Independent Defense Weblog
Archive for September 2008
30-Sep-2008 15:42 EDT
The E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft is based on a Boeing 707 airframe. It is the world’s most widely used large-jet AWACS platform, in service with the USAF, Britain, France, NATO, and Saudi Arabia. Over the years, the world’s E-3 fleet has required improvements to keep its radars and electronics current with advances in technology.
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 30 (UPI) — Gunfire broke out Tuesday on a Ukrainian cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, Kenyan officials said.
Continue reading ‘Off Somalia’s coast: Gunfire heard aboard hijacked ship’ »
16:55 | 29/ 09/ 2008
NEW DELHI, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has no plans to export nuclear submarines, the country’s defense minister said on Monday during his visit to India.
Continue reading ‘Defense chief says Russia does not export nuclear submarines - updated1’ »
22 Sep 2008 | Ref. 252/2008 News Release
YORK, Pennsylvania – BAE Systems, under a $742 million U.S. Army contract, will remanufacture more than 300 Bradley vehicles with additional armor to protect soldiers.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 29 Sep 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT)
NEW DELHI - Russia offered its former Cold War ally India the chance Sept. 29 to jointly develop weapon systems in a bid to remain New Delhi’s main provider of arms.
Continue reading ‘Russia Offers India Joint Development Deal’ »
By Jennifer Grogan Published on 9/28/2008
theday.com
North Kingstown, R.I.- The seventh submarine of the Virginia class is named after Missouri, the “Show Me State.”
Its residents are known for being skeptical, preferring to be shown things rather than told.
John P. Casey, Electric Boat president, and Mike Petters, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding president, encountered plenty of skeptics in the early years of the Virginia-class program.
Continue reading ‘Electric Boat Lays The Keel For 7th Virginia-Class Sub’ »
Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, September 26, 2008
Soon after dawn two weeks ago the captain of the Japanese destroyer Atago was on the bridge of his ship cruising within territorial waters off southwestern Japan when he saw something in the water about a kilometre away.
Continue reading ‘China’s submarine fleet projects Beijing’s power’ »
Indian Government News | Sep 26, 2008
India is to buy 30 more carrier borne Mig-29K (Fulcrum-D) fighters for the Indian navy and an agreement to this effect would be firmed up during the upcoming visit of Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s to India next week.
Continue reading ‘India Likely to Buy More Carrier Borne Mig-29K Fighters’ »
28/09/2008 12h23
BEIJING (AFP) - Three Chinese astronauts returned safely to Earth on Sunday after making the country’s first spacewalk, with a hero’s welcome awaiting the men whose exploits captivated the nation.
Continue reading ‘China astronauts return from historic spacewalk mission’ »
26 September 2008
By Denis Dyomkin / Reuters
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY — President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that plans to modernize its armed forces will not be affected by the current financial crisis.
RIA Novosti | Sep 25, 2008
Moscow: Russia is negotiating with Cuba and Venezuela on the joint use of Russia’s Glonass navigation satellites, the head of the federal space agency said on Tuesday.
Continue reading ‘Russia In Talks With Cuba, Venezuela On Joint Use Of Glonass - updated1’ »
U.S. Soldier Held In 2 Deaths at Base
By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 19, 2008; Page A16
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 — Seven American soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed early Thursday in the desert of southern Iraq, the U.S. military said. Officials said the crash was not caused by enemy fire.
Continue reading ‘Helicopter Crash Kills 7 Troops In Iraq’ »
26/09/2008 02h51
SEOUL (AFP) - International nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea may be near breakdown after the communist state announced moves to restart its atomic plants, according to South Korea’s foreign minister.
Continue reading ‘NKorea nuke talks may be close to breakdown: SKorea’ »
25 September, 2008 09:52:00
An Aberdeenshire soldier who survived after his armoured vehicle hit a mine has spoken about his experiences.
Sergeant Wayne Forbes, 38, from Newtonhill, was on a six-month tour of Afghanistan with The Highlanders, the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, when the incident happened.
Continue reading ‘Scots soldier in Afghanistan mine blast says Warrior protected him’ »
25 September 2008
The first of the Royal Navy’s new powerful T45 Destroyers, HMS Daring, has completed a final set of successful contractor sea trials.
Continue reading ‘First New UK Navy Destroyer Completes Successful Trials’ »
25/09/2008 03h40
NEW YORK (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari have agreed to kickstart an embattled peace dialogue between the two nuclear-armed rivals, with new talks to be scheduled by year’s end.
The leaders agreed that their foreign secretaries “will schedule meetings of the fifth round of the composite dialogue in the next three months,” a joint statement said Wednesday after the summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The composite dialogue, which has made significant progress since it was launched in 2004, has been stalled for months due to political turmoil in Pakistan. The fourth round was completed last October.
The talks since January 2004 have added more bus and train links between the traditionally feuding neighbours, but there has been scant headway on Kashmir, the trigger for two of their three wars since 1947.
Singh and Zardari also decided to launch trading between the divided zones of the disputed Kashmir region from October 21.
In their first discussions since Zardari replaced former military strongman Pervez Musharraf in August, the two leaders also called for an ongoing ceasefire to be “stabilized.”
Tensions have escalated along their border since last July when New Delhi accused “elements” in Pakistan of involvement in a suicide car-bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that left at least 41 people dead.
The leaders agreed that a special meeting of a joint anti-terror mechanism be held next month to address “mutual concerns,” including the bombing of the embassy, the statement said.
Both acknowledged that “the peace process has been under strain in recent months,” the statement said.
“They agreed that violence, hostility and terrorism have no place in the vision they share of the bilateral relationship, and must be visibly and verifiably prevented,” it said.
Singh and Zardari appeared satisfied as they emerged from the meeting.
In brief remarks, Singh praised Zardari’s vision for a progressive South Asia, saying they decided that issues be resolved through “peaceful” means.
Zardari called Singh the “architect of modern India,” saying, “I hope to learn from him.”
The meeting helped eased tensions, officials from both sides said.
“The leaders met for well over an hour, spent most of their time without aides and had a comprehensive discussion of the entire realm of issues in our relationship,” Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters.
“They shared a vision of how they want to take it forward, and at the end of it both expressed satisfaction at the quality and nature of the discussions they had,” he said.
According to the statement, crossborder trade will commence on the road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capitals respectively of Indian and Pakistani zones of Kashmir, as well as the road from Poonch, in southern Indian Kashmir, to Rawalakot in Pakistani Kashmir.
India and Pakistan already operate a passenger bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
It was relaunched after a gap of almost six decades in April 2005 and is one of many measures undertaken by both sides to normalize ties since peace talks resumed more than four years ago.
Trade between India and Pakistan has been restricted for decades with most commerce done via Dubai and only a trickle of goods passing through the Wagah border crossing in Punjab.
India says Pakistan supports the Muslim insurgency in its region of Kashmir, helping rebels to cross under the cover of fire from Pakistani border guards — a charge Islamabad denies.
The insurgency has left more than 43,000 people dead since it began in 1989.
2008-09-22 14:01:17 Xinhua
South Korea and Norway on Monday signed an agreement on defense cooperation, calling for exchange of defense goods and related technologies, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.
Continue reading ‘ROK, Norway Sign Agreement on Defense Co-op’ »
By kris osborn
Published: 24 Sep 18:43 EDT (22:43 GMT)
The Japanese Self Defense Forces test-fired a Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3) missile Sept. 17 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., marking the first foreign PAC-3 test there, Lockheed officials said.
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Alexia M. Riveracorrea, Fleet Public Affairs Center, Pacific
Released: September 20, 2008
Story Number: NNS080920-09
Commander Submarine Group Seven
SAN DIEGO (NNS) — The Navy’s Deep Submergence Unit tested a new system known as the submarine rescue diving and recompression system (SRDRS) with the Chilean submarine CS Simpson (SS-21) Sept. 17-18.
Continue reading ‘DSU Tests New Submarine Rescue System with Chilean Submarine’ »
1 hour, 23 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani troops and tribesman shot down a suspected U.S. military drone close to the Afghan border Tuesday, three intelligence officials said.
Continue reading ‘Pakistanis say suspected US drone shot down - updated2’ »