FULLERTON, Calif., Nov. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire

Raytheon Company has received a contract to deliver a Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) system to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The contract, received by Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business and valued in excess of $600 million, was awarded as a direct commercial sale by the Saudi Ministry of Defense (MOD) and will provide a national, strategic C4I system, providing capabilities for joint service coordination.

Extending over four decades of cooperation, Raytheon values its continuing partnership with the Kingdom and is proud to have been selected to implement this essential system.

27.11.2012 Elbit Systems - army-guide.com

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today the delivery of two ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) Trainers to the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) for the training of surveillance and observation activities to be carried out on Israel's borders. Elbit Systems will also supply Armored Driving Trainers (ADTs) for combat vehicle training during the first quarter of 2013.

Elbit Systems’ ISTAR Trainer is a combat support and field intelligence trainer, designed to enable full simulation of real-life battlefield situations for Forward Observers ("FOs") and sensor operators posted in all types of terrain, performing border control and protection activities. The ISTAR Trainer allows FOs to practice joint strike and reconnaissance missions. The scenarios offered by the ISTAR Trainer are realistic situations depicting the actual borders to be observed by each FO. Interoperable with C4I and communication systems, the scenarios include fire planning, ranging and field operation as well as target detection, recognition, identification, acquisition and engagement in diverse environmental conditions, while using a wide variety of day and night sensors. The ISTAR Trainer is already in use; training new users and maintaining the operational readiness of those professionals already in service.

The Armored Driving Trainer (ADT) is mounted on a 6 DOF (Degree Of Freedom) moving platform specifically designed to provide drivers of combat vehicles with a highly realistic driving experience. The system supports driver training in a wide range of combat and non-combat scenarios, as well as in diverse weather and harsh field conditions, thus creating vital practice situations, such as driving under enemy fire or on dangerous slopes. The ADT is cost effective; saving time and expense, while providing mobile, scalable and modular deployment, multi-platform type support and a network-based and user-friendly interface. Since receiving the current order for ADTs from the IMOD, Elbit Systems has received additional ADT orders from international customers.

Elbit Systems Aerospace Division’s VP - Training and Simulation, Alon Afik, commented:" "These orders for Armored Driving and ISTAR Trainers position Elbit Systems as a front runner in providing multi-faceted training technologies, such as border protection simulation, sensor simulation and C4I training."

26.11.2012,  La Voix de la Russie

Les militaires israéliens ont annoncé avoir testé avec succès un nouveau système de défense antimissile, baptisé « Fronde de David ».

Ce système est capable d'intercepter des missiles ayant une portée de 70 à 300 kms, c’est à dire plus longue que ceux abattus par le système « Dôme de fer » utilisé lors du récent conflit entre Israël et Gaza, a indiqué le ministère de la Défense ce dimanche.

« Fronde de David », qui est développé conjointement par Israël et les Etats-Unis, constitue une couche de protection intermédiaire entre « Dôme de fer », qui assure la défense d'Israël contre les missiles de courte portée, et « Flèche 2 » qui protège le pays contre les missiles balistiques de longue portée, notamment de bande de Gaza. Le système sera utilisé à partir de 2014-2015

Nov 23, 2012 by Arnaud De Borchgrave (UPI)

Washington  - While hundreds of millions Muslims believe 9/11 was history's biggest conspiracy, hatched by U.S. intelligence and Israel's Mossad, to justify a global crackdown on Islamist militants, there are also countless millions of Arabs who are convinced the Nazi Holocaust was grossly exaggerated to justify "the Jewish occupation of Palestine."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to be congratulated for breaking off a trip to Myanmar with President Barack Obama to fly to the Middle East to negotiate a cease-fire between Hamas in Gaza and Jerusalem.

Neither side liked where the latest bloody conflict was headed.

Hamas's Iranian-built Fajr-5 rockets were inaccurate and with insufficient range to reach beyond the outskirts of Israel's heavily populated areas.

The Palestinian rocket offensive was also stymied by the accuracy of Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. Only nine Israelis were killed versus 163 Palestinians, including seven senior Hamas commanders.

Although largely thwarted, the weapons are, in effect, the third Palestinian intifada. And the next missile upgrade, smuggled from Iran through Egypt, will bring Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa within range.

This time, Israel's retaliatory Operation Pillar of Defense targeted -- and killed -- Hamas's Chief of Staff Ahmed Jabari. It also demolished carefully concealed stockpiles of Fajr rockets, along with pinpoint precision bombing of Hamas government offices.

The Israeli air force, minutes away, launched 1,500 pinpoint strikes against targets long identified by Israeli intelligence.

Demolished in the airstrikes, Israeli sources said, were 19 Hamas senior command centers, hundreds of underground rocket launchers, 140 smuggling tunnels and dozens of concealed operation rooms and bases in separate buildings and 26 weapon manufacturing and storage facilities along with dozens of long-range rocket launchers and launch sites.

Six Palestinians accused of working for Israeli intelligence were executed at an intersection in Gaza in front of a cheering mob. One of the bodies was attached to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as a warning against working for Israel.

No amount of violence will hasten the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It is diplomatic chimera.

Israeli settlements keep growing and no one can see Jewish settlers agreeing to resettle in Israel. Many of them are Jewish fundamentalists who moved directly from the United States and have never lived in the Jewish state.

The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank exceeds 350,000, double what it was 12 years ago. The Israel Hayom newspaper reported 300,000 Jews live in East Jerusalem.

A 10-month partial freeze on settlement expansion came to an end two years ago. One Israeli politician, Yaakov Katz, predicts the number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would reach 1 million within five years.

At the height of the latest crisis, Arab columnists piled on about the "Holocaust that was exaggerated to justify the usurpation of Palestine." In the Qatari daily Al-Sharq, Faiz Rashid, a Palestinian-born Jordanian columnist, demanded the Nakba be taught instead of the Holocaust.

Those who say "Remember the Nakba" want to bring to light what they call a monumental and ongoing historic injustice.

For Zionists, Palestine in 1948 was "a land without a people for a people without a land." For Palestinians, Israel was founded in what was home for 1 million Palestinians, living in more than 700 villages and cities, who were deliberately and forcibly depopulated and renamed in 1948 following the Jewish victory in the war of independence.

Palestinians who want to live-and-let-live with Israelis fear radical retribution. Hamas' dictatorial grip on Gaza and the growth of its clandestine influence throughout the West Bank silences moderate views.

The 18-year-olds who fought in the liberation of Europe in World War II are now four years from their 90th birthday. And those who remember the newsreels that showed bulldozers dumping thousands of naked Jewish bodies into huge common ditches are now over 70.

If it weren't for TV's history and military networks, the Holocaust would be ancient history.

As memories fade, anti-Jewish propaganda redoubles its efforts to confuse subsequent generations.

Anything goes -- and anything is believed -- in a culture in which lies freely mingle with facts.

"It is a well-known fact that modern Jews are not Jews, but rather a Khazar rabble from the Caspian Sea who were forced to convert by their king due to pressure applied to him by Muslims and Christians," writes blogger Asad Al-Azouni.

The Obama strategic pivot from Europe to Asia bypassed the Middle East -- only to be pulled back to reality by Hamas and Israel.

It is also abundantly clear the United States cannot play the role of honest broker between the Jewish state and Palestinian radicals that are backed by an Egypt governed (but not yet ruled) by Muslim fundamentalists.

Arab radicals argue violence is the only way to liberate Palestine or at least to force Western powers to move it to the top of their geopolitical agenda.

And behind Muslim radicals is Iran, busily completing its clandestine preparations for a nuclear bomb. The key man in the undercover Hamas-Iran relationship was Ahmad Jabar, assassinated by a pinpoint Israeli strike against his third-floor apartment in the heart of Gaza.

For Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, 56, there is a delicate balancing act between Cairo and Tehran.

Even Egypt's radical Muslim Brotherhood isn't ready to jettison its peace treaty with Israel. But nothing would please Iran's aging mullahs more than a rupture in Cairo's relations with Washington.

Given Egypt's desperate need for World Bank, International Monetary Fund and U.S. financial assistance, this isn't likely to happen.

Nov 23, 2012 – Spacewar.com (AFP)

Washington  - The United States said Friday a conference on a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction has been scrapped because of conditions in the region and lack of consensus among the states involved.

The conference, which was mooted in a 2010 review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, was supposed to have been held next month in Finland.

But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said states in the region had been unable to agree on "acceptable conditions for a conference" and she cited "present conditions in the Middle East" as standing in the way.

The announcement comes amid a flare up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, civil war in Syria and an unsettled political situation in Egypt.

"The United States believes that a deep conceptual gap persists in the region on approaches toward regional security and arms control arrangements," Nuland said in a statement.

"These differences can only be bridged through direct engagement and agreement among the states in the region. Outside states cannot impose a process on the region any more than they can dictate an outcome.

"We would not support a conference in which any regional state would be subject to pressure or isolation," Nuland added, alluding to US ally Israel.

The issue has long set Israel, which has an undeclared nuclear stockpile, against Arab states led by Egypt, which want the United Nations to declare a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

Israeli and western suspicions that Iran is secretly working toward a nuclear weapons capacity of its own have further complicated the task.

26 novembre 2012 romandie.com (AFP)

ATME (Syrie) - Un chasseur-bombardier syrien a bombardé lundi à la mi-journée la localité d'Atme, frontalière de la Turquie, dans le nord-ouest de la Syrie, sans faire de victime, selon un journaliste de l'AFP sur place.

Un chasseur-bombardier a fait trois passages à très basse altitude au-dessus du village, larguant au moins six bombes ou roquettes sur des zones habitées à proximité d'une école abritant un centre de commandement rebelle, selon des témoins.

Le journaliste de l'AFP a comptabilisé six points d'impact près de trois maisons, un champ, un jardin et une route. Certains témoins ont affirmé qu'il s'agissait de bombes et d'autres de roquettes. Ces bombardements n'ont fait ni blessé ni tué.

Le centre de commandement rebelle, qui abrite également le QG de la brigade des Aigles de Damas de l'Armée syrienne libre (ASL), n'a pas été touché.

Le MIG volait très bas. Il a fait trois passages, a raconté Mahmoud, propriétaire de l'une des habitations touchées. L'un des engins largués par le chasseur-bombardier est tombé dans le jardinet de sa maison, creusant un large cratère dans la terre meuble et dans la façade de l'habitation, où toutes les vitres ont été soufflées et les meubles renversées.

Toute la famille était dans la maison. Grâce à Dieu, personne n'a été blessé, a-t-il raconté à l'AFP.

Voilà ce que (le président) Bachar (al-Assad) nous envoie pour régler les problèmes de la Syrie. Et merci Erdogan (Premier ministre turc) pour ta zone de protection aérienne, a-t-il ironisé.

La localité d'Atme est située à deux kilomètres de la frontière. Elle compte en temps normal 7.000 habitants mais des milliers de réfugiés y vivent depuis le début de la guerre.

Ils sont installés dans un camp de fortune dans les champs d'oliviers juste le long de la frontière. Un autre camp a été aménagé dans le village voisin de Qah, à environ 3 km de la frontière. Aucune bombe ne les a visés, a constaté le journaliste de l'AFP.

Le bombardement sur Atme a cependant créé un vent de panique chez les réfugiés, dont certains sont passés en force en Turquie en franchissant les grillages et fils barbelés, selon des témoins.

Située dans la province d'Idleb, cette région est un centre névralgique de la rébellion, et le village d'Atme et ses environs abritent de nombreuses unités rebelles, membres de l'ASL ou groupes islamistes.

Nov 23, 2012 ASDNews (AFP)

The US Navy temporarily will have one aircraft carrier in the Gulf region instead of two because one of its ships has to undergo repairs, officials said Friday.

The announcement reflected the strain on the Navy's fleet since President Barack Obama decided to maintain two aircraft carrier groups at all times in the Gulf, a policy driven by concerns over tensions with Iran.

The carrier USS Nimitz was supposed to replace the USS Dwight Eisenhower "early next year" but mechanical problems with the Nimitz delayed its scheduled deployment and forced a change in plans, officials said.

Instead, the Eisenhower will return sooner than scheduled for two months and then head back to the Middle East, in what the Navy acknowledged was "an unusual move."

During the two-month break at the Eisenhower's homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, the Navy "will resurface the ship's flight deck and make it available to return and remain in the Middle East region for several more months," the Navy said in a statement issued this week.

While the Eisenhower's crew gets a break after a nearly 10-month deployment, the aircraft carrier USS Stennis will remain in the Gulf along with other American warships, including a Marine contingent led by the amphibious assault ship, the USS Peleliu.

The year-round two carrier presence was reduced to one in December 2010.

The United States has bolstered its presence in the strategic Gulf over the past year after Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if Western countries boycotted Iranian oil exports.

About one-fifth of the world's traded oil passes through the vital waterway.

2012-11-23 china-defense-mashup.com

After 13 days and nights of continuous sailing, the 13th naval escort taskforce under the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) successfully arrived in the eastern waters of the Gulf of Aden at 04:00 on November 21, 2012, local time.

The pirate activity is expected to be more rampant due to the relatively sound sea conditions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast in the next six months, according to the command post of the escort taskforce. Moreover, the pirates have mastered a series of “tactics” and extended their active period from daylight into dawn and dusk, even into the night.

The 13th Chinese naval escort taskforce, composed of the “Huangshan” guided missile frigate, the “Hengyang” guided missile frigate and the “Qinghai Lake” comprehensive supply ship, set out from a military port in Zhanjiang of south China’s Guangdong province on November 9, 2012.

November 23, 2012: Strategy Page

Syrian rebels appear to have Russian SA-24 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. At least that’s what recent photos from Syria appear to show. Syrian rebels have kept their cause in the news, at least on the Internet, by sending a constant stream of cell phone photos and videos. Some of the recent videos indicate rebel fighters carrying Russian SA-24 missiles. Actually, they might be SA-14, SA-16 or SA-18 missiles in some cases. Whatever missile they have, this is bad news for the Syrian Air Force and apparently accounts for the recent change in tactics. That is, the Syrians are staying at higher altitudes which make their unguided bombs even less accurate.

Syrian rebels have been seen with these portable missiles for several months now, but until recently these were all believed to be older SA-7 missiles captured from Syrian troops. SA-24s have never been seen outside of government control until recently (when they were spotted in Gaza). This happened earlier this year Israel spotted some of the 480 Russian Igla-S (SA-24) missiles that had been sold to Libya and stolen from military warehouses during the rebellion there last year. Older SA-7s were taken as well. Some SA-7s and SA-24s have shown up in Gaza in the hands of Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Most Israeli and NATO helicopters and aircraft are equipped with missile detection and protection (lasers or flares) systems. Such systems on Israeli AH-64 helicopter gunships operating over Gaza are thought to have defeated several SA-24 attacks in the last year but, unlike the recent attack, there was no photographic proof.

Last year Russia supplied Libyan missile serial numbers, which were distributed to counter-terrorism officials worldwide with the admonition to be vigilant. Apparently the SA-24 thieves sold many of the SA-24s to Iran, which in turn gave some to Hamas and Hezbollah (another Iran backed Islamic terror group in Lebanon). Hezbollah has been operating in Syria, but there’s no reason for them to have SA-24s with them (unless their commanders believed all the Iranian and Russian media reports that the rebels are supported by Israel and the United States, such assistance possibly including air support.) No Middle Eastern or NATO country has bought SA-24s (only Brazil, Libya, Russia,   Slovenia, Venezuela and Vietnam have). The new Libyan government may have recovered some of the SA-24s its predecessor (Kaddafi) bought and shipped them to the rebels (along with the many other weapons Libya has been sending the rebels). Wherever they came from, there is little doubt that the SA-24s are there.

The SA-24 entered service eight years ago and is considered one of the most dangerous Russian portable anti-aircraft missiles. The SA-24 is a post-Cold War upgrade of a design that was introduced at the same time as the American Stinger. SA-24 weighs 19 kg (42 pounds) and fires a 11.7 kg (26 pound) missile for up to 6,000 meters (19,000 feet). The 14.3 kg Stinger fires its 10.1 kg missile out to 8,000 meters, but both systems have similar resistance to countermeasures and a warhead of about the same size (2-3 kg/4.4-6.6 pounds). The SA-24 in the hands of terrorists could bring down helicopters and airliners taking off. The SA-24 is a heat seeker but it does not just go for the engine exhaust but rather any part of the aircraft. This makes the SA-24 more dangerous because if they just go for the engine exhaust these missiles often do little damage.

Then there are the other Russian missiles seen in Syria. The SA-14 is 1.52 meters (4.7 feet) long, weighs 15.9 kg (35 pounds) and has a max range of 4,100 meters. It can't hit anything above 2,300 meters (7,100 feet) and has a 1.36 kg (3 pound) warhead. It entered service in 1974 and is called the Strela-3 by the Russians. The primary advantage of the SA-14 over the SA-7 is improved reliability and a better sensor, which can more easily defeat countermeasures. The SA-18 entered service in 1980 and the SA-16 three years later (yeah, that appears out of sequence, but that’s a long story). Both are incremental improvements on the SA-14 and roughly the same size and weight. The current version of the SA-7 weighs 15 kg (33 pounds) has a max range of 4,000 meters and max altitude of 2,300 meters.

Against jet fighters or large transports with powerful engines, the missiles that just home in on heat cause some damage to the tailpipe but usually fail to bring down the jet. This was first noted during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war where the Egyptians fired hundreds of SA-7s at Israeli A-4 light bombers. Most of the A-4s, with their 11,187 pounds of thrust engines, survived the encounter. Larger jets, like the F-4 and its 17,000 pound thrust engines, were even more difficult to bring down when only the engine exhaust was targeted. Smaller commercial jets, like the 737 or DC-9 (each using two 14,000 pounds of thrust engines) have proved vulnerable. But a 757 has much larger engines with 43,000 pounds of thrust and the 747 is 63,000. Moreover, the rear ends of jet engines are built to take a lot of punishment from all that hot exhaust spewing out. Put a bird into the front of the engine and you can do some real damage. But these older missiles homed in on heat and all of that is at the rear end of the engine. Since the 1970s, about 40 commercial aircraft have been brought down by Russian portable anti-aircraft missiles (usually older SA-7s), killing over 500 people. But more recent missile designs go for any part of the aircraft, although engine heat is still used to find the aircraft.

November 22, 2012 by Otokar - army-technology.com

The first prototypes of Turkey's first national main battle tank ALTAY which is designed and developed by OTOKAR has been introduced. Realized with an investment of about 500 million USD, the ALTAY Project is planned for mass production in 2015.

The first prototypes of Turkey's first main battle tank ALTAY which is designed and developed by OTOKAR, the biggest privately owned company of the Turkish Defence Industry, has been presented at OTOKAR facilities in Sakarya on November 15th.

Held with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, the "ALTAY FIRST PROTOTYPE" ceremony was hosted by Mustafa V. Koc, Chairman of Koc Holding. General Necdet OZEL, Chief of General Staff; Ismet YILMAZ, Minister of Defence; General Hayri KIVRIKOGLU, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces; Murad BAYAR, Defence Industry Undersecretary; Kudret ONEN, Head of Koc Holding Defence Industry Group and Chairman of the Board of OTOKAR; Halil UNVER, Vice Chairman of OTOKAR and Serdar GORGUC, OTOKAR General Manager attended the ceremony.

The first prototypes of ALTAY reflect the results of the concept development and critical design process of the Project which started in 2009. The first prototype is planned to be used for the testing and optimization of ALTAY's mobility.

The second prototype will be used in order to test the firing performance of ALTAY. Two more prototypes are planned to be manufactured following the evaluation of the data gathered from first two prototypes. The ALTAY tank will be ready for mass production by 2015.

The first ALTAY prototype had already covered more than 2.000 kilometers during tests up to now. Two prototypes exhibited a special show to the guests of the ceremony at the tank test track of OTOKAR. Including mobility performance like acceleration, maximum speed, side slope, suspension, stabilization track and off-road drive, this show made the impression that, when finished, ALTAY would be the most modern tank in the world.

Kudret ONEN, Head of Koc Holding Defence Industry Group and Chairman of the Board of OTOKAR shared the pleasure of introducing the first prototype of ALTAY to public. After reminding about the initial stages of the Project, ONEN also informed about the future activities of ALTAY.

"550 engineers are working in order to complete the Project, 260 of which are OTOKAR employees. Together with the ALTAY team, and nearly 100 subcontractors, we aim to make the best of our time and prepare ALTAY for mass production by 2015."

Announcing that the mobility performance of OTOKAR's first two prototypes would be demonstrated during the ceremony, ONEN continued as follows: "Today armoured tactical vehicles of OTOKAR are exported to almost 20 countries. With more than 25.000 vehicles used by the armies in the world, we represent our engineering and production capability.

"Up to now, we accomplished all our projects in time and perfectly, and we tried to fulfil all our commitments successfully. As an example of this, I'd like to announce you that today we'll show you the two prototypes of ALTAY. With the first prototype that you'll see today, we'll test the mobility of ALTAY. This first prototype already covered more than 2.000 kilometers, and first results prove that we're doing right. And with the second prototype we will perform firing tests of ALTAY.

"We also aim to make this prototype ready for the firing tests during the following months. By using the results that we gather from these two prototypes, we'll manufacture the ultimate prototypes, test them, and bring ALTAY to perfection as the most modern and capable tank in the world."

Speaking at the ceremony, Mustafa V. KOC, Chairman of the Board of Koc Holding, expressed his gladness about the current situation of the National Tank Project which has a significant importance for the national defence industry strategy of Turkey.

KOC stated the fact that ALTAY had been a prestige Project not only for our country but also for Koc Group, and continued as follows: "ALTAY will provide great acceleration to land platform area of our country's defence industry in terms of design, development and manufacturing not only with its existing power but also with its investments, developing labour force and technical know-how. With its power to withstand possible threats of today and the future,

"ALTAY will further enhance the strength of our armed forces as the most modern battle tank in the world. With stable management, growing economy and strong army, our country will reinforce its power and leadership within the region, and Turkey will take its place among the special main battle tank manufacturers of the world. Moreover, our country will continuously progress with products developed by its own resources and capabilities, and created with its own technology.

"Until today we realized many achievements in the defence industry area by means of long term approaches, a properly defined vision and leadership. As Koc Group, we have been endeavouring, investing and realizing achievements in the defence industry in order to serve these goals and strategies.

"We believe that our defence industry will further develop in the future through encouraging specialization, and by having and controlling technology."

At the end of the ceremony, Mustafa V. KOC, Chairman of the Board of Koc Holding presented an ALTAY tank model to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN as a memory of the day.

22.11.2012, La Voix de la Russie

Pour la première fois depuis décembre 2010 un seul porte-avions américain sera déployé pendant deux mois dans la région du Golfe, au lieu de deux habituels, a annoncé mercredi US Navy.

Il a été décidé de renvoyer en décembre l'USS Dwight Eisenhower à sa base de Norfolk en Virginie pour remplacer sur son pont le revêtement de la piste d'atterrissage. Il reviendra dans le Golfe en février pour un délai de quatre mois. Un seul porte-avions américain, l'USS John Stennis, restera dans le Golfe en décembre et janvier, bien qu'il soit escorté d'autres navires.

Les cinq systèmes Iron Dome déployés en Israel auraient contré plus de 400 roquettes.

Chaque ensemble possède près de 60 missiles intercepteurs.

Chaque interception représente un cout de 60 000 dollars au moins.

22 novembre Aerobuzz.fr

Dans la guerre qui oppose le Hamas et Israël, l’état hébreu vient de dévoiler sa carte maitresse, le dispositif de défense « iron dome », véritable ligne Maginot des temps modernes. Ce système aurait déjà permis d’intercepter et de neutraliser 400 roquettes depuis le début de l’actuel conflit.

Les règles ont changé, et c’est Israël qui a renversé la table ! Le conflit armé qui oppose Israël et le Hamas dans la bande de Gaza, reposait sur un subtil équilibre de la terreur ; face aux groupes armés basés dans la bande de Gaza menaçant de lancer des roquettes dévastatrices sur Israël, Tel Aviv alignait ses chars Merkava IV, ses avions d’attaque F16 et ses hélicoptères de combat AH64 Apache, le tout sous la surveillance constante des avions sans pilote, les drones Héron et Hermès.

Désormais, la donne a changé, depuis que Tsahal a mis en service cinq batteries « Iron Dome » capables de contrer tout missile lancé contre les villes de l’état hébreu. Mis au point en Israël par les firmes Rafael et IAI, avec une aide financière américaine, le système est basé sur trois composantes fondamentales : un radar de détection, un ensemble de coordination et un système d’interception.

Dès que le radar de détection et de guidage d’interception, mis au point par IAI, détecte un tir de roquette en trajectoire ascendante, il transmet l’information à un ensemble de commandement et de coordination qui estime le point de chute de l’engin. Si le point d’impact prévu concerne une zone habitée, alors le système déclenche le tir de missiles d’interception « Tamir » qui en quelques secondes vont soit percuter l’assaillant, soit exploser à proximité pour le mettre hors d’état de nuire.

Sur le papier, cela revient à intercepter une balle de fusil avec une autre balle de fusil, et pourtant cela fonctionne dans au moins 80% des cas. Mais de l’aveu même des militaires, chaque tir revient à 50 000 dollars au bas mot ! Infiniment plus que le cout d’une roquette. Il n’empêche, selon Rafael, que le système présente plusieurs avantages : sa mobilité, son efficacité et sa facilité d’emploi. Ce parapluie anti-missiles offre une zone de protection quasi absolue dans un rayon de 70 km contre des roquettes et des obus de 155mm. Cinq systèmes au moins seraient déployés par Israël. Ils auraient contré plus de 400 projectiles depuis leur entrée en action.

Désormais affublé de la mention « combat proven », le « dôme de fer », carte maitresse de l’opération « pilier de défense », a toutes les qualités requises pour attirer l’attention de clients export…

En Europe les capacités anti missiles reposent pour le moment sur des batteries Patriot et Aster, capables de protéger des zones plus étendues contre des menaces plus évoluées au prix d’un investissement financier plus conséquent. Ainsi la défense du porte-avions français « Charles de Gaulle  » repose sur des missiles Aster 15 produits par MBDA. Un ensemble qui, compte tenu du navire à défendre, n’a pas droit à l’erreur et qui démontre régulièrement son efficacité lors de tests contre des engins cible.

Tir Aster à bord du PA Charles de Gaulle  29.03.2012 photo Marine Nationale

Les USA et les européens planchent en parallèle sur des systèmes laser pour contrer les armes à courte portée et des intercepteurs plus performants pour contrer les missiles balistiques.

November 22, 2012. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

This is from the tank’s builder Otokar:

The first prototypes of Turkey’s first main battle tank ALTAY which is designed and developed by Otokar, the biggest privately owned company of the Turkish Defence Industry, was presented at Otokar facilities in Sakarya on November 15th.

Attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ceremony was hosted by Mustafa V. Koc, Chairman of Koc Holding. General Necdet Ozel, Chief of General Staff; İsmet Yilmaz, Minister of Defence; General Hayri Kivrikoglu, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces; Murad Bayar, Defence Industry Undersecretary; Kudret Onen, Head of Koc Holding Defence Industry Group and Chairman of the Board of Otokar; Halil Unver, Vice Chairman of Otokar and Serdar Gorguc, Otokar General Manager attended the ceremony.

The first prototypes of ALTAY reflect the results of the concept development and critical design process of the project which started in 2009. The first prototype is planned to be used for the testing and optimization of ALTAY’s mobility. The second prototype will be used in order to test the firing performance of ALTAY. Two more prototypes are planned to be manufactured following the evaluation of the data gathered from first two prototypes. The ALTAY tank will be ready for mass production by 2015.

The first ALTAY prototype had already covered more than 2.000 kilometers during tests up to now. Two prototypes exhibited a special show to the guests of the ceremony at the tank test track of Otokar. Including mobility performance like acceleration, maximum speed, side slope, suspension, stabilization track and off-road drive, this show made the impression that, when finished, ALTAY would be the most modern tank in the world.

Kudret ONEN, Head of Koc Holding Defence Industry Group and Chairman of the Board of Otokar, shared the pleasure of introducing the first prototype of ALTAY to public. After reminding about the initial stages of the Project, ONEN also spoke of the future activities of ALTAY. “550 engineers are working in order to complete the Project, 260 of which are Otokar employees. Together with the ALTAY team, and nearly 100 subcontractors, we aim to make the best of our time and prepare ALTAY for mass production by 2015.”

ONEN continued: “Today armoured tactical vehicles of Otokar are exported to almost 20 countries. With more than 25.000 vehicles used by the armies in the world, we represent our engineering and production capability. Up to now, we accomplished all our projects in time and perfectly, and we tried to fulfil all our commitments successfully.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mustafa V. KOC, Chairman of the Board of Koc Holding, expressed his satisfaction with the current situation of the National Tank Project which has a significant importance for the national defence industry strategy of Turkey. KOC stated that ALTAY had been a prestige Project not only for our country but also for Koc Group, and said: “ALTAY will provide great acceleration to land platform area of our country’s defence industry in terms of design, development and manufacturing not only with its existing power but also with its investments, developing labour force and technical know-how. With its power to withstand possible threats of today and the future, ALTAY will further enhance the strength of our armed forces as the most modern battle tank in the world. With stable management, growing economy and strong army, our country will reinforce its power and leadership within the region, and Turkey will take its place among the special main battle tank manufacturers of the world.

The Altay Main Battle Tank

The design of ALTAY has been realized in order to fulfil all kinds of operational requirements derived from the technical and tactical demands of the Turkish Armed Forces.

In this scope, ALTAY has been equipped with the latest technologies that are used in the modern tanks. With its superior fire power and hit rate, high mobility and survivability features, it’s anticipated that ALTAY will be one of the fundamental and deterrent assets of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Intellectual Property Rights Belong to Turkey

Developed by its prime contractor Otokar, and designed in line with Turkish Army’s requirements; ALTAY will cater for exact requirements of the Turkish Army. Turkish Republic will own all design and intellectual property rights of ALTAY. The Technical Data Package of ALTAY that includes all information and documents related to the design, development, integration, testing and manufacturing will be in the basis of the mass production of the tank, and all its rights will belong to the Turkish Republic.

ALTAY’s crew consists of four personnel as a tank commander, gunner, driver and loader. In order to provide the tank with the intended performance in rough terrains, it’s equipped with a 1,500 horsepower high-tech engine and transmission. The main armament of ALTAY is a 120 mm, 55-calibre smoothbore gun suitable for various kinds of rounds.

A new-generation fire control system has been specially designed for ALTAY in order to control the main and secondary armaments. By means of this system, ALTAY is also able to shoot moving targets with a very high first round hit probability. Besides, ALTAY tank is equipped with modular composite armor in order to protect the tank against all kinds of threats, and subsystems that enable the crew to proceed in environments that are under Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) threats.

When evaluated under the topics of Survivability, Fire Power, Mobility, Command Control and Communication, Integrated Logistic Support and Ergonomics, ALTAY becomes prominent as an optimized tank that is compatible to mission, threat and environment conditions, meeting the requirements of the user at maximum level, with a flexibility enabling its use in all kinds of battle environments with its additional features adaptable to various missions.

Technical specifications of ALTAY

• Four men crew
• New generation 1500 HP powerpack
• 120 mm, 55-calibre main armament
• Remote control weapon system (12.7 and 7.62 mm)
• Coaxial machine gun
• Modular composite armour
• New generation fire control system
• Electrical gun turret drive system
• C3I system
• Battlefield target identification system
• Laser warning system
• Life support system
• CBRN protection
• Auxiliary power unit
• Fire-extinguishing and explosion suppression system
• 360 degrees situational awareness system

Where does the name Altay come from?

ALTAY Main Battle Tank is named after Turkish General Fahrettin ALTAY, the commander of the V. Cavalry Corps who achieved great success during the Turkish War of Independence between 1919 and 1922.

BACKGROUND: History of the Altay Project

– 2005: The Undersecretariat of Defence Industries assigned a consortium consisting of three companies to realize the feasibility study in order to determine the production model of the Battle Tank Project. As of April 27th 2005 the feasibility study was finalized, and the model of the project was determined as “the main battle tank to be designed and developed within the country and with technical support from abroad in required areas”.

– On February 8th 2005, the Request for Proposal prepared according to the model determined due to the feasibility was delivered to the companies, including Otokar that participated in the feasibility study.

– 2007: Due to the decision taken at the meeting of the Defence Industry Executive Committee realized on March 30th 2007, for the Modern Tank Manufacturing with National Facilities Project initiated in order to meet the Modern Main Battle Tank requirement of the Land Forces Command, it was decided to start contract negotiations with Otokar as the prime contractor candidate.

– July 29th 2008: Following the finalization of the contract negotiations about the design of Turkey’s first National Tank, development of prototypes, testing and qualification of prototypes, the contract was signed with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It was aimed to use domestic sub-systems to maximum extend for the project except the areas determined due to the model.

In addition to Otokar being assigned as the prime contractor for the Project, Aselsan was assigned to design and manufacture the prototypes of electronic sub-systems like Tank Fire Control System and Tank C3I System; MKE was assigned to manufacture the 120 mm 55 calibre Main Armament by technology transfer from Hyundai Rotem of South Korea; and Roketsan was assigned to develop the Modular Armour Package by technology transfer also through Hyundai Rotem.

– January 2009: After signing contracts with the main sub-system suppliers, Project kick-off was made for the “design, development, manufacturing, testing and qualification of ALTAY prototypes”. The Project duration for the “Design and Prototype Production” of ALTAY was determined as 78.5 months. This part of the Project was arranged in three stages consisting of Conceptual Design, Detailed Design, and Prototype Production and Qualification.

– May 2011: Otokar finalized the Conceptual Design Stage, as the first stage of the Project by using its engineering and design capabilities in line with the requirements, and exhibited a full-scale model of ALTAY that reflected the results of this stage at the IDEF Defence Industry Fair with the participation of President Abdullah GUL.

– March 29th 2012: While detailed design activities proceeded, Otokar continued investing in the required production facilities for the testing of prototypes and in the Tank Test Center. Otokar Tank Test Center was taken into service on March 29th with the participation of İsmet YILMAZ, Minister of Defence. Consisting of an EMC Test Chamber, Tank Test Range and Climatic Chamber with Dynamometer, Otokar Tank Test Center is among the world’s most modern and advanced test centers.

– October 2012: The first prototype to test the mobility was manufactured in Otokar facilities in Sakarya, and testing started.

– November 15th 2012: ALTAY’s first two prototypes exhibited their mobility for the first time to public with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN. Following the two prototypes that are tested for development/verification, the ultimate configuration prototypes will be manufactured and after finalizing their qualification by tests they will be delivered to the Undersecretariat of Defence Industries.

– Mass production:
Following the design and prototype production phase of ALTAY conducted by Otokar as the prime contractor, mass production activities will be initiated in scope of a new contract.

As the biggest privately owned defence company of Turkey, and leading land vehicles manufacturer of the Turkish defence industry, Otokar presents special solutions for the requirements of users with its own technology, design and applications. It also designs and manufactures various kinds of tactical wheeled armoured vehicles and off-road vehicles for the defence industry.

With a turnover of 520 million USD (year: 2011) and 2.000 employees, Otokar realizes its production in its 552.000 square meters plant in Sakarya Arifiye. Otokar recently signed a MoU for manufacturing Otokar COBRA vehicles in Kazakhstan for the requirements of the Kazakhstan Armed Forces.