Russia delivers another batch of naval fighters to India

MiG-29K
© RIA Novosti. Evgeny Pakhomov

Russia's MiG aircraft maker delivered a new batch of five MiG-29K/KUB carrier-based fighters to the Indian navy in May, the company said.
"A flight training simulator and other technical equipment has also been delivered," MiG said in a statement on Monday.
The two countries signed a contract stipulating the supply of 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs to India in January 2004. The contract is part of a $1.5-billion deal to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the Indian Navy.
India's first four MiG-29Ks and MiG-29KUBs officially entered service in February 2010.
In March 2010, Russia and India signed a $1.5-billion contract on the supplies of 29 additional MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier-based fighter jets to New Delhi. The start of the supplies is scheduled for 2012.
The contracts for the jets also stipulate pilot training and aircraft maintenance, including the delivery of flight simulators and interactive ground and sea-based training systems.
The Indian Navy has named its MiG-29K squadron the "Black Panthers." The fighters will be based at an airfield in the state of Goa on India's west coast until the Admiral Gorshkov joins the Navy under the name of INS Vikramaditya in early 2013.
The Vikramaditya is expected to carry up to 24 MiG-29K/KUB fighters. The future indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant being built by India may also carry these aircraft.

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

RIA NOVOSTI

TNI-AL Minta AS Tingkatkan Materi Latihan

Tiga personil marinir AS melakukan simulasi dengan persenjataan lengkap di kapal penghancur berpeluru kendali USS Howard (DDG 83) di JICT 2 Port A, Tanjung Priok, Jakarta Utara, Senin (30/5). Kedatangan tiga kapal perang Amerika kapal pendaratan USS Tortuga (LSD 46), kapal penghancur berpeluru kendali USS Howard (DDG 83) dan kapal Frigat USS Reuben James (FFG 57) untuk melakukan latihan bersama dalam pengamanan maritim dan operasi anti-perompakan. (Foto: ANTARA/M Agung Rajasa/ama/11) (Foto: ANTARA/M Agung Rajasa/ama/11)

31 Mei 2011, Jakarta (ANTARA News): TNI Angkatan Laut meminta Angkatan Laut Amerika Serikat untuk meningkatkan materi latihan bersama kedua pihak, sesuai dengan pola dan tingkat ancaman yang dihadapi di masa datang, terutama menyangkut keamanan maritim.

Kepala Staf Angkatan Laut Laksamana TNI Soeparno menjawab ANTARA di Jakarta, Selasa mengatakan, peningkatan materi antara lain menyangkut pertempuran antarkapal atas permukaan, kapal selam dan logistik.

Ditemui usai membuka pekan olahraga TNI Angkatan Laut, ia mengatakan penambahan materi latihan itu penting untuk meningkatkan kemampuan, keterampilan prajurit TNI Angkatan Laut di segala lini.

"Angkatan Laut AS kan memiliki kelebihan di lini-lini tertentu, dan kami minta itu untuk diajarkan pada latihan-latihan bersama kedua pihak di masa datang," tutur Soeparno.

Selama ini, TNI Angkatan Laut dan Angkatan Laut AS rutin melakukan latihan bersama dengan tajuk "Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training" atau CARAT.

Pada 2011 latihan dipusatkan di Laut Jawa untuk manuver lapangan, dan di beberapa titik di Jakarta dan sekitarnya untuk kegiatan di darat.

Untuk kegiatan di darat, terdiri atas program pertukaran bidang keteknikan dan pengendalian kerusakan, bakti sosial pelayanan medis umum dan gigi.

Sedangkan kegiatan di laut meliputi pengembangan kemampuan maritim dalam hal pengamanan maritim, pertukaran informasi, operasi laut gabungan, latihan patroli dan penggunaan meriam, serta latihan anti-perompakan dan anti-penyelundupan.

Tentang tanggapan Angkatan Laut AS, atas permintaan TNI-AL tersebut, Kasal mengatakan,"mereka sangat setuju dan siap dilaksanakan pada latihan tahun depan. Bahkan mereka akan mengikutsertakan satu kapal selam mereka,".

Pada latihan bersama "CARAT 2011" tercatat sekitar 1.600 personel Angkatan Laut AS dan Korps Marinir AS dilibatkan.

Kapal perang AS yang mengikuti latihan tersebut kapal pendaratan USS Tortuga (LSD 46), kapal penghancur berpeluru kendali USS Howard (DDG 83), serta kapal frigat USS Reuben James (FFG 57).

Selain itu, ada peserta tambahan seperti pasukan pendaratan amfibi Marinir, pasukan U.S. Navy Seabees, P-3C Orion, serta helikopter SH-60 Seahawk.

Sementara itu TNI AL mengerahkan empat kapal perang, tiga helikopter dan lima sekoci pendarat.

Sumber: ANTARA News

UAE leaves open chance of T-50 buy

 

Homaid Al Shemmari, senior executive director of the aerospace business division at the Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned main investment vehicle, speaks during a welcoming ceremony hosted by the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy for a group of 30 delegates from the United Arab Emirates at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on May 20. He was the leader of the delegation. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Abu Dhabi models Korea's 'rags-to-riches' success for economic diversification

By Jung Sung-ki

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — Despite its losing bid to sell T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009, South Korea still has a chance to renegotiate the export the state-of-the-art aircraft to the Middle East nation, which is seeking to establish broader economic ties with Seoul, said a top UAE official responsible for the Arab nation’s aerospace industry.

T-50 Golden Eagle terbang dalam formasi. (Foto: KAI)

The remarks by Homaid Al Shemmari, senior executive director of Mubadala Aerospace, comes at a time when South Korea is in an upbeat mood about selling more T-50 trainer aircraft overseas following the first export of the airplanes to Indonesia last week. It was the first time that a UAE government official has made public the possibility of reopening talks over the sale of T-50s.

Al Shemmari was visiting Korea as the representative of a 30-member Abu Dhabi delegation consisting of CEOs and top officials of both state-owned and private UAE companies interested in investing in Korea, as well as learning Korea’s “rags-to-riches” development model.

“The UAE, of course in 2009, selected the competitor of the T-50 as the trainer,” Al Shemmari, who served as a key negotiator when the UAE picked Italy’s M-346 trainer aircraft as the preferred bidder for Emirates’ trainer acquisition program to buy 48 airplanes, said in an exclusive interview with Business Focus, the weekly magazine of The Korea Times, on May 22.

“I’m sure those discussions are under way, and if there’s an opportunity after those discussions are for some reasons stalled or do not proceed, then the T-50 is definitely the best suited candidate to be fulfilling that trainer requirement of the UAE,” he said.

Al Shemmari, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the UAE Armed Forces before joining Mubadala, the investment vehicle of Abu Dhabi, declined to elaborate on the current status of the UAE-Italy trainer talks. But informed government and industry sources in Seoul have confirmed the bilateral talks over the M-346 have virtually broken down due to disagreements over trainer specifications and off-setting industrial cooperation obligations.

Nevertheless the Emirates and Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi have yet to announce any failure in their negotiations.

The Abu Dhabi official added his government had once looked at an opportunity of investing in Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the manufacturer of the T-50 planes, in 2008 as part of industrial cooperation programs but decided not to follow a relevant feasibility study.

“We looked at that acquisition very, very seriously in the UAE and within my field of aerospace, but we didn’t make that decision very lightly,” he said. “Investing outside the UAE has to have a significant strategic value in addition to financial returns. At the time we did an analysis and it didn’t seem to fit our strategy.”

The day after the T-50 contract with Indonesia was announced on May 25, KAI received an approval from the Korea Exchange to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) estimated to be worth about 576 billion won ($523 million).

The state-owned Korea Finance Corp. owns a 30.5 percent stake in KAI, and three other major shareholders — Samsung Techwin, Doosan Infracore and Hyundai Motor — each have 20.5 percent. The shareholders agreed in principle earlier this year to sell their stakes after the IPO, which would help facilitate the company’s potential merger and acquisition.

The IPO is scheduled to be held by the end of June. Industry and securities sources expect KAI to sell 36 million shares at 14,000 to 16,000 won apiece.

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and European aerospace consortium EADS are said to have interest in purchasing stakes in KAI.

Meanwhile, the head of the Abu Dhabi delegation pledged efforts to collaborate or form joint ventures with Korea in a wide range of business sectors, including aerospace, shipbuilding, semiconductors, healthcare and education under a strategic partnership that has been expanding visibly since 2008.

“The idea for us was to come and learn from the Korean model spanning the last 60 years, witness how Korea created globally competitive industries and companies,” he said. “We do have aspirations within the UAE and Abu Dhabi to become one of the leaders in the global economy.”

The UAE is finding a variety of partners and seeking ways of leveraging the knowledge of those partners in an effort to help the country diversify its economy under Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, said Al Shemmari, who serves as chairman of Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding.

“Korea is one of the largest trade partners for the UAE, with the nuclear deal that we signed in 2010. It is very clear in our mind that Korea is a key player helping the UAE reach its desired future,” he noted.

Seoul and Abu Dhabi have been doubling efforts to explore bilateral business opportunities by sharing their respective resources of technologies, human resources and energies.

In March, Korea signed a landmark deal with Abu Dhabi to develop oil fields in the UAE. The pact with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will give Korean National Oil Corp. guaranteed stakes in reserves of at least 1 billion barrels of oil.

The two countries also agreed to store six million barrels of Abu Dhabi crude oil in Korean storage facilities for free.

In December 2009, Seoul won a $20 billion contract to build four nuclear reactors in the UAE.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2011/05/334_87871.html

First Airbus Military A330 MRTT for Australia

The first Airbus Military A330 MRTT new generation tanker/transport for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has left Madrid at 10h00 local time on its ferry flight to Australia.
Designated the KC-30A in RAAF service, the aircraft is scheduled to arrive at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland on Monday 30 May, and to be formally handed over to the customer in the next few days.
On its ferry flight, the A330 MRTT is being flown by Airbus Military and RAAF crews, and will transit via McCarran (Nevada) and Hickam (Hawaii) in the USA.
The aircraft is the second converted by Qantas Defence Services in Brisbane, which was returned to Madrid for painting and finishing. It will be joined by the second aircraft for the RAAF in June, and two further aircraft later in the year. The fifth and final aircraft ordered by the RAAF, which arrived in Brisbane for conversion a few days ago, will be delivered next year.
The arrival of the aircraft at RAAF Amberley follows an extensive development and test programme for what is the world’s only certified and flying new generation tanker/transport aircraft. Civil Supplemental Type Certificate was obtained in March 2010, and the military certification in October.
In RAAF service the A330 MRTT will be equipped with two underwing refuelling pods, the fly-by-wire Airbus Military Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), and a Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) enabling it to be refuelled from another tanker. It is powered by two General Electric CF6-80E engines. It is equipped with a comprehensive defensive aids suite (DAS) and fitted with 270 passenger seats.
Having received its supplemental type certificate from European civil certification Authority EASA in March 2010 and military certification from Spanish Authority INTA in October, the Airbus Military A330 MRTT is the only new generation strategic tanker/transport aircraft flying and available today.
The large 111 tonne / 245,000 lb basic fuel capacity of the successful A330-200 airliner from which it is derived enables the A330 MRTT to excel in Air-to-Air Refuelling missions without the need for any additional fuel tank.
The A330 MRTT is offered with a choice of proven air-to-air refuelling systems including an advanced Airbus Military Aerial Refuelling Boom System, and/or a pair of under-wing hose and drogue pods, and/or a Fuselage Refuelling Unit.
Thanks to its true wide-body fuselage, the A330 MRTT can also be used as a pure transport aircraft able to carry 300 troops, or a payload of up to 45 tonnes/99,000 lb. It can also easily be converted to accommodate up to 130 stretchers for Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC). To date, a total of 28 A330 MRTTs have been ordered by four customers (Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom), with Saudi Arabia having already placed a repeat order.

 

Soursce: http://www.defencetalk.com/first-airbus-military-a330-mrtt-for-australia-34546/#ixzz1NuRRXcmv

First Moroccan Frigate Passes Sea Acceptance Trials

The 105 mtrs long SIGMA class frigate, built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding for the Royal Moroccan Navy, left Vlissingen on the 6th of May for her sea acceptance trials (SAT) in the North Sea, right on schedule as agreed in the contract.
During the SAT, a very intensive program was carried out in which the platform as well as the sensor weapons and communications suite was extensively tested. The tests were performed by representatives of the yard in close cooperation with representatives of the subcontractors, the Royal Moroccan navy and the Royal Netherlands navy.
The commanding officer, Captain RNLN Jilles Goedknegt, was very satisfied with the results of the sea trials. The sea keeping capabilities and the maneuverability of the ship proved to be very good and the performances of the combat system were excellent. A result where everybody involved in the preparation and the execution of the sea trials could be proud of.
The ship entered Vlissingen on the 20th of May after a very busy but rewarding fourteen days of sea trials.
The second frigate of 98 mtrs is scheduled for sea trials at the end of 2011 as the third frigate, also 98 mtrs, is still under construction at the Damen yard in Vlissingen, to be launched in September this year.
SIGMA:
The three SIGMA-class frigates for the Royal Moroccan Navy have been designed according to Schelde Naval Shipbuilding's revolutionary SIGMA-approach and are a further development of the SIGMA-corvettes for the Indonesian Navy. The SIGMA approach applies modularity in many areas.
The Moroccan SIGMA Class frigates equipped to conduct the traditional naval tasks as well as maritime security operations. The vessels are also suited to support humanitarian aid operations.
The Damen Shipyards Group offers a complete range of naval and patrol vessels ranging from 7 to over 200 meters. Part of this portfolio are the Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) naval combatants and auxiliaries, embodied by the SIGMA and ENFORCER series.
At present DSNS also has under construction for the Royal Netherlands Navy: four Patrol Ships and a Joint Logistic Support Ship (JSS), the largest military vessel built by DSNS so far.

SOURSCE: http://www.defencetalk.com/first-moroccan-frigate-passes-sea-acceptance-trials-34556/#ixzz1NuQRi47y

Hacker Bobol Jaringan Kontraktor Senjata Amerika

 

F-35. AP/U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin

TEMPO Interaktif, Washington - Pembajak tak dikenal membobol jaringan keamanan Lockheed Martin Corp dan beberapa kontraktor militer AS lainnya.

"Mereka membobol sistem keamanan yang dirancang untuk mencegah penyusup dengan membuat duplikat kunci elektronik "SecurID" divisi keamanan RSA dari EMC Corp," kata sumber kepada Reuters.

Belum diketahui jenis datanya jika ada yang dicuri oleh hacker. Namun, jaringan Lockheed dan kontraktor militer lainnya berisi data sensitif sistem senjata masa depan serta teknologi militer yang saat ini digunakan dalam pertempuran di Irak dan Afganistan.

Perusahaan-perusahaan pembuat senjata adalah perusahaan terakhir yang dibobol melalui serangan canggih yang telah menembus pertahanan perusahaan besar, termasuk Sony, Google Inc, dan EMC Corp.

Para ahli keamanan mengatakan hampir tidak mungkin bagi perusahaan atau instansi pemerintah untuk membangun jaringan keamanan yang tidak tertembus hacker.

Pentagon, yang memiliki sekitar 85 ribu personel militer dan warga sipil yang bekerja pada isu-isu keamanan cyber di seluruh dunia, mengatakan mereka juga menggunakan sejumlah terbatas dari kunci keamanan elektronik RSA, namun menolak untuk mengatakan berapa banyak karena alasan keamanan.

Menurut sumber tersebut, para hacker belajar bagaimana menyalin kunci keamanan dengan data yang dicuri dari RSA saat serangan canggih yang diungkap EMC pada bulan Maret.

EMC menolak berkomentar tentang masalah ini, seperti yang dilakukan eksekutif di kontraktor militer besar lainnya.

Rick Moy, Presiden NSS Labs, sebuah perusahaan keamanan informasi, mengatakan serangan pada RSA ini cenderung ditargetkan pada pelanggan, termasuk organisasi militer, keuangan, pemerintah, dan lainnya dengan kekayaan intelektual kritis.

Ia mengatakan serangan RSA awal diikuti oleh kampanye malware dan phishing mencari data tertentu yang akan menghubungkan obyek ke pengguna akhir, yang berarti serangan pada saat ini telah dilakukan oleh para hacker yang sama.

TEMPO INTERAKTIF

Latihan Bersama US Navy & TNI AL

JAKARTA - Personil marinir AS tengah melakukan persiapan simulasi dengan persenjataan lengkap di atas geladak kapal Destroyer berpeluru kendali USS Howard (DDG 83) yang bersandar di JICT 2 Port A, Tanjung Priok, Jakarta Utara, Senin (30/5). Kedatangan tiga kapal perang Amerika kapal pendaratan USS Tortuga (LSD 46), kapal penghancur berpeluru kendali USS Howard (DDG 83) dan kapal Frigat USS Reuben James (FFG 57) untuk melakukan latihan bersama dalam pengamanan maritim dan operasi anti-perompakan.FOTO ANTARA/M Agung Rajasa/ama/11

sumber :antara