INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
OUR RELENTLESS AND FOCUSED PUBLISHING EFFORTS

SP's MAI - Issue No. 23-24 | December 01-31, 2012

Issue Features

• 

  MILITARY / INTERVIEW
  'Offset is a complex process'

  “The Navy stands committed to providing stability, not just to the Indian Ocean region, but also for safeguarding our interests across the oceans,” says Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral D.K. Joshi while addressing the media on the eve of the Navy Day.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  nEUROn makes its maiden flight

  nEUROn, Europe’s unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) stealth technology demonstrator, has successfully completed its maiden flight from the Dassault Aviation’s flight test base in Istres...

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / VIEWPOINT
  Water wars
  By Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch

  India constitutes 16 per cent of world population but only four per cent of the world’s freshwater sources.

• 

  CORPORATE
  Pratyush Kumar to lead Boeing business in India

  Boeing has appointed Pratyush “Prat” Kumar as President of Boeing India, effective December 14. He joins Boeing with significant business leadership experience and insight into the Indian market, having served in senior executive positions at GE Transportation since 2003.

• 

  MILITARY / REPORT
  Italian soldier modernisation
  By Lt General (Retd) P.C. Katoch

  The modern soldier needs a combination of technologies to combat 21st-century threats.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Ten EU countries develop air refuelling capability

  On November 19, 10 European countries, including Hungary, reached an agreement in Brussels on cooperation in the development of military air refuelling capability.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  HM and LeT dominant militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir: Home Minister

  The Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) continued to be the dominant militant groups...

• 

  CORPORATE
  MBDA, Herakles and Roxel optimise ramjet sector

  n December 1st, MBDA France acquired the ramjet integration and testing activities of Roxel France. This development – which does not include Roxel’s ramjet integral booster or thermo-structural materials activities...

• 

  MILITARY
  Agni-I flight test

  One of the missile units of Strategic Forces Command (SFC) fired the long range Agni-I missile from the range facility at Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast recently.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  First Eurofighter Typhoon meteor firing

  The meteor beyond visual range airto-air missile has been successfully launched from a Eurofighter Typhoon as part of the future enhancements flight test programme.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  Ranjit Sinha takes over as CBI Chief

  Ranjit Sinha, a 1974 batch Indian Police Service officer, has taken charge as the 25th Director of the country’s premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

• 

  CORPORATE
  HAL Kasaragod II Phase to cover more fighter planes

  The Defence Minister A.K. Antony inaugurated the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s Strategic Electronics Factory at Kasaragod (Kerala) recently. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala inaugurated the production facilities at the same function.

• 

  MILITARY
  Austal delivers first joint high speed vessel

  The first joint high speed vessel (JHSV), was officially delivered by Austal to the United States Navy on December 5. The signing event was attended by Craig Perciavalle, Senior Vice President of Austal USA, representing the builder.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Boeing delivers Qatar fourth C-17 Globemaster III

  Boeing delivered the Qatar Emiri Air Force’s fourth C-17 Globemaster III in Long Beach. The delivery reflects Qatar’s agreement with the US Government to acquire two additional C-17s...

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  India-Bangladesh to strengthen borders

  The Home Ministers of India and Bangladesh have jointly stated after a meeting that it would accord highest importance to bilateral relations. The meeting was attended by the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde...

• CORPORATE
  Aerovironment to offer Tier-II VTOL UAS with strategic investment in CybAero AB

  AeroVironment, Inc. announced it has entered into a strategic relationship with Sweden-based CybAero AB to develop and distribute a Tier-II vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system in response to unmet requirements from multiple customers.

• 

  MILITARY
  MBDA produces 1000th Aster missile

  November 2012 marked the achievement of another key milestone in the history of the Aster family of missiles.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Eurocopter's Dauphin Helicopters for Bangladesh Army

  Supplied through the Eurocopter South East Asia subsidiary, these are the first Eurocopter-built rotorcraft to join the Bangladesh Army’s aviation fleet, and they were presented during a ceremony...

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  India-Pakistan discuss drug trafficking

  The Ninth Director General level talks between Narcotics Control Bureau, India and Anti-Narcotics Force, Pakistan on drug trafficking and related matters were held at New Delhi recently.

• CORPORATE
  Saab establishes joint venture with QuEST Global Manufacturing from India

  Defence and security company Saab has, together with Indian partner QuEST Global Manufacturing, established a joint venture to manufacture and supply assemblies for the commercial aerostructures market.

• 

  MILITARY / SIMULATION
  IPKeys licenses ‘Unreal Engine 3’ for military training simulations

  Epic Games and Applied Research Associates (ARA) have licensed ‘Unreal Engine 3’ (UE3) to IPKeys Technologies for the development of IGame...

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Indian experts start work on MTA project

  A group of 31 engineers from HAL Corporation arrived in Moscow to join the MTA collaboration. The engineers started work at JSC “UAC-Transport Aircraft” premises in Moscow...

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  No intelligence inputs on threats from Taliban: Minister

  The central intelligence agencies have no specific inputs indicating threat from Taliban. However, the available intelligence inputs indicate abiding interest of militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Indian Mujahideen (IM), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF)...

• CORPORATE
  BAE Systems to acquire Marine Hydraulics International

  BAE Systems announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the American Maritime Holdings, Inc. to acquire Marine Hydraulics International, Inc. (MHI), a privately held company that operates a shipyard, pier and waterfront facilities in Norfolk, Virginia.

• MILITARY
  Israel, India advance joint development of ship defence system

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced it has signed a deal with a leading Indian defence contractor to advance the joint development of a shipdefence system.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Airbus Military A400M completes critical flight-test phase

  Airbus Military has successfully completed the 300 hours of function & reliability (F&R) flight-testing of the A400M new generation airlifter which is a key requirement prior to full certification.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  FBI arrests 10 people on charges of international cybercrime

  The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested 10 individuals from around the world, including the United States, which it alleges are part of an international cybercrime ring linked to the Yahos malware.

• MILITARY
  Saab Sensis radar modernisation update

  Defence and security company Saab Sensis has successfully completed site acceptance testing (SAT) of a hardware modernisation programme of four Hughes Air Defense Radars (HADR) for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe).

• 

  AEROSPACE
  F-35 Lightning II surpasses over 5,000 flight hours

  The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme surpassed 5,000 flight hours last month.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  Government websites come under cyber attack

  Websites of some important government organisations, including an Advisor to the Prime Minister and the defence establishment’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), reportedly have been hacked...

• MILITARY
  Naval review of JMSDF 2012

  A naval review of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was conducted on October 14, 2012, at Sagami Bay off Tokyo. The event is akin to the ‘Family Day at Sea’ conducted by the Indian Navy.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Boeing's reusable unmanned X-37B begins second flight

  Boeing has successfully returned an unmanned US Air Force X-37B orbital test vehicle to orbit, continuing to demonstrate how the system provides responsive, reusable access to space.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  Eurograbber costs €36 million

  Over 36 million euros were stolen in 2012 from some 30,000 bank accounts in Europe in a cyberattack dubbed “Eurograbber”, according to a report published by two companies that focus on Internet security.

• MILITARY
  BAE Systems bags £1.2-billion contract for Audacious submarine

  The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a contract worth £1.2-billion for Audacious, the fourth submarine in the Astute class.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Swedish Parliament endorses Gripen

  The Riksdagen (Swedish Parliament) has voted overwhelmingly in favour of Gripen next generation fighter aircraft.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Drunken students remove barricade near Rasthrapati Bhavan

  Three students allegedly drunk breached the security at Rashtrapati Bhavan and were detained by the Delhi Police and were questioned by the Intelligence Bureau.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Rockwell Collins avionics equipment selected by NAVAIR for Navy C-130T upgrade

  Rockwell Collins has been selected by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to provide a suite of avionics equipment for the US Navy C-130T avionics obsolescence upgrade programme.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Okonjo's son blames security for mother's kidnap

  One of the children of the Okonjo family, Onyema Okonjo, recently blamed security lapses for the kidnap of his mother, Prof. Kanenne Okonjo. Kanenne (82), is the mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  NAVAIR launches Presidential helicopter replacement

  US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has begun a fresh effort to find a new Presidential helicopter, with the release of a draft RfP to industry on 23 November.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Security breach at US nuclear bomb plant

  The US Government Oak Ridge facility for handling, processing and storing weapons-grade uranium was temporarily shut recently after anti-nuclear activists climbed over security fences.

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Fire Scout breaks endurance records

  The US Navy’s fourth Fire Scout detachment returned to Mayport, Florida, December 1, after achieving several milestones during its five-month deployment aboard USS Klakring (FFG 42).

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  CPI (Maoist) responsible for 80 per cent of Naxal violence: Minister

  The CPI (Maoist) is the largest left wing extremist organisation operating in India. It is responsible for almost 80 per cent of the total Naxal violence reported during the current year, according to R.P.N. Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Scan Eagle UAV conducts first flight on LPD class ship

  A Scan Eagle unmanned air vehicle was launched from an amphibious transport dock class ship USS San Antonio (LPD 17) off the coast...

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  Gujarat as regional hub for NSG

  The Ministry of Home Affairs has conveyed to the Government of Gujarat its ‘in principle’ approval for setting up of a regional hub of National Security Guard (NSG) in Gujarat...

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Northrop Grumman, US Navy conduct first catapult launch of X-47B UCAS

  Northrop Grumman Corporation and the US Navy have conducted the...

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  No deployment of defence forces in anti-Naxal operations: Minister

  There is no proposal for deployment of defence forces for antinaxal operations in the left-wing extremism (LWE) theatre.

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  China launches high-altitude drone patrolling tests

  Three drones of different types conducted their final test on November 21, 2012 in Hoh Xil, a high-altitude and frigid area in west China’s Qinghai province...

• INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Lapse at Chennai airport

  Police are inquiring into a serious security lapse recently during a brief transit through Chennai by L.K. Advani, senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party who has ‘Z Plus’ security.

• AEROSPACE
  Super Galaxy delivered

  Lockheed Martin delivered the sixth production C-5M Super Galaxy to the US Air Force recently at the Lockheed Martin facilities here.

• AEROSPACE
  Cassidian's state-of-theart radar technology

  Cassidian further increases its leading position in state-of-the-art radar technology. The company has developed a new generation of transmit and receive modules which give the new AESA radars...

• AEROSPACE
  UTC Aerospace wins V-22 support contract

  UTC Aerospace Systems secured aftermarket contracts for constant frequency generator (CFG) repairs and retrofits, and upgraded spares for the US Navy’s V-22 programme.

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Chile demonstrates army-built small UAV

  Chile’s indigenously-developed small unmanned aerial vehicle, Lascar, has been shown to the Defence Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter before making its first flight.

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Advanced Unmanned completes first stage of UAV development

  Aerial imagery company Advanced Unmanned approved the specifications for its customised unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fleet, completing the design phase of the aerospace project.

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Vietnam, Sweden to cooperate in UAV manufacturing

  Vietnam and Sweden will cooperate in manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in various fields in Vietnam, local online VNExpress reported quoting sources from the Vietnam Aerospace Association (VASA).

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Textron Systems and Bell Helicopter Launch Unmanned Laboratories

  Textron Systems and Bell Helicopter, Textron Inc. companies, announced today the opening of the Textron Systems Integration and Collaboration Lab and Bell Helicopter/AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Manned/Unmanned Operations (MUMO) Capability Development Lab.

• AEROSPACE / SIMULATION
  Elite launches three new helicopter simulators

  Elite Simulation Solutions, a world leader in the design and manufacture of flight simulators powered by PCs, has launched three new devices.

• AEROSPACE / SIMULATION
  Elbit Systems flight training centre for future trainer aircraft programme

  Elbit Systems Ltd. announced the details of its flight training centre, which it will establish and operate as part of the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD) contract awarded in September 2012...