Saturday, July 03, 2010

DTN News: Malaysia's Second Submarine Arrives In Lumut

DTN News: Malaysia's Second Submarine Arrives In Lumut
Source: DTN News - Special Report
(NSI News Source Info) LUMUT, Malaysia - July 4, 2010: The KD Tun Razak, the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) second of two Scorpene submarines, arrived at the RMN Base, here, at 4.40pm yesterday.
The official welcoming ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah and the Raja Dihilir of Perak, Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, while the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah got onboard the ship from Langkawi, Kedah.
Also seen welcoming the submarine were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
The vessel will continue its journey to its base in Teluk Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah after a week here.
The KD Tun Razak set sail from Toulon, France on April 30, manned by 32 officers of the Royal Malaysian Navy. It travelled 13,488km before arriving in Lumut.
The 64-day travel which began in Toulon, France on April 30, included several transit stops at the Iskandariah Port (Egypt), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Salalah (Oman) and Cochin (India) before arriving in Lumut.
Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the submarine had successfully submerged 40 days out of the 47 days it was out at sea. To test the safety of the submarine, Sultan Sharafuddin, as the captain-in-chief of the navy, boarded the submarine from Langkawi, accompanied by Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad and Adm Abdul Aziz. Speaking when receiving the submarine, Adm Abdul Aziz said the navy would not hesitate to take action against companies which leaked its secrets to the public. He said the navy would recommend that the contracts of these companies, which have dealings with the navy, be cancelled or that legal action be taken against them. Adm Abdul Aziz said that of late, there was a dangerous trend where information about the country’s strategic assets and sensitive information was made public via the Inter­net. “Information about the submarines had also been purposely manipulated by certain parties for their own selfish reasons.”

DTN News: Somalia - In Chaos Or Aleardy A Failed State

DTN News: Somalia - In Chaos Or Aleardy A Failed State *At least 31 civilians have been killed and 93 others injured in two days of clashes in Mogadishu between Somali government forces and local fighters. Medics said on Friday that most of the casualties occurred when heavy artillery hit residential houses. Source: DTN News By Roger Smith (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 3, 2010: DTN News reports, Somalia rated the worst of the worst among failed states, Somalia tops the annual Failed States Index for the third consecutive year. Out of 177 countries indexed by Foreign Policy Magazine and The Fund for Peace published on Monday, Somalia was given the highest score on 12 indicators including delegitimization of the state, security apparatus, and factionalized elites.The past half-century has seen a continuous saga of disaster played out in Somalia. The eastern horn of Africa officially became the independent Democratic Republic of Somalia, by shaking off Italian and British colonial rule, in 1960.In 1963, Somalia signed a military aid agreement with the Soviet Union and six years later Somalia’s longest standing president and military dictator Muhammad Siad Barre came to power in a military coup after the assassination of then President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke. Siad Barre proclaimed Somalia a socialist state a year after gaining control. He then began nationalizing the country. He ruled based on his own version of “scientific socialism” that promoted self-reliance, modeled somewhat after China, the Soviet Union, and elements of the Quran. In 1977, Somalia invaded the Ogaden region of Ethiopia and was defeated a year later after Soviet forces sided with Ethiopia. At this time, Somalia began drawing on support from the United States and in 1980, signed an agreement allowing American military access to several Somalia ports. At least 31 civilians have been killed and 93 others injured in two days of clashes in Mogadishu between Somali government forces and local fighters. Medics said on Friday that most of the casualties occurred when heavy artillery hit residential houses. The fighting broke out on Thursday as the country celebrated its 50th independence anniversary. Twenty-six civilians were killed on Thursday while five were killed on Friday, Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, informed the media according to DTN News. "The fighting was the worst in recent months with heavy civilian casualties," Muse said. The fighting was still raging late on Friday, reports said. On Thursday night, Somali President Sharif Ahmed himself joined government soldiers, backed by African Union peacekeepers, in an attack on local fighters. Government security official Colonel Mohamed Sugule said: "We have pushed the insurgents back to their positions and our forces are now controlling most parts of Abdulaziz and Shibis districts. We killed many of their fighters." An African Union official who spoke to media on condition of anonymity confirmed that one of their armored vehicles was damaged. The fighting has displaced more than 200,000 Somalis this year alone. Some 6,660 refugees are estimated to have made the sea crossing to Yemen in the first half of this year, half as many as over the same period last year, while 29,848 had reached neighboring Kenya compared with 44,385 in the first six months of 2009, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. *This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

DTN News: US Offers Top-Of-Line Weapons To India

DTN News: US Offers Top-Of-Line Weapons To India
Source: DTN News - compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - July 3, 2010: As India inches closer to finalising the purchase of 126 fighter aircraft, the US has offered India top of the line defence weapon systems.
The Pentagon has said that three agreements that are currently being negotiated between India and the US would allow the country to share key American technologies.
“Pentagon is working with India to put three foundational agreements in place with New Delhi that would allow American frontline technologies to be shared with the country,” top Pentagon official Michele Flournoy was quoted as saying.
Her comments come as India is in the final stages of finalising the $10 billion deal to buy 126 fighter aircrafts. US companies Boeing with its F-18 super hornet and Lockheed Martin with its F-16 fighting Falcons are among the bidders for the contract.
Making a strong pitch for awarding of the contract to the US companies, Pentagon official Michele Flournoy pushed for US solutions for India’s defence needs” and said India should opt for American fighter jets as it would pave the way for “more effective protection of mutual security interest in the future”.
“Today, two American companies are among the leading competitors for the $10 billion sale of 126 advanced fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force, currently the world’s biggest defence tender. And we are also looking at future defence sales of the C-17, as another example of near-term defence cooperation,” she said.
The Pentagon official also emphasised that the US looked at defence sales as strategic decisions. “I want to underscore though that we in the Department of Defence do not view defence sales as mere commercial transactions... We understand that India is making a strategic as well as an economic choice when it makes defence acquisitions,” she said.
“Obviously the commercial benefits of defence sales to the US economy can’t be denied. But from a DOD perspective, these sales are even more important in building a strategic partnership that will allow both countries to cooperate more effectively, to protect their mutual security interests in the future,” Ms Flournoy said.
The Pentagon official not only held out the promise of top of the line technology but also revealed that the US is making export control reforms a key priority.
"We see streamlining and modernising of export control system as a national security priority and one that directly affects our ability to build and sustain these key partnerships”.
She further said that US would continue to work with India on countering the spread of WMD, maritime cooperation and identifying new technologies to combat the threat.
She noted that US arms sales to India were increasing and pointed out the recent purchase by New Delhi of C-130J Hercules Transport Aircraft, P-81 Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft and the proposed sale of heavy-lift C-17 Aircraft.
“I am and will continue to be a very strong advocate of US solutions for India’s defence needs. US companies are eager to work with India as the Indian military continues to modernise,” she said.