DTN News: Al-Qaida Threatens China With Jihad In Retaliation For Urumqi Riots

DTN News: Al-Qaida Threatens China With Jihad In Retaliation For Urumqi Riots *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - October 8, 2009: Al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahia al-Libi has called on Uighurs to launch a jihad against the Chinese authorities and has urged Muslims worldwide to support their co-religionists, a US monitoring group reported.

Chinese security personnel stand guard on a street corner at the centre of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 7, 2009. China's troubled far-western city of Urumqi has spelt out potential punishments for spreading rumours after days of sometimes deadly unrest and panic about reported syringe attacks that fanned ethnic tensions.

"It is the duty of Muslims today to stand by the side of their wounded and wronged brothers in East Turkestan," Libi said in a video recording posted on an Islamist website, according to SITE Intelligence group. East Turkestan is the name used by Al-Qaeda for China's Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang. "Let our Muslim brothers in Turkestan know that there is no way for salvation and that there is no way to lift oppression and injustice but with truthful return to their faith and attachment to it as much as possible; to seriously prepare for jihad (holy war)," Libi said. Wearing a white-and-red checkered turban and a vest, Libi also called on Muslims to launch a media campaign to raise awareness of what is happening in China and about the "atheist Chinese colonisation." Libi said that the Turkic Muslim community is suffering from discrimination and pledged that the communist Chinese regime would face the same destiny as the former Soviet Union, which Islamist fighters had ferociously battled in Afghanistan. "As for the state of atheism and stubbornness, it is [doomed] to extinction," he said. "They will experience that which the Russian bear experienced in terms of disintegration and division." The Uighurs of Xinjiang province complain of cultural and religious discrimination practised against them by the Chinese state in the name of the fight against separatism. Chinese authorities have said that riots in the Xinjiang city of Urumqi by Muslim Uighurs on July 5 killed 184 people - most of whom were Han, China's dominant ethnic group - and injured more than 1,600. Uighur leaders accuse Chinese forces of opening fire on peaceful protests and say that Uighurs have been killed in subsequent mob attacks. In July, Al-Qaeda threatened for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in Xinjiang, risk analysis consultancy Stirling Assynt reported at the time. The call, which came from the jihadist netork's North African arm, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was swiftly rejected by exiled Uighur leaders. Rebiya Kadeer, the Washington-based head of the World Uighur Congress, said she opposed the use of violence in her campaign to bring greater rights for the ethnic group in Xinjiang. Uighurs generally practise a moderate brand of Islam influenced by Sufi mysticism and earlier shamanistic traditions.

A prominent Al-Qaida militant has threatened to attack China in retaliation for the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.The clash between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities had left 197 dead and 1,700 injured.

The terror outfit has urged Uygurs in Xinjiang to "make serious preparations" for a "holy war" against the Chinese government and called on fellow Muslims for "support with all they can", the China Daily reports.

Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a video posted on an Islamist website called for "a true return to their (Uygurs) religion and serious preparation for jihad in the path of God the Almighty and to carry weapons."

It is not the first time that a terrorist group has threatened to attack Chinese targets after the July 5 riots.

Earlier in July, Al-Qaida's Algerian-based offshoot, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had issued a call for "reprisals".

AQIM had pledged to target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria as well as Chinese projects and workers across northwest Africa.

DTN News: 3rd Boeing C-17 Joins 12-Nation Strategic Airlift Capability Initiative

DTN News: 3rd Boeing C-17 Joins 12-Nation Strategic Airlift Capability Initiative

*Source: DTN News / Boeing (NSI News Source Info) LONG BEACH, Calif., - October 8, 2009: The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] Oct 7, delivered a third C-17 Globemaster III to the NATO Airlift Management Organization (NAMO) in support of NAMO's 12-nation Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) initiative. The delivery, which took place at Boeing's final assembly facility in Long Beach, completes SAC's first fleet of the advanced airlifters. A Boeing C-17, the third for the NATO Airlift Management Organization (NAMO) in support of NAMO's 12-nation Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) initiative, takes off from Boeing's final assembly facility in Long Beach. Today's delivery completes SAC's first fleet of the advanced airlifters. Photo credit: Boeing photo by Paul PinnerNeg. #: SLF09-0538-155 Assigned to SAC's Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at Pápa Air Base in western Hungary, SAC 03 will support International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan as well as the airlift requirements of SAC member nations. "The delivery of SAC's third C-17 fulfills a vision that came to life three years ago," the HAW's wing commander, U.S. Air Force Col. John Zazworsky, said to Boeing employees at the delivery ceremony. "A vision that 12 nations could form a unique partnership to jointly own and operate the world's most advanced airlifter to save lives and to meet their critical airlift requirements. We've done it, and with unparalleled cooperation." Jean Chamberlin, Boeing vice president and general manager, Global Mobility Systems, offered the company's best wishes to Zazworsky and the SAC nations "as you deploy the C-17's tremendous capabilities while supporting humanitarian, disaster-relief and peacekeeping missions." "On behalf of all our C-17 employees and suppliers, always remember that wherever the SAC C-17s go, whatever the mission, you will have our support," Chamberlin added. The HAW, which was activated on July 27, conducted its first mission to Afghanistan in September when it delivered materiel to Mazar-e-Sharif to supply Swedish troops. The wing had already flown several operational missions, including flights to support Kosovo Force troops in Kosovo. The first trip to Afghanistan, however, was a particularly important milestone for the SAC program, which was launched three years ago to acquire three C-17s to meet member nations' strategic airlift requirements. The SAC group includes 10 NATO nations -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, United States -- and Partnership for Peace members Sweden and Finland. They will share acquisition and operating costs for the fleet of three C-17s over a nearly 30-year agreement. NAMA is responsible for the acquisition, day-to-day management, and support of the C-17 fleet on behalf of NATO and all participating SAC nations. A Boeing team based at Pápa provides additional support for the SAC C-17s, including material management and depot maintenance support, under Boeing Global Services & Support's C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership. A total of 19 C-17s are in service with international customers, including the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Canadian Defence Forces, the SAC consortium, and Qatar. Later this year, Boeing anticipates an order from the United Arab Emirates. The company also has delivered 189 of 213 contracted C-17s to the U.S. Air Force. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

DTN News: Raytheon Introduces Improved Mobile Device For Fast Intelligence Sharing

DTN News: Raytheon Introduces Improved Mobile Device For Fast Intelligence Sharing *Device leverages the Google™ Android mobile platform for warfighter use

*Source: DTN News / Raytheon

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - October 8, 2009: Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is debuting at the 2009 Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition a breakthrough mobile device for faster intelligence sharing. The Raytheon Android Tactical System (RATS) delivers multimedia content faster and in less time to warfighters. Using RATS will provide them with a common mobile device that now can be used on the battlefield. "RATS provides our U.S. military forces with a last mile of connectivity for delivering images and full motion video to our warfighters," said Mark Bigham, vice president of Raytheon's Defense and Civil Mission Solutions. "Utilizing existing technologies provides developers the ability to focus on requirements that our warfighters need now." The RATS device disseminates vital intelligence data via the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Intelligence Backbone (DIB) architecture system. Information is instantly viewed on the DIB and searchable to mobile device users and other users. Raytheon has demonstrated how the device provides the warfighter the ability to make decisions in seconds and minutes, rather than hours. Raytheon is developing applications or "wigets" for intelligence collection and analysis to be used on the Google Android, such as license plate reading, streaming video camera feeds and biometric collection (facial recognition, for example). These applications will enhance warfighers' safety by providing tactical alerts based on the intelligence collected. Bigham added, "We are providing an innovative technology that is available in the commercial market and applying it to warfighter needs." Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems is a leading provider of intelligence and information solutions, specializing in ground processing, unmanned ground systems, cybersecurity operations, homeland security and other markets to resolve the most complex problems for customers worldwide. IIS had 2008 revenues of $3.1 billion and employs more than 9,000 engineering and technical professionals worldwide. 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: Land Rover Launches New 2010 Armoured Range Rover

DTN News: Land Rover Launches New 2010 Armoured Range Rover *Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, UK - October 8, 2009: Land Rover is enhancing its existing Range Rover armoured vehicle with the release of the new 2010 Armoured Range Rover. The 2010 Armoured Range Rover has been updated to include an array of new technology, luxury features and drive train performance, whilst offering B6 Level ballistic and blast protection in accordance with European standard EN1522 level FB6. The 2010 Armoured Range Rover retains all the strengths and protection features of its predecessor such as optimum occupant protection, 360 degree under-skin protection, ISOCLIMA glazing for ultimate optical clarity, off road capabilities and a full three-year, 80,000km Land Rover factory warranty on the base vehicle and armour. "The broad range of capabilities provided by the new Range Rover Armoured vehicle makes it the ideal choice for government agencies, security organisations and businesses whose employees are exposed to high-risk situations," says Terry Hill, Director of Global Direct Sales. "The new 2010 Armoured Range Rover is our most luxurious armoured vehicle yet providing comfort, with an assault rifle armouring level, whilst being virtually indistinguishable from the original standard vehicle." The latest Armoured Range Rover benefits from improvements in performance, specifically the new 5.0-litre LR-V8 petrol engine. The engine was developed in-house by the Jaguar Land Rover powertrain team, with the requirements of the Range Rover in mind from day one. The LR-V8 engine has been developed to deliver more power and torque with increases to 375bhp or 276kW (+23 percent) and torque to 510Nm (+16 percent), compared with its 4.2 litre normally aspirated predecessor. New technology improvements for 2010 include:- + All new Thin Film Transistor (TFT)-LCD technology which creates a virtual instrument cluster on the dash and displays the information you need when you need it + World first touch-screen dual view technology capable of showing passenger entertainment and driver information at the same time + The new Surround Camera System (optional), which uses five cameras situated around the vehicle to provide an almost complete 360-degree view on the touch-screen. The screen views help to ensure drivers do not miss objects below their line of sight and also gives vital views at 'blind' junctions + Unique new 2010 Range Rover front lamps make optimum use of Bi-xenon and LED technology + A new, larger, three-bar grille provides an even more commanding on-road presence + A Blind Spot Monitor system utilises side-mounted radar sensors to survey the vehicle's blind spot (optional) The 2010 Armoured Range Rover retains all the strengths and protection features of its predecessor such as optimum occupant protection, 360 degree under-skin protection, ISOCLIMA glazing for ultimate optical clarity, off road capabilities and a full three-year, 80,000km Land Rover factory warranty on the base vehicle and armour. In addition to the high level of standard features of the 2010 Armoured Range Rover there are a range of options. This includes tinted windows, intercom system, an under-bonnet fire extinguisher, tamper proof exhaust, self-sealing fuel tank and independent oxygen supply to ensure a continuous flow of fresh air to the cabin.

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases *Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) LA PAZA, Bolivia - October 8, 2009: Bolivia is defending its light attack aircraft purchases from China and an open line of credit for military hardware imports from Russia, arguing that its weapons acquisitions are less significant than those by other South American countries. The Bolovian minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in a statement Bolivia spends less than its neighbors on military hardware and is committed to the principles of peace and dissuasion. "But we can't have armed forces that do not have access to the minimum equipment for their professional training and action if needed," San Miguel said, MercoPress reported. His comments followed other South American leaders' recent pronouncements criticizing arms purchases by their neighbors and calls for restraint in military expenditure. The Obama administration has said it is worried about huge arms purchases by nations that should be directing their cash resources to poverty reduction. The minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. The government of President Evo Morales has come under strong criticism for having approved the purchase worth $57.8 million -- funds that critics said should have been directed toward development in Bolivia. A similar model of the K-8 was bought earlier by Venezuela. Further criticism followed the open line of credit for arms purchases from Russia, though details of the arms purchases have not been revealed. The financing arrangement for the aircraft is not clear, but China is pursuing a combined diplomatic and economic campaign in South America to increase its footprint in the region, secure energy and raw materials for its burgeoning industrial growth and win friends where it had few in the past. China has also promised to put a Bolivian satellite into space. The aircraft was developed jointly by China and Pakistan as a two-seat trainer but later was fitted with advanced avionics and gun emplacements to function as a combat aircraft. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Morales has been at loggerheads with U.S. government agencies and suspended cooperation with Washington, accusing Drug Enforcement Administration agents

DTN News: Boeing AH-6i Light Attack/Reconnaissance Helicopter Makes 1st Flight

DTN News: Boeing AH-6i Light Attack/Reconnaissance Helicopter Makes 1st Flight *Source: DTN News / Boeing

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - October 8, 2009: Boeing [NYSE: BA] Oct 7, announced that the AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopter successfully completed its first flight on Sept. 16, seven months after the company started work on the prototype aircraft. Boeing October 7, 2009 announced that the AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopter successfully completed its first flight on Sept. 16 over Mesa, Ariz., seven months after the company started work on the prototype aircraft. Photo credit: Boeing photo by Bob FergusonNeg. #: MCF09-0075-319 During the 36-minute flight at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems facility in Mesa, Ariz., the helicopter demonstrated its flight characteristics and several handling maneuvers. Speaking today at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition, Al Winn, Boeing vice president of Apache Programs, said that Boeing experimental test pilots have subsequently flown the helicopter over the Arizona desert on multiple occasions as they test the platform's capabilities. "The AH-6i is based on a combat-proven airframe that special operations forces have deployed with great success," said Winn. "The successful first flight and our ongoing flight test program give us great confidence in the capabilities of this new international variant and its ability to meet the light-attack and reconnaissance requirements of our international customers. "The rapid integration of the avionics suite and cockpit proves the value of the Boeing open systems architecture, originally developed for the AH-64D Apache Block III, to facilitate quick configuration and integration of new technologies," Winn added. The AH-6i program, launched by Boeing at the 2008 AUSA meeting, is intended for international customers. The AH-6i features flexible mission configuration, an integrated digital cockpit, combat-proven design, the highest payload in its class, an integrated and qualified weapons system, and a communications package that enables connectivity with other aircraft and ground stations. Boeing will produce the AH-6i at its facility in Mesa and is responding to inquiries from potential customers around the world. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

DTN News: Threat Of Next World War May Be In Cyberspace According To UN

DTN News: Threat Of Next World War May Be In Cyberspace According To UN *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) GENEVA, Switzerland - October 8, 2009: The next world war could take place in cyberspace, the UN telecommunications agency chief warned Tuesday as experts called for action to stamp out cyber attacks. "The next world war could happen in cyberspace and that would be a catastrophe. We have to make sure that all countries understand that in that war, there is no such thing as a superpower," Hamadoun Toure said. "Loss of vital networks would quickly cripple any nation, and none is immune to cyberattack," added the secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union during the ITU's Telecom World 2009 fair in Geneva. Toure said countries have become "critically dependent" on technology for commerce, finance, health care, emergency services and food distribution. "The best way to win a war is to avoid it in the first place," he stressed. As the Internet becomes more linked with daily lives, cyberattacks and crimes have also increased in frequency, experts said. Such attacks include the use of "phishing" tools to get hold of passwords to commit fraud, or attempts by hackers to bring down secure networks. Individual countries have started to respond by bolstering their defences. US Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Thursday that she has received the green light to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts to ramp up the United States' defenses against cyber threats. South Korea has also announced plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites. Warning of the magnitude of cybercrimes and attacks, Carlos Solari, Alcatel-Lucent's vice-president on central quality, security and reliability, told a forum here that breaches in e-commerce are now already running to "hundreds of billions." But one of the most prominent victims in recent years has been the small Baltic state of Estonia, which has staked some of its post Cold War development on new technology. In 2007 a spate of cyber attacks forced the closure of government websites and disrupted leading businesses. Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts said in Geneva that "adequate international cooperation" was essential. "Because if something happens on cyberspace... it's a border crossing issue. We have to have horizontal cooperation globally," he added. To this end, several countries have joined forces in the International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), set up this year to "proactively track and defend against cyberthreats." Some 37 ITU member states have signed up, while another 15 nations are holding advanced discussions, said the ITU. Experts say that a major problem is that the current software and web infrastructure has the same weaknesses as those produced two decades ago. "The real problem is that we're putting on the market software that is as vulnerable as it was 20 years ago," said Cristine Hoepers, general manager at Brazilian National Computer Emergency Response Team. "If you see the vulnerabilities that are being exploited today, they are still the same," she underlined. She suggested that professionals needed to be trained to "design something more resilient." "Universities are not teaching students to think about that. We need to change the workforce, we need to go to the universities..., we need to start educating our professionals," she said. Pointing out the infrastructure weakness, Carlos Moreira, who founded and runs the Swiss information security firm Wisekey, said legislation is needed to bring cybersecurity up to international standards.

DTN News: U.S. Navy's New Littoral Ship Prices To Be Revealed

DTN News: U.S. Navy's New Littoral Ship Prices To Be Revealed

*Source: DTN News / Defense Media (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, DC - October 8, 2009: Contract prices for the U.S. Navy's two most recent Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will be made public soon - perhaps before the end of October. "That's my goal," a key admiral told reporters Oct. 6. The littoral combat ship pre-commissioning unit Independence (LCS 2) is the second ship in a new design of next-generation combat vessel for close-to-shore operations. The ship will have a crew of less than 40 Sailors and will be able to reach a sustained speed of more than 50 knots. The larger flight deck will accommodate 2 SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters or one CH-53-class helicopter. Rear Adm. Bill Landay, the Navy's Program Executive Officer for Ships, said figuring the prices for the ships is a "convoluted process" because some of the materials used for the ships were purchased under earlier ship contracts that were then canceled. The first U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), the inaugural ship in an entirely new class of U.S. Navy surface warships , is seen underway during day two of Builders Trials. The ship is designed for littoral, or close-to-shore, operations and to provide access and dominance in coastal-water areas. (Photo provided courtesy Lockheed Martin) Price has become a major factor in the LCS program, which aims to buy a total of 55 small, fast and modular warships. Two companies, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, are offering competing designs, and in 2010 the Navy plans to choose one of the designs as the basis for the class. Each company has produced one ship so far. The first Lockheed ship, the Freedom (LCS 1), was commissioned in November 2008. Landay said he hopes GD's first ship, the Independence (LCS 2), is delivered before the end of this year. Last spring, each company received an order to build a second ship - the Fort Worth (LCS 3) from Lockheed, and the Coronado (LCS 4) from GD. But the prices for those ships were kept secret - a restriction, Navy officials said, laid on by Pentagon rules governing the acquisition of ships from competing sources. But on Sept. 17 the Navy dropped its plan to put both designs into production and announced it would choose only one design. That, Landay acknowledged, means the prices for ships 3 and 4 no longer need be kept secret. A cheap price was one of the major attributes of the LCS program when the first construction contracts were awarded in 2004. Then, each ship was to cost $220 million, a relatively low cost for a U.S. Navy surface warship. But each of the first two ships suffered severe cost growth due to a variety of factors. Documents submitted with the 2010 Navy budget request put the current price tag for the Freedom at $637 million, while the still-incomplete Independence is listed at $704 million. The Navy has repeatedly stressed to its shipbuilders the need to keep a lid on costs. In 2007, after the service admitted costs had jumped on LCS 1, the Navy canceled the first LCS 3 and LCS 4 from each shipbuilder due to excessive cost growth. Congress imposed a cost cap of $460 million per ship beginning in 2010, and the Navy, while not divulging quotes received this summer from each shipbuilder for further ships, indicated neither company could meet that goal. Landay, meeting with reporters at Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) headquarters in the Washington Navy Yard, stressed the Navy's continuing efforts to keep the lid on cost growth in its ship construction programs. Nearly all the ships now under contract, he said, are being built under fixed-price contracts rather than cost-plus arrangements. Soon, Landay said, the high-tech DDG 1000 destroyers will be the only new ships under cost-plus contracts. If a ship design is considered high risk, contains more technical challenges, or is the first of a new class, cost-plus agreements will continue to be used, but fixed-price, he said, will be the preferred scheme. "It's not nirvana," Landay said, "but it shows we are making good progress." Landay also noted that over the past year, NAVSEA has added 67 new employees to the PEO Ships staff, "making sure the offices are adequately manned." Improvements in "waterfront presence" have been made to on-site supervision in the shipyards, carried out by Supervisor of Shipbuilding (SupShips) offices. Another key improvement, Landay said, was a revolving "gate process," where different Navy officials and offices continually review programs under construction. The process "has been extraordinarily useful to us," Landay said, allowing NAVSEA "an avenue to go back to Navy leadership and say we should rethink this" before proceeding any further.

DTN News: SAM Manufacturers Eye 27 Billion Dollar Market Through 2018

DTN News: SAM Manufacturers Eye 27 Billion Dollar Market Through 2018 *Source: DTN News / Space War

(NSI News Source Info) NEWTOWN, Connecticut - October 8, 2009: Although surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) have seldom been used in active combat in recent years, their production is still anticipated to be worth some $28 billion to manufacturers worldwide over the next 10 years. "MBDA, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon will dominate this market," said Larry Dickerson, Senior Missile Analyst for Forecast International. The three companies will earn a combined $11.4 billion in SAM sales during the 2009-2018 period. "Raytheon's revenues will come from supplying missiles to navies worldwide, while Lockheed Martin's earnings will be generated by meeting land-based needs," Dickerson said. He added, "These companies will earn $5.2 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. MBDA's sales of $2.8 billion will fit between these two market segments." These three companies will build over 23,000 of the more than 80,000 missiles forecast for production through 2018. With respect to production in China, Dickerson said, "China will produce nearly as many missiles and earn $5 billion from missile sales, but the overwhelming majority will go to meeting Chinese requirements. Chinese companies will have very little success outside the domestic market." Dickerson added with regard to Russia that it is attempting to rebuild its market share, but is encountering difficulty competing head-to-head with Western systems. Of growing importance is a system's ability to engage cruise and ballistic missiles. Israel, for example, faces a considerable missile and rocket threat, which is fueling development of countermeasures. According to Dickerson, Israel's Iron Dome and David's Sling are new defensive systems that will enter service in the near future.