Tuesday, January 03, 2012

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contract Dated January 3, 2012


DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contract  Dated January 3, 2012



(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 3, 2012: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued January 3, 2012 are undermentioned;


 CONTRACTS
AIR FORCE
            Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a $25,823,405 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract.  This effort will continue to improve the Multi-Spectral Targeting System-B and build the advancements made with the original delivery order.  A primary focus of this effort is to improve the system imaging from standard definition to high definition.  The location of performance is the Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas.  Work is expected to be completed Jan. 31, 2013.  ASC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-06-G-4041 001202). 

           
 L-3 Communications Corp., Camden, N.J., is being awarded a $25,683,928 cost-plus-award-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract.  This contract modification is for the Modernized User Equipment (MUE) completion effort.  This effort corrects MUE receiver card deficiencies that were identified during Functional Qualification Test, in order for the receiver cards to comply with contract requirements.  This effort also implements updated MUE interface control documents, adds functionality to delivered Military-Code (M-Code) GPS receivers to provide additional military utility, and increases performance design margin in functions within receivers for future M-Code receiver developments.  The location of the performance is L-3 Communications Systems Co./Interstate Electronics Corp., Anaheim, Calif.  Work is expected to be completed by July 26, 2013.  SMC/GPK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8807-06-C-0003, P00088). 

            Boeing Co., Seal Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $23,881,830 cost-plus-award-fee contract.  This contract modification will exercise the option for calendar year 2012 maintenance and operations services to provide the requirements for the development and delivery of the logistics infrastructure for the Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 System.  The two locations of the performance are Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo. (70 percent), and The Boeing Co., Intelligence and Security Systems Division, Colorado Spring, Colo. (30 percent).  The performance is expected to be completed Jan. 1, 2012.  SMC/PKS, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8819-08-C-0006/ P00045). 

            Raytheon Technical Services Co., Dulles, Va., is being awarded a $14,046,412 firm-fixed-price contract.  This procurement of the radar operations and maintenance services will ensure the availability of the Cobra Dane’s radar facility to collect on 100 percent of the tasked data collection opportunities that pass through its field of view.  The location of the performance is Falls Church, Va.  Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2015.  AFRISA/A7KRB, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA7022-11-C-0010/P00005).

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DTN News - IRAN NUCLEAR FACTORS: France Says Iran Still Developing Nuclear Arms

DTN News - IRAN NUCLEAR FACTORS: France Says Iran Still Developing Nuclear Arms
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 3,  2012: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that Iran was continuing to develop nuclear weapons and called for stronger sanctions against Tehran.

"Iran is pursuing the development of its nuclear arms, I have no doubt about it," he told French television I-Tele. "The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is quite explicit on this point."

"This is why France, without closing the path of negotiation and dialogue with Iran, wants stricter sanctions," he added.

He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed a freezing of assets of Iran's central bank and an embargo on exports of Iranian oil, a move also being considered by the European Union.
Tensions have risen in recent days after Iran -- which insists its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes -- test-fired a series of missiles near the key Gulf oil supply route of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has no long-range missiles, a Russian defence official said Tuesday in Moscow's first response to the series of missile tests conducted by Tehran.

"Iran does not have the technology to create intermediate or long-range inter-continental ballistic missiles," defence ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told the Interfax news agency.

"And it will not get such missiles any time soon," he added.

Iran reported testing three missiles close to the Gulf oil-transit waterway on Monday amid preparations by Western powers to impose more economic sanctions over Tehran's nuclear drive.

Two of the missiles can fly a maximum 200 kilometres (120 miles), generally considered short-range weapons, although the Iranian media and a navy spokesman described one of them as "long-range".

The other, a Nasr anti-ship missile, had a shorter range of 35 kilometres.

Russia has relatively close ties with Iran and built its first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr. Moscow has also delivered the nuclear fuel for the reactor.

Moscow has echoed Western concerns about the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme but has stopped short of publicly accusing Tehran of seeking atomic weapons and always said that the standoff should be solved by diplomacy.

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP
*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

Monday, January 02, 2012

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Why Indian Pilot Training Is So Dangerous

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Why Indian Pilot Training Is So Dangerous
Analysis: Internationally, a project for one year takes ten fold longer in India. Decisions are taken at a snail pace and time is wasted on unneccessary red tape bureaucracy. Defense procurement system is politically corrupt, as an example urgently needed Hawk Mk132 advanced jet trainers for Indian Air Force, which took 30 odd years to acquire at the cost of hundreds of young Indian Air Force pilots life. India is the largest democratically governed country in the world as is an examplery system for other nations to follow suit, but at the same time the system is a curse with too many voices and noises, NO ACTION. India should have for some period a system of administration similar to China, which is straightfoward with no two way decision making that would benefit for the betterment of the country at large. (DTN Defense-Technology News)
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Pages
 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 2,  2012: The Indian defense procurement bureaucracy has struck again. Despite over a decade of pressure from the Indian Air Force to obtain new trainers, new basic flight training aircraft have still not been obtained. As a result, trainee pilots are only getting 25 hours of flight time before going off to train on a specific type of aircraft (fighter, transport, helicopter). These trainees are supposed to get 75 hours before moving up to the advanced trainers and service aircraft. This problem has been building for years.

For example, back in 2009 the Indian Air Force shut down its acrobatics team, so that the aircraft they use (which are basically trainers) could be transferred to pilot flight training units, which were desperately short of flyable trainer aircraft. India's fleet of training aircraft is quite old and increasingly prone to breakdowns and crashes.

India has long put off buying new trainers. There are actually three different trainer aircraft types pilots use during their training. The HPT-32 is used for primary flight training. Intermediate training uses the Kiran Mark II and then the Hawk Jet Trainer is used for advanced training for fighter pilots. After that, the pilots are sent to combat units where they learn how to operate a specific type of combat aircraft. But in 2009, all 116 HPT 32 basic trainers had to be grounded because of age related problems. HPT reliability has gone done even more since then. The HPT 32 entered service three decades ago, and there have been over a hundred serious accidents, killing 23 instructor and trainee pilots. Because of the HPT 32 problems, the 96 Kiran Mk1 intermediate trainers had to increasingly be used for both basic and intermediate training. These aircraft are being worn out, but even then, most pilot trainees are only getting a third of the required hours before being moved along in their flight training.

The air force has finally received permission to buy 75 Pilatus PC 7 single engine turboprop trainers to replace the HPT 32s. While the HPT-32 was designed and manufactured in India, the Swiss Pilatus is seen as a better buy. The PC 7 is a two seat, 2.7 ton aircraft. The instructor sits behind the trainee and both have an ejection seat. Nearly 500 PC 7s have been built in the last three decades and they are used by 24 nations.

India has also had problems with advanced trainers. For a long time, new pilots went straight from propeller driven trainer aircraft to high performance jets like the MiG-21. This was made worse by the fact that the MiG-21 has always been a tricky aircraft to fly. This resulted in a high loss rate from peacetime accidents. The solution to this was a new jet trainer. But it took decades for this proposal to make its way through the defense procurement bureaucracy.

Three years ago, India decided to buy another 40 British Hawk jet trainers. Seven years ago, after two decades of effort, BAE Systems finally sold 66 Hawk jet trainers to India, at a cost of some $25 million each. The delays were caused by the Indian unwillingness to spend the money, plus the efforts of French, Russian, Czech, and American aircraft manufacturers to put forward their own candidates. Finally, the growing number of Indian MiG-21 aircraft lost forced the government to close the deal. The Hawk advanced jet trainers are the most successful Western aircraft of this type, at least in terms of sales (over 900 have been sold). The US Navy uses the Hawk and India felt the Hawk was the most suitable for training MiG-21 pilots. The nine ton aircraft are used to train pilots who will eventually fly jet fighters. The Hawk can also be armed and used for ground attack.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Pages  
*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