Free Republic

The past two years have seen a number of developments with the military aircraft programs of the People’s Republic of China’s aerospace industry. The twofold focus of these efforts has been to expand the export portfolio for PRC-made weapon systems, while at the same time pushing the development of indigenous programs that would reduce Chinese dependence on foreign (mostly Russian) critical technologies and subsystems–although this could be a rocky road if it ends up competing directly with Russian industry in export markets. The results on both scores have been mixed. The message coming from the central government in Beijing continues...

Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship. In late December 2013, Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship that can function as an aircraft carrier, potentially providing Turkey an unprecedented measure of sea control in the region. The heightened threat perception for Israel, Cyprus and Greece will impact the imminent decision regarding whether Israel will export its natural gas to a planned Cypriot LNG terminal with...

NEW DELHI, February 6 (RIA Novosti) – A naval version of the Tor short-range air defense system will be installed on all Russian warships, the manufacturer, Almaz-Antey Concern, said Thursday. The new system, dubbed M-Tor, is a variant of the modernized Tor-M2KM system featuring modular assembly, high reliability and improved precision, according to Yuri Baykov, spokesman for Almaz-Antey. M-Tor will gradually replace the outdated Kinzhal (SA-N-Gauntlet) systems, which have been in service since 1989, Baykov said at the DEFEXPO INDIA-2014 exhibition in New Delhi. He also said Russia will offer Tor-M2KMs to India as part of the recently announced tender...

The Baynunah Corvette Class Programme is one of the biggest warship construction programme implemented by the ADSB for the UAE Navy. The Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB) has delivered Al Hili, the sixth and last of the Baynunah Corvette Class Programme, to the UAE Navy in a grand ceremony attended by Rear Admiral Ibrahim Al Musharrakh, Commander of the UAE Naval Forces, top navy officers and Khaled Al Maraikhi, Chief Operating Officer, ADSB, and Chief of Pakistani Naval Staff Admiral Asif Sandila. Baynunah Corvettes are a unique class of warship with multi-mission capabilities, including coastal patrol and surveillance, mine...

A senior Pakistani official recently told the UK's Jane's Defence Weekly that the country is likely to purchase six submarines from China. The official said the deal will be completed soon and an agreement is expected to be signed by both parties by the end of the year. The Sina news web portal also cited a Pakistani official who said Islamabad and Beijing had settled the details for the arms sales and only the payment issue needed to be finalized. The Pakistani source revealed that the S20 diesel-electric submarines, an improved model of the People's Liberation Army's Yuan-class submarines, may...

It looks as though Indian combat aircraft are going to continue flying for many years to come with Israeli designator pods. A Rafael official confirmed to Air&Cosmos during the Defexpo Show that the company’s Litening G4 had been selected last year following an IAF call for tenders for 164 pods to equip its entire fleet of fighter-bombers. Deliveries under this huge order (the largest ever recorded outside the US, according to Rafael) are expected to get under way by the end of this year. When completed, they will bring the total number of Litening pods in IAF service to approximately...

As part of TATA’S strategy to enhance the scope of its defense business Tata Motors HAS showcased the ‘Kestrel’, an 8×8 wheeled armored amphibious VEHICLE platform providing protected mobility and firepower to the troops. The Kestrel, designed by the DRDO was unveiled yesterday by TATA Motors. Photo: Noam Eshel, defense Update The vehicle is designed as a Light Armoured High Mobility Vehicle (LAMV), functioning as a recon scout vehicle, moving ahead of the armored columns. The vehicle was designed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Supacat of the UK, an expert in tactical armored vehicles, has also...

The Israeli Navy is preparing for scenarios in which, using the “Yakhont” missiles, there will be an attempt to hit Israel’s oil rigs. Therefore it tries to convince the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that it should be equipped with small and more sophisticated boats rather than the veteran missile boats The Minister of Defense, Moshe Ya'alon, used his visit to the Munich Security Conference last weekend for advanced negotiations with seniors of the German security establishment, including the new Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, for the acquisition of medium-sized destroyers (frigates), which will be used,...

The Chinese are preparing to deploy submarines armed with nuclear missiles that will patrol the northern Pacific Ocean and come within range of at least two US states, according to a new report from the US Navy. The US Naval Institute (USNI) reported that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has tapped the Jin-class nuclear ballistic submarines to begin patrols in 2014. The subs will carry intercontinental range missiles that are thought to have a range of no less than 14,000 kilometers (8,699 miles) and can deliver a single or multiple warheads. “With a range in excess of 4,000 [nautical...

Although the footage was shot in August 2013, today BAE Systems released it for the first time. “Taranis“, the technological demonstrator of UK’s stealthy unmanned combat vehicle made its first flight on Aug. 10, 2013. Where the maiden sortie took place remains a secret. The aircraft flew at the old British Nuclear test range at Woomera, Australia. The only thing we know is that the “superdrone” flew under the command of BAE Systems’ test pilot Bob Fraser and “made a perfect take off, rotation, ‘climb out’ and landing.” Since then, a number of other test flights have taken place in...

MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russian shipbuilders could adopt the design of submarines for an upcoming Indian tender to accommodate Brahmos missiles and an Indian-made air-independent propulsion system, the Rubin design bureau said Thursday. Russia is planning to offer its fourth-generation Amur-1650 boats in India’s $ prospective 11.8-billion tender for the supply of six “stealth” diesel-electric submarines. France, Germany and Spain have also said they will take part in the tender, which the Indian Defense Ministry is expected to open in the near future. “We have considered arming Amur-1650 with vertical launchers, and have made significant progress in designing...

KIEV, February 5 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine has delivered the first five main battle tanks to Thailand of a 2011 order worth over $200 million, a state-run arms exporter said Wednesday. The shipment is part of an order of 49 Oplot-M tanks to be put in service with the Royal Thai Armed Forces in the near future. The Ukrainian tanks arrived at the port of Sattahip on Tuesday and will undergo additional acceptance trials, Ukrspetsexport said in a statement. The Oplot is armed with a 125-mm smoothbore gun, a 7.62-mm coaxial machine gun and a 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The...

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Tuesday unveiled the latest addition to its line of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) -- a combat marine system named KATANA for homeland security, Xinhua reported. KATANA's features include autonomous navigation and a collision avoidance system, and it is fitted with various payloads including electro-optic and infrared cameras, line-of-sight and none-line-of-sight communication, radar and weapon systems, the state-owned IAI said in a statement. IAI said the craft, developed by its Malam factory, supports a wide range of missions -- protection of exclusive economic zones (EEZ), maritime borders and offshore gas rigs and pipelines, as well as port...

EXCLUSIVE: Germany is “weeks away” from signing a contract with Egypt to provide the troubled Middle East country with two more submarines in a multi-million euro deal, a defence source told the The Local. The contract for two U-209 submarines follows on from a deal signed in summer 2011 for two of the same submarine types which was worth €920 million. A source said: “The new contract will be for two more U-209 to reach the target of four. “Two is not enough to have a permanent sea patrol. With four, you will have one for maintenance, one for training...

U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing has silently delivered the first airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Turkey under a program that was launched more than a decade ago. Now, however, the buyer and the seller are wrangling over penalties for delays. The defense procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), and the Turkish Air Force simultaneously announced Jan. 31 that the AEW&C aircraft had arrived in Turkey for acceptance tests. The tests are to be followed by an inauguration ceremony Feb. 21 at the 3rd Main Jet Base Command in Konya, they said. Last year, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz...

The U.S. Navy is looking into developing a submarine-launched hypersonic missile as part of its conventional prompt global strike (CPGS) program. According to an Inside Defense article, the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs office is soliciting proposals for “two-year industry trade studies to flesh out technology options and architecture for an intermediate-range conventional prompt global strike weapon.” The report said that the competition was part of the Defense Department’s “fiscal year 2014 plan to investigate a launcher, missile and glide body for a weapon with potential game-changing capabilities.” Top among these CPGS capabilities is to develop precision-guided ballistic missiles that can...

Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers will get helicopter-borne early warning systems 18 months earlier than planned, saving £22 million. Following renegotiation of the aircraft carrier contract to deliver savings to the taxpayer, the Defence Secretary has accelerated the Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control programme to ensure it is operational by 2019. Using high-power radar to provide long-range air, maritime and land tracking capabilities, Crowsnest will be an integral part of future carrier operations. It will be fitted to the Royal Navy’s fleet of upgraded Merlin Mk2 helicopters, including those to be embarked on the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers. The decision...

World War I may have ended in 1918, but the violence it triggered in the Middle East still hasn't come to an end. Arbitrary borders drawn by self-interested imperial powers have left a legacy that the region has not been able to overcome. Damascus, year three of the civil war: The 4th Division of the Syrian army has entrenched itself on Kassioun Mountain, the place where Cain is said to have slain his brother Abel. United Nations ballistics experts say the poison gas projectiles that landed in the Damascus suburbs of Muadamiya and Ain Tarma in the morning hours of...

By W. Alejandro Sanchez An obscure fact of Latin American military affairs is that the Brazilian Navy possesses its own aircraft carrier. The vessel, now five decades old, is currently undergoing repairs so that it can serve for at least a decade more. Nevertheless, given the fast pace of South American geopolitics and geosecurity affairs, serious questions should be raised whether or not Brazil actually needs a carrier in its fleet. The Carrier Brazil acquired its carrier from France in November 2000: the vessel is a non-nuclear, 36,000 ton, Clemenceau-type carrier, which was constructed in the early 1960s.The carrier, originally...

According to German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, the German government is negotiating with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the delivery of more than 100 patrol boats for the Ministry of Interior. The conctract is estimated at 1.4 billion euros. German shipbuilding company Lürssen will be in charge of assembling and delivering the patrol boats. It is reported that two types of vessels will be order should the contract be signed. No much information is available on the ship: The two types of vessels would be custom built to answer Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior specific needs and requirements. The...