Aviation News

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Kazan Helicopters; issued March 12, 2009

JSC Kazan Helicopter Plant expects to receive in the upcoming Federal Target Program (FTP) for the development of civil aviation technology in Russia until 2020 three billion rubles, including 1.5 billion rubles provided [by] the State, [and] 1.5 billion rubles provided [by] OPK Oboronprom, [according to] Tass.

The funds will be directed towards the completion and launch in serial production of the Mi-38. Previously, the Mi-38 project was included in the same Federal Target Program, but with little financing.

Currently directors of OPK Oboronprom made to achieve to the project Mi-38 was included in the Federal Program for the development of civil aviation equipment for 2010-2011 with significant amounts of funding.

Serial production of the Mi-38 should begin at the Kazan Helicopter Plant in 2010. Plans are to complete flight tests of the Mi-38 in 2009 and to begin mass production in 2010, [Tass] reports.

 

[qsaark]

UK Ministry of Defence | Mar 13, 2009

A range of unmanned vehicles which are making a difference to military operations were on display to mark National Science and Engineering Week, today, Wednesday 11 March 2009.

National Science and Engineering Week is a ten-day celebration of science, engineering and technology with thousands of events around the UK from 6-15 March 2009.

Today's unmanned vehicle event, organised by the MOD, the Society of British Aerospace Companies and the Defence Manufacturers Association, demonstrated how unmanned vehicles - in the air, on the ground, and under water - are increasingly being used for civil and military purposes.

From the disposal of unexploded bombs on UK soil, to performing surveillance and reconnaissance on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, unmanned vehicles in various guises are increasingly helping the Armed Forces perform a multitude of tasks.

Opening the event at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said:

"The MOD and defence industry are working together to exploit new technologies that can help and protect our Armed Forces. In places like Afghanistan, unmanned aerial vehicles are already giving troops the vital information they need to stay one step ahead of the enemy.

"Today's event celebrates the vital work of scientists, engineers and inventors who have helped cement the UK's position as a world leader in science and research. Their discoveries are reaping benefits for the Armed Forces and civil society, helping to improve and protect lives."

Mr Davies announced some of the findings of an investigation into the UK's military requirements for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), which has been undertaken by the MOD in partnership with the defence industry.

The investigation demonstrates the integral role that UAS have played, and are expected to play in future on UK military operations, and will inform the MOD's development of a long term strategy for the use of UAS to meet military requirements up to 2023.

Industry exhibitors at the event were joined by Armed Forces personnel who are benefiting from the latest cutting edge technologies in the field. These included personnel from 32 and 47 Regiments Royal Artillery and RAF unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) specialists, who are using UAVs such as the 'Hermes 450' supplied by Thales UK, Lockheed Martin's 'Desert Hawk', and the Reaper (supplied by General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Incorporated, Cobham) to perform essential reconnaissance roles in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Providing commanders on the ground with essential intelligence, these systems are delivering battle-winning and lifesaving capabilities to our Armed Forces on operations. Advanced technology demonstrators were also on display, such as BAE Systems' MANTIS and TARANIS Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Rear Admiral Rees Ward (Rtd), Director General of the Defence Manufacturers Association, said:

"National Science and Engineering Week is a time to celebrate and encourage the skills needed to support science and engineering in UK industry. Defence companies work at the forefront of technological innovation, employing thousands of scientists, engineers, graduates and apprentices.

"The companies supporting this event are leading examples in this field. The unmanned and autonomous systems on display represent the cutting edge of science and engineering that will provide both the UK's Armed Forces with the very best equipment now and in the future, and provide technological spin-offs into non-military applications as well."

Every year the UK Defence sector recruits many hundreds of science and engineering graduates. The MOD has a 13,000-strong workforce of engineers and scientists - forming the Defence Engineering and Science Group.

These specialists are involved at every stage from the research and development of new technologies through to their procurement and readiness for the front line. Indeed, the MOD has deployed more scientists to the front line in recent operations than at any time since the Second World War.

Specialists from the MOD work with the Engineering Development Trust and their 'Go 4 SET' scheme which aims to stimulate the interest of young people in science, engineering and technology.

The MOD also provides support to teachers to deliver GCSE-curriculum content across eight core subjects, including science, via the free, online Defence Dynamics teaching resource. Covering themes as diverse as mapping, flooding, genetic engineering and survival skills, lessons not only apply theory in the real world but also encourage students to debate the moral issues behind the introduction of new technology.

 

[Hasnain2009]

US Refused Predators UAV To Pakistan, For Being Too Cosy With China

(NSI News Source Info) March 11, 2009: Pakistan is using several different types of UAVs along the Afghan and Indian borders. The most effective of these is the Italian Falco UAV, which Pakistan ordered Falco three years ago.
The air force completed evaluation of the Falco a little over a year ago, and put at least four of them into service. Falco is a 924 pound aircraft with a 150 pound payload. Ceiling is 5,000 meters, but it usually operates at lower altitudes (2,000 meters). Endurance is up to 12 hours, but typical missions are 6-8 hours. Max speed is 210 kilometers an hour, although it usually cruises at 150. Falco can be up to 200 kilometers from its ground station. The UAV can take off and land on an air strip, or use a catapult for takeoff and parachute for landing.
Pakistan has also been using several Chinese UAVs for the last decade or so. First, they got the ASN-105, a 308 pound aircraft with a payload if 88 pounds and endurance of only two hours. This is a 1980s era design, that has since been replaced by the ASN-206/207. This is a 488 pound aircraft, with a 110 pound payload. The 207 model has a max endurance of eight hours, but more common is an endurance of four hours.
Max range from the control van is 150 kilometers away and cruising speed is about 180 kilometers an hour. A UAV unit consists of one control van and 6-10 trucks, each carrying a UAV and its catapult launch equipment. The UAV lands via parachute, so the aircraft get banged up a lot. This UAV can broadcast back live video, and be equipped for electronic warfare.
Pakistan is also developing its own UAVs.
Last year it flight tested the Uqaab. This design looks very similar to models offered by a Pakistani firm, Integrated Dynamics, which has been producing smaller (under 500 pounds) UAVs for the government and commercial market since 1997. The Uqaab also appears similar to the U.S. Army RQ-7B Shadow 200.
Pakistan requested Predators from the United States, but this was turned down because it was feared that the Chinese would be allowed to dissect the American UAV and acquire too many production secrets. Pakistan and China have been chummy for decades. No secrets between friends and all that. But European nations, like Italy and Germany, have been willing to sell Pakistan UAVs.

 

[qsaark]

Mar 14, 2009
Pacific Air Forces - Home

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- For the first time, F-22 Raptors and B-2 Spirits, the only stealth platforms in the Air Force's current inventory, are deployed outside the continental United States to here, showcasing the U.S. commitment to peace and stability in the region.

Fourteen F-22s and more than 260 Airmen assigned to the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron are deployed here from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and four B-2 Spirits and more than 270 people assigned to the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron are deployed here from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

Although this is the first time these aircraft have deployed together to Guam, both units are part of regularly scheduled Air Expeditionary Force rotations in place since 2003. These particular deployments had been in the works for months before their arrival to support U.S. Pacific Command's Theater Security Package and Continuous Bomber Presence missions.

According to Lt. Col. Orlando Sanchez, the 90th EFS commander, deployed here since mid-January, the location of Andersen provides a unique training opportunity.

During his time as an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Colonel Sanchez said the two-week mission employment phase there provided students the opportunity to fly with the B-2s, but not integrate and work as closely with them as they do here.

 

[qsaark]

Mar 14, 2009

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The already lethal MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system will soon bring even more punch to the enemy in the form of the Joint Direct Attack Munition.

The results of the series of GBU-38 JDAM test drops at the China Lake test range in California are still being evaluated, but they mark a significant step in certifying the Reaper to carry the 500 pound version of the JDAM.

Considering the Reaper's perfect 9 hits out of 9 drops, the way ahead looks clear.

"This is a great success that adds another valuable weapon system to the warfighter's arsenal," said Col. Chris Coombs, 703rd Aeronautical Systems Group Commander. "Putting the JDAM on the Reaper significantly increases its lethality on the battlefield."

Flight testing is only one part of the process, according to Colonel Coombs. After additional analysis, the group hopes to certify JDAM capability on the Reaper this July.

Currently, the Reaper is authorized to carry the GBU-12 Paveway II, which is a 500 lb., laser guided bomb and the AGM-114 Hellfire missile. The JDAM adds the precision afforded by its global positioning system guidance control unit along with adverse weather capability.

"We try to look at the types of target sets the warfighter needs to engage and the best weapon to utilize including a range of factors such as collateral damage," Colonel Coombs said. "Our next step is to add the GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb which will further increase the types of target sets the warfighter can engage."

The Aeronautical Systems Center's 703rd AESG teamed with other contractors and government agencies from General Atomics, The Boeing Co., Kaman Dayron Co., as well as the 678th Armament Systems Squadron and 679th Armament Systems Squadron, both based at Eglin AFB Fla., to conduct the tests. In fact, the 679 ARSS was awarded the John J. Welch Jr. Award for Acquisition Leadership in large part to the squadron's efforts in the JDAM tests.

 

[qsaark]

MOSCOW, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has proposed to Russia using a Venezuelan island for temporary hosting of Russian long-range aviation, a top-ranking Russian Air Force official said Saturday.

"There is such a proposal on the part of the Venezuelan president. Chavez proposed to us a whole island with an airfield that we can use for temporary basing of strategic bombers," said Maj.-Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, the chief of the long-range aviation staff.

"If there is the relevant political decision, the island ... could be used by the Russian Air Force," Zhikharev told journalists.

He said the temporary basing opportunity could be used for air patrol missions.

In September 2008 two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack multi-mission strategic bombers arrived in Venezuela after a 13-hour flight over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. There were no nuclear weapons on board the aircraft. After that, they carried out a patrol mission over the Caribbean.

The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.

 

[qsaark]

March 14, 2009:

China believes it will be free from dependence on Russia for military jet engines within the next 5-10 years. Currently, China imports two Russian engines, the $3.5 million AL-31 (for the Su-27/30, J-11, J-10) and the $2.5 million RD-93 (a version of the MiG-29s RD-33) for the JF-17 (a F-16 type aircraft developed in cooperation with Pakistan.)

Meanwhile, Chinese engineers have managed to master the manufacturing techniques needed to make a Chinese copy of the Russian AL31F engine. This Chinese copy, the WS10A, part of a program that has also developed the WS-13, to replace the RD-93. China has long copied foreign technology, not always successfully. But in the last decade, China has poured much money into developing a jet engine manufacturing capability. The Chinese encountered many of the same problems as the Russians did when developing their own engine design and construction skills. But China has several advantages. First, they knew of the mistakes the Russians had made, and so were able to avoid many of them. Then there was the fact that China had better access to Western manufacturing technology (both legally and illegally). Finally, China was, unlike the Soviets, able to develop their engine manufacturing capabilities in a market economy. This was much more efficient than the command economy that the Soviets were saddled with for seven decades.

Source: Warplanes: Stealing The Sky

 

[qsaark]

How does the RAF ensure its new Eurofighters can survive a direct lightning strike and stay intact while doing Mach 2 at 65,000ft? By zapping one with 200,000 amps at a top-secret bunker in Lancashire.

The lead-lined walls (1) of the Electronic Warfare Testing Facility in Warton, Lancashire, are covered in treated foam-rubber cones to prevent electromagnetic radiation leaking out - or in. This facility is one of dozens used to test the Eurofighter.
The tests carried out using these mobile generators (2) ensure the plane can withstand electromagnetic pulses from nuclear weapons. A short, sharp burst of electricity of up to 200,000 amps simulates a lightning strike.
Commercial aircraft are also tested against lightning - but since the Eurofighter can fly twice as fast and 50 per cent higher than a Boeing 747, its lightning tests are far harsher.
The Eurofighter is largely made of carbon-fibre composites to keep it light. Special conduction channels throughout the aircraft (3) carry the current of a lightning strike to earth without damaging systems or accidentally rebooting the plane's computers.
In order that the fighter's electronic warfare systems can be tested in electronic 'silence', the isolated chamber is shielded against everything from radio to microwaves. Jets such as the Eurofighter carry so many sensors that they can also double as spy planes on the modern battlefield.
Electromagnetic pulse emitters (4) can be placed anywhere in the chamber - and the floor rotated - to simulate various surface-to-air missile attacks. The shielded space enables engineers to measure the Eurofighter's response - first, its sensors 'listen' for enemy radars, then the pilot can detect and track incoming threats, and deploy chaff, electronic rays or a decoy behind the plane.

The Eurofighter is being built in three 'tranches' - batches comprising models of increasing capability - for the RAF and other forces around Europe. Developing the first Eurofighters took more than a decade, and the second and third tranches are still being tested in Britain and abroad.

Under scrutiny is their ability to handle everything from rain, hail and sand to bird strikes - with frozen chickens launched into the windshield at speed to test its resistance.

Look at the cockpit, boy its a dream come true for a fighter pilot.


Source: Pictured: The £75m lightning conductor that is testing the Eurofighter's mettle | Mail Online

 

[qsaark]

TAIPEI – The U.S released 12 P-3C Orion anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft March 13 to Taiwan when the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced a $665 million firm-fixed-price contract award to Lockheed Martin, Maritime Systems and Sensors Tactical Systems, under the Foreign Military Sales program.

The award includes the procurement of phased depot maintenance, structural service life extension, and avionics modification on 12 P-3 aircraft.

Work will be performed in the U.S. and be completed in August 2015. The Maryland-based U.S. Naval Air Systems Command was the contracting activity.

The P-3 award follows the DSCA announcement in October for a $6.4 billion arms package that enraged China. Beijing retaliated by discontinuing military-to-military exchanges with the U.S., now restarted with the Obama administration.

The October package included an E-2 Hawkeye aircraft upgrade, 30 AH-64D Block III Apache Longbow attack helicopters, 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, 32 UGM-84L sub-launched Harpoon Block II missiles, spare parts for F-5E/F, C-130H, F-16A/B and the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), and 182 Javelin guided missile anti-tank rounds. Missing from the list was a submarine design study and 60 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters.

The P-3s and the October arms package release were part of the Bush administration's April 2001 arms deal to Taiwan that included eight submarines, now on hold. The Bush offer became a nightmare when members of Taiwan's legislature refused to approve budget requests and turned the deal into a political football.

The issue was resolved in early 2008 when the Beijing-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) unseated the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in presidential and legislative elections.

However, the long-delayed arms deal resulted in even more delays for other items, some going back a decade. Deferred procurements, or wish-list items, include four Aegis-equipped destroyers, M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), AGM-88 HARM (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile) anti-radiation missiles, and 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft. Taiwan has also been discussing the idea of procuring F-35 fighters when and if they become available.

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), is reportedly preparing to renew pressure on releasing F-16s.

Taiwan's fighter inventory includes 146 F-16A/B Block 20, 128 Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), 56 Mirage 2000-5s and roughly 60 aging F-5s. There is a pressing need to replace the F-5s to maintain its current air power capability.

The U.S. is the last country selling arms to Taiwan. Due to Chinese pressure, Europe and Israel discontinued arms sales to Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, and a French sale of Mirage fighter aircraft and Lafayette frigates in the 1990s resulted in a disastrous corruption scandal that ended all future arms from Paris.

In the past 10 years, Taiwan's indigenous arms industry has wilted in favor of reliable and tested U.S. arms. The result is a narrow non-competitive choice for arms from the U.S. that could now face an end as Chinese pressure on Washington grows.

Questions remain regarding the direction the new Obama administration policy will take on Taiwan. Economic and diplomatic pressure from Beijing will no doubt continue to influence Washington. A U.S. government source said China successfully pressured Washington to freeze arms sales to Taiwan in 2007 and 2008. It was not until intense lobbying by pro-Taiwan advocates in Washington that the Bush administration released the October arms deal.

With China holding $1.9 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and Washington asking Beijing to buy even more U.S. debt, there are concerns Obama's pending Taiwan policy will favor no arms in the future.

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php...72&c=ASI&s=AIR

 

[Hasnain2009]

Air Force seeks early-warning plane - The National Newspaper
Mahmoud Habboush

Last Updated: March 15. 2009 8:30AM UAE / March 15. 2009 4:30AM GMT
The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye’s radar system is capable of tracking 20,000 objects simultaneously. Courtesy Northrop Grumman
ABU DHABI // The UAE Air Force is in talks with a US defence firm to buy an advanced reconnaissance aircraft that would improve the country’s ability to detect attacks early, industry leaders say.

Negotiations to purchase the advanced technology come as part of a plan to modernise the Armed Forces directed by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE.

The Air Force is considering buying the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, which is equipped with a rotating mushroom-shaped antenna. But officials are also considering similar technologies offered by a number of defence firms worldwide.

Major Gen Obaid al Ketbi, chairman of the military committee for Idex, the international arms fair that concluded on Feb 26, said last month that talks with a number of contractors had not yet resulted in an agreement. “It’s going to take some time,” he said.

Described by the US navy as the “eyes of the fleet”, the Hawkeye was designed to carry out such tasks as tactical battle management and airborne early warning (AEW).

The technology, experts say, would enhance the UAE’s early-warning capability in line with the installation of its planned Patriot anti-missile system. In December, the UAE signed deals with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the US defence contractors, to acquire two versions of the Patriot system. The two deals will help build an integrated defence system to shield the country from many types of aerial threats including long-range ballistic missiles.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, primary contractor of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, says the aircraft uses far more advanced technologies than previous Hawkeye models.

Hawkeyes have been in service since 1964 and are the oldest US military aircraft model still in production.

“We’ve had many discussions with the Air Force; as a matter of fact they even travelled to the United States,” said Jerry Spruill, the director of international airborne early-warning programmes at Northrop Grumman.

“The UAE is looking for such technology worldwide. The goal here is to have the best technology and also technology that they can rely upon,” he said.

The US department of defence has invested about US$2billion (Dh7.3bn) in the development of the E-2D. Engineers at Northrop Grumman based it on the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 but it features “a state-of-the-art radar with a two-generation leap in capability and upgraded aircraft systems that will improve supportability and increase readiness”, according to the US navy website.

The E-2 series is the only reconnaissance aircraft built specifically for airborne early-warning duties. Originally it was designed to operate from an aircraft carrier, but the E-2D under discussion has fixed wings and would operate from land bases.

Most AEW aircraft were commercial models that were modified for military purposes, such as India’s Phalcon, which was built by mounting an Israeli AEW unit on a Russian transport plane. Many were inspired by the Boeing E-3 Sentry, or Awacs. That plane is much bigger than the Hawkeye and can accommodate up to 25 crew members. .

The Hawkeye has a number of competitors that the Air Force may also consider, including the Saab S100B Argus. Variants of that aircraft were sold to Greece, Pakistan, Sweden and Thailand.

Another competitor is the Boeing 737 AEW&C. That was designed for Australia but has also been requested by South Korea and Turkey.

The Hawkeye carries a pilot and a co-pilot with three crew members operating the radar systems.

Since the plane would be based on land, its flying capacity would be eight hours, which is longer than that of the US navy’s carrier-based aircraft. The extra range would be enabled by filling the fixed wings with fuel.

The plane has an antenna which can help spot hard-to-detect targets such as cruise missiles. Within 10 seconds, the time it takes the antenna to rotate, the radar can track objects in the air and on land or sea within a 370km radius.

The Advanced Hawkeye is scheduled to be deployed by the US navy in 2011 at a cost of $80 million each. Northrop Grumman is awaiting authorisation to begin production of 75 Hawkeyes.

 

[Hasnain2009]

Gilani assures all efforts for country’s defence, development

ISLAMABAD, Mar 14 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday assured that the government would not spare any effort to make the country’s defence impregnable and raise living standard of the people. He was speaking at a dinner hosted at Prime Minister House here to bid farewell to outgoing chief of air staff Tanvir Ahmed. He said Pakistan wants to live in peace and has no aggressive designs against anybody. Pakistan has itself been a victim of terrorism and it will continue its efforts in the war against terrorism, the premier said.

Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek, Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, Chief of Naval Staff Noman Bashir and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman were present on the ocassion.
He said air force is remembered for its glorious traditions and is pride of the nation.

He acknowledged services of outgoing air chief spanning over four decades and said the air chief came up to the trust reposed by the nation.

He lauded air force for providing the country with an efficient and cost‑effective aerial defence.

Gilani said armed forces are defending the geographical and ideological borders of the country.

Pakistan air force will be modernized so that it can meet the challenges of future, he added.

The Prime Minister wished the outgoing air force chief well in his future endeavours.

He also appreciated the work done by Zarin Tanvir, wife of the outgoing air chief for Pakistan Air Force Women Association (PAFWA).

In his speech, outgoing air chief Tanvir Ahmed said he was leaving his office with a sense of satisfaction and achievement. He said Pakistan Air Force will continue to remain pride of the nation.

He said during his tenure, air force remained focused on its job with rising challenges at the turn of the century.

He said in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, Indian leadership was fuming and talking about surgical strikes.

During that period, the air force remained vigilant and at operational high alert, remaining in the air at all hours, he recalled.

This alertness sent a strong message across the border that any misadventure will be responded with strength, he added.

He said successive governments invested the hard earned money of the people to upgrade the capabilities of the air force.

Due to adequate spending, Pakistan’s air force will emerge as a high tech and modern force by 2012, he added

 

[duhastmish]

PAF goes nuclear


ISLAMABAD: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed on Tuesday said that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had been made nuclear for giving it the status of a real deterrent force.

He expressed these views while talking to the media after launching of a book, titled “A new dawn of PAF”. Air Chief-designate Air Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman was also present on the occasion.

Tanvir said: “We have made the whole of PAF a nuclear force.” He said the PAF had achieved such a deterrence level that no one could cast an evil eye on the motherland.

He added that the country achieved nuclear power back in 1998, aimed at defending the country. Over the years, he said, the PAF had been able to successfully achieve the target. “We fought two wars with India in 1965 and 1971 and prevented three imminent wars in 1998, 2002 and in the recent days in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks,” he added.

India had threatened Pakistan of undertaking surgical strikes but seeing the level of preparedness and alertness of the PAF, the looming dangers were averted, which showed that the attainment of nuclear power helped in achieving peace in the region.

“It helped deter any misadventure in the region,” he said. Answering a question, he said 95 per cent of the PAF personnel and officers were not out to earn livelihood, but they joined the PAF with the passion to defend the motherland through obtaining mastery over the machine and ammo.

He said at the moment, the PAF was a much more effective and potent force than what it was in 1998 and it would continue to excel further with the passage of time. Earlier, making remarks at the book launching, he termed all the sanctions imposed by the west from time to time a blessing in disguise. “It has brought us at the higher pedestal.”

He said: “We would have not gone nuclear. We are now a nuclear state and it is all due to the sanctions.” The co-production with China of a modern fighter aircraft like the JF-17 Thunder was also an outcome of the sanctions, he added.

“We achieved all that with minimal spending while living within our limited financial resources,” the air chief said. About the book, he said the author, Alan Warne, the editor of the UK-based Air Forces Monthly, had written the book on his own, as the PAF had facilitated the writer to carry out his work with an unbiased approach independently. Earlier, the author, Alan Warne, said the PAF had been undergoing sanctions during the last 40 years and despite all that, what it had achieved was highly appreciable.

Meanwhile, in an interview with a TV channel, the air chief said that during his tenure, several agreements, worth $9 billion, were reached with different countries to modernise the PAF.

He said the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) was being obtained from Sweden and China.

He said agreements had been reached with the US to provide electronic warfare system, smart bombs and long-range missile system. He said air-to-air refuellers were being modified and after some time, its pilot programme would be matured.

He said the PAF was the only institute in the public sector, which was totally online. Responding to a question, he said the PAF had almost 550 aircrafts, including helicopters and transport aircrafts.

The number of fighter planes was around 350, he added. At the moment, he said, there were 46 F-16 aircrafts in the PAF, including 14 F-16 aircrafts obtained from the US almost free of cost.

 

[qsaark]

Mar 18, 2009
By John M. Doyle

The head of North American Aerospace Defense Command told Congress March 17 that the military unit charged with defending U.S. and Canadian airspace could have trouble maintaining sovereignty of the skies without aircraft recapitalization.

In his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart Jr. noted that legacy F-16 fighters are aging and “will be stressed to maintain reliability and capability as we move into the 2013-2025 time frame.”

Renuart said recapitalizing the fighter, tanker and airborne early warning aircraft will remain a challenge given the Defense Department’s post-9/11 long-term mission requirements.

If legacy fighters are retired without a designated replacement being fielded in adequate numbers, NORAD will have a hard time accomplishing its missions, said Renuart, who is also in charge of U.S. Northern Command. The new four-star chief of the National Guard Bureau made similar comments earlier this month (Aerospace DAILY, March 5).

Under questioning by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), an advocate of increasing production numbers for the F-22 Raptor, Renuart noted that most of the force he depends on to maintain air sovereignty resides in the Air National Guard, many units of which are flying older versions of the F-16. While he is not worried about filling the gap in the next 10-15 years, Renuart said he is less comfortable with the outlook for the next five to 10 years because “there is a production build coming and we want to make sure we can maintain the existing force.”

Renuart said he anticipated F-16s would be supplemented by F-22s and eventually the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, although the Pentagon was still working out details.

 

[qsaark]

The Economic Times,
18.03.2009

NEW DELHI: After several technical and other hiccups, IAF will finally get its most potent force-multiplier, the desperately awaited Phalcon Awacs (airborne warning and control systems), from Israel in May.

The Phalcon Awacs will bolster IAF’s capabilities to detect troop build-up or aircraft movements deep inside Pakistan, much further than ground-based radars, while flying well within Indian airspace. An Awacs flying over Amritsar, for instance, will be able to detect and track a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet as soon as it takes off from its Sargodha airbase. Awacs are primarily used for detection of incoming hostile cruise missiles and aircraft from hundreds of km away in allweather conditions as well as directing air defence fighters during combat operations against enemy jets.

If the IL-78 mid-air refuellers now allow frontline IAF fighters like Sukhoi-30MKIs, Mirage-2000s and Jaguars to operate with greatly extended ranges, Awacs will provide them with formidable ‘‘eyes in the sky’’ to ‘‘look’’ much further than ever-before through ‘‘direct data-linking’’.

‘‘The first Awacs should land in India in first week of May, with the second coming towards end-2009 and the third in mid-2010. Our team is currently in Israel for the final inspection and check,’’ said a senior IAF officer. Under the $1.1-billion deal signed in March 2004, the first Awacs was to be delivered in December 2007, the second in September 2008 and the third in March 2009.

But the complex integration work on mounting the Israeli Phalcon early-warning radar and communication suite on Russian heavy-lift IL-76 military aircraft, under a tripartite agreement among India, Israel and Russia, has led to the long delay. There were also allegations of kickbacks swirling around the deal, with reports holding India has been steeply overcharged for the Awacs, as reported by TOI earlier. The government, however, did not heed them seriously enough.

Interestingly, US pressure had led Israel to cancel a similar ‘‘Phalcon’’ deal with China in 2000, holding that the Chinese Air Force would then pose a serious threat to American pilots, as also endanger Taiwan. The Phalcons will certainly be a tremendous booster for IAF’s operational capabilities, with the Agra airbase already ready to receive the Awacs fleet under the No 50 Squadron.

Incidentally, IAF and Navy are also on course to induct nine more Israeli Aerostat radars as a ‘‘follow-on’’ order to the two such EL/M-2083 radars procured in 2004-2005 for $145 million. Aerostat radars, basically sensors mounted to blimp-like large balloons tethered to the ground, and Awacs together will go a long way in boosting air defence capabilities, making the country’s airspace much more impregnable.

India, too, is pursuing a mini-Awacs project indigenously. Under this, the indigenous AEW&C systems developed by DRDO will be mounted on three Embraer-145 jets, being obtained from Brazil for $210 million.

Source: Militarium

 

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REUTERS,
18.03.2009

Israel is close to dropping an effort to put its own electronic warfare know-how into Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a
mainstay of its future strike force, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday.

Incorporating Israel's system into the model being built for it "is not going to happen," said Jon Schreiber, who heads the program's international aspects.

"I think our system will meet their requirements with some tweaking, and I think they're starting to come around to that realization themselves," he told Reuters in an interview.

The issue is sensitive because senior Israeli military officials had maintained that their aircraft must incorporate electronic warfare technologies developed by state-controlled Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

An Israeli embassy spokesman referred a caller to the Defense Ministry, which could not be immediately reached for comment.

Dropping plans for incorporating sensitive Israeli technology onto the F-35 would be a significant departure for Israel. Israeli F-15s and F-16s were modified to carry Israeli electronic warfare, radars, munitions and command and control systems.

Israel is set to become a kind of trailblazer for the F-35, which is being developed by the United States and eight international partners: Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.

Israel has gone further than any non-consortium member toward acquisition, with plans to buy an initial 25 F-35A's in fiscal 2012 for delivery starting in 2014 and an option for 50 more.

The F-35 is a radar-evading, single-engine aircraft, designed to switch quickly between air-to-ground and air-to-air missions while still flying.

The models built for Israel would incorporate Israeli-made data links, radios and other command and control equipment, but not the electronic warfare suite, largely because of the high cost of integrating it, Schreiber said.

"They have pretty tight budget constraints and we're attempting to fit their requirements into their budget," he said. Officials from the Pentagon's F-35 joint program office met Israeli procurement officials in New York on Monday to discuss the program, Schreiber added without elaborating on their talks.

"We expect to get a revised letter of request from (Israel) within the next month or so," and anticipate that a government-to-government deal will be concluded by the end of this year or early next year, he said.

U.S. instructor pilots would join Israeli pilots to train at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, on four of the aircraft built for Israel, Schreiber said. By early 2015, the U.S. instructors would transition to Israel to continue training pilots there.

Singapore, the other non-consortium member linked to the program through a special status, appears likely to start buying as many as 100 F-35s a year or two after Israel, Schreiber said.

He expected an agreement to be signed with Singapore within the next month detailing security safeguards for program information as a prelude to "more serious discussions" about acquiring the F-35.

"At this point, we don't have any indication from Singapore that they want to put anything unique in the airplane," he said. "They want to go with a plain vanilla airplane."

F-35 competitors include Saab AB's Gripen, the Dassault Aviation SA Rafale, Russia's MiG-35 and Sukhoi Su-35, and the Eurofighter Typhoon made by a consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies.

Source: Militarium