Israel soldier killed in 'friendly fire' at Gaza border

An Israeli soldier has been killed and four others injured by so-called friendly fire near to the Gaza border, the Israeli military says.

The incident happened while the soldiers were involved in a clash with Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The army said the group had been trying to plant explosives underneath the security fence along the border.
The clash follows a month of increased tension along the Gazan border with frequent exchanges of fire.
Witnesses in Gaza earlier told news agencies they had heard loud explosions close to the border, a short distance from the Nirim kibbutz on the Israeli side.
The Israeli military initially said four soldiers had been injured.
But they later said the men, who were part of a group patrolling the border, had been hit by Israeli fire. It also said one had died.
"The soldiers were hit by a stray mortar shell fired by Israeli forces as they engaged with Palestinian militants along the border," an army spokesman said.
The army said it was investigating the incident.
Increased activity Earlier this week, two Palestinian men were shot dead at the Gaza border - Israel said they had been attempting to break through the security fence but this could not be independently verified.
In recent weeks there has been an increase in activity around the border area, with Palestinians firing rockets into Israel, and the Israeli army carrying out regular air strikes on Gaza.

Israel says it holds Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, wholly responsible for all of the rockets fired across the border.
But the BBC's Jon Donnison in the West Bank says many of the attacks are carried out by smaller militant groups, and it is unclear whether Hamas has the power to prevent them.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers shot dead an elderly Palestinian man in his bed, in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Amr Qawasme, who was in his 60s, was killed in what is thought to have been a case of mistaken identity during a series of raids to capture members of Hamas.
He was neighbour of a Hamas member who had been released from prison the day before.
Israel said Mr Qawasme was innocent and that it regretted the incident. An investigation is being carried out.

North Korea renews South overture

The North said it would reopen a liaison office near the border

North Korea says it wants to reopen talks with the South - the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures.

The North's reunification committee issued a statement calling for "unconditional and early" talks.
Seoul officials said they would review the latest

North Korea says it wants to reopen talks with the South - the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures.

The North's reunification committee issued a statement calling for "unconditional and early" talks.
Seoul officials said they would review the latest proposals from Pyongyang. The South dismissed a similar offer earlier this week as "propaganda".
The sinking of a Southern warship last March sparked a dramatic rise in tension on the peninsula.
The Cheonan was apparently sunk by a Northern torpedo, with the loss of 46 lives. The North denies the attack.
Since then, the South has irked the North by holding large-scale military exercises close to the maritime border.
On 23 November, the North infuriated the South by shelling one of its islands and killing four people.
But in the past week, the North has shifted away from statements threatening war and retaliation, to issuing offers of talks and peace overtures.
"The South Korean authorities should discard any unnecessary misgiving, open their hearts and positively respond to the North's proposal and measure," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said on Saturday.
The committee suggested that the talks should take place later in January or early February.
The committee also said the North would reopen a liaison office with the South at a joint factory-complex just north of the demilitarised zone that divides the peninsula.
In response, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told the Associated Press news agency that the statement would be considered, but noted that no formal request had been received.

Chinese businessman bids £5m for UK's HMS Invincible

Invincible is the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name

A UK-based Chinese businessman has bid £5m for the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, which is being auctioned.

Lam Kin-bong - who owns restaurants in the West Midlands - has said he wants to turn the former warship into an international school in China.
He said if he was not allowed to tow it to China he would instead try to berth the stripped-out carrier in Liverpool.
Several bids have been received since Invincible was put up for sale on a government internet auction website.
The vessel, which saw action in the Falklands War, Gulf and Balkans and was based in Portsmouth, was decommissioned in 2005. It was put up for sale on the edisposals website and was expected to fetch about £2m.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Invincible's engines and many other parts had been salvaged and it was expected to be sold for scrap. The carrier has been stripped of anything that might be of military use and the blueprints of the ship will not be sold with it.
'Purely commercial' Mr Lam, who began as a chef and now owns the Wing Wah chain of Chinese restaurants, is also a lawmaker in the city of Zhuhai, in southern China.
He told the South China Morning Post that the bid - entered via his Zhuhai-based company Sunway Yacht Limited - was purely commercial.
If successful in buying the carrier he told reporters he wanted to tow the vessel to Zhuhai and berth it at a marina he is building in the city. He said it would cost £11m to buy the Invincible, tow and convert it.
"My intentions are purely commercial and have nothing to do with the military," he told the English-language newspaper.
If the vessel could not be taken to China his second preference would be to base it in Liverpool and turn it into a school "to boost the understanding of China and the Chinese in Britain".
Mr Lam said he had spoken to the Chinese Embassy in London about the bid and received a supportive response.
The restauranteur moved to London nearly 20 years ago, then to Birmingham where he helped set up the Wing Wah chain of restaurants, which he runs with his wife.
Earlier this week the MoD confirmed a "number of bids" had been received for the carrier and a preferred bidder would be announced once terms had been agreed.
Invincible was laid down at Vickers' shipyard in Barrow in 1973 and launched by the Queen in 1977.
The ship served in the 1982 Falklands War, deploying Harrier fighter aircraft against Argentine forces.
It is one of the navy's three Invincible class anti-submarine warfare carriers, along with HMS Ark Royal and HMS Illustrious.
Ark Royal is to be decommissioned this month and HMS Illustrious in 2014.
The ships will be replaced by two new carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, which are expected to enter service by the end of the decade.

China military modernisation gathers pace

The leaked pictures of China's stealth plane have once again put the spotlight on China's military modernisation.

The US has the world's only operational stealth fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, and has been playing down the images that appear to show a working prototype.
But they are yet another sign of the shifting balance brought about by the rise of the country's economic power.
Their emergence coincides with a Chinese general's call to double official military spending, against a background of wider cuts in military budgets in industrialised countries caused by the global financial crisis.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - who is due to start his long-delayed visit to Beijing on Sunday - says the Pentagon wants to make further cuts of nearly $80bn (£51bn) over the next five years.
The US and its allies have played down any possibility of the early deployment by China of such an advanced aircraft.
But they have sounded the alarm about the expansion of Beijing's military capabilities, especially its Air Force, Navy and the Second Artillery Corps that controls China's ballistic missiles and nuclear arsenal.
Japan last month defined China as its main military concern, citing Beijing's increased assertiveness in the East and South China Seas.
More spending Beijing insists its military modernisation poses a threat to no one.

China has increased military funding as its economy has grown

The older generation of China's military used to take pride in having seized power from the ruling Kuomingtang Party in 1949 with "millet and rifles".
But three modern wars in other parts of the world have hardened the resolve of China's top brass to catch up militarily.
The conflict between the UK and Argentina nearly 30 years ago pushed the late leader Deng Xiaoping to slash one million army personnel so as to use the then limited military budget on improving hardware.
The two Gulf Wars further demonstrated the technological superiority of the US and its allies, and spurred Chinese leaders on a new drive to "informatise" the military by integrating new technology into equipment and operations.
China's official military budget quadrupled between 1999 and 2009 as the country's economy grew.
Last year, China announced a smaller-than-usual 7.5% increase to $76.3bn, causing quite a backlash among China's hard-line generals.
'Special requirements' To be sure, the US defence budget is still the biggest in the world at around $700bn, but China's is the second largest and the rate of increase may well go up this year.
In an article published in a Chinese Communist Party publication this week, General Jiang Luming, head of the military economics unit at China's National Defence University, called for "maximising national interest" by doubling China's military funding to 2.8% of GDP, which he said was the average of 132 countries since the end of the Cold War.
He said this was needed to meet "special security requirements" - an apparent reference to preparing for eventual reunification with Taiwan, safeguarding key interests overseas and offshore, and China being a socialist country without any military allies.
This last issue is compounded by the arms embargo imposed by the European Union following the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The Chinese government has been lobbying to get the sanctions lifted without success.
On various occasions, Chinese officials have said the 21-year-old EU arms embargo forces China to invest more in its own military research and development.
Perhaps Russia is the only country China could turn to for advanced military and space technology. But China seems to be learning very fast.
Some analysts believe the pupil is overtaking the teacher in many areas

China stealth plane still 'years away', says Pentagon

Photos of a possible Chinese-made stealth aircraft were discussed in China's state-run media

The US is playing down pictures that appear to show a working prototype of a Chinese stealth aircraft, invisible to radar.

The images - first published on websites - show what looks like a stealth fighter on a taxi run.
Beijing has not commented on whether the pictures - published ahead of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' visit later this week - are genuine.
The Pentagon says China is still years away from deploying a stealth aircraft.
In late 2009 the deputy head of China's air force, General He Weirong, said the country's stealth fighter would be ready sometime between 2017 and 2019, reports said.
But US director of naval intelligence Vice Admiral David Dorsett said that it would be "years" before China's new fighter would be operational.
"Developing a stealth capability with a prototype and then integrating that into a combat environment is going to take some time," he said.

• 
  

The leaked photos of the prototype aircraft first appeared on military websites and blogs. They were said to have been taken at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute.

The images were then discussed in the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper, in both its Chinese and English-language editions, although no comment was made on their authenticity.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper said China could begin test flights of the stealth jet as soon as this month, citing unidentified Chinese military sources.
Military build-up The world's only operational stealth fighter is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, but Russia is also known to be working on its own prototype.
BBC defence correspondent Nick Childs says the aircraft certainly bears a superficial resemblance to the latest US stealth designs - and that may spook some in Washington.

And it will add to the concerns of those who have been warning especially of the increasing reach and capabilities of China's air force and navy, he adds.

The US has been watching closely as China increases its military capacity - in particular, its development of a so-called "carrier killer" missile, a land-based system which could sink an aircraft carrier from up to 1,800 miles (2,900km) away.
US battle groups - including aircraft carriers - are stationed in the South China Sea.
And in August, the Pentagon reported that China had been expanding its nuclear arsenal and submarine force, as well as upgrading its land-based missiles.

Gates cutting Pentagon budget by $78bn over five years

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced a $78bn (£50.3bn) military budget cut, to be achieved in part by scrapping a $14bn amphibious vehicle.

The cuts over the next five years come in addition to $100bn in internal savings already announced.
The cuts are the largest since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
The defence budget was more than $700bn last year - representing the largest portion of the US federal government's discretionary budget.
While troop levels will shrink by 6% and some of the most expensive military hardware will be cancelled, funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - at a price tag of one trillion dollars and rising - will not be cut.
Cuts to weapons programmes are certain to encounter fierce opposition from members of Congress.
Senior positions cut Much of the roughly $178bn in defence cuts will come through reduced administrative costs, new organisational efficiencies, and slashed personnel costs, which the defence department called a "vigorous scrub of bureaucratic structures".The Pentagon's budget is expected to be $553bn in 2012, reflecting roughly 3% growth. After that, growth would slow and would be essentially flat in 2015 and 2016, the Pentagon said.

Mr Gates said much of the savings would be achieved by eliminating more than 100 general and flag officer positions, more than 200 top civilian defence positions, by cancelling redundant programmes and through reduced administrative costs.
As much as $100bn in savings would not be sliced from the overall budget, Mr Gates said, but would be reinvested in shipbuilding, missile defence, intelligence, reconnaissance, healthcare for wounded soldiers, and other programmes.
Among the major weapons systems set for the scrap heap is the amphibious Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), made by General Dynamics Corporation. In addition, the Pentagon will end an army surface-to-air missile programme.
Mr Gates has been sceptical about whether large military vehicles, like tanks and EFVs, will continue to be crucial military instruments as engagement in modern warfare changes.

Programmes marked for new investment

• Repair and refurbishment of Marine Corps equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan
• New unmanned aircraft
• New ships, including a destroyer, a littoral combat ship and an ocean surveillance ship
• Updating the army's tank fleet

He has previously said the enemy has developed sophisticated weapons capable of attacking ships waiting close to shore.

Other cost-cutting measures announced by Mr Gates include plans to cut orders for the F-35 joint strike fighter over the next three to five years to compensate for repeated delays in development and testing.
He said he wanted to end the post-9/11 Pentagon's "culture of endless money where cost was rarely a consideration".
The major weapons programmes cuts are likely to encounter opposition from US congressmen and senators in whose constituencies the arms are manufactured.
"I'm not happy," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard McKeon told reporters. He said the cuts were greater than defence companies had been expecting.

UAE To Restart Rafale Talks

UAE To Restart Rafale Talks

UAE To Restart Rafale Talks | AVIATION WEEK

By Michael A. Taverna

PARIS — The United Arab Emirates has signaled that negotiations to acquire France’s advanced Rafale combat aircraft can restart, French press reports say.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and commander of the UAE armed forces, requested that Paris renew its proposal to sell up to 60 Rafales to the UAE during a visit to Paris in mid-December, the reports say.

The Emirates broke off talks last summer, seemingly piqued over the premature disclosure of details and other issues, and requested information from Boeing on a possible F/A-18 buy.

French Defense Minister Alain Juppe — speaking in the margins of a New Year’s address by President Nicolas Sarkozy at St. Dizier air base in eastern France, home of the first two Rafale air force squadrons — confirmed that the UAE proposal is again “on the right track.”

Juppe added that negotiations with Brazil, another potential Rafale customer, also are still active

The resumption of discussions with the UAE also may have been facilitated by a French decision, announced Jan. 3, to clear the acquisition of 200 Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles.

Defense budget constraints had caused concern that the production award for the missile, which is thought to be high on the list of Rafale equipment items desired by the UAE, might be deferred or reduced (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 5).

The UAE wish list also is said to include upgraded M88 engines better suited to Middle East conditions, active electronically scanned radar, the Damocles targeting pod and Reco NG reconnaissance pod.

A partial squadron of Rafale F3 multirole aircraft equipped with the Reco NG and Damocles is standing up at a new French base in Abu Dhabi to show off the aircraft’s capabilities, backed up by a naval and air force deployment in the Afghan theater begun last month.

However, significant hurdles remain, including UAE demands that France find a buyer for 60 Mirage 2000 fighters currently in its inventory.

Largest Indo-French Naval Exercise Yet From Today

Largest Indo-French Naval Exercise Yet From Today

Largest Indo-French Naval Exercise Yet From Tomorrow

Exercise Varuna 2011, starting tomorrow in the Arabian Sea off Goa, is a major part of the French Navy's Agapanthe 2010 deployment. This bilateral exercise will involve nine ships, including two aircraft carriers: INS Viraat (with Sea Harriers and Seaking) and FS Charles De Gaulle (strike group composed of E2C, Rafale and SEM).

The 7 other units are the following: Indian frigates INS Godavari and INS Ganga, Class-209 submarine INS Shalki, French destroyers FS Forbin and FS Tourville, fleet tanker FS Meuse and nuclear submarine FS Améthyste. Shorebased maritime patrol aircraft will also participate in the exercise.

Exercise Varuna will start with a harbour phase in Mormugao (7-10 January), followed by a phase at sea (11-14 January). The phase off Goa includes air operations, submarine exercises, surface exercises as well as replenishment at sea.

http://livefist.blogspot.com/2011/01...rcise-yet.html

Seoul rejects Pyongyang's talks offer

Seoul rejects Pyongyang's talks offer

South Korea has rejected a North Korean call for unconditional talks to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, saying the offer was "propaganda."

"North Korea previously issued statements like this early in the year ... they are normally done as part of (a) propaganda campaign towards the South," a Unification Ministry official willing not to be identified said Thursday, Reuters reported. 

Pyongyang's offer for talks was considered an empty gesture. "We do not consider this as a serious proposal for dialogue. It is not even in the correct and appropriate format," the informed official added. 

Earlier on Wednesday, North Korea announced that it was ready for an "unconditional and early opening of talks" with the South amid high tension on the peninsula. 

The North's call for talks comes after the United States met Chinese and South Korean officials for talks about how to calm the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions have been high between the two Koreas since a deadly artillery exchange on an island last November. 

Pyongyang said it shelled the area as a result of provocations by Seoul. South demands an apology after North Korea's deadly shelling of the island. 

The crisis further deepened over rounds of joint military drills South Korea held with the United States despite threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.

US sets up center for 'secret war'

US sets up center for 'secret war'

According to incumbent and former US officials, the center, run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), keeps an eye on the growing use of special operation strikes against individuals. 

"The new center would be a significant step in streamlining targeting operations previously scattered among US and battlefields abroad and giving elite military officials closer access to Washington decision-makers and counter-terror experts," the officials revealed to the Associated Press. 

"The center is staffed with at least 100 counter terror experts fusing the military's special operations elite with analysts, intelligence and law enforcement officials from the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies," they said. 

The new military center focuses on "the offensive end of counter-terrorism, tracking and targeting terrorist threats that have surfaced in recent years from Pakistan to Yemen and Somalia and other hot zones." 

The revelation comes while the US military has already increased the number of special operations and commando raids in Afghanistan. 

A surge in unauthorized CIA-operated drone attacks in Pakistan along with NATO operations along the the country's border has sparked criticism from officials in Islamabad and given rise to the anti-US sentiment in the affected tribal regions. 

"We've gone from 30-35 targeted operations a month in June 2009 now to about 1,000 a month," said NATO spokeswoman Maj. Sunset Belinsky. 

The raids, which Washington claims to be aimed at weeding out pro-Taliban militants, often come at night and often claim many civilian lives in Pakistan. 

US officials noted that several other centers dubbed military intelligence "fusion" offices are already operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Aircraft Carrier Will Be Ready in 2014

Aircraft Carrier Will Be Ready in 2014

Defence minister A K Antony today expressed the hope that the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, that is being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard Limited, would be ready for the final launch in 2014.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the foundation stone laying function for the National Institute for Research and Development of Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH), at nearby Chaliyam, said that the in spite of the presence of Navy's from nearly 18 countries including USA, Russia, France, Germany, England and India, the piracy in the Indian ocean had not come down.

'It is not possible to say that the Somalian pirates alone are behind these acts. There are certain forces that are helping these pirates', he opined.

However, 'it is not possible to pin-point who are the external forces', he said.

Antony said during his visit abroad, many countries have also expressed their doubt that 'some forces are behind these pirates'.

The indigenation policy, Defence procurement policy and Defence production policy are ready and would be announced very soon, Antony said.

Pointing out that Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which was considered only as a dream, would become a reality as the initial test operation of LCA will be done at Bangalore on January 10.

Indian Airforce had given orders for 40 LCA, Antony said.

Antony said there was no controversy on the deal signed by India with Russia for the fifth generation fighter aircrafts. 'The deal signed was only for preliminary design contract and it is not a final contract', he said.

Considering the security situation around us, India needs fifth generation fighter aircrafts possessed by America and Ruissia.

Replying to a query on the Medium Multirole Combat Aircrafts, Antony said the project needs detailed study and it would take some more time before signing the deal.

He said 'no undue haste will be shown and everything will be studied in detail before signing the deal'.

On the lack of facility for berthing interceptor boats of Coast Guard at the Beypore Coast Guard Station, he said all necessary help will be given to coast guard for improving their facilities.

More radars will be installed under the auspices of the Coast Guard in Kerala for coastal security, Antony said.

Filed On: Jan 04, 2011 18:15 IST , Edited On: Jan 04, 2011 18:15 IST
FILED IN: Defence | Aviation | A.K. Antony

INS Vikrant - Specifications and Systems.

INS Vikrant - Specifications and Systems.

The Vikrant Class are the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carriers in India. Two aircraft carriers are being constructed for the Indian navy by Cochin Shipyard (CSL). The first ship in the series will replace the retired aircraft carrier, INS Virat. 

The first steel was cut for the lead ship, INS Vikrant, in April 2005. Its keel was laid down in February 2009, and it is scheduled to be launched in mid-2011 and commissioned in 2014. The second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2) is expected to be ordered by 2010 for induction into the Indian Navy in 2017.

Vikrant Class design and features

Designed by the Directorate of Naval Design, the aircraft carrier can operate a combination of Russian MiG-29K, Ka31 and the indigenous light combat aircraft. It will be powered by two LM2500 gas turbines. The design incorporates highly automated systems for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability.

The ship will have an overall length of 260m and a breadth of 60m and its displacement will be 40,000t. The ship can accommodate 1,600 personnel including ship company, airgroup and troops.

Construction

The design and construction of the first aircraft was approved by the Indian Government in January 2003. The construction work began in November 2006. Built through modular construction, a total of 874 blocks were fabricated for the erection.

"The Vikrant Class are the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carriers in India."
The ship is constructed from high-strength steel manufactured in-house with the assistance of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Steel Authority of India. These aircraft carriers will be the biggest warships ever built by CSL.

Fincantieri of Italy will provide assistance for propulsion system integration and the Naval Design Bureau of Russia will supply its aviation technology.

The Ministry of Defence granted funds to the shipyard to improve infrastructure such as workshops and heavy-duty machinery. The ship will be completed in two phases.

The first phase includes the work up to first launch at the end 2010, while the second will cover the remaining works until the delivery of the ship.

Aircraft

The flight deck will feature two take-off runways and a landing strip equipped with three arrester wires. The STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery) system on an angled flight deck is used to launch and recover an aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. IAC-2 will be fitted with steam catapults rather than STOBAR to launch fourth-generation aircraft. The aircraft carrier can accommodate up to 30 aircraft. It will have adequate hangar and maintenance facilities for aircraft onboard.

The airgroup will be a mix of combat aircraft including the MiG-29K, Sea Harrier and naval light aircraft as well as the HAL Dhruv and Ka-31 helicopters. The Ka-31 provides airborne early warning coverage.

Weapon systems

The aircraft carrier will be fitted with a vertical launch system for long-range surface-to-air missiles. A close-in weapon system will provide self-defence for the ship against incoming anti-ship missiles and aircraft. Four OTO Melera 76mm Super Rapid guns - two on the bow section and two at the stern side – will be fitted. They can fire 120 rounds a minute at a range of 30,000m.

Countermeasures

The Vikrant Class ships will be equipped with a modern early air warning radar, VHF or UHF tactical air navigation and direction finding systems. The ship will also feature jamming capabilities. The combat management system onboard will use sensors and tactical data links to provide real-time situational awareness.

Propulsion

A combined gas turbine and gas turbine propulsion system will power the ship. Four General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines driving two shafts will provide a total power of 80MW. The propulsion system provides a maximum speed of over 28kt. The ship will have a range of about 8,000nm.


Builder Cochin Shipyard Limited
Operator Indian Navy
Complement 1600
Displacement Approximately 40,000t
Length 260m
Beam 60m
Draught 8.4m
Possibly might carry: