DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing C-17 Support Effort for Strategic Airlift Capability Exceeds 1,000 Missions

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing C-17 Support Effort for Strategic Airlift Capability Exceeds 1,000 Missions

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Boeing
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 3, 2014: (PÁPA AIR BASE, Hungary) –  Boeing [NYSE: BA] has supported more than 1,000 missions for the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) program’s fleet of three C-17 airlifters, achieving a mission capable rate of nearly 94 percent during the five years it has provided maintenance, engineering and spares through a comprehensive performance-based logistics program.

SAC is a multinational strategic airlift effort involving 10 NATO countries and two countries from the alliance’s Partnership for Peace program. The C-17s are operated by the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at Pápa Air Base in Hungary. Boeing has more than 60 people supporting the effort, and Pápa Air Base was the first location where Boeing provided all C-17 operational maintenance.

“The Boeing team has been an important member of the SAC family from the start and contributes invaluably to the HAW flying safe missions for the nations,” said Royal Netherlands Air Force Col. Frank Rombouts, commander of the airlift wing.

Boeing has a large customer base in Central and Eastern Europe and supports more than 6,500 jobs in the region. The company spent nearly $6 million with Tier 1 suppliers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania in 2012, according to Henryka Bochniarz, president of Boeing Central & Eastern Europe.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 56,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

Contact:

Dave Sloan
Global Services & Support
Office: +1 253-657-8008
Mobile: +1 206-280-6649
david.a.sloan@boeing.com

Katerina Giannini
International Corporate Communications
Office: +44 20 7340 1971
katerina.giannini@boeing.com

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Boeing
*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 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq To Buy 28 Czech L-159 Training Jets For $1 Billion ~ Media Reports

DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq To Buy 28 Czech L-159 Training Jets For $1 Billion ~ Media Reports

Source: This article compiled by Roger Smith DTN News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 12, 2012: The Iraqi government intends to buy Czech-made Aero Vodochody L-159 advanced trainer/light-attack jets, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday in Prague after talks with his Czech counterpart Petr Necas, local TV reported.

Iraq will buy 28 Czech-made L-159 training jets valued at $1 billion dollars (770 billions euros), a Czech defence ministry spokesman told AFP Friday in Prague. The deal includes 24 new plane and four older army surplus aircraft.

"Further talks about purchasing the L-159 will take place on Friday between the Iraqi and Czech defense ministries," he said. Talks about an L-159 purchase between Baghdad and Prague have been underway for at least three years, acording to Defense Industry Daily.

The Czech government hopes to sell Iraq up to 24 of the jets, which Defense Industry Daily says are used aircraft which were operated for a short time by the Czech Air Force. Iraq used to operate the jet's predecessor, the L-39 Albatros.

The L-159 can be armed with Sidewinder missiles, targeting pods and laser-guided air-to-surface weapons, and can operate from austere airstrips, the daily says.

The L 159A is a single-seat light multi-role combat aircraft designed for a variety of air-to-air, air-to-ground and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft is equipped with a multi-mode Doppler Grifo-L radar (a variant of the Grifo-F x-band multi-mode, pulse-doppler radar), for all-weather, day and night operations. It can carry a wide range of NATO standard stores including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and laser guided bombs. The L 159A is in operational service with the Czech Air Force and in production.

The L 159B is a two-seat derivative of the L159A primarily designed for Advanced and Operational/Lead-In Fighter Training. The L 159B configuration can also be tailored to customer specific requirements and adapted to needs of basic training as well as combat missions including air-to-Ground, patrol and reconnaissance missions.

The L 159T1 is a two-seat trainer derivative used by the Czech air Force. All L 159T1 are modified L 159A airframes taken from storage. First flight 8 March 2007.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith DTN News 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Spies ‘Top Priority’ For Czech Intelligence

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Spies ‘Top Priority’ For Czech Intelligence

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 23, 2012: Russian “special services” are the most active foreign espionage organizations in the Czech Republic, the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) said on Wednesday.

The BIS 2011 report states that Russian spies work under different covers, mainly at Russian diplomatic missions, and in numbers that are utterly unjustified given the current status of Czech-Russian relations.

“Russian intelligence officers were spotted at different public and corporate events, where they tried to resume old contacts and meet new people,” the report said.

One of their main targets was the energy sector, in particular, the tender for the completion of the Temelin nuclear power plant, BIS said.

“Based on national security risk assessment, BIS’s main counterintelligence priorities in 2011 were the special services of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China,” the report said.

However, it devoted nine paragraphs to Russian espionage and only one to Chinese.

Chinese intelligence officers “do not pose an immediate risk to Czech citizens,” the report said.

Related News

• Russia, Czech Republic to set up joint nuclear energy venture
• New Czech airline to make maiden flight to Russia in March
• Czech Power Games: How Russia Is Rebuilding Influence In The Former Soviet Bloc

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq Interested In Czech L-159 Fighter Planes Says Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas

DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq Interested In Czech L-159 Fighter Planes Says Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources  Prague Daily Monitor
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 8, 2012: Iraq military continues to be interested in the purchase of Czech-made L-159 subsonic fighter planes, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said after a cabinet meeting today.

Necas said aircraft makers from other countries are of course competing for the contract on the delivery of fighter planes for Iraq, too.

Czech Aero Vodochody company has been negotiating about the deal in Iraq for some time. The L-159's rivals are British Hawk and a supersonic plane offered by Korea in cooperation with the U.S. producer Lockheed Martin.

Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra reported on the latest development of the negotiations with Iraq representatives at the cabinet meeting today.

The next negotiating round is to take place in Bagdad within two weeks, Vondra said.

Iraqi Defence Minister Saadoun Dulaimi assured Vondra during his visit to Prague in January that Iraq keeps being interested in the L-159s.

According to available information, Iraq is first of all interested in new planes made by Aero Vodochody. The Czech Republic would like to sell also the already produced but mothballed planes, however.

Czech representatives point out that these planes may be available practically immediately, unlike new aircraft whose production may take a few years.

The sale of new Czech aircraft to Iraq might be the beginning of long-term cooperation in military aviation between the two countries.

Iraq allegedly plans to buy up to 24 new aircraft.

Czech military pilots currently use 24 L-159s, while 36 of these planes are mothballed. The maintenance of the redundant planes costs about 30 million crowns a year.

Five of the redundant planes were swapped for one CASA C-295 transport aircraft and several of them were used for spare parts or turned into two-seat aircraft. The military is considering further remaking of the unused one-seat L-159s into two-seat test aircraft, media wrote.

 
*DTN Iraq  @DTNIraq ~ Available on Twitter

Comprehensive Daily News on Iraq Today ~ © Copyright (c) DTN News Defense-Technology News 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Prague Daily Monitor
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News: Czech Group In Supply Deal For Sikorsky's Black Hawk

DTN News: Czech Group In Supply Deal For Sikorsky's Black Hawk *Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) PRAGUE, Czech Republic - February 4, 2010: Czech aerospace manufacturer Aero Vodochody has agreed a seven-year deal to supply cockpits to United Technologies Corp's (UTX.N) Sikorsky Aircraft, maker of the Black Hawk helicopter, the Czech group said on Thursday. Unlisted Aero Vodochody did not disclose the value of the contract, which runs until 2017 with the option of a five-year extension. The Sikorsky deal was one of three new contracts worth a total 4 billion crowns ($213 million) for Aero Vodochody. Sikorsky Aircraft won two U.S. military helicopter contracts worth a total of $1.52 billio in January.

AERO Vodochody a.s. is a joint stock company, registered in the Companies Register in Prague on January 2, 1991. Till the end of the year 2006, Aero was a state-owned company. From January 4, 2007, private equity group Penta became a sole shareholder of Aero and in the same year successfully finished its restructuring process, the main result of which was profit reached by Aero for 2007 in the amount of CZK 236 million. Aero thus entered the year 2008 as a stable and profitable company, ready to develop long-term partnerships with its customers.

AERO Vodochody - The largest aviation technology manufacturer in the Czech Republic - One of the oldest aviation technology manufacturers in the world (* 1919) - Focused on development, production, sales and support of civil and military aerospace technology - Extensive experience from production of over 11,000 aircraft - High-quality technological base - AS 9100 / ISO 9001 certified quality management system - Well-established cooperation with leading aerospace manufacturers - Convenient location near Prague, the Capital of the Czech Republic

($1=18.78 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases

DTN News: Bolivia Defends Chinese Aircraft Purchases *Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) LA PAZA, Bolivia - October 8, 2009: Bolivia is defending its light attack aircraft purchases from China and an open line of credit for military hardware imports from Russia, arguing that its weapons acquisitions are less significant than those by other South American countries. The Bolovian minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in a statement Bolivia spends less than its neighbors on military hardware and is committed to the principles of peace and dissuasion. "But we can't have armed forces that do not have access to the minimum equipment for their professional training and action if needed," San Miguel said, MercoPress reported. His comments followed other South American leaders' recent pronouncements criticizing arms purchases by their neighbors and calls for restraint in military expenditure. The Obama administration has said it is worried about huge arms purchases by nations that should be directing their cash resources to poverty reduction. The minister's comment came after government confirmation that Bolivia would buy six K-8 aircraft from China to bolster its anti-narcotics operations and border controls. The government of President Evo Morales has come under strong criticism for having approved the purchase worth $57.8 million -- funds that critics said should have been directed toward development in Bolivia. A similar model of the K-8 was bought earlier by Venezuela. Further criticism followed the open line of credit for arms purchases from Russia, though details of the arms purchases have not been revealed. The financing arrangement for the aircraft is not clear, but China is pursuing a combined diplomatic and economic campaign in South America to increase its footprint in the region, secure energy and raw materials for its burgeoning industrial growth and win friends where it had few in the past. China has also promised to put a Bolivian satellite into space. The aircraft was developed jointly by China and Pakistan as a two-seat trainer but later was fitted with advanced avionics and gun emplacements to function as a combat aircraft. China has successfully sold the aircraft to Egypt, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Southeast Asian countries and the Philippines, where it is likely to replace the British Aerospace BAE Hawk Mk.53 jet trainer. San Miguel indicated Bolivia chose the Chinese option because it failed to receive positive response from European suppliers and the United States. "The U.S. is not helping and Europe has its own regulations, so we went to China," he said. A matching purchase from the Czech Republic did not go through because of U.S. objections. Last week Morales said Bolivia also could not receive five helicopters as a "donation" from Brazil because those aircraft, too, had U.S. components and could not be transferred to Bolivia before approval from Washington. Morales has been at loggerheads with U.S. government agencies and suspended cooperation with Washington, accusing Drug Enforcement Administration agents

DTN News: Russia Could Scrap Baltic Missile Plans Following U.S. Move

DTN News: Russia Could Scrap Baltic Missile Plans Following U.S. Move *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - September 19, 2009: Russia could abandon plans to deploy tactical missiles in its Baltic exclave in response to the U.S. decision to drop its missile shield plans for Central Europe, a high-ranking military source said on Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that Washington would not deploy missile defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland, due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran. "In response to the U.S. intention to drop its missile shield plans in Europe, the Russian General Staff could decide not to deploy a reinforced group of Iskander missiles in the country's west [Kaliningrad Region]," the source told RIA Novosti. The George W. Bush administration sought to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as defense against potential strikes from Iran. Russia consistently opposed the plans as a threat to its security and the strategic balance of forces in Europe. In response to Bush administration's plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said last November that Russia would deploy Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the shield was put into operation.

DTN News: NATO Sees Closer Work With U.S. On Missile Defense

DTN News: NATO Sees Closer Work With U.S. On Missile Defense *Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS, Belgium - September 18, 2009: NATO said on Thursday it expected closer cooperation with Washington on developing anti-missile systems and that revamped U.S. plans had the potential to protect all of Europe if fully implemented. The United States briefed NATO allies Wednesday on the latest developments of its plan to station anti-missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, was joined by senior State and Defense Department officials in a meeting with envoys from the 26 NATO allies. The talks come between visits to Washington by Czech and Polish leaders to discuss the plans. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday he was dropping a plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. They were to form part of a missile shield intended to protect the United States and its European NATO allies against possible attack from Iran, but which had angered Russia. He promised instead stronger, swifter defense systems to protect U.S. allies against any threat from Iran. A NATO spokesman said U.S. officials briefed NATO ambassadors on the U.S. plans on Thursday. The spokesman said the defense ministers of the 28 alliance states would discuss how to move forward on missile defense in the light of U.S. plans at an October 22-23 meeting in Bratislava. "The U.S. has briefed on an approach which has a number of phases, which, if and when the final phase were to be put in place, based on circumstance and technological development, would provide full coverage for Europe," James Appathurai said. It also could include participation by any NATO ally, he said. NATO has been developing its own plans for defense against short- to medium-range missiles and has in the past cooperated with Russia to ensure such systems can work with each other. It had been considering moves to complement the scrapped U.S. system to extend the area it would have protected. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier the new U.S. approach would involve NATO to a much greater degree in establishment of missile defense. "I highly appreciate that. I think it is in full accordance with the principle of solidarity within the alliance and the indivisibility of security in Europe," he said. He said closer integration on missile defense would be a positive step and in the interests of "our eastern allies within the NATO alliance." Poland and the Czech Republic are among the states of eastern and central Europe which joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia had been angered by U.S. plans to station an anti-missile system in those countries. Dropping that plan should ease efforts by both NATO and the United States to boost security ties with Russia, which Rasmussen again said was a priority for the alliance.

The NATO chief is due to deliver a speech in Brussels on Friday in which he plans to propose concrete steps to improve NATO's ties with Moscow, which soured as a result of the alliance's eastward expansion and Moscow's military intervention into Georgia last year.

DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed

DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed

*Source: DTN News / POLITICO

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, DC - September 11, 2009: Supporters of basing a U.S. missile defense system in Europe are trying to determine whether the words “under review” mean “all but dead.” A Standard Missile-3 is launched from the guided-missile destroyer Hopper on July 30 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The Obama administration is expected to wrap up its examination of the nation’s ballistic missile defense programs this month, including the controversial proposal to place a missile defense system in Europe that NATO and some governments there embrace over the strong opposition of their citizens. While arms control advocates are eager for President Barack Obama to end the effort that was a signature defense initiative of President George W. Bush, they’re reluctant to read too much into a trail of actions that seem to point toward canceling the program, which calls for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic. “Certainly the Bush administration was very enthusiastic, and the Obama administration is less so,” said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World. He didn’t mince words about his own preference: “I hope they kill the system.” Defense industry insiders also are reading tea leaves and largely coming away with a feeling of doom. Here are a few reasons why: • The initial outpouring of love for European missile defense from the administration, the military and supporters in Congress has dried up. Even its biggest boosters have fallen silent. Shortly after a Polish newspaper reported the U.S. would not proceed with the European sites, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley dismissed the article as “inaccurate.” Later, Marine Gen. James Jones, national security adviser, sought to reassure Polish officials about America’s “firm and unwavering commitment to Poland’s security and defense.” For defense contractors, a commitment to Poland’s security is a far cry from putting U.S. missiles on the country’s soil. The Pentagon’s brass, including Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, the former Missile Defense Agency director, used to be the missile program’s biggest backers. But during a recent Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala., the new powers-that-be at the Pentagon — including Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency — didn’t mention European missile defense. Not once. “For those generals not to mention it, when they have every year for the last five or six years — they’re not going there,” said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, who attended the conference. And even champions on Capitol Hill, such as Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), have gone quiet, a defense lobbyist pointed out. • Instead of continuing discussions about Bush’s plans for European missile defense, Pentagon officials are focusing on other options for defending Europe against missile attacks, such as combining sea-based Aegis destroyers with land-based missiles under development. In the past year, the Navy has wholeheartedly embraced sea-based missile defense, setting up a new Air and Missile Defense Command in Dahlgren, Va., and adjusting its weapons investments accordingly. Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, laid the groundwork last year when he opted to stop making a next-generation destroyer in favor of outfitting an older model with a missile defense capability: the DDG-51. This year, the Navy is stepping up that effort, and Roughead has said the Navy could retrofit the entire fleet of Arleigh Burke destroyers with missile defense systems.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26938.html#ixzz0QkmkUFTa

DTN News: U.S. Stance Toward Russia Again Divides Europe

DTN News: U.S. Stance Toward Russia Again Divides Europe

*Source: DTN News / The New York Times By Judy Dempsey

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - September 11, 2009: Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, new fissures are emerging between Western and Eastern Europe — this time over President Obama’s policy toward Russia, according to an international survey published Wednesday. The survey, Transatlantic Trends, an annual poll of European and American public opinion conducted for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, found that Europeans, far from speaking with one voice on foreign policy issues, are divided over the role of the United States and how to respond to the growing assertiveness of Russia. The report also revealed big differences among the East Europeans themselves over their attitudes on the United States and Russia. (Image: A German police officer watched President Obama’s helicopter arrive in Baden-Baden in April.) During the closing years of the Bush administration, the trans-Atlantic relationship, including European support for the United States-led NATO military alliance, had reached a low in opinion polls. After Mr. Obama’s first half year in office, he has “nearly reversed the collapse in public support for the United States,” the report says. About 77 percent of respondents in the European Union and Turkey supported Mr. Obama’s handling of international affairs — a quadrupling of support compared with opinions of the Bush administration. But in Eastern Europe, more than 60 percent of respondents said they were skeptical about Mr. Obama’s foreign policy, especially regarding Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East. And just over half of the respondents in that part of Europe said they saw the United States in a positive light, compared with 63 percent of West Europeans. The difference among individual European Union countries is even greater. In France, President Obama’s popularity is 77 percentage points higher than President George W. Bush’s rating. Yet in Romania and Poland, Mr. Obama’s popularity over Mr. Bush is just 14 percentage points and 11 percentage points, respectively. Even more striking, only 25 percent of Central and East Europeans said they believed that relations between the United States and Europe had improved under Mr. Obama, compared with 43 percent of West Europeans. The survey says the disparity between Eastern and Western Europe could be attributed to the fact that the Bush administration embraced Eastern Europe by encouraging NATO’s enlargement in 2004 and that it took a more aggressive stance toward Russia. The Bush administration also proposed placing the Pentagon’s antiballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move that was strongly opposed by Russia and several West European nations. It was staunchly supported by most East European countries because they saw the shield as a defense against Russia, not missiles from Iran. The Europeans are still divided over how to deal with Russia, particularly regarding the issue of whether to further enlarge NATO — which Russia opposes — and the European Union’s growing dependence on Russia for its energy. Yet the survey found that even those divisions are complicated. “The popular image of a Russia-phobic Central and Eastern Europe and a more Russia-friendly Western Europe was not found in Transatlantic Trends 2009 data,” the report says. On economic issues, the report says that 43 percent of Americans supported closer economic ties with the European Union, compared with 37 percent of the population in the European bloc. Majorities all over Europe are worried about Russia as an energy provider. But when respondents were asked if they would abandon certain Western alliance policies, like NATO enlargement, to secure energy supplies from Russia, only 28 percent of East Europeans said they would consider that, compared with 41 percent of West Europeans. The Transatlantic Trends survey included random samples of approximately 1,000 adults in the United States and 12 European countries — Portugal, Spain, Germany, Britain, France, Turkey, the Netherlands, Romania, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia — from June 9 to July 1. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points in each of the 13 countries surveyed.

DTN News: Bolivia Looks To China, Brazil To Buy Combat Aircraft

DTN News: Bolivia Looks To China, Brazil To Buy Combat Aircraft

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) LA PAZ, Bolivia - September 1, 2009: Bolivia is looking to buy six combat aircraft from China or Brazil after the U.S. blocked the sale of Czech planes, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said in remarks published Monday. The L159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA) was developed by Aero Vodochody to meet the Czech Air Force operational requirements for a light multi-role combat aircraft. The aircraft has been developed in the single-seat L159A and two-seat L159B versions. The Czech Air Force ordered 72 L159A aircraft and the first was delivered in April 2000. All 72 were delivered by the end of 2003. The L159B completed its first flight in June 2002 and the Czech Air Force has ordered two aircraft. Aero Vodochody was owned 50% by the Czech Government and 35% by the Boeing Company. However in October 2004, Boeing withdrew from the company. In November 2005, the Czech Government announced that the company was to be privatised and, in October 2006, was sold to Penta Investments AS. The L159 ALCA is based on the proven airframe design and aerodynamic configuration of the L39 Albatros and L59 family of basic and advanced jet trainers, and incorporates a high-performance military turbofan engine, advanced avionics and sensors. The operational capabilities of the aircraft include close air support, tactical reconnaissance, air defence, counter insurgency, border patrol, anti-ship missions, and lead-in fighter and weapons training. "They could be Chinese or they could be Super Tucanos from Brazil, one or the other," San Miguel was quoted as saying an in interview with the newspaper La Razon. He provided few details on the status of negotiations with either country. The government of leftist President Evo Morales last year tried to buy six L-159 ALCA two-seater light combat aircraft, made with U.S. components, from the Czech Republic for $58 million. But Morales disclosed last month that the sale had been vetoed by Washington. Bolivia also has been negotiating to buy arms and equipment from Russia worth about $100 million, including an Antonov aircraft for presidential travel outside the country.

DTN News: US Considers Alternative To Europe Missile Sites ~ Report

DTN News: US Considers Alternative To Europe Missile Sites ~ Report

*Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - August 31, 2009: The US government has developed possible alternative plans for a missile defense shield that could drop proposed missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, The New York Times reported Saturday. Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the change would please Russia and Germany but could sour relations with US allies in Eastern Europe. Barack Obama administration officials said they hoped to complete their months-long review of the planned antimissile system as early as next month, possibly in time for Obama to present ideas to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting in New York during the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, the report said. But they cautioned that no decisions had been made and that all options were still under discussion, the paper noted. The Obama review team plans to present a menu of options rather than a single recommendation to a committee of senior national security officials in the coming weeks, The Times said. Only after that would the matter go to cabinet-rank officials and the president. The paper said that among the alternatives are dropping either the Polish or Czech site, or both sites, and instead building launching pads or radar installations in Turkey or the Balkans, while developing land-based versions of the Aegis SM-3, a ship-based anti-missile system. Officials said the changes would be intended not to mollify Russia, but to adjust to what they see as an accelerating threat from shorter-range Iranian missiles, according to the report. People following the review, including anxious officials in Eastern Europe, said they thought that the administration was preparing to abandon the Polish and Czech sites, The Times noted. "It is clear that Eastern Europe is out of the epicenter of this American administration," the paper quoted Piotr Paszkowski, a spokesman for Poland’s foreign minister, as saying. "The missile defense system is now under review. The chances that it will be in Poland are 50-50."

DTN News: U.S. To Relocate Missile Defense System

DTN News: U.S. To Relocate Missile Defense System *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) WARSAW, Poland, - August 28, 2009: Washington may relocate the controversial missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe to the Balkans, Turkey or Israel, a Polish newspaper reports. The U.S. plan included 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. That plan will almost certainly be scrapped, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Washington is now looking for alternative locations including in the Balkans, Israel and Turkey, the daily says, citing U.S. administration officials and lobbyists based in Washington. "The signals that the generals in the Pentagon are sending are absolutely clear: as far as missile defense is concerned, the current U.S. administration is searching for other solutions than the previously bases in Poland and the Czech Republic," Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a Washington-based lobby group, told the newspaper. The system, meant to be ready by 2013, was aimed at defending the United States and its allies in Europe against nuclear attacks from rogue states such as Iran. The Kremlin, however, says the planned location in Eastern Europe is compromising Russia's national security and a further sign of NATO's eastward expansion. Russia believes the alliance has turned from a security coalition into a geopolitical tool used by the United States to increase its political and economic clout in Eastern Europe. Washington had promised to alleviate Russia's concerns and integrate Moscow in the system as much as possible, with proposals having included stationing Russian officers at the sites to monitor them. However, no cooperation ever materialized. U.S. President Barack Obama has shaken up foreign policy and tried to improve ties with the Kremlin. He has previously signaled a willingness to talk about the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had already struck deals with Warsaw in 2008. U.S.-Russian relations were challenged on several other fronts over the past years, with differences over human rights, the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo and last year's Russian-Georgian war.

DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October

DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) BALASHIKHA (Moscow Region) - August 8, 2009: A radar station in the southern Russian town of Armavir will become fully operational in October-November as part of the country's missile warning system, a military official said on Thursday. "The station will be put into operation...in October-November this year," said Gen. Nikolai Abroskin, head of the Federal Agency for Special Construction, which builds radar sites and space launch centers. The station is currently operating in a test mode. The Armavir radar has been built to monitor any potential missile attacks in the south and southeast of Russia in place of the early warning facilities in Mukachevo in western Ukraine and Sevastopol in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Russia terminated a 1997 agreement with Kiev on the use of both Ukrainian radars in February 2008 on the grounds that they had become obsolete. With an effective range of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) the Voronezh-type radar has capabilities similar to its predecessors, the Dnepr and Daryal, which are currently deployed outside Russia, but uses less energy and is more environmentally friendly. Russia has offered the U.S. use of radar stations at Armavir and Gabala in Azerbaijan as alternatives to a planned U.S. missile shield deployment in Central Europe, which Moscow has fiercely opposed as a security threat. Washington has since shown little interest in the Russian proposal, but with the arrival of a new administration, led by President Barack Obama, has frozen its plans to open a missile interceptor base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. During his visit to Moscow in July, Obama pledged to consider Russia's concerns and review the U.S.'s European shield plans.

DTN News: European Missile Shield Not Set In Stone ~ Pentagon Says

DTN News: European Missile Shield Not Set In Stone ~ Pentagon Says

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 16, 2009: A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Obama administration may be open to tweaking its plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe.

The missile shield, proposed under President Bush to counter a threat from Iran, would locate 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a series of missile radar sensors in the Czech Republic.

The move has long angered Moscow, which perceives the development of the missile shield in its backyard as a hawkish move on the part of the US. Meanwhile, American officials have long maintained that the missile system is designed to defend the region against an Iranian missile threat.

But Mr. Obama has said that differences between Moscow and Washington over the European missile-defense system may be worked out through compromise.

That could mean that the architecture or location of the missile-defense system could look different if it is ever completed.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said that alternatives to the current plan are under consideration as part of an overall review of ballistic missile defense.

General O'Reilly says the US would work "very closely" with the Polish and Czech governments to make any potential changes to the current plan. "There would not be any surprise," he told reporters.For their part, the legislatures of Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to ratify the plan.

Obama has said the US review should be complete by the end of summer. It will look at "different courses of action," O'Reilly added Tuesday.

American officials could alter the current plan that relies on the ground-based interceptors in Poland, potentially exchanging them for sea-based interceptors or other kinds of missile-defense technology, defense officials said.

But critics of the plan say the issue goes beyond technology to the more fundamental issue of arms control.

"Missile defense has always been an issue for a small cadre of ultraconservative, ultraparanoid people who see the threat of ballistic missiles from places like Iran as a real threat to US security interests," says Chris Hellman, an analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington.

Recent saber rattling by North Korea has brought missile defense to the fore, forcing the Obama administration to grapple with the European missile-defense plan.So far, Obama has resisted the effort to link negotiations about the missile-defense system to arms-control talks. He has said he believes the US and Russia can find common ground in defending against missile strikes from a "third source" - namely Iran.

"I think we can arrive at those kinds of understandings, but it's going to take some hard work because it requires breaking down some long-standing suspicions," Obama said at a news conference with President Medvedev July 6 in Moscow.

Obama and Russian Mr. Medvedev issued a joint statement July 6 indicating the two countries were prepared to work with one another on missile defense.

Obama has said he wishes to "reset" US-Russian relations that have, he has said, "suffered from a sense of drift."

DTN News: NATO Air Defense Drills Begin In The Baltics

DTN News: NATO Air Defense Drills Begin In The Baltics

*Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) TALLINN, Estonia - July 15, 2009: NATO states will start in the Baltic states on Tuesday a series of air defense exercises involving Czech fighter jets, the Estonian Defense Ministry said. The two-day drills are focused on improving air interoperability and developing NATO air forces' capabilities in defending the air space over the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The exercises will involve four Czech JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets, based at the Lithuanian Siauliai Air Base, and a U.S. C-130 Hercules military transport plane. The exercises are a continuation of NATO's air policing drills, held last October and this April. NATO's air policing is one of the key aspects of common security and defense for the Alliance. In the case of the three Baltic states, the alliance rotates air policing capabilities. The Czech Air Force took over Baltic air policing from the Royal Danish Air Force on May 1. At the end of its leg, the Czech Republic will hand over the NATO mission to the German Air Force later this year. A NATO agreement on airspace security over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is set to expire in 2011, and the three countries are currently pushing for the agreement to be extended to 2018.

DTN News: President Obama Retreats On Third-Site Missile Defenses

DTN News: President Obama Retreats On Third-Site Missile Defenses *Source: DTN News / The Heritage Foundation by Sally McNamara WebMemo #2529 (click for link)

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 9, 2009: On his first presidential visit to Moscow this week, Barack Obama continued to cast doubt on U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Since taking office, President Obama has conditioned his support for the "third site" deployment of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic on a number of factors--its workability, its cost-effectiveness, and the provability of an Iranian nuclear threat. On a visit to Prague in April, President Obama gave a keynote speech focusing on total nuclear disarmament whereby missile defenses would be completely unnecessary. Following revelations in April that President Obama "secretly" offered Moscow a grand bargain whereby it would sacrifice the third site in exchange for Moscow's help discouraging Iran's nuclear program, President Obama has seemingly gone out of his way to back away from the missile defense deal, which was concluded with Prague and Warsaw in the final months of the Bush Administration. This week's Obama-Medvedev summit has reinforced the message that the third site remains a bargaining chip that can be played at the President's will in exchange for achieving his higher profile political agenda items such as strategic arms reductions. Constitutionally mandated to ratify or reject treaties, the U.S. Senate should make clear to President Obama that it will not sacrifice missile defense in exchange for a new treaty with Russia reducing strategic nuclear weapons. Will He or Won't He? President Obama's commitment to negotiating a new strategic arms treaty with Russia before the expiration of the current START treaty this December has topped his political agenda. Although missile defense has not yet been officially incorporated into the negotiations for the new treaty, Russia has made it quite clear that the issues are interlinked and that it will not separate these agenda items. President Medvedev stated that the new treaty must be linked specifically with Moscow's objections to the third-site deployments. President Obama has offered to "discuss" both offensive and defensive weapons systems in the context of the new treaty. By investing so much political capital in a new treaty and fudging uncomfortable issues such as missile defense, President Obama risks having to sacrifice this vital aspect of U.S. national security in order to advance the negotiations. Further, he has repeatedly sent the message that the third-site deployment is not important to him. At best, President Obama has been deliberately vague with regard to the third site; at worst, he is simply looking for a way out, while keen to avoid the accusation that he has caved in to Russian pressure. However, it has become increasingly obvious that the third-site deployment is a red-line issue for Moscow and that President Obama will have to choose between abandoning its Central and Eastern European allies and U.S. national security interests and appeasing Russian aggression on this issue. The Third Site Is Workable and Cost-Effective President Obama and his Administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, have repeatedly hinged the Administration's support for deployment of U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic on the proven workability of the ground-based system. This caveat, however, has already been satisfied--missile defense technology already works. In a December 2008 test, the Missile Defense Agency performed a successful interception and destruction of an incoming ballistic missile. In September 2007, the U.S. missile defense system destroyed the mock warhead of a long-range missile. Since 2001, 37 of 46 "hit-to-kill" missile defense tests have been successful. As General Trey Obering, former director of the Missile Defense Agency, states in The Heritage Foundation's 33 Minutes documentary, "Our testing has shown not only can we hit a bullet with a bullet; we can hit a spot on a bullet with a bullet." Alternatives to the third site include the deployment of sea-based or mobile theater-based missile defense systems. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has stated that these alternatives do not provide a level of defense comparable to that of the third site. The CBO states: "None of the alternatives considered by CBO provide as much additional defense of the United States." The report also found that the estimated $9-14 billion 20-year cost of the third site was half of the estimated costs of a ship-based alternative. The Third Site Is Urgently Needed The negative implications for the security of the United States, its forward-deployed troops, and its allies in Europe should not be underestimated in the event that the third site is abandoned. The violence meted out to its own people in the wake of rigged elections illustrates the repressive and belligerent nature of the Iranian regime, which has continued developing its nuclear and missile programs regardless of international pressure. On May 20, Iran successfully test-fired the Sajjil 2 solid-fuel missile, which has a 1,200-1,500 mile range, putting Israel within Tehran's reach. Israel's Space Research Center also reports that Iran intends to accelerate its production of even longer-range ballistic missiles and their delivery systems in the near future. And in April, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center stated that Iran could develop a missile capable of reaching the United States as early as 2015. President Obama is determined to negotiate with Iran--a strategy that is so far failing--and work closely with Moscow in seeking to persuade Tehran away from its nuclear and missile proliferation programs. However, it would be dangerous not to employ other strategies simultaneously, including missile defenses, stronger sanctions, and preparations for the potential use of force against Iran's nuclear facilities. Ultimately, Moscow may not work with Washington to disarm Iran and may even work against American interests. It is important, therefore, that President Obama has alternate options. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has described Iran's pursuit of a nuclear bomb as a ticking clock--and time is not on President Obama's side. The CBO report states that alternate options to the third site may not be available as early as its estimated 2013 timeframe. Considering the time necessary to complete ratification of the treaties in Poland and the Czech Republic, appropriate the funds necessary for its construction from Congress, and physically construct the installations, the Obama Administration must press forward with the deployment of the third site sooner rather than later. The Third Site: Critical to U.S. National Security Departing Moscow with a tentative agreement on strategic arms control that will severely limit America's delivery systems as well as its strategic stockpiles, Obama has given away far more than he gained. He cannot afford to give away missile defense too. The deployment of U.S. missile defenses in Europe has become a critical matter for Moscow, which is determined to have a sphere of privileged interest in its near-abroad. Since Russia's invasion of Georgia in August 2008 and its subsequent annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Moscow has yet to face any serious consequences for its actions. For the sake of U.S. national security and to prevent another dangerous geopolitical setback in Russia's neighborhood, President Obama must make it clear that he supports the deployment of missile defenses to Poland and the Czech Republic and seek full funding of these sites from Congress. Sally McNamara is a Senior Policy Analyst in European Affairs at The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. She would like to thank Nicholas Connor, intern at the Thatcher Center, for his assistance in preparing this paper.

DTN News: Germany TODAY June 10, 2009 - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer On Official Visit In Berlin

DTN News: Germany TODAY June 10, 2009 - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer On Official Visit In Berlin

*Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - June 10, 2009: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, the EU's current president, inspect a military honor guard on June 9, 2009 in front of the Chancellery in Berlin (in background can be seen the cupola of the Reichstag building housing the Bundestag, lower house of parliaments). They met for bilateral talks.

DTN News: Russia - No Nuclear Cuts If US Unclear On Missile Defence

DTN News: Russia - No Nuclear Cuts If US Unclear On Missile Defence (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - June 6, 2009: Russia's military on Friday warned the US that it would not reduce its nuclear arsenal until Washington made clear whether or not it would go ahead with a controversial missile shield in Central Europe. The comments by the country's top general exposed a potential hitch as the two sides hold talks on replacing a key Cold War-era nuclear arms reduction treaty by the end of the year. "While the situation in the world is unclear, including concerning the missile defence system, we will not touch our nuclear potential," Russian news agencies quoted the army's chief of staff Nikolai Makarov as saying. Makarov was referring to the US plan to install missile defence facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland, which Moscow insists is a threat to its security even though Washington says it is directed against Iran. The plan was initiated by the previous US administration of George W. Bush but President Barack Obama has pledged to press ahead with the missile shield but indicated he could drop the project if Iran is no longer deemed a nuclear threat. "We will be making practically no changes to the Russian strategic missile forces," added Makarov. "Strategic nuclear forces are a sacred question for us and we will give them as many resources as required to preserve stability in the world and keep it at an appropriate level," he added. The announcement from Makarov comes as Russia and the United States hold talks aimed at cutting their nuclear arsenals and finding a successor a 1991 treaty due to expire at the end of the year. The Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Russian foreign ministry as saying the latest talks on replacing the treaty had been "constructive". The confidential negotiations are meant to feed in to a summit between Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on July 6-8 that is expected to push forward improving ties. The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, commits both sides to deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals. It expires on December 5. The United States and Russia also have the more recent Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty signed in 2002, which went further than START with lower caps on the total deployment of warheads. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that "unchecked proliferation of nuclear weapons threatens all mankind" and that both Russia and the United States were aware of their responsibility to other nations as nuclear powers. A senior Russian diplomat said this week that Moscow was still awaiting a "concretisation" of signals from the US on the missile shield, which he said Russia still deemed "an unnecessary complication in bilateral relations." Ties between Russia and the United States plunged to a post-Cold War low in the last months of the Bush presidency after Moscow's war with Georgia but the tone has improved drastically since Obama came to power. Makarov also complained that the Georgian armed forces were now better equipped with weapons and military hardware than they were in the August war. He added that Russia would also carry out large-scale military exercises in its neighbour Belarus in September.

Czech Republic Acquires Four C-295 Military Transport Aircraft From Airbus Military

Czech Republic Acquires Four C-295 Military Transport Aircraft From Airbus Military

(NSI News Source Info) MADRID - May 13, 2009: The Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic has signed an agreement for the acquisition of four C-295 military transport aircraft from Airbus Military. The agreement extends to logistical support.

The Czech Air Force will receive its first Casa C-295 by the end of the year, with the other three to follow in 2010. (Airbus Military imagery)

These aircraft will replace the former fleet of Antonov An-26 aircraft. The first aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2009 and the last before the end of 2010.

With these four aircraft, the order book for C-295 aircraft totals 72 units. This model is owned by nations such as Poland, Finland, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Jordan and Spain, among others.

The C-295 is a multipurpose aircraft used in humanitarian missions, deployment of rapid reaction forces, maritime surveillance and homeland security worldwide. More than 250 CN-235/C-295 currently in service have proved their quality and operating range in the hardest conditions, over the deserts in the Middle East or the more inhospitable polar regions, in humanitarian aid missions, or to evacuate catastrophic areas or military areas such as Bosnia or Afghanistan, within the OTAN operational framework.

These two models add up more than one million flights.

The C-295 is the latest development of Airbus Military medium weight tactical transport aircraft family. Versatile, robust and with the lowest life cycle cost (LCC) of any aircraft in its category, the twin turboprop (2 x Pratt & Whitney PW127G, 2,645 shp)

C-295 is capable of carrying out a wide range of missions with maximum efficacy. The C-295 can carry 71 troops or 49 paratroops + one jumpmaster. Loading options include five MIL STD 88”x108” 463L pallets or up to ten 88”x54” pallets. The max cruise speed is 260 kts (480 km/h). Max TOW is 51,150 lb (23.2 ton). Basic dimensions (approx.) are 85 ft (26 m) wingspan, 80 ft (24.5 m) length, and 28 ft (8.7 m) height.

Airbus is an EADS company.