DTN News: Raytheon Receives $1.1 Billion Order to Advance Taiwan's Patriot Capability

DTN News: Raytheon Receives $1.1 Billion Order to Advance Taiwan's Patriot Capability

*Source: DTN News / Raytheon Company

(NSI News Source Info) TEWKSBURY, Mass., - December 24, 2009: Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has received Foreign Military Sales contract awards totaling $1.1 billion to fund new production of the combat-proven Patriot Air and Missile Defense System for Taiwan. The awards include ground-system hardware through an initial contract valued at $965.6 million and an initial spares contract valued at $134.4 million. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091223/NE30255 ) (Image: Patriot Air and Missile Defense System). "The Patriot system is a vital element to providing superior integrated air and missile defense capabilities for the protection of Taiwan," said Daniel L. Smith, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). "Raytheon has provided advanced technology, innovation and support in Taiwan for more than 40 years, and we are honored to continue that partnership today and in the future." The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., issued the contract for new-production Patriot fire units that will include new advances in technology, improved man-machine interface and reduced life-cycle costs. Raytheon is the prime contractor for both domestic and international Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems and system integrator for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles. Work under these contracts will be performed at the Raytheon IDS Integrated Air Defense Center, Andover, Mass.; El Paso, Texas; and Huntsville, Ala. The company is supported by a global team of suppliers to the Patriot System. 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

DTN News: India, Israel Discuss Cooperation Against Terror

DTN News: India, Israel Discuss Cooperation Against Terror *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - December 24, 2009: Indian and Israeli defense officials and top planners met here Dec. 22 to discuss ways to increase defense ties, boost counter-terror efforts and share intelligence. In order to solve this problem a new plan was written in 1990. The "Army of the Sky" plan (T'zva Shamayim - T'ZAVACH", in Hebrew) stated which unit does what and when. T'ZAVACH is basically the plan by which Israel fights terrorism both domestic and foreign, until this very day. In 1987 the intifada broke out and several Israeli undercover CT units were formed in the IDF, MAGAV and in the Israeli Police. The sides also discussed potential Israeli training for Indian special forces. Sources said the sides are also discussing a proposed joint effort to develop a land-warfare missile in a program that might be similar to the Indian Air Force's February agreement to spend $2.2 billion to create a 70-kilometer surface-to-air missile The meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Defence was co-chaired by the director-general of Israeli Defence Ministry retired Brigadier-General Pinchas Buchris and Indian Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar.

DTN News: Israel Defense Forces Chief Of Staff Says "Is A National Mission To Secure Release Of Shalit Immediately"

DTN News: Israel Defense Forces Chief Of Staff Says "Is A National Mission To Secure Release Of Shalit Immediately"

*Source: DTN News / Haaretz.com (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - December 24, 2009: The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, reiterated on Wednesday that securing the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity was of the utmost importance to Israel. A painting depicting captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is displayed at a protest tent, calling for Shalit's release, outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem December 22, 2009. Israel said on Tuesday it was not prepared to agree to all of Hamas's demands in a German-mediated deal to exchange the captive Israeli soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

"Bringing back Gilad Shalit is a national mission, and both covert and overt actions are being carried out to bring him back," Ashkenazi told a gathering in Ashdod.

Ashkenazi is in favor of a deal with Hamas under which hundreds of convicted Palestinian terrorists would be released in exchange for Shalit; he recently clashed with Netanyahu's political adviser Uzi Arad, who opposes the swap. The IDF chief added: "As the chief of staff, I am responsible for every soldier. I feel obliged to bring him back home; naturally it's better to keep a discussion of the details to closed forums. But I hope that the mission will be completed."

His comments came shortly after a senior Hamas official said he expected the Islamist group to send a delegation from Gaza to Damascus by Thursday to discuss with exiled leaders Israel's response to the deal for Shalit, who was abducted by Gaza militants in a June 2006 cross-border raid.

Gaza strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar on Wednesday said Hamas had received Israel's response from the German mediator and that it needed several days to review it, Israel Radio reported. Zahar added that the mediator has left Gaza and is en route back to Germany.

The forum of seven top Israeli cabinet ministers, who held a series of meetings on the matter Sunday and Monday, gave the green light to continue with the mediation efforts, but attached certain conditions.

Israel insisting at least 100 prisoners be exiled At the center of Israel's demands is an insistence that between 100 and 130 of the Palestinian prisoners who are to be released in exchange - individuals convicted of direct responsibility for the deaths of Israelis - will be expelled to the Gaza Strip or abroad and barred from returning to the West Bank.

After the ministers' meeting, Israel gave the German mediator of the deal its response to the mediator's proposal, including Jerusalem's demands regarding the prohibition against returning to the West Bank for certain Palestinian prisoners following their release.

Senior Hamas leaders are expected to meet, probably in Damascus, within a few days to discuss the proposal, and a deal is likely to take several days or even weeks. Meanwhile, a report on Wednesday in the Arab daily Al-Hayat said the two sides have agreed on the release of 443 out of 450 of the prisoners demanded by Hamas.

According to the report, the seven prisoners Israel refuses to release are Tanzim chief Marwan Barghouti, terror mastermind Abdullah Barghouti, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine secretary-general Ahmed Sa'adat and four others.

Another report on Wednesday said Hamas has agreed to have 123 of the prisoners released to places other than the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources quoted in the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqabal.

Al-Mustaqabal said 97 of those prisoners would be transferred to Gaza, 20 exiled to Qatar and 6 exiled to countries in Europe willing to absorb them. Hamas had agreed that some prisoners be exiled but wanted them to be able to choose their destinations, officials said.

DTN News: Airlines News TODAY December 24, 2009 ~ Chile's LAN Airlines Orders 30 Airbus Jets

DTN News: Airlines News TODAY December 24, 2009 ~ Chile's LAN Airlines Orders 30 Airbus Jets *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) PARIS, France - December 24, 2009: Commercial jet builder Airbus said Wednesday it has received a firm order from Chile's LAN Airlines for 30 Airbus A320 family of narrow-bodied airlines. A spokesman for Airbus at the company's Toulouse, France-based headquarters said LAN is ordering 12 A319s and 18 A320s, single-aisle workhorses that are used by airlines on short-to-medium haul routes. The A319 carries a catalog price of $70 million and the A320 is priced at $77 million, giving an overall value for the 30 jets of around $2.3 billion. However, customer airlines typically negotiate deep discounts for bulk orders, and non-cash side deals, for example, training. The LAN order brings to 255 the number of firm orders booked by Airbus so far this year. The wholly owned unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co NV (EAD.FR) has set itself a target of a gross firm order intake of 300 aircraft in 2009. On Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines said it wants to buy 15 wide-bodied Airbus A330 planes, with options for another 10 aircraft. And earlier this month, Airbus clinched a major order with UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) United Airlines worth some $6 billion for 25 of its future A350 XWB wide-bodied jets. However, both those contracts have still to be firmed up, and the UAL order is unlikely to be so by year-end, Airbus sources said. Airbus only includes firm contracts in the order figures that it publishes every month. LAN Airlines is already a major Airbus customer, and the latest order will increase its fleet of Airbus jets to 100. The Chilean airline will use its planes from Latin American hubs and the latest contract gives it flexibility to settle the exact type of aircraft it will receive closer to the planned delivery time. Separately, an Airbus official said the company has just delivered its tenth A380 superjumbo so far this year. The jet was handed over to Dubai-based Emirates, the biggest customer for world's largest passenger aircraft with 58 on order. Airbus had set an objective of delivering 13 A380s this year, but company officials have said that "one or two" might spill over into 2010. Airbus plans to deliver about 20 A380s in 2010.