02 Maret 2010
Royal New Zealand Air Force Flying Display Team Grounded Following Mid-Air Collision
2 Maret 2010
CT-4E of the RNZAF's Red Checkers (photo : Airliners)The Royal New Zealand Air Force's Red Checkers flying display team has been grounded following the 1 March collision of two of the team's aircraft. The incident happened just weeks after a team member died in an air crash.
"During training this morning [1 March] two aircraft of the RNZAF display team touched causing minor damage to one of the aircraft," says the New Zealand Defence Force. The Pacific Aerospace CT/4E trainers then landed safely, it says, adding: "How this incident happened is now being investigated as a matter of course and the prudent decision is not to fly the team again this season."
The incident occurred at the RNZAF Ohakea base, near Palmerston North on New Zealand's north island, where the team had been practising for the New Zealand Warbirds Over Wanaka air show in April. The grounding means the team has pulled out of this show.
Red Checker squadron leader Nick Cree died in an accident on 14 January near Ohakea base. He reportedly crashed his CT/4E trainer after performing a solo manoeuvre as part of an air display practice.
Five Cavalry and Mechanised Regiments will be Equipped with 8x8 APC Started from Tenth Malaysian Plan
2 Maret 2010
Proposed Zimbru 2000 for the Malaysian Army (photo : KLSR)
KLS: Malaysian Army Chief General Tan Sri Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin announced that the Joint Chiefs Committee has already agreed to equip all five cavalry and mechanized regiments with new type of 8x8 APC.
He said the acquisition program was already registered under the Tenth Plan.
He added Condors and Sibmas APC will reach its service life in near future, and it is not cost effective to refurbish those obsolete platforms anymore.
Apart from that, he said the Army is also planning to equip those 8x8 APC with long range Anti-Tank Missile missile.
The traditional local shipbuilder - BHIC, is also devoting itself in promoting 8x8 APC. BHIC is colloborating with Romanian ROMARM company to study the posibility of assembling Zimbru 2000 8x8 APC in Malaysia and supply to the Army.
(KLSReview)
Proposed Zimbru 2000 for the Malaysian Army (photo : KLSR)KLS: Malaysian Army Chief General Tan Sri Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin announced that the Joint Chiefs Committee has already agreed to equip all five cavalry and mechanized regiments with new type of 8x8 APC.
He said the acquisition program was already registered under the Tenth Plan.
He added Condors and Sibmas APC will reach its service life in near future, and it is not cost effective to refurbish those obsolete platforms anymore.
Apart from that, he said the Army is also planning to equip those 8x8 APC with long range Anti-Tank Missile missile.
The traditional local shipbuilder - BHIC, is also devoting itself in promoting 8x8 APC. BHIC is colloborating with Romanian ROMARM company to study the posibility of assembling Zimbru 2000 8x8 APC in Malaysia and supply to the Army.
(KLSReview)
01 Maret 2010
Vietnam Imports Yakhont Coast-to-Ship Missile
1 Maret 2010
Yakhont mobile : coast to ship version (image : abovetopsecret)An authoritative source from the Russian shipbuilding industry told Kanwa on a very official occasion that Vietnam would start to receive one battalion of Yakhont coast-to-ship missiles from this year. This is the first time that the coast launched Yakhont SSM has been exported to another country.
(Kanwa)
India Unveils $32B Defense Budget
1 Maret 2010
Indian Army during parade (photo : Militaryphotos)NEW DELHI - India announced a four percent increase in defense spending to $32 billion in its annual budget Feb. 26, a day after Pakistan voiced concerns over its rival's military modernization.
"Secure borders and security of life and property foster development and needless to say, any additional requirement for the security of the nation will be provided for," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament.
Spending on the military - the world's fourth largest - was put at 1.47 trillion rupees ($32 billion) for the financial year to March 2011.
Last year's budget hiked defense expenditure by almost a quarter - the sharpest rise ever.
Mukherjee earmarked $13 billion for modernization projects, $12.4 billion for the million-plus army, with $3.3 billion for the air force and about $2 billion for the navy.
On Feb. 25, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir - in New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart - had warned that India's military modernization program threatened stability in a "nuclearized" South Asia.
"New war doctrines, a tremendous boost to defense spending, the induction of new sophisticated weapons systems; these are elements that are prejudicial to regional security and stability," Bashir told reporters.
New Delhi, which last month inducted its longest range nuclear-tipped missile into the army, plans to spend up to 30 billion dollars modernizing its military by 2012, according to the defense ministry.
India has fought three wars with Pakistan since independence in 1947 and a brief but bitter war with China in 1962 over a border dispute which remains unresolved.
The largest weapons buyer among emerging countries, India has imported military hardware worth $28 billion dollars since 2000 mainly from Russia, Israel, France and Britain.
Ideally, Army are Looking at between 6 and 12 Attack Helicopters
1 Maret 2010
Malaysian Army wants purchase of attack helicopter expanding the 11 AW-109 as light observation helicopters (photo : Finmeccanica)
Army Eyes Attack Copter
KUALA LUMPUR: While the emphasis is on expanding its light-observation helicopters (LOH), the army wants to boost its mobility and firepower with the eventual purchase of attack helicopters.
Army chief Gen Tan Sri Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin said the Defence Ministry was all for buying more LOH to supplement the 11 AgustaWestland 109 helicopters and 10 Aerospatiale SA316 Alouette III helicopters serving with the 881st air corps squadron.
"This is the priority in view of satisfying the Nuri (Sikorsky S-61) replacement programme in the next three years so that we have a sufficient fleet of combat search and rescue helicopters.
"But, in the long run, we are looking at procuring attack helicopters for the purpose of tank-hunting and to destroy enemy radars, bunkers and troop formations," he said at the ministry's office in Jalan Padang Tembak, in conjunction with the 77th anniversary of Army Day today.
Ismail said attack helicopters were costly and an expensive platform to operate, given the long period to train personnel and equip the squadrons.
"Ideally, we are looking at between six and 12 attack helicopters to form a reasonably effective squadron.
"But that will depend largely on the budget allocation." The same reasoning, he added, applied to the army's ambition of supplementing its arsenal and equipment.
The army's artillery includes 36 Artillery Saturation Rocket System (Astros II) multiple launch rocket systems and 28 G5 MkIII towed artillery guns from South Africa.
Air defence is provided by a mix of Swiss Oerlikon twin 35mm and Swedish Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns and missile systems such as the Jernas and Starburst from Britain, Anza from Pakistan, FN-6 from China and Igla from Russia.
The army, Ismail said, was poised to establish a second Astros regiment by next year and eventually increase the strength to a third by the 11th Malaysia Plan.
Astros is developed and manufactured by Avibras Aerospacial SA of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In August 2007, Malaysia placed an order for a second batch of 18 Astros II systems. The first batch of 18 systems was delivered in 2002.
Starburst is a man-portable, surface-to-air missile produced by Shorts Missile Systems of Belfast, Northern Ireland (now known as Thales Air Defence Limited).Ismail said by the end of the year, the army's main-battle tank squadrons would be fully operational with the delivery of PT-91 Pendekar and support vehicles. The army procured 48 PT-91 from Poland in 2007.
"We are also seeking 20 units of 6x6 heavy vehicles as replacement for the ageing Radpanzer Condor armoured personnel carriers, especially to facilitate United Nations' peacekeeping duties."
Apart from the 460 Radpanzer Condor APCs, the army operates 26 FV101 Scorpion 90 tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles; 184 Sibma 90 armoured fighting support vehicles; 211 Adnan armoured infantry fighting vehicles; 111 K-200 Korean infantry fighting vehicles; 25 Stormer APCs; and 80 BV206 armoured tracked vehicles.
To enhance security of its armouries, Ismail said there were plans to install biometric fingerprint scanners to monitor the access and movement of firearms and other arsenal.
"If a soldier fails to return his firearm after duty within the stipulated period, an alarm will buzz. These are ways to minimise unauthorised use of ammunition and weapons."
On another note, Ismail said the army regularly reviewed the terms and conditions of service, remuneration, career development and basic amenities to improve the quality of life of soldiers of all ranks.
"There are 31 ongoing projects to renovate and upgrade dilapidated camps, barracks and offices. Thirty new camps -- including four that have been completed -- will meet the demand."
The four camps already built are the Mahkota Camp in Kluang, Johor; Pulada Camp in Ulu Tiram, Johor; Wardieburn Camp in Kuala Lumpur; and Kubota Camp in Tawau, Sabah.
On education, the army has to date sponsored 6,365 servicemen for further studies in line with competency-based training assessment and to make them marketable.
"Under the 'from the cradle to the grave' concept, a soldier's welfare and job satisfaction is looked into so that he is inspired to self-develop and synergise with the expectations and aspirations of the army.
"This will, in turn, help mould a credible and professional force," Ismail said.
DARPA Eyes Foliage-Penetrating Radar Signal Processing Workstation to Detect Infantry Moving in Forests
1 Maret 2010
Foliage Penetration Radar (photo : Lockheed Martin)
The idea is to process radar signals from a foliage penetrating (FOPEN) radar mounted to manned and unmanned helicopters to filter out radar clutter like animals, wind-blown foliage, and moving water to estimate the position, size, and direction of travel of infantry concentrations moving in foliage.
The program is called Foliage Penetrating Ground Moving Target Indicator Radar Exploitation and Planning (FOPEN-GXP). Its goal is to develop and integrated a set of tools to enhance foliage-penetrating radar data as modules into a FOPEN-GXP system workstation.
DARPA wants to demonstrate the effectiveness of such a workstation with data from the Foliage Penetration Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER) system, developed by Syracuse Research Corp. in North Syracuse, N.Y., which is mounted to a Boeing A-160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 
FORESTER radar (photo : DARPA)
DARPA issued a broad agency announcement (DARPA-BAA-10-07) Wednesday for the FOPEN-GXP program to develop foliage-penetrating radar signal processing workstations with modules that discriminate between Doppler radar signatures, estimate the state and activities of detected infantry concentrations, and plan where to place the radar sensors and determine radar modes for best results.
DARPA has tested the FORESTER radar on a manned UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, as well as on an A-160 Hummingbird unmanned helicopter. Last year, DARPA expert tested the FORESTER on an A-160 to detect radar returns from moving humans and animals, ground vehicles, boats, and other clutter and false targets.
(Military & Aerospace Electronics)
Foliage Penetration Radar (photo : Lockheed Martin)ARLINGTON - Radar signal processing experts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking industry to develop a data-processing workstation to help pinpoint concentrations of foot soldiers moving in thick forests and other dense foliage.
The idea is to process radar signals from a foliage penetrating (FOPEN) radar mounted to manned and unmanned helicopters to filter out radar clutter like animals, wind-blown foliage, and moving water to estimate the position, size, and direction of travel of infantry concentrations moving in foliage.
The program is called Foliage Penetrating Ground Moving Target Indicator Radar Exploitation and Planning (FOPEN-GXP). Its goal is to develop and integrated a set of tools to enhance foliage-penetrating radar data as modules into a FOPEN-GXP system workstation.
DARPA wants to demonstrate the effectiveness of such a workstation with data from the Foliage Penetration Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER) system, developed by Syracuse Research Corp. in North Syracuse, N.Y., which is mounted to a Boeing A-160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
FORESTER radar (photo : DARPA)
DARPA issued a broad agency announcement (DARPA-BAA-10-07) Wednesday for the FOPEN-GXP program to develop foliage-penetrating radar signal processing workstations with modules that discriminate between Doppler radar signatures, estimate the state and activities of detected infantry concentrations, and plan where to place the radar sensors and determine radar modes for best results.
DARPA has tested the FORESTER radar on a manned UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, as well as on an A-160 Hummingbird unmanned helicopter. Last year, DARPA expert tested the FORESTER on an A-160 to detect radar returns from moving humans and animals, ground vehicles, boats, and other clutter and false targets.
Revolutionary CTAI Weapon System to Start Qualification
1 Maret 2010
The 40mm's cannon with CTAI technology (photo : Deagel)BOURGES, France - A revolutionary new weapon system for the British and French armies has been given a major boost with the signing on the 8th of February of an £11m contract with the French and UK ministries of defence.
Under the contract, CTA International, an Anglo-French joint venture between BAE Systems and Nexter Systems, will begin qualification in early 2011 of cannon and ammunition for the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP), the Scout reconnaissance vehicle for the British Army and the future recce vehicle for the French Army.
Qualification is a rigorous process designed to prove that a weapon system is safe, effective and reliable. Both the gun and ammunition will be subjected to freezing, baking, extremes of humidity and a series of "shake, rattle and roll" trials to demonstrate that they will operate under every foreseeable circumstance. While the system has been passed for manned firing and considerable data has already been collected, these trials will formally pass the system for use by the British and French armies.
While CTAI's 40mm Cased Telescoped Cannon and Ammunition (CTCA) was mandated for WCSP and the Scout vehicle by the UK Ministry of Defence in March 2008, the turrets and Scout chassis will be selected through competition.
The UK and French ministries of defence have already agreed a Government to Government Technical Arrangement for a jointly-funded qualification programme which will require some 15,000 rounds. The final ammunition requirements will be defined once the prime contractors are announced in the next few weeks.
The next step will be the negotiation for the series production of the CT cannon.
BAE Systems Global Combat Systems - Munitions (GCSM), under a licence granted by CTAI, recently submitted a proposal to UK MoD for the production of series ammunition through the existing MASS munitions supply contract for the UK MoD. A licence will also be granted to Nexter Munitions for the provision of series ammunition for the French DGA.
The 40mm CTCA system's ease of use, ability to fire accurately on the move, versatility and much-increased punch will give a major firepower boost to the British and French Armies.
The 40mm CTCA system's ease of use, ability to fire accurately on the move, versatility and much-increased punch will give a major firepower boost to the British and French Armies.
The 40mm high explosive round has more than three times the explosive power of the 30mm Rarden currently fitted to Warrior and the Scimitar Vehicle which Scout will replace, while its armour-piercing projectile will penetrate more than 140mm of steel armour.
The weapon system's innovative design takes conventional cannon and ammunition technology but packages it in a novel space-saving way, by putting the projectile inside its case and packing the propellant around it - "cased telescoped".
This halves the length of the round and improves the volumetric efficiency by 30 percent for a given level of performance. The CT cannon occupy the space of a conventional 25mm weapon inside a turret while giving the performance of a 45-50mm system.
Ammunition is introduced to the gun, not by a conventional breach from the rear, but from a static ammunition feeder into a rotating breech via a hollow trunnion. This design allows the breech to be well forward of the crew, giving much better communications and "fightability" for vehicle crews.
The cylindrical ammunition is also much easier to stow and handle by automated systems. Reliability is increased by eliminating more than half a conventional cannon's most unreliable part
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