ASIAN DEFENCE

The DRDO has rescheduled the test-firing of submarine launched ballistic missile ( SLBM) K-15 to January 31. It was supposed to be test-fired from an underwater platform off the Vishakhapatnam coast on January 20. "The test was first scheduled on January 16, but was postponed to January 20. Now it has again been rescheduled to January 31 due to delay in arrangements. It is a coordinated exercise of both land and Navy personnel," a source said. "India can join the league of five nations, Russia, US, France, Britain and China, with the successful launch of the K-15 missile. These countries already possess advanced missiles that can be launched from a submarine," sources said. The indigenously developed K-15 or the B-05 missile are 10 metres in length, one metre in diameter and weighs ten tonnes with a strike range of around 700 km.

   Indian Air Force will formally induct its first C-130 J Hercules Transport aircraft on February 5. The aircraft is likely to arrive in the country by the end of this month and would be formally inducted into the IAF at a ceremony at its home base Hindan air base near here on February 5, IAF officials said here. The first of the six aircraft procured by India under USD 970 million deal was handed over to IAF in mid-December. The aircraft is expected to enhance IAF''s special missions capability along with transporting men and material.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman has appreciated the role of police in war against terror, Geo News reported on Thursday. Talking to media after a ceremony in police lines Islamabad, Air Chief said that 45 F-16 fighter gets are being upgraded in Turkey. He added that new squadrons of F-16 and JF-17 thunder planes would be constituted in March. He informed that PAF have 21 JF-17 thunder jets in final stage while nine are being manufactured. Earlier, addressing the passing out ceremony as chief guest, Air Chief Marshal stated that sacrifices of police for the country would not go waste, adding that police and armed forces are fighting against the war on terror hand-to-hand.

The European Eurofighter Typhoon consortium is offering its almost science fiction-evoking helmet to the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of its bid to win the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, according to company sources. The helmet can enable a pilot to lock-on target and shoot by voice command, merely after looking at the target. Company sources confirmed to StratPost that the Eurofighter Typhoon Helmet Mounted Symbology System, developed by BAE Systems and released last July, was part of its offering to the IAF. BAE Systems had issued a press release on the helmet earlier this month, calling it something out of Star Wars, in a reference to its seemingly filmy capabilities, where it said the helmet ‘lets the pilot see through the body of the aircraft’. “Using the new helmet system, the pilot can now look at multiple targets, lock-on to them, and then, by voice-command, prioritize them. It’s a lightning-fast system to let the pilot look, lock-on, ...

A tactical confrontation drill with real combat backdrop held in Guangzhou Military Area, Surprise drill comes in a time when PLAAF trying to replace J-7 jets, In 2011 there will be major replacement regarding old J-7 jets. 

    India has no plans as of now to either join the US-led joint strike fighter (JSF) programme or buy the F-35 `Lightning-II' fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) when it finally becomes operational. "We cannot have two types of FGFA. We have already launched preliminary work for our FGFA after inking the $295 million preliminary design contract (PDC) with Russia last month,'' said a top defence ministry official on Friday. This comes in the wake of comments made by a top Pentagon official, undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics Ashton Carter, in Washington that the US was open to Indian participation in its JSF project.

HQ-9 is a modern mobile strategic SAM system roughly analogous to the Russian-made S-300PMU (SA-10B GRUMBLE). The HQ-9 has a range of 100 kilometers, an increase over the S-300PMU's 90 kilometer maximum range but less than that of the S-300PMU-1's 150 kilometers. The containerized missiles are carried in groups of four on the back of wheeled TELs very similar in design to that of the S-300P's 5P85. Target prosecution is handled by the HT-233 phased-array radar system, mounted on a wheeled chassis in a configuration very similar to that employed by the S-300PMU, which mounts the 30N6 (FLAP LID) engagement radar on a MAZ-7910 chassis. The HT-233 radar is likely capable of engaging multiple targets thanks to its phased-array construction. The similarities between the S-300PMU components and the HQ-9 components may be the result of a limited reverse-engineering effort. China had no prior experience in developing a modern, high-performance strategic SAM sy...

Interrogations with the arrested Indian spy have shed some light on covert Indian spy networks inside Pakistan. New information includes leads on Indian intelligence priorities in the region, which are focused on putting pressure on Pakistan and ISI through fake terror acts that could also destroy peace talks between India and Pakistan. akistani security officials have foiled an attempt by the Indian intelligence to enact a fake terror act on the ceasefire line in Kashmir to implicate Pakistan in terrorism. The plan was unearthed when a suspect working for the Indian intelligence was apprehended in Sialkot border area while attempting to cross over to India through the border security fence; an impregnable barbed wire obstacle whose entrance points are locked and controlled by the Indian Border Security Force. The suspect has confessed to working as an Indian spy who was tasked to recruit agents from Pakistan to work for Indian intelligence. More evidence of how India...

   Britain is on a collision course with the European Union over the sale of arms to China. Since the Beijing government crackdown on protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989, EU member states have been banned from selling goods that could be used by the Chinese military. China’s new J-20 stealth fighter roars along the runway and takes to the skies, the maiden test-flight of a plane designed to rival the United States’ radar-eluding aircraft. Images of the flight, leaked on the Internet and subsequently confirmed as genuine by the Beijing government, have focused attention on China’s military modernization. The European Union banned the sale of military technology to China following the crackdown on dissidents in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

A former B-2 stealth bomber engineer convicted of selling military secrets to China is due to be sentenced in federal court on Monday. Noshir Gowadia, 66, faces up to life in prison for his conviction on 14 counts, including conspiracy, communicating national defence information to aid a foreign nation, and violating the arms export control act. Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway is due to issue her sentence after listening to arguments from the prosecution and defence. Gowadia, who has been in custody without bail since his 2005 arrest, is also expected to have an opportunity to make a statement. A federal jury in August found Gowadia guilty after deliberating for six days. They had heard 39 days of evidence over nearly four months. The jury acquitted him on three counts. Prosecutors said Gowadia helped China design a stealth cruise missile to get money to pay the $15,000-a-month mortgage on his multimillion dollar home overlooking the ocean in Haiku on M...

   A Chinese stealth fighter jet that could pose a significant threat to American air superiority may borrow from US technology, it has been claimed. Balkan military officials and other experts said China may have gleaned knowledge from a US F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999. "At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," said Admiral Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war. "We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them." The Nighthawk was downed by a Serbian anti-aircraft missile during a bombing raid on 27 March 1999. It was the first time one of the fighters had been hit, and the Pentagon blamed clever tactics and sheer luck. The pilot ejected and was rescued.

   Bolivia, Wednesday, January 19, 2011: Bolivia is set to receive 6 Chinese-made combat aircraft to be used to fight drug trafficking, the head of the Bolivian Air Force said on Tuesday. General Tito Gandarilla, the Air Force commander, told local journalists that the K-8 Karakorum jets are scheduled to be delivered in April, at a cost of US $ 58 million (S $ 74.5 million). The aircraft, bought through a loan from China, will be the first of their kind for Bolivia, which currently has only training and freight aircraft. Gen Gandarilla explained that the jets 'have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years' and have the ability to intercept illegal crafts that 'in Bolivian airspace without authorisation'. The aircraft will be used mainly around Cochabamba in central Bolivia, where there is heavy production of coca plants used to make cocaine. The Bolivian government also plans to buy 10 Russian-built cargo helicopters for use by the police.

Even as India has announced its intent to have new generation diesel-electric submarines, Pakistan has gone ahead and signed a deal with long-standing ally China to produce submarines with the same technology that India wants. The Pakistan Navy and China’s Ship Building Corporation signed a deal that got the seal of finality during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pakistan last December. Indian security agencies in know of the matter have cautioned the government that this could tilt the balance in favour of the Pakistan Navy in the Arabian Sea. India is looking to spend Rs 50,000 crore to acquire six new diesel-electric submarines that will be equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology to boost operational capabilities. Conventional diesel-electric submarines have to surface every couple of days for oxygen to recharge their batteries. A submarine using AIP technology can stay submerged for 12-15 days at a stretch, thus increasing its capacit...

Brazil sold arms to Pakistan overlooking Indian concerns? A section of Brazilian media has carried reports about a Pakistan Air Force transport aircraft being loaded with missiles and bombs last month at Sao Jose dos Campos airport near Sao Paulo. If these reports are true, the move will be received by surprise as just last year, Brazil had cancelled a contract to sell anti-radiation missiles - meant to destroy radars - to Pakistan. It was widely believed that the deal was cancelled keeping in mind the Indian concerns. There is no official confirmation so far on the nature of cargo loaded on the C-130 transport aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force. One report claimed that it was short range air to air missile 1-A Piranha, whose improved version MAA-1B is still under development. Other claim has been that the cargo was unguided bombs based on the US MK Series. The reports also claimed that the sale was kept a secret due to a confidentially clause in the contract.

The image above, captured in 2010, depicts an F-117A mockup. Normally, a mockup of the F-117A wouldn't be a very big deal, but this one is in the middle of Luoyang, China. It is a full-scale mockup, with the wingspan matching the "real" F-117A at roughly 43 feet. Why is there an F-117A mockup sitting inside of Luoyang? There could be a completely benign purpose, such as use in some sort of media. However, Luoyang is home to the Luoyang Electro-Optical Technology Development Center, who is responsible for developing the current air-to-air missiles fielded by the Chinese military. A facility such as this would certainly be able to make use of an accurate model of a VLO aircraft for missile seeker evaluation, particularly in the case of seekers for active radar homing weapons like the current PL-12. This may be a prototype of JH-8, a VTOL capable F-117A derivative using captured technology.

Turkey is seriously reconsidering the myriad agreements it has signed with the US, as well as its participation in an international consortium for the procurement of new generation fighter jets, due to rising costs and persisting problems originating from the American side. Turkey is now seeking new ways to sidestep difficulties in the procurement of F-16 fighter planes, which it has been jointly producing with the US since 1987, due to the delayed delivery by the US authorities of some of the plane’s parts and accessories. There have been serious doubts as to whether Turkey’s plan to purchase 100 F-35 fighter planes would ever materialize, as the country is thinking about withdrawing from the consortium following the hike in costs that resulted from other countries leaving from the consortium. With 240 F-16s, Turkey has the third largest fleet of these fighter jets after the US and Israel. Turkey chose the F-16 to use in its air force in the early 1980s, and Tur...

Source is Chinese Internet

   MBDA is bringing in missile power at the Aero India 2011. Proposed in the frame of Mirage 2000 upgrade program, MICA air-to-air missile will also be displayed on MBDA stall. MICA is the only missile in the world featuring two interoperable seekers (active radar and imaging infrared) to cover the spectrum from close- in dogfight to long beyond visual range. It is sometimes referred to as the silent interceptor as it is extremely hard to defend against. For the Indian Air Force MMRCA missile solutions, MBDA is displaying Meteor, Dual Mode Brimstone, Taurus KEPD 350 and SCALP/Storm Shadow. MBDA is offering them for the three European aircraft options lined up for the IAF ’s MMRCA competition, Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Gripen. MBDA says that Meteor, if procured, the IAF will benefit from a performance that will ensure launch aircraft survivability while minimising missile usage and, therefore, whole life cost. The Dual Mode Brimstone is MBDA ’s...

Within a year of the government approving a project for an upgraded indigenous main battle tank (MBT), India's defence research agency has readied a Mark II version that will undergo summer and winter trials this year. The defence ministry had last May given its nod to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop the Arjun MkII MBT which would have enhanced features over the first lot of 124 tanks that have been delivered to the army over the last two years. 'The Arjun MkII tanks will go for summer trials this year and later for winter trials at the end of 2011,' a defence ministry official said here Monday.

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According to the Russian "Airport" website reported January 12, China’s fifth generation fighter J-20 which completed successfully test flight is expected to become a powerful competitor of the U.S. F-22 and Russian T-50 . Some analysts believe that the smooth progress of this test show that China’s military aviation industry has made great breakthroughs in recent years, the U.S. air superiority in the region will be seriously challenged. In the January 11 test flight carried out, J-20 for about 15 minutes of flight. Western media have pointed out that recently appeared in Chinese media reports on J-20 might have been the consent of the Chinese military leadership. Analysts believe that, J-20′s successful flight test showed that the modernization of China in terms of weapons far beyond the achievements of previous estimates of foreign military experts.

Russia and India should speed up work on their joint fifth-generation fighter plane to meet the challenge from the Chinese rival unveiled earlier this week, said a leading military expert. “The Chinese prototype of a fifth-generation aircraft, J-20, appears to be a long-range strike aircraft and as such it will pose a potential threat to India,” said analyst Konstantin Makienko of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). China's stealth fighter made its first 15-minute flight on Tuesday over an airfield in the south-western city of Chengdu. Mr. Makienko called the test flight an “unquestionable success” for the Chinese defence industry. “China has emerged as the third nation developing the fifth-generation fighter plane after the U.S. and Russia,” he told The Hindu. The Russian expert said India and Russia should intensify efforts to build their advanced fighter plane if they are not to lose the race to China. “The J-20 ...

  China confirmed the first test flight of its highly controversial stealth fighter, ending speculation that the secretive aircraft had taken to the air. Chinese President Hu Jintao told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates  about the flight of the prototype J-20 shortly before Gates left Beijing after a three-day visit to China intended to improve military communications between the two countries. Gates, who is also visiting Japan and South Korea while in the region, said the discussion with Hu about the J-20 flight that took place this week was short. "I asked President Hu about it directly and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that's where we left it."  The 15-minute flight took place in Chengdu, in southwest China. Hu, who is chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the flight hadn't been timed to coincide with Gates's visit. The 11-member commission issues...