11.09.2015 source SHD

11 septembre 1611 : naissance du maréchal de Turenne (Sedan).

11 septembre 1697 : bataille de Zenta (actuelle Serbie). Eugène de Savoie, frustré de n'avoir reçu aucun commandement militaire de la part de Louis XIV, se met au service des Habsbourg et devient l'un des plus grands chefs de guerre de son temps. A Zenta, il inflige une défaite écrasante aux Ottomans du sultan Moustafa II. Alors que ceux-ci traversent la rivière Tisza pour prendre leurs quartiers d'hiver, Eugène parfaitement renseigné sur leurs déplacements, décide d'attaquer. Il parvient à surprendre l'ennemi en plein franchissement ce qui lui permet d'inverser le rapport de forces. Pris au dépourvus, les Ottomans perdent 20 000 hommes et 10 000 prisonniers. Deux ans plus tard, les Ottomans signeront la paix et évacueront quasiment toute l'Europe.

11 septembre 1709 : bataille de Malplaquet (vers Mons). Tactiquement indécise, cette bataille est en fait une victoire stratégique française. Alors que le royaume de France est sur le point d'être envahi, la "saignée" en hommes que représente Malplaquet compromet les projets d'invasion du duc de Marlborough et ... d'Eugène de Savoie. Le maréchal Villars perd 40 000 soldats français soit 15 000  de moins que la coalition.

11 septembre 1814 : création du 3^ème régiment du génie (Grenoble). Le plus ancien régiment du génie fête aujourd’hui ses 201 ans. Basé à Charleville-Mézières depuis 1947, le régiment a récemment (mai 2014) été décoré de la croix de la valeur militaire pour son action notamment en Afghanistan. Son drapeau outre 9 batailles inscrites, possède déjà la fourragère 1914-1918 et la Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. « Ardennes, tiens ferme !» compte 900 hommes et appartient à la 1^ère brigade mécanisée.

11 septembre 1917 : mort du capitaine Georges Guynemer (Poelkapelle - Belgique). Fils d'un Saint-Cyrien, Guynemer veut s'engager dans l’armée de Terre lorsqu’éclate la guerre. L'armée de Terre le refuse, le jugeant physiquement trop fragile, alors il postule pour un poste de mécanicien avion. En persévérant, il devient pilote et acquiert bientôt une belle maîtrise du vol. Remarqué pour son courage, son sang-froid et surtout ses qualités chevaleresques en combat aérien, il est promu lieutenant en février 1916. Nommé capitaine début 1917, il prend le commandement de la prestigieuse escadrille des Cigognes. Le jour de sa mort, il totalise 53 victoires aériennes homologuées. Nombreux sont les ennemis qu’il a épargnés lors de duels aériens, à lui rendre les honneurs lorsqu'ils apprennent sa mort (dont les circonstances demeurent obscures).

11 septembre 1973 : coup d’Etat chilien. Le président Salvador Allende est renversé par la Junte militaire chilienne. Des chasseurs-bombardiers tirent au canon de 30 mm contre le palais de la Moneda où vient de se suicider Allende. Le général Pinochet ne quitte le pouvoir qu’en 1990.

11 septembre 1978 : coup du parapluie bulgare (Londres). Georgi Markov, dissident bulgare, décède à l’hôpital de Westminster des suites d’un violent empoisonnement. Le 7 septembre Markov a été bousculé par un passant dans la rue qui lui a donné « par mégarde » un coup de parapluie. Cet ustensile inoffensif était en fait une arme conçue par les services secrets de l’Est et le passant maladroit, l’un des leurs.

Note RP Defense : voir Le mystère du "parapluie bulgare" restera entier

11 septembre 2001 : attentats du World Trade Center (New York et Washington)

10 September 2015 by Saab

09/09/2015 Virginie Flawinne –MIL.be

Le groupement tactique mené par le 2 Bataillon de Commandos a effectué la prise de l'aérodrome de Saint-Hubert le mardi 8 septembre. Les militaires ont progressé toute la nuit jusqu'à l'objectif qu'ils ont attaqué le matin. Après sécurisation et acheminement du matériel nécessaire sur la nouvelle base, le battle group sera fin prêt à stabiliser la région comme lors d'un engagement au sein de la Force de réaction rapide de l'OTAN (NATO Response Force ou NRF).

Après l'infiltration par C-130 de tout le groupement tactique le lundi 7 septembre à Bertrix et une progression nocturne de 35 km, l'attaque a été menée le mardi matin sur l'aérodrome de Saint-Hubert, tombé aux mains de l'ennemi. Les quelque huit cents soldats sous le commandement du 2 Bataillon de Commandos de Flawinne ont rapidement pris le dessus. « Le site est complexe car les distances sont importantes et les insurgés disposent de véhicules », explique le chef de corps, le lieutenant-colonel Vincent Pierard, qui vient de terminer l'attaque avec ses hommes.

Malgré quelques blessés légers pris directement en charge sous le feu, le groupement, qui fera partie de la NRF en 2016, a démontré son professionnalisme. « Ce n'est pas parfait car nous comptons quelques blessés légers », avoue un para-commando « mais l'attaque s'est bien déroulée et nous poursuivrons la sécurisation jusqu'au déminage par le Génie et l'arrivée de l'ensemble des moyens. »

Une colonne de véhicules ainsi que du matériel transporté par voies aériennes ont rejoint le battle group dans le courant de l'après-midi. Dès ce mercredi, les troupes se mettront en mouvement depuis leur nouvelle base pour stabiliser la région.

L’ECPAD et le Service historique de la Défense proposent aux collectivités territoriales, aux centres culturels, aux institutions… d’accueillir gracieusement l’exposition « Images interdites de la Grande Guerre ».

Conçue par le Service historique de la Défense et l’ECPAD, en partenariat avec l’université Paris 1, l’exposition a obtenu le label de la mission du Centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle présente des images de manière inédite et originale puisqu’elle dévoile des photographies qui n’ont pas été vues par les contemporains du conflit. Les clichés sélectionnés, réalisés par la Section photographique de l’armée (SPA), ont tous été censurés pendant la guerre. Leur présentation interroge sur le traitement de l’information pendant le premier conflit mondial.

Au-delà des interdits ou de la censure, cette exposition révèle en outre, la puissance acquise et la puissance révélée de l’image pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle met en perspective ses usages, souligne son appropriation par l’État en tant que véritable arme de guerre et outil de communication bien au-delà de la Grande Guerre explique Hélène Guillot, commissaire scientifique de l’exposition.

À l’occasion des commémorations du centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale, cette exposition nous interroge sur la construction de notre mémoire du conflit.

Plus d’informations :

Lien dossier de presse

Lien fiche technique

Contacts :

-commissaire scientifique Hélène Guillot, SHD, helene.guillot@intradef.gouv.fr (01 41 93 23 50)

-convention de prêt itinérance, ECPAD,  actions-culturelles@ecpad.fr (tél. 01 49 60 59 97)

8 sept. 2015 by US Navy

8 sept. 2015 Defence HQ

08.09.2015 Romandie.com (ats)

L'armée turque est entrée mardi sur le sol irakien pour la première fois en quatre ans après une série d'attaques des rebelles du PKK. Ces attentats ont provoqué la mort de plus de 30 soldats ou policiers et plongé un peu plus la Turquie dans la violence. Deux jours après une première embuscade à l'explosif dans laquelle 16 soldats ont péri à Daglica (sud-est), le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) a réalisé une opération similaire mardi à l'aube contre un minibus de la police, cette fois dans la province d'Igdir, aux confins des frontières avec l'Arménie, l'Iran et l'Azerbaïdjan. Bilan: treize morts et un blessé.

Courte durée

Depuis dimanche soir, les chasseurs F-16 et F-4 de l'aviation turque ont pilonné à plusieurs reprises les bases arrière du mouvement rebelle dans les montagnes du nord de l'Irak et des membres des forces spéciales sont entrés en Irak. "Les forces de sécurité turques ont franchi la frontière irakienne dans le cadre du droit de poursuite visant des terroristes du PKK qui ont commis les récentes attaques", a déclaré une source gouvernementale turque, sans préciser la durée de cette opération. "C'est une mesure de courte durée pour empêcher la fuite des terroristes", a toutefois assuré cette source anonyme. Les frappes aériennes et le raid des forces spéciales ont provoqué la mort de "près de cent terroristes" du PKK, selon l'agence de presse Dogan citant des sources militaires. La précédente incursion de l'armée turque sur le sol irakien, un phénomène courant dans les années 1990 contre les bases arrière de ce mouvement rebelle kurde dans les montagnes, remontait à 2011.

Discours ferme d'Erdogan

Dans un discours très ferme, le président islamo-conservateur Recep Tayyip Erdogan a promis mardi de débarrasser son pays du PKK. "Nous n'avons pas abandonné et nous n'abandonnerons pas cette nation à trois ou cinq terroristes", s'est exclamé M. Erdogan. "Si Dieu le veut, la Turquie, qui a surmonté de nombreuses crises, réussira à se débarrasser de la peste terroriste", a-t-il insisté. L'opération réalisée par le PKK à Daglica a été la plus meurtrière depuis la reprise il y a près de deux mois des affrontements entre l'armée et ce mouvement rebelle. Ces heurts ont fait voler en éclats les discussions de paix engagées à l'automne 2012 pour mettre un terme à un conflit ayait fait quelque 40'000 morts depuis 1984.

Douaniers et ouvriers libérés

Fin juillet, le gouvernement turc a ordonné des frappes aériennes contre les bases du PKK en représailles à des attaques rebelles contre ses forces de sécurité. Les violences sont depuis quotidiennes. Mardi encore, un policer a été tué à Tunceli (est). Le PKK a toutefois annoncé mardi avoir libéré un groupe de 20 agents des douanes et d'ouvriers turcs d'une entreprise de travaux publics qui avaient été enlevés dans l'est de la Turquie il y a près d'un mois. Ils devaient regagner leur pays dans la soirée. Selon le dernier comptage de la presse favorable au gouvernement, les affrontements ont entraîné la mort d'une centaine de soldats ou de policiers et d'un millier de rebelles.

07/09/2015 IRSEM

03 septembre 2015 par  Philippe Corvisier - electroniques.biz

Spécialiste de la conception de packs d'accumulateurs spécifiques, conformes aux cahiers des charges de ses clients, BMZ a ouvert cette année une filiale en France.

Spécialiste de la batterie lithium-ion sur-mesure depuis plus de 20 ans, l'allemand BMZ (Batterien-Montage-Zentrum) a ouvert une filiale en France. Créée en 1994, suite à la reprise de l'activité "pack maker" de Saft GmbH, BMZ adresse aujourd'hui trois marchés principaux : les vélos à assistance électrique (40%), l'électroportatif (30%) et le secteur médical (10%). Pour le reste, la société est présente dans les secteurs de la défense, de l'industrie, de l'électroménager, de l'automobile et de l'aérospatiale.

Suite de l'article

September 5, 2015: Strategy Page

A power struggle in the government has finally gone public with the August 27 arrest of Abdelkader Ait Ouarab. This is a big deal because this is the guy who led the counter-terror campaign in the 1990s that defeated the Islamic terrorists. Ouarab continued serving until he retired (apparently under pressure) in late 2013. All this internal strife has been going on, quietly, for over a decade. Things heated up in early 2013 when president Abdelaziz Bouteflika had a stroke and was disabled. Pro-reform members of the senior leadership pushed for Bouteflika to resign followed by free elections The Bouteflika family and corrupt officials who had benefitted from Bouteflika rule got organized and resisted. No one wanted a civil war, but the two sides were sharply divided and compromise was not possible. By late 2013 it was clear that most Algerians wanted the government to clean up the rampant corruption and that there was support for that on the inside led by several senior Intelligence officers. Most of the corrupt officials and their civilian allies belong to the extended family of the elderly (nearly 80) president Bouteflika. Then there were the clans of several other families that led the country after freedom was achieved in the 1960s and have dominated government and the economy ever since. The Bouteflikas were apparently slow to realize that their most dangerous political enemies were the senior people in the intelligence and security agencies who were keen on cleaning up the corruption. There were also a lot of military officers who favored anti-corruption reforms. Fortunately for Bouteflika many senior military commanders were corrupt, some because they felt refusing the economic perks offered when they achieved high rank would be seen as disloyal. Bouteflika always believed the loyalty of the military was essential to keeping his corrupt crew in power. Yet by late 2013 many Bouteflika loyalists noted the split within the military and began moving more of their assets out of the country, just in case. That’s because if there’s another large-scale uprising and the military refuses to suppress it (or, worse, splits or falls apart because of disagreements among officers) the current government is done. Bouteflika also realizes that most of the troops are keen on anti-corruption efforts. In short, it’s a dangerous time in Algeria and now it’s out in the open.

There have been hints of trouble recently. In late July local media revealed that the government had unexpectedly replaced three of the most powerful generals in the military (the heads of counter-intelligence, the Republican Guard and presidential security). This was immediately linked with two other odd events. First there was the large number of troops showing up at the presidential residence on July 16th. Whatever was going on there was never made public. Finally there is the fact that president Bouteflika has not spoken or appeared in public for months and many Algerians believe he is dying or at the very least not getting any better.

Since early 2014 the government has denied that there was a feud raging between the intelligence services and the corrupt senior politicians. For over a year there have been rumors of senior people in the intelligence and security agencies who are keen on cleaning up the corruption and pressuring the government to support this effort. There were also a lot of military officers who favor the anti-corruption drive and the government responded by accusing the reformers of being disloyal and plotting a coup. That’s a possibility now, despite efforts to persuade the Bouteflika clan to do the right thing and let the people decide. Right now Algerians are finding out that the key men in the counter-terror forces are being forced out. Not just the older ones who are eligible for retirement but younger ones who are not. This provides leaders for any future rebellion against the corrupt government and the Bouteflikas are running out of options.

Meanwhile the fight against Islamic terrorists continues with over 60 of them killed so far this year compared to about a hundred in all of 2014. Many Algerians fear that dismissing many key counter-terrorism leaders will eventually reduce the effectiveness of operations against Islamic terrorists. The national leadership seems more concerned about maintaining their power and ability to plunder the national wealth for personal benefit. The government also appears incapable of dealing with the financial crises. Oil and gas income has fallen by nearly half since 2011. That’s about $30 billion less each year. Oil and gas are nearly all (97 percent) of the country's export revenues, and 40 percent of GDP. The 2015 budget keeps spending levels largely the same and to do that over $30 billion has to come out of the reserves. This cannot continue for long as Algeria only has $158 billion in reserves and not much in the way of credit for big loans to cover budget deficits. These shortages make the corruption more of an issue. For example, corrupt officials enable over $40 billion in untaxed goods to be smuggled in each year. While the army and police concentrate on the small operators bringing goods in overland in the south or from Morocco, the big money is in bribed officials allowing shiploads to come in untaxed. The government is going through the motions of cracking down but most Algerians believe this is all for show. 

August 31, 2015: In Jijel Province (365 kilometers east of the capital) soldiers have lately been capturing more smugglers with weapons, lots of ammo and even rifle cartridge reloading equipment. Many of these smugglers are bringing in people in addition to the usual cheap fuel and food. In the west, on the Moroccan border, soldiers shot a smuggler crossing the border illegally.

August 28, 2015: West of the capital soldiers ambushed Islamic terrorists and killed one. Weapons and documents were seized.

August 27, 2015: The government arrested former (until late 2013) counter-terrorism chief Abdelkader Ait Ouarab. Also known as “General Hassan” he ran the DRS (main intelligence agency). Ouarab was charged with possessing illegal firearms, withholding information and insubordination. East of the capital troops found an Islamic terrorist hideout that was used to store and build bombs. Several bombs were seized along with weapons and ammo. This was part of a week-long operation that has so far left five Islamic terrorists dead and large quantities of weapons, ammo and equipment seized.

August 25, 2015: In the last three days troops on the Mali and Niger borders have killed or arrested over 120 smugglers and seized large quantities of weapons, ammunition and other goods.

August 23, 2015: Tunisian border guards were ambushed by Islamic terrorists near the Algerian border. One border guard was killed and three wounded. This appears to be part of an effort by one of the major Islamic terror groups in Tunisia to get the security forces to back off. That has not been working so far and the Islamic terrorists have suffered heavy losses recently.

August 22, 2015: In the northeast (Skikda province, 500 kilometers east of the capital) troops clashed with a group of Islamic terrorists and killed two of them. The army has a major search operation going on in the province because of reports that a group of armed Islamic terrorists (as many as 30) were in the area.

August 18, 2015:  In the east, across the border in Tunisia, Islamic terrorist landmines killed two Tunisian soldiers.

August 14, 2015: In the northeast (Skikda province) Islamic terrorists ambushed an army patrol and killed two soldiers.

September 7, 2015:  Strategy Page

The military continues to chase down remaining Boko Haram groups in the northeast, especially northern Borno State and its huge Sambisa Forest. The northeast in general is a thinly populated area with many places to hide. Aerial reconnaissance has proved to be a key tool in finding Boko Haram, along with tips from civilians (often local self-defense groups). For example air force bombers recently hit a Boko Haram camp that was using solar panels (seen from the air) for electricity. Boko Haram is at a disadvantage here because they need electricity to keep their communications working. Batteries alone will not get it done and any electricity producing device (generators, solar panels) are easy to spot (especially when using heat sensors) from the air. The military prefers air strikes because getting ground troops to a remote site can take hours and the element of surprise is lost. Moreover the Islamic terrorists are using more landmines and booby traps around their camps, even the temporary ones. These kill troops every week and will be a long term problem in these remote areas as civilians hunt and forage in these areas. 

Several large (often over a hundred gunmen) Boko Haram groups have become, in effect, nomads. They are constantly on the move, staying in one place a few days and moving on. They live by raiding and looting and the army keeps chasing after them, occasionally catching up. That results in a brief battle as the Islamic terrorists flee, scattering if need be. These groups still try to occupy towns and use the place as a base but that is getting more difficult because the military regularly patrols remote towns and villages to make sure the Islamic terrorists have not shown up and taken over.

Since 2009 Boko Haram violence has left nearly 20,000 dead mainly in three majority Moslem states in the northeast. A thousand of those deaths have occurred in the hundred days since president Buhari (who said he would crush Boko Haram) took power. Accompanying those deaths have been at least 75,000 new refugees forced to flee their homes. Over two million Nigerians have been driven from their homes by the violence so far and over 50,000 have fled to neighboring countries. Boko Haram has tried using neighboring countries for more secure bases but Boko Haram violence there has caused over 100,000 people in Niger, Chad and Cameroon to flee their homes and that triggered a very violent and largely effective counter-terrorism effort. 

President Buhari, being a retired army officer, ordered a number of military reforms as soon as he took office four months ago. One of these involved the punishment given out to thousands of soldiers who “mutinied” in 2014 in response to the corruption and incompetence of many officers. Buhari ordered the review of 5,000 trials (courts martial) of soldiers in late 2014 and early 2015 that resulted in the accused being dismissed from the military. As suspected some 60 percent of these prosecutions involved soldiers protesting bad leadership. These soldiers had their convictions reversed and were offered the jobs back. Most appear of have accepted and rejoined the army.

In the south the navy has been ordered to respond more quickly to complaints of oil pollution caused by gangs that steal and refine oi. For decades gangs have punched holes into pipelines and gathered oil for use in crude illegal refineries that produce low grade kerosene. This has become more popular and the process causes a lot of pollution for people living in the Niger River Delta. The hole punched in the pipeline to take oil ends up letting more oil into the water. The refining process puts more pollutants into the waterways. In response to the order from the new president the navy has increased the use of air patrols and quick reaction teams. When a crude (and portable) refinery is spotted the nearest quick reaction force is alerted, given the GPS coordinates and speeds to the refinery (via thousands of kilometers of waterways in the Delta) before it can be moved. Oil companies believe over 100,000 barrels of oil a day are being stolen by thieves who tap into oil pipelines. That’s several billion dollars a year in lost oil revenue. In the past much of what the government did receive from oil production was stolen by politicians and civil servants. While many people in the Delta only get benefit from all the oil via oil thieves (who hire locals and spend a lot of the cash locally), far more Delta residents suffer from the pollution and generally lawless behavior of all those gangs.

The impact of some new anti-corruption measures are still unclear. Such is the case with the traditional influence of senior state officials in the appointment of the federal cabinet ministers. In the past this was how a new president developed widespread support at the state level. Buhari, as promised, is doing it differently and apparently ignoring the candidates favored by state officials. While this will produce less corrupt federal officials it will also antagonize elected officials and political party leaders in the states. This could get ugly, even though most states have considerable popular support for eliminating corruption.

Buhari still remains very popular, in large part because he has quickly produced some results that everyone can experience. Since taking office a hundred days ago electricity production has nearly doubled. Buhari did this by quickly eliminating corrupt practices (and officials) who were crippling efforts to eliminate chronic and growing electricity shortages (which provided many lucrative opportunities for corrupt officials and businesses). Keeping it up will prove more difficult as the corruption is extensive and a lot of very powerful people are determined to preserve their illegal privileges. As far as the corrupt crowd are concerned Buhari has won a few battles at the beginning of a long war.

September 4, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) a Boko Haram suicide bomber attacked a rural market and killed thirty people. This happened in Gwoza, a town the army had recently chased Boko Haram out of.

September 1, 2015: In the northeast (Borno State) Boko Haram attacked two villages and left at least 26 dead. The Islamic terrorists were seeking supplies and this is how they go about it. Across the Borno State border in Cameroon two Boko Haram suicide bombers (apparently female) attacked a crowded market and killed at least twenty people. Meanwhile Cameroon has forced some 12,000 Nigerian refugees to return home. This is a process begun in July. In part this is because Boko Haram has supporters (not all of them voluntary) among the refugees and these refugees assist Boko Haram in carrying out terror attacks in Cameroon.

August 31, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) a group of Boko Haram gunmen on horseback killed about 80 civilians over the weekend while raiding three villages.

August 29, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) troops found and seized a Boko Haram bomb making workshop. Also taken were two well-known and wanted Boko Haram leaders. In neighboring Chad ten Boko Haram men were executed by firing squad a day after they were convicted of carrying out an attack that killed 38 people in the Chad capital. This is to send a warning to Boko Haram that operating in Chad is very dangerous. Many Boko Haram appear to have figured that out already and fewer of these Islamic terrorists are being encountered inside Chad.

August 26, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) two Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked a checkpoint outside the state capital (Maiduguri). One soldier died, along with the two suicide bombers. Further north in Borno two Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked an army camp just across the border in Chad. The attack failed to harm any of the soldiers. Chad has been working hard to shot down Boko Haram operations along the Nigeria border and to prevent Boko Haram from getting any further into Chad.

August 25, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) a Boko Haram group killed 28 people while raiding two villages. Elsewhere in the northeast (the Yobe State capital Damaturu) a Boko Haram suicide bomber (a 14 year old girl) was stopped at a check point where she detonated her explosives and killed six people. 

August 24, 2015: A part of the new anti-corruption campaign the president (a retired general) has ordered all military weapons purchases since 2007 to be reviewed and prosecutions started if any were found to be corrupt. Some certainly were because officers and soldiers have long complained about not being able to get needed weapons or ammo of finding the stuff they were given defective. The previous president was unhappy with the American refusal to provide high tech weapons because of the corruption in the Nigerian military. The new president wants to eliminate that problem and prosecuting past misbehavior will discourage more such bad behavior.

August 23, 2015: In the northeast (Borno) Boko Haram ambushed an army convoy that included the army chief-of-staff. One soldier was killed along with ten Islamic terrorists. Another five Boko Haram gunmen were captured.

August 22, 2015: Senior military officers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin met in Chad and made the final arrangements for the new force of 8,700 troops that is being assembled for another major international operation against Boko Haram. The neighboring countries want to end the Islamic terrorist threat coming out of Nigeria and this coalition force has been expanded (with 800 troops from Benin) since it first went into action earlier in the year. The new force is supposed to go into action by the end of September.

August 21, 2015: President Buhari suspended the head of the immigration department after it was discovered that a wanted (by Lebanon) Sunni Islamic terrorist cleric (Ahmad al Assir) had been issued a Nigerian visa. This was discovered when the cleric was arrested in Lebanon on the 15th while trying to fly to Nigeria on a fake Palestinian passport containing a valid Nigerian visa. It is suspected that some corrupt immigration officials have been selling a lot of visas to criminals.

August 19, 2015: Nigeria arrested another 22 suspected Boko Haram members among the 12,000 Nigerian refugees being sent back by Cameroon. It was not disclosed how many Boko Haram members have been found so far among these refugees.

Sep 07, 2015 (IANS)

Chennai, India - The Indian space agency on Sunday said it had successfully positioned the country's military communication satellite GSAT-6 in its orbital slot.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), GSAT 6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot of 83 degrees East and co-located with INSAT 4A, GSAT 12, GAAT 10 and IRNSS1C on Sunday morning, after carrying out four drift arresting manoeuvres.

The satellite was launched by India's heavy rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle-Mark II (GSLV) and put into geo transfer orbit (GTO) on August 27.

One of the advanced features of GSAT-6 satellite is its antenna - the largest satellite antenna realised by ISRO and utilised for five spot beams over the Indian mainland, which exploit the frequency reuse scheme to increase frequency spectrum utilisation efficiency.

The satellite provides communication through five spot beams in S-band and a national beam in C-band for strategic users.

The satellite's life expectancy is nine years.

ISRO is planning to launch 2,200 kg INSAT-3DR meteorological satellite next July with its GSLV rocket.

According to ISRO, with two back-to-back successful missions carrying indigenous cryogenic stage, the GSLV has matured into a reliable launch vehicle and has paved the way for its future operational missions, providing India self-sufficiency in launching higher capacity satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

The 2016 July launch would be followed by the GSAT-9 satellite launch in May 2017.

The prestigious Chandrayaan-2 Mission is designated to be launched by GSLV in 2017-18 time frame.

According to ISRO, the GSLV is well on its way towards international and commercial operations.

Work is already in progress on the joint effort with NASA for the launch of NISAR satellite into a polar orbit by 2020-21. This mission will demonstrate the versatility of the GSLV for launch into various orbits.

While technical criticalities of the complex GSLV system have been overcome, challenges are being taken up for improving the payload capability from the present 2,117 kg to the design target of 2500 kg, ISRO said.

Detailed studies are in progress, addressing the various ways of achieving this target, said the Indian space agency.