The Russian Air Force will receive the first batch of prototypes of its fifth-generation T-50 fighter for performance testing in 2013, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Thursday, May 17, 2012. | |||
The T-50, developed under the PAK FA program (Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force) at the Sukhoi experimental design bureau, is Russia's first new major warplane designed since the fall of the Soviet Union. http://www.airrecognition.com/index.php/archive-world-worldwide-news-air-force-aviation-aerospace-air-military-defence-industry/year-2012-news-worldwide-world-international-air-force-aviation-air-defence-military-industry-exhibition-industries-equipment-aircraft-planes-world-countries-worldwide/may-2012-world-air-force-news-worldwide-aviation-industry-/459-russian-air-force-will-receive-the-first-batch-of-fifth-generation-t-50-pak-fa-fighter-aircraft-in-2013-1705121.html |
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Russian Air Force will receive the first batch of fifth-generation T-50 PAK FA fighter aircraft in 2013.
US officals 'flew to N.Korea' before rocket launch
Seoul (AFP) May 24, 2012
 Team Kim... |
Two senior US officials made a secret visit to North Korea in an apparent attempt to persuade it to cancel last month's long-range rocket launch, a South Korean report said Thursday.
A US Air Force Boeing 737 flew from Guam to Pyongyang with the officials on April 7, six days before the failed launch went ahead, Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited a diplomatic source in Seoul as saying.
Experts speculate the aircraft carried Sydney Seiler, a National Security Council adviser to President Barack Obama, and Joseph DeTrani, director of the National Counter-Proliferation Centre, it said.
The report was one of several carried by South Korean media, although government officials and the US State Department have refused to comment.
Yonhap news agency also said the plane carried DeTrani.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the April 13 launch as breaching a ban on testing ballistic missile technology, and tightened sanctions on North Korea.
Pyongyang insists its aim was only to put a satellite into orbit for peaceful purposes.
It says the launch did not breach a February agreement with the United States that promised a suspension of uranium enrichment and a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests in return for 240,000 tonnes of food aid.
After the launch plan was announced, the United States said it would suspend the start of food deliveries.
A North Korean foreign ministry statement released Tuesday carried an apparent reference to the reported US visit.
It said Pyongyang had informed Washington "several weeks ago" that it was exercising restraint and was "taking the concerns voiced by the US into consideration".
The North in Tuesday's statement vowed to bolster its nuclear deterrent and take "self-defence" measures unless the US halts criticism and pressure.
But it said a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue was still possible if Washington drops its "hostile" policy.
In 2006 and 2009 the North responded with nuclear tests after the UN imposed sanctions against its rocket launches.
Tensions with South Korea have also been high following the North's virulent criticism of Seoul's leaders in recent months.
The verbal barrage is a sign of the regime's instability as new leader Kim Jong-Un bolsters his authority, a Seoul minister said.
"The reason why North Koreans criticise South Korea ever more strongly, we believe, is an expression of anxiety," Unification Minister Yu Woo-Ik told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview published Thursday.
The untested Jong-Un, aged in his late 20s, took over after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il last December and began reshaping the government line-up.
Individuals and organisations who fear their jobs are at risk are competing to show loyalty, partly by criticising the South, said the minister, who oversees cross-border relations.
The North in recent months has mounted an unusually extreme campaign of personal abuse against the South's President Lee Myung-Bak and other officials.
It has termed him a rat and "human scum", among a variety of other insults, and threatened "sacred war" to wipe out Seoul's rulers.
Yu said the North's tone would remain strong for the time being.
"I expect this kind of fidelity race will fade away as authority gets stabilised and anxiety is removed," he said, adding Seoul is still open to dialogue.
By Spacedaily
Sea trial of INS Vikramaditya put off till June: Report
The carrier is currently being overhauled at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. "The start of the sea trials has been moved to the beginning of June from May 25," Ria Novosti reported quoting a shipyard spokesman.
The vessel was originally scheduled to sail for trials in the White Sea and the Barents Sea on May 25. The officials said that the trial may have been put off due to poor weather forecast.
India and Russia signed a multi-billion dollar deal in 2005 for the purchase of the Soviet-built Admiral Gorshkov carrier, but its delivery has already been delayed twice, pushing up the cost of refurbishing the carrier from $947 million to $2.3 billion.
The delivery of the Admiral Gorshkov to the Indian navy is expected in December 2012.
The warship is a modified Kiev-class carrier, originally named Baku. The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in 1987.
It was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1994, following a boiler room explosion, the Admiral Gorshkov sat in dock for a year for repairs. In 1995, it briefly returned to service and in 1996 was finally withdrawn and put up for sale.
The ship has a displacement capacity of 45000 tons. It has a maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots.
By NDTV
Akash successfully test fired, India's air defence system gets a boost
Sources in the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Chandipur range in Balasore district, about 250 kms from Bhubaneswar, said that the user-specific trial of the missile was successful. The Akash weapon system was inducted into the armed forces in 2008.
The missile, which has a strike range of 25 km and is capable of carrying a warhead of 60 kgs, was test fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-III of the ITR at about 11:08 am IST, sources said, adding that during the trial the missile was aimed at intercepting a floating object supported by a pilotless target aircraft.
Akash, an anti-aircraft defence system, can simultaneously engage several targets aided by the 'Rajendra' radar, which, apart from doing surveillance work, tracks the target and guides the missile towards it. The multi-functional radar has been developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a Bangalore-based DRDO laboratory.
Akash missile was developed in the 1990s under the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and was inducted into the armed forces following a string trials.
The Akash missile system is often compared with the American MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system as, similar to the latter, it is capable of neutralising aerial targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/akash-successfully-test-fired-surface-to-air-missile/1/197396.html
By India today
Pakistan Acknowledges Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrent
May. 23, 2012 - 12:17PM | 
By USMAN ANSARI
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has acknowledged the existence of a sea-based nuclear deterrent with the recent inauguration of the Headquarters of the Naval Strategic Force Command (NSFC) by the head of the Navy, Adm. Asif Sandhila.
A May 19 press release by the military’s Inter Services Public Relations stated the NSFC “will perform a pivotal role in development and employment of the Naval Strategic Force,” and was “the custodian of the nation’s 2nd strike capability.”
Mansoor Ahmed, lecturer at Quaid-e-Azam University’s Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, and who specializes in Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs, said this is all but specific confirmation of the widely speculated submarine-launched variant of the Babur/HATF-VII (Vengeance-VII) cruise missile.
Analyst Usman Shabbir of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank said Pakistan has been working on its sea-based deterrent for some time.
“When the Babur was first revealed in 2005, it was claimed that it is mainly designed to be deployed from submarines. There was at least that speculation,” he said.
The Navy “has pretty good experience in using similar systems, for example, both submarine-launched Harpoon and Exocet use a similar system, and [the Navy] has operated both for a long time.”
Shabbir speculates that the launch method may be similar to the UGM-84 Harpoon’s method of being fired from torpedo tubes.
However, other analysts are not so certain the Navy can afford to undertake the responsibility of the nation’s second-strike capability.
Former Australian defense attaché to Islamabad Brian Cloughley said the size of Pakistan’s submarine force is too small to carry out this task.
“Pakistan’s current submarine fleet is not adequate in numbers [although well-trained] to be able to undertake detection and effective interdiction of the Indian fleet, given its size — which is increasing, even if slowly,” he said.
Currently, Pakistan’s submarine flotilla comprises two refurbished 1970s-era Agosta-70s and three 1990s-era Agosta-90B submarines. The latter are equipped with air independent propulsion (AIP) or are in the process of being retrofitted with the AIP module, and incrementally entered service from 1999.
Cloughley said interdiction of India’s fleet “must remain [the Navy’s] first priority,” and considers “conversion of the present assets to take Babur not only costly but a most regrettable diversion of budget allocation.”
“I would go so far as to say that, in present circumstances, it would be a grave error if such a program were to go ahead,” he added.
The Navy, however, has a requirement for new submarines and wants to increase their number. The Agosta-90B design has been superseded twice, once by the DCNI Scorpene, and briefly by a paper design called the Marlin before it was absorbed into the Scorpene family.
There is a confirmed requirement for 12 to 14 submarines to meet Navy expansion plans. This would allow for a constant war patrol of at least one deterrent-tasked submarine, leaving other submarines to carry out more traditional tasks.
However, Cloughley is still certain that Pakistan does not require such a capability.
“[Pakistan] has plenty of nuclear-capable SSMs and strike aircraft, and does not need a Navy-oriented second-strike capability,” he said.
By Defense news
Indian Air Force Chief Flies Rafale In France
By Livefist
India Signs Deal With Pilatus For 75 PC-7 Trainers
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| Photo / Pilatus Aircraft |
The Indian Air Force joins more than 30 other countries to modernise its training pipeline with the most modern, capable and cost effective system for Basic Flying Training on the market today. The Indian Air Force is the fourth largest air force in the world with approximately 170,000 personnel and 1,500 aircraft operating from more than 60 air bases. This contract will extend the fleet of Pilatus turboprop trainers to more than 900 aircraft operating worldwide.
Delivery of the aircraft and the complete training system is scheduled to commence in Q4 2012. The decision to select the PC-7 MkII training system was made after a thorough evaluation by the Indian Air Force, which looked at all available options. Pilatus Aircraft Ltd views this contract for the Indian Air Force as a major success and believes it will encourage other forces to take a close look at our pilot training solution.
Coupled to this award will be the establishment of in-country depot level maintenance capabilities, which includes the required transfer of technology to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), enabling in-country maintenance of the platform throughout its service life of over 30 years. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was established in 1940 with the Government of India as primary shareholder, having approximately 35,000 employees based at eight sites across India.
Pilatus has also entered into a separate off-set contract with the Government of India for 30% of the value of this contract and we view this as a major opportunity. Pilatus has significant confidence in the Indian Defence market with its highly skilled workforce and it is our intention to leverage the offset opportunity to establish manufacturing capability for the region in support of our business plans for India.
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd is committed to serving the Indian Air Force with its world renowned dedication to Swiss precision and quality, through delivering and supporting the most advanced Basic Flight Training turboprop trainer aircraft in the world – the Pilatus PC-7 MkII.
By Livefist