Thursday, June 11, 2009

DTN News: SIA Singapore Airlines To Serve Hong Kong With Airbus A380

DTN News: SIA Singapore Airlines To Serve Hong Kong With Airbus A380
*Source: Straits Times
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - June 11, 2009: FROM next month, Singapore Airlines will fly the world's largest passenger aircraft to a fifth international destination - Hong Kong. Two years after SIA's first A380 flight to Sydney, Hong Kong will join the ranks of London, Tokyo and Paris on July 9.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it will start using the Airbus A380 superjumbo on its Hong Kong route starting next month.
The daily A380 flights will replace an existing daily B777 service to Hong Kong. The 471-seat superjumbo jet represents a 10 per cent increase in seat capacity to the city. 'The operation of the A380 to Hong Kong shows our confidence in the demand for both business and leisure travel between Singapore and the famed 'Pearl of the Orient',' said Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines' Executive Vice President, Marketing and the Regions. SIA currently operates five daily non-stop flights between Singapore and Hong Kong, along with daily non-stop services between Hong Kong and San Francisco. It currently has eight A380s in service, a further 11 on firm order, and options on six more.

DTN News: Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Begins Next Phase Of Flight Testing

DTN News: Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Begins Next Phase Of Flight Testing
*Source: Northrop Grumman
(NSI News Source Info) BETHPAGE, N.Y., - June 11, 2009: Almost 22 months after its first flight over the skies of St. Augustine, Fla., Northrop Grumman's first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye test aircraft flew north to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland, to begin the next phase of testing in preparation for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2011. Shown airborne for the first time on Aug. 3, 2007, Northrop Grumman's first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye test aircraft, Delta One, flew to Naval Air Station Patuxent River to begin the next phase of testing. Carrier suitability testing involves catapult and arrested landing structural tests, also called "Shake, Rattle, and Roll Test," to verify the aircraft is structurally prepared for the rigors of carrier operations. "Since our first flight on Aug. 3, 2007, the joint Advanced Hawkeye team has been putting the aircraft through its paces, and recently passed the 1,000th hour of flight testing," said Jim Culmo, vice president of Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control programs for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector. "We're looking forward to getting the E-2D out on the aircraft carrier.
This next phase -- carrier suitability testing -- brings us that much closer to delivering this revolutionary weapons system to the warfighter." To ensure that the aircraft operating on carriers are compatible, all naval aviation assets undergo carrier suitability testing prior to joining the fleet. During this test phase all aspects of aviation/ship integration are addressed, including logistics, manpower and interoperability. "Carrier suitability testing for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will concentrate on verifying that the aircraft is structurally prepared for the rigors of carrier operations," said Marty McCord, Northrop Grumman Contractor Flight Test Director.
"The bulk of the testing involves catapult and arrested landing structural tests, also called 'Shake, Rattle, and Roll Tests', as well as determining the minimum acceptable approach airspeed and establishing crosswind limits," he added. Designed and built for the U.S. Navy, the E-2D will utilize its newly developed AN/APY-9 Electronic Scan Array (ESA) radar, Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system, Electronic Support Measures (ESM), and off-board sensors, in concert with surface combatants equipped with the Aegis combat system to detect, track, and defeat cruise missile threats at extended ranges. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will also provide unparalleled maritime domain awareness including airspace control for manned and unmanned assets, monitoring of surface movements, civil support, and command and control of tactical forces.
The E-2D's new AN/APY-9 radar, designed and built by a radar team led by Lockheed Martin, represents a two-generational leap in radar technology. "The AN/APY-9 can see smaller targets and more of them at a greater range than currently fielded radar systems," Culmo added. Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

DTN News: Singapore Orders Kongsberg Coastal Surveillance System

DTN News: Singapore Orders Kongsberg Coastal Surveillance System
*Source: Kongsberg
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - June 11, 2009: Kongsberg Norcontrol IT has been awarded a contract with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) for the future maritime surveillance system that will cover the Singapore Strait and the approaches to Singapore Port. The contract is valued at approximately MNOK 145.
“We are delighted that the MPA has once again recognised Kongsberg Norcontrol IT’s ability to deliver the best solution to ensure the safety and efficiency of shipping in and around Singapore waters. The MPA is world renowned for its capability to manage vessels and has always been at the forefront in accepting and utilizing technology”, says President Inge Flaten.
“This award reflects the strength of Kongsberg Norcontrol IT as the leading supplier of maritime domain awareness solutions including Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) systems worldwide.”

DTN News: South Korea TODAY June 11, 2009 - South Korean Marines During Military Exercise On South Korea-Controlled Island Of Yeonpyeong

DTN News: South Korea TODAY June 11, 2009 - South Korean Marines During Military Exercise On South Korea-Controlled Island Of Yeonpyeong
*Source: DTN News
(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - June 11, 2009: South Korean marines take part in an exercise on the South Korea-controlled island of Yeonpyeong near the Yellow Sea disputed with North Korea on June 11, 2009.
North Korea's nuclear and missile tests are linked to the succession plans of its "inhumane" regime, South Korea's defence chief said in comments reported on June 10.
Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee warned the military to stay on guard and "sternly punish" any border provocation, in a message in an army-run newspaper confirmed by his ministry.

DTN News: British Forces With Afghan Army In Joint Operation To Eliminate Narcotic Trade

DTN News: British Forces With Afghan Army In Joint Operation To Eliminate Narcotic Trade
*Source: DTN News
(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - June 11, 2009: In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Monday June 8, 2009.
British soldiers of the The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, deploy from a Chinook helicopter in the desert of Afghanistan's Upper Sangin Valley, Sunday May 31, 2009, at the start of a joint operation with the Afghan National Army, to search compounds and destroy drug caches and narcotic manufacturing facilities.
The operation destroyed ten narcotic manufacturing facilities, and as well as the opium, it netted 220 kg of morphine, more than 100 kg of heroin and 148 kg of cannabis.

DTN News: India's HAL Bags US$ 10 Million Order For Chetak, Cheetah From Namibia

DTN News: India's HAL Bags US$ 10 Million Order For Chetak, Cheetah From Namibia
*Source: Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - June 11, 2009: Giving an impetus to its export programme, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) has bagged an USD 10 million order for supplying two Chetak and one Cheetah light utility helicopters to the Namibian armed forces.
Over the next twenty years, HAL's Helicopter Division produced hundreds of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters for the Indian Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard as also for a number of civilian customers, including State Governments while a score or more were exported. The Division has produced 336 Chetak and 246 Cheetah Helicopters so far and overhauled more than 200 helicopters of both the types. It has also undertaken the Cat 'B' repairs of more than 75 helicopters and put them back into operation.
"HAL has bagged a new export order to supply Chetak and Cheetah helicopters to Namibia, a southern African nation," Defence Ministry sources said here today. The deal with the Namibian Defence Ministry was signed in April this year and it came in the wake of series of export orders bagged by HAL for supply of Dhruv Advanced Light Utility Helicopters in the past one year. Chetak is a multi-purpose, seven-seater helicopter and Cheetah is a light observation helicopter and both these platforms are used by the Indian Air Force and the Army Aviation Corps. These two helicopters are extensively used by the armed forces in the icy heights of Siachen, once the world&aposs highest battlefield, where guns fell silent in 2003 after a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. Chetak and Cheetah production at HAL began under a licenced agreement with Eurocopter in 1970. The helicopter division of HAL has so far produced nearly 350 Chetaks and 250 Cheetahs, mostly supplied to domestic customers, both the defence and civilian sector, and has exported a few of them.

DTN News: Sixteen Taliban Killed In Afghanistan

DTN News: Sixteen Taliban Killed In Afghanistan *Source: AFP
(NSI News Source Info) HERAT, Afghanistan — June 11, 2009: Afghan security forces killed 16 militants, including a man who appeared to be an Arab commander, in fighting in southwestern Afghanistan, a deputy provincial governor said Thursday. Afghan soldiers in eastern Kunar province in June 10, 2009. Insurgents killed three NATO soldiers in Afghanistan while air strikes and combined Afghan forces operation thwarted a Taliban plan to storm a key southern town by killing 16 militants, authorities said yesterday. The clashes Wednesday were in Farah province's Bala Buluk district, where US air strikes on militants struck compounds last month. Kabul says 140 civilians were killed; the US military says 20-30 died. Afghan army and police started an operation in a village in the district after reports that Taliban were harassing people, including demanding money and food, Farah deputy governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli told AFP. "A clash that continued for some hours killed 15 Taliban," he said. The Taliban proxy deputy governor for the province, named Mullah Nik Mohammad, was also killed in the fighting, Rasouli said. The deputy governor said that among the corpses was an Arab citizen who had apparently commanded the group of militants and was teaching them to carry out remote-controlled bombings and suicide attacks. There was no way to independently confirm the information. Rasouli said nine Taliban were also wounded in the fighting as were two women and two children. Bala Buluk has a strong presence of insurgents allied to the Taliban, an extremist militia that was in power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were removed in a US-led invasion. Afghan and international military authorities have said there are an increasing number of foreign fighters in Afghanistan where about 90,000 international soldiers are battling the extremists.

DTN News: President Barack Obama Focus On Coalitions May Aid Arms Sales

DTN News: President Barack Obama Focus On Coalitions May Aid Arms Sales
*Sources: DTN News, Int'l Media & Reuters By Andrea Shalal-Esa
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - June 11, 2009: The Obama administration's focus on building coalitions may spur more global arms sales for the world's leading weapons exporter, a welcome prospect for U.S. defense contractors facing a shrinking defense budget at home. The global recession may dampen or delay the foreign appetite for weapons orders somewhat, but many countries' arsenals are in urgent need of modernization. The U.S. Air Force estimates it would cost Japan as much as $250 million per plane to buy dozens of radar-evading F-22 fighter jets, a U.S. senator told Japan's ambassador in a letter, saying he hopes to reverse a current U.S. ban on such exports. Even in tough economic times, countries generally view defense accounts as a top priority, particularly given mounting concerns about enemy missile attacks and other threats, said Eric Edelman, who served as undersecretary of defense for policy during the Bush administration. Edelman, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Finland, said demand would likely remain high for cutting-edge U.S. products such as precision munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and missile defense capabilities. "A lot of countries are going to be looking for American goods and services," said Edelman, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "There is a good market out there." U.S. defense cuts announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in April are also spurring American companies to pursue foreign orders more aggressively, he said. BIG-TICKET COMPETITIONS U.S. companies are already vying for huge fighter and helicopter orders from India, helicopter work in Australia and shipbuilding work for Saudi Arabia and others. Exports should also be buoyed as orders materialize from Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway -- the partner countries helping to develop Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet. The radar-evading plane is the world's biggest weapons program, valued at over $200 billion. Israel, Singapore, Japan and Spain were also interested in ordering the fighter, said Marine Corps Brigadier General David Heinz, head of the F-35 program. Work could start on pricing airplanes for Israel by the end of the year, he said. Chris Raymond, vice president of business development for Boeing Co's military arm, said the Obama administration's interest in building the military capabilities of potential coalition partners seems to be "more of a conscious thought and discussion right now than maybe it has been in the past." "So I think that all bodes well for our allies and the discussions that would take place on things they'd like to have -- on releasability around some of those things," he told a pre-Paris Air Show briefing on Wednesday. Some lawmakers, keen to maintain production of the F-22 fighter, also built by Lockheed, have revived the idea of exporting that fighter to a select few allies, such as Japan. At the same time, Lockheed's C-130 transport plane and Boeing's C-17 could pick up extra orders in Europe, given delays in the A400M plane developed by EADS. Raytheon Co, which says big demand for Patriot missiles from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Taiwan helped global sales account for 20 percent of total revenues last year, forecasts they will comprise 22 percent to 24 percent in 2009.
U.S. arms deals soared nearly 50 percent to $24.8 billion in 2007, accounting for 41.5 percent of all such agreements. The top five buyers were Australia, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Analysts and industry executives say President Barack Obama is likely to continue the Bush administration's focus on training and equipping foreign militaries. Sales may even get a boost from Obama's drive to build coalitions and partnerships. Obama "is beginning to realize that we just don't have as much money and power as we used to," said analyst Loren Thompson with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute. "That is making him start to think, how can I improve my trade balance? How can I get other countries to carry some of the burden of global security? How can I reduce the price tag of my defense establishment?" More sales of U.S. weapons systems would make it easier for American troops and partner countries to operate together on the battlefield, using common systems to share data, communicate and coordinate any strikes, Thompson said. Michele Flournoy, the current undersecretary of defense for policy, last month underscored the growing importance of concerted action. She said Washington could use targeted arms sales to help U.S. partners increase their capacity to deal with emerging threats, such as Iran's missile program. "When we look at the full range of security challenges that we face -- terrorism, proliferation, economic security issues, climate change -- there is not a single one that the United States alone can deal with effectively," Flournoy said. "You need coalitions and partners to deal with these challenges." The Pentagon is assessing allies' needs to establish a basis for deciding what weapons are provided to whom. PROSPECT FOR REFORMS? Richard Grimmett, a security specialist who compiles the Congressional Research Service's annual report on international arms sales, said the global recession might slow the blockbuster sales of recent years, but there would still be plenty of orders for spare parts and upgrades. Paul Nisbet, analyst with JSA Research, said Democratic control of Congress and the White House offers an opportunity to reform U.S. export control laws that companies say hamper their ability to compete overseas. Lawmakers often weigh in to keep sophisticated systems like the F-22 solely for U.S. use. Military services are also sometimes reluctant to export key weapons to protect the American technical edge. But Edelman notes that it often take years before such weapons are then actually fielded by foreign countries, a lag time that helps protect the U.S. lead. The next test for the arms trade could be whether the U.S. Senate acts to approve treaties negotiated with Australia and Britain to ease restrictions on defense trade. But getting those treaties ratified by the Senate would take a "certain amount of political capital," and it was not yet clear that the Obama administration viewed the issue as a top priority, he said.

DTN News: Crisis Speeds BRIC Rise To Power: Goldman's O'Neill

DTN News: Crisis Speeds BRIC Rise To Power: Goldman's O'Neill *Sources: Int'l Media & Reuters By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Stott
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - June 11, 2009: The global crisis means China and other emerging market powers will overtake developed world economies even more quickly, the Goldman Sachs economist who coined the BRIC concept told Reuters. BRIC leaders in 2008: Manmohan Singh (India), Dmitry Medvedev (Russia), Hu Jintao (China) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil).
In economics, BRIC or BRICs is an acronym that refers to the fast growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The acronym was first coined and prominently used by Goldman Sachs in 2001. Goldman Sachs argued that, since they are developing rapidly, by 2050 the combined economies of the BRICs could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. Goldman Sachs did not argue that the BRICs would organize themselves into an economic bloc, or a formal trading association, like the European Union has done. However, there are strong indications that the "four BRIC countries have been seeking to form a "political club" or "alliance", and thereby converting "their growing economic power into greater geopolitical clout". One of the recent indications was from a BRIC Summit meeting in 2008, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg between the foreign ministers of the BRIC countries. Also in his Latin America trip Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, while visiting Brazil, met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and agreed to visa-free travel. Medvedev has also recently made a trip to New Delhi, India to meet with Indian President Prathiba Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss a nuclear deal as well as agreeing to cooperate in the spheres of finance and financial security, tourism, culture and fighting drug trafficking. Goldman Chief Economist Jim O'Neill said China's economy was now likely to overtake the United States in less than 20 years time and the four BRIC countries combined -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- could dwarf the G7 over the same period. "Their relative rise appears to be stronger despite the rather pitifully thought out views by some a few months ago that the BRIC 'dream' could be shattered by the crisis," he said in a telephone interview from London. O'Neill invented the term BRIC in 2001 when he forecast that Brazil, Russia, India and China would overtake some of the world's top economies in the first half of the 21st century, becoming building blocks of a new world order. "We now conceive of China challenging the U.S. for number one slot by 2027 and ... the combined GDP of the four BRICs being potentially bigger than that of the G7 within the next 20 years," he added. "This is around 10 years earlier than when we first looked at the issue." Goldman is forecasting that the world economy will contract by 1.1 percent this year while BRIC economies will grow by an average of 4.8 percent, O'Neill added. "They are dominating the world growth picture even more than when the world was booming, and this is despite a revised very weak forecast for Russia in 2009," he said. "China has had a good crisis. In terms of China's role in the world the crisis has arguably been very helpful because it has forced China to realize that the next stage of their development cannot be led by export growth." Goldman is forecasting Chinese growth of 8.3 percent in 2009 and 10.9 percent in 2010, while it sees the world economy growing by just 3.3 percent next year. India is predicted to grow at an average rate of 6.3 percent from 2011 to 2050, China 5.2 percent, Brazil 4.3 percent and Russia -- constrained by forecasts of a declining population -- just 2.8 percent. BRIC POWER? The four BRIC countries have been trying to form a political club to convert their growing economic power into greater geopolitical clout. But is unclear how such different countries will work together. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China will meet in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on June 16 for the first summit since the international downturn struck their economies. "Arguably because China is the biggest of the four in terms of its current size and potential, they are the ones who are most disinterested in the BRIC grouping," O'Neill said. "It is primarily Russia, but also Brazil, that is interested in having these get-togethers and meetings." O'Neill said BRIC was unlikely to become a powerful political institution on the world stage but could serve a temporary purpose -- to prompt reforms. "I think BRIC as an institution is a very useful threat and inter-temporal political grouping to force more realistic change of global institutions," O'Neill said. He said the G8 should be reformed, with China, India and Brazil taking the places of eurozone members Germany, France and Italy, which he said should be represented by the EU and European Central Bank. Russia is already a member of the G8. O'Neill said the idea floated by Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, to make the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) the basis of a new supranational currency was a fascinating idea. He said he thought the idea meant that China would have to allow more convertibility of the yuan and that the idea of including yuan in the SDR in six years' time was conceivable.

DTN News: BAE Systems Awarded $19 Million Contract Modification To Upgrade Caiman MRAP

DTN News: BAE Systems Awarded $19 Million Contract Modification To Upgrade Caiman MRAP
*Source: BAE Systems
(NSI News Source Info) HOUSTON- June 11, 2009: BAE Systems was awarded a contract modification worth $19 million from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia to upgrade 1,800 Caiman Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. A Caiman MRAP trails a Soldier from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division during a routine patrol in Iraq. (Photo: Business Wire). View Multimedia Gallery ... The upgrades will increase the functionality and dependability of several of the Caiman’s systems and individual items. Work will take place at the Kuwait Refurbishment Facility and is anticipated to be completed by July 2010. “These engineering upgrades to the Caiman MRAP provide our forces with the latest vehicle enhancements,” said Chris Chambers, vice president and general manager of Global Tactical Systems in Sealy, Texas. “These enhancements improve our military’s ability to safely and effectively accomplish their mission.” BAE Systems manufactured 2,868 Caiman MRAPs during the vehicle’s 22-month production run, with the first vehicle delivered just 43 days after the initial contract award. BAE Systems manufactures the Caiman in Sealy, Texas, where it employs more than 2,700 people. The Sealy facility has a long history with wheeled vehicle products and has established itself as a world-class designer, volume manufacturer and through-life supporter of high-quality, best value, military tactical wheeled vehicles with payload capacities from 2.5 to 18 tons. About BAE Systems BAE Systems is the premier global defense, security and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded £18.5 billion (US $34.4 billion) in 2008.

DTN News: U.S. Navy Hands Over 17 Suspected Somali Pirates To Kenya

DTN News: U.S. Navy Hands Over 17 Suspected Somali Pirates To Kenya
*Sources: Int'l Media / AFP (NSI News Source Info) MOMBASA, Kenya – June 11, 2009: The US Navy on Wednesday handed over 17 suspected Somali pirates to Kenya, taking the total number held in the east African nation to 101, police said. Some of the seventeen suspected Somali pirates outside the Port police station in Mombasa, Kenya, after they had been disembarked from an American naval warship the MV Frigate Gettysburg Wednesday June 10, 2009, following their apprehension by American naval officers in the dangerous waters off Yemen. The suspected Somali pirates were arrested on May 13, 2009 as they attempted to hijack a merchant cargo ship which was headed to Alexandria port in Egypt. The pirates were armed with six AK47s, one pistol, one Somali sword and one rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher at the time of arrest. They will be charged in a court in Malindi town, 120km north of Mombasa. The suspects were detained in the Gulf of Aden in a joint operation by US and South Korean navies on May 13 as they tried to attack an Egyptian vessel, the MV Amira. "The suspects resisted arrest but the US marines managed to overpower them," said Sebson Wandera, a Coastal province criminal investigation officer. Wandera said the latest group brought the total number of suspected and convicted Somali pirates on Kenyan soil to 101. Over the past year, Nairobi has signed deals with several major naval powers to allow the transfer of suspected Somali pirates to Kenyan courts. The American naval warship Frigate MV Gettysburg as it docks at the Kilindini port of Mombasa, Wednesday June 10, 2009 with seventeen suspected Somali pirates on board who were arrested by the American naval officers. The suspected Somali pirates were arrested on May 13, 2009 as they attempted to hijack a merchant cargo ship which was headed to Alexandria port in Egypt. The pirates were armed with six AK47s, one pistol, one Somali sword and one rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher at the time of arrest. They will be charged in a court in Malindi town, 120km north of Mombasa. Ten out of the 101 pirates have already been convicted and sentenced to a seven year jail each. With holding cells running out of space in the port city of Mombasa, the new arrivals will be transferred to Malindi, a coastal town north 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Mombasa. Up to 20 foreign warships patrol the pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast to safeguard major shipping lanes at any given time. Pirates currently hold at least 14 ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, along with more than 200 seamen.

DTN News: Awkward Photo? There May Be More To Come As Colonel Gaddafi Visits Rome

DTN News: Awkward Photo? There May Be More To Come As Colonel Gaddafi Visits Rome
*Source: Guardian.co.uk By John Hooper
(NSI News Source Info) ROME, Italy - June 11, 2009: One of them likes to call himself an "emancipator of women". The other likes women to call him 'papi' ('daddy'). So when the two of the world's most flamboyant and eccentric politicians - the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - met yesterday in Rome, women not surprisingly figured large. Silvio Berlusconi welcomes Muammar Gaddafi, who arrived wearing a photo of Omar Mukhtar, a resistance leader against Italian colonialism. Photograph: Alessandro Di Meo/EPA The Libyan leader was accompanied by his all-female, 40-strong bodyguard squad, its members dressed in khaki uniforms and red berets. And the schedule for his controversial first visit to Italy included, at his own request, a meeting on Friday with large numbers of Italian women. Very large numbers. The plan was for 'only' 700. But officials said yesterday that such was the colonel's drawing power the event had had to be moved to a concert hall with a capacity for 1,000. Berlusconi has had more than a little trouble lately with embarrassing photos. So it must have been with a sinking feeling that he watched the Libyan leader descend the aircraft steps with another one pinned to his chest. The photograph Gaddafi wore to several of the ceremonies on the opening day of his visit did not show young women in tangas by the Berlusconi poolside, let alone a former Czech prime minister in the altogether. But it was discomforting for his hosts all the same: it showed the Libyan resistance leader, Omar Mukhtar, the "Lion of the Desert", on the day before he was hanged by his Italian colonial masters in 1931. Gaddafi flew in with a 300-strong retinue, on three Airbuses. As ever, the Libyan leader brought with him a giant Bedouin tent, which was erected in a Rome park. Security for his visit was tight. But that is partly because, while Gaddafi may have bones to pick with Italy, some Italians have bones to pick with him. Officially today it was all smiles as the colonel praised Italians for having "turned a page on the past". Relations have improved since Berlusconi's government agreed last year to a $5bn (about £3bn) reparations deal for colonial rule. Italy, he said, had "apologised for what happened and that is what allowed me to be able to come here today". But not everyone is happy about the visit. The Libyan leader is set to encounter protests at one of the earliest fruits of his friendlier relations with Rome - a deal allowing Italian patrols to return would-be migrants, including asylum seekers, to Libyan ports. Yesterday he dismissed claims the deal prevented asylum seekers from applying for protection in a way that visibly disconcerted his host, normally a champion of political incorrectness. "This is one of the lies that is put about", the colonel declared at a joint press conference following his talks with Berlusconi. "The Africans do not have problems of political asylum. People who live in the bush, and often in the desert, frankly don't have political problems. They don't have oppositions or majorities or elections or anything like that." The Libyan leader, who is also chairman of the African Union, went on: "These are things that only people who live in cities know. [Other Africans] don't even have an identity. And I don't mean a political identify; they don't even have a personal identity. They come out of the bush and they say: "In the north, there's money, there's wealth and so they go to Libya, and from there to Europe." According to the UN's refugee agency, an unusually high proportion of the migrants who try to cross from Libya into the European Union are genuine asylum seekers fleeing wars and civil disorder, mainly in the Horn of Africa. But Colonel Gadafi was having none of it. "Please, don't take seriously this business about political asylum", he told the assembled journalists. "The idea that they are all asylum seekers makes you laugh sometimes."

DTN News: Cuba ~ Friends In High Places

DTN News: Cuba ~ Friends In High Places
*Source: By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton STRATFOR (NSI News Source Info) June 11, 2009: On June 4, 2009, Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, were arrested by the FBI and charged with spying for the government of Cuba. According to court documents filed in the case, the Myers allegedly were recruited by the Cuban intelligence service in 1979 and worked for them as agents until 2007. On June 10, 2009, a U.S. Magistrate Judge ruled that the couple posed a flight risk and ordered them held without bond. The criminal complaint filed by the FBI in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 4 and the grand jury indictment returned in the case have been released to the public, and these two documents provide a fascinating and detailed historical account of the activities of Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers. Perhaps more importantly, however, these documents provide an excellent opportunity to understand how the Cuban intelligence service works and serve as a primer on Cuba’s espionage efforts inside the United States. Case Details According to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI, Kendall Myers served from 1959 to 1962 in the U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA), which was the Army’s signal intelligence branch at that time. Myers reportedly worked for the ASA as a linguist who was assigned to work translating intercepted messages from Eastern Bloc countries in Europe. In 1972, Myers earned a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in Washington, D.C. Myers then worked as an assistant professor of European Studies at SAIS and became a part-time contract instructor in August 1977 at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) teaching European studies. While employed as a contractor at the FSI, Myers attended a lecture at the FSI on Cuba that was presented by a Cuban intelligence officer assigned to the Cuban permanent mission to the United Nations. The intelligence officer (identified in the complaint only as co-conspirator “A”) then reportedly invited Myers and two of his colleagues to travel to Cuba on an academic visit. According to the FBI, Myers traveled to Cuba for a two-week trip in December 1978. The complaint contained several entries from a journal that Myers allegedly kept during the trip, and was obtained during a search of Myers’ residence. In the journal entries, Myers fawned over the Cuban revolution and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whom Myers said was “certainly one of the great political leaders of our time.” According the complaint, approximately six months after Myers returned from his trip to Cuba, he and Gwendolyn were visited at their home in South Dakota by “A” who, according to the FBI, pitched and recruited the Myers to work for the Cuban intelligence service. While they were recruited in 1979, the couple stated that they did not begin actively working for the Cuban intelligence service until 1981. This timeline seems to match Myers’ job search efforts. After being recruited, Kendall Myers was allegedly instructed by his handler to move back to Washington and seek government employment in order to gain access to information deemed valuable to the Cubans. In 1981, he applied for a job at the Central Intelligence Agency and in 1982, he returned to working as a part-time contract instructor at the FSI, and became the chairman for Western European studies. In 1985, he applied for a full-time job at the FSI teaching Western European studies, and in 1999, Myers took a position at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), as the senior European analyst. Myers stayed in that position until his retirement in 2007. After his retirement from the State Department in 2007, Myers returned to SAIS and worked there until his arrest. On the afternoon of April 15, 2009, Myers was approached by an FBI undercover source while leaving SAIS. The undercover source told Myers that he had been sent to contact Myers by a Cuban intelligence officer (identified in the complaint as co-conspirator “D”). The undercover source told Myers that the reason for the contact was because of the changes taking place in Cuba and the new U.S. administration. The source also wished Myers a happy birthday and gave him a Cuban cigar. Myers, convinced the undercover source was authentic, agreed to bring his wife to a meeting with the source at a Washington hotel later that evening. Spilling the Beans According to the complaint, the FBI undercover source met with the Myers on three occasions, April 15, April 16 and April 30, at different Washington-area hotels. During these meetings, they divulged a great deal of information pertaining to their work as Cuban agents. They provided information regarding what they passed to the Cuban government, how Kendall obtained the information and how they passed the information to their handlers. They also detailed their meetings with handlers and the methods they used to communicate with them. According to the complaint, Kendall Myers proudly told the source that he provided information at the Secret and Top Secret levels to the Cubans. When asked by the source if he had furnished information from the CIA, Kendall Myers responded “all the time.” He said that he preferred to take notes on classified documents rather than smuggle them out directly, but at times, he smuggled classified material out of the State Department in his briefcase, only to return the documents the next day after he had duplicated them. This information was then passed to handlers during meetings or by brush passes. Many of the meetings took place in New York, and the Myers felt those meetings were very dangerous. Gwendolyn admitted to having passed documents by exchanging shopping carts in a grocery store. The Myers also told the source about a shortwave radio set that they used to receive coded messages from their handler. After the September 2001 arrest of Ana Montes, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) senior Cuba analyst (who admitted to spying for Cuba for ideological motives), the Myers became much more careful about contacts with their handler, and most face-to-face contact after that time was accomplished outside of the United States. They told the source that between January 2002 and December 2005, they traveled to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico in order to meet with Cuban handlers. The FBI was able to verify all these trips through official records. After a confrontation with a supervisor at INR after returning from a 2006 trip to China, the Myers became very concerned that they had been identified and placed on a watch list by the INR supervisor. At that time, they told the source, they destroyed all their clandestine communications equipment, except for their shortwave radio and their false travel documents. They refused to travel to Mexico after this point because they believed it was too dangerous. The Myers continued to receive periodic messages from their handler, who had begun to communicate via e-mail, following the Montes case. They also passed encrypted messages to their handler via e-mail. Gwendolyn noted that they would never use their own computer for such communication but used computers at Internet cafes instead. The complaint provided the details of two e-mail messages the Myers received in December 2008 and March 2009 from a Cuban intelligence officer in Mexico, who asked for a meeting with them in Mexico. The intelligence officer was operating under the guise of an art dealer named Peter Herrera. The e-mails asked the Myers to come and see what he had for them. They responded to the e-mails saying they were delighted to hear from Peter and to learn that his art gallery was still open to them, but that they had not yet made travel plans for the coming year. The Myers told the source that they thought traveling to Mexico for a meeting with Peter was too risky. They also confirmed that Peter was a pseudonym used by a Cuban intelligence officer. When the source asked the Myers during the third meeting if their trip to Mexico in 2005 had been “the end” (meaning the end of their work for the Cuban intelligence service), Kendall Myers replied that their work would continue, but that he wanted to work in more of a reserve status, where he would talk to contacts, rather than resume work as a full-time U.S. government employee. When the source told the Myers he was going to send a report to Cuba with information pertaining to them, Gwendolyn reportedly said, “be sure and tell them we love them.” They arranged to meet with the source on June 4, at yet another Washington-area hotel, and were arrested by the FBI when they appeared for that meeting. If the recordings of the three meetings have been accurately represented in the complaint, they are going to be very damaging to the Myers. Additionally, several of the physical items recovered during a search conducted on the Myers residence will also be strong evidence, such as the shortwave radio set and a travel guide printed in Cuba in the mid- to late-1990s, which would seem to substantiate their illicit 1995 visit. ‘I’ — The Cuban Staple When discussing espionage cases, we often refer to an old Cold War acronym — MICE — to explain the motivations of spies. MICE stands for money, ideology, compromise and ego. Traditionally, money has proved to be the No. 1 motivation, but as seen in Kendall Myers’ journal entries and in the meetings with the source, the Myers were motivated solely by ideology and not by money. In fact, the complaint provides no indication that the Myers had ever sought or accepted money from the Cuban intelligence service for their espionage activities. According to the complaint, the Myers were scathing in their criticism of the United States during their meetings with the source. In addition to their criticism of U.S. government policy, they were also very critical of American people, whom they referred to as “North Americans.” Myers said the problem with the United States is that it is full of too many North Americans. The Myers also expressed their love for Cuba and for the ideals of the Cuban revolution. In the first meeting with the source, Kendall asked the source, “How is everybody at home?” referring to Cuba. Gwendolyn expressed her desire to use the couple’s boat to “sail home,” meaning travel to Cuba. The couple also provided the source with details of a January 1995 trip they took to Cuba. According to the Myers, in addition to receiving “lots of medals” from the Cuban government (something commonly awarded to ideological spies by the Soviet KGB), the best thing they received was the opportunity to meet Fidel Castro. The couple stated they had the opportunity to spend about four hours one evening with the Cuban leader. According to the FBI complaint, Kendall told the source that Castro was “wonderful, just wonderful” and Gwendolyn added, “He’s the most incredible statesman for a hundred years for goodness sake.” During the third meeting, the couple also allegedly talked to the source about Ana Montes. Kendall told the source that Montes is a “hero … but she took too many chances … in my opinion … she wasn’t paranoid enough.” Gwendolyn added “but she loved it, she did what she loved to do.” Kendall added, “We have a great admiration for Ana Montes.” Gwendolyn also noted that, “I envy her being able to love what she was doing and say what she was doing and why she was doing it ‘cause I can’t do that.” This is significant because during her trial, Montes was unrepentant and railed against the United States when she read a statement during her sentencing hearing. Gwendolyn appeared to be responding to Montes’ public statement. In view of the Myers’ case, the Montes case and other cases, like that involving Carlos and Elsa Alvarez, the Cubans clearly prefer to use agents who are ideologically motivated. Lessons In addition to the Cuban preference for ideologically motivated agents, perhaps one of the greatest lessons that can be taken from the Myers’ case is simply a reminder that espionage did not end with the conclusion of the Cold War. According to the FBI complaint, a Cuban intelligence officer attempted to contact the Myers as recently as March 2009. This case also shows that the Cuban intelligence service is very patient and is willing to wait for the agents it recruits to move into sensitive positions within the U.S. government. It took several years for Myers to get situated in a job with access to highly classified information. The Myers investigation also shows that the Cuban agents are not always obviously people working on Cuban issues — Myers was a European affairs specialist. There is also a possibility that the Cubans sold or traded intelligence they gained from Myers pertaining to Europe to their Soviet (and later Russian) friends. While at INR, it is significant that Myers not only had access to information collected by State Department employees in the field, but also was privy to all-source intelligence reporting from the rest of the intelligence community (CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, etc.) According to the complaint, an analysis of Myers’ work computer revealed that from August 2006 to October 2007, Myers looked at more than 200 intelligence reports pertaining to Cuba; 75 of those reports made no mention of countries within Myers’ area of interest (Europe), and most of the documents were classified either Secret or Top Secret. The government will have to conduct a damage assessment that will attempt to trace everything Myers had access to during his entire career, which will no doubt encompass thousands of documents. As the State Department’s representative to the intelligence community, INR is also involved in crafting policy papers and national intelligence estimates. Myers began working at the State Department before there was electronic access to records, so it will be very difficult to identify every document he had access to. But in addition to the actual documents he viewed, Myers also had the opportunity to chat with many colleagues about what they were working on and to ask their opinions of policies and events, so the damage goes much further than just documents, which complicates the damage assessment. He was also in charge of training new INR analysts, which could have allowed him an opportunity to assess which analysts were the best possible targets for Cuban recruitment efforts. The information Myers could have provided while at the FSI is more subtle, but no less valuable from an intelligence operational perspective. Myers could have acted as a spotter, letting his handlers know which officers were moving through the institute, where they were going to be assigned, and perhaps even indicating which ones he thought were the best candidates for recruitment based on observed vulnerabilities. He could have served a similar function while at SAIS, pointing out promising students for the Cubans to focus on — especially students who agreed with his view of American policy, and who might be targeted for recruitment using an ideological approach. While Montes did graduate with a master’s degree from SAIS in 1988, she was already working at the DIA (and for the Cubans) by the time she began her graduate work there, so it is unlikely that Myers was involved in her recruitment. In the end, it will likely take months, if not years, for the government to do a full damage assessment on this case. One of the other interesting factors regarding this case is that in spite of Myers’ strong anti-American political beliefs — which were reportedly expressed in his classes — none of the background investigations conducted on him by the State Department provided any indication of concern. Furthermore, he was cleared for access to Top Secret material in 1985 and Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (SCI) in 1999 — 20 years after he was recruited by the Cubans. Apparently the agents and investigators who conducted his background investigations did not dig deeply enough uncover the warning signs of his radical beliefs, or the people they interviewed knowingly withheld such information. With Montes arrested at DIA, and now Myers from INR, it certainly makes one wonder where the next ideologically driven Cuban agent will be found inside the U.S. intelligence community. 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DTN News: ITT Wins $363 Million Contract For Sincgars Radios

DTN News: ITT Wins $363 Million Contract For Sincgars Radios
*Source: U.S Department of Defense
(NSI News Source Info) PENTAGON - June 11, 2009: ITT Corp., Fort Wayne, Ind., was awarded on Jun. 4, 2009 a $363,120,648 24-month-base-firm-fixed-price contract for a Single Channel Ground Airborne Radio System baseline systems control, system enhancements and logistics support to ITT.
SINCGARS (Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System) is a Combat Net Radio (CNR) currently used by U.S. and allied military forces. The radios, which handle voice and data communications, are designed to be reliable, secure and easily maintained. Vehicle-mount, backpack, airborne, and handheld form factors are available. SINCGARS uses 25 kHz channels in the VHF FM band, from 30 to 87.975 MHz. It has single-frequency and frequency hopping modes. The frequency-hopping mode has a slow hop rate (on the order of 100 Hz), which is well within the ECM capabilities of modern follow-on jammers, so it no longer provides anti-jam security against technologically advanced adversaries.
The base year quantities are 58,000 receiver transmitters, 34,800 VAA/INCs and 34,800 radio frequency amps.
Work is to be performed in Fort Wayne, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Jun. 04, 2011. Bids were solicited on IBOP with two bids received. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-09-C-J002).

DTN News: New British Army MRAPs Deployed In Afghanistan

DTN News: New British Army MRAPs Deployed In Afghanistan
*Source: UK Ministry of Defence
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON/KABUL - June 11, 2009: The first batch of new armoured vehicles have reached Afghanistan and have now been put to work in front line operations. A Mastiff 2 armoured vehicle being driven at the Defence School of Transport, Leconfield [Picture: Andrew Linnett, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009] 300 new Mastiff 2 and Ridgback vehicles are now operational with trained crews and are giving troop commanders better capability for battlefield tasks. Various upgrades make the two vehicles more up-to-date including: explosive attenuating seats to provide better protection to the soldier on impact; improved armour; improved axles and suspension to cope with the difficult terrain; better thermal imaging for the drivers; and greater crew capacity. Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said: "The Mastiff is already giving troops a battle-winning edge in Afghanistan and Mastiff 2 is even better as we have improved the vehicle in line with comments from personnel on the front line. "Ridgback will supplement the excellent work currently carried out by its bigger brother Mastiff and offer our forces first-rate protection with greater manoeuvrability and easier access to urban areas." With a maximum speed of 90kph for Mastiff 2 and 40mph for Ridgback, both vehicles will be armed with the latest weapon systems, including a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun, 12.7mm heavy machine gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher. Both vehicles have a redesigned interior making it the vehicle of choice for protected mobility troops in Afghanistan. The vehicles are based on the US Cougar made by Force Protection, with the UK integration work carried out by NP Aerospace, based in Coventry. All training on the vehicles has been carried out at the Defence School of Transport, based near Hull, which is the largest driver training school in Europe.

DTN News: Raytheon Submits KillerBee® Unmanned Aircraft System Bid To U.S. Navy

DTN News: Raytheon Submits KillerBee® Unmanned Aircraft System Bid To U.S. Navy *Source: Raytheon Company
(NSI News Source Info) TUCSON, Ariz. - June 11, 2009: Raytheon Company submitted its KillerBee unmanned aircraft system in response to the U.S. Navy's Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Tier II request for proposal. Raytheon Company's KillerBee unmanned aircraft system demonstrated it can be recovered from a net on a moving platform, simulating an at-sea recovery. The KillerBee UAS features a blended-wing aircraft body design. It also has systems for land or sea launch, recovery and ground control. The unique design of KillerBee enables growth for future payloads and additional mission capabilities. During the land-based test, KillerBee was recovered in a net mounted on a rapidly moving truck, demonstrating that the guidance system enables aircraft recovery from platforms moving at speeds similar to a naval vessel. The KillerBee UAS features a blended-wing aircraft body design. It also has systems for land or sea launch, recovery and ground control. The unique design of KillerBee enables growth for future payloads and additional mission capabilities. "KillerBee is the affordable, integrated solution to the U.S. Navy's need for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the littoral environment," said Bob Francois, Raytheon Missiles System's vice president of Advance Missiles and Unmanned Systems. KillerBee is designed to provide the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force with a UAS for their respective Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Tier II missions.
KillerBee has the ability to insert persistent reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition into the battlespace and is ideally suited for force protection in an expeditionary environment. Raytheon Company, with 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.

DTN News: Russia Offers Small Decrease In Gorshkov Price to India

DTN News: Russia Offers Small Decrease In Gorshkov Price to India
*Source: Defense Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - June 11, 2009: Russia has agreed to slightly decrease its selling price for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, raising hopes that the Indian Navy will finally acquire the ship. Admiral Gorshkov has not been operational since 1988 but, in January 2004, India signed an agreement to buy the vessel which is to be extensively refurbished with new propulsion systems, weapons and modernisation of the deck for the new aircraft. The vessel is being sold for the price of the refit along with the purchase of 16 MiG-29K fighters and eight Ka-27 and Ka-31 naval helicopters for the carrier group. The vessel was formally handed over in March 2004. Gorshkov has been renamed INS Vikramaditya. The refit is scheduled to be completed in 2010 followe by sea trials and handover to the Indian Navy in 2012. It is expected to enter service with India in 2013. The two sides have been at stalemate over the carrier after Moscow demanded an increase of more than $1.2 billion above the contracted amount of $800 million reached in 2005. Indian Defence Ministry sources said the Russian decision to reduce the cost was reached during talks last month in Moscow between visiting Indian Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and senior Russian Defense Ministry officials. Although the decrease is described as marginal, it will enable the Indian government to claim a face-saving compromise, Indian Defence Ministry sources said. A final decision will take place by next month, the sources added. Indo-Russian defense ties have been on the decline for the past two years after Moscow demanded cost increases for contracted weaponry, including the Gorshkov. A Russian diplomat said that Moscow is concentrating on rebuilding its own defense forces and is aiming at sales to Iran, and as such has reduced its emphasis on the Indian market. Following the delay in the aircraft carrier, due in 2007-08, some Indian Navy planners have suggested scrapping the carrier and resorting to a fresh hunt overseas.