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Saab to defence clients: 'See first - Kill first' An aggressive marketing campaign from Swedish defence firm Saab is extolling the virtues of weapons that help users to ”see first – kill first” and can be adjusted to focus specifically on ”soft targets”. At a weapons fair in Qatar in late March, the company informed potential buyers that its Gripen fighter planes guaranteed a high ”death ratio”, newspaper Expressen reports. In its marketing materials, the firm also boasts that its Bill 2 anti-tank guided weapon contains a ”soft target mode” that can be used to hone in on civilian houses,...

A scroll on the home page of the Times of India says that the French Rafale has beaten the Eurofighter for the 126 (and prolly many more) plane MMRCA deal.

Impressed by early deliveries and the aircraft’s performance in recent operations, the Indian air force (IAF) is actively considering a proposal to acquire more than the 12 Lockheed-Martin C-130J Super Hercules tactical special mission aircraft already expected. With the last of six C-130Js from an original 2008 contract to be delivered in November, and a follow-on order for six more to be signed shortly, the IAF has lavished unusual praise on the program and indicated it will ultimately need more than a dozen. The IAF has not released an official figure, but Indian sources have said it could be as...

Senior Military Intelligence officer Frank Ledwidge found shock figures showing 256 senior officers — Brigadiers and Generals — and just 200 Challenger 2 tanks. And there are THREE times more Top Brass than Apache helicopters — which have saved countless lives in Afghanistan. Ledwidge said: "Our priorities are hugely skewed." He stressed that the British Army is "over-burdened and over staffed with senior ranks". Ledwidge, who served on the front line in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo, urged the Ministry of Defence to slash the number of £100,000-a-year-plus senior officers. He insisted: "We need to think about cutting Top Brass and...

Casey Anthony’s six-week murder trial finally rested today as jurors were sent away to decide whether her two-year-old daughter was the victim of an accidental drowning that she covered up out of fear and grief, or was brutally murdered by a 'pathological liar' who wanted to live free and party. Judge Belvin Perry dispatched the jury in Orlando, Florida, to consider their verdict after the state delivered an emotionally stirring rebuttal to the defence’s closing arguments, telling the panel of seven men and five woman that Caylee Anthony died in June 2008 at the hands of 'the most well documented...

After 19 days of damning evidence in which the prosecution painted Casey Anthony as a calculated murderer, it is now the turn of the defence - who immediately had their request to get the case thrown out of court refused. And as they offered up a list of amended witnesses they will call - including one surprise witness that will likely back up their theory that George Anthony persuaded his daughter to dispose of Caylee Anthony's body - the question remains as to whether Casey herself will be called as a witness. Prosecutors have spent the last three weeks proving...

Military strength eludes China, which looks overseas for arms By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 24, 2010; 7:17 PM MOSCOW - The Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise Salyut on the east side of town has put up a massive Soviet-style poster advertising its need for skilled workers. The New Year's party at the Chernyshev plant in a northwest suburb featured ballet dancers twirling on the stage of its Soviet-era Palace of Culture. The reason for the economic and seasonal cheer is that these factories produce fighter-jet engines for a wealthy and voracious customer: China. After years of trying, Chinese...

NEW DELHI: India will eventually spend over $25 billion to induct 250 advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), on way to being co-developed with Russia, in what will be the country's biggest-ever defence project. With a potent mix of super-manoeuvrability and supersonic cruising ability, long-range strike and high-endurance air defence capabilities, each FGFA will cost upwards of Rs 450 crore or around $100 million. This will be in addition to the huge investment to be made in co-developing FGFA with cash-strapped Russia, as also the huge infrastructure required to base, operate and maintain such jets in India. "We are looking...

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has recommended axeing one of the ten major US military commands in a major reallocation of defence spending. Mr Gates said the Joint Forces Command would close, the use of outside contractors would be cut and the number of generals and admirals reduced. He has said that he wants to find savings of about $100bn (£63bn) in the military budget in the next five years. Mr Gates said he wanted to free up spending for frontline requirements. In a Pentagon news conference, he said the military had grown unwieldy and costly following the terrorist attacks...

Britain cannot afford to protect itself against all potential threats to its security, Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has warned. We have to look at where we think the real risks will come from, where the real threats will come from and we need to deal with that accordingly. The Russians are not going to come over the European plain any day soon. Dr Fox’s frank admission also casts doubt on the future of the 25,000 troops currently stationed in Germany. The Defence Secretary has previously said that he hoped to withdraw them at some point, leaving Britain without a...

“Gaza border: 2 terrorists killed” By JPOST.COM STAFF 06/01/2010 09:49 SNIPPET: “Two would-be Palestinian terrorists were killed on the Gaza border on Tuesday morning, as the IDF foiled and infiltration attempt. No IDF injures were reported.”

“We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened.” Sorry – I didn’t quite get that. It sounds a little old fashioned in this age of “let’s all be friends and dance around together with flowers in our hair while genuflecting before the United Nations” doesn’t it? Our main concern should be the people of Britain? We should make our own global interests our number one priority?

Illegal Immigration: Los Angeles' city council votes to boycott Arizona for its enforcement of existing federal law. No word yet on how China's human rights violations will be treated. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The next time the Lakers play Los Suns in Phoenix, traveling fans are advised to bring their own snacks. The L.A. City Council voted 13-1 on Wednesday to economically boycott the state of Arizona for daring to protect its borders against the crime, violence and illegal immigration that recently took the life of an Arizona rancher and has made Phoenix the kidnapping capital of...

Immigration: Arizona moves to protect its citizens from a raging border war, and the administration and its activist supporters cry racism. Why is antelope protection more important than protecting American lives?

The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it is halting funding of the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, but 59% of Americans believe the United States should continue to build that fence. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of adults disagree and think the building of the fence should be stopped. Fifteen percent (15%) more are not sure. Support for the fence has been at this level for several years. In January of last year, 60% favored the continued building of the fence to help stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. In August 2007, 56%...

Illegal Immigration: The government puts the brakes on a problem-plagued "virtual" fence on our border with Mexico. Whatever happened to the old-fashioned kind? If ever there was a shovel-ready project, this is it. The much-ballyhooed "virtual" fence that was supposed to monitor and control illegal immigration doesn't work and is being scrapped as we evaluate alternatives and rely on existing technology. After years of delay and billions of dollars already spent, Secretary Napolitano on Tuesday halted work on SBInet. The system involves cameras, sensors and radars designed to let a small number of dispatchers watch the border on computer monitors...

Anglo-French defence: Entente nouvelle By James Blitz and Sylvia Pfeifer Published: March 14 2010 18:38 | Last updated: March 14 2010 18:38 One day in February last year, HMS Vanguard was calmly patrolling beneath the waters of the mid-Atlantic. Suddenly, to the alarm of its crew, the submarine – one of the quartet that forms part of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent – hit a very large object with a bang. At first the Vanguard’s commander was unsure what had happened. But soon all was revealed: a French nuclear submarine, Le Triomphant, had been undertaking exactly the same role in precisely...

Russia and India also signed a contract worth 1.5 billion US dollars on Friday for Moscow to supply 29 MiG 29 K fighters, Pogosyan said. Russia would deliver the long-delayed refurbished Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India by the end of 2012, added deputy premier Ivanov on an issue that has troubled relations between the two powers. Putin’s visit is likely to have produced deals worth more than 10 billion USD mainly in defence contracts, nuclear reactors and trade. Putin denied a deal with Pakistan was on the cards on the lines of the nuclear power pact with India.”Many countries of...

The past decade has seen the U.S. government expand its activities around the globe in response to complex and stateless threats. In the face of these challenges, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, and members of Congress have all called for increasing the resources and capabilities of the State Department to roll back what Gates has termed the “creeping militarization” of foreign policy. But efforts at reform are hindered by an institutional structure rooted in a 19th-century view of the world.

DEFENCE Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has resigned from his portfolio. Mr Fitzgibbon resigned after it was revealed that he had instructed an Army general to meet with a US Insurance company, of which his brother Mark is an employee, Sky News reports. Major-General Paul Alexander, who is in charge of defence health services, told a parliamentary committee that staff of a junior minister and defence staff told him to attend the meetings with Mark Fitzgibbon, the chief executive of insurer NIB Health. The resignation comes after revelations of the meeting was made during a Senate Estimates hearing last night. “Having read...

New Defence Minister John Hutton has been described as an "uber-moderniser," and brings a reputation for low-key competence to Britain's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I WOULD LET THE TAX CUTS FOR ALL OF THE MIDDLE CLASS LAPSE" Yepsen: SENATOR, HOW DO YOU PAY FOR YOUR IDEA (ED: socialized medicine)? Biden: YOU PAY FOR MY IDEA BY DOING THREE OR FOUR THINGS, DAVID, AND ALSO YOU GO AFTER THE DEBT THIS WAY. I WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY -- YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN TERMS OF THE TAX POLICY. I WOULD LET THE TAX CUTS FOR ALL OF THE MIDDLE CLASS LAPSE. I WOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD WITH THE NEW TAX CUT CALLED FOR BY ELIMINATING THE...

Argentina raised the prospect of posting military forces in the Antarctic region yesterday, with the announcement of plans to use troops to defend its interests. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner told defence chiefs that Argentina must be prepared to assert its sovereignty and protect its natural resources, as nations compete to claim areas of the region believed to be rich in oil. The plans threaten to inflame tensions between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, which the South American nation still considers to be its sovereign territory despite losing a war in 1982. Argentinian forces were driven from the...

In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House. Obama’s top foreign policy and national security advisers are pressing the case for keeping Robert Gates at the Pentagon after he won widespread praise for his performance. The move would be in keeping with Obama’s desire to appoint a cabinet of all the talents. After appealing for unity with former rival Hillary Clinton and her supporters and big donors last week, Obama, 46, is turning his attention to wooing...

In a strange video address intended to reassure American voters regarding his military bona fides, Senator Obama ends up doing just the opposite. Among other things, he promises to cut "tens of billions of dollars" from the military budget, at a time when our armed forces are already stretched and in need of new weapon technologies and armor; to "cut investments in unproven missile defense systems," which in reality have already proven remarkably effective; that he "will not weaponize space" even though other nations such as China do exactly that; to terminate the Iraq war just as the surge proves...

4/24/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force T. Michael Moseley have issued the following letter highlighting the contributions of America's Airmen: Airmen, This past Monday, the Secretary of Defense delivered an address at Maxwell AFB to the students of our Air War College and Air Command and Staff College. Initial press coverage of his remarks misrepresented the tone and content of his address. Whereas some press reports characterized Secretary Gates as making a singular critique about one Service's commitment to the Global War on Terror, his...

Like pensions and insurance, defence is one of those subjects to which too many people only pay attention when things go wrong. You might think, in the light of the past decade, that this would have changed. But you would be sadly mistaken. Even today, even after Iraq, few mainstream MPs without an immediate personal or constituency interest in the subject turn up in the Commons for defence debates. Many politicians who are thoughtful about a range of domestic issues still pass by on the other side when the conversation gravitates to the military. In this they reflect the British...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two U.S. Air Force F-15s escorted two Russian Bear long-range bombers out of an air exclusion zone off the coast of Alaska, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

Poland Questions the Missile Shield The formerly staunch US ally has shifted its tone, and now an ambitious pet project of the Bush administration -- a missile shield to protect Europe and the United States -- is no longer a sure thing in Poland. Until recently, it looked like the US missile defense shield was a done deal when it came to cooperation with Poland. Although no formal agreement had been signed, the government under Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski seemed eager to make the Americans happy -- and was even willing to ignore European Union concerns when it came to...

There is now a plan to allow college students to carry weapons on any public campus. The legislation is on its way to the state house. The text of House Bill 2513 says any student who is at least 21 years old and has a concealed carry permit would be allowed to bring a firearm to school. It comes as campus violence seems to be on the increase. Everyone at OSU-Tulsa we spoke to about the plan doesn't like it. They already have a lot of security on campus. One example -- push a button on a phone and it...

A suspect is dead after messing with the wrong person Tuesday morning. North Las Vegas Police say a man tried to carjack a security guard at about 6 in the morning near Gowan and I-15. The intended victim and the suspect got into a shootout. The security guard was taken to the hospital with a minor wound. The suspect was taken to UMC where he later died. Police say the security guard may not face any charges, because it appears he was acting in self defense.

Norway's Chief of Defense Sverre Diesen said Monday that if the current loss of spending power continued, Norway's national defense would be history in 25 years. Diesen presented Minister of Defense Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen with FS 07 - the study of the next 20 years of Norway's Defense - on Monday. "If the loss of spending power continues the Defense will be so weakened in 25 years time that only limited units such as the Coast Guard and the Russian border guard will be fully functional - an independent, national Defense will be history," Diesen wrote. The Defense chief also warned...

Boeing has been awarded a U.S. Army contract valued at approximately $7 million to begin developing the initial phase for a truck-mounted laser weapon system that destroys rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds. Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase I contract, awarded Friday, Boeing will develop and complete a preliminary design of a rugged beam control system (BCS) on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The contract contains options that, if exercised, will call for Boeing to build and test a significant component of the HEL TD system, comprised of the BCS integrated on a vehicle...

A man shot at two burglars who broke into his home in Tempe on Tuesday, and police say one of them ended up at a Mesa hospital to be treated for his wound. Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Horn said a resident reported that two burglars broke into his home around 12:30 p.m. The resident fired a shot, and the two burglars took off running from the home just west of Loop 101 near Broadway Road and South River Drive. Police later got a call about a gunshot victim from Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa. Doctors operated on the man,...

PARIS, FRANCE, June 18, 2007 -- The Government of France has selected Lockheed Martin’s HELLFIRE II® missile system to equip its Hélicoptère d'Appui Destruction (HAD) Tiger attack helicopter fleet. The precision-strike missiles will be purchased under a foreign military sale for the French Army, which is fielding 40 HAD Tiger helicopters. The fielding is expected to be completed by 2012. “HELLFIRE II missiles will provide the French HAD Tigers a highly effective precision strike capability,” said Doug Terrell, international business development director for Tactical Missiles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. (...) The modular HELLFIRE II includes three semi-active...

The French Navy, the General Directorate for Armaments (DGA) and the US Navy have completed a test launch of US landing crafts from the brand-new Landing and Command Ships (BPC) commissioned by the French Navy. The test campaign happened out of Norfolk, Virginia, from May the 7th to May the 12th, and involved the BPC "Tonnerre" (Thunder) and units from the US Navy's Second Fleet. These trials at sea have allowed both Navies to verify the complete compatibility of the French BPC with American landing crafts such as the LCAC hovercrafts and with the operation of heavy MH-53E SUper Stallion...

Japan and Australia say the treaty benefits the region as a whole The prime ministers of Japan and Australia have signed a security pact designed to enhance military co-operation between the two nations. Japan's PM Shinzo Abe said the pact would help to stabilise the region. The defence deal - Japan's first with a country other than the US - includes co-operation on border security, counter-terrorism and disaster relief. It is the result of closer co-operation on security matters in Asia that Japan and Australia have been pursuing. The four part agreement Mr Abe signed with Australian PM John...

Mr Howard will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Australian Prime Minister John Howard has arrived in Japan on a visit which will include the signing of a bilateral security pact. The declaration is thought to include co-operation on terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster relief. The government has dismissed suggestions that the defence deal could strain ties with China. Meanwhile, Australian diplomats are due in North Korea for talks on its nuclear programme. The delegation will urge Pyongyang to abide by its agreement last month to start dismantling its nuclear facilities. Such progress could result in Australian aid,...

Mr Howard said the deal would bring the two countries closer Australian Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed suggestions that a security declaration with Japan could strain ties with China. Mr Howard is set to sign the ground-breaking deal during a four-day visit to Japan which begins on Sunday. The agreement is thought to include co-operation on terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster relief. Australia has been looking to exert more influence in Asia, in terms of business as well as regional security. Full details of the pact have not been revealed but it is expected to include plans for greater...

EU defence strategy snatches stability from the jaws of victory By David Rennie, in Brussels (Filed: 03/10/2006) Defence ministers from Britain and other European Union nations will today be asked to endorse a bleak vision of future European military capabilities. According to the new European Defence Agency, traditional ideas of "victory" will have to be jettisoned in favour of limited, multi-national campaigns to restore "stability" to conflict zones, with the grudging consent of an ageing, ever more casualty-averse European population. The vision of Europe in 20 years' time was drawn up at the invitation of defence ministers by the EU...

Five years after Sept. 11, the Democrats have suddenly become obsessed with truth. Their version of it. Former President Bill Clinton is incensed with the ABC docudrama "The Path to 9/11," set to run Sunday night, that depicts his administration as cavalier in its disregard for the threats al-Qaeda posed, and too distracted by the Monica Lewinski affair in any case to act decisively. Clinton is concerned a TV dramatization will become the accepted version of history. Democrats in Congress threatened to wage regulatory jihad on ABC, and ABC went back into rewrite. Some observers are shocked by the hypocrisy...

Moscow angered by US plan for 'star wars' bases in Europe to counter threat of Iran By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 24 May 2006 In a move that is raising hackles in Moscow, the US is proposing to install an anti-missile defence system in central Europe to counter any future attack from a nuclear-armed Iran. The plan, for which the Pentagon has requested $56m (£30m) of exploratory funding from Congress, would cost $1.6bn and involve 10 interceptor units. The most likely base for the system is Poland, followed by the Czech Republic, officials said. For the moment, the scheme ­...

Star wars II 20.04.2006 Media reports suggest that Washington has sent high-ranking CIA officials to Warsaw to discuss the possibility of stationing a US anti-missile defense system on Polish soil. Report by Bogdan Zaryn Discussions on stationing a US anti-missile defense shield on Polish soil surfaced in the media two years ago. But the issue has once again picked up momentum. Earlier this month Polish foreign ministry officials went on record saying that Washington has already proposed holding detailed talks in Warsaw on planting part of the US anti-missile defense shield somewhere in Poland. Polish dailies speculate that top brass...

Report: Poland tops Pentagon list for US missile defence site Mar 4, 2006, 13:58 GMT Warsaw - Pentagon experts favour NATO member Poland as a potential location for the overseas portion of the United States National Missile Defence (NMD) project, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported Saturday quoting sources in Washington. The US-based NMD plan is designed to protect it and fellow NATO defence alliance members plus Japan from a potential nuclear missile attack by rogue states. Washington is now expected to make a political decision on the location of a large anti-missile base in Europe to serve as the overseas...

HALIFAX -- A new North American defence treaty with the United States will not compromise Canada's control over its own military, nor will it mean automatic adoption of American plans for a ballistic missile defence system, newly appointed Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Monday. The existing binational agreement on continental air defence, the North American Aerospace Defence Command or NORAD, will be expanded to include maritime surveillance, the minister said following a tour of the sprawling navy dockyard in Halifax. But O'Connor, in his first public statement since being appointed to the defence portfolio, downplayed the significance of the new...

Poles Over the Baltic 25 January 2006 Since the start of January, Polish pilots have been patrolling the air space of the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Poland is yet another NATO country to be monitoring the airspace over the Baltic states-admitted to NATO in March 2004-as part of the Air Policing mission. None of these countries has combat aircraft of its own, and in keeping with Alliance standards, other NATO members are responsible for the security of the Baltic skies using their own aircraft. Poland has deployed four MiG-29 fighter planes (see photo) to perform this mission,...

Vatican's Evolutionists By Rafael Brom Catholics should wonder why Vatican constanly issuing a stout defence of Charles Darwin's Fraudulent Communist Religion "Theory of Evolution". Now we have Vatican's high ranked Cardinal claiming that the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly. Looks like that 150 million martyrs who were tortured and killed by communists since 1917 in the name of "Theory of Evolution" did not read their Bible correctly. I am sure that Vatican's Evolutionists will one day declare St. Peter as the First Communist...

A senior State Department official is warning that terrorists are continuing to seek nuclear, chemical and biological weapons for use in future attacks. "If terrorists acquire these weapons, they are likely to employ them, with potentially catastrophic effects," said Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and the senior Bush administration arms proliferation policy-maker. Mr. Joseph also said the U.S. government will not back off from sanctions imposed on an Asian bank that the Treasury Department said was part of the North Korean government's illegal counterfeiting and money-laundering program. On terrorism, Mr. Joseph said a well-organized terrorist group with...

IN A SUDDEN ATTACK of common sense, a Pentagon-commissioned study released in mid-November suggests an approach to nuclear nonproliferation in the Middle East that might actually be accepted by the people of the region. What is this breakthrough idea? That U.S. policies begin not with a country that currently lacks nuclear weapons - Iran - but rather with the one that by virtually all accounts already has them - Israel. To avert Iran’s apparent drive for nuclear weapons, concludes Henry Sokolski, a co-editor of "Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran," Israel should freeze and begin to dismantle its nuclear capability....

SARASOTA, Fla. Bud Carson, who developed Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense, has died of emphysema at age 75. Carson, a defensive back at North Carolina from 1949 through 1951, was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1972 through 1977, and shaped a defense led by Joe Greene, Jack Ham and Jack Lambert into one of the best in N-F-L history. In that span, the Steelers won three Super Bowl titles under coach Chuck Noll. Carson then became defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, who lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl after the 1979 season. He coached the Cleveland Browns...