Thursday, May 21, 2009

DTN News: India Seeks 3 More Airborne Early Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) From Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)

DTN News: India Seeks 3 More Airborne Early Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) From Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - May 21, 2009: India is negotiating the purchase of three more Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a Defence Ministry official here said. From 1987, India has worked on an experimental AEW system codenamed "Airavat"; the project itself is called Airborne Surveillance Platform. HAL customized two HS-748 airframes with pylons and rotodome, but the project itself ground to a halt in 1999, following a Prototype crash, killing 8 scientists aboard. As of 2004, the project has been revived with new platform and an AESA Radar instead of a rotating one. India ordered 3 Phalcon AWACS from Israel with a cost of about $1.5 billion with the delivery to end in 2008. This was delayed and the first aircraft arrived in early 2009. The IAF cleared proposal to buy 3 more Phalcon AWACS in 2008. As part of its Eye in the sky project, India is developing an AESA radar which will be integrated on the Embraer EMB-145 aircraft. The AWACS will be inducted by 2011. The news arrived just days before the expected delivery of the first of three AWACS ordered in 2004 for $1.1 billion, the official said. The Indian Air Force AWACS planes will be Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76s equipped with Phalcon radars made by Elta, an IAI subsidiary. New Delhi wants to buy three more Phalcon radars for mounting on aircraft, but IAI is asking for 30 percent more money than the first batch, the official said. IAI officials were not available for comment. The Indian Air Force plans to beam data from the AWACS through a dedicated satellite under the nascent joint Aerospace Command. The Phalcon radar can track 60 targets simultaneously out to 350 kilometers, an Air Force official said. The AWACS' electronics must include a Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar system that can simultaneously handle fighter control, and air, sea and area search; 300-nautical-mile Identification-Friend-or-Foe system; electronic warfare defenses; and electronic support subsystems, a senior Air Force official said. The aircraft should have a payload of 9,831 kilograms, an empty weight of 46,606 kilograms and a maximum takeoff weight of 77,564 kilograms. The aircraft should also have a cruise speed of 853 kilometers per hour, a range of 7,000 kilometers and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet. While awaiting the AWACS planes, the Air Force has been relying on UAVs, including the Searcher-I, Searcher-II and Heron.

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A Counterintelligence Approach To Controlling Cartel Corruption - Tracking Mexico’s Drug Cartels

A Counterintelligence Approach To Controlling Cartel Corruption - Tracking Mexico’s Drug Cartels
By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton....STRATFOR
(NSI News Source Info) May 21, 2009: Rey Guerra, the former sheriff of Starr County, Texas, pleaded guilty May 1 to a narcotics conspiracy charge in federal district court in McAllen, Texas. Guerra admitted to using information obtained in his official capacity to help a friend (a Mexican drug trafficker allegedly associated with Los Zetas) evade U.S. counternarcotics efforts. On at least one occasion, Guerra also attempted to learn the identity of a confidential informant who had provided authorities with information regarding cartel operations so he could pass it to his cartel contact. In addition to providing intelligence to Los Zetas, Guerra also reportedly helped steer investigations away from people and facilities associated with Los Zetas. He also sought to block progress on investigations into arrested individuals associated with Los Zetas to protect other members associated with the organization. Guerra is scheduled for sentencing July 29; he faces 10 years to life imprisonment, fines of up to $4 million and five years of supervised release. Guerra is just one of a growing number of officials on the U.S. side of the border who have been recruited as agents for Mexico’s powerful and sophisticated drug cartels. Indeed, when one examines the reach and scope of the Mexican cartels’ efforts to recruit agents inside the United States to provide intelligence and act on the cartels’ behalf, it becomes apparent that the cartels have demonstrated the ability to operate more like a foreign intelligence service than a traditional criminal organization. Fluidity and Flexibility For many years now, STRATFOR has followed developments along the U.S.-Mexican border and has studied the dynamics of the cross-border illicit flow of people, drugs, weapons and cash. One of the most notable characteristics about this flow of contraband is its flexibility. When smugglers encounter an obstacle to the flow of their product, they find ways to avoid it. For example, as we’ve previously discussed in the case of the extensive border fence in the San Diego sector, drug traffickers and human smugglers diverted a good portion of their volume around the wall to the Tucson sector; they even created an extensive network of tunnels under the fence to keep their contraband (and profits) flowing. Likewise, as maritime and air interdiction efforts between South America and Mexico have become more successful, Central America has become increasingly important to the flow of narcotics from South America to the United States. This reflects how the drug-trafficking organizations have adjusted their method of shipment and their trafficking routes to avoid interdiction efforts and maintain the northward flow of narcotics. Over the past few years, a great deal of public and government attention has focused on the U.S.-Mexican border. In response to this attention, the federal and border state governments in the United States have erected more barriers, installed an array of cameras and sensors and increased the manpower committed to securing the border. While these efforts certainly have not hermetically sealed the border, they do appear to be having some impact — an impact magnified by the effectiveness of interdiction efforts elsewhere along the narcotics supply chain. According to the most recent statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration, from January 2007 through September 2008 the price per pure gram of cocaine increased 89.1 percent, or from $96.61 to $182.73, while the purity of cocaine seized on the street decreased 31.3 percent, dropping from 67 percent pure cocaine to 46 percent pure cocaine. Recent anecdotal reports from law enforcement sources indicate that cocaine prices have remained high, and that the purity of cocaine on the street has remained poor. Overcoming Human Obstacles In another interesting trend that has emerged over the past few years, as border security has tightened and as the flow of narcotics has been impeded, the number of U.S. border enforcement officers arrested on charges of corruption has increased notably. This increased corruption represents a logical outcome of the fluidity of the flow of contraband. As the obstacles posed by border enforcement have become more daunting, people have become the weak link in the enforcement system. In some ways, people are like tunnels under the border wall — i.e., channels employed by the traffickers to help their goods get to market. From the Mexican cartels’ point of view, it is cheaper to pay an official several thousand dollars to allow a load of narcotics to pass by than it is to risk having the shipment seized. Such bribes are simply part of the cost of doing business — and in the big picture, even a low-level local agent can be an incredible bargain. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 21 CBP officers were arrested on corruption charges during the fiscal year that ended in September 2008, as opposed to only 4 in the preceding fiscal year. In the current fiscal year (since Oct. 1), 14 have been arrested. And the problem with corruption extends further than just customs or border patrol officers. In recent years, police officers, state troopers, county sheriffs, National Guard members, judges, prosecutors, deputy U.S. marshals and even the FBI special agent in charge of the El Paso office have been linked to Mexican drug-trafficking organizations. Significantly, the cases being prosecuted against these public officials of all stripes are just the tip of the iceberg. The underlying problem of corruption is much greater. A major challenge to addressing the issue of border corruption is the large number of jurisdictions along the border, along with the reality that corruption occurs at the local, state and federal levels across those jurisdictions. Though this makes it very difficult to gather data relating to the total number of corruption investigations conducted, sources tell us that while corruption has always been a problem along the border, the problem has ballooned in recent years — and the number of corruption cases has increased dramatically. In addition to the complexity brought about by the multiple jurisdictions, agencies and levels of government involved, there simply is not one single agency that can be tasked with taking care of the corruption problem. It is just too big and too wide. Even the FBI, which has national jurisdiction and a mandate to investigate public corruption cases, cannot step in and clean up all the corruption. The FBI already is being stretched thin with its other responsibilities, like counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, financial fraud and bank robbery. The FBI thus does not even have the capacity to investigate every allegation of corruption at the federal level, much less at the state and local levels. Limited resources require the agency to be very selective about the cases it decides to investigate. Given that there is no real central clearinghouse for corruption cases, most allegations of corruption are investigated by a wide array of internal affairs units and other agencies at the federal, state and local levels. Any time there is such a mixture of agencies involved in the investigation of a specific type of crime, there is often bureaucratic friction, and there are almost always problems with information sharing. This means that pieces of information and investigative leads developed in the investigation of some of these cases are not shared with the appropriate agencies. To overcome this information sharing problem, the FBI has established six Border Corruption Task Forces designed to bring local, state and federal officers together to focus on corruption tied to the U.S.-Mexican border, but these task forces have not yet been able to solve the complex problem of coordination. Sophisticated Spotting Efforts to corrupt officials along the U.S.-Mexican border are very organized and very focused, something that is critical to understanding the public corruption issue along the border. Some of the Mexican cartels have a long history of successfully corrupting public officials on both sides of the border. Groups like the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) have successfully recruited scores of intelligence assets and agents of influence at the local, state and even federal levels of the Mexican government. They even have enjoyed significant success in recruiting agents in elite units such as the anti-organized crime unit (SIEDO) of the Office of the Mexican Attorney General (PGR). The BLO also has recruited Mexican employees working for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, and even allegedly owned Mexico’s former drug czar, Noe Ramirez Mandujano, who reportedly was receiving $450,00 a month from the organization. In fact, the sophistication of these groups means they use methods more akin to the intelligence recruitment processes used by foreign intelligence services than those normally associated with a criminal organization. The cartels are known to conduct extensive surveillance and background checks on potential targets to determine how to best pitch to them. Like the spotting methods used by intelligence agencies, the surveillance conducted by the cartels on potential targets is designed to glean as many details about the target as possible, including where they live, what vehicles they drive, who their family members are, their financial needs and their peccadilloes. Historically, many foreign intelligence services are known to use ethnicity in their favor, heavily targeting persons sharing an ethnic background found in the foreign country. Foreign services also are known to use relatives of the target living in the foreign country to their advantage. Mexican cartels use these same tools. They tend to target Hispanic officers and often use family members living in Mexico as recruiting levers. For example, Luis Francisco Alarid, who had been a CBP officer at the Otay Mesa, Calif., port of entry, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison in February for his participation in a conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens and marijuana into the United States. One of the people Alarid admitted to conspiring with was his uncle, who drove a van loaded with marijuana and illegal aliens through a border checkpoint manned by Alarid. Like family spy rings (such as the Cold War spy ring run by John Walker), there also have been family border corruption rings. Raul Villarreal and his brother, Fidel, both former CBP agents in San Diego, were arraigned March 16 after fleeing the United States in 2006 after learning they were being investigated for corruption. The pair was captured in Mexico in October 2008 and extradited back to the United States. ‘Plata o Sexo’ When discussing human intelligence recruiting, it is not uncommon to refer to the old cold war acronym MICE (money, ideology, compromise and ego) to explain the approach used to recruit an agent. When discussing corruption in Mexico, people often repeat the phrase “plata o plomo,” Spanish for “money or lead” — meaning “take the money or we’ll kill you.” However, in most border corruption cases involving American officials, the threat of plomo is not as powerful as it is inside Mexico. Although some officials charged with corruption have claimed as a defense that they were intimidated into behaving corruptly, juries have rejected these arguments. This dynamic could change if the Mexican cartels begin to target officers in the United States for assassination as they have in Mexico. With plomo an empty threat north of the border, plata has become the primary motivation for corruption along the Mexican border. In fact, good old greed — the M in MICE — has always been the most common motivation for Americans recruited by foreign intelligence services. The runner-up, which supplants plomo in the recruitment equation inside the United Sates, is “sexo,” aka “sex.” Sex, an age-old espionage recruitment tool that fits under the compromise section of MICE, has been seen in high-profile espionage cases, including the one involving the Marine security guards at the U.S Embassy in Moscow. Using sex to recruit an agent is often referred to as setting a “honey trap.” Sex can be used in two ways. First, it can be used as a simple payment for services rendered. Second, it can be used as a means to blackmail the agent. (The two techniques can be used in tandem.) It is not at all uncommon for border officials to be offered sex in return for allowing illegal aliens or drugs to enter the country, or for drug-trafficking organizations to use attractive agents to seduce and then recruit officers. Several officials have been convicted in such cases. For example, in March 2007, CBP inspection officer Richard Elizalda, who had worked at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for conspiring with his lover, alien smuggler Raquel Arin, to let the organization she worked for bring illegal aliens through his inspection lane. Elizalda also accepted cash for his efforts — much of which he allegedly spent on gifts for Arin — so in reality, Elizalda was a case of “plata y sexo” rather than an either-or deal. Corruption Cases Handled Differently When the U.S. government hires an employee who has family members living in a place like Beijing or Moscow, the background investigation for that employee is pursued with far more interest than if the employee has relatives in Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana. Mexico traditionally has not been seen as a foreign counterintelligence threat, even though it has long been recognized that many countries, like Russia, are very active in their efforts to target the United States from Mexico. Indeed, during the Cold War, the KGB’s largest rezidentura (the equivalent of a CIA station) was located in Mexico City. Employees with connections to Mexico frequently have not been that well vetted, period. In one well-publicized incident, the Border Patrol hired an illegal immigrant who was later arrested for alien smuggling. In July 2006, U.S. Border Patrol agent Oscar Ortiz was sentenced to 60 months in prison after admitting to smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the United States. After his arrest, investigators learned that Ortiz was an illegal immigrant himself who had used a counterfeit birth certificate when he was hired. Ironically, Ortiz also had been arrested for attempting to smuggle two illegal immigrants into the United States shortly before being hired by the Border Patrol. (He was never charged for that attempt.) From an investigative perspective, corruption cases tend to be handled more as one-off cases, and they do not normally receive the same sort of extensive investigation into the suspect’s friends and associates that would be conducted in a foreign counterintelligence case. In other words, if a U.S. government employee is recruited by the Chinese or Russian intelligence service, the investigation receives far more energy — and the suspect’s circle of friends, relatives and associates receives far more scrutiny — than if he is recruited by a Mexican cartel. In espionage cases, there is also an extensive damage assessment investigation conducted to ensure that all the information the suspect could have divulged is identified, along with the identities of any other people the suspect could have helped his handler recruit. Additionally, after-action reviews are conducted to determine how the suspect was recruited, how he was handled and how he could have been uncovered earlier. The results of these reviews are then used to help shape future counterintelligence investigative efforts. They are also used in the preparation of defensive counterintelligence briefings to educate other employees and help protect them from being recruited. This differences in urgency and scope between the two types of investigations is driven by the perception that the damage to national security is greater if an official is recruited by a foreign intelligence agency than if he is recruited by a criminal organization. That assessment may need to be re-examined, given that the Mexican cartels are criminal organizations with the proven sophistication to recruit U.S. officials at all levels of government — and that this has allowed them to move whomever and whatever they wish into the United States. The problem of public corruption is very widespread, and to approach corruption cases in a manner similar to foreign counterintelligence cases would require a large commitment of investigative, prosecutorial and defensive resources. But the threat posed by the Mexican cartels is different than that posed by traditional criminal organizations, meaning that countering it will require a nontraditional approach. Tell STRATFOR What You Think For Publication in Letters to STRATFORNot For Publication This report may be forwarded or republished on your website with attribution to http://www.stratfor.com/ Please feel free to distribute this Intelligence Report to friends or repost to your Web site linking to http://www.stratfor.com/.

Ecuador Army, Navy Want Dhruv Helicopters In Their Fleet - DHRUV, A STAR IN ECUADOR

Ecuador Army, Navy Want Dhruv Helicopters In Their Fleet - DHRUV, A STAR IN ECUADOR
(NSI News Source Info) Ecuador/Bangalore - May 21, 2009: Opening a new chapter in an unknown land. This was how it felt when a team of 10 dedicated personnel from HAL Helicopter MRO Division landed in Ecuador two months back.
Thanks to the efforts of these men, the first batch of five Advanced Light Helicopters is now etching its signature on the Ecuadorian skies. The team had left for Ecuador in order to provide maintenance and service support and to cater to the repair activities on the helicopters. The ALH has been well received by the Ecuadorian Air Force. The machine has proved its mettle. Ecuadorian officials are happy about its features, technology and performance. The Air Force is using the ALHs for multi-role and high altitude operations, said Mr R Narayanan, Deputy General Manager, Ecuador, who is leading the team at Ecuador. The Dhruvs are positioned in Guayaquil Air Force base and are undergoing customer acceptance trials, which are being personallymonitored by a team of five senior officers of the Ecuador Air Force. The demonstration on the underslung load capacity of 1.5 tons and rescue load capacity of 250 kg has already been given to the team. The high altitude trials are planned in Quito and Latagunga in the coming days. Adds Mr Narayanan, “On the training front, the basic conversion training has been imparted to four Ecuadorian pilots, and further intensive training for the team of 16 Ecuadorian pilots is planned in the next six months by a team of HAL pilots.” ALH for Army and Navy too:Ecuadorian President Mr Rafael Correa, who visited the base, had a close look at the ALH. During his visit, the President was keen to learn about the technical capabilities of the machine and was impressed by its performance, maintainability and agility. Besides the President, senior officers from Army and Air Force also visited the base. Thanks to the excellent performance of the ALH, the Ecuadorian Army and Navy too are planning to add ALHs to their fleets, adds Narayanan. He adds that the future appears to be bright for HAL in this particular part of the world. HAL plans to establish bay servicing facilities at Ecuador and to further explore business in the South American Market. Helicopter MRO Division shall spare no efforts to support their fleet and keep the HAL flag flying high in Ecuador. ONE FOR THE PRESIDENTTwo of the helicopters will be used to protect the Northern Frontier and will be based in Lago Agrio and Esmeraldas. Two others will be deployed at the Taura and Manta base and the fifth will be earmarked for President Rafael Correa’s use. A group of Indian pilots will be in charge of the operative training, and will train the members of the Ecuadorian delegation who stayed in India for two months to participate in workshops to get to know the new helicopters. Meanwhile, the tech training of the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) personnel will be carried out by a delegation of 10 HAL technicians, who will be in the country for two years.
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India: BSF To Be Strengthened By 29 Battalions; Will Operate HAL Dhruv Helicopters

India: BSF To Be Strengthened By 29 Battalions; Will Operate HAL Dhruv Helicopters
(NSI News Source Info) May 21, 2009: The government has approved a Rs 360 crore plan for Border Security Force to raise 29 new battalions comprising nearly 30,000 personnel within the next five years raising its strength to nearly two lakh.
Deliveries of the Dhruv commenced in 2002, a full ten years after the prototype's first flight, and nearly twenty years after the programme was initiated. The Indian Coast Guard became the first service to bring Dhruv helicopters into service. This was followed by the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. Seventy five Dhruvs were delivered to the Indian armed forces by 2007 and the plan is to produce forty helicopters yearly. One of only three helicopter display teams in the world, the Sarang aerobatic display team of the Indian Air Force performs with four Dhruv helicopters. The Dhruv is capable of flying at high altitudes, a crucial requirement for the Army, which requires helicopters for operations in Siachen Glacier and Kashmir. In September 2007, the Dhruv was cleared for high-altitude flying in the Siachen Sector after six-month long trials. In October 2007, a Dhruv flew to an altitude of 27,500 feet (8,400 m) ASL in Siachen. This was the highest that the Dhruv had flown, and was higher than the 25,000 feet (7,600 m) record set by an IAF Cheetah helicopter in 2005. A further order for 166 helicopters were placed with HAL since the helicopter is working well in higher altitude areas with the Indian Army. The Armed Forces may order 12 ambulances versions for use by the Armed Forces Medical Services for MEDEVAC operations . HAL Dhruv ambulances will have all the emergency medical equipment for the treatment of injured soldiers. In June 2008, the Hindustan Times reported that the Indian Navy had decided against placing further orders for the Dhruv Naval variant, stating it has failed to meet basic operational requirements. However these rumours were put to rest by the recent comments of the defence minister who stated in the parliament that the navy had not rejected the dhruv as eight Dhruv helicopters are already operating in the Utility role. The Anti-submarine version will not be inducted since it did not suit the requirements of the Indian Navy in anti-submarine role.
The fund to raise the battalions was sanctioned by Union Home Ministry recently as part of its expansion programme for central paramilitary forces, BSF Director General M L Kumawat said at a function here last night.
With this, the strength of BSF will go up to 186 battalions, comprising about 1.90 lakh personnel, in the next five years.
It will procure eight 'Dhruv' Advanced Light Helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and purchase one large transport plane and two small aircraft from abroad within this fiscal, BSF officials said.
The Central para-military force, which has been guarding the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, was sanctioned eight helicopters and three aircraft earlier for patrolling the borders and to transport men and material in case of emergencies.
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Chambliss: Hill Leaders 'Realize 187 F-22s Is Not Enough'

Chambliss: Hill Leaders 'Realize 187 F-22s Is Not Enough'
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - May 21, 2009: Congressional proponents of more F-22 fighters will aim to put extra money for the stealthy jets in the 2010 U.S. defense appropriations bill, a key senator says. "The appropriations process is the key right now. ... That is primarily what we're going to focus on," Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said May 20. Chambliss is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It is primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is the prime contractor and is responsible for the majority of the airframe, weapon systems and final assembly of the F-22. Program partner Boeing Integrated Defense Systems provides the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and all of the pilot and maintenance training systems. The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 during the years prior to formally entering US Air Force service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Despite a protracted and costly development period, the United States Air Force considers the F-22 a critical component of the US strike force, and claims that the F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said in 2004 that the "F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built." In April 2009 the US Department of Defense proposed to cease placing new orders, subject to Congressional approval, for a final procurement tally of 187 Raptors. "We might not even need the authorization" bill to spend more money on Raptors, he said. Chambliss said after a speech at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute that he has spoken with congressional leaders about buying more Raptors with 2010 appropriations. Asked whether those leaders had given him any guarantees, Chambliss said: "The good news is we have people in leadership on both sides that realize 187 [jets] is not enough." Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced April 6 that the Obama administration would hold to the Bush administration decision to halt F-22 production. The Pentagon has money for 183 of the Lockheed Martin-made jets; lawmakers are expected to provide four more in pending war-funding legislation. But some in Congress - especially those, like Chambliss, whose districts make F-22s and their parts - say a 187-plane fleet would hamstring future presidents. Chambliss said the currently planned Raptor fleet would only be available in one region at a time. That would limit "a future president's options," he told an AEI audience. Chambliss said the decision to cap the fleet "is not a one-year or two-year decision; it's a 30-year decision." Gates has countered that only 187 are needed, citing internal Pentagon analysis who say peer militaries, like China and Russia, will not be able to field a comparable fifth-generation fighter until the 2020s. When coupled with the Raptor's cost, Gates has said he is willing to take a bit of near-term risk, since all indications are any fighter that could take on the F-22 is decades away. F-22 proponents also have touted its ability to take out enemy surface-to-air missile systems. Gates has answered that, too, telling Chambliss during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week that the military has plenty of other aerial systems that can target SAM sites. The secretary announced his decision to cap the Raptor fleet on the same day he announced proposed changes to 49 other major weapons.

Oshkosh Defense Awarded $40 Million Delivery Order For New and Recapitalized HEMTT A4s

Oshkosh Defense Awarded $40 Million Delivery Order For New and Recapitalized HEMTT A4s
(NSI News Source Info) OSHKOSH, Wis. — May 21, 2009: Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, has been awarded a $40 million delivery order with the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM LCMC) for more than 130 additional next-generation Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT). The HEMTT's objective is to provide heavy transport capabilities for supply and re-supply of combat vehicles and weapons systems for the United States Army. It is distinguished by extreme mobility compared to standard 5-ton trucks, thanks to its large number of wheels, combined with all-wheel drive and very large, low-pressure tires. Though far less publicized than the Humvee, it has been extremely important in transporting logistics behind quick-moving forces based on the M1 Abrams tank. Having proved itself as a key workhorse of the US heavy tactical wheeled vehicle fleet, about 13,000 HEMTT vehicles are in service today. Under the delivery order, Oshkosh Defense will manufacture and deliver more than 125 new vehicles and three recapitalized vehicles. The delivery order was issued under the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV) contract. “The durable and well-protected HEMTT is a battle-tested vehicle that the Army has come to know it can depend on for any operation and in any environment,” said Andy Hove, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Defense. “These new HEMTT A4 vehicles will only further improve the ability of our soldiers to quickly and reliably carry out a wide variety of logistics missions.” This next-generation vehicle incorporates a fully air-conditioned and armor-ready cab, more powerful drivetrain, improved suspension, safety improvements, and other structural changes. The Oshkosh® HEMTT A4s are long term armor strategy (LTAS) compliant and come off the assembly line fitted with upgraded suspensions and integral (“A” kit) armor. They also will be ready to receive an add-on (“B” kit) armor appliqué that can be quickly and easily installed in the field. Through Oshkosh’s remanufacturing and recapitalization services, heavily used vehicles are returned to Oshkosh, stripped to their frame rails, completely rebuilt to like-new condition and upgraded to the new A4 configuration. Recapitalized vehicles are considered to have zero miles and zero hours, at a significantly reduced cost compared to a new vehicle. These vehicles are put through the same road tests, performance tests and inspection procedures as new vehicles before being delivered with the same bumper-to-bumper warranty provided for new HEMTTs. The Oshkosh HEMTT’s 13-ton payload and off-road capabilities make it the backbone of the U.S. Army’s logistics fleet. Since its introduction in 1985, the HEMTT has helped keep the Army on the move during major conflicts such as Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. About Oshkosh DefenseOshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, is an industry-leading global designer and manufacturer of tactical military trucks and armored wheeled vehicles, delivering a full product line of conventional and hybrid vehicles, advanced armor options, proprietary suspensions and vehicles with payloads that can exceed 70 tons. Oshkosh Defense provides a global service and supply network including full life-cycle support and remanufacturing, and its vehicles are recognized the world over for superior performance, reliability and protection. For more information, visit www.oshkoshdefense.com. About Oshkosh CorporationOshkosh Corporation, (NYSE:OSK), is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corp. manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Medtec®, Jerr-Dan®, BAI®, Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles, Frontline™, SMIT™, Geesink™, Norba™, Kiggen™, CON-E-CO®, London® and IMT®. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, log on to www.oshkoshcorporation.com.

DTN News: NATO TODAY May 21, 2009 - Georgian-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Joint Military Exercise In Georgia

DTN News: NATO TODAY May 21, 2009 - Georgian-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Joint Military Exercise In Georgia
(NSI News Source Info) TBILISI, Georgia - May 21, 2009: Officers speak next to a map during the Cooperative Longbow and Cooperative Lancer - 2009 Georgian-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) training at the Vaziani military base, 30 kms outside Tbilisi, on May 18, 2009.
Russia has sternly criticized NATO for carrying out exercises this month in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia, saying such activity less than a year after Russia and Georgia fought a war was highly destablizing.
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DTN News: India TODAY May 21, 2009 - Sonia Gandhi And Rahul Gandhi Offering Tributes To Sonia's Husband Rajiv Gandhi On His Death Anniversary

DTN News: India TODAY May 21, 2009 - Sonia Gandhi And Rahul Gandhi Offering Tributes To Sonia's Husband Rajiv Gandhi On His Death Anniversary
(NSI News Source Info) May 21, 2009: Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, right, strolls with her son Rahul Gandhi as they return after offering tributes to former Indian Prime Minister and Sonia's husband Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, May 21, 2009.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suspected Tamil Tiger female suicide bomber in 1991 at an election rally in southern India in apparent revenge for sending a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka in 1987.
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Tamil Tiger Leaders 'Killed Trying To Surrender'

Tamil Tiger Leaders 'Killed Trying To Surrender'
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - May 21, 2009: Two top members of the Tamil Tigers may have been shot by their own side or executed by Sri Lankan troops while trying to surrender, according to conflicting accounts of the last days of the rebels. Hours before the Sri Lankan defence ministry announced the entire rebel leadership had been killed and the decades-old war won, Tamil Tiger political chief B. Nadesan and Peace Secretariat head S. Pulideevan were trying to give themselves up. An auto rickshaw driver reads a newspaper fronted with the latest photograph released by the government of dead Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in Colombo on May 20, 2009. Sri Lanka marked victory over Tamil Tiger rebels with a national holiday, though security forces were on a state of high alert against revenge attacks. On Sunday night, the pair called the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the island's former peace broker Norway, asking for the message to be passed to the Sri Lankan army, diplomats and aid officials said. The Red Cross confirmed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officials had made contact in the closing hours of the war, after offering to "silence their guns." "We were approached by the LTTE and Norway as part of our role as a neutral intermediary," ICRC spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said, adding that the message was passed to the Sri Lankan government. "I don't know what happened. We lost contact with the LTTE in the final stages," Wijeratne told AFP According to a diplomat familiar with the communications, the last message from Pulideevan was that "they were going to cross over with a white flag, with their families." The source asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. "The next thing we heard was on Monday morning, when the Sri Lankans said they were dead. But what transpired after the satellite phone calls, I don't know. "They may have been shot by their own side for trying to surrender. They may have got out too late, as troops were moving in. They may have been executed by the army. In Sri Lanka, neither side takes any prisoners," the source said. The Tamil Tigers were infamous for wearing cyanide capsules around their necks to avoid being captured alive, and seldom took prisoners during their quarter-century fight for an independent state. Government troops were equally ruthless towards an enemy that had perfected the use of the suicide bomber. A second diplomatic source said Nadesan and Pulideevan -- who always cast themselves as LTTE politicians rather than fighters -- did appear to want to live. "They were non-stop on the phone, trying to get out," the diplomat said. He refused to speculate on the circumstances of their deaths, but commented that "Sri Lanka is just one big violation of the Geneva Conventions." A senior Sri Lankan official said the two were killed by their own side. "I was contacted by a third party (ICRC) saying that the two of them want to surrender," the island's foreign secretary, Palitha Kohona, told AFP. "I told them to follow the widely accepted procedure -- take a white flag and walk slowly towards the army lines in an unthreatening manner. What I learnt subsequently is that the two of them were shot from behind as they tried to come out. "They had been killed by the LTTE," he said. The LTTE has accused the Sri Lankan government of carrying out a "well-planned massacre" of unarmed officers with the aim of eliminating the Tigers' political structure. The LTTE's chief of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, said in a statement on Monday that "some member states of the international community" had made arrangements with the Sri Lankan military for discussions on an orderly end to the war. He claimed Pulideevan and Nadesan "were instructed to make contact with the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan forces in the war zone, un-armed and carrying white flags... When they complied they were both shot and killed." The exact circumstances of the last moments of the LTTE, including of its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, are unlikely to ever be known. Prabhakaran's corpse has been shown on state television, apparently with a gunshot wound to the head. Defence sources initially said on Monday that he was killed while trying to flee in an ambulance and that his body was badly burned. The ICRC, the only neutral organisation that was working in the war zone, had to halt its operations in the final stages of the war because of heavy fighting. The ICRC also has a strict code of secrecy. Independent journalists, rights workers and diplomats are also barred from the conflict area.

First Aircraft Made In Peru To Be Presented Today

First Aircraft Made In Peru To Be Presented Today (NSI News Source Info) LIMA, Peru - May 21, 2009: The first aircraft manufactured by Peru, designed to train pilots, will be presented Wednesday afternoon at the Second International Defense Technology Exhibition and Prevention of Natural Disasters (SITDEF) in Lima.
The plane is called Kuntur, in honor of the majestic Andean bird."It's the start of a race that will lead us to manufacture more sophisticated aircrafts," says one of the officers who worked on this project.
The exhibition will be opened today at 18:30 hours (23.30 GMT), and will be held from May 21 to 24 at the General Army Headquarters in San Borja district.
The Peruvian Air Force (FAP), one of the exhibitors, will show the high technology level that it has reached through its operating units like the Maintenance Service (Seman).
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