G20 Leaders Gathered In London With Britain's Queen Elizabeth II At London's Buckingham Palace

G20 Leaders Gathered In London With Britain's Queen Elizabeth II At London's Buckingham Palace

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: ADDS FULL LIST OF NAMES TO LEADERS SEEN ** G20 leaders gathered in London, Wednesday, April 1, 2009, are pictured with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, center, at London's Buckingham Palace.

Back from left: Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations; Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organisation; Abhisit Vejjajiva, Chair of ASEAN and Prime Minister of Thailand; Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy; Taro Aso, Prime Minister of Japan; Mirek Topolanek, President of the European Council;Professor Mario Draghi, Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum; Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank. Middle from left: Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia; Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany; Jose Luis Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain; Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Kgalema Motlanthe, President of South Africa; Barack Obama, President of the United States of America; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey; Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India; Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission; Meles Zenawi Chair of NEPAD and Prime Minister of Ethiopia). Front from left: Lee Myung-bak, President of Korea; Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia; Hu Jintao, President of China; Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Queen Elizabeth II; Luiz Innacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Susilo, Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia; Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico; Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina; Dmitry A Medvedev, President of Russia.

The Obamas Meet Queen Elizabeth At Buckingham Palace

The Obamas Meet Queen Elizabeth At Buckingham Palace

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: History in the making this evening as President Barack Obama arrives at Buckingham Palace for a private reception with Queen Elizabeth. The Huffington Post reports: "Several thousand well-wishers crowded the traffic circle in front of the gated palace on Wednesday to cheer and wave as the limousine carrying Obama and first lady Michelle Obama rolled past." What do you give one of the richest women in the world? Reportedly the President presented Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II with an engraved iPod touch "loaded with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as other songs and accessories, and a rare songbook signed by Richard Rodgers, of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame." Reportedly, the Queen became an iPod owner several years ago and is quite fond of the device. The gifts sound appropriate for a 21st century president. Practical, geeky, proud of our technology and a rare gift of Americana. Maybe we'll see the QEII in one of those black silhouetted iPod adverts, preferably wearing her crown, dancing and rocking out?

Mexican President Felipe Calderon At Buckingham Palace In London, April 2, 2009

Mexican President Felipe Calderon At Buckingham Palace In London, April 2, 2009

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip bid farewell to Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and his wife Margarita Zavala after their state visit at Buckingham Palace in London April 2, 2009. Mexican President Felipe Calderon (L) and his wife Margarita Zavala (2nd L) bid farewell to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (2nd R) and Prince Phillip (R) at Buckingham Palace in London, on April 2, 2009, after a four day State visit. World leaders agreed a trillion-dollar deal at a G20 summit on Thursday to combat the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

US President Barack Obama With Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon In London On April 2, 2009

US President Barack Obama With Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon In London On April 2, 2009

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama passes Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon as they assemble for the second official group photograph at the G20 summit at the ExCel centre in east London April 2, 2009. World leaders are set to declare an end to unfettered capitalism at a G20 summit on Thursday after France and Germany demanded they act fast on promises to prevent a repeat of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

US President Barack Obama Meeting With Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh In London On April 2, 2009

US President Barack Obama Meeting With Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh In London On April 2, 2009

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: US President Barack Obama speaks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting on the sideline of the G20 Summit at the ExCel Centre in London, on April 2, 2009. World leaders agreed a huge raft of spending Thursday to combat the economic crisis, pledging to lay out five trillion dollars by the end of 2010 as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed a "new world order".

The measures, agreed at a one-day summit in London, would see tax havens named and shamed, new rules on corporate pay, major reforms to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, a new push to pass free trade rules and the sale of huge gold reserves to help poor countries.

Lockheed Martin Team Wins Role On U.S. Navy Information Fusion Contract

Lockheed Martin Team Wins Role On U.S. Navy Information Fusion Contract

(NSI News Source Info) San Diego, Calif. - April 2, 2009: Lockheed Martin is one of two companies selected by the U.S. Navy to compete for future information fusion task orders established by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract entails research and development of information fusion - the blending together of source information to produce situational awareness, threat assessment, and resource management. Lockheed Martin’s team will compete for an indefinite number of tasks which have a contract ceiling of up to $103.8M over a five-year time period. “Our team continues to develop sophisticated algorithms that advance the ‘state of the possible’ in different fusion and tracking domains from sub-surface to space,” said Jim Quinn, vice president of C4ISR Systems for Lockheed Martin’s IS&GS-Defense. “We are proud to provide the U.S. Navy with capabilities that will continue to improve real-time situational awareness at every echelon.” Information fusion enables U.S. forces to fully exploit the vast amount of data received from a multitude of sources –– acoustic, infrared images, video, human intelligence, radio intercepts, maritime signals, and friend or foe technology –– at the same time. Advancing information fusion technology for the warfighter has been a major priority for Lockheed Martin. Using sophisticated data processing algorithms to improve data accuracy and remove ambiguity, Lockheed Martin has tackled some of the field’s toughest problems including enabling tactical level multi-discipline intelligence sensors to “fuse” data from multiple sources and sensors into one complete, meaningful depiction of the actual threat. Lockheed Martin’s team includes Overwatch Tactical Operations (an operating unit of Textron Systems) and SIM-Tech. Efforts to be performed include research and development, integration and testing activities. The customer is the U.S. Navy’s Information Fusion Center established by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. The contract runs through January 2014. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

China To Rotate Warships In Anti-Piracy Operation Off Somalia

China To Rotate Warships In Anti-Piracy Operation Off Somalia

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING - April 2, 2009: China sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Thursday morning to replace two destroyers involved in an operation against Somali pirates since late December, Chinese media reported. The Type 051B Luhai-class is a class of destroyer built by the People's Republic of China. It consists of only one ship, No.167 Shenzhen. When Shenzhen was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 1998, it was then, the largest surface combatant that China had ever built. It resembles in many ways an enlarged version of the Luhu class destroyer, and is one of the first PLAN ships with a slope-sided hull to reduce radar signature. The DD-167 Shenzhen destroyer and the FFG-570 Huangshan frigate are carrying two helicopters, missiles, and about 800 crew members, including a naval special force unit, the Xinhua news agency said. China's Weishanhu supply ship will remain in the Gulf of Aden. Around 20 warships from the navies of at least a dozen countries are involved in anti-piracy operations off Somalia. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008, resulting in combined ransom payouts of around $150 million. Russia sent a task force from its Pacific Fleet on Sunday to relieve warships involved in the anti-piracy operation near Somalia since the beginning of January.

Japan Adviser Says Pakistan Key For Afghan Order

Japan Adviser Says Pakistan Key For Afghan Order

(NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - April 2, 2009: Stabilising Pakistan's economy and fighting poverty there are key to combating the insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, a special adviser to Japan's prime minister said ahead of a Pakistan donors' conference this month. "It has become much, much more clearly recognized that unless you can manage the tribal areas of Pakistan from where a lot of the Taliban is gaining strength, you cannot deal with Afghan security," Sadako Ogata, the special envoy for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso to the two countries, told Reuters in an interview Thursday. Ogata, who was high commissioner for the U.N. refugee agency from 1991 to 2000, said while various factors such as religion and politics have encouraged a Taliban insurgency, those struggling from poverty are the most vulnerable. "The poor people having very little resources would be easily recruited to radical action," the 81-year-old envoy said. Nuclear-armed, and a hiding place for al Qaeda, Pakistan has become a foreign policy nightmare for the West. Pakistan's leaders know al Qaeda is encouraging a Taliban insurgency in Pakistani tribal lands bordering Afghanistan as they seek to destabilise the Muslim nation of 170 million people. Japan and the World Bank will host a Pakistan donors conference in Tokyo on April 17, which Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will be attending. Pakistan is hoping that the meeting of potential donors, including the United States, will yield billions of dollars in loans needed to pull the economy round. Ogata said she does not know the amount of the pledge that is being worked out.A related gathering on the same day will also discuss political support for the South Asian country. Ogata, who now heads the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said Tokyo's efforts for Afghanistan will continue to focus on socio-economic reconstruction and expressed doubts on the Japanese military playing a role on the ground there. Japan's pacifist constitution restricts its participation in military activities overseas and forbids the use of force to settle international disputes. There have been exceptions such as Iraq, Ogata said, where Japan has dispatched ground troops on a non-combat mission that ended in 2006, adding: "But they were in a very secure area and secluded. Now I don't think that's the kind of operation that is possible in Afghanistan." Around 130 Japanese civilians, mostly from the embassy or JICA, are based in Afghanistan. Most Japanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn after Taliban insurgents captured 23 South Korean church workers in Afghanistan in 2007. "That is a shame," Ogata said, and added that whether more Japanese aid workers will go to Afghanistan is up to the security conditions there. Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda leaders behind the September11 attacks on the United States. Japan so far has pledged $2 billion (1.4 billion pounds) in aid and implemented $1.78 billion through humanitarian assistance, governance, security and reconstruction projects, data from the foreign ministry showed.

Pakistan To Seek 30 Billion Dollars From Friends of Pakistan

Pakistan To Seek 30 Billion Dollars From Friends of Pakistan

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: Pakistan will ask the Friends of Pakistan (FoP) forum to provide 30 billion dollars of assistance over a period of 10 years when the group meets in Tokyo on April 17, a senior Pakistani government official said on Monday. Sardar Aseef Ahmed Ali, the deputy chairman of Pakistan’s Planning Commission, told reporters his country would seek 22 billion dollars in financial assistance and another 8 billion dollars in foreign direct investment during the upcoming ministerial level meeting of the FoP. The FoP includes the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States, China, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar and Italy. The United Nations and European Union are also in the group. The FoP aims at providing financial aid to Pakistan so that the nuclear-armed country can improve its deteriorating economy and eventually deal with the problem of growing Islamic militancy. “Most of the development projects will be completed over the next five years, while a few of them would be completed in 10 years,” Ali said, adding that, out of a total of 22 billion dollars in assistance sought, Islamabad hopes to receive between 20 and 25 per cent of that assistance in the form of grants. “There is connect between terrorism and growing menace of poverty and we are going to ask our Western allies to provide us grants for combating poverty and improving social sector indicators,” he added.

US President Barack Obama And Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Singh Set For Key Talks

US President Barack Obama And Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Singh Set For Key Talks

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - April 2, 2009: Indian PM Manmohan Singh is set to meet US President Barack Obama for key talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London, officials say. They say the focus of Thursday's talks will be on the president's new Afghan strategy and on ways of curbing terrorism in the South Asia region. The meeting will be attended by large teams of officials from both sides. (The two sides say they want to build on warm relations) Mr Singh is only holding one-to-one meetings with the president and the British PM at the summit. Officials insist that this is because of time constraints and not because Mr Singh's poor health has meant that he has had to pursue a less rigorous schedule. The PM has been recovering from heart by-pass surgery earlier this year. Goodwill In October the US Congress ended India's three-decade-long nuclear isolation with an overwhelming Senate vote in favour of a civilian nuclear agreement with Delhi and officials say that Thursday's meeting will build on the goodwill that emanated from that. The deal enabled US companies to sell nuclear reactors, fuel and technology to India after a ban of more than three decades on such trade. It also marked a major shift in US foreign policy towards a country where relations in the past have been marked by mutual distrust. President Obama and Prime Minister Singh are also expected to discuss the possibility of greater Indian involvement in Afghanistan, following the announcement last week by the US leader of a new strategy for the country in which he placed great emphasis on "fighting a common enemy". The two leaders will be accompanied by large delegations. The Indian team is said to include National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The American team comprises Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Adviser Gen James L Jones and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Unexpected No-Show At G20 Group Photo

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Unexpected No-Show At G20 Group Photo

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - April 2, 2009: Prime Minister Stephen Harper was an unexpected no-show this morning at the "family photo" of the Group of 20 leaders.

Summit host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, front row centre, stands with the other G20 leaders during a group photo at the G20 Summit in the Excel centre in London, Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Harper was slated to stand on the far right flank of the traditional summit picture, next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But as the leaders of the major industrialized and developing countries -- including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- joked and chatted through a minor delay, the Canadian prime minister failed to appear. The group finally broke up without Harper getting in the frame. A spokesman for the prime minister said Harper was getting briefed by his officials on revisions to the draft G20 communique, and he returned to the fray moments after the group photo was taken.

Hamas Not To Sign Any Deal Banning Arms Flow To Gaza

Hamas Not To Sign Any Deal Banning Arms Flow To Gaza

(NSI News Source Info) GAZA - April 2, 2009: The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement said on Thursday it would not sign any agreement with Egypt that may include banning of arms flow into the Gaza Strip. Israeli Arab demonstrators wave Palestinian militant group Hamas' flags during a rally to mark Land Day in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on March 28, 2009. Land Day commemorates the 1976 death of six of their brethren during a demonstration against Israeli land confiscation. "We can not pledge to stop bringing weapons under any agreement we sign with Egypt and we can not sign on anything that could negatively affect the process of resistance on Palestine land," said Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas. "The arms that reach the clean and honest hands go only to resist the Zionist occupation. It is not a smuggling; it is one of the requirements for the dignity and glory of this nation," he added in a statement sent to media. Abu Obaida's statement came a few days after Israeli intelligence officials said arms continued to flow into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip through its southern border with Egypt despite the efforts of the Egyptian government to curb the smuggling. Egypt has mediated between Hamas and Israel on several issues and succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between the two sides from June to December 2008. Egypt also mediated to secure a prisoner exchange since Hamas captured an Israeli soldier in 2006.

China To Help Indonesia Develop Defense Technology

China To Help Indonesia Develop Defense Technology (NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: Following on from the signing of a memorandum of understanding by both Indonesia and China in 2007, the two countries are set to ink a new deal to work more closely in military technology, a top Defense Ministry official said on Wednesday, Antara reports. "China will help Indonesia develop its military technology," the director of strategic environment analysis, Brig. Gen. Subekti, said in Beijing. Subekti is attending a China-ASEAN top officers dialogue hosted by the Chinese Academy of Military Science from March 30 to April 2. Indonesia is expecting China to help its state arms producer, PT Pindad; state-owned ship maker, PT PAL Indonesia; and state-owned aircraft manufacturer, PT Dirgantara Indonesia, to produce upper-medium-class military technology, he said. "And not only helping us with technology, but also to help market the products produced through the deal," Subekti said. In 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited his Chinese counterpart, president Hu Jintao, in Beijing to sign a strategic partnership deal, which included an agreement to strengthen defense cooperation between both countries. Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to enter into such a partnership with China.

North Korea Is Third In Economic Disparity After Zimbabwe (Robert Mugabe) and Sudan (Omar al Bashir)

North Korea Is Third In Economic Disparity After Zimbabwe (Robert Mugabe) and Sudan (Omar al Bashir)

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: Last Fall, the North Korean government sought to control the growing importance of the free markets, by restricting how often they could be open, and what goods they could sell. These new rules have largely been ignored.

Conservative protesters holding portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il shout slogans during an anti-North Korea rally denouncing the North's missile threat, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul March 30, 2009. The United States plans to deploy two missile-interceptor ships from South Korea on Monday, a military spokesman said, days ahead of a North Korean rocket launch seen by many as a test of its longest-range missile.

The police assigned to monitor the markets were simply ignored, or bribed. No one higher up in the security services bothered to press the issue, another indicator of how essential the free markets have become amid North Korea's crumbling economy. The torture has been known about for many years, because some of the North Korea escaping into China had been in the work camps, or had kin who had, and it was common knowledge in the north. The "torture" is usually physical punishment (not an attempt to obtain information), and meant to intimidate the population and instill fear. The UN dispensed with its usually diplomatic approach and openly accused North Korea of torturing thousands of prisoners in work camps, and denying over a third of the population food aid. Several weeks ago, North Korea told the U.S. to halt food shipments, and ordered five foreign aid groups that supervised the distribution of food aid, to leave North Korea. This sort of self-destructive behavior has been used before to get attention, and obtain other goals (diplomatic or material). But of late, things are bizarre even by North Korean standards. There appears to be a power struggle and debate going on within the North Korea leadership. Not many details are getting out, and the recent punishments meted out to some senior officials who gossiped about the activities of the most senior officials, has caused usually reliable sources to clam up. There is growing hunger in many parts of the country, which is made worse by the military going out and taking food from farmers. The troops are not as well fed as they used to be, and they often suffered, along with the civilians, from power and fuel shortages this past Winter. For years, Kim Jong Il was rated (by using various rankings of national problems and achievement) the worst ruler on the planet. But this year, Kim Jong Il came in third place, behind Zimbabwe (Robert Mugabe) and Sudan (Omar al Bashir). Things haven't gotten any better in North Korea, they've just gotten much worse in Zimbabwe and Sudan. The North Korean media show, featuring a threatened ballistic missile launch, continues. China seems unconcerned, but all of North Korea's other neighbors have urged that the launch be scrapped. Both Japan and the U.S. have moved Aegis equipped warships to the North Korea coast. These vessels have weapons that can shoot down the North Korean missile. The U.S. said it will not do so, but the Japanese say they will. North Korea says that would be considered an act of war. South Korea and Japan insist that the North Korean launch violates UN sanctions. The entire affair is yet another effort by North Korea to remain in the headlines. March 20, 2009: For the second time in two weeks, North Korea has closed its border with South Korea. This meant that trade with the South Korean industrial zone in North Korea was interrupted. As before, the border was opened after a day or two. March 17, 2009: Two American journalists were seized by North Korea border guards, as the two women photographed activity in North Korea from the Chinese side of the border. The North Korea guards crossed the border and dragged the women into North Korea, after the women, ignored orders to put their cameras away. North Korea later said the two Americans would be tried for spying. The U.S. will have to trade something valuable to get these two back, which is why North Korea grabbed them in the first place.

Another HITROLE For The Mexican Navy / Mexican Navy Confirmed Acquisition Of HITROLE-N

Another HITROLE For The Mexican Navy / Mexican Navy Confirmed Acquisition Of HITROLE-N

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: In February, Mexican Navy confirmed the acquisition of a 12.7 mm HITROLE-N turret and relating logistics.

Germany has also selected the remote-controlled Hitrole® 12.7mm remote-control turret in the new Naval Tilting (NT) version. OTO Melara will provide a total of 25 12.7mm Hitrole NT systems under the ER 10 million contract: 5 on board each of the 4 frigates (TL = 20) and 5 on land for training purposes. The Hitrole RWS is currently serving with the Italian finance police and the UAE and Mexican navies, among others.

Actually the total number of Oto Melara turrets sold to Mexican Navy has gone up to 13.

The configuration foresees the presence of a sensor suite composed by night and day sensors, laser range finder and ballistic computation for a stand-alone mode of operation that is performed by a man operated command console.

Alenia Concludes Italian Flight Campaign Of Sky-Y Unmanned Aircraft / Alenia Aeronautica: Concludes Successfully The First Flight Campaign In Italy...

Alenia Concludes Italian Flight Campaign Of Sky-Y Unmanned Aircraft / Alenia Aeronautica: Concludes Successfully The First Flight Campaign In Italy Of The Sky-Y Unmanned Aircraft

(NSI News Source Info) April 2, 2009: With five missions the Sky-Y, Alenia Aeronautica’s unmanned technological demonstrator, has completed its first series of tests in Italy. With this tests campaign the Sky-Y has today accumulated three test phases, two in Sweden and one in Italy.

Sky-Y, Alenia Aeronautica’s unmanned technological demonstrator, has completed its first series of flight tests in Italy, and has now logged 19 flights. (Alenia photo)

Thanks to the Permit To Fly granted by ENAC - Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (National Agency for the Civil Aviation), the Sky-Y has accomplished this flight testing cycle in an area in the Puglia Region, defined for this purpose. The test campaign in Italy of the Sky-Y, the only European-made unmanned vehicle to make flight tests and the only one equipped with European sensors and production systems, has taken place in March, and has allowed the testing of some automatic functions of the ground surveillance mission systems; these are key elements to fully assess the operational capabilities of the production machines which will have in the future to be used for this role.

In particular, the tests campaign has brought to continuing the carrying out of the tests on the EOST-45 electro-optical sensor of SELEX Galileo – started in Sweden in the 2008 Autumn - and on the real-time data transmission via satellite.

In detail, the satellite link made by Telespazio has been used to test real-time data and images transmission with the Civil Defence Agency, during missions which simulated ground surveillance, fire control, detection and monitoring of boats’ and crafts’ traffic and of signalling of possible shipwrecked persons.

The tests recently completed in Italy have concerned also the functionalities of advanced management of the EOST-45 sensor, through an On Board Mission Computer (OBMC) provided with a software developed by Alenia Aeronautica; among such functionalities: target’s automatic tracking, automatic scan of predefined areas, definition of the geographical coordinates of the surface target under observation, on land and also, for the first time, on sea.

Thanks to these tests Alenia Aeronautica consolidates its own continental leadership in the technological and operational testing of unmanned aircraft. Alenia’s UAV technological demonstrator’s flights so far made are 48, of which 29 accomplished by the Sky-X and 19 by the Sky-Y.

Such successes have been made also thanks to the support and collaboration of other Finmeccanica companies like SELEX Galileo and Telespazio, proving once more synergies and integration capabilities of the Group’s companies.

Russia's Superjet 100 Plane Makes First Long-Haul Test Flight

Russia's Superjet 100 Plane Makes First Long-Haul Test Flight (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - April 2, 2009: Russia's Superjet 100 medium-haul airliner completed its first long-distance test flight on Wednesday. The plane took off from Novosibirsk in southwest Siberia and landed at an airfield near Moscow, covering a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles). Another Superjet 100 landed about an hour later. A Russian passenger Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft with a Russian fighter jet escort lands at an airstrip just outside Moscow on April 1, 2009. The plane, seen as a potential saviour of the country's struggling aeronautics sector, made its first medium-length test flight, from Novosibirsk in southwest Siberia a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers. The flight was scheduled for Tuesday, but was delayed due to foggy weather conditions. The Superjet 100 project is a family of medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell. Sukhoi's head said the plane would carry its first passengers in early 2010. "We are hoping to complete the plane's certification to international standards in November 2009. At the start of next year, a Superjet 100 will take its first passengers on board," Mikhail Pogosyan said. Sukhoi said last month it would deliver its first Superjet 100 airliner to the country's flagship carrier Aeroflot in December. A total of 30 airplanes are to be supplied to Aeroflot. The plane manufacturer earlier said the first Superjet 100 aircraft had made 40 short-distance test flights, clocking a total of 100 hours, and that a total of four planes would take part in the certification program, which should be completed in the third quarter of 2009. Sukhoi earlier said there were at least 100 orders for the aircraft. Sukhoi, part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), plans to manufacture at least 700 Superjet 100s, and intends to sell 35% of them to North America, 25% to Europe, 10% to Latin America, and 7% to Russia and China.