DTN News: Royal Malaysian Air Force To Fully Man SU-30MKM Flanker Multi-Role Combat Aircraft

DTN News: Royal Malaysian Air Force To Fully Man SU-30MKM Flanker Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) GONG KEDAK AIRBASE, Malaysia - April 20, 2010: By September, operations at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base here are expected to be an all-Malaysian affair. Gone will be the 50-odd Russian and Indian technical crew, engineering officers and instructor pilots following the end of their two-year service tenure. RMAF chief Gen Datuk Seri Rodzali Daud said the departure of the expatriates would pose a strong challenge to the local airmen and women to stand on their own and operate the Sukhoi SU-30MKM flanker multi-role combat aircraft. "We are confident (that we can) run the base and flight operations by ourselves, by which time there will be proper 'life support' maintenance and support facilities available," he said following a visit there by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on April 10. During the visit, Zahid went on a demonstration flight on the Flanker, piloted by 11th Squadron executive officer Lt Col Muhamad Norazlan "Giro" Aris. It is learnt that the RMAF will still utilise the services of 300-odd staff from local maintenance company ATSC Sdn Bhd to support a similar strength of its own crew to continue running the base. The New Straits Times understands that two dozen RMAF pilots will by then be fully trained to fly the SU-30MKM. "These pioneer RMAF crew members will train younger batches to replace them," said Rodzali. This will pose a stiff test for RMAF base commander Col Mohd Faudzi Ahmad, 11th Squadron commanding officer Col Suri Daud and their team. While the Indians provided flight instructors, engineering officers, technical experts and administrative staff here, the Russians provided their test pilots and engineers to verify, certify and standardise the Flanker. The base here is now Malaysia's foremost jet-fighter facility. It was established in 1993, with nearby Bukit Puteri housing an air defence tactical radar for the RMAF's 321st Squadron. By 2009, the ground-based 402nd air defence squadron and 11th Sukhoi Squadron were established. To date, there are more than 1,000 servicemen and civilians stationed at the base, which is divided into two entities that nestle in an area straddling Kelantan and Terengganu. The section housing the runway, technical and flight operations sits in Kelantan. Across the border in Terengganu are the base administrative headquarters, staff quarters and other facilities like the flight simulator and meteorology station.Security is watertight, with double high-perimeter barbed fencing and closed-circuit cameras around the 1,400ha base, which is believed to have been developed at a cost of RM200 million ($86.04 million). The base itself is equipped with giant hangars and hardened aircraft shelters to shield the jets from the scorching sun or in which to carry out maintenance work. There is also the armaments and ordnance depot, and underground piping facility for aircraft refueling. Zahid confirmed there were plans to expand the base to accommodate a new terminal for the arrival and departure of large transport aircraft, like the C-130 Hercules and VVIP jets.

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated April 19, 2010

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated April 19, 2010 Source: U.S. DoD issued April 19, 2010 (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 20, 2010: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued April 19, 2010 are undermentioned; CONTRACTS U. S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND ~L-3 Services, Inc., Tampa, Fla., was awarded a $150,000,000 maximum order amount modification to increase the contract ceiling on the current indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for information technology support to USSOCOM headquarters, its components, theater special operation commands and the military departments - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps - that provide direct support to Special Operations forces. The work will be performed in Tampa, Fla., and other locations, and will expire March 31, 2011. The ceiling increase will be accomplished by issuing modification P00050 to contract number USZA22-02-D-0017. ~Jacobs Technology, Inc., Tampa, Fla., was awarded a $50,000,000 maximum order amount modification to increase the contract ceiling on one of the current acquisition, logistics, management, and business operations support, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. The work will be performed in Tampa, Fla., and other locations and expires April 30, 2010. The ceiling increase was accomplished by issuing modification P00018 to contract number USZA22-02-D-0014. NAVY ~Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., is being awarded an undefinitized action in the amount of $89,863,113 for fixed-price delivery order #0102 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-04-D-5016). The initial obligation is in the amount of $44,931,557. This delivery order is for the production of 965 weapons mount kits, 2,000 armored door retrofit kits, and 1,001 troop carrier upgrades. Work will be performed in Israel (69 percent), Oshkosh, Wis. (26 percent), and Fairfield, Ohio (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $31,468,500 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. ~Databuoy, LLC,* Vienna, Va., is being awarded a $39,978,255 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-08-D-0012) to provide additional funding for a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SIBR) contract under Small Business Technology Transfer Topic N06-T004 for embedded systems command and control low-power, self-exploiting, netted sensor capability utilizing a collaborative network of sensor components. Work will be performed in McLean, Va., and is expected to be completed in September 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This SBIR Phase III contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-5. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. ~BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems, Inc., Greenlawn, N.Y., is being awarded an $18,302,194 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-priced contract (N00019-08-C-0061) to exercise an option for the production and delivery of CPX identification friend-or-foe hardware and associated platform integration and testing. This modification consist of repairs of 286 RT-1836(V) AN/APX-118 common digital transponders for the Navy (37) and the Army; 197 RT-1912(C)s for the Navy (191) and the Department of Defense (6); 74 Mode 5 modification kits for the Navy; 6 RT-1836 An/APX-118 CXPs for the Navy; 4 RT-1912 AN/APX-123 CXPs for the Navy; 74 C-12720 Mode 5 RCUs for the Navy (71) and Department of Defense (3); 177 C-12664 Mode 4 RCUs for the Army; and 68 MT-7221 APX mounts for the Navy. Work will be performed in Greenlawn, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in February 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. ~Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd, Gyeongnam, Korea, is being awarded a $17,922,700 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of ship-to-shore container cranes for Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point. The work to be performed provides for fabrication of ship-to-shore container cranes used in container handling operations to load and off-load ships and other vessels. The cranes are manufactured in different sizes and varying capabilities. The contract also contains one unexercised option which, if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $27,500,000. Crane manufacturing work will be performed in Changwon, Korea, and crane installation and utilization will be performed in Southport, N.C. Work is expected to be completed by March 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online Web site, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Navy Crane Center, Portsmouth, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-10-C-8009). ~General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $15,957,499 contract modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2303) for long lead time material, construction, related support, and engineering and production support services associated with the construction of DDG 1001. Work is expected to be performed in Coatesville, Pa. (41 percent), Burns Harbor, Ind. (41 percent), and South Portland, Maine (18 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ~Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., Greenville, S.C., is being awarded a $12,931,371 not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00019-05-D-0013) to complete Zone 5 critical airframe structures replacements for four P-3C aircraft in support of the P-3C sustainment, modification, and installation program. Work will be performed in Greenville, S.C., and is expected to be completed in April 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. ~L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, LP, Waco, Texas, is being awarded a $10,051,893 not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00019-05-D-0008) to complete Zone 5 critical airframe structures replacements for four P-3C aircraft in support of the P-3C sustainment, modification and installation program. Work will be performed in Waco, Texas (83 percent), and Birmingham, Ala. (17 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. ~Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $9,818,797 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2304) for the calendar year 2010 government-furnished equipment workshare transportation of class products associated with the DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer. This contract modification procures the labor and material required to fabricate cradles, fixtures, pedestals, etc., required to support the transportation of class products to Bath, Maine, in order to meet critical construction milestones. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and Gulfport, Miss., and is expected to be completed December 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ~Force Protection Industries, Inc., Ladson, S.C., is being awarded $8,625,156 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0016 under previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5031) for the purchase of field service representatives to install the TAK-4 independent suspension system kits on Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Work will be performed at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2011. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. ~Force Protection Industries, Inc., Ladson, S.C., is being awarded $8,625,156 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0017 under previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5031) for the purchase of field service representatives to install the TAK-4 independent suspension system kits on Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Work will be performed at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2011. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. ~Northrop Grumman Corp., Rolling Meadows, Ill., is being awarded a $6,798,260 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of automatic test equipment for testing of various types of avionics, including seven spare cameras for the U.S. Navy; one electro-optic console with associated ancillary equipment and two spare integrated photonics assemblies (IPAs) for the government of Switzerland; and two IPAs for the governments of Finland (1) and Australia (1) in support of the consolidated automated support system. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy ($1,020,159; 15 percent) and the governments of Switzerland ($4,421,677; 63 percent), Australia ($678,212; 11 percent), and Finland ($678,212; 11 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and is expected to be completed in June 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-10-C-0233). AIR FORCE ~Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Clearfield, Utah, was awarded a $33,797,589 contract which will provide sustainment support for the Minuteman Weapon System. At this time, $31,797,589 has been obligated. 526 ICBMSG/PKE, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-98-C-0001). ~The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., was awarded a $12,000,000 contract which will provide funding for the C-32A and C-40B/C calendar year sustaining engineering support. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 655 AESS/SYKA, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-D-0013). ~Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc., Herndon, Va., was awarded a $10,267,225 contract which will provide analysis of remote sensing geographical information systems and address new information assurance requirements resulting from recent organizational changes vital to Col Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At this time, $335,317 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-98-d-4002). *Small business

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY April 20, 2010 ~ Bombs At Market, School Kill 24 In Pakistan

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY April 20, 2010 ~ Bombs At Market, School Kill 24 In Pakistan Source: DTN News / VOA (NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - April 20, 2010: Police in northwestern Pakistan say two separate bomb explosions in the city of Peshawar have killed at least 23 people and wounded many others. The violence-hit city is the gateway to Afghanistan. Police say that most of the deaths occurred when a suicide bomber attacked a rally in Peshawar's busy Qissa Khawani market. Activists of the right-wing religious party, Jamaat-i-Islami, had organized the rally to protest against frequent power cuts in the city. Those killed in the attack include a senior police officer, his security guard and several rally leaders. The city police chief says the slain police officer and his colleagues were apparently the target of the deadly attack. An eyewitness told reporters on the scene the bomber was a teenage boy who detonated the device as the rally was about to disperse. The man says the blast instantly killed and wounded many people, but fears of a second explosion kept people away from helping the victims for a while. Police say they have found the head of the suicide bomber and an investigation is underway. The attack occurred hours after a bomb exploded outside a school run by a police welfare foundation. A six-year-old boy was killed and at least eight others were wounded in the blast. Provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain tells VOA the violence is the work of Taliban extremists, in retaliation for security forces dismantling their bases. The minister says these terrorists are like beasts and they are killing innocent people. But he says the violence will not deter the government's campaign aimed at eliminating the militants. The attacks in Peshawar follow three bomb blasts over the weekend in the nearby town of Kohat that killed around 50 people. Pakistani security forces have conducted frequent raids against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the country's northwestern tribal areas, which border Afghanistan. Officials believe the security operations have provoked the militants to carry out attacks on security forces, mosques, schools, public places and markets, leaving thousand of people dead in recent years.

DTN News: Deadly Clashes Erupt In Kyrgyzstan

DTN News: Deadly Clashes Erupt In Kyrgyzstan Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - April 20, 2010: At least one person has been killed and 11 others injured in clashes on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, an emergency service official has said. About 1,000 men armed with sticks clashed with police and landowners in a suburb of Bishkek on Monday. "Six people received gunshot wounds and one person died in the unrest in the village of Mayevka," Bishkek emergency services said in a statement. The incident appeared to have been triggered by a land dispute. The group had seized land in the village of Mayevka outside Bishkek and demanded talks with Bishkek officials, local media reported. "The provisional government has worked out a democratic development plan tentatively dubbed 'The return to democracy'" Omurbek Tekebayev, interim prime minister "Kyrgyz from different regions of Kyrgyzstan are setting houses on fire and taking land from Turks and Russians," Viktor, an ethnic Russian resident of Mayevka, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. "This is a real war." After moving into the capital, the mob forced the acting mayor of Bishkek to sign a document authorising the handover of the land they had seized. The interim government later responded with a show of force, including hundreds of police officers. "Around 600 police supported by armoured personnel carriers have been sent on patrol in the village of Mayevka," a source in the Kyrgyz interior ministry told the AFP news agency. Kyrgyzstan has remained tense since Bakiyev was ousted in the aftermath of the violent unrest that forced the president from power and left 84 people dead. Bakiyev backers About 1,500 Bakiyev loyalists gathered in the city of Jalal'abad on Monday to protest against the interim government. "Bakiyev is our legitimate president!" they shouted, some holding banners reading "The opposition spilt blood to grab power". Others gave out leaflets calling for Bakiyev's return. Supporters of Bakiyev, who was flown to Kazakhstan amid concerns about his safety on Thursday, seized a regional government office over the weekend. A Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday that Bakiyev had left Kazakhstan but did not say where he had gone. In a bid to claim its authority over Kyrgyzstan, the interim government unveiled a reform plan on Monday, which includes shifting powers from the president to parliament and holding free parliamentary and presidential elections in late September or early October. "The provisional government has worked out a democratic development plan tentatively dubbed 'The return to democracy'," Omurbek Tekebayev, the interim prime minister, said. He said UN officials would be invited to join the Central Election Commission in order to maximise transparency. The interim government has cracked down on Bakiyev's allies, issuing arrest warrants for officials it says were involved in murders and corrupt deals under Bakiyev. Bakiyev himself came to power in a 2005 revolt on the back of promises to build democracy and protect human rights. He was then backed by Roza Otunbayeva who now heads the interim government.

DTN News: IAF To Phase Out MiG-21 Fighters

DTN News: IAF To Phase Out MiG-21 Fighters Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - April 20, 2010: The Indian Air Force has initiated the process to phase out MiG-21 fighter aircraft, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The MiG-21 aircraft are in their final phase of service and in the process of phase-out, he said answering supplementaries in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Antony said the IAF maintains a mix of old and new aircraft in its fleet and each plane has a life span of 30-40 years. The Minister dismissed criticism over the crash of Kiran trainer aircraft during an airshow at Begumpet airfield in Hyderabad in March. He said the Kiran aircraft was inducted in the Navy in 1985 and the fleet has reported only three accidents in the past 25 years. All accidents are taken seriously by the government. On compensation to crash victims, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said it would be awarded by the Navy on completion of the Court of Inquiry.

DTN News: Iran Says Starts Work On New Enrichment Plant

DTN News: Iran Says Starts Work On New Enrichment Plant Source: DTN News / Reuters By Ramin Mostafavi (NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - April 19, 2010: Iran has started work on a new uranium enrichment nuclear plant, a senior official said on Monday, part of a big expansion of its nuclear program which has contributed to fears in the West it aims to build a bomb.

Defying Western pressure to curb its sensitive nuclear work, Iran announced in November it planned to expand its enrichment activities by building 10 new sites. The announcement was condemned by the United states and its European allies.

"The president has confirmed the designated location of a new nuclear site and on his order the building process has begun," Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, a senior adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the semi-official ILNA news agency. "New locations on which the plants should be constructed this year have been determined and initial construction is underway," Samareh-Hashemi was quoted as saying.

Iran's top nuclear official Akbar Salehi told Reuters in February that Iran would start construction of two enrichment sites by March 2011. Washington is pushing for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions on Iran in the coming weeks to pressure it to halt its enrichment-related work, which Tehran says is entirely peaceful.

Iran started higher-level enrichment in February, saying it needed the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor in Tehran making medical isotopes. Such potent material is not necessary to generate electricity. Tehran has said it is still willing to swap low-level enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel enriched abroad -- a move which would help address fears about Iran's enrichment activities -- but the exchange must happen on Iranian soil.

The West believed it had persuaded Iran, at talks in Geneva last October, to hand over some of its uranium stocks to be enriched abroad, but that deal fell apart soon afterwards. Samareh-Hashemi said any import of enriched uranium would not mean Iran planned to stop its own enrichment.

"The domestic production of (nuclear) fuel does not contradict importing it," he said. "We have started to produce uranium domestically based on our need to provide fuel for the Tehran research reactor and this will continue until our needs are met."

In a separate development, state-owned Jam-e-Jam daily said Iran's ambassador to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, would soon be stepping down as his term was coming to an end. Soltanieh was not immediately available to comment.

(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall in Vienna; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Jon Hemming)

DTN News: U.S. Army's Plans For An Unmanned Air Force

DTN News: U.S. Army's Plans For An Unmanned Air Force Source: DTN News / Fox News (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 19, 2010: Stoking its rivalry with the Air Force, the Army plots a way forward for its fleet of unmanned airplanes -- predicting a wider range of missions, the rise of remotely piloted helicopters and the arrival of swarms of indoor-flying mini-drones. Stoking its rivalry with the Air Force, the Army plots a way forward for its fleet of unmanned airplanes -- predicting a wider range of missions, the rise of remotely piloted helicopters and the arrival of swarms of indoor-flying mini-drones. Popular Mechanics spoke with those on the forefront of unmanned Army aviation to get a glimpse of what the service wants from its robotic fleet. Army officials Thursday released a plan that lays out how the service will use unmanned aerial vehicles over the next 15 years, proposing a future where autonomous UAVs fly for days over battlefields or for scant minutes inside buildings. Maj. Gen. James Barclay III, the commanding general in charge of Army aviation, today released the "Unmanned Aircraft Systems [UAS] Roadmap 2010–2035" at an Army aviation conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Its subtitle, "Eyes of the Army," hints at the plan's early focus on reconnaissance, but the scope of the roadmap expands enough so that, by 2025, a single soldier will be able to use a common controller to operate multiple kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including tiny robots that can fly indoors. 3 UAV Game Changes from the U.S. Army The Very Real Plan to Put Marines in Space 5 Robots We Should Deploy Right Now Obama’s Mixed Message: Ban Nukes, Fund Modernized Weapons The Army's future vision includes fewer pilots as aircraft fly themselves, but also relies on converting existing aircraft into optionally piloted vehicles, especially its fleet of utility and cargo helicopters. "We really expanded on this in the road map because the army has such an investment in capital in its manned platforms," says Col. Chris Carlile, director of the UAS U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, where the report was drafted. "Building off an existing fleet is a way to stay current with upgrades." How to control the fast-paced development of UAVs is a major focus for the Pentagon. Last year the Air Force—which has attempted without success to become the lead government agency directing the development of all military unmanned aerial systems—released a detailed document that charted UAV development, as they see it. (Popular Mechanics covered the Air Force's plan in depth earlier this year.) The Army and Air Force's road maps give an interesting glimpse into how two military services view the future of war. After all, next year the Office of the Secretary of Defense will gather the squabbling parties and revise their plans for UAS development, incorporating ideas from both services' plans. Where do the two reports overlap? The Army agrees with the Air Force that more UAVs need to be multipurpose, one day hauling cargo and another serving as a communications relay. Both reports acknowledge that soldiers and pilots will have to increasingly trust robots as their squad mates and wingmen as the machines become smarter, more ubiquitous and more capable of performing without human guidance. Other branches of the government have to adjust, too: Both reports predict that, very soon, the Federal Aviation Administration will open its airspace to unmanned aerial vehicles that are equipped with sensors that enable them to avoid other aircraft. And, in varying time frames, both reports predict that UAVs will be armed with air-to-air missiles and more ground-attack munitions, pods that can detect weapons of mass destruction, or tunnels and payloads that can conduct electronic warfare missions such as jamming radar or eavesdropping on enemy signals. The differences in the reports are telling, as well. The Air Force's timeline for technological development is more aggressive, proposing to build a family of unique aircraft imbued with more powerful automation. This includes automatic target recognition and, perhaps by 2025, the ability to kill targets without direct human permission. Army officials flatly state that this will not happen. "We don't believe in the next 25 years you will see a level of autonomy that we as an American people would allow ... a platform to kill autonomously," Carlile says. "It comes down to this: The technology will exist before we, as a people and as a nation, will accept it."

DTN News: Mi-35M Copters Handed Over To Brazil's Air Force In Ceremony

DTN News: Mi-35M Copters Handed Over To Brazil's Air Force In Ceremony Source: DTN News / Itar-Tass (NSI News Source Info) RIO-DE JANEIRO, Brazil - April 19, 2010: The Brazilian Air Force has received the first three Mi-35M transport and combat helicopters. The handing-over ceremony and a military parade in this connection took place at the Brazilian air base of Porto Velho in the southwestern Amazon region on Saturday. A Russian delegation headed by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev participated in the ceremony. Rosoboronexport’s director-general Anatoly Isaikin and the Rostvertol Rostov-based helicopter plant’s director-general Boris Slyusar also arrived at the base. Brazil's representatives were Defence Minister Nelson Jobim and the Air Force commander in chief. Rosoboronexport concluded the contract in 2008 to supply Russian transport and combat helicopters to Brazil. Experts say the Mi-35M has proved to be an excellent helicopter that can work under extremely heavy conditions of the hot and humid Amazon rainforest climate. Local pilots very highly appraise the reliability and other operational qualities of the aircraft that has impressive piloting and technical characteristics. Additional Info: Brazil’s defense budget has seen a steep rise lately, a necessary step after years of neglect. One of its priorities was to select an attack helicopter – something the country has not previously fielded to its Army or Air Force. competitors reportedly included the Italo-Turkish AW-TAI A129 Mongoose, EADS’ Tiger, and Russia’s heavyweight Mi-35M, a modern variant of the Mi-24 Hind that became famous in Afghanistan. The Mi-24/35 is unique among dedicated attack helicopters in that it can carry a handful of troops, in addition to performing its offensive role.

DTN News: Malaysia TODAY April 19, 2010 ~ Deals Worth RM10.4 Billion To Be Signed At DSA 2010

DTN News: Malaysia TODAY April 19, 2010 ~ Deals Worth RM10.4 Billion To Be Signed At DSA 2010 Source: DTN News / Bernama (NSI News Source Info) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - April 19, 2010: The government will be signing contracts worth more than RM10.4 billion with local and foreign companies at the Defence Services Asia 2010 (DSA) exhibition and conference which begins tomorrow. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the ministry was currently exploring the possibility of procuring armoured vehicles, multi-role support ships and combat aircraft, new generation patrol vessels, frigates and network-centric operations. "These are some of the equipment systems that we have in mind and will be announced over the next few days (during the DSA)," he said when officiating at a DSA 2010 function, here, on Sunday night. He said the contracts would also involve some agencies and ministries which were aware of all the latest cutting-edge technology. Over 200 high-profile visitors including defence ministers, top military brass, planners and procurement specialists are expected to attend the 12th DSA at the Putra World Trade Centre here. The exhibition has attracted the participation of 22 countries including Australia, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom, U.S., Italy, France, South Africa, Poland, Switzerland, Korea, China and Singapore. The four-day event will showcase the most comprehensive range of cutting-edge technology for the army, navy, air force as well as the security and homeland enforcement agencies. Among the major participating international and local defence and security companies are Glock, Samsung Techwin, Nadi Defence, SME Ordnance, System Consultancy Services (SCS), MFDM Group, AMP Corporation, DEFTECH, Composite Technology Research Malaysia, Tri Level Miltech and Bry Air Industries. The DSA is Asia's largest defence and security exhibition and among the five of the most prestigious defence exhibitions in the world.