Archive for October, 2007
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Boeing Company and Textron Inc. today announced a teaming agreement to compete in the technology demonstration and system development phases and ultimately the production phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program for the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems’ Combat Systems division will partner with Textron Marine & Land Systems to provide superior program management and technical and lifecycle management approaches to all phases of the JLTV program. The JLTV system is a family of vehicles intended to replace the High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). (more…)
Posted in Military News - America | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
The first F-15E Mission Training Center (MTC) for the U.S. Air Force’s 366th Fighter Wing was opened at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The center will provide aircrews with high-fidelity, simulator-based training without the material and personnel costs associated with training on operational aircraft.
The training center provides two high-fidelity, dual-cockpit F-15E simulators with a 360-degree visual system, a robust synthetic environment as well as instructor/operator and brief/debrief stations. The simulators, enhanced with a head-tracked area-of-interest display visual system, can be operated individually or linked to provide two- or four-ship training within the MTC. They also can be linked locally with two medium-fidelity F-15E Manned Combat Stations to allow local four-ship training. After a few months of operation, the MTC will join the Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) training network. (more…)
Posted in Military News - America | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
While Indian Air Force is a reluctant participator in Indian indigenous fighter aircraft research and development and which has killed past efforts in favor of imports, its Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal F H Major calls for a technology roadmap by the government for the aerospace industry and a greater role by the private sector in defence design and development to help the Indian aerospace industry become a major player in the global market.
He was speaking at the two-day 2nd International Conference on “Energising Indian Aerospace Industry: New Partnership, New Opportunities,” organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with Society for Aerospace Studies, Centre for Airpower Studies and Indian Air Force.
Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh, in his presidential remarks, said India lagged behind in designing aircraft and urged both the private and public sector to use all production resources to overcome this challenge. He said India has a lot of catching up to do with the advanced countries in terms of technology in the aerospace industry. (more…)
Posted in Indian Air Force News, Opinions and Articles | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
On the sidelines of the 2nd International Seminar on Energising Indian Aerospace Industry – New Opportunities, New Partnership organised by CII and the Centre for Air Power Studies in association with the Indian Air Force, a CII Delegation met Shri A K Antony, Defence Minister of India; Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for Defence Production and key senior officials in the Ministry of Defence. The CII delegation, led by Mr Atul Kirloskar, Chairman CII National Committee on Defence and Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited, represented many leading Indian companies.
India is among the top ten countries in terms of defence expenditure and third largest importer of defence hardware in the world. In spite of having elaborate defence R&D and production facilities in place for over five decades, the country has fallen well short of its goal of meeting the weapon and systems requirements of the armed forces indigenously. Even after, 60 years of independence, India remains, one of the largest importers of defence related equipment in the world. The geostrategic location of the country demands long-term defence requirement by the country. India has been dependent on foreign sources for defence procurement far too long. India needs a confident, pro-active and self-sufficient defence industry to meet domestic and export requirements. For this to happen, there is a need to ensure the full and wholehearted participation of the private sector in defence production. The objective of the delegation was to assist the Ministry of Defence to enhance Indian industrial capabilities to meet the strategic requirements of the company indigenously. (more…)
Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
Mr. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy & Industry has assured to consider Indian proposal for supplying additional quantities of LNG to India. In a meeting today morning at Doha, the the minister emphasised the need for greater cooperation between India and Qatar in the hydrocarbon sector. India evinced interest of Indian companies to participate including equity stake in the various opportunities and projects in the hydrocarbon sector in Qatar. India representative said that the Indian gas market is emerging as a mature market. In recent years, the Indian gas sector has received progressively greater attention from global companies and has made rapid strides on the upstream front.
Speaking at the 6th Doha Gas Conference, the Indian representative invited Qatari oil & gas companies and International Oil Companies (IOCs) present to actively participate in the next Indian Exploration & Production (E&P) bidding round which will be officially announced shortly. Shri Deora informed that a significant number of onshore, offshore and deep water blocks will be offered for participation. (more…)
Posted in Commodity And Energy | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
Thales has been selected by European turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR to provide the avionics suite for its new ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 aircraft.
The contract is expected to generate around 400 million $ over a 10 - 12 year period.
Thales will supply the new glass flight deck, which includes 5 LCD displays, the Flight Management System, the latest and most accurate communication and navigation systems including GNSS/WAAS capability ready for low RNP operation, as well as a new autopilot with Cat3A approach capability.
Thales has been chosen as a tier 1 systems integrator for the ATR cockpit and will integrate systems provided by other suppliers. (more…)
Posted in International Aerospace News | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
The Bharat Electronics Limited has paid its highest ever dividend of 180 percent to the government. Chairman and Managing Director Shri VVR Sastry presented a cheque of 84.96 crore rupees to the Defence Minister here today towards 140 percent final dividend. The Secretary (Defence Production) was also present on the occasion.
With this the Navratna Defence PSU has paid a total dividend of 180 per cent amounting to 109.24 crores for the year 2006-07. This marks a 34 percent leap over the 146 percent dividend in 2005-06 declared by the defence PSU major. The BEL, granted Navratna status earlier this year, has been consistently improving its performance over the years. The company declared 100 percent dividend in 2003-04 for the first time, 112 percent in 2004-05 and has been steadily improving its balance sheet.
The BEL also achieved its highest ever turnover of Rs. 3,953 crore during 2006-07 with Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 718.16 crore as against a turnover of Rs. 3,536 crore during 2005-06 with PAT of Rs. 583 crore. BEL achieved exports of US$ 11.6 million. The turnover per employee for 2006-07 is Rs.32.1 lakhs, an increase of around 12 per cent over last year’s figure of Rs.28.8 lakhs. (more…)
Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
India signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on 14th January, 1993.
The scientists from Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior India, which developed a host of equipment and protective measures against NBC agents were a part of the team which formed the Indian policies for CWC and also Biological Toxins Warfare Conventions (BTWC). When India ratified CWC, India declared its available facilities for routine inspections, one such facility was DRDE’s Process Technology Development Division (PTDD). PTDD was created as CWC requirement. It is a separate building that holds small quantities of sulphur mustard for experimental purposes.
Prior to establishment of Organization of Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a preparatory Commission took charge. DRDE was naturally involved in Indian OPCW resolution implementation. In the preparation of the curriculum and other logistics and related matters of training programmes, Dr. D K Jaiswal, Scientist “G” had been deeply involved. In addition to meetings in The Hague, The Netherlands, he attended a 48 day training programme in Alabama. DRDO also took up the onus to be one of the designated laboratories for proficiency testing of samples and has participated in programmes awaiting OPCW approval. (more…)
Posted in Defence Research and Development, Opinions and Articles | No Comments »
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Infantry Day was celebrated on Saturday 27 Oct, 2007. Infantry ; the queen of the battle, celebrates 27 October each year as the Infantry Day. On this historic day, sixty years ago in response to the first threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Indian Nation, the first elements of the Indian Infantry landed in Srinagar and resolutely defended Kashmir from falling into the enemy hands. Pakistan staked claim on Kashmir being a predominantly muslim state and taking advantage of the procrastination of the ruler of J & K exploited the vulnerable situation by launching an attach with the help of raiders on 18 Oct 1947. By 26 Oct 1947, the situation turned grave as the raiders advanced along road Uri-Baramulla-Srinagar.
As per the request of the Kashmiri Maharaja and the opposition party, On 27 Oct 1947, a Battalion Headquarters with one company of Infantry were flown into Srinagar. These valiant Indian soldiers fought a gallant action reversing the tide of the battle and saving Kashmir from being torn away by Pakistan. To commemorate this exemplary action of the Infantry in the nascent stage of our independence, 27 October is celebrated as the Infantry day. (more…)
Posted in General Indian Armed Forces News | No Comments »
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Lieutenant General Henry “Trey” Obering, Missile Defense Agency director, announced today that an important test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System was successfully completed at approximately 3:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today (approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the intercept of a ballistic missile target at the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Preliminary indications are that planned flight test objectives were achieved. The intercept involved the “exo-atmospheric” (outside earth’s atmosphere) “hit to kill” destruction of a unitary (non-separating) target representing a “SCUD”-type ballistic missile launched from
a mobile platform positioned off Kauai in the Pacific Ocean. The interceptor was launched from the THAAD launch complex at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. (more…)
Posted in Military News - America | No Comments »
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
The government has allocated coal blocks for the power sector that is expected to add 68000 MW to power generation capacity. Twelve coal blocks, with geological reserves of about 6.4 billion tonnes, have been allocated to 18 Central/State Government Companies. This is expected to sustain power generation of approximately 30,000 MW. And 31 private companies have been allocated 15 coal blocks, with geological reserves of 3.6 billion tonnes to support additional generation of 16,000 MW. More than 900 applications were received for the allocation of these coal blocks.
The allocation follows the decision of the Energy Coordination Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, to de-reserve such coal blocks that could not be taken up by Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries for mining in the near future. 81 coal blocks with geological reserves of about 20 billion tonnes were identified by the Ministry of Coal for allocation to companies, both government and private, for permissible end uses. Out of these, 41 coal blocks, with geological reserves of about 15.7 billion tonnes, were earmarked for the power sector. (more…)
Posted in Commodity And Energy | No Comments »
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Electrical power was applied to the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35B Lightning II for the first time Thursday night, initiating a series of ground tests that willlead to the inaugural flight of the short-takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter next spring.
“The successful ‘power-on’ demonstrates that the integration of this unique aircraft is progressing to plan. It signals that production of our first F-35B Lightning II is on track for first flight next year, a key step toward realizing the aviation future of the U.S. Marines, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy,” said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. The aircraft is scheduled to roll out of the factory in December.
The F-35 will be the most electronically advanced aircraft ever built,with capabilities unavailable in current multi-role fighters. The F-35B’s power-on is an incremental process of testing the aircraft’s circuits,electronic components and wiring. (more…)
Posted in Military News - America | No Comments »
Friday, October 26th, 2007
Indian Airfield Services Unit at (IASU) comprising of 120 personnel is manning Kindu base to support all UN air movements. The operations include airport management, ramp operations, crash and fire fighting services, cargo and passenger handling, medical support, meteorological services and communication.
The Indian Air Force has a long history of contribution to the United Nations Peace-Keeping operations which includes Congo. The process began when IAF sent a flight of Canberra bomber aircraft as part of United Nations Operations in Congo (ONUC) in 1962. UN once again approached India to contribute an air element for its peace keeping operations in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in 2004. The IAF presently operates two avitation two aviation contingents at Goma and Bukavu. Additionally, the IAF has been tasked to operate an Indian Airfield Services Unit at (IASU) at Kindu. (more…)
Posted in Indian Air Force News, Military News - Africa | No Comments »
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