. 21, provides the clearest look yet at how the Pentagon views its future space strategy.

“The threat environment has changed extraordinarily, and we must adapt critical US capabilities if our operational advantage is to endure,” wrote the uncredited authors of the paper.

The Air Force defines disaggregation as “the dispersion of space-based missions, functions or sensors across multiple systems spanning one or more orbital plane, platform, host or domain.” In simpler terms, the idea behind disaggregation is to take the capability that has been crammed into a small number of highly-capable satellites and spread them across a much wider number of platforms.

Space systems are still structured on a Cold War-era strategy, where the threat to space assets was seen as highly unlikely. Such an attack would have triggered “mutually assured destruction” between the NATO powers, led by the United States, and the communist bloc, led by the USSR.

But the 21st century has seen space grow more crowded, both with new players and with half a century of accumulated space debris. Modern threats to satellites include kinetic weapons, laser interference, signal jamming and cyber attacks, as well as the persistent danger from space debris. Losing even one of these advanced satellites could prove crippling to the US defense structure — not just from a capabilities standpoint, but from a cost perspective.

Creating networks of satellites to replace large single systems would correspond with a significant increase in resilience in case a satellite is lost, the paper stated.

Disaggregation is not just a defensive strategy. It could have potentially huge benefits, both from a fiscal and technological perspective.

Financially, an increase in the number of satellites being produced would be a boon for US industry, which would no longer find itself starting and stopping its production lines. Instead, it would have a steady rate of production, which in turn could lower cost per unit. Additionally, having more systems would create opportunities for multiple companies to take part in satellite production, and being able to launch multiple systems at once could drive down launch costs.

Creating smaller systems would also lead to more opportunities to refresh the technology in space. Current systems have a developmental lifespan of up to 14 years, and often last a decade or longer once launched. While it is possible to update software, the capabilities of the satellites are mostly locked in place once they are launched. Moving to a disaggregated architecture, with multiple units going up over time, would mean that satellites can have much more relevant technology during their lifespan.

The white paper does acknowledge potential challenges, including the logistical challenge of moving complex systems from space-based platforms to ground-based parts of the system. It would also require greater flexibility in the acquisitions budget in order to keep up with modern technologies. Some in industry have also expressed concern about whether disaggregation would work in a real-world setting.

Despite those potential roadblocks, the service seems to have decided that a disaggregated architecture is the way forward for military space. And given the long-lead times needed for space platforms, the Pentagon likely needs to commit soon.

“If the premise is accepted that national security space assets with someday be attacked, then we have a military and moral obligation to examine protective measures that minimize this risk and protect our nation’s warfighters, citizens, and economy,” the paper concludes. “Standing still in an environment populated with intelligent adversaries seeking to contest our leaderships in space and the operational advantages it affords is a strategy for falling behind.”

MOSCOU, 26 août - RIA Novosti

Le 11e Salon aérospatial international MAKS 2013 se déroulera du 27 août au 1er septembre à Joukovski, dans la région de Moscou.

Les exhibitions de trois chasseurs russes de 5e génération PAK FA (T-50) et de chasseurs Sukhoi Su-35S, qui réaliseront des exercices de voltige aérienne, constitueront un des éléments les plus impressionnants du programme des vols au salon MAKS 2013. 

Premières du Salon MAKS 2013

Le groupe russe Irkout  dévoilera le chasseur à haute manœuvrabilité Sukhoi Su-30SM. Irkout produit actuellement 60 avions Su-30SM pour l'armée russe. 

Le Consortium aéronautique unifié (OAK), maison mère des avionneurs Sukhoi, MiG et Iliouchine, compte présenter son nouvel avion de transport Iliouchine Il-76MD-90A (Il-476). OAK exposera, sur le statique, la version VIP du moyen-courrier Sukhoi SuperJet-100 (SSJ-100), ainsi que l'avion Tupolev Tu-214ON (ON est une abréviation de "Otkrytoïe Nebo" - "ciel ouvert" en russe) qui sera remis au ministère russe de la Défense pendant le salon. Un simulateur d'aide à la navigation de l'avion MS-21 sera exposé au stand d'OAK.

L'hélicoptère modernisé Mi-171A2 sera présenté pour la première fois au Salon MAKS-2013. La fin des travaux de conception et d'homologation de cet appareil est prévue pour la fin de 2014. Sa production en série commencera en 2015.

Le consortium Almaz-Anteï, constructeur russe des systèmes de défense antiaérienne, dévoilera plusieurs nouveaux projets dont le missile sol-air à moyenne portée S-350E. Selon les concepteurs, ce missile est censé remplacer les missiles sol-air S-300 actuellement en dotation dans l'armée russe.

La police russe utilisera deux dirigeables pour garantir la sécurité du Salon MAKS 2013. Un dirigeable contrôlera la situation dans le secteur des manifestations publiques et l'autre aidera la police de la route à gérer le trafic automobile. 

Exposition

Le Salon MAKS 2013 réunira plus d'un millier de participants dont 277 sociétés de 43 pays étrangers.

Le holding russe de hautes technologies Rostec, dont font partie la plupart des entreprises aérospatiales russes, est le partenaire général du Salon aérospatial. Cette année, Rostec présentera les innovations de 10 sociétés - hélicoptères, moteurs pour avions et missiles, équipements électroniques de bord, etc.

La présentation d'un groupe membre de Rostec, "Hélicoptères de Russie", doit sûrement attirer l'attention du public. Le groupe exposera une quinzaine d'hélicoptères dont Ka-31, Ka-52 Alligator, Ka-226T, Mi-35M, Mi-38 et d'autres encore.

Un autre holding russe - Consortium unifié des motoristes (OAK) - présentera une trentaine de ses produits, entre autres le moteur PD-14 conçu pour les avions de ligne russes MS-21, le moteur 117C pour chasseurs Sukhoi Su-35 et le moteur SaM146 qui équipe les moyen-courriers SSJ-100. 

L'Agence fédérale spatiale russe (Roskosmos) promet de présenter une maquette d'un nouvel vaisseau spatial habité dont le premier vol est programmé pour 2018. Selon le directeur de Roskosmos Vladimir Popovkine, il s'agit d'une maquette grandeur nature.

Le consortium russe "Technologies radioélectroniques", producteur d'équipements de bord pour avions militaires et civils, présentera de nouveaux systèmes de pilotage et de navigation pour l'avion de ligne MS-21, ainsi que des équipements uniques conçus pour le chasseur de 5e génération PAK FA.

Contrats et accords

Pour le moment, aucun participant au salon MAKS n'a annoncé qu'il comptait signer un contrat pendant l'édition 2013. Toutefois, ses participants envisagent de finaliser plusieurs accords sur la livraison d'avions Irkout MS-21 et SSJ-100. La signature de nouveaux contrats ne pas à exclure aussi. En 2011, la Consortium aéronautique unifié (OAK) a signé des contrats pour 7,5 milliards de dollars pendant l'édition précédente de MAKS.

La société russe VEB-Leasing et le groupe Irkout peuvent transformer en contrat ferme l'accord sur la production de 30 avions MS-21 pour 2,5 milliards de dollars.

La société "Avions civils Sukhoi" et le groupe de leasing russe Ilyushin Finance Co (IFC) devraient aussi finaliser leur accord sur la livraison de 20 avions Sukhoi Superjet 100.

Le carnet des commandes d'OAK compte actuellement plus de 580 appareils pour plus de 1.000 milliards de roubles (22,7 milliards d'euros) dont un tiers sont des appareils civils. Les avions MS-21 et SSJ-100 sont les projets civils principaux d'OAK.

Programme des vols

Le programme des vols du salon MAKS-2013 sera inauguré par les groupes de voltige aérienne russes Russkie Vitiazi ("Preux russes", équipé de Sukhoi Su-27), et Striji ("Martinets", équipé de MiG-29). Les vols de démonstration de plus de 30 minutes auront lieu tous les jours, du 27 août au 1er septembre.

Le groupe de voltige aérienne russe Berkouty ("Aigles royaux") fera de la voltige en hélicoptères de frappe Mi-28N.

Le groupe d'acrobatie aérienne Sokoly Rossii ("Faucons de Russie") réalisera des vols d'exhibition en chasseurs de 4e génération Sukhoi Su-27.

Un chasseur russe de 5e génération T-50 et un chasseur polyvalent russe Sukhoi Su-35S réaliseront aussi des figures de voltige aérienne au salon MAKS-2013.

Participants étrangers

Les as de la voltige aérienne étrangers effectueront aussi des vols de démonstration au salon MAKS-2013. Les représentants de l'Armée de l'air chinoise piloteront des chasseurs Chengdu J-10 équipés de moteurs russes AL-31FN. Selon le journal russe Kommersant, la Russie a pris en charge les frais de participation de militaires chinois au salon MAKS-2013.

La France participe traditionnellement au salon MAKS. Les visiteurs pourront admirer les exhibitions d'avions de chasse Rafale développés et produits par l'avionneur français Dassault Aviation, ainsi que de L-39 Albatros de la patrouille acrobatique française Breitling Jet Team.

La patrouille aérienne civile lettone Baltic Bees, évoluant aussi sur L-39 Albatros, présentera également un spectacle aérien à Joukovski. 

Sécurité et ordre public 

Les organisateurs du salon comptent attirer près de 400.000 visiteurs par jour.

Plus de 3.000 policiers dont près de 400 policiers de la route veilleront au respect de l'ordre public pendant le salon aérospatial. La police utilisera des détecteurs de métaux et des scanners à rayons X. Les armes froides et à feu, les liquides inflammables, d'autres objets et matières dangereuses, ainsi que les boissons alcoolisées seront proscrits sur le territoire du salon aérospatial.

Seules les personnes munies de laissez-passer spéciaux pourront accéder au salon MAKS en voiture. Les autres conducteurs devront se servir d'un parking spécial de 15.000 places aménagé près de l'aéroport Bykovo.

26 août 2013 eutmmali.eu

Le 25 août 2013, à l’état-major principal de Bamako,  s’est tenue une cérémonie de remise de décorations au personnel de la Mission Européenne d’Entraînement au Mali. A cette occasion, le général Guibert, commandant la mission, a rendu hommage aux 40 militaires arrivés à la fin de leur mandat :

« Devant vous, j’atteste de la qualité de leur engagement, de leur professionnalisme autant que de leurs qualités humaines remarquables dans cet environnement complexe. La Médaille de la politique européenne de sécurité et de défense souligne l’ampleur du travail accompli, leur implication pour le succès de la mission et l’état d’esprit constant qui les anime. »

Après que le général Guibert eut décoré le colonel Stefano Di Sarra, colonel adjoint de la mission, l’ensemble des 40 récipiendaires se sont également vu remettre par le de la Médaille de la politique européenne de sécurité et de défense commune. Parmi eux, 30 soldats tchèques de l’unité de protection de l’état-major de Bamako ont notamment été mis à l’honneur. En poste depuis le 16 mars, l’unité tchèque de protection est issue du 43e bataillon aéroporté, stationné dans la ville de Chrudim, dans la région est de la Bohème. Elle a pour mission d’assurer la protection du personnel et la défense des locaux de l’état-major d’EUTM Mali.

27/8/2013 Jacques Marouani, - ElectroniqueS

Le Premier ministre, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Arnaud Montebourg, ministre du Redressement productif, Geneviève Fioraso, ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, et Fleur Pellerin, ministre chargée des PME, de l'Innovation et de l'Economie numérique, ainsi que plusieurs représentants des autorités nationales, régionales et locales, et des dirigeants de STMicroelectronics, se sont retrouvés le 22 juillet dernier sur le site ST de Crolles, près de Grenoble (Isère), pour le lancement du programme de R&D Nano2017.

Le Premier ministre a annoncé la participation de l'Etat à hauteur de 600 millions d'euros au programme Nano2017 pour un coût total de 3,5 milliards d'euros. Il doit se traduire par la réalisation d'importants investissements industriels de haute technologie en France par STMicroelectronics, notamment dans son usine de Crolles. STMicroelectronics investira lui-même 1,3 milliard d'euros qui devrait lui permettre de doubler la capacité de production de cette usine. Celle-ci va passer de 3 500 tranches de silicium par semaine à 7 000 à terme, avec une étape intermédiaire de 5 700 tranches par semaine.

Le projet bénéficie du soutien de l'Union européenne par le biais de l'initiative technologique commune (JTI) de l'Eniac, le Conseil consultatif pour l'initiative européenne des nanotechnologies.

Le programme Nano2017 doit renforcer le leadership de ST dans les technologies-clés : FD-SOI (traitement de hautes performances et basse consommation), imagerie de nouvelle génération (capteurs et processeurs de signal d'images) et mémoires non-volatiles embarquées de nouvelle génération. Ces technologies sont au coeur des solutions de traitement embarquées de ST, telles que les microcontrôleurs, les solutions d'imagerie, les produits numériques grand public, les processeurs d'application et les Asic numériques.

Nano2017 s’inscrit dans une vision européenne, avec le programme "Airbus of Chips" de 10 milliards d'euros sur 7 ans lancé par la Commission européenne, qui vise à doubler la production en Europe de puces "moins coûteuses et plus intelligentes" pour atteindre 20% de la production mondiale. Le site de Grenoble-Crolles sera l’un des 3 piliers, avec les pôles d’innovation de Dresde en Allemagne, et Eindhoven-Leuven aux Pays-Bas et en Belgique, de cette stratégie microélectronique européenne ambitieuse.