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At around 1115 hrs today 24 Dec 07, a single seater Sea Harrier fighter aircraft crashed at Dabolim, Goa. The aircraft was on a routine sortie flown by Cdr Janak Bevli, who ejected safely. There has been no loss of any other property or person in the accident. A Board of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause.
In the period April 2004 to 31st March, 2007, Indian navy has lost 3 Sea Harrier’s.
Besides Great Britain and Sweden, Finland is the first export customer for NLAW (Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon). NLAW will be delivered to Finland during 2009.
“This is strategically important and opens up for further exports of NLAW”, says Jim Nilsson, Marketing Director at Saab Bofors Dynamics. “The Finnish customer is known to carry out extensive and thorough studies and evaluations before acquisitions and the decision to obtain NLAW is seen as a great success.”
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Air Marshal B N Gokhale PVSM AVSM VM ADC, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, has flown the most powerful fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force - the Sukhoi 30 MKI in Pune, today.
The Air Mshl got commissioned in June 1968 in the fighter stream. He began his flying career on Vampire aircraft at Pune which was then one of the front line fighter aircraft. On the eve of his retirement the Air Marshal was at Pune, today. This sortie in Su 30 MKI marked the end of the most illustrious career as a fighter pilot.
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The US Office of Military Commissions announced today that charges have been sworn against Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi of Saudi Arabia. The accused, al Darbi, is the brother-in-law of the Flight 77 hijacker al Mihdhar. Flight 77 is the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11.
The sworn charges are: Conspiring with others , to attack civilians, to murder in violation of the law of war, to destroy property in violation of the law of war, to hazard a vessel and to commit terrorism, and Providing Material Support to Terrorism. Mr. al Darbi was allegedly involved in planning attacks on a vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and off the coast of Yemen.
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The Indian private sector industry has matured into a dynamic self reliant sector and is now capable of undertaking design and development works indigenously as well as in collaboration with foreign countries, said General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Army Staff at Army - Industry Partnership Meet 2007 an International Seminar on Future Infantry Soldier as a System (F-INSAS), organised by jointly by the Infantry Directorate and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Thursday. Indian industry has demonstrated the capabilities in the fields of Information Technology and other core sectors and the Indian Army expects the Industry to achieve excellence in defence technology too, he said.
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The U.S. Navy and Fincantieri Marine Systems North America, Inc. have agreed to complete the Preplanned Improvement Program (PPIP) for diesel engines installed in the Avenger Class mine countermeasure ships two years ahead of schedule. This decision was made after significant improvements in reliability and maintainability were noted in ships that had received the upgrades. The last four ships of the class will receive the PPIP in fiscal year 2008.
This Preplanned Improvement Program, begun in 2002 at company expense to demonstrate the potential improvements of proven technology upgrades, is being completed at Fincantieri Marine Systems North America service centers in Bahrain; Sasebo, Japan, and Ingleside, Texas. The program reached the two-thirds completion mark when USS Dexterous (MCM 13) completed her
availability earlier this year.
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The Boeing Company today announced that the U.S. Air Force has exercised an option for a sixth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite and has authorized Boeing to begin construction. The Commonwealth of Australia is funding the procurement as part of a cooperative agreement between the U.S. and Australian governments. The satellite is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2012.
A memorandum of understanding signed by both governments on Nov. 14 adds Australian Defence Force access to WGS services worldwide in exchange for funding the constellation’s sixth satellite. The advance procurement contract enables Boeing to obtain long-lead materials for the satellite. The six WGS satellites are valued at US$1.8 billion, which includes associated ground-based payload command and control systems, mission unique software and databases, satellite simulators, logistics support and operator training. Boeing also performs final satellite processing and preparations for launch, as well as initial orbital operations and on-orbit testing.
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In December 2007 the Turkish company Aselsan signed a contract with Thales Nederland for the delivery of sensors for the first MILGEM class corvette that is being built for the Turkish Navy. The sensors are the SMART-S Mk2 surveillance radar and the STING EO Mk2 sensor system. The SCOUT Mk2 surface surveillance radar is an option that has not yet been decided on.
The Turkish companies Havelsan and Aselsan are responsible for the complete combat system on board of the MILGEM class vessels. The Thales systems will be integrated in the Genesis combat management system that is developed by the Software Development Center of the Turkish Navy, and will be modified for MILGEM by the Turkish companies Yaltes and Havelsan.
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On 20 December 2007, the Netherlands’ Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Thales Nederland signed a 125 million Euro contract for the development and supply of four Integrated Masts. The Integrated Masts will be installed on the four Ocean Patrol Vessels that are being built for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN). The first ship is scheduled to be handed over to the RNLN at the end of 2010.
The Integrated Mast is a radical departure from the traditional sensor layout on board of naval vessels. One central mast structure houses all radar, optronic, and communication sensors and antennas as well as all cabinets and peripherals. The advantages of this revolutionary sensor concept are huge: better operational performance, higher operational availability, reduced ship-building time, reduced maintenance requirements and enormous savings in below-deck space.
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Two BAE Systems-built Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guided rockets were successfully test-fired from a U.S. Army Kiowa Warrior helicopter on Dec. 13. These tests confirm that the APKWS rocket is compatible with the Kiowa Warrior’s carriage and launch systems and demonstrate that the weapon can be fired from the helicopter without requiring platform integration or modifications.
The tests also proved again the weapon’s ability to acquire, track, and hit a laser-designated target, with both rockets striking the target well within accuracy requirements established by the Army and Marine Corps.
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SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a Finmeccanica company, signed a contract with the Indian company BEL - Bharat Electronics Limited - to supply air traffic control systems to the Indian Air Force.
The contract, whose value is 52 million Euros, will grant the delivery of thirteen ATCR33 S primary radars, thirteen SIR S secondary radars, and 52 consoles CDS 2000 for the equipment of the control centres. The radar systems will be delivered within three years, starting from the contract signature.
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EADS in Spain has delivered the system for the first COMFUT (COMbatiente FUTuro) squad, the future Spanish Army soldier modernisation programme, to the Ministry of Defence’s Procurement Office (Dirección General de Armamento y Material, DGAM). The squad comprises twelve individual comprehensive kits. The delivery took place on time and represents the first important milestone of the contract, which was launched in September 2006 with the choice of EADS as the best bidder from the COMFUT competition for the design and development phase.
EADS acts as the prime contractor and leads a group of Spanish subcontractors, amongst which are Indra, Fedur, GMV, Iturri y Amopack. It is the responsibility of EADS to integrate their elements into the overall COMFUT system.
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The first ever Sino-Indian joint military exercise “Hand-in-Hand” started at Kunming Military Academy, China today. The exercise was jointly opened by Brigadier DS Dadwal, Commander of the Indian contingent and Major General Xiong Zuoming of People’s Liberation Army, China. Both the officers expressed their confidence that this exercise would be a prove to be a mile stone in enhancing mutual trust and confidence between two armies and the two Nations.
The opening ceremony was followed by a tactics and skills display by the troops of the two sides. Weapon displays were organized by both the armies in which the troops of the two sides showed keen interest.
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