Tuesday, January 28, 2014

DTN News: EADS Top Stories / Headlines News Dated January 28, 2014

DTN News: EADS Top Stories / Headlines News Dated January 28, 2014
*International Media on EADS (Airbus Group) Related News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 28, 2014: Comprehensive daily news related to EADS (Airbus Group) and associates respectively.
*Comprehensive daily news related to EADS (Airbus Group) and associates respectively
*International Media on EADS (Airbus Group) Related News
  1. A350 XWB MSN3 completes cold weather testing in Iqaluit Canada

    Published:28 January 2014A350 XWB MSN3 completes cold weather testing in Iqaluit Canada Blagnac,  28 January 2014 A350 ...
  2. Airbus Helicopters aims high with new branding and a strategic transformation

    Published:28 January 2014Airbus Helicopters aims high with new branding and a strategic transformation Eurocopter closed ...
  3. Airbus forms a sustainable fuel Centre of Excellence in Malaysia

    Published:27 January 2014Airbus forms a sustainable fuel Centre of Excellence in Malaysia Partnership aims to promote ...
  4. Airbus welcomes A380 operations in India

    Published:27 January 2014Airbus welcomes A380 operations in India Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation approves A380 ...
  5. A350 XWB to take centre stage at Singapore Airshow

    Published:23 January 2014A350 XWB to take centre stage at Singapore Airshow First full air show display for world’s most ...
  6. Airbus Defence and Space wins ground segment contract for future French Defence observation satellite system

    Published:23 January 2014Airbus Defence and Space wins ground segment contract for future French Defence observation ...
  7. Asiana Airlines signs FHS Components contract with Airbus for its A380 fleet

    Published:23 January 2014Asiana Airlines signs FHS Components contract with Airbus for its A380 fleet Securing the ...
  8. ATR increases its turnover by 13% in 2013 and remains leader in the regional aviation market

    Published:23 January 2014ATR increases its turnover by 13% in 2013 and remains leader in the regional aviation market The ...
  9. Airbus Group, Inc. Continues to Successfully Serve the U.S. Coast Guard with Delivery of 16th HC-144A Ocean Sentry Aircraft

    Published:21 January 2014Airbus Group, Inc. Continues to Successfully Serve the U.S. Coast Guard with Delivery of 16th ...
  10. First ATR '-600' Flight Simulator qualified in Latin America

    Published:20 January 2014First ATR '-600' Flight Simulator qualified in Latin America The simulator, set up in Bogota, ...
  11. Congress continues support of UH-72A Lakota helicopter

    Published:17 January 2014Congress continues support of UH-72A Lakota helicopter Herndon, Virginia,  17 January 2014 ...
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources EADS (Airbus Group)
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: Lockheed Martin Top Stories / Headlines News Dated January 28, 2014

DTN News: Lockheed Martin Top Stories / Headlines News Dated January 28, 2014
*International Media on LOCKHEED MARTIN Related News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 28, 2014: Comprehensive daily news related to Lockheed Martin and associates respectively.
*Comprehensive daily news related to Lockheed Martin and associates respectively
*International Media on LOCKHEED MARTIN Related News
LATEST PRESS RELEASES

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Lockheed Martin
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated January 28, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated January 28, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-017-14 January 28, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 28, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued January 28, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Wright & Wright Machinery Company Inc.*, Monticello, Ky., has been awarded a maximum $776,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for the procurement of commercial type construction equipment.  This contract is a competitive acquisition and 18 offers were received.  This contract is one of up to ten contracts being issued against solicitation number SPM8EC-11-R-0003 and with requirements that specifically call for construction equipment within the product line and will be competed amongst other contractors who receive a contract under this solicitation.  This is a five-year base contract.  Locations of performance are Kentucky and Georgia with a Jan. 27, 2019 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE8EC-14-D-0006).
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc., Tustin, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $187,732,814 modification (P00101) exercising the fifth option year on a one-year base contract (SPM2D1-09-D-8322) with seven one-year option periods for radiology systems, subsystems and components.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.  Location of performance is California with a Feb. 3, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Panakela LLC*, Stafford, Va., has been awarded a maximum $22,988,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for oxygen system and related accessories.  This contract is a competitive acquisition and 33 offers were received.  This is a five-year base contract.  Location of performance is Virginia with a Nov. 27, 2019 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM2D1-14-D-8205).
Vital Images Inc.*, Minnetonka, Minn., has been awarded a maximum $10,017,588 modification (P00100) exercising the third option year on a one-year base contract (SPM2D1-11-D-8342) with seven one-year option periods for radiology systems, subsystems and components.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.  Location of performance is Minnesota with a Jan. 31, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Kalmar RT Center LLC., Cibolo, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,211,055 firm-fixed-price contract for diesel engines, transmissions, parts and assemblies.  This contract is a sole-source acquisition.  Location of performance is Texas with a May 29, 2016 performance completion date.  Using military service is Army.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2015 Army working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Mich., (SPRDL1-14-D-0011).
ARMY
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock LLC, Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded a $14,177,652 firm-fixed-price contract for deepening the main channel of the Delaware River.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $14,177,652 were obligated at the time of the award.  Estimated completion date is Nov. 30, 2014.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with four received.  Work will be performed at Philadelphia, Pa.  Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-14-C-0008).
AIR FORCE
PLEXSYS Interface Products Inc., Camas, Wash., has been awarded an $8,254,297 sole-source, firm-fixed-price, follow-on contract for commercial training simulation services (CTSS) on contractor owned equipment for the AWACS MTC follow-on program.  The purpose of this acquisition is to deliver continued AWACS MTC Block 30/35 CTSS on contractor owned equipment until the trainers are replaced by Block 40/45 Mission Crew Training Systems.  Block 30/35 simulation training services consist of:  availability of effective high-fidelity AWACS E-3 Block 30/35 training capability; concurrency with ramp aircraft; and compliance with Distributed Mission Operations Standards.  Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and Kadena Air Base, Japan, and will be completed by Dec. 31, 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Air Force funds in the amount of $2,072,264.25 will be obligated at time of award.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Agile Combat Support/WNSK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8621-14-C-6310).
NAVY
Marvin Engineering Co., Inc., Inglewood, Calif., is being awarded a $7,373,028 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00421-13-C-0002) to exercise an option for the procurement of 156 BRU-32 Ejector Bomb Racks in support of the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft.  Work will be performed in Inglewood, Calif., and is expected to be completed in July 2016.  Fiscal 2013 and 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $7,373,028 will be obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
*Small Business


*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-017-14 January 28, 2014
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - UKRAINIAN NEWS: Perspectives on the Ukrainian Protests

DTN News - UKRAINIAN NEWS: Perspectives on the Ukrainian Protests
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By George Friedman - Stratfor
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 28, 2014: A few months ago, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was expected to sign some agreements that could eventually integrate Ukraine with the European Union economically. Ultimately, Yanukovich refused to sign the agreements, a decision thousands of his countrymen immediately protested. The demonstrations later evolved, as they often do. Protesters started calling for political change, and when Yanukovich resisted their calls, they demanded new elections.

Some protesters wanted Ukraine to have a European orientation rather than a Russian one. Others felt that the government was corrupt and should thus be replaced. These kinds of demonstrations occur in many countries. Sometimes they're successful; sometimes they're not. In most cases, the outcome matters only to the country's citizens or to the citizens of neighboring states. But Ukraine is exceptional because it is enormously important. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has had to pursue a delicate balance between the tenuous promises of a liberal, wealthy and somewhat aloof Europe and the fact that its very existence and independence can be a source of strategic vulnerability for Russia.

Ukraine's Importance

Ukraine provides two things: strategic position and agricultural and mineral products. The latter are frequently important, but the former is universally important. Ukraine is central to Russia's defensibility. The two countries share a long border, and Moscow is located only some 480 kilometers (about 300 miles) from Ukrainian territory -- a stretch of land that is flat, easily traversed and thus difficult to defend. If some power were to block the Ukraine-Kazakh gap, Russia would be cut off from the Caucasus, its defensible southern border.

Moreover, Ukraine is home to two critical ports, Odessa and Sevastopol, which are even more important to Russia than the port of Novorossiysk. Losing commercial and military access to those ports would completely undermine Russia's influence in the Black Sea and cut off its access to the Mediterranean. Russia's only remaining ports would be blocked by the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap to the west, by ice to the northeast, by Denmark on the Baltic Sea, and by Japan in the east.

This explains why in 1917, when the Bolsheviks took power and sued for peace, the Germans demanded that Russia relinquish its control of most of Ukraine. The Germans wanted the food Ukraine produced and knew that if they had a presence there they could threaten Russia in perpetuity. In the end, it didn't matter: Germany lost Word War I, and Russia reclaimed Ukraine. During World War II, the Germans seized Ukraine in the first year of their attack on the Soviet Union, exploited its agriculture and used it as the base to attack Stalingrad, trying to sever Russia from its supply lines in Baku. Between the wars, Stalin had to build up his industrial plant. He sold Ukrainian food overseas and used it to feed factory workers in Russia. The Ukrainians were left to starve, but the industry they built eventually helped the Soviets defeat Hitler. After the Soviets drove the Germans back, they seized Romania and Hungary and drove to Vienna, using Ukraine as their base.

From the perspective of Europe, and particularly from the perspectives of former Soviet satellites, a Ukraine dominated by Russia would represent a potential threat from southern Poland to Romania. These countries already depend on Russian energy, fully aware that the Russians may eventually use that dependence as a lever to gain control over them. Russia's ability not simply to project military power but also to cause unrest along the border or use commercial initiatives to undermine autonomy is a real fear.

Thinking in military terms may seem more archaic to Westerners than it does to Russians and Central Europeans. For many Eastern Europeans, the Soviet withdrawal is a relatively recent memory, and they know that the Russians are capable of returning as suddenly as they left. For their part, the Russians know that NATO has no will to invade Russia, and war would be the last thing on the Germans' minds even if they were capable of waging one. The Russians also remember that for all the economic and military malaise in Germany in 1932, the Germans became the dominant power in Europe by 1939. By 1941, they were driving into the Russian heartland. The farther you move away from a borderland, the more fantastic the fears appear. But inside the borderland, the fears seem far less preposterous for both sides.

Russian Perspectives

From the Russian point of view, therefore, tighter Ukrainian-EU integration represented a potentially mortal threat to Russian national security. After the Orange Revolution, which brought a short-lived pro-EU administration to power in the mid-2000s, Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear that he regarded Ukraine as essential to Russian security, alleging that the nongovernmental organizations that were fomenting unrest there were fronts for the U.S. State Department, the CIA and MI6. Whether the charges were true or not, Putin believed the course in which Ukraine was headed would be disastrous for Russia, and so he used economic pressure and state intelligence services to prevent Ukraine from taking that course.

In my view, the 2008 Russo-Georgian War had as much to do with demonstrating to Kiev that Western guarantees were worthless, that the United States could not aid Georgia and that Russia had a capable military force as it did with Georgia itself. At the time, Georgia and Ukraine were seeking NATO and EU membership, and through its intervention in Georgia, Moscow succeeded in steering Ukraine away from these organizations. Today, the strategic threat to Russia is no less dire than it was 10 years ago, at least not in minds of the Russians, who would prefer a neutral Ukraine if not a pro-Russia Ukraine.

Notably, Putin's strategy toward the Russian periphery differs from those of his Soviet and czarist predecessors, who took direct responsibility for the various territories subordinate to them. Putin considers this a flawed strategy. It drained Moscow's resources, even as the government could not hold the territories together.

Putin's strategy toward Ukraine, and indeed most of the former Soviet Union, entails less direct influence. He is not interested in governing Ukraine. He is not even all that interested in its foreign relationships. His goal is to have negative control, to prevent Ukraine from doing the things Russia doesn't want it to do. Ukraine can be sovereign except in matters of fundamental importance to Russia. As far as Russia was concerned, the Ukrainian regime is free to be as liberal and democratic as it wants to be. But even the idea of further EU integration was a clear provocation. It was the actions of the European Union and the Germans -- supporting opponents of Yanukovich openly, apart from interfering in the internal affairs of another country -- that were detrimental to Russian national interests.

European Perspectives

Ukraine is not quite as strategically significant to Europe as it is to Russia. Europe never wanted to add Ukraine to its ranks; it merely wanted to open the door to the possibility. The European Union is in shambles. Given the horrific economic problems of Southern Europe, the idea of adding a country as weak and disorganized as Ukraine to the bloc is preposterous. The European Union has a cultural imperative among its elite toward expansion, an imperative that led them to include countries such as Cyprus. Cultural imperatives are hard to change, and so an invitation went out with no serious intentions behind it.

For the Europeans, what the invitation really meant was that Ukraine could become European. It could have the constitutional democracy, liberalism and prosperity that every EU state is supposed to have. This is what appealed to most of the early demonstrators. However improbable full membership might be, the idea of becoming a modern European society is overwhelmingly appealing. Yanukovich's rejection made some protesters feel that their great opportunity had slipped away -- hence the initial demonstrations.

The Germans are playing a complex game. They understood that Ukrainian membership in the European Union was unlikely to happen anytime soon. They also had important dealings with Russia, with which they had mutual energy and investment interests. It was odd that Berlin would support the demonstrators so publicly. However, the Germans were also managing coalitions within the European Union. The Baltic states and Poland were eager to see Ukraine drawn out of the Russian camp, since that would provide a needed, if incomplete, buffer between them and Russia (Belarus is still inside Russia's sphere of influence). Therefore, the Germans had to choose between European partners, who cared about Ukraine, and Russia.

The Russians have remained relatively calm -- and quiet -- throughout Ukraine's protests. They understood that their power in Ukraine rested on more than simply one man or his party, so they allowed the crisis to stew. Given Russia's current strategy in Ukraine, the Russians didn't need to act, at least not publicly. Any government in Ukraine would face the same constraints as Yanukovich: little real hope of EU inclusion, a dependence on Moscow for energy and an integrated economy with Russia. Certainly, the Russians didn't want a confrontation just before Sochi.

The Russians also knew that the more tightly pro-Western forces controlled Kiev, the more fractious Ukraine could become. In general, eastern Ukraine is more oriented toward Russia: Its residents speak Russian, are Russian Orthodox and are loyal to the Moscow Patriarchy. Western Ukraine is oriented more toward Europe; its residents are Catholic or are loyal to the Kiev Patriarchy. These generalities belie a much more complex situation, of course. There are Moscow Orthodox members and Russian speakers in the west and Catholics and Kiev Orthodox in the east. Nevertheless, the tension between the regions is real, and heavy pro-EU pressure could split the country. If that were to happen, the bloc would find itself operating in chaos, but then the European Union did not have the wherewithal to operate meaningfully in Ukraine in the first place. The pro-EU government would encounter conflict and paralysis. For the time being that would suit the Russians, as unlikely as such a scenario might be.

U.S. Perspectives

As in most matters, it is important to understand where the United States fits in, if at all. Washington strongly supported the Orange Revolution, creating a major rift with Russia. The current policy of avoiding unnecessary involvement in Eurasian conflicts would suggest that the United States would stay out of Ukraine. But Russian behavior in the Snowden affair has angered Washington and opened the possibility that the United States might be happy to create some problems for Moscow ahead of the Sochi Olympics. The U.S. government may not be supporting nongovernmental organizations as much as its counterparts in Europe are, but it is still involved somewhat. In fact, Washington may even have enjoyed putting Russia on the defensive after having been put on the defensive by Russia in recent months.

In any case, the stakes are high in Ukraine. The Russians are involved in a game they cannot afford to lose. There are several ways for them to win it. They only need to make the EU opening untenable for the Ukrainians, something Ukraine's economic and social conditions facilitate. The Europeans are not going to be surging into Ukraine anytime soon, and while Poland would prefer that Ukraine remain neutral, Warsaw does not necessarily need a pro-Western Ukraine. The United States is interested in Ukraine as an irritant to Russia but is unwilling to take serious risks.

A lot of countries have an interest in Ukraine, none more so than Russia. But for all the noise in Kiev and other cities, the outcome is unlikely to generate a definitive geopolitical shift in Ukraine. It does, however, provide an excellent example of how political unrest in a strategically critical country can affect the international system as a whole.

In most countries, the events in Kiev would not have generated global interest. When you are a country like Ukraine, even nominal instability generates not only interest but also pressure and even intervention from all directions. This has been the historical problem of Ukraine. It is a country in an important location, and the pressures on it tend to magnify any internal conflicts until they destabilize the country in excess of the significance of the internal issues. Germany and the United States may continue to pursue goals that will further irritate Russia, but as Stratfor indicated in our 2014 annual forecast, they will avoid actions that would risk harming Moscow's ties with Washington and Berlin. Russian influence in Ukraine is currently being limited by the proximity of the Olympics and the escalation in protests on the ground, but the fundamental geopolitical reality is that no country has a higher stake in Ukraine than Russia, nor a better ability to shape its fate.


*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By George Friedman - Stratfor
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - KOREAN DEFENSE NEWS: Korea To Sign Deal To Buy F-35 Jets By Sept.

DTN News - KOREAN DEFENSE NEWS: Korea To Sign Deal To Buy F-35 Jets By Sept.
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Kang Seung-woo - Korea Times
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 28, 2014: Korea plans to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to buy 40 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets by the end of September, the nation’s arms procurement agency said Monday.

The price for the stealth aircraft from Lockheed Martin is estimated at 7.4 trillion won.

“Once the Defense Acquisition Program Executive Committee approves the revised purchase plan between February and March, we will push to sign a deal by the end of September after conducting flight tests and negotiations,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Jung Kwang-sun, director of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s (DAPA) aircraft department, at a press briefing.

The military’s decision-making committee voted down Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle in the 8.3 trillion won F-X III due to its lack of stealth capability in September last year. And the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to purchase 40 radar-evading warplanes in November for deployment from 2018 to 2021, making the Lockheed Martin product the lone candidate. It also said that an additional 20 fighters will be acquired later, depending on the security situation.

DAPA reportedly carried out research regarding the price tag for the 40 aircraft, and ended up with 7.4 trillion won. The price includes maintenance and armament worth 700 billion won.

The state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses will conduct another analysis to confirm the program budget, which will be confirmed by the finance ministry after consultations.

Without an open bid, DAPA is likely to buy the under-development aircraft through the foreign military sales program, which manages government-to-government sales, despite being feared to restrict Lockheed from technology transfers and industrial cooperation.

The long-delayed F-X III competition requires 60 highly-capable aircraft to replace the Korean Air Force’s aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company’s (EADS) Eurofighter Typhoon and the Silent Eagle also vied for the deal.


*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Kang Seung-woo - Korea Times
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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