China :: Defence :: Space

Orlando, FL (SPX) Nov 30, 2011 -The U.S. Army Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $6.7 million contract to support live maneuver training. In addition to the base year, the program includes four one-year options. Through the initiative, Lockheed Martin will provide up to 20 variants of its Instrumentable Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System Shoulder Launched Munitions (I-MILES SLM) training devices. The I-MILES SLM devices are realistic, simulated shoulder-launched munitions powered by common, interchangeable laser and weapons effects engines. In live force-on-force maneuver training exercises, during which some soldiers take on the role of the adversary, trainees using these devices experience the look and feel of the weapons, as well as sounds and results that closely align with real-world operating conditions. "Effective training includes technology that mirrors what warfighters could encounter in ...

Tucson, AZ (SPX) Nov 30, 2011 -Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II program remains ahead of schedule after completing a series of tests that demonstrated successful integration of production tri-mode seeker hardware and software. During the tests, a seeker built on an active production line was mounted on a tower and tracked a variety of moving targets in imaging infrared and millimeter wave modes. The tests proved that the seeker's software could seamlessly pass data between modes, allowing the weapon's algorithms to arrive at a targeting solution. "The warfighter has a critical, unmet need for a weapon that can hit a moving target regardless of weather conditions, and Raytheon is doing its part to give it to them," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Air Warfare Systems for Raytheon Missile Systems. "This test is the most recent in a series of successes that keep the SDB II program on cost and ahead of schedule." SDB II fills a critical capability gap ...

Tucson AZ (SPX) Nov 30, 2011 -The U.S. Air Force reached a Milestone C decision on Raytheon's Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer variant, authorizing Raytheon to begin Low Rate Initial Production of the system. The Air Force also exercised a contract option and awarded Raytheon $5 million to convert Lot 4 MALD production of the baseline to the MALD-J variant. "MALD-J will save the lives of aviators because commanders will be able to use MALD-J to conduct dangerous stand-in jamming missions instead of using manned aircraft to do the job," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems product line. "The 125 Raytheon employees who make MALD and the hundreds of suppliers across the nation who support MALD can be proud of their contribution to the warfighter." The Miniature Air Launched Decoy MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300 pounds and...

Canberra, Australia (SPX) Nov 25, 2011 -Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare has announced that the Australian Defence Force has now taken delivery of 437 new Carl Gustav 84 mm guns and thermal sights. The 437 new guns are the improved M3 model and will supplement the existing M2 Carl Gustav gun. The weapons and sights have been delivered over the past 12 months. The final instalment was delivered to 7th Battalion inSouth Australia last month. They are being used by Special Forces and Mentoring Taskforce 3 (MTF-3) inAfghanistanand have also been delivered to other Army units and the Air Force. MTF-3 was the first Mentoring Taskforce to be deployed with the new weapon. "The feedback from soldiers is that it is very effective," Mr Clare said. "It is used to knock down walls and blow up bunkers. It can also fire smoke filled ammunition and lights to improve soldiers' visibility at night. "Both the gun and sight are proven capabilities butAustraliais the first ...

Phnom Penh (AFP) Nov 27, 2011 - Song Kosal was just five when she lost her right leg to a landmine. But the tragedy inspired her to become one of Cambodia's most outspoken anti-mine campaigners, and even take part in a beauty contest. Now 27, Kosal will share her dream of a "mine-free world" when she gives the opening address to delegates from more than 100 countries at a conference in Phnom Penh this week taking stock of a global ban on the weapons. "I have dreamed many times that I still have two legs, but then I wake up," Kosal told AFP. "I don't want to see other people, children especially, to be hurt by landmines like me." Representatives from the states that have signed the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention will discuss progress on eradicating the weapons at the meeting that starts on Monday. The meeting follows a report just days ago saying that global landmine use is at a seven-year high. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (...

Canberra, Australia (SPX) Nov 25, 2011 -Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare has announced that the Australian Defence Force has now taken delivery of 437 new Carl Gustav 84 mm guns and thermal sights. The 437 new guns are the improved M3 model and will supplement the existing M2 Carl Gustav gun. The weapons and sights have been delivered over the past 12 months. The final instalment was delivered to 7th Battalion inSouth Australia last month. They are being used by Special Forces and Mentoring Taskforce 3 (MTF-3) inAfghanistanand have also been delivered to other Army units and the Air Force. MTF-3 was the first Mentoring Taskforce to be deployed with the new weapon. "The feedback from soldiers is that it is very effective," Mr Clare said. "It is used to knock down walls and blow up bunkers. It can also fire smoke filled ammunition and lights to improve soldiers' visibility at night. "Both the gun and sight are proven capabilities butAustraliais the first ...

Haifa, Israel (SPX) Nov 25, 2011 -Elbit Systems was awarded an order by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) for the supply of Armored Driving Trainers (ADTs) for several Israel Defense Forces combat vehicle types as well as for a Forward Observer Trainer (FOT) for surveillance and observation of Israel's borders. The order is in an amount which is not material to Elbit Systems. Mounted on top a motion platform, Elbit Systems' Armored Driving Trainer (ADT) enables 6 degrees freedom of movement, specifically designed to provide trainees with a highly realistic driving experience. The system supports driver training in a wide range of combat and non-combat scenarios. The wide variety of scenarios it offers enables driver training in diverse weather and harsh field conditions, thus creating practice situations (such as driving under enemy fire or on dangerous slopes) that are not feasible to perform in the actual battlefield - even during field exercises . The advanced trainer i...

London (AFP) Nov 24, 2011 - Britain is selling its last 72 Harrier fighter jets to the United States to be used as spare parts, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Thursday. The jets are being sold to the US Marine Corps for $180 million (135 million euros) and the deal includes spares and support equipment. The money will be invested in other projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter as Britain looks to develop a modern, mixed fast jet fleet. "The airframes and associated parts will be used as a major source of spares to support the US Marine Corps Harrier AV-8B fleet of aircraft," the MoD said in a statement. The sale comes as the MoD seeks to plug a 38 billion pounds ($59 billion, 44 billion euro) hole in its budget. "Harrier served this country with great distinction but retiring it eight years earlier than planned was the right decision," Peter Luff, the minister for defence equipment, support and technology, told parliament on Thursday. "The sale of Harrie...

Canberra, Australia (SPX) Nov 25, 2011 -Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare has announced that the Australian Defence Force has now taken delivery of 437 new Carl Gustav 84 mm guns and thermal sights. The 437 new guns are the improved M3 model and will supplement the existing M2 Carl Gustav gun. The weapons and sights have been delivered over the past 12 months. The final instalment was delivered to 7th Battalion inSouth Australia last month. They are being used by Special Forces and Mentoring Taskforce 3 (MTF-3) inAfghanistanand have also been delivered to other Army units and the Air Force. MTF-3 was the first Mentoring Taskforce to be deployed with the new weapon. "The feedback from soldiers is that it is very effective," Mr Clare said. "It is used to knock down walls and blow up bunkers. It can also fire smoke filled ammunition and lights to improve soldiers' visibility at night. "Both the gun and sight are proven capabilities butAustraliais the first ...

The recent China Navy's West Pac drill in international waters draws little notice outside of Asia but the reaction from Japan is once again over-the-top........ Just love that Einstein look alike actor/naval expert they used on TV. PLA naval fleet to go for exercise in western Pacific (Source: Xinhua) 2011-11-24 BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval fleet will go for routine training in the western Pacific in late November, according to a written statement issued by China's Ministry of National Defense. The annual regular training is in accordance with relevant international laws and practice, and not directed toward any particular country or goal, the statement said. China's lawful rights, including free navigation in relevant waters, should not be hindered, the statement added. Editor: Ouyang Dongmei

This Story Page List 1 2 3 4 2011-11-26 (China Military News cited from dailymail.co.uk) -- On the evening of November 1, 1950, 22-year-old Private Carl Simon of the U.S. 8th Cavalry lay shivering with his comrades in the icy mountains of North Korea. A patrol had just reported itself 'under attack from unidentified troops', which bemused and dismayed the Americans, because their campaign to occupy North Korea seemed all but complete. Suddenly, through the darkness came sounds of bugle calls, gunfire, shouts in a language that the 8th Cavalry's Korean interpreters could not understand. A few minutes later, waves of attackers charged into the American positions, screaming, firing and throwing grenades. 'There was just mass hysteria,' Simon told me long afterwards. 'It was every man for himself. I didn't know which way to go. In the end, I just ran with the crowd. We ran and ran until the bugles grew fainter.' This was the moment, of course, when the ar...

This Story Page List 1 2 2011-11-25 (China Military News cited from strategypage.com) -- Pakistan is aggressively seeking customers for its JF-17 jet fighter. During the last two years, Pakistan has manufactured about 30 JF-17. The first JF-17s were manufactured in China. But the plan was always to shift production to Pakistan, with the original goal of 25 a year being produced by 2011. This goal was not achieved, but production has been established in Pakistan, and it is growing. Pakistan is offering the JF-17 for a low price ($25 million in the cheapest configuration) and touts the fact that this is a third the price of an F-16. But this is comparing apples and oranges. The low end JF-17 is little more than a day time interceptor. The most capable F-16 model in service is the F-16I, used exclusively by Israel. It's basically a modified version of the F-16C/D Block 50/52, equipped with more advanced radar (the APG-68(X)) and the ability to carry Israeli weapons like the Python 4 ...

This Story Page List 1 2 2011-11-25 (China Military News cited from China Daily) -- Our first stop in Shexian county, Handan, was the former military headquarters of the 129 division of the Eighth Route Army - a residential site that had served as both home and office to many well-known figures, such as Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). The Eighth Route Army was formed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1937. The 129 division, led by Liu, was one of its major divisions. While the division began with only 9,000 soldiers in 1937, it numbered 700,000 soldiers by 1945. However, about 400,000 of this number were local militias, comprising locals who were sympathetic to the cause. We could almost imagine what it might have been like to live back then in the small, rectangular homes in the 1930s. "Only a few things have changed," our guide Qingyan says, assuring us that we're seeing original buildings. ...

Recently, some advertising reports, Japan purchase revolutionary U.S. F-35 stealth fighter at identical time, do not stop trying the domestic stealth fighter development. Japan Ministry of Defense investigation and Mitsubishi Heavy industrial sectors headquarters soon will be codenamed mind of revolutionary engineering demonstrator, the shows oxygen Self-Defense Zhunjiangjigang said: This implies that Japans growth of stealth jet not getting any problems, we will create away from the superb fighter. Japan has experienced the stealth fighter job invested greater than dollar 500 million growth funding, the aircrafts preliminary airline flight is anticipated getting roughly in 2016, once the Japanese stealth fighter growth plan may be achieved independently, then it will be in Japan, subsequent the 1970s effectively self-developed F-1 help fighter once again appropriate after the accomplishment of impartial investigation and patek philippe nautilus replica growth of domestic aircraft. In...

This Story Page List 1 2 2011-11-24 (China Military News cited from Bloomberg and by Sabine Pirone) -- China's naval expansion in the eastern Pacific is poised to accelerate U.S. investment in anti-submarine warfare equipment, according to Ultra Electronics Holdings Plc, the world's biggest supplier of sonar detectors. The Pentagon and its allies will focus spending on devices able to spot subs even in the noisiest shipping lanes as China's naval build-up heightens tensions with neighboring nations and underscores the need to secure commercial shipping flows, Ultra Chief Executive Officer Rakesh Sharma said in an interview. "Even with global defense cuts the sonar business is expanding," Sharma said. "Mineral supplies and commodities, for example, are all transported by sea, so it's becoming imperative to protect trade routes. Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the U.S., will all start investing in anti-submarine warfare as th...

Bangkok (AFP) Nov 23, 2011 - Global use of landmines in 2011 has been the highest for seven years, campaigners said Wednesday, with Israel, Libya, Syria and longstanding offender Myanmar all recently laying the deadly explosives. Launching a new report from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), editor Mary Wareham said multiple explosives put down by Moamer Kadhafi's government in the year of the Arab Spring were key to the rise. "Thousands, if not tens of thousands were laid by the Kadhafi regime," she told reporters in Bangkok. Myanmar was the only country recorded as laying new landmines in last year's report, but the Southeast Asian nation has since been joined by Israel and Syria as well as Libya. As a result, "use of antipersonnel mines during 2011 has surpassed that of any year since 2004", said an ICBL statement. "In Syria, after the report went to press, government forces laid mines on the border with Lebanon," Wareham said, ...

Denver CO (SPX) Nov 23, 2011 -During a recent European exercise, Lockheed Martin demonstrated advanced border surveillance capabilities from an optionally piloted vehicle. Lockheed Martin and its team showcased how traditional defense focused integrated airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities can be quickly adapted to address dynamic border protection as well as maritime search and rescue needs. FRONTEX, tasked to strengthen the security of the European Union external borders, hosted the exercise to view existing capabilities in a live environment. The primary goal of the exercise was to evaluate how optionally piloted vehicles or unmanned vehicles can further enhance border surveillance in the maritime domain. Lockheed Martin demonstrated how quickly optionally piloted vehicles could collect intelligence on suspicious activity or detect boats in distress, then immediately send imagery, streaming video and other gathered intelligence to a ground statio...

Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Nov 21, 2011 -Over the forecast period, North America is expected to account for a share of 35.6% of the total global expenditure on military rotorcrafts. High demand in the region is primarily driven by the country's modernization plans due to maintenance issues regarding its military helicopter fleet after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Asia and Europe are also expected to account for a significant portion of the total global military rotorcraft market with shares of 30.8% and 18.4% respectively. This will be largely driven by the efforts of countries such as India, China and Russia who are anticipated to modernize their armed forces. The Middle East, Latin America and Africa account for 9.7%, 4.5% and 0.9% respectively of global military helicopter expenditure. The global military rotorcraft market which comprises attack, multi-mission and rescue, transport, reconnaissance and observation and maritime helicopters, is expected to record growth over th...

Albuquerque NM (SPX) Nov 16, 2011 -Boeing has received a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense's High Energy Laser - Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO) to continue development of a prototype High Power Adaptive Optic system. The objective of this follow-on, 15-month contract is to apply adaptive optic technology to high energy laser tactical systems. The value of this contract is not being disclosed. Traditional "adaptive optics" were originally developed for use in astronomers' telescopes to correct for the blurry image that occurs when wind or other turbulence distorts wavelengths of light from a star or other astronomical object. Similarly, the objective of the High Power Adaptive Optic system is to minimize atmospheric distortion in order to increase the amount of energy - in this case laser energy - applied to a target. "By minimizing the distortion of a laser beam - much like telescopes can take the 'twinkle' out of the stars - we can increase...

Sesto Calende, Italy (UPI) Nov 16, 2011 -Italy-based Rotorsim, the consortium owned CAE and AgustaWestland, is starting a Joint NH90 training program for the Netherlands Ministry of Defense. The JNTP was inaugurated during a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Col. Jan Verhulst, NH90 program manager, Netherlands Ministry of Defense; Daniele Romiti, chief executive officer, AgustaWestland; and Ulrich Aderhold, managing director, CAE Europe. "This is a major milestone and reinforces Rotorsim's commitment to offering world-class helicopter training to customers in both the civil and military markets," said Craig Zysk, Rotorsim's general manager. Rotorsim, which serves as the prime contractor for the JNTP, has taken delivery of a NH90 full-mission flight trainer that can be reconfigured between the NH90 Tactical Transport variant as well as the NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter variant. The Netherlands Ministry of Defense and Netherlands Military Aviation Authority have recen...

2011-11-23 (China Military News cited from Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday established a strategic planning department to improve the strategic management of the military, according to a conference marking the department's founding held here. Approved by President Hu Jintao and the Central Military Commission (CMC), the establishment of the planning department carries great significance for boosting the CMC's strategic management functions, Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the CMC, said while addressing the meeting. Guo said such a move will help beef up the quality and efficiency of the building of the country's defense and military. Affiliated with the the PLA's General Staff Headquarters, the newly-founded strategic planning department has been tasked with studying key strategic issues, drawing out development and planning for the military's growth, and raising proposals on the general allocation and macro control of the military...

This Story Page List 1 2 2011-11-22 (China Military News cited from China Daily) -- The United States continues to blame China for alleged intrusions into US government and defense industry computer networks. This month a report released by the Project 2049 Initiative, a US-based think tank, details China's signals intelligence organization, and what role it thinks the People's Liberation Army has in collecting cyber intelligence. And last month, a draft report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission claimed that cyber hackers "achieved all the steps required to command" a US satellite and claimed the techniques of the hackers "appear consistent with authoritative Chinese military writings". In the court of public opinion, the US has managed to successfully portray itself as the main victim of cyber attacks. But it is no secret that the US has already developed an information warfare doctrine and has capability to make cyber attacks on other...

China Defense Blog This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power. Monday, November 21, 2011 Photo of the day: The first Jiangnan Shipyard produced Yuan class SSK gets ready to join the fleet. If this is not a one-off, it could mean that there are two shipyards capable of constructing the ! Yuan cla ss in parallel, one in Wuhan and the other in Shanghai. Assuming money is no object, of course. Aerial photos taken over the Jiangnan Shipyard in July 2011 Posted by Coatepeque at 5:50 PM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook 0comments: Post a Comment Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Blog Archive 2011 (383) November (26) Photo of the day: The first Jiangnan Shipyard prod... PL-10 AAM spotted on a J-11B The Economist view on the developing Mokong River ... Chinese Military Badge Of The Day: An u...