Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Iraq Places Order for 18 F-16s


Lockheed Martin has been awarded an $835 million contract for 18 Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcons for Iraq.
IRAQ WILL RECEIVE 18 Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcons, like the one shown above. (U.S. Air Force)
The contract, awarded Dec. 5, calls for the delivery of 12 C-model single-seat jets and six D-model combat-capable two-seat training jets by May 30, 2018.
The company will also provide support equipment; technical orders; integrated logistics support; and contractor logistics support. The jets will be powered by Pratt and Whitney's F100 PW-229 afterburning turbofan, which delivers 29,000 pounds of thrust. The deal was originally announced in late September.
Iraq is buying the jets though the U.S. Defense Department's Foreign Military Sales system.

Monday, December 5, 2011

India, China To Open Military Dialogue


NEW DELHI - Officials from India and China, which last year put off discussions of military relations, will meet here Dec. 8 to begin a military dialogue, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.
The deputy chief of China's People's Liberation Army is representing China at the talks, sources said.
The officials will discuss the resumption of joint military exercises. The two countries' armies have held joint land exercises twice - in China in 2007 and in India in 2008.
China and India were scheduled to hold border talks Nov. 28-29, but they were put off by Beijing, which objected to the Tibetan Dalai Lama attending an international Buddhist conference here.
There needs to be a greater understanding between the armies of the two countries through more exchanges, the Indian Defence Ministry official said.

France Willing to Help Libyans With Training


TRIPOLI, Libya - France is ready to offer military training to Libya and is examining ways to boost its cooperation with the new regime, French army chief of staff Adm. Edouard Guillaud said Dec. 5.
"France is ready to provide what the Libyan government asks for, particularly in [military] training," Guillaud said after talks with Libyan leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil and Defence Minister Osama Juili.
He said his visit was to "contact our Libyan counterparts after the revolution, to see how to cooperate now that peace has returned."
"We had relations with the former Libyan Army. We will revive them, either with the Navy, Air Force or Army."
Asked if arms sales were discussed with Libya's leaders, Guillaud replied: "I am a user, not a seller, of weapons."
France spearheaded the NATO operation which helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed Oct. 20 after ruling Libya for more than 42 years.

'Trail-blazing' U.K. Attack Sub Proves Itself in U.S.


NORFOLK, Va. - HMS Astute, Britain's first new attack submarine in more than two decades, is the most advanced undersea craft ever fielded by the Royal Navy. But the sub's many improvements often have been masked by a long-running series of developmental and operational problems - including design issues, cost overruns, production missteps, lengthy construction delays, an embarrassingly public grounding last year in Scotland and a tragic shooting on board in April.
CMDR. IAIN BRECKENRIDGE, standing with binoculars, guides the submarine Astute to a berth in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 28. (MC1 Todd A. Schaffer / U.S. Navy)
Now operating from the U.S. East Coast as part of a lengthy trials period, the Astute finally has had a chance to show what it can do, and in November test-fired Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Gulf of Mexico. But the British media, even in reporting on its successes, continue to label the ship a jinx.
Cmdr. Iain Breckenridge, the submarine's commanding officer, bristled when asked about the jinx moniker during a Nov. 29 interview on board his ship.
"The media will always jump at an easy target. So we're an easy target, they're having a field day," he said.
"Fine by me, that's well behind us. I don't dwell on it, I don't look back. Myself and my team move forward to prove what a great submarine she is. With the Tomahawk firings recently, our successful torpedo firings in the summer in the U.K., pushing forward to get all trials completed, getting to Norfolk to meet the senior U.S. leadership, going to AUTEC [the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center test range] in January to finish trials, and getting her back to the U.K. in March, ready to go back into the yard for her final maintenance period before she becomes operational, for us, that's all good news.
"So the media won't use that, because that's not an interesting story. If anything minor happens, they'll jump on it and go, 'wow, wow, jinxed submarine!'
"Well, ask any of my ship's company, any of our supporting personnel, anyone in the Navy, any of our families, any of our friends in the U.S. submarine force; in fact, anybody that basically understands what a first-of-class submarine's got to go through, and they'll recognize that the term 'jinx' is just a very easy one that the media jumps on.
"Does it bother me? Used to, initially. Not bothered by it anymore. There are much more important things to deal with. It's a fantastic submarine to deliver to the front line as soon as possible. And I've got a really good team helping me do that."
TESTS, TESTS AND MORE TESTS
Breckenridge, a veteran submariner who previously commanded HMS Tireless, brought the Astute to the U.S. in October to begin a series of weapons, sensors, systems and warm-weather trials.
"We've got to prove the design, and prove the build," he said. "Over subsequent submarines, they just have to prove the build."
The boat loaded Tomahawk cruise missiles at the U.S. Navy's submarine base in Kings Bay, Ga., then launched two T-hawks from the Gulf of Mexico onto a missile range at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. "Both flew beautifully," Breckenridge said.
Operations on the AUTEC range in January will fully prove the submarine's new Type 2076 integrated sonar suite, and more Spearfish torpedoes will be test-fired.
Breckenridge ticked off a list of new features aboard the sub, which is fitted with six 21-inch torpedo tubes, one more than previous classes. The weapons room also is larger, with a lower deck, allowing for a 50 percent increase in the number of weapons carried - "on the order of 36," he said.
The submarine features a large lockout chamber aft of the fin, or sail, and can carry a drydeck shelter to allow swimmers to enter and leave the sub while submerged.
"That was a real design driver for the boat, and that's why we've got a big sail," he explained. "The shapes and curves [of the hull] help the dry deck shelter sit in the right place."
In the control room, Breckenridge pointed proudly to the Thales Optronics mast displays. Astute is the first British submarine to dispense with traditional periscopes and adopt photronics masts, similar to the arrangement aboard U.S. Virginia-class submarines.
"Much as I loved my old peri-scopes, this is much better," he said. Using the periscope on older submarines at night, he said, required "lights off, curtains draped, black lighting, can't see anything, not good for your eyes. This submarine," he said, has a "better working environment, better for the team. A really good capability. This is U.K. trail-blazing stuff."
The attack center control room on Astute is traditionally located forward on 1 Deck - topmost of the sub's three deck levels - but without the need for hull-penetrating periscopes, designers will have more flexibility to move it. Later ships in the seven-unit class, Breckenridge said, may move the room to 2 Deck and aft a bit. "There's more room down there," he said.
The captain was especially proud of the sub's maneuvering and hovering capabilities, featuring independent diving plane controls handled by a new, complex autopilot system.
"One of the limiting factors in designing a submarine maneuvering envelope is having a stern plane failure to dive or rise," Breckenridge explained. "In my situation, I've got a much wider operating envelope because, if the stern plane does fail to dive, it's probably only going to be one of them, and I can immediately correct it by slowing down and putting the noncasualty plane to rise. It gives us a much broader operating envelope."

Maliki Says He's Confident of Iraq's future


WASHINGTON - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Dec. 5 expressed confidence in the future of his country following a full withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of the month. But he said he was counting on American assistance.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced in October that U.S. troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war.
"Today, however, I am confident about the future of my country and the capabilities and resilience of our people," Maliki wrote in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post.
He said his government was seeking a "comprehensive redevelopment" of the country, which would involve creation of legislation and institutions, strengthening of freedoms, and reinforcement of Iraqi democracy.
"We want to build a state of citizens and not sects," Maliki wrote. "We want to create a healthy environment conducive to investment and provide vital services to citizens, including access to a proper education."
The prime minister said Iraq sought to build a strong army and security forces that have the capacity to protect its sovereignty and interests.
"We are able to do this with the help of the United States," he said.
Maliki said Baghdad opposed foreign interference in Iraqi affairs. "Iraq does not aspire to unduly influence any state but looks to cooperate with all countries to help maintain regional security," he wrote. "Iraq will not allow itself to become a source of disruption to friendly countries."
In contrast to the government of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi government has been treating neighboring Iran as a friendly state.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Iran Shoots Down U.S. Drone: Al-Alam TV


TEHRAN - Iran's military has shot down a U.S. Army RQ-170 unmanned aerial vehicle in the "east of the country," Iran's Al-Alam Arabic language satellite channel reported on Dec. 4, quoting a military source.
The report did not say when or where the drone was downed, but said it was not "badly damaged" and still in good shape.
No further details were provided.

Clinton Calls Pakistan PM Over Air Strike Deaths


WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Dec. 3 called Pakistan's prime minister to offer condolences over the deaths of 24 Pakistani troops killed in NATO air strikes, the State Department said.
In the call with Yousuf Raza Gilani, Clinton "reiterated America's respect for Pakistan's sovereignty and commitment to working together in pursuit of shared objectives on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect," it said.
"She once again expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers and to the Pakistani people for the tragic and unintended loss of life," it said in a statement.
Following the strikes, Pakistan decided not to take part in this week's Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan - a decision which, together with the Taliban's boycott, has cast the event's usefulness into doubt.
A statement from Gilani's office said he told Clinton that Pakistan's non-attendance was not open to review since it had already received the backing of parliament's national security committee.
The committee "has supported the decision of the cabinet not to participate in the Bonn Conference," the statement quoted Gilani as telling Clinton.
Meanwhile, he said, parliament was looking into the general issue of Pakistan's relationship with the United States.
"The parliament was seized of the matter of terms of cooperation with the U.S. This will ensure national ownership and clarity about the relationship," the statement quoted him as saying.
Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a U.S. investigation into the air strikes on the Afghan border which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov. 26.
The incident has exacerbated fears of a prolonged crisis in relations, after Pakistan also shut down NATO's vital supply line into Afghanistan and ordered American personnel to leave Shamsi air base. The base is widely understood to have been a hub for the covert CIA drone war on Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders in Pakistan's troubled border areas with Afghanistan.