DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Merkel, U.S. Warn Putin of Crimea Annexation

DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Merkel, U.S. Warn Putin of Crimea Annexation

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources CBC News

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 9, 2014: Germany's Angela Merkel delivered a rebuke to President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, telling him that a planned Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution.

Putin defended breakaway moves by pro-Russian leaders in Crimea, where Russian forces tightened their grip on the Ukrainian region by seizing another border post.

As thousands staged rival rallies in Crimea, street violence flared in Sebastopol, when pro-Russian activists and Cossack militiamen attacked a group of Ukrainians.

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Russian forces' seizure of the Black Sea peninsula has been bloodless but tensions are mounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups there to make Crimea part of Russia.

The operation to seize Crimea began within days of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich's flight from the country last month. Yanukovich was toppled after three months of demonstrations against a decision to spurn a free trade deal with the European Union for closer ties with Russia.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk will hold talks with President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday on how to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis, the White House said.

One of Obama's top national security officials said the United States would not recognise the annexation of Crimea by Russia if residents vote to leave Ukraine in a referendum next week.

Putin declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers."We won't recognize it, nor will most of the world," deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said.

Speaking by telephone to Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Putin said steps taken by authorities in Crimea were "based on international law and aimed at guaranteeing the legitimate interests of the peninsula's population," the Kremlin said.

A German government statement, however, said the referendum was illegal. "Holding it violates the Ukrainian constitution and international law."

Border post taken

Late on Sunday, an armed pro-Russian force wearing military uniforms bearing no designated markings sealed off another military airport in Crimea, a defence ministry spokesman on the peninsula said.

The 80 or so-strong group, who were supporting 50 civilians, blocked off the entrance to the airport near the village of Saki and established machine-gun posts along the landing strip, the spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, told Reuters by telephone.

Kremlin Statement

'Despite the differences in the assessments of what is
happening, they (Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British PM David Cameron) expressed a common
interest in de-escalation of the tensions and normalization of
the situation as soon as possible.'

The civilian group, who were wielding sticks and clubs, sought to break into the airport's control terminal, he said

Earlier in the day, Russian forces seized a border post on the western edge of Crimea, trapping about 15 personnel inside, a border guard spokesman said, revising an earlier figure of 30.

The spokesman, Oleh Slobodyan, said Russian forces now controlled 11 border guard posts across Crimea, a former Russian territory that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and has an ethnic Russian majority.

In Sevastopol, several hundred people held a meeting demanding that Crimea become part of Russia, chanting: "Moscow is our capital."

Across town at a monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, violence flared at a meeting to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, when pro-Russian activists and Cossacks attacked a small group of Ukrainians guarding the event and the police had to intervene.

Footage from the event showed a group of men violently kicking one of the Ukrainians as he lay on the ground and a Cossack repeatedly hit him with a long black leather whip.

Former Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, released from jail in December, addressed a crowd in Kyiv's Independence Square lambasting his old foe Putin for his heavy-handed approach to protesters in Ukraine.

"Russian propaganda lies, as always. There are no fascists or Nazis here, no more than on the streets in Moscow or St  Petersburg," said Khodorovsky, who spent 10 years in a Russian prison. "These are wonderful people who stood up  for their freedom."

In Simferopol, Crimea's main city, pro- and anti-Russian groups held rival rallies.

Vladimir Kirichenko, 58, an engineer, opposed the regional parliament's plans for a vote this month on Crimea joining Russia. "I don't call this a referendum. It asks two practically identical questions: Are you for the secession of Ukraine or are you for the secession of Ukraine? 

So why would I go and vote?"Several hundred opponents of Russian-backed plans for Crimea to secede gathered, carrying blue and yellow balloons the colour of the Ukrainian flag. The crowd sang the national anthem, twice, and an Orthodox Priest led prayers and a hymn.

Soviet songs

Around 2,000 Russian supporters gathered in Lenin Square, where there is a statue of the Soviet state founder, clapping along to nostalgic Soviet era songs being sung from the stage.

Alexander Liganov, 25 and jobless, said: "We have always been Russian, not Ukrainian. We support Putin."

President Vladimir Putin declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers.

At a rally in the eastern city of Donetsk, home to many Russian speakers, presidential candidate Vitaly Klitschko, a former boxing champion, said Ukraine should not be allowed to split apart amid bloodshed.

"The main task is to preserve the stability and independence of our country," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to Russia's foreign minister for the fourth day in a row, told Sergei Lavrov on Saturday that Russia should exercise restraint.The worst face-off with Moscow since the Cold War has left the West scrambling for a response, especially since the region's pro-Russia leadership declared Crimea part of Russia last week and announced a March 16 referendum to confirm it.

"He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia, would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," a U.S. official said.

Shots fired

A spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said military monitors from the pan-Europe watchdog had on Saturday been prevented for the third time in as many days from entering Crimea.

Moscow denies that the Russian-speaking troops in Crimea are under its command, an assertion Washington dismisses as "Putin's fiction." Although they wear no insignia, the troops drive vehicles with Russian military plates.Shots were fired to turn back the mission of more than 40 unarmed observers, who have been invited by Kyiv but lack permission from Crimea's pro-Russian authorities to cross the isthmus to the peninsula. No one was hurt.

A Reuters reporting team filmed a convoy of hundreds of Russian troops in about 50 trucks, accompanied by armoured vehicles and ambulances, which pulled into a military base north of Simferopol in broad daylight on Saturday.

Ukrainian troops are performing training exercises in their bases but there are no plans to send them to Crimea, Interfax news agency quoted acting Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh as saying. Ukraine's military, with 130,000 troops, would be no match for Russia's. So far Kyiv has held back from any action that might provoke a response.

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DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Europe Has Little Reason To Fear Russian Gas Cut-Off

DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Europe Has Little Reason To Fear Russian Gas Cut-Off

*Ukraine braces for new demonstrations as Russia threatens to stop gas supply

*Russia’s Gazprom warns Ukraine of New Gas War

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources DW
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 8, 2014: More than one third of Europe's gas needs are covered by Russian gas. The crisis in Ukraine has kindled fears that Russia could stop the flow.

The crisis in Ukraine is not only about politics, it's also about natural gas. Russia, a key gas producer, supplies Europe with about a third of the gas it needs - and Ukraine is an important transit state.

Almost 40 percent of the gas used in Germany comes from Russia. The Baltic States' dependency is even greater: Russia supplies them with almost 100 percent of the gas they need. Ukraine, too. The crisis in Ukraine, which also depends on Russian gas, has unleashed increasing concern about Europe's energy supplies. Moscow has been known to employ energy giant Gazprom to serve political ends.

Twice since 2006, Russia cut gas flows to Ukraine because of disagreements over transit conditions and prices. Russia also suspected Ukraine of siphoning gas from Russian pipelines passing through the country. Gazprom announced this week it would cancel a 30 percent discount on natural gas for Ukraine, and demanded the country settle its debts - a harsh blow for a country teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

What if the dispute escalates and Moscow stops the flow of gas? Experts have said Western Europe would probably not be that badly affected.

"That wouldn't affect the EU very much," said Jonas Grätz of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) in Zurich, adding a cut would hit eastern nations like Hungary and Bulgaria more than states in Western Europe, where the gas reservoirs are still filled to about 60 percent - enough for up to four months.

"There's a glut on the international gas markets," said Claudia Kemfert, an energy expert with the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). But Kemfert said in the long run, Europe is insufficiently prepared to purchase a third of the gas it needs elsewhere. "That is true in particular for countries in Southeast Europe that buy large amounts of gas in Russia."

Russia has many ways to transport natural gas -it could easily cut off Ukraine
If transit via Ukraine were blocked, Russian gas could instead flow through the Nord Stream Pipeline that takes natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Then, there's the Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline which runs across Belarus and Poland to Germany. 

Should Russia halt all shipments, tankers could bring liquid natural gas to Europe from the Middle East. But Germany, for one, doesn't have a terminal to unload such tankers. In case of a longer disruption, gas buyers could also turn to Algeria and Norway.

Russia's biggest customer

Both the EU Commission and the German government maintain that the Crimea crisis does not endanger gas supplies to the European Union. Germany Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel pointed out that Russia has always honored its contracts with Western Europe.

"There's no reason to be concerned at the moment," EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said, adding that the gas reserves are actually higher than they were last year due to Europe's mild winter temperatures.

Russia is not likely to cut gas supplies to Europe. "Russia heavily depends on energy deliveries to Europe," Kemfert said. "Some 60 percent of Russia's state income is due to oil, gas and coal sales - and a large part of that goes to Europe."

Halting all gas exports to Europe would hurt Russia's economy

Grätz added that "a different approach was needed to be taken to Russia's dependence on the European market." One possibility, he said, would be the strict implementation of European market rules on all dealings with Gazprom. Russian President Vladimir Putin has often used the energy giant to serve his own geopolitical goals. If European countries cut imports of Russian energy, it would negatively impact Gazprom as 60 percent of its revenue comes from the European market.

"When Gazprom has problems then Putin will also have problems because he needs the company in order to achieve projects in Russia, such as Sochi, and the supply of gas to rural regions as well as using the company as a means to conduct foreign policy," Grätz said.

Pressure on Ukraine

Russia is currently the European Union's third largest trading partner. In 2012, Russia exported 215 billion euros ($300 billion) worth of goods to the EU and imported 123.4 billion euros from the 28-member bloc. Germany currently represents Russia's third largest trading partner, exporting mainly cars, machines and chemical products. Russia, however, is Germany's 11th most important trade partner, just behind Poland.

The situation in Ukraine, however, is very different, and the EU is concerned about the country's energy supply. After meeting this week with EU energy ministers, Oettinger said the bloc was considering helping Kyiv pay its energy bill. It is also considering sending gas to Ukraine in pipelines that run through Slovakia.

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DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Putin Rebuffs Obama As Ukraine Crisis Escalates

DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Putin Rebuffs Obama As Ukraine Crisis Escalates
*Obama urges Putin to pursue diplomacy
*Ukraine standoff intensifies, Russia says sanctions will 'boomerang' 

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 7, 2014: (SIMFEROPOL,
Ukraine) President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from U.S. President Barack Obama over Moscow's military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.

After an hour-long telephone call, Putin said in a statement that Moscow and Washington were still far apart on the situation in the former Soviet republic, where he said the new authorities had taken "absolutely illegitimate decisions on the eastern, southeastern and Crimea regions.

"Russia cannot ignore calls for help and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with international law," Putin said.

Ukraine's border guards said Moscow had poured troops into the southern peninsula where Russian forces have seized control.

Serhiy Astakhov, an aide to the border guards' commander, said there were now 30,000 Russian soldiers in Crimea, compared to the 11,000 permanently based with the Russian Black Sea fleet in the port of Sevastopol before the crisis.

Putin denies that the forces with no national insignia that are surrounding Ukrainian troops in their bases are under Moscow's command, although their vehicles have Russian military plates. The West has ridiculed his assertion.

The most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War - resulting from the overthrow last month of President Viktor Yanukovich after violent protests in Kiev - escalated on Thursday when Crimea's parliament, dominated by ethnic Russians, voted to join Russia. The region's government set a referendum for March 16 - in just nine days' time.

European Union leaders and Obama denounced the referendum as illegitimate, saying it would violate Ukraine's constitution.

The head of Russia's upper house of parliament said after meeting visiting Crimean lawmakers on Friday that Crimea had a right to self-determination, and ruled out any risk of war between "the two brotherly nations".

Obama announced the first sanctions against Russia on Thursday since the start of the crisis, ordering visa bans and asset freezes against so far unidentified people deemed responsible for threatening Ukraine's sovereignty. Russia warned that it would retaliate against any sanctions.

Japan endorsed the Western position that the actions of Russia, whose forces have seized control of the Crimean peninsula, constitute "a threat to international peace and security", after Obama spoke to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

China, often a Russian ally in blocking Western moves in the U.N. Security Council, was more cautious, saying that economic sanctions were not the best way to solve the crisis and avoiding comment on the legality of a Crimean referendum on secession.

GUERRILLA WAR?

The EU, Russia's biggest economic partner and energy customer, adopted a three-stage plan to try to force a negotiated solution but stopped short of immediate sanctions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded angrily on Friday, calling the EU decision to freeze talks on visa-free travel and on a broad new pact governing Russia-EU ties "extremely unconstructive".

Senior Ukrainian opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko, freed from prison after Yanukovich's ouster, met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dublin and appealed for immediate EU sanctions against Russia, warning that Crimea might otherwise slide into a guerrilla war.

Brussels and Washington rushed to strengthen the new authorities in economically shattered Ukraine, announcing both political and financial assistance. The regional director of the International Monetary Fund said talks with Kiev on a loan agreement were going well and praised the new government's openness to economic reform and transparency.

The European Commission has said Ukraine could receive up to 11 billion euros ($15 billion) in the next couple of years provided it reaches agreement with the IMF, which requires painful economic reforms like ending gas subsidies.

Promises of billions of dollars in Western aid for the Kiev government, and the perception that Russian troops are not likely to go beyond Crimea into other parts of Ukraine, have helped reverse a rout in the local hryvnia currency.

In the past two days it has traded above 9.0 to the dollar for the first time since the Crimea crisis began last week. Local dealers said emergency currency restrictions imposed last week were also supporting the hryvnia.

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Ukraine had not paid its $440 million gas bill for February, bringing its arrears to $1.89 billion and hinted it could turn off the taps as it did in 2009, when a halt in Russian deliveries to Ukraine reduced supplies to Europe during a cold snap.

In Moscow, a huge crowd gathered near the Kremlin at a government-sanctioned rally and concert billed as being "in support of the Crimean people".

Pop stars took to the stage and demonstrators held signs with slogans such as "Crimea is Russian land", "We don't trade our people for money" and "We believe in Putin".

IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said no one in the civilized world would recognize the result of the "so-called referendum" in Crimea.

He repeated Kiev's willingness to negotiate with Russia if Moscow pulls its additional troops out of Crimea and said he had requested a telephone call with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

But Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov ridiculed calls for Russia to join an international "contact group" with Ukraine proposed by the West to negotiate an end to the crisis, saying they "make us smile", Russian news agencies reported.

Despite the Kremlin's tough words, demonstrators who have remained encamped in Kiev's central Independence Square to defend the revolution that ousted Yanukovich said they did not believe Crimea would be allowed to secede.

Alexander Zaporozhets, 40, from central Ukraine's Kirovograd region, put his faith in international pressure.

"I don't think the Russians will be allowed to take Crimea from us: you can't behave like that to an independent state. We have the support of the whole world. But I think we are losing time. While the Russians are preparing, we are just talking."

Unarmed military observers from the pan-European Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were blocked from entering Crimea for a second day in a row on Friday, the OSCE said on Twitter.

A U.N. special envoy who traveled to the regional capital Simferopol was surrounded by pro-Russian protesters and forced to leave on Wednesday. The United Nations said it had sent its assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, to Kiev to conduct a preliminary humans rights assessment.

Ukrainian television was switched off in Crimea on Thursday and replaced with Russian state channels. The streets largely belong to people who support Moscow's rule, some of whom have become increasingly aggressive in the past week, harassing journalists and occasional pro-Kiev protesters.

Part of the Crimea's 2 million population opposes Moscow's rule, including members of the region's ethnic Russian majority. The last time Crimeans were asked, in 1991, they voted narrowly for independence along with the rest of Ukraine.

"This announcement that we are already part of Russia provokes nothing but tears," said Tatyana, 41, an ethnic Russian. "With all these soldiers here, it is like we are living in a zoo. Everyone fully understands this is an occupation."

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Luke Baker and Martin Santa in Brussels, Steve Holland and Jeff Mason in Washington, Lina Kushch in Donetsk and Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Giles Elgood and Philippa Fletcher)

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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 5, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 5, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-041-14 March 5, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 5, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 5, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

 

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

 

Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $350,178,300 sole-source modification to the undefinitized contract action announced Jan. 9, 2014. The modification will increase the quantity of Standard Missile-3 Block IB missile material and all up round build up procured from eight to 44.  The work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of September 2016.  Fiscal 2014 Defense wide procurement funds will be used to fund this effort.  The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Va., is the contracting activity (HQ0276-13-C-0001).

 

ARMY

 

Loyal Source Government Services*, Orlando, Fla. (W91YTZ-14-D-0003); Aliron International, Inc.*, Bethesda, Md. (W91YTZ-14-D-0004); Magnificus Corp.*, Washington, D.C. (W91YTZ-14-D-0005); Arora Group Inc.*, Gaithersburg, Md. (W91YTZ-14-D-0006); The Royster Group, Inc.*, Atlanta, Ga. (W91YTZ-14-D-0007); Protege Health Services*, Newington, Va., (W91YTZ-14-D-0008); Franklin Government Services*, Austin, Texas (W91YTZ-14-D-0009), were awarded a $381,000,000 firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract for nursing services for the Northern Regional Medical Command.  Funding and work performance locations will be determined with each order.  Estimated completion date is March 4, 2019.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with 28 received.  Army Medical Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

 

Colt Defense LLC, West Hartford, Conn. (W15QKN-14-D-0024), and Manroy USA, Spindale, N.C. (W15QKN-14-D-0025), were awarded a $54,491,305 firm-fixed-price contract for the M4 replacement barrel and front sight assembly (heavy variant) for the M4 Carbine Product Improvement Program.  The M4 replacement barrel will be combined with other weapon components to form a single modification work order kit to convert fielded M4 carbines to M4A1 carbines.  Funding and work location will be determined with each order.  Estimated completion date is Feb. 27, 2018.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with six received.  Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is the contracting activity.

 

BAE Systems Land and Armaments L.P., York, Pa., was awarded a $6,935,513 modification (P00006) to contract W56HZV-14-C-0002 for spare parts for self-propelled howitzers and eighteen ammunition carrier tracked vehicles.  Fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $6,935,513 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Sept. 30, 2015.  Work will be performed in York, Pa.  Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich. is the contracting activity.

 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

 

Tullahoma Industries, LLC.,** Tullahoma, Tenn., has been awarded a maximum $25,482,000  modification (P00103) exercising the first option year on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1033) with four one-year option periods for various permethrin army combat uniform trousers.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina with a March 12, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military service is Army.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

*Small business

**Small In HUBZone Business

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DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Announces Surge In Military Spending To Almost $132 Billion

DTN News - CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: China Announces Surge In Military Spending To Almost $132 Billion

*China continues years of double-digit rises in military spending to alarm of Asian nations and US

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Telegraph UK
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 5, 2014: China has announced a 12 per cent increase on its military, already the largest in the world, sparking concerns among its Asian neighbours and the US.

Beijing has for years been raising spending on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in double-digit steps, reflecting its military ambitions as it asserts its new-found economic might and its claims in a series of territorial disputes with Japan and others.

"The appropriation for national defence is 808.23 billion yuan (£79 billion), up 12.2 percent," said a budget report prepared for the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's Communist-controlled parliament, which began on Wednesday.

"We will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests," Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening session.

"We will safeguard the victory of World War II and the post-war international order, and will not allow anyone to reverse the course of history," he said - a phrase China often uses in relation to rival Japan.

Beijing would also "place war preparations on a regular footing" and "build China into a maritime power", Li added.

In comments ahead of the gathering, NPC spokeswoman Fu Ying sought to play down foreign worries about China's defence expenditure.

"Certain countries have been selling the idea of China as a major threat," she said. "Based on our history and experience, we believe that peace can only be maintained by strength."

This year's stated increase follows rises of 10.7 percent in 2013, 11.2 percent in 2012 and 12.7 percent in 2011.

Analysts believe China's actual military spending is significantly higher than publicised, with the Pentagon estimating it at between $135 billion and $215 billion in 2012.

The United States itself remains far ahead as the global leader in defence spending, with Washington approving a 2014 budget of $633 billion in December.

China devotes about three times as much as India to defence, and more than neighbours Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam combined.

Beijing's spending could match that of Washington by the 2030s, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in February, but added that its capabilities, expertise and ability to project power would require several more years to catch up.

Nonetheless the increases have raised concerns in the US and Asia, particularly in Japan, with the two countries embroiled in an escalating row over East China Sea islands called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.

After the latest figure was revealed, Japan expressed concern about Beijing's level of openness about the PLA.

"The transparency of China's defence policy and military capacity, or lack thereof, has become a matter of concern for the international community, including Japan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

China's actions will both fuel the concern of its neighbours and encourage them to beef up their security cooperation with each other and the US, said Denny Roy, an expert on China's military at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

"This would add to the momentum of something that's already in motion," he told AFP.
In December, the cabinet of Japan's hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to spend 24.7 trillion yen (£144 billion) between 2014 and 2019 in a strategic military shift towards areas of the country facing China - a five per cent boost to the defence budget over five years.

China decried Japan's increase at the time as an issue of "great concern to neighbouring countries in Asia and the international community".

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DTN News - UKRAINE UNREST: Russia Test-Fires ICBM Amid Tension Over Ukraine

DTN News - UKRAINE UNREST: Russia Test-Fires ICBM Amid Tension Over Ukraine

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 5, 2014: Russia said it had successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, with tensions running high over its military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region.

A U.S. official said the United States had received proper notification from Russia ahead of the test and that the initial notification pre-dated the crisis in Crimea. The Russian Defence Ministry could not be reached for comment.

The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the southerly Astrakhan region and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run news agency RIA.

The launch site, Kapustin Yar, is near the Volga River about 450 km (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. Kazakhstan, a Russian ally in a post-Soviet security grouping, is further to the east.

Russia conducts test launches of its ICBMs fairly frequently and often announces the results, a practice seen as intended to remind the West of Moscow's nuclear might and reassure Russians that President Vladimir Putin will protect them.

Russia and the United States signed the latest of a series of treaties restricting the numbers of ICBMs in 2010, but Moscow has indicated it will agree further cuts in the near future and is taking steps to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.

Putin has emphasised that Russia must maintain a strong nuclear deterrent, in part because of an anti-missile shield the United States is building in Europe which Moscow says could undermine its security.

The Defence Ministry said the test could help Russia improve its capability of foiling anti-missile shields, RIA reported.

Moscow says it is concerned U.S. interceptors could shoot down some of its ICBMs in flight, weakening its arsenal. The United States says the shield is meant to protect against threats from states such as Iran and poses no threat to Russia.

The 20-metre (60-foot) long RS-12M, known in NATO parlance as the SS-25 Sickle, was first put into service in 1985, six years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and is designed to carry a nuclear warhead. Its range is 10,500 km (6,000 miles).

RT-2PM Topol - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

At the time of the signing of the START I Treaty in 1991 the Soviet Union had deployed some 288 Topol missiles. Deployment continued, and at the end of 1996 a total of 360 Topol missiles were deployed.

The Topol missile was deployed at previously developed deployment sites. After the INF Treaty was signed in 1987 several SS-20 deployment sites were adapted to launch the Topol missiles. The United States expressed specific concerns during the INF treaty negotiations. When the SS-25 missile system was deployed in the field, with its missile inside the canister and mounted on the launcher, the US contended that the canister might conceal an RSD-10 Pioneer missile. This was of concern because unlike the single warhead of the RT-2PM Topol, the RSD-10 carried up to 3 warheads. A resolution was reached after the Soviet Union agreed to allow inspection parties to use radiation detection systems to measure fast neutron intensity flux emanating from the launch canister. A launch canister with a missile inside containing a single warhead, such as the RT-2PM Topol, emitted a different pattern of fast neutrons than did one with a missile having three warheads, such as the RSD-10.

Provisions of the SALT II agreement prohibited the deployment of more than one new missile (which became RT-23UTTh), it was officially declared by the Soviet Union that the RT-2PM Topol was developed to upgrade the silo based RT-2. The US government disputed this view, contending that the missile was clearly more than 5% larger and had twice the throw-weight as the RT-2 and therefore constituted a new missile system. Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, Soviet Chief of General Staff cancelled the September 1, 1983 test flight of the RT-2PM Topol which was to be launched from Plesetsk (the launch site in northwest Russia used for test firing of solid fuel propellant ICBMs)- 24 minutes later to land in the Klyuchi target area on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The night of the scheduled launch was the night that Korean Air Lines Flight 007 intruded Soviet airspace over Kamchatka.

An RT-2PM Topol with two MIRVs may have been tested in 1991, and the missile was tested at least once with four MIRV warheads, but there has apparently been no further development of a multiple warhead version. This became a point of contention during the conclusion of the 1991 START negotiations, at which time the US pressed for a definition of "downloading" (removing warheads from missiles) that would complicate any Soviet attempt suddenly to deploy multiple warheads on the RT-2PM Topol.


Russia plans to reequip approximately 400 silos where obsolete UR-100, RT-2 and MR-UR-100 missiles are located. Under the START II Treaty, which never had and most likely will never have a binding effect, Russia would have been able to place 90 single-warhead solid fuel missiles in reequipped R-36 silos. In order to guard against a break-out scenario involving the rapid reconversion of R-36 silos on-site inspection became a very important aspect of START II verification.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 4, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 4, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-040-14 March 4, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 4, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 4, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

 

ARMY

 

Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz. was awarded a $1,156,446,681 modification (P00007) to contract W58RGZ-12-C-0055 for full rate production of the AH-64E Apache helicopter, seventy-two remanufactured helicopter systems, ten new helicopter systems, and for refreshing five crew trainers , refurbishing one crew trainer, and integrated logistics support, peculiar ground support equipment, initial spares, over and above, and engineering studies.  Fiscal 2013other procurement funds in the amount of $380,043,678 and fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $494,322,830 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2016. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz.  Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.

 

Torch Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, Ala. was awarded a $70,997,405 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for missile element simulation which will enhance and maintain the current suite of missile modeling simulation, hardware-in-the-loop and prototype development facilities. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order.  Estimated completion date is Feb. 11, 2019.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-14-D-0017).

 

DRS Tactical Systems Inc., Melbourne, Fla. was awarded a $12,596,227 firm-fixed-price contract for improved platform integration kits for the M777A2 and M119A3 howitzer.  Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order.  Estimated completion date is Feb. 27, 2019.  One bid was solicited with six received. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. is the contracting activity (W15QKN-14-D-0036).

 

NAVY

 

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $1,294,817,351 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-2116) to continue construction preparation efforts and provide the ability to procure additional material and advance construction activities for CVN 79.  Huntington Ingalls Inc. will provide all services and material in preparation for construction of CVN 79 including necessary research studies; engineering; design; related development efforts; advance planning; advance procurement for detail design and procurement of material; advance construction; life cycle support; logistics data and other data to support the anticipated fiscal year 2015 contract award of the detail design and construction of CVN 79.  The modification allows continuation of ongoing planning, construction and material procurement that are aligned with the optimal build plan for the ship, and it affords an opportunity for the shipbuilder to incorporate further construction process improvements into the construction plan.  Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by October 2017.  Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy ($69,724,812) and Fiscal 2014 research, development, test & evaluation ($1,200,000) funding in the amount of $70,924,812 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. is the contracting activity.

 

Lockheed Martin Corp., Liverpool, N.Y., is being awarded a $16,237,711 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of specialized test equipment and associated technical data packages and adapters required to perform testing of line replacement modules for the E-2D AN/APY-9 radar system.  Work will be performed in Liverpool, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in February 2017.  Fiscal 2012 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $16,237,711 are being obligated on this award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1.  The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-14-C-0145).

 

Lockheed Martin Corp. Owego, N.Y. is being awarded $10,630,597 for firm-fixed-price delivery order 7048 against a previously awarded firm-fixed-price long term contract (N00383-09-D-021F) for the repair of 13 items in support of the Multi-Mode Radar System, and the Electronic Measurement System for the H-60R Helicopter.  Work will be performed in Owego, N.Y., and work is expected to be completed by March 2015.  Fiscal 2014 Navy working capital funds in the amount of 10,501,093 and Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $129,504 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1).  The NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

 

Atlantic Diving Supply doing business as ADS Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Va., has been awarded a maximum $776,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for the procurement of commercial type construction equipment.  This contract is a competitive acquisition, and eighteen offers were received.  This contract is one of up to ten contracts being issued against solicitation number SPM8EC-11-R-0003 and with requirements that specifically call for construction equipment within the product line and will be competed amongst other contractors who receive a contract under this solicitation.  This is a five-year base contract.  Locations of performance are Virginia, Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas and Georgia with a Mar. 2, 2019 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2019 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE8EC-14-D-0013).

 

Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark., has been awarded a maximum $444,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for commercial chicken items. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and nine offers were received. This is a three-year base contract. Locations of performance are Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina and Mississippi with a March 3, 2017 performance completion date.  Subsistence overseas prime vendors will order from this contract in support of overseas military customers.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM300-14-D-4002).

 

West-Ward Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eatontown, N.J., has been awarded a maximum $70,947,789 modification (P00062) exercising the first option year on a one-year base contract (SPM2D0-07-D-0004) with nine one-year option periods for various pharmaceutical products.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Location of performance is New Jersey with a Feb. 26, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 war-stopper funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

I Solutions Direct Inc., Fort Washington, Pa., has been awarded a maximum $68,724,679  modification (P00101) exercising the third option year on a two-year base contract (SPM8E5-10-D-0004) with three one-year option periods for carbon steel bar, sheet, and plate materials. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Pennsylvania with a Mar. 3, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Whippany, N.J., has been awarded a maximum $49,375,502 modification (P00008) exercising the second option year on a one-year base contract (SPM2D0-12-D-0002) with seven one-year option periods for various pharmaceutical products.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Location of performance is New Jersey with a Mar. 5, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 war-stopper funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

Admiral Metals Servicenter Inc.,* Woburn, Mass., has been awarded a maximum $47,801,294 modification (P00101) exercising the third option year on a two-year base contract (SPM8E5-10-D-0001) with three one-year option periods for steel alloy, stainless steel, bar, sheet, and plate materials.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Location of performance is Massachusetts with a Mar. 3, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

I Solutions Direct Inc., Fort Washington, Pa., has been awarded a maximum $46,641,107 modification (P00101) exercising the third option year on a two-year base contract (SPM8E5-10-D-0002) with three one-year option periods for carbon steel bar, sheet, and plate materials.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Location of performance is Pennsylvania with a Mar. 2, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

TW Metals, Carol Stream, Ill., has been awarded a maximum $43,478,335 modification (P00101) exercising the third option year on a two-year base contract (SPM8E5-10-D-0003) with three one-year option periods for various carbon steel bar and plate materials. This is a fixed-price with economic-price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Illinois with a Mar. 3, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa. 

 

Charleston Aluminum LLC,* Gaston, S.C., has been awarded a maximum $35,363,758 modification (P00101) exercising the third option year on a two-year base contract (SPM8E5-10-D-0006) with three one-year option periods for carbon steel bar, sheet, and plate materials. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. Location of performance is South Carolina with a Mar. 7, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

Short Bark Industries, Inc.,** Vonore, Tenn., has been awarded a maximum $23,339,900 modification (P00102) exercising the first option year on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1030) with four one-year option periods for various types of Permethrin Army Combat Uniform coats. This is a firm-fixed-price contract.  Locations of performance are Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi with a Mar. 4, 2015 performance completion date. Using military service is Army.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

 

Universal Sodexho, Tacoma, Wash., has been awarded a maximum $10,800,000 modification (P00027) exercising the fifth bridge contract on a two-year base contract (SPM500-05-D-BP07) with three one-year option periods for maintenance, repair and operations supplies for the Korea Region. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. Location of performance is Washington with a June 30, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.  

 

AIR FORCE

 

DLT Solutions, LLC, Herndon, Va., has been awarded a $45,973,106 delivery order (6K15) on an existing firm-fixed-price, blanket purchase agreement (W91QUZ-06-A-0002) for software maintenance and support for perpetual enterprise Oracle software licenses used throughout the Air Force and the U.S. Transportation Command.  Work will be performed at Herndon, Va., and is expected to be completed March 31, 2014.  Fiscal 2014 research and development, operations and maintenance, TRANSCOM Working Capital funds in the amount of $10,454,875 are being obligated at time of award.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/HIK, Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Ala., is the contracting activity.

 

*Small Business

 

**HUBZone

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-040-14 March 4, 2014 
*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 
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