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Sweden offers joint development of jets, submarines to India NEW DELHI: Keen to cast off the ghost of the Bofors kickbacks scam, Sweden has proposed new avenues of defence cooperation to India, including joint development of jet fighters and submarines. "The Swedish government is proposing to invest in Gripen fighters and is keen that India too take a investment stake in jointly developing these new generation fighters," visiting Swedish Vice Minister for Defence H G Wessburg said. Gripen is one of six jets vying for India's biggest ever global tender worth over Rs 42,000 crore (10 billion dollars) for the...

MIAMI (AP) - Warships from Canada and more than a dozen other countries joined the U.S. navy for ongoing manoeuvres Sunday near the Panama Canal in an exercise being billed as one of the largest multinational military training events of the year. More than 30 ships began the exercises Wednesday in the waters near the canal, to practise defending the economically and strategically crucial waterway. The exercise is scheduled to continue through Friday in the Caribbean and Pacific approaches to the canal. Thousands of ships pass through the Panama Canal every year, shuttling more than 200 million tons of exports...

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the biggest naval wargame to be hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal, a top American military official on Thursday scotched China's fears that the exercise involving US, Australia and Japan was aimed at isolating the communist country. US Navy's Pacific Commander Timothy J Keating observed that Indo-US military ties had become "more robust" but side stepped questions about opposition from the Left parties to the upcoming Malabar exercise, merely saying, "It is what democracy is all about." The four-day Malabar exercise beginning on September 4, which will see the biggest congregation of warships in...

HONG KONG: A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier will return to India next month despite angry protests, its commander said on Monday, highlighting the closer military ties between the two nations. The USS Nimitz, one of the world's largest warships, will head back to the Bay of Bengal the first week of September to participate in a joint exercise involving 25 ships from India, Australia and Singapore. It will be the carrier's second visit to India in two months, having been near the country's southern coast in Chennai in July, which was seen as a landmark event in the growing defence...

MOSCOW: Russian and Chinese military transport planes dropped more than 200 paratroopers and heavy weapons during a dress rehearsal on Monday for a massive joint military exercise by the two former Cold War rivals, the first on Russia’s territory. A 1,600-member Chinese military contingent backed by aircraft, tanks and other heavy weapons has travelled to the Chelyabinsk region in Russia’s Ural Mountains for the war games, to be held on Friday and watched by the leaders of Russia, China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The SCO, which also includes four ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia, was created...

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Joint military exercises involving troops from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will continue till August 17. More than 6,000 troops and 36 aircraft from the six nations are currently engaged in China’s far northwest Xinjiang region for two days; tomorrow they will move to Chelyabinsk, Russia. The exercises are intended to improve cooperation against terrorism, drug and weapons trafficking and criminal gangs as required by an agreement of mutual assistance against armed attacks. But the real objective is political. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Hui noted that “this is the first time that all the leaders...

KIEV, Ukraine - A World War II mine was discovered and safely destroyed Thursday in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol during a visit by a U.S. Navy destroyer for drills with Ukraine, officials said. The mine, weighing up to 1,100 pounds and containing up to 110 pounds of TNT, was found drifting in the water Wednesday near a navy hospital on the shore, said Valery Strelets, spokesman for the local branch of Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry. The report came as the USS Forrest Sherman called at the port to conduct drills with the Ukrainian navy. The U.S. destroyer was about...

Biggest ever multi-nation sea war games off Bay of Bengal NEW DELHI, JULY 31 (PTI) The biggest ever armada of warships including Indian vessels and nuclear submarines from the US and Australia will be in action off the Bay of Bengal in early September for some complex multi-nation sea war games. The navies of India, the US, Australia, Japan and Singapore will take part in the exercise which will witness nuclear powered aircraft carriers, advanced air early warning planes and fighters display their prowess. This will be biggest assembly of fighting sea machines in the area, since the 1971 Indo-Pak...

India to hold biggest ever naval exercise in Bay of Bengal New Delhi, July. 13 (PTI): Twenty warships from five countries, including three aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and fighters, will assemble in the Bay of Bengal in September for a major naval exercise to be hosted by India. The other countries taking part in the wargame are the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore and the warships that will be fielded for it include two American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz and Kitty Hawk, defence ministry officials here said today. Besides the carriers with their full complement of 80 to 100...

Twenty warships from five countries, including three aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and fighters, will assemble in the Bay of Bengal in September for a major naval exercise to be hosted by India. The other countries taking part in the wargame are the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore and the warships that will be fielded for it include two American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz and Kitty Hawk, defence ministry officials here said today. Besides the carriers with their full complement of 80 to 100 aircraft, the exercise codenamed Malabar-07 will feature missile destroyers, stealth frigates, nuclear and conventional submarines and...

Biggest joint naval exercise in Bay of Bengal in September Sandeep Dikshit U.S., Japan, Australia and Singapore navies to participate in manoeuvres NEW DELHI: India will hold its biggest naval exercise with the U.S., Japan, Australia and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal in September this year, senior security officials here said on Wednesday. The decision comes amid China’s concerns over last month’s meeting between India, the U.S., Japan and Australia and assurances by India and Australia that security and defence issues did not form part of the meeting’s agenda. The concern over “encirclement of China’ was strong enough for...

The Americans Are Coming! MV-22 Osprey Makes First Landing On British Carrier Wed, 11 Jul '07 Marines, UK Forces Prepare For Joint Exercise Off Eastern US Ahead of a US-led Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFX) on the Eastern seaboard of the United States, the HMS Illustrious welcomed the very first embarkation of a US Marine Corps Bell/Boeing MV-22 Osprey onto the Royal Navy aircraft carrier Wednesday. It is the first time an Osprey has landed on a non-US vessel. Portions Copyright © 1999-2007 by Aero-News Network, Inc. All rights reserved. Representatives with the UK's Ministry of Defense tell ANN the...

HMS Illustrious has become the first Royal Navy ship to embark a US Marine Corps Bell/Boeing MV-22 Osprey aircraft onto its deck during a joint exercise in the United States. The landing, which comes ahead of a US-led Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFX) on the Eastern seaboard of the United States, was the first time that an Osprey has embarked in a non-US vessel anywhere in the world. The MV-22 Osprey, the world's first tilt-rotor aircraft, has a unique vertical take-off and landing capability. It is ideally suited to working from the deck of HMS Illustrious, which is currently the...

(June 29, 2007) -- For several months, the Marines and sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit prepared to take part in Exercise Talisman Saber 2007, a bilateral joint exercise between Australian and U.S. armed forces. Time drew near for the kickoff of this major joint field training exercise at the Shoalwater Bay training area in Central Queensland, Australia. The first of two waves of Marines and sailors of E Company filed off into an Australian landing craft resembling a gigantic, oceangoing flat-bed truck and packed it in close for what everyone already knew would be a tight squeeze. After...

<p>Russia said Tuesday it was pulling out of joint military exercises with the United States scheduled for later this month because of unspecified problems with U.S. personnel. A Defense Ministry statement announcing the decision to cancel the Torgau-2006 exercises suggested it was connected to a dispute between NATO and countries participating in the NATO "Partnership for Peace" program.</p>

Russia Cancels Joint Exercises With U.S. Wednesday September 6, 2006 3:01 AM By MIKE ECKEL Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - Russia said Tuesday it was pulling out of joint military exercises with the United States scheduled for later this month because of unspecified problems with U.S. personnel. A Defense Ministry statement announcing the decision to cancel the Torgau-2006 exercises suggested it was connected to a dispute between NATO and countries participating in the NATO ``Partnership for Peace'' program. ``We are aware of media reports and will work through appropriate channels to determine the status of future military exercises,'' Lt....

India and Russia have agreed to hold joint wargames on Russian soil next year to enhance military ties and share experience in handling low-intensity conflicts at high altitudes, Army Chief General J J Singh said here. Singh, who is on his maiden visit to Russia, held wide- ranging talks with Chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces General Baluyevsky and Commander-in-Chief of the Land forces Colonel General Alexei Maslov yesterday. "We have agreed to enhance our co-operation, including joint exercises on Russian soil in 2007," he told Indian reporters here. Describing his talks with Baluyevsky and Maslov as...

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah will start a three-day official visit to Turkey on Tuesday during which a military cooperation accord will be signed with Ankara, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported Saturday. During Abdullah's visit to Ankara at the invitation of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, six bilateral accords will be signed, including one on military cooperation and another on protecting investments, the pan-Arab Al-Hayat said. A 45-strong team of Saudi businessmen will be among the delegation accompanying Abdullah to Turkey, it said. Talks will also cover the Lebanon conflict and other regional issues. The paper said the Saudi monarch...

The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk and USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups steam in formation during a joint photo exercise (PHOTOEX) in preparation for Valiant Shield 2006 on Sunday, June 18, 2006, in the Pacific Ocean. The PHOTOEX featured 14 ships as well as 17 aircraft from Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corp including a B2 bomber. The Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group is currently participating in Valiant Shield 2006, the largest joint exercise in recent history. Held in the Guam operating area beginning June 19-23, the exercise involves 28 Naval vessels including three carrier strike groups,...