U.S. ARMY SOLDIERS OFFLOAD A HUMVEE FROM A FLOATING CAUSEWAY.

U.S. ARMY SOLDIERS OFFLOAD A HUMVEE FROM A FLOATING CAUSEWAY. August 19, 2008 NSI News Source Info U.S. Army soldiers offload a Humvee from a floating causeway during a Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore exercise at Red Beach, Camp Pendleton, Calif., on July 24, 2008. The exercise is a joint military operation aimed at preparing units for amphibious assault landings in friendly and unfriendly situations.

India, Malaysia Strengthen Defense Relations

India, Malaysia Strengthen Defense Relations

(NSI News Source Info) 19 August, 2008: NEW DELHI - India and Malaysia are discussing boosting defense ties during the Aug. 18 visit of Air Chief Marshal Fali Major, Indian chief of the Air Staff, to Malaysia, Indian Defence Ministry sources said. The Indian Air Force already is training Malaysian pilots and technicians on the Russian-made Su-30 MKM aircraft. Major also will visit the Malaysian air base at Gong Kedak, where the Malaysiansare learning to fly and maintain the Su-30 MKM. India is training 15 Malaysian officers and 40 technicians on the aircraft, 18 of which were bought by Malaysia from Russia in 2003. Indian Air Force personnel also provided training to more than 100 Malaysian personnel on the MiG-29 aircraft. "The team of IAF pilots and technicians are in Malaysia for two years, on their invitation, to train their pilots, weapon system operators and maintenance staff for the smooth induction and operation of their newly acquired Su-30 MKM fighter aircraft," a senior Indian Air Force official said. Malaysia is also keen to get training in submarine operations, and has evinced interest in the procurement of the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, said Indian Defence Ministry sources. India and Malaysia first signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation in 1992. Currently, Indian-Malaysian defense ties largely are confined to training of Malaysian defense personnel, but this will expand in the near future to sales of weaponry and equipment from India, the Defence Ministry sources said.

U.S. Land Weapons Adapt to Irregular War Scenarios

U.S. Land Weapons Adapt to Irregular War Scenarios (NSI News Source Info) August 19, 2008: In five to seven years, the U.S. Army intends to deploy a new tank round that can take out tanks, unleash high explosives against a building or tear into enemies with one-eighth-inch tungsten-steel balls. "We will have all three of these munitions blended into a single round" with a special fuze, said U.S. Army Col. Jeff Swisher, capability manager, Heavy Brigade Combat Teams for Training and Doctrine Command. U.S. Marines prepare an M777 A2 lightweight howitzer to fire an Excalibur round in Iraq. In the next few years, the U.S. Army intends to deploy a new tank round that can take out tanks, unleash high explosives against a building or tear into enemies (U.S. Marine Corps)

The new round means a lighter burden in combat and faster switching between weapons - key abilities on a shifting battlefield. That's a common theme for the Army, which is adjusting its arsenal - built to destroy tanks, armies and buildings - to handle the irregular, guerrilla-style warfare that prevails in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is firing more tank rounds, artillery shells and even Hellfire missiles engineered to destroy small vehicles and insurgents while reducing the risk to nearby civilians and buildings. Also, the Army is using its Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missile's Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) to perform surveillance, even when no missile firing is planned. Alongside reducing the logistical burden of transporting three kinds of rounds, the new Advanced Multi-Purpose round will allow tankers to switch ammunition quickly. For instance, an attack on a building or armored vehicle might require a high-explosive round, whereas killing three insurgents on the run might need a round loaded with pellets. "There is no tank-on-tank combat any more," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Tim Hartmann, a tanker just back from war in Iraq. Since 2005, Army tanks in Iraq have increasingly been using 120mm Anti-Personnel Canister Cartridges loaded with 1,200 tungsten-steel pellets. "Canister rounds provide the commander with more options when the target is a group of enemy troops, or light-skinned vehicles. Also, they limit collateral damage in the sense that it is a large shotgun shell. You do not have that secondary explosion," said Swisher. U.S. Army Tank Automotive Armament Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., bought 3,600 canister rounds from General Dynamics for $5.8 million in 2005. In July, ATK won the next Army contract for M1028 120mm canister cartridges in a $30 million deal to begin delivering rounds in the next few months. Artillery The Army has been trying to improve the accuracy and lethality of artillery in urban areas. Officials are test-firing a South African 105mm artillery shell built to kill with tungsten balls. Called Pre-Formed Fragment (PFF) technology, the round is meant for lighter units and infantry brigade combat teams, said U.S. Army Col. Ole Knudson, project manager for combat ammunition systems, artillery, mortar and ammunition at Picatinny. The Army has not yet decided whether to buy the PFF round. "This would provide lethality. We've been working on qualifying this design. We are now faced with some cost-benefit analysis," Knudson said. In the past year, the Army has improved the accuracy of 155mm shells with Modular Artillery Charge Systems (MACS), a propellant made by ATK and General Dynamics Canada. MACS reduces the variation in muzzle velocity from round to round, usually the biggest cause of inaccuracy, Knudson said. For instance, if the muzzle velocity of artillery rounds leaving the cannon or howitzer varies by as much as five meters per second between rounds, it can diminish accuracy, he said. At the same time, the advent of GPS-guided precision artillery has allowed the Army to fire 155mm shells in urban, counterinsurgency-type missions previously impossible with conventional artillery. Excalibur, a $100,000-plus per-round GPS-guided artillery shell that can fly 30 kilometers and land within five meters of its target, debuted in Iraq and Afghanis-tan last year. "Excalibur has a small warhead, so it can be used in even tighter situations, such as between buildings," Knudson said. The round's success has led the Army to seek an Excalibur 1B round designed to cost less, fly 25 percent farther and be more precise. ATK, BAE-Lockheed and Raytheon have entered the competition. "Excalibur 1A will be a golden round, meaning they will have to be careful about using them. The primary focus is to make a highly affordable Excalibur that has more if not all of the things of the first Excalibur," said Mike McCann, vice president of ATK's advanced weapon division. The Army and ATK are also test firing the GPS-guided Precision Guidance Kit (PGK), which can turn a standard 155mm round into a precision weapon. "The program is tracking an aggressive schedule. We have completed tactical design and started bench testing," McCann said. "It has GPS guidance such that you are able to take a round that would have a 300-meter CEP [circular error probable] and bring it down to a baseline requirement of 50 to 30 meters." At roughly $5,000 per round, PGK is cheaper but less precise than Excalibur. The PGK rounds are designed with a command safe-and-arm device to prevent the round from exploding if it is not near the intended target. "The PGK round will decide that it is going to land within the 150-meter circle within its planned impact area," McCann said. "Then, it will consciously arm the fuze and fire an electrical charge into a small amount of explosive. That little charge spins a rotor which aligns the explosive chain. Only when that last one spins into place will the explosion take place. If for some reason there is high wind and the system is not able to counteract it, the round becomes a slug of metal." The safe-and-arm device helps reduce collateral damage in urban or populated areas, McCann said. Also, PGK can be set to explode at a certain "height of burst" or proximity to the target. "Ultimately, PGK will have a point-detonate function and a delay function. If you want to penetrate a building, you would put it on a delay mode," McCann said. The Army plans to purchase 3,000 PGK rounds by April 2009 and roughly 10,000 a year after that. ATK is starting to develop a PGK variant for the 105mm weapons used by faster-moving infantry brigade combat teams. ATK successfully test-fired a precision-guided 105mm PGK round at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., on Aug. 11. The round is 99 percent common with the 155mm PGK, according to an ATK press release. "Simulation and analysis that has been done in some early lab testing shows the PGK round is highly adaptable to the 105mm," said Jack Cronin, president of ATK Mission Systems. "The 105mm has a shorter fuze so it will require tighter packing," he said. Surveillance The 130-pound ITAS system, used with the TOW missile, is built to identify targets such as armor, buildings and caves. These days, the system is being used purely for surveillance. "The ITAS was initially intended to be an anti-tank, anti-armor type weapon used in conjunction with the TOW missile. Over time, what we found was that ITAS had forward-looking infrared and night vision abilities which could see very long distances, so the anti-armor approach became secondary," said Mike Campisi, Raytheon's senior director for combat systems. Developed in the mid-1990s, the ITAS uses GPS, computer software and laser technology to zoom in on targets from two to five kilometers away. The Army has been using them for surveillance on Humvees and even on top of buildings. "Think about this in an urban environment or built-up area - an ability to identify people from two kilometers away is not the norm," said George Rhynedance, a Raytheon spokesman.

Georgia, Russia exchange prisoners

Georgia, Russia exchange prisoners (NSI News Source Info) TBILISI August 19, 2008: Russia and Georgia have carried out a prisoner exchange near Georgia's capital Tbilisi, a day after a similar deal failed to go ahead, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. Moscow handed over 13 Georgian military personnel and two civilians, captured during the recent conflict over South Ossetia, in exchange for five Russians, among them two pilots, said Colonel Igor Konashenkov, an aide to Russia's Ground Forces commander. The prisoner exchange took place in Igoeti, a town located some 40 km (24 miles) from Tbilisi at 11:00 a.m. Moscow time (07:00 GMT). The deal was initially scheduled for Monday, however the talks failed when Georgian negotiators walked out after making requests "unrelated" to the exchange, a senior military official said. However, Georgia's Defense Ministry accused Russia of failing to provide an accurate list of prisoners. Lt. Col. Andrei Bobrun, an aide to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, said Russia was to hand over 11 Georgians. The Georgian Defense Ministry later requested the number be increased to 15. Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, told journalists Monday "We had planned an exchange of 15 Georgian for 12 Russian troops." Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili denied any such agreement existed. Georgia launched a major offensive to seize control of South Ossetia on August 8, prompting Russia to send several hundred tanks and thousands of troops into the region. Russia says at least 1,600 civilians were killed in the Georgian attack on the capital of Tskhinvali. South Ossetia says more than 2,000 people were killed.

Rice says Russia playing 'dangerous game' with bomber flights

Rice says Russia playing 'dangerous game' with bomber flights (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON August 19, 2008: Condoleezza Rice has said the Bush administration is unhappy with flights by Russian strategic bombers near U.S. borders and accused Moscow of playing a "dangerous game." Talking about flights by Tu-95 Bear bombers, the U.S. secretary of state told journalists Monday: "We've had Russian Bear flights along the Norwegian coast...even along the borders with the United States which...is a very dangerous game, and perhaps one the Russians want to reconsider." "Nobody needs Russian strategic aviation along America's coasts," she added.

Rice made the comments as she left for an emergency session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, which is due to meet Tuesday to consider relations with Moscow following a cessation in hostilities between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia. The emergency meeting was called last week by Washington, which accused Russia of a "disproportionate" response after Georgia launched a military offensive against South Ossetia August 8 to try and regain control over the breakaway region, prompting Russia to send several hundred tanks and thousands of troops into the region. Rice said the main goal of the meeting of the 26-member alliance was to deny Russia its "strategic objective" by backing Georgian democracy. She also accused Russia of trying to assert its influence in the region "by military means." She added that Moscow had harmed "its own reputation" with its response to the Georgian attack. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrols, often escorted by NATO planes, over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans last August following an order signed by then-president Vladimir Putin.

Syrian president to visit Russia Aug 20-21 - Kremlin

Syrian president to visit Russia Aug 20-21 - Kremlin (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW August 19, 2008: Syrian President Bashar Assad will visit Russia at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on August 20-21, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Assad's visit was first announced by the Syrian information ministry early last week. During his two-day working visit, Assad will meet with Russian authorities to discuss bilateral relations and regional and world developments, in particular the peace process in the Middle East and the situation in Iraq. Assad last visited Moscow in late 2006. Syria is a major importer of Russian arms. Tatneft, one of Russia's top 10 oil producers, is carrying out geological prospecting in Syria and is to drill six exploratory wells in the country under a 2005 contract.

Proton-M carrier rocket successfully orbits Inmarsat 4F3 satellite

Proton-M carrier rocket successfully orbits Inmarsat 4F3 satellite (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW August 19, 2008: A Proton-M carrier rocket, launched early on Tuesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, has successfully orbited an Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellite, a spokesman for Russia's space agency said. "The separation of the British satellite from the Russian Breeze M booster, which forms part of the Proton M rocket, took place at 11:46 Moscow time (07:46 GMT)," the Roscosmos spokesman said. The Breeze M booster resumed service for the first time on Tuesday since it malfunctioned during the launch of a U.S. AMC-14 satellite in mid-March 2008. I-4 satellites are among the largest and most sophisticated commercial communication satellites in the world, and are capable of delivering advanced voice and broadband data communications to mobile users. Three I-4 satellites were built for Inmarsat by EADS Astrium. The I-4 F1 was launched in March 2005, while the I-4 F2 was launched in November 2005. The Inmarsat 4F3 is owned by Britain's provider of mobile satellite communications services, Inmarsat plc. The Russian-American joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) ILS provides satellite customers with a complete array of services and support and has exclusive rights to market the Proton, Russia's premier heavy-lift launch vehicle, to commercial satellite operators worldwide. The launch of the Inmarsat-4 F3 will complete the I-4 constellation and support the global delivery of Inmarsat's latest services.

10 French Nato troops killed in Afghanistan: source

10 French Nato troops killed in Afghanistan: source (NSI News Source Info) PARIS August 19, 2008:Ten French Nato troops were killed on Monday and Tuesday in battles following a Taliban insurgent ambush near the Afghan capital Kabul, a French presidency source said.Military officials in Kabul said the fierce clashes started with an attack on Monday on an International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) patrol in Sarobi district, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital.Most of the 3,000 French troops participating in the 40-nation Isaf are in Kabul province, which includes Sarobi, and also Kapisa province, northeast of the capital.

Afghanistan: 13 killed as suicide bombers attack US base

Afghanistan: 13 killed as suicide bombers attack US base (NSI News Source Info) KABUL August 19, 2008: Dozens of Taliban fighters and suicide bombers attacked a US military base in eastern Afghanistan early Tuesday and at least 13 were killed, some in their own suicide blasts, Afghan officials said. Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) confirmed that Camp Salerno in the eastern town of Khost, 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Pakistan, had been attacked but could give few details."We have heard about suicide bombers on foot. They are receiving indirect fire," an officer in the Isaf media office in Kabul told AFP, referring to rocket and artillery fire.He said he could not give more information because fighting was ongoing.A suicide car bomb at the base on Monday killed 10 Afghan labourers waiting outside.Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said 15 "terrorists" had attacked the base early Tuesday."Our commando units were deployed into the area and engaged the attackers and pushed them back," he told AFP."So far 13 attackers have been killed. Six blew themselves up, six others died in the explosions and one died in gunfire from commandos. Their bodies have been recovered," Azimi said.Six Afghan commandos had been wounded, he said.A statement from Azimi's office said: "Thirteen suicide bombers were killed in Kijran area of Ali Sher district." The district surrounds Camp Salerno.The Khost governor, Arsala Jamal, said his information was that "about 30 Taliban tried to attack the Salerno base.""They were fired at. We have found six bodies which were all wearing suicide vests," he told AFP.The new attack comes a day after a suicide bombing outside Camp Salerno killed 10 Afghan labourers and wounded 13 more.Security forces were able to prevent a second suicide attack moments later, the US-led coalition and Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.The defence ministry announced separately Tuesday that 10 militants had been killed in the southern province of Helmand and 10 wounded. The province has seen weeks of fighting.

Pakistan: Blast in DI Khan - 25 dead, several injured

Pakistan: Blast in DI Khan - 25 dead, several injured (NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR August 19, 2008: A bomb went off in the compound of a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday killing 25 people and dozens other injured, a senior government official said."We don't know whether it was a suicide attack but the bomb went off in the compound. I have initial reports of 25 dead," said Syed Mohsin Shah, a senior city government official.Supporters of a Shia leader were protesting outside the hospital when the bomb went off. The Shia leader was shot dead earlier on Tuesday and his body taken to the hospital.