DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force JGSDF Annual Military Exercise At Foot of Mt. Fuji
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Pictures of The Day
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 21, 2012: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force JGSDF annual military exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 21, 2012.
The annual drill involves some 2,400 personnel, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles and 30 aircraft and helicopters.
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force JGSDF, is the Armed Force of Japan. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Eiji Kimizuka. The JGSDF numbers around 148,000 soldiers.
The JGSDF was formed from July 1, 1954. For decades its primary concern was internal security in Japan and the opposition of any Soviet invasion of Hokkaido, but with the end of the Cold War, this focus is changing.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Pictures of The Day
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Fifth Gen Fighter Aircraft To Be Unveiled In India By 2014
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Zeenews.com
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 21, 2012: The initial version of a fighter plane, being jointly developed by India and Russia and tipped to be one of the most-advanced in the world, will be unveiled in India in 2014.
The Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with stealth features is slated to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2022.
The two sides are close to signing a key contract expected to be worth over USD 11 billion for research and development phase of the project in the near future.
"The first prototype of the FGFA is scheduled to arrive in India by 2014 after which it will undergo extensive trials at the Ojhar air base (Maharashtra)...We are hopeful that the aircraft would be ready for induction by 2022," IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne told a news agency.
The IAF Chief was in Russia in the second week of August where he reviewed the progress made in the programme and the prototypes of the aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau at Zhukovsky there.
The second prototype will arrive in India in 2017 and the third prototype will arrive in 2019. Based on the experience of test-flights of the each prototype, the final version of the FGFA would be developed for operational service, Browne said.
India plans to acquire 214 of these fighter planes by the end of 2030 at an estimated cost of over USD 30 billion.
Russia has already developed three prototypes of the aircraft which are being used for carrying out test-flights. The aircraft will have stealth features and its size would be smaller than that of the frontline Su-30 MKI.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Zeenews.com
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: India, US Set To Ink $1.4Bn Deal For 22 Apache Helicopters
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources TOI
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 21, 2012: India is getting ready to order 22 heavy-duty Apache helicopters for around $1.4 billion, in what will be yet another big defence deal to be bagged by the US.
The US has already made military sales worth over $8 billion to India over the last few years, despite it having lost out to France in the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to supply 126 fighters to IAF, which is in the final commercial negotiations stage.
In the battle for the attack helicopters, Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow met all ASQRs (air staff qualitative requirements) during the extensive field trials conducted by the IAF, while the Russian Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant's Mi-28 Havoc failed to pass muster.
"It's just a matter of time before the contract is inked for the Apaches after final commercial negotiations. Most of the hurdles have been cleared,'' a defence ministry official said. The US and Russia are also locked in battle to supply 15 heavy-lift helicopters to IAF, with the Boeing-manufactured Chinooks pitted against the Russian Mi-26 choppers.
As first reported by TOI earlier, Indian armed forces are looking to induct as many as 900 helicopters in the coming decade, including 384 light-utility and observation, 90 naval multi-role, 65 light combat, 22 heavy-duty attack, 139 medium-lift and 15 heavy-lift, among others, many of them from abroad.
The impending $1.4 billion contract for the 22 Apaches will also include the supply of 812 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles, 542 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire-II missiles, 245 Stinger Block I-92H missiles and 12 AN/APG-78 fire-control radars, as per the Barack Obama administration's notification to the US Congress.
Among the other military aviation deals already bagged by the US are the $4.1 billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft, $2.1 billion for eight P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and $962 million for six C-130J 'Super Hercules'' planes. Negotiations are now being finalized for acquiring six more C-130J as well as four more P-8I aircraft.
US deputy secretary of defence Ashton B Carter, on his recent visit to India, had stressed that Washington wanted to be New Delhi's "highest quality and most trusted long-term supplier of technology''. India had emerged as the second-largest FMS (foreign military sales) customer of the US in 2011 with imports worth $4.5 billion, he added.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources TOI
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