Indian Navy Setting Up SBTF

Indian Navy Setting Up SBTF (NSI News Source Info) November 15, 2008: India will join the United States, Russia and China by building a land based landing field in the same shape as an aircraft carrier. The SBTF (shore-based training facility) will be built outside the east coast port city of Goa. This will be used to train pilots to land on carriers. India is getting its first four MiG-29K fighters soon. These aircraft are modified to operate from carriers. The remaining twelve MiG-29Ks will arrive by the end of 2009. India will receive the refurbished Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov in 2012. This deal will cost $2.5 billion. This includes the purchase of the poorly maintained Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, and Russian shipyards performing repairs, modifications and upgrades. Then there was the $800 million cost of aircraft, weapons and equipment. Building a Gorshkov type carrier today would cost about $4 billion, and take several years more. The Admiral Gorshkov entered service in 1987, but was inactivated in 1996, as too expensive to operate on a post Cold War budget. The Indian deal was made in 2004, and the carrier was to be ready by 2008. But a year ago reports began coming out of Russia that the shipyard doing the work, Sevmash, had seriously miscalculated the cost of the project. Once refurbished, the Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, should be good for about 30 years of service. That's because, after the refit, 70 percent of the ships equipment will be new, and the rest refurbished. It will operate sixteen navalized MiG-29 fighters, plus some helicopters. India wants the Gorshkov in service before 2012, because that's when it's existing carrier (the 29,000 ton INS Viraat) is to be retired. If the MiG-29K is successful on the Vikramaditya, these aircraft will be used on other carriers India is building.

Nigerian Rebels MEND Is Mending Itself

Nigerian Rebels MEND Is Mending Itself (NSI News Source Info) November 15, 2008: Niger delta rebel group MEND has been rescuing people from kidnapping gangs, and letting most of them go free. But foreigners, especially Britons, are being kept in an attempt to force the government to do right by the people of the Niger delta (who have gained little from decades of oil field operations.) MEND is also demanding that Britain stop training the Nigerian military. In response, the military is preparing major assaults on two known MEND camps. This is no secret, and MEND threatens another wave of attacks on oil facilities if the military moves on the two camps. The military and MEND have been dancing around each other for months, unwilling to go head-to-head. Apparently that is about to change. There are growing public displays of outrage at the corruption among public officials, but little action to stop it. A few corrupt officials have been removed from office, but the large scale looting of the oil revenue continues. November 7, 2008: Six sailors died, along with several gang members, when the navy tried to intervene and stop a gun battle between two rival gangs in the Niger delta. November 6, 2008: In the Niger Delta, some twenty speedboats full of armed oil thieves, attacked a military camp. The only injury was to a civilian killed in the crossfire. The gang was apparently trying to intimidate the military into staying away from the oil stealing operations that finance the gangs. November 5, 2008: The rebel group MEND said it had rescued the foreign engineer who had been kidnapped on the 3rd. The MEND rescuers also freed a second man, a Nigerian, who was also be held by the kidnapping gang. The engineer was then released by MEND. Marines found and attacked a kidnappers camp near the Bakassi peninsula, and attempted to rescue ten oil workers that had been kidnapped from a boat near the Cameroon border a week earlier. One of the hostages was killed. Rebels belonging to the NDDSC (Niger Delta Defense and Security Council) were responsible. The NDDSC wants the Bakassi peninsula returned to Nigerian control, and compensation paid to the Nigerians who left the Bakassi peninsula after Cameroon took control of the area last year. November 3, 2008: A foreign engineer was kidnapped from a construction site in Port Harcourt (the major city in the Niger River delta oil region.)

LockMart Receives Contract For Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb Kits

LockMart Receives Contract For Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb Kits (NSI News Source Info) November 15, 2008: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $30 million split-share competition award to deliver paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) GBU-12 kits to the U.S. Air Force. Delivery is scheduled to begin in early 2009. Lockheed Martin is a dual-source and qualified provider of the paveway II LGB, of all three variants of the paveway II MK-80 series LGBs and the sole provider of paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Rounds. Converting gravity weapons into precision-guided munitions, paveway II GBU-12 kits improve weapon accuracy and decrease risks to U.S. and allied ground forces. Each kit consists of a computer control group, which is the front-end guidance system, plus an air foil group, which includes flight stability fins on the back of each paveway II LGB. "Lockheed Martin is committed to providing the U.S. government with the most cost-effective family of paveway precision-guided weapon systems available," said John Pericci, director of Business Development at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Archbald. "We are proud to support the U.S. Air Force and our Warfighters in their defining moments." Lockheed Martin's LGB kits can be used by all U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and most international platforms currently authorized to carry and release LGBs. Kits are compatible with existing paveway II LGB logistics infrastructure, equipment, procedures and aircrew operations. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 40,000 paveway II LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Laser-guided bombs have been used successfully in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terror.

DoD Doubles Potential Buy of Light MRAPs

DoD Doubles Potential Buy of Light MRAPs (NSI News Source Info) November 15, 2008: The Pentagon's interest in lightweight Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles has skyrocketed. When the effort to find an MRAP that could handle rough Afghan terrain began last summer, U.S. Department of Defense buyers sought up to 5,000 vehicles. But a summary of an upcoming request for bids that went out Nov. 13 calls for buying "up to 10,000" of the 7- to 10-ton troop transporters. That could mean lightweight MRAP orders could nearly match the 12,000 original 14- to 24-ton MRAPs. The request specifies a high level of protection - enough to deflect explosively formed projectiles - and gives the program a name: MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV). "The warfighters [in Afghanistan] need help and we are almost done delivering MRAPs. They need something a little smaller, more off-road capable and still survivable," said a senior Pentagon official familiar with the program. The formal request for proposals will be issued before Dec. 1, the summary said. MRAP program managers, who are running the M-ATV program, plan to award up to five indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts to deliver vehicles for testing early next year. Orders will ultimately be placed for 2,080 to 10,000 vehicles, the summary said. "At the completion of testing, the government plans to select from the IDIQ contractors a single M-ATV producer but may, at its discretion, place production orders with multiple producers," it said. The M-ATV program plans to replicate the MRAPs' rapid production and delivery, the senior official said. Once again, firms that can build quickly will have a leg up, the senior official said. The summary said vendors will be asked to build up to 1,000 M-ATVs per month. Known contenders include a lighter version of Navistar's MaxxPro Dash MRAP, Oshkosh's 9-ton Sandcat vehicle, Force Protection's 8-ton Cheetah vehicle and Lockheed-BAE's submission to the Pentagon's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, among others. Textron's new, better-protected Armored Security Vehicle could also be a strong contender, said Daniel Goure, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based think tank. "Even an early version of the ASV is already operating in Afghanistan," Goure said. "It is small and light and it does things you cannot do with any of the MRAPs. And it is a hot production line." The big uptick in potential orders was caused by the planned addition of up to 20,000 troops to Afghanistan next year, the Pentagon official said. "I think they are revisiting the Afghan strategy right now; Gen. [David] Petraeus and his CentCom [Central Command] advisors are looking at this," said U.S. Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody, the new commander of Army Materiel Command, Fort Belvoir, Va. "I think the most critical shortages are with trucks. We're growing and our formations are growing faster than we can keep up with the sourcing. Given the two different terrains, Iraq and Afghanistan, the same vehicle doesn't fit in both environments. I know the Army has gone to industry and said, 'Here is what we need.' We are working with industry to see how fast they can deliver a different kind of technology. Everyone is always ready for something that will give our soldiers better force protection." But such a huge new purchase of tactical wheeled vehicles could upset the Army's buying plans, Goure said. Large parts of the plan "has been overtaken by events," with the relatively recent decisions to buy MRAPs and now, M-ATVs, Goure said. The large potential purchase might even affect the number of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, the planned next-generation mainstay of the Army's tactical fleet. The JLTV program is currently on hold due to contract protests. The contracts also could help M-ATV builders compete for JLTV work, Goure said.

S. Korea Launches 2nd Aegis Destroyer

S. Korea Launches 2nd Aegis Destroyer (NSI News Source Info) SEOUL - November 15, 2008: South Korea's navy on Nov. 14 launched its second of three planned 7,600-ton Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers. The KDX-III ship, armed with the up-to-date Aegis air warfare defense system, is the core of the Navy's future "strategic mobile squadrons" consisting of 14,000-ton Dokdo-class landing platform vessels, 4,300-ton KDX-II Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyers, 1,800-ton Type 214 submarines and other support vessels and anti-submarine Lynx helicopters, Navy officials said. The modernized squadrons will enable South Korea to conduct blue-water operations both independently and jointly with its allies for purposes such as securing sea lanes for energy supplies, peacekeeping and control of maritime disputes with neighboring countries, they said. The Navy plans to create a mobile squadron in 2010 and wants at least two more with the commissioning of additional Aegis destroyers, they said. The lead ship launched in May last year is to be operational with the Navy starting next month, and the second vessel will be in service next year after sea trials, the Navy said in a news release. A ceremony marking the launch of the second KDX-III ship, named after Yi I, a prominent Confucian scholar of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), was held at a shipyard of Daewoon Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering on Geoje Island, about 500 kilometers south of Seoul, it said. "I believe Aegis destroyers fitted with state-of-the-art radar and air warfare defense systems will help safeguard our nation and ocean successfully," President Lee Myung-bak said in his congratulatory message, read by Adm. Jung Ok-keun, the chief of naval operations, during the ceremony. "With the commissioning of the Aegis ships, I hope our military diplomacy will be further expanded." The Aegis combat system, built by Lockheed Martin, is the world's premier surface-to-air and fire-control system, capable of simultaneous operations against aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, ships and submarines. Only a few countries, such as the U.S., Spain, Japan and Norway, operate Aegis warships. The KDX-III destroyer can carry two midsized helicopters and sail at a top speed of 30 knots within a range of 1,000 kilometers. It can carry 300 crew members. The ship's SPY-1D radar can track some 1,000 aircraft within a 500-kilometer radius simultaneously, providing full 360-degree coverage. The 166-meter-long, 21-meter-wide ship can carry about 120 missiles and torpedoes in its Mk 41 Vertical Launch System and domestically-built Korea Vertical Launch System. Missiles equipping the ship include ship-to-air SM-2 Block IIIA/B Tactical Standard missiles, built by Raytheon Systems, with a range of 170 kilometers; Cheonryong (sky dragon) ship-to-surface cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers; and Hongsangeo (red shark) long-range ship-to-submarine torpedoes with a target range of 19 kilometers. Other major armaments include the 150-kilometer-range Hae Seong (sea star) ship-to-ship missiles, RAM Mk 31 guided missiles, a 30-mm "Goalkeeper'" system for engaging incoming sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, and a 5-inch/62-caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun. The $1 billion stealthy destroyer is also equipped with the domestically-built SLQ-200(V) SONATA electronic warfare system.

Sri Lankan military seizes key Tamil stronghold

Sri Lankan military seizes key Tamil stronghold (NSI News Source Info) November 15, 2008: Sri Lankan troops established a land link Saturday to the Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of the country's ethnic minority Tamils, by seizing a strategic rebel stronghold on the west coast, the military said. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said with its control of Pooneryn town, the military will be able to access the previously isolated, government-controlled Jaffna peninsula by land. Jaffna has been accessible only by air and sea since 2006 when the government closed another major road citing security reasons. That road cut through rebel territory. Pooneryn's fall is also strategically important for the military because the Tamil Tiger insurgents will no longer have access to the western coast, which has been a hub for rebel activity. Sri Lankan authorities have long claimed that the rebels have smuggled in arms, explosives and other supplies from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, separated from Sri Lanka's northwestern coast by the narrow Palk Strait. Tamil Nadu is home to some 55 million Tamils who have family and cultural ties with the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Nanayakkara also said the rebels will no longer be able to target troops stationed in the peninsula with artillery. Retired army commander Jerry de Silva said the capture of Pooneryn will help government troops open up a new front in their bid to capture Kilinochchi, the rebels' de facto capital. The government's original plan to seize Kilinochchi has not worked, with troops who have closed in on the town locked in ground battles for weeks, he said. "It will be tough going to reach Kilinochchi, they are not going to give that up so easily after fighting for so many years," he said. Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment because most communication lines to rebel territory have been severed. The government has vowed to crush the rebels and end their decades-old separatist campaign. Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

Abkhazian border guards in shootout with 'Georgian saboteurs'

Abkhazian border guards in shootout with 'Georgian saboteurs' (NSI News Source Info) SUKHUMI - November 15, 2008: Abkhazian border guards were involved on Saturday in a shootout with a group of "Georgian saboteurs" in the Gali district of the rebel republic, a police spokesman said. According to Lourens Kogoniya, at around 1:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT), a border guard patrol came across an armed group of six people near the village of Saberio, on the de facto border with the undisputed part of Georgia. "A shootout took place. According to unconfirmed information there were deaths on the Georgian side," he said, adding that the group had then fled back across the border. Abkhazia, along another rebel republic, South Ossetia, broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s amid armed conflicts that claimed thousands of lives. Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war after Georgia attacked South Ossetia on August 8. Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states in late August. The majority of residents in both provinces have had Russian citizenship for a number of years. The first round of international talks in Geneva on the Georgia conflict began on October 15. However, the talks were suspended until November 18 over "procedural difficulties." Russian Foreign Minister said on Saturday that the talks should concentrate on pressing security issues in the region.

World leaders gather in Washington to discuss financial crisis

World leaders gather in Washington to discuss financial crisis (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - November 15, 2008: World leaders have gathered in Washington for a crisis summit on ways to tackle the ongoing financial crisis, as well as measures to reform the global economic system. At a White House dinner for G20 heads of state on Friday evening, U.S. President George Bush attempted to lower expectations that the summit would come up with a fix-all solution for current financial woes. "This problem did not develop overnight and it will not be solved overnight, but with continued cooperation and determination it will be solved," he said. The White House later said that the working dinner had been "productive." G20 heads of state and finance ministers are to hold a five-hour meeting on Saturday. The G20 is made up of the world's top 19 economies, plus the European Union. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also attend the meeting, which begins at 8:00 a.m. (13:00 GMT). Divisions are likely to emerge at the meeting as European countries have expressed support for stricter market rules in a bid to tackle the crisis, while the U.S. and other countries are in favor of more moderate reforms. A Kremlin source said earlier that Moscow "did not expect any major breakthroughs" from the summit. However, an aide to the Russian president has said the G20 financial summit will be an unprecedented event. "For the first time ever, the leaders of the world's leading economies will gather in such a broad format to discuss one of the most acute issues of modern development," Sergei Prikhodko said. "This means that the international community is gradually beginning to realize that global problems affecting the interests of virtually all countries cannot be solved from a single center and that the time is ripe for truly collective decisions and actions," he added. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday it would be necessary to hold another meeting to discuss ways to overcome the ongoing global financial crisis after the Washington summit. "It is clear that we will be unable to immediately sign any new deals, to come to an agreement on which institutions should remain and which ones should be reformed," he said after the EU-Russia summit in Nice, France. Medvedev left for Washington immediately after the conclusion of the Nice summit, and then headed straight for the White House after landing in the U.S. On the sidelines of the Washington summit, Medvedev will hold a number of bilateral meetings with other heads of states. According to a Kremlin report, the Russian president will hold bilateral meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. U.S. president-elect Barack Obama will not attend the meeting, but has sent representatives, including the former U.S. secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, to meet world leaders on the sidelines of the summit.

Russian Soyuz-U carrier rocket bearing military satellite launched

Russian Soyuz-U carrier rocket bearing military satellite launched (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - November 15, 2008: A Soyuz-U carrier rocket bearing a military satellite was launched on Friday from the Plesetsk space center in north Russia, an aide to the Russian Space Forces commander said. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said the launch, carried out for the Russian Defense Ministry, had gone ahead without any difficulties. The Soyuz-U rocket is designed to orbit Soyuz and Progress manned and cargo spacecraft, as well as special purpose spacecraft such as Cosmos, Resurs-F, Foton and Bion. The rocket can orbit cargos weighing up to 6,950 metric tons.

Pakistan counts on IMF, World Bank, China loans

Pakistan counts on IMF, World Bank, China loans (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - November 15, 2008: Pakistan expects the IMF and other lenders to provide billions of dollars in loans soon, and China to pitch in with $500 million to avert a balance of payments crisis, the country's top economic adviser said. Shaukat Tarin told Reuters late on Thursday the government would soon deliver a "letter of intent" to the International Monetary Fund, paving the way for the world's lender of the last resort to rapidly release billions of dollars. "Hopefully it will be done soon. We have done lot of work on it so we want it to be completed soon," Tarin said. Asked it that could happen within a week, Tarin responded: "Yes, hopefully." Tarin told the Pakistan Senate on Thursday the country was likely to receive $5-6 billion from the World Bank and other international financial institutions by December, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The loan from China could arrive within weeks. "We want to get it as quickly as possible ... Hopefully it will be available in the next few weeks," Tarin told Reuters. Markets were disappointed when President Asif Ali Zardari and Tarin returned with little concrete to show from a trip to Beijing last month to garner support from one of Pakistan's most steadfast allies. China, like other potential lenders, is believed to have encouraged Pakistan to seek assistance from the IMF first in order to introduce some discipline to economic management, according to analysts. Pakistan is in talks with the IMF, though officials have been coy about saying whether a loan is being negotiated. Tarin told the Senate the IMF "has agreed to provide (a) facility on our own terms and conditions". He added one condition would be that the government stops borrowing from the central bank. "We discussed with IMF ... zero borrowing from State Bank. We believe there should be no net borrowing from State Bank," Tarin said. The government had wanted to avoid harsh conditions the IMF might attach, and explore other potential sources of loans first. Pakistan's central bank said on Thursday it has received $200 million from the Islamic Development Bank as the country's reserves are barely enough to cover nine weeks of imports. Potential donors are gathering in Abu Dhabi on Monday under the banner of the "Friends of Pakistan". It is an officials level meeting and not expected to result in loans being pledged, though it could pave the way for a ministerial meeting later. Pakistan's 8-month-old civilian government is banking on goodwill towards a country undergoing a transition to democracy after more than 8 years of military rule. The international community is concerned an economic meltdown in the nuclear-armed state could play into the hands of al Qaeda and allied Islamist militant groups seeking to destabilise the 170 million strong Muslim nation. Pakistan foreign exchange reserves are fast depleting. Reserves fell $20 million to $6.74 billion in the week that ended on Nov. 8, the central bank said on Thursday. The State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday hiked its discount rate 200 basis points to 15 percent to curb inflation, currently running over 25 percent, reduce the current account and fiscal deficits, and build foreign currency reserves.