ASIAN DEFENCE

Mi-17-V5 Mi-17-V5 A more powerful and versatile variant of the Mi-17 military chopper is slated to arrive from Russia in 2-3 weeks to beef up the Indian Air Force fleet. It will be based in Punjab.  Sources confirmed that the first lot of the latest Mi-17-V5 is to arrive in the next couple of weeks and will be stationed at a major airbase in the southern part of Punjab. The location has been chosen with care to cater to surrounding areas. Originally, the first lot of Mi-17-V5 was expected arrive in March. These are part of the 80 choppers India ordered from Russia in 2008 by signing a contract with Rosoboronexport, the state arms exporter. According to the Indian Ministry of Defence, the deal is worth $1.35 billion (Rs 6,000 crore). The IAF aims to utilise the Mi-17-V5 helicopters for special heli-borne operations, air-maintenance, transportation of troops and equipment, search and rescue, casualty evacuation...

INS Kamorta, the first in a series of four anti-submarine corvettes being built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a defence shipyard, will be delivered to the Navy in June 2012. The shipyard, he said, was also constructing eight inshore patrol vessels for the Coast Guard. “We have also concluded negotiations with the Navy for construction of eight-Landing Craft Utility (LCU) for which contract will be signed shortly.” On the offshore patrol vessel being designed and built for the Mauritius Police, he said the laying of keel for its first block would take place in September. “Although the contractual delivery period for the 75-metre-long, 1,200-tonne vessel is 42 months, we are trying to advance it.”

At the MAKS-2011 August 16 revealed that the Defense Ministry refused to buy from the RAC "MiG" 24 aircraft for the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov". Not only that the machine gives the characteristics of a heavy Su-33, so still it turned out that she has a problem with the onboard electronics. In addition, it is still unclear why the plane crashed two months ago on trial in Akhtubinsk - literally fell apart in the air during a complex maneuver. Electronics ship "MiG" was originally created to supply to India. This country, in 2004 we bought the cruiser "Admiral Gorshkov" aircraft and 29. The fulfillment of this contract has not yet been completed. Western avionics of the native "guts" of the aircraft are incompatible with Russian hardware. Therefore, for the Ministry of Defence RAC "MiG" Russian Aircraft retrofitted devices - and their quality did not suit the custom...

 Arjun Mark-II  MBT  Arjun Mark-II  MBT  Arjun Mark-II  MBT Limited technical trials with some major and minor improvements on Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun Mark-I, as part of MBT Arjun Mark-II, have been carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the deserts of Rajasthan.       Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared the proposal for placement of indent for 124 Nos. of MBT Arjun Mark-II on Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi, Chennai. Placement of indent by the Army on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is being further processed.       The likely estimated cost of each MBT Arjun Mark-II with ail major/minor improvements will be approximately Rs.37 crore.

CIA WASHINGTON: Former station chief of the CIA in Islamabad, Robert Grenier has said that the US must realise immediate threats being faced by Pakistan and try to be on the same page with Islamabad. He also said that he did not believe any one in the Pakistani leadership knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad. Speaking to Express 24/7 correspondent, Huma Imtiaz, Grenier said that he believed no one in Pakistan knew about Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, except his close confidants. Gernier, who had headed the CIA Station in Islamabad in 2001, said that though national interests of Pakistan and the United States were divergent, Washington must put itself in Islamabad’s shoes. Garnier said Pakistan faced some immediate threats it considers far more important to tackle first.

Netherlands F-16 Netherlands F-16 Five F-16 fighters from the Netherlands are on their way to Chile as the government continues to cut expenditures. The planes, which departed Monday from Volkel Air Base, are part of a 2009 sales agreement between the two countries. The Dutch Ministry of Defense said the first two batches of F-16s -- totaling 12 aircraft in all -- were delivered in November 2010 and in April of this year. Six F-16s, manufactured by General Dynamics of the United States, were to have departed for Chile Monday, but one could not leave on time and will follow later this week. The 18 fighter planes sold to Chile are one result of the defense policy measures decided in 2007 to free up additional money for defense in the form of proceeds from the sale of defense equipment. In addition to aircraft, the Netherlands is also selling some of its artillery pieces and combat tanks.

At the most recent Zhuhai air show, the premier event for China’s aviation industry, crowds swarmed around a model of an armed, jet-propelled drone and marveled at the accompanying display of its purported martial prowess. In a video and map, the thin, sleek drone locates what appears to be a U.S. aircraft carrier group near an island with a striking resemblance to Taiwan and sends targeting information back to shore, triggering a devastating barrage of cruise missiles toward the formation of ships. Little is known about the actual abilities of the WJ-600 drone or the more than two dozen other Chinese models that were on display at Zhuhai in November. But the speed at which they have been developed highlights how U.S. military successes with drones have changed strategic thinking worldwide and spurred a global rush for unmanned aircraft. More than 50 countries have purchased surveillance drones, and many have started in-c...

A Russian helicopter company is planning to develop the world's first fifth-generation combat helicopter, which experts say would be able to attack fighter jets and be invisible for radars, the Gazeta daily said on Thursday. "We are working on the concept of the fifth-generation combat helicopter," the paper quoted the company's CEO, Andrei Shibitov, as saying at a news conference in Moscow. Shibitov did not specify the characteristics of the helicopter, but said the company was going to spend some $1 billion on the project, with more investment expected to be allocated from the state budget. The official said the Mil design bureau had been working on a classical rotor model, which features a large main rotor and a smaller auxiliary rotor, while the Kamov design bureau had been developing a coaxial rotor model.

China has deployed more advanced and survivable solid-fuel nuclear capable CSS-5 MRBM missiles against India as a 'deterrent posture', Pentagon has said warning that a high degree of mistrust continues to strain their bilateral ties. The PLA has replaced liquid-fueled, nuclear-capable CSS-2 IRBMs with more advanced and survivable solid-fueled CSS-5 MRBM systems to strengthen its deterrent posture relative to India, the Pentagon has said in its annual report on Chinese military build up to the Congress. The report also says that Beijing is pumping in huge investments on border infrastructure developments laying more roads and rail network along the Sino-Indian border. "Although this construction is primarily aimed at facilitating economic development in western China, improved roads could also support PLA border defense operations," it said.

In the wake of a recent Pentagon report that China is moving advanced CSS-5 ballistic missiles to areas close to the Sino-Indian border, New Delhi is clearly taking no chances. The government is now ready to induct the nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile — with a range of 3,000-3,500 km and capable of hitting targets in China — into the Indian armed forces. It is also in the process of acquiring 42 more Russian-origin Sukhoi-30 MKI frontline fighters to “populate” airbases at Tezpur and Chabua in Assam to bolster the eastern sector. The government is also reportedly moving the strategic Agni-II missile inducted earlier to areas near the Chinese border. These have a range of around 2,000 km.

The Iranian government has brought a lawsuit against the Russian government to the International Court over Moscow's failure to deliver S-300 missile systems to Tehran. The Iranian ambassador to Moscow, Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, held a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday to complain to the Russian media and people. Sajjadi said during the news conference that the S-300 shipment would not be a violation of the UN Security Council's Resolution #1929, that prohibits the sale to Iran of conventional weapons, including missiles, tanks, military helicopters, warplanes and warships. The Iranian diplomat told the reporters that President Ahdmadinejad ordered the lawsuit in the hope that the court would rule in favor of Iran and thus help Russia carry out the weapons shipment. Iran and Russia signed the S-300 contract in 2007 during th...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007. But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers — still stinging over “the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction” — expressed misgivings. “I again made the case for U.S. military action against the reactor,” Mr. Cheney wrote about a meeting on the issue. “But I was a lone voice. After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.”  Mr. Bush chose to try diplomatic pressure to force the Syrians to abandon the secret program, but the Israelis bombed the site in September 2007. Mr. Cheney’s account of the discussion appears in his autobiography, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,” which is to be p...

The Pentagon issued fresh warnings Wednesday that China's military expansion could stir up new tensions and provoke dangerous misunderstandings   "The pace and scope of China's sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Michael Schiffer said. "Such capabilities could increase Beijing's options to use military force to gain diplomatic advantage, advance its interests or resolve military disputes in its favor."

India has reportedly cleared a fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)to be developed by 2017 whose total cost is estimated at $2bn.  According to a news report in The Hindu newspaper, the Govt of India has released Rs. 100 crore($20 million) last month to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), an Indian government controlled research body which has also developed the LCA Tejus fourth generation fighter. "AMCA, when developed and produced, would probably be the first medium combat aircraft with 20 tonne weight in the world. Similar aircraft being developed by the United States and Russia are in the range of 30 to 35 tonnes," PS Subramanyam, ADA Director and Programme Director (Combat Aircraft), was quoted as saying in the news report.

The Pakistani government has called on the US Embassy in the capital Islamabad to phase out over 250 American officials in the country within the next 30 to 40 days. The US officials are reportedly assigned various duties such as logistic support and audit and accounts monitoring. Most of them are said to be involved in high-level espionage and anti-state activities, Pakistan's The Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday. The report added that US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter is coming back to Pakistan after cutting short his vacation to deal with the situation. Tensions between Islamabad and Washington increased following a secret US raid into Pakistan in May that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Pakistani military has since been under pressure to explain why US military helicopters freely carried out the operation on Pakistani soil. Pakistan's defense ministry later ordered the United States to leave a remote desert ai...

Taiwan plans to develop a long-distance precision-guided missile which would be able to strike military bases along China's southeastern coastline in the event of war, a legislator said Monday. Taiwan's defence ministry has budgeted Tw$30 million ($1.04 million) for developments including the design of the missile bases and safety systems, said Lin Yu-fang, a lawmaker who sits on the national defence committee. But Lin, of the ruling Kuomintang party, said there were still only a few details available on the new weapon.

China's first aircraft carrier Shi Lang, Currently on its maiden voyage, is widely expected to have its shipborne fighter jets conduct simulated landing trials Saturday, after a navigation ban and radio control notice was put in place. The landing trials will go ahead if weather conditions allow, but fighters will take off as soon as they approach the ship instead of actually landing, a source close to the trial told the Global Times Friday. The source also revealed that the jets to be used in the tests are J-15s, a domestically made heavy fighter, dubbed the People's Liberation Army navy's "Flying Shark." The trials are aimed mainly at testing the radar system and optical landing system of the aircraft carrier, which left its shipyard in northeastern Dalian and began its first five-day journey on Wednesday, the source said.

India's air superiority Sukhoi-30MKI fighters will soon be converted into 'Super Sukhois' by upgrading them with fifth generation combat jet features, the Russian original equipment manufacturer Irkut Corporation has announced. The upgrade will include a new cockpit, an upgraded radar and advanced stealth characteristics to make the plane less visible to enemy radar than the existing Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30 fleet, Irkut's president and chairman Alexy Fedorov said at the Moscow Air Show here. The IAF currently has five operational Sukhoi 30MKI squadrons numbering around 100 aircraft. It will ultimately have over 230 Sukhoi-30MKIs or 13 squadrons in its fleet. The fleet is under licenced production at the Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the entire fleet will be upgraded to the 'Super Sukhoi' configuration. 'The upgrade will apply not only to the aircraft in service with th...

DAPA announced that Korea will spend 1.84 trillion won to acquire 36 attack helicopters from overseas. Col. Tan Myeong-hoon of DAPA said the AH-1W SuperCobra by Bell and AH-64D Block III from Boeing, will compete with the EC-665 Tiger from Eurocopter of France and the T-129 from Turkey.

PAK FA PAK FA And SU-35 PAK FA United Aircraft president Mikhail Pogosyan believes there is a market for 600 of the Sukhoi PAK-FA fifth-generation fighter, which finally made its public appearance at MAKS and is due to enter service with the Russian air force in 2015 or 2016. The prototype, one of two undergoing flight tests, is Russia's answer to the Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter. The first test flight was in January 2010, and United Aircraft sid a total of 16 flights have been made. Two more aircraft will join the flight test programme this year and a further two in 2012.  Moscow has a requirement for around 200 of the single-seat aircraft, while India plans to buy around 200 aircraft, which are likely to be slightly larger and be twin-seaters. Its engineers and scientists are working on this programme jointly with the Russians, and contributing towards its development costs. Pogosyan believes an...

Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber  The Russian air force wants to procure 120 Sukhoi Su-34 strike aircraft, the service's commander has revealed. Speaking at the MAKS air show in Moscow, Gen Aleksander Zelin said five squadrons will eventually be armed with the two-seat type, with each to have 24 aircraft. The Russian defence ministry's procurement plan for this year includes 12 Su-34s, and production activities at Sukhoi's NAPO plant in Novosibirsk are gradually picking up. Orders have been confirmed for 32 Su-34s so far, with seven of these having been accepted into squadron service and a handful more being used by the defence ministry's weapons-assessment units and industry. ...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is a partner in the fight against terrorism and not a state that sponsors terrorism, said the US State Department while elaborating on a statement by Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who accused Pakistan of having links with terrorist groups. At a discussion at the US National Defence University here on Tuesday, Mr Panetta said that Pakistan had links with Lashkar-e Taiba and the Haqqani network, which had complicated its relationship with the United States. Later, Washington-based Indian journalists raised the issue at a State Department briefing, arguing that after Mr Panetta’s statement the US had no option but to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. “I think Secretary Panetta spoke to our concern about how these two organisations operate and any relationship that they may have with Pakistan, which is a subject that we talk about with Pakistan, which is a different issue than a state being a sponsor of terrorism itself,” s...

Turkey has signed a government-to-government deal with the United States to buy six Boeing-made CH-47 heavy-lift military transport helicopters, the first such weapons in its inventory, a senior procurement official said over the weekend. The deal is worth up to $400 million, the official said. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, or DSCA, the Pentagon’s body coordinating weapons sales, notified the U.S. Congress of a potential sale of a total of 14 CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters for $1.2 billion in December 2009. Congress gave permission for the sale later that month. Because of financial constraints, however, the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry, or SSM, Turkey’s procurement agency, later wanted to buy only six CH-47Fs, five for the Army and one for the Special Forces Command, leaving a decision on the remaining eight platforms for the future. Contract negotiations between the SSM, the U.S. government and Boeing were launched last...

T-50 stealth fighter  developed by Russia  will make its first international public appearance at the MAKS airshow which went underway in Moscow, where Moscow unveiled its newest space shuttle, armed drones and a new range of upgraded weapons. Two prototypes of the single seater jet, estimated to cost USD 6 billion, are expected to fly over Zhukovsky air field on the outskirts of Moscow. "The co-development projects of the two countries will remain centerpiece of the Russian aviation industry", declared Mikhail Pogosyan, President of the United Aircraft Corporation, makers of the aircraft. Sukhoi's T-50 made its maiden flight in January 2010 and is expected to enter service by 2015. "The stealth fighter is progressing as planned and the new engine for the plane will be ready in time", Pogosyan said. The fifth generation Sukhoi T-50, also called the PAK FA for its Russian abbreviations for a perspective frontline aviati...