Defense-Technology News: August 8, 2010

Sunday, August 08, 2010

DTN News: Iran Navy Equipped With Four New Submarines

DTN News: Iran Navy Equipped With Four New Submarines

Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - August 9, 2010: Iran's navy on Sunday took delivery of four new mini submarines of the home-produced Ghadir class, media reports said.

The navy already owns seven submarines of this type which weigh 120 tonnes and were first launched in 2007. Iran has described the Ghadir as stealth submarines, hardly detectable by sonar and aimed at coastal operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf. The vessel is based on North Korean models of the Yono class and can shoot torpedoes, but their main tasks appear to be moving commandos, laying mines and reconnaissance missions, experts say. Iran's inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters also includes up to three Russian-built Kilo class diesel submarines bought in 1990s and a Nahang, an Iranian-built light sub weighing 500 tonnes that was first launched in 2006. In 2008 Iran started building a new submarine named Qaem which is due to be launched within days, Iran's army chief Ataollah Salehi said last week, describing it as "semi-heavy" and capable of operating in the high seas such as the Indian Ocean or the Gulf of Aden. Little information has been released about this home-produced vessel, which is said to be capable of firing missiles and torpedoes.

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DTN News: North Korea Seizes South Korean Fishing Boat

DTN News: North Korea Seizes South Korean Fishing Boat

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources includung Los Angeles Times

(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - August 9, 2010: North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat in waters near their eastern sea

border, the South Korean Coast Guard said Sunday, straining already high tensions between the two Koreas. The 41-ton squidding boat was believed to have been detained after entering the North’s exclusive economic zone, where foreign fishing boats are banned, the coast guard said in a statement. Four South Koreans and three Chinese crew members were on board.

South Korea’s national news agency, Yonhap, quoting an unnamed coast guard official, said that the ship was being towed to Songjin, a port on the eastern coast of North Korea, for interrogation of the crew. “Our government hopes for the safe return of our ship and crew according to international laws,” the coast guard’s statement said. Inter-Korean relations have plunged to their lowest in years since a South Korean ship was sunk in March, killing 46 sailors. South Korea attributed the sinking to a North Korean torpedo attack, which the North denies, and is conducting a major naval exercise off of the west coast of the divided peninsula. North Korea has vowed retaliation against the naval drills. In the years immediately following the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea was accused of prowling into South Korean waters and kidnapping South Korean fishing boats. Hundreds of South Korean fishermen from those ships never returned home. Such incidents have become rarer in recent decades. But fishing boats from either side have occasionally drifted into the other’s waters, often after engine trouble. How fast they were released often depended on the tenor of bilateral relations at the time. The South Korean squid ship left Pohang, a port on the east coast of South Korea, on Aug. 1 and was scheduled to return to port on Sept. 10. It made its last daily radio report to the South Korean Coast Guard on Saturday evening.

DTN News: Israel Concerned Over Lebanese Arms Imports

DTN News: Israel Concerned Over Lebanese Arms Imports

Source: DTN News / UPI

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - August 8, 2010: This week's military clash along the Israeli-Lebanese border has raised concerns in Israel about U.S.

military assistance to Lebanon. In 2009 the United States approved $100 million in assistance to the Lebanese military and the Obama administration has requested a similar amount for 2011, in addition to small increases for anti-narcotics, anti-terror and military training programs. Since 1976 Israel had been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, with Congressional Research Service in a November 2001 report, "Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance," placing U.S. aid to Israel over the last five decades at $81.3 billion. Israel remains the top recipient of U.S. military and economic assistance, with annual assistance now running approximately $3 billion annually, of which about $1.8 billion a year consists of Department of Defense Foreign Military Financing grants, with State Department Economic Support Funds accounting for the remaining $1.2 billion. Israel is concerned that the recent border incident involved Lebanese Armed Forces personnel, as the Israel Defense Force's Northern Command assumes that border incidents would involve Hezbollah rather than LAF soldiers. Besides the border incident, regional tensions are rising as a U.N. tribunal is expected shortly to issue indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, with Beirut-based Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah remarking that the tribunal will wrongfully implicate several Hezbollah members in Hariri's assassination. While Israel views with growing alarm what it sees as the increasing radicalization of the LAF and increasing anti-Israeli rhetoric, it is also noting with concern recent Lebanese arms purchases from the United States and Russia. These include combat air-support aircraft fitted with Hellfire anti-armor missiles as well as Raven miniature unmanned aerial vehicles, while reports indicate that Russia is selling Lebanon several attack helicopters. During last month's Farnborough 2010 air show, Rosoboronexport delegation head Sergei Kornev, who is also the head of the Rosoboronexport department for exporting air force special equipment and services, said, "We received a request from the Lebanese side on obtaining helicopters and could not fail to respond to it. The possibility is currently being considered to deliver Mi-24, Mi-17 and Ka-32 helicopters. As soon as we agree with our partners what type of helicopters they need, it will be possible to conclude a contract and report the timeframe for its implementation." Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior IDF official said, "If the LAF is becoming more radical and aligning itself with Hezbollah, the U.S. would do well to reevaluate the continued military support it is providing Lebanon." The Israeli and Lebanese armed forces are currently separated along the Israeli-Lebanese border by approximately 12,000 U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeepers, where UNIFIL forces have been deployed since 1978.

DTN News: China and Pakistan Push Chengdu JF-17 Fighter For Export

DTN News: China and Pakistan Push Chengdu JF-17 Fighter For Export

Source: DTN News / Int'l Media By Chris Pocock

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 8, 2010: In the same week that the Chengdu JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft made its international debut at the

Farnborough airshow, the product of this co-development between China and Pakistan was offered to Indonesia.

The Pakistan Defence Minister signed a defense cooperation agreement with his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta.

The list of countries that the Sino-Pakistan joint venture is targeting for sales is expanding fast: it reportedly also includes Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Congo, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. At Farnborough, joint-venture partners Catic and PAC described the JF-17 as a multi-role light fighter with an “outstanding performance-to-cost ratio.” The two aircraft on display were ferried to Farnborough but did not fly during the show, and officials were reluctant to allow journalists into the cockpit to view the three multifunction displays plus head-up display, HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) and other avionics.

The aircraft were shown with PL-5II IR-guided air-to-air missiles on wingtip rails and ferry tanks on the centerline and inner wing stations, leaving the outer wing stations unloaded. Mockups of five Chinese stores were displayed next to the aircraft: a C802A anti-ship missile; an SD-10A active radar-guided air-to-air missile; an LS-6 glide bomb; a WMD-7 targeting pod; and a KG300G electronic warfare pod. Program officials said that a development JF-17 is now flying in China with a Chinese-developed engine, presumably the WS-13 Taishan.

All other JF-17s are powered by the Russian-supplied RD-93 turbofan. On the eve of Farnborough, a Russian newspaper reported the opposition of Sukhoi and MiG director-general Mikhail Pogosian to a further sale of RD-93s to China because the JF-17 is competing with the MiG-29 for export sales.

At the show, however, Russian officials, including Pogosian, played down this concern.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

DTN News: Chinese Missile Could Shift Pacific Power Balance

DTN News: Chinese Missile Could Shift Pacific Power Balance

Source: DTN News / AP Tokyo News Editor Eric Talmadge

(NSI News Source Info) ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON - August 8, 2010: Nothing projects U.S. global air and sea power more vividly than supercarriers. Bristling with fighter jets that can reach deep into even landlocked trouble zones, America's virtually invincible carrier fleet has long enfo

rced its dominance of the high seas. China may soon put an end to that. U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles). Analysts say final testing of the missile could come as soon as the end of this year, though questions remain about how fast China will be able to perfect its accuracy to the level needed to threaten a moving carrier at sea. The weapon, a version of which was displayed last year in a Chinese military parade, could revolutionize China's role in the Pacific balance of power, seriously weakening Washington's ability to intervene in any potential conflict over Taiwan or North Korea. It could also deny U.S. ships safe access to international waters near China's 11,200-mile (18,000-kilometer) -long coastline. While a nuclear bomb could theoretically sink a carrier, assuming its user was willing to raise the stakes to atomic levels, the conventionally-armed Dong Feng 21D's uniqueness is in its ability to hit a powerfully defended moving target with pin-point precision. The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to the AP's request for a comment. Funded by annual double-digit increases in the defense budget for almost every year of the past two decades, the Chinese navy has become Asia's largest and has expanded beyond its traditional mission of retaking Taiwan to push its sphere of influence deeper into the Pacific and protect vital maritime trade routes. "The Navy has long had to fear carrier-killing capabilities," said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the nonpartisan, Washington-based Center for a New American Security. "The emerging Chinese antiship missile capability, and in particular the DF 21D, represents the first post-Cold War capability that is both potentially capable of stopping our naval power projection and deliberately designed for that purpose." Setting the stage for a possible conflict, Beijing has grown increasingly vocal in its demands for the U.S. to stay away from the wide swaths of ocean — covering much of the Yellow, East and South China seas — where it claims exclusivity. It strongly opposed plans to hold U.S.-South Korean war games in the Yellow Sea off the northeastern Chinese coast, saying the participation of the USS George Washington supercarrier, with its 1,092-foot (333-meter) flight deck and 6,250 personnel, would be a provocation because it put Beijing within striking range of U.S. F-18 warplanes. The carrier instead took part in maneuvers held farther away in the Sea of Japan. U.S. officials deny Chinese pressure kept it away, and say they will not be told by Beijing where they can operate. "We reserve the right to exercise in international waters anywhere in the world," Rear Adm. Daniel Cloyd, who headed the U.S. side of the exercises, said aboard the carrier during the maneuvers, which ended last week. But the new missile could undermine that policy. "China can reach out and hit the U.S. well before the U.S. can get close enough to the mainland to hit back," said Toshi Yoshihara, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He said U.S. ships have only twice been that vulnerable — against Japan in World War II and against Soviet bombers in the Cold War. Carrier-killing missiles "could have an enduring psychological effect on U.S. policymakers," he e-mailed to The AP. "It underscores more broadly that the U.S. Navy no longer rules the waves as it has since the end of World War II. The stark reality is that sea control cannot be taken for granted anymore." Yoshihara said the weapon is causing considerable consternation in Washington, though — with attention focused on land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — its implications haven't been widely discussed in public. Analysts note that while much has been made of China's efforts to ready a carrier fleet of its own, it would likely take decades to catch U.S. carrier crews' level of expertise, training and experience. But Beijing does not need to match the U.S. carrier for carrier. The Dong Feng 21D, smarter, and vastly cheaper, could successfully attack a U.S. carrier, or at least deter it from getting too close. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned of the threat in a speech last September at the Air Force Association Convention. "When considering the military-modernization programs of countries like China, we should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the U.S. symmetrically — fighter to fighter or ship to ship — and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options," he said. Gates said China's investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, along with ballistic missiles, "could threaten America's primary way to project power" through its forward air bases and carrier strike groups. The Pentagon has been worried for years about China getting an anti-ship ballistic missile. The Pentagon considers such a missile an "anti-access," weapon, meaning that it could deny others access to certain areas. The Air Force's top surveillance and intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, told reporters this week that China's effort to increase anti-access capability is part of a worrisome trend. He did not single out the DF 21D, but said: "While we might not fight the Chinese, we may end up in situations where we'll certainly be opposing the equipment that they build and sell around the world." Questions remain over when — and if — China will perfect the technology; hitting a moving carrier is no mean feat, requiring state-of-the-art guidance systems, and some experts believe it will take China a decade or so to field a reliable threat. Others, however, say final tests of the missile could come in the next year or two. Former Navy commander James Kraska, a professor of international law and sea power at the U.S. Naval War College, recently wrote a controversial article in the magazine Orbis outlining a hypothetical scenario set just five years from now in which a Deng Feng 21D missile with a penetrator warhead sinks the USS George Washington. That would usher in a "new epoch of international order in which Beijing emerges to displace the United States." While China's Defense Ministry never comments on new weapons before they become operational, the DF 21D — which would travel at 10 times the speed of sound and carry conventional payloads — has been much discussed by military buffs online. A pseudonymous article posted on Xinhuanet, website of China's official news agency, imagines the U.S. dispatching the George Washington to aid Taiwan against a Chinese attack. The Chinese would respond with three salvos of DF 21D, the first of which would pierce the hull, start fires and shut down flight operations, the article says. The second would knock out its engines and be accompanied by air attacks. The third wave, the article says, would "send the George Washington to the bottom of the ocean." Comments on the article were mostly positive. AP writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and National Security Writer Anne Gearan in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

* The USS George Washington supercarrier recently deployed off North Korea in a high-profile show of U.S. sea power. AP Tokyo News Editor Eric Talmadge was aboard the carrier, and filed this report.

DTN News: International Air And Military Show in Hungary ~ 11th International Air And Military Show Kicks Off In Kecskemet

DTN News: International Air And Military Show in Hungary ~ 11th International Air And Military Show Kicks Off In Kecskemet

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources includung Xinhua

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 8, 2010: As the major event of the Hungarian MoD, the International Air and Military show again will take place on the 7th and 8th August 2010 in Kecskemét. During the years this program became one of the five biggest European air shows, the most exciting and visited air show in Central Europe. With their displays the participants will not only commemorate 100 years of Hungarian military aviation and 100 years of Hungarian powered aviation and thus increase the prestige of the event, but the proud of the Italian Air Force, the world-famous Frecce Tricolori display team also celebrates their 50th anniversary, and they will do it in Kecskemét.

The Turkish Air Force's aerobatic team Turkish Stars perform on the opening day of the 11th International Air and Military Show in Kecskemet, Hungary, on August 7, 2010. The two-day event, organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, is one of the biggest European air shows with 22 countries participating in programs including flying shows and displaying aircrafts.(Xinhua/Dani Dorko)

Italian special acrobatic unit airforce 'Frecce Tricolori' (Tri-colour Arrows) perform on the opening day of the 11th International Air and Military Show in Kecskemet, Hungary, on August 7, 2010. The two-day event, organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, is one of the biggest European air shows with 22 countries participating in programs including flying shows and displaying aircrafts.(Xinhua/Dani Dorko)

A boy sitting on father's shoulders plays with an aircraft model on the opening day of the 11th International Air and Military Show in Kecskemet, Hungary, on August 7, 2010. The two-day event, organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, is one of the biggest European air shows with 22 countries participating in programs including flying shows and displaying aircrafts.(Xinhua/Dani Dorko)

A boy sits in the cockpit of a displayed MI-24 gunship on the opening day of the 11th International Air and Military Show in Kecskemet, Hungary, on August 7, 2010. The two-day event, organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, is one of the biggest European air shows with 22 countries participating in programs including flying shows and displaying aircrafts.(Xinhua/Dani Dorko)

A Hungarian Air Force JAS-39 Gripen aircraft performs during an international air show in Kecskemet, 90km (60 miles) south of Budapest, August 7, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A Swiss Air Force F-18 aircraft performs during an international air show in Kecskemet, 90km (60 miles) south of Budapest, August 7, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 aircraft performs during an international air show in Kecskemet, 90km (60 miles) south of Budapest, August 7, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A Swiss Air Force F-18 aircraft is seen during an international air show in Kecskemet, 90km (60 miles) south of Budapest, August 7, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Out of the 28 invited countries, 20 confirmed participation. Besides the “air shows´ display team stars”, the Frecce Tricolori, the Turkish Stars, the Swiss Patrouille Suisse (that has not flown yet in Hungary), the Croatian Wings of Storm, and the Breitling Team, it is sure that visitors will see the representatives of the Austrian, Belgian, French, Dutch, Croatian, German, Romanian, Swiss, Spanish, Serbian, Turkish, US, Ukrainian, Israeli Air Force and also the equipment of the host country´s, Hungary´s military aircraft in Kecskemét. The fans of aviation will see for the first time in Kecskemét the Su-27, that belongs to the world-elite, moreover the already seen, but still interesting Eurofighter, Rafale, F-6, F/A-18, F-15, JAS-39 Gripen fighters, world-famous helicopters, and the star of the previous air show, the C-17, the large military transport aircraft. Besides the several military displays, there will be national and international civil aviation programs, as well. The registration is still not closed, the organizers expect further confirmed participations from the invited countries.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

DTN News: Russia Has Issues With U.S. Over Non-Proliferation Regime

DTN News: Russia Has Issues With U.S. Over Non-Proliferation Regime

Source: DTN News / Ria Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - August 8, 2010: Russia is dissatisfied with the U.S.’s fulfillment of its obligations in the sphere of the

non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The statement said that “in the period of the validity of START 1, Russia’s concerns in regard to the observance of the treaty by the U.S. were not allayed.” “Russia has more than once expressed its concerns in connection with the unsanctioned reequipping of five ICBM launch facilities for international ballistic missiles at a testing ground at the Vandenberg [Air Force Base] with interceptor missiles, something that goes against the terms of the treaty,” the statement said. The statement also said the reequipping of U.S. heavy bombers was cause for concern. It also said the U.S. had violated a number of other terms of the treaty, including on chemical and biological weapons. A new START treaty was signed on April 8 in Prague, replacing the START 1 treaty that expired in December 2009. The new pact obligates both nations to cap their fielded strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 warheads, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on either side. The Russian and U.S. presidents have agreed that the ratification processes should be simultaneous.

DTN News: Russian Nuclear-Powered Cruiser Makes Port Call In Goa

DTN News: Russian Nuclear-Powered Cruiser Makes Port Call In Goa

Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - August 8, 2010: The Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser will visit the port of

Mormugao in the Indian state of Goa on August 6-11, the Russian Embassy in India said. The flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet, which is returning to its home base on the Barents Sea coast from large-scale naval drills in the Pacific Ocean, will replenish water and food supplies in the Indian port. Mormugao is the only port on India's western coast that allows visits by nuclear-powered ships. The Pyotr Veliky will conduct on August 11 a joint PASSEX-type naval exercise with the Indian Talwar class missile frigate INS Trishul. The warships will practice joint maneuvering and carry out several communications drills. The Russian cruiser already visited Mormugao in January 2009, when it took part in the INDRA-2009 joint anti-piracy naval drills with the Indian Navy. Russia's largest and most powerful warship, Pyotr Veliky has a displacement of between 24,000 and 26,000 tons, and a speed of up to 31 knots (almost 57 km/h). The ship is 251 meters in length and has a crew of more than 700 sailors. The ship's main weapons include 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided by 12 SA-NX-20 Gargoyle launchers with 96 missiles and 2 SA-N-4 Gecko with 44 missiles.

DTN News: Israel Fires Warning Shots Towards Lebanese Boat

DTN News: Israel Fires Warning Shots Towards Lebanese Boat

Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - August 8, 2010: "Warning shots were fired after a Lebanese fishing boat entered a closed zone," she said without confirming whether the boat had entered Israeli territorial waters. After the shots were fired, causing no damage or injuries, "the Lebanese boat changed course," she added. Relations between the two countries have been particularly tense since Tuesday when Israeli and Lebanese troops clashed along the border, in a deadly exchange of fire which killed two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist, as well as an Israeli officer. The standoff was sparked when Israeli troops tried to cut down a tree on the border, prompting the Lebanese to open fire towards them.

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