DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canada To Consider Buying Other Combat Aircraft Than American-Made F-35 Fighter
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS/AP (NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 16, 2012: Canada is considering buying fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-35's because of escalating costs associated with Lockheed Martin's (LMT) troubled Joint Strike Fighter program, the country's defense minister said Wednesday.
Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government needs to ensure a balance between military and taxpayer interests.
MacKay said Canada needs to have all viable options on the table to replace the current fleet of 1980s-vintage CF-18s, which the government says will reach the end of their projected service life around 2020.
He reiterated that Canada wants to buy 65 jets for about $9 billion. But escalating costs and delays have dogged the F-35, which is now the most expensive U.S. Department of Defense procurement program ever.
A KPMG report says the lifetime cost of Canada owning 65 F-35's is estimated at $45.8 billion over 42 years.
MacKay had previously said it would buy the F-35, but the government never signed a binding contract. The government has since come under pressure because of ballooning costs and because other bids were not considered. An independent panel will consider a new range of options.
The government acknowledged Wednesday it could still buy the F-35. Other planes that could be considered include Boeing's (BA) Super Hornet or the European consortium made Eurofighter Typhoon jet.
Japan has said it may cancel its plans to buy dozens of the F-35s and Australia has said that to cut costs it is pushing back delivery of most of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The Netherlands has also said it will trim its order.
The next-generation fighter is set to become the centerpiece of U.S. and allied air forces. Canada is a funding partner in developing the Joint Strike Fighter. Most of the funding comes from the United States, while Australia, Turkey, Britain, Italy, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are also funding partners.
“The MiG corporation…has started deliveries ofupgraded MiG-29UPG fighter jetsto the Indian Air Force,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
“The first three aircraft have been transported to India on board an AN-124 heavy-lift transport plane,” the statement said.
The IAF has awarded the MiG corporation a $900 million contract to upgrade all of its 69 operational MiG-29s.
These upgrades include a new avionics kit, with the N-109 radar being replaced by a Phazatron Zhuk-M radar. The aircraft is also being equipped to enhance beyond-visual-range combat ability and for air-to-air refueling to increase flying time.
The service life of the modernized aircraft has been extended to 40 years.
The first six aircraft are upgraded in Russia while the remaining 63 will be refitted at the HAL facility in India.
In 2007, Russia gave India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) a license to manufacture 120 RD-33 series 3 turbojet engines for the upgrade.
“We are getting ready to carry out the work on the second part of the contract, which stipulates the modernization of the [MiG-29] aircraft in India in close cooperation with the Indian defense industry,” the MiG press service said.
DTN News - DISPUTED EAST CHINA SEA REGION SENKAKU / DIAOYU ISLANDS: Japan Accuses China of Violating Airspace • The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been a long-standing source of territorial dispute. • The purchase of the islands by the Japanese government earlier this year from private Japanese owners set off massive anti-Japanese rallies in China. • China and Japan account for almost one-fifth of global GDP. Their two-way trade exceeds more than $340 billion a year
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 14, 2012: Japan has accused China of violating its airspace for the first time after a Chinese plane flew near the East China Sea islands claimed by both. Japan scrambled fighter jets after the plane was seen around 11:00 local time (02:00 GMT) near one of the islands, spokesman Osamu Fujimura said. Japan lodged an immediate protest with Beijing, he said. The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been a long-standing source of territorial dispute. Beijing said its Chinese Oceanic Administration plane was carrying out a normal operation. Japan's Defense Agency said four F-15 jets headed to the area Thursday morning, but the Chinese plane, a Y-12, a nonmilitary type of aircraft, had flown off by the time they got there. The purchase of the islands by the Japanese government earlier this year from private Japanese owners set off massive anti-Japanese rallies in China.
North Korea's first successful launch of a three-stage, long-range rocket has outraged world leaders who consider it similar to a missile capable of attacking the United States, Europe and other far-away targets.
Footage from North Korean TV shows the launch of a long-range rocket sending a satellite into space on Wednesday. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, strongly condemns the launch and expresses concern that it could negatively impact prospects for ...
The Washington Post's Dana Milbank and former U.S. ambassador Marc Ginsberg tackle the two fresh foreign policy problems for President Obama - both involving missile launches - North Korea'snuclear provocation and Syria's civil war. Share This: ...
WASHINGTON - The United States and its Asian allies began an effort on Wednesday to impose additional sanctions on North Korea after its largely successful rocket launching, but this time Washington added a warning to China: Failure to rein in Kim ...
That's bad for North Koreans, who suffer from harsh deprivation caused by a brutal regime, and for the region, which must once again try to manage North Korea's aggressive behavior. The country's young leader, Kim Jong-un, has given his people ...
The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea for launching a rocket in defiance of a UN ban. Calling the launch "a clear violation of Security Council resolutions", the council said it would consider an "appropriate response".
This image from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows the long-range rocket Unha-3 as seen at a satellite control center prior to Wednesday's successful launch.
Developments in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs: - Aug. 31, 1998: North Koreafires suspected missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, calling it a satellite.
North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un has got the most votes in Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' online poll, with the publication's readers preferring him over pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Pakistani education advocate Malala ...
PYONGYANG, North Korea - A satellite North Korea launched aboard a long-range rocket is orbiting normally, South Korean officials said Thursday, following a defiant liftoff that drew a wave of international condemnation.
North Korea announced Wednesday that it launched a long-range rocket, which it says put a weather satellite into orbit. North Korean state media called the launch a "groundbreaking" mission that met the "last instructions" of Pyongyang's late leader ...
“It is highly regrettable that North Korea chose to take this course in flagrant violation of its international obligations,” Nuland said at the press briefing.
Hours after it successfully launched a long-rage rocket into space, North Korea has released raw footage of technicians tracking the rocket's orbit from the North Korean mission control center outside the capital Pyongyang. Defying international ...
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents.
North Korean satellite orbiting normally. 7:57pm December 13, 2012. A satellite North Korea launched aboard a long-range rocket is orbiting normally, South Korean officials say, following a defiant liftoff that drew a wave of international condemnation.
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS/AP
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