USAF outlines nuke inventory modernization

By Marcus Weisgerber - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 25, 2012 9:33:05 EDT

The Air Force is moving ahead with plans to modernize its inventory of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, a top service general said.

The Air Force plans to maintain and modernize its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and extend the life of the air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) so both last until at least 2030, according to Maj. Gen. William Chambers, assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at the Pentagon.

The ALCM improvement programs include the guidance and flight control system and warhead arming components.

At the same time, the Air Force plans to modernize the B-2 stealth bomber and keep flying the B-52 bomber “until a replacement capability comes online,” Chambers said.

“The B-52 has recently seen some of the highest readiness rates in its 60-year history,” he said during a May 24 speech sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association. “It remains one of our most flexible airframes and one of the least expensive to operate.”

Replacements for the Minuteman III and ALCM also are in the works.

The Air Force also has “dual capable plans ready as the F-35 program matures,” Chambers said. This would allow the Joint Strike Fighter to launch nuclear weapons, like today’s F-15E and F-16 fighter jets.

Service officials have made “significant strides in assessing and modernizing the nation’s nuclear command-and-control network,” and have established a baseline nuclear command, control and communications architecture, Chambers said.

“We’re focused on a very prioritized investment strategy concentrating on our senior leadership aircraft, our bomber fleet and multiple cryptographic improvements,” he said.

By Airforcetime

India's NAL links with Kadet for UAV

by Staff Writers
New Delhi (UPI) May 24, 2012

India's state-run National Aerospace Laboratory will work with Kadet Defense Systems to develop NAL's Hansa trainer aircraft into an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Hansa is built by Taneja Aerospace and Aviation for NAL and uses Indian-made composite material but mostly imported aeronautic electronics.

The low-wing, tricycle-gear aircraft first flew in the late 1990s and is used mainly by private flying clubs as a trainer.

The aircraft is around 25 feet long and has a wingspan of just more than 34 feet. Cruising speed is 130 mph with a range or more than 500 miles.

The engine is mainly the turbocharged four-cylinder Rotax 914F engine from Austria, similar to that used by the unmanned MQ-1 Predator made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in the United States.

The later Hansa 4 model has used the SR305-230E diesel engine made my SMA of the French Safran Group.

The plane also can be used for low-level surveillance because of its slow speeds.

But the feasibility of the project is under question, a report by the Indian defense industry news Web site defensenow.com said.

The report said defense analysts have pointed out the two-seater aircraft's high cockpit canopy and less-than-compact overall design would make it unwieldy if it were a UAV.

NAL and Kadet may never get the project off the ground if the NAL's record for keeping to design and production schedules is considered, the defensenow.com report said.

NAL hasn't finished the 14-seater Saras aircraft and also has its hands full with the ongoing development of the Regional Transport Aircraft.

The Saras, being developed by NAL and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, is a domestically designed and manufactured light transport jet aircraft powered by two Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop engines.

The aircraft's first flight was in 2004 but development suffered a setback when one of the two prototypes crashed near Bangalore in March 2009, killing the two air force test pilots.

An inquiry found that the pilots were attempting to switch off and re-ignite one of the two engines, a report by the Hindu newspaper said in July 2009. Incorrect instructions for the procedure were the cause of the crash, the Hindu report said.

Kadet Defense Systems, which has headquarters in Kolkata, was created in 2005 to manufacture an aerial drone target for the Indian army and has moved into development of UAVs for surveillance and reconnaissance.

Kadet supplies the Ministry of Defense with the company's JX2 Radio Controlled Aerial Target System and Javelin X Aerial Targets.

The Javelin X drone target was the preferred target for the Shilka Anti-Aircraft Gun System upgrade program, which was undertaken by Bharat Electronics and Elta Systems, an Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary, Kadet's Web site notes.

By Spacedaily

Strategic Karwar naval base set for major expansion

NEW DELHI: With the mammoth aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya slated to reach Indian shores early next year, the government is finally scrambling to launch the long-delayed expansion of the strategic Karwar naval base in coastal Karnataka at a cost of around Rs 13,000 crore.
The Phase-IIA expansion of Karwar base, which gives the country both strategic depth and operational flexibility on the western seaboard, is being sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security for the final nod after defence minister A K Antony approved it last week, sources said.

Defence secretary Shashikant Sharma also visited Karwar recently to take a look at the naval base, which can currently base 11 major warships and 10 smaller ships after Phase-I completion at a cost of Rs 2,629 crore.
Navy will be able to berth 32 major warships and submarines, and various other ships, including 10 of the 80 fast-interceptor craft (FICs), to be acquired for coastal security force Sagar Prahari Bal, after Phase-IIA is completed by 2018-19.
INS Vikramaditya, or the 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov being refitted by Russia for $2.33 billion, will be inducted much before that. With the congested Mumbai harbour not capable of handling INS Vikramaditya, some warships may have to be shifted out from Karwar to accommodate the carrier.
The six Scorpene submarines, being built at Mazagon Docks for Rs 23,562 crore and slated for induction in the 2015-2020 timeframe, will also be housed at Karwar. With its natural cover and depth of water, the base is ideal for stealthy submarine operations.
Karwar is India's third major naval base after Mumbai and Visakhapatnam on the west coast, while Pakistan has five at Gwadar, Ormara, Karachi, Pasni and Jiwani.
Under Phase-IIA, Karwar will get an airbase, armament depot, dockyard complex and missile silos, apart from additional jetties, berthing and anchorage facilities. The eventual aim is to base 50 frontline warships at Karwar after Phase-IIB is completed.
This is critical for strategic needs since the Navy is steaming ahead on its modernization path with 44 warships, six Scorpene submarines, 95 FICs and 106 smaller ships like barges, tugs and vessels already on order.
In tune with the "maritime capability perspective plan'', another 45 warships are in the pipeline. These include six stealth submarines, seven stealth frigates, 16 coastal anti-submarine vessels, four massive landing platform docks and eight mine counter-measure vessels.
Overall, as first reported by TOI, Navy's ongoing conventional warship, submarine and maritime aircraft acquisition programme as well as proposed projects will together cost well over Rs 3,00,000 crore over the next 15 years.
On the strategic front, Navy plans to have three SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range nuclear missiles) and six SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the long term. The first SSBN INS Arihant will become operational in first half of 2013.

By Time of India

No Word From Top General On Pakistani Supply Lines

May 23, 2012

Military.com| by Philip Ewing

The top American commander in Afghanistan declined to predict when Pakistan would reopen its ground supply lines, but he did say that the two countries’ stalled relationship was improving.

Marine Gen. John Allen, head of the International Security Assistance Force, told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that he had been heartened by the resumption of the first basic talks with Pakistani counterparts in more than a year. They’re better than nothing, he said, and everyone involved -- the Pakistanis, Afghans and Americans -- had agreed to meet again regularly.

"Anytime you can talk, create opportunities for discussion, share objectives on a strategic outcome, that’s a positive thing," he said. "We’re not there yet, we’ve got more conversation that needs to be had, but there’s a real opportunity here and we should be seizing it if we can."

Pakistani leaders closed the ground supply routes last November after a cross-border air strike killed 24 troops. An American investigation called the incident a tragic mistake, but Pakistan rejected that explanation. The closure of the supply lines trapped about 1,000 cargo trucks bound for Afghanistan as well as the contents of supply ships in the port of Karachi.

Allen said American and international forces had never been in any danger of running low on the supplies that once traveled overland through Pakistan; the closest call was when the stock of gasoline approached, but did not fall below, a 30-day supply. He praised the Air Force and U.S. Transportation Command’s ability to provide "tremendous compensation" for the closed Pakistani supply lines.

In some cases, ISAF’s supply stockpiles are greater now than before the closure, which Allen said has had no effect on his ability to conduct the war.

Still, he acknowledged it takes longer and costs twice as much to ship material via the northern route, and he did not address what Army logistics experts have said would be the massive spike in costs if the U.S. must conduct its withdrawal without the Pakistani supply lines. Officials have estimated using the northern route could cost five times as much as withdrawing equipment south to ships in Karachi.

According to reports last week, the U.S. and Pakistan were said to be close to an agreement to re-open the ground supply routes, with the condition that the Americans increase payments to Islamabad for each vehicle that crosses the border. But officials in Washington have declined to talk publicly about the state of those talks, and Allen said Wednesday he was not involved with them closely.

He also reiterated that neither he nor anyone in the Pentagon knows how many American troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the end of the summer. About 23,000 troops are coming home in the second phase of the drawdown, and as that happens Allen said he’ll need to re-posture the forces that remain; account for Afghan units, some augmented with American advisors; and assess the state of the insurgency.

Only then, he said, will he be able to recommend how many troops should stay in Afghanistan until the "milestone" next year when indigenous forces take control of most of the country, and then when international troops transfer full authority in 2014.

"There’s not a number right now," Allen said. "There's no number out there right now. I owe that analysis to my chain of command and then ultimately, to the White House."

By Millitery.com

Iran to unveil a new home-made Cobra attack helicopter in the near future.

TEHRAN (FNA) - The Iranian Army plans to unveil and put into operation Iran's first home-made Cobra chopper in special wargames of the Army's Airborne unit in the near future, a senior commander announced on Wednesday, May 24, 2012.

Cobra attack helicopter of Iranian Air Force

Speaking to FNA, Lieutenant Commander of the Army's Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari said that the unit would unveil the national military chopper in the special airborne exercises to be held in the near future. As regards the capabilities of the national chopper, the commander stated, "The chopper is an advanced generation of Model 209, or Cobra, choppers which is also equipped with different types of home-made caliber guns, rockets and missiles." "All the phases of designing and manufacturing of the chopper have been done inside the country and the helicopter enjoys some capabilities which make it preferable to Apache Choppers," Heidari said. The commander further announced that different types of anti-chopper and anti-armor weapons will be tested in the wargames. Iran has taken wide strides in designing and manufacturing different types of light, semi-heavy and heavy weapons, military tools and equipment. Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes. Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

By airrecognition

Russian Air Force will receive the first batch of fifth-generation T-50 PAK FA fighter aircraft in 2013.

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.

Russian T-50 PAK FA fifth-generation fighter aircraft

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. “The work on the fifth-generation fighter is going according to schedule,” Zelin, a former Air Force commander, told a news conference in Voronezh (central Russia). “The third prototype has joined the testing program and the fourth is being built.” The T-50 made its maiden flight in January 2010 and three prototypes have since been undergoing flight tests. Zelin earlier said that the number of T-50 aircraft involved in testing would be increased to 14 by 2015. The fighter was first shown to the public in August 2011, in Zhukovsky near Moscow, at the MAKS-2011 air show. 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

US officals 'flew to N.Korea' before rocket launch

by Staff Writers
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