INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
OUR RELENTLESS AND FOCUSED PUBLISHING EFFORTS

SP's MAI - August 16-31, 2011

Issue Features

• 

  AEROSPACE
  The Balancing Act
  By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

  There is an imperative need to balance the transport fleet with the induction of at least four to six squadrons of aircraft of five to ten tonne capacity

• 

  MILITARY
  Patriot’s versatile capabilities

  Raytheon recently bagged a $1.7 billion contract to upgrade Patriot for Saudi Arabia.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / REPORT
  Security situation in Indian cities bleak: G.K. Pillai, former Home Secretary

  Security in Indian cities is bleak. And the future is even bleaker as the situation will only deteriorate in years to come, said G.K. PIllai

• 

  NEW PRODUCTS
  PackBot effective bomb disposal

  One of the most successful battle-tested robots in the world, the iRobot 510 PackBot performs bomb disposal and other dangerous missions for warfighters and first responders.

• CORPORATE
  EADS’ Astrium to acquire Vizada

  EADS has agreed to a $960 million deal by its space subsidiary, Astrium, to buy satellite communications provider Vizada as part of its drive to diversify into business services and expand in the US market.

• 

  MILITARY
  Pelvic protection to troops

  The Joint IED Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO) is funding more than $19 million to speed the procurement of pelvic protection to troops in Afghanistan to reduce the effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on dismounted troops.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  No additional C-17 Globemaster III: Antony

  The Minister of Defence, A.K. Antony has informed in the Parliament that there was no proposal for procurement of additional C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY
  Making runways safer

  Airplanes undergo significant stresses during takeoff and landing, and parts often become detached, putting subsequent runway users at risk.

• 

  NEW PRODUCTS
  Macro USA releases Beetle Nano UGV

  Macro USA has released the Beetle Nano unmanned ground vehicle (N-UGV). The Beetle is the smallest four wheel drive N-UGV to use coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM) technology.

• CORPORATE
  BAE Systems robust results

  BAE Systems has said that though the headline sales was lower at GBP 9.2 billion (2010: GBP 10.6 billion), the performance was robust considering the challenging environment.

• 

  MILITARY
  Counter-IED Centre

  US Army Pacific’s newly established Asia-Pacific Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Center provides service members stationed in the Pacific access to cutting-edge training...

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Bell Boeing submit V-22 Osprey proposal

  The Bell Boeing V-22 Programme, a strategic alliance between Boeing and Bell Helicopter Textron

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Convicted for hurling grenade at Bush

  On May 10, 2005, while President George W. Bush was delivering a speech in Tbilsi, Georgia, a live Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade was thrown...

• NEW PRODUCTS
  Gatekeeper’s undercarriage vehicle scan

  Gatekeeper’s patented technology rapidly scans a vehicle’s undercarriage, the vehicle’s make and model, any foreign objects or modifications, and personnel of any threat—all in a matter of seconds.

• CORPORATE
  L-3 announces second quarter results

  L-3 Communications Holdings has reported a 16 per cent increase in diluted earnings per share (diluted EPS) to $2.26 for the quarter ended July 1, 2011, compared with $1.95 for the same period in 2010.

• 

  MILITARY
  Newcastle soldier saves comrades from IED strike

  Always ready to act on a call out, teams from the Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Task Force are prepped and ready to respond to any IED finds or explosions wherever UK troops are operating in Helmand.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Northrop Grumman gets further advanced Hawkeye contracts

  Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a $795 million contract by the US Navy for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye programme.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Priest’s escape from Tower of London

  John Gerard was a 16th century Jesuit priest who is remembered as the only person to ever escape from the notorious Tower of London.

• NEW PRODUCTS
  Steiner launches military riflescopes

  Steiner, the world’s biggest manufacturer of military binoculars and renowned for military ruggedness and precision

• CORPORATE
  Eurocopter and Mahindra sign MoU

  Mahindra Aerospace and Mahindra Satyam – representing the aerospace manufacturing and engineering capabilities of Mahindra Group – has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Eurocopter.

• 

  MILITARY
  Shortage of officers in armed forces

  The total number of men and women officers serving in the Indian Army is 35,605 and 1,020 respectively (excluding Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Services).

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Lockheed Martin delivers Morocco’s first advanced F-16s

  The Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) unveiled the first four of the 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft at Ben Guerrir Air Base in Morocco recently.

• 

  INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  US cash stolen in Iraq War?

  US auditors are now confirming that the $6.6 billion in cash the US lost in the wake of the invasion of Iraq may have been stolen.

• CORPORATE
  Saab divests share in C3

  Defence and security company Saab AB has agreed to divest its shares, corresponding to 57.8 per cent on a fully diluted base, in the 3D mapping company C3 Technologies AB (C3).

• 

  MILITARY
  Arjun Mark II MBT on pre-induction trials

  The desert trials of Arjun Mark II main battle tank (MBT) were carried out in Pokharan, Rajasthan. The MBT, which can fire missiles, is said to have 93 upgrades.

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Raytheon laser-guided Maverick weapon on MMRCA and Jaguar?

  The US Air Force completed developmental testing (DT) of Raytheon Company’s AGM-65 E2/L

• INTERNAL SECURITY / REPORT
  Safe and Secure Indian Cities: FICCI Ernst Young Report

  There are five building blocks to secure a city’s safety – governance, planning, technology, resources and citizen awareness.

• 

  MILITARY
  Saab receives new orders for Carl-Gustaf

  Defence and security company Saab has received an order for components to the Carl-Gustaf man-portable weapon system. The total value of the order is MSEK 362 ($55.6 million).

• 

  AEROSPACE
  Vietnam inducts Airbus Military C212-400

  Vietnam has taken delivery of Airbus Military C212-400 and will get two more, one end of the year and the other early 2012.

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  999 incidents of Naxal violence this year

  During the current year (up to July 26), India witnessed 999 incidents of Naxal violence in which there were 333 deaths (241 civilians and 92 security forces).

• 

  MILITARY
  DRS Technologies bags range finder contract from US Army

  DRS Technologies, a Finmeccanica Company, announced that it’s reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) Group has been awarded a five-year indefinitedelivery

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Insitu introduces Inceptor Small UAS

  Insitu has introduced the Inceptor small unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which will provide the public safety market with real-time video and stable

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  Special cell to deal with terror financing

  The Government of India has constituted a separate cell for combating of funding of terrorists (CFT Cell) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

• 

  MILITARY
  Textron Systems’ CUSV excels during SUMMIT demonstration

  Textron Systems Advanced Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems

• 

  AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  New airship research at Texas University

  A new airship activity has been launched in the aerospace engineering department at Texas A&M University (TAMU).

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  European system for tracking terrorist financing

  Responding to the call from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, the Commission adopted a communication outlining the options for establishing a European terrorist finance tracking system (TFTS).

• 

  MILITARY
  Lockheed Martin’s squad mission support system deployment in Afghanistan

  The US Army Rapid Equipping Force, through the Robotics Technology Consortium...

• AEROSPACE
  MiG starts carrier fighters for Indian Navy

  Russia’s MiG Aircraft Corporation has launched production of a new batch of MiG-29K/KUB carrier fighters for the Indian Navy. The fighters are expected to be inducted in 2012.

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  Aviation security measures ‘confusing’: RUSI

  A report of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has underlined the importance of harmonised and rigorously enforced baseline standards on international aviation security to be implemented by various governments.

• 

  MILITARY
  Germany deploys Boxer armoured vehicles in Afghanistan

  Germany has airlifted five of its new Boxer multirole armoured vehicles to Afghanistan for what will be the vehicles’ first operational deployment.

• AEROSPACE
  US Navy SEALs among 31 killed in chopper incident

  On August 6, a NATO helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan during a battle with the Taliban, killing 30 US and seven Afghan soldiers and one civilian interpreter.

• INTERNAL SECURITY
  DRS Consolidated Controls to supply controls to nuclear industry

  DRS Defense Solutions announced that its business unit, DRS Consolidated Controls, Inc. (DRS-CCI) has been recertified as a supplier of safety-related instrumentation and controls equipment to nuclear power plants.

• 

  MILITARY
  Royal Navy to have first woman command warship

  Thirty-nine-year-old Lieutenant Commander Sarah West is entering the record books as the first British naval officer to become the first woman in the 500-year history of the Royal Navy to command a warship.

• AEROSPACE
  Cobham wins Missile Defense Agency task orders

  SPARTA, Inc., doing business as Cobham Analytic Solutions, has been awarded nine task orders supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) totaling $227 million over two years.

• INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  Microsoft security research awards worth $2,50,000

  Microsoft Corporation’s Trustworthy Computing Group has announced the BlueHat Prize competition to reward security researchers with more than $2,50,000 in cash and prizes for developing innovative, new computer security protection technology.

• 

  MILITARY
  Gowind OPV L’Adroit begins first sea trials

  The Gowind offshore patrol vehicle (OPV) L’Adroit began its first sea trials on July 27 for DCNS to validate the seakeeping and other nautical qualities of the vessel.

• AEROSPACE
  Eurocopter delivers fourth EC225 to China

  China has taken delivery of EC225 from Eurocopter which will be used for offshore search and rescue (SAR) missions.

• INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  McAfee releases online banking safety guide

  Acting on recent data that reveals many consumers still aren’t protected by even basic anti-virus software when banking online, McAfee has released an educational guide for banking safely on computers, tablets or mobile devices.

• MILITARY
  Defence sector investments upwards of $30 billion

  The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence headed by Congress MP Satpal Maharaj has indicated that the Indian defence industry will stand to gain from an inflow of $30 billion over the next decade.

• AEROSPACE
  Eighth C-5B makes Super Galaxy

  The sun shines above the newest addition to the C-5M modernisation programme. Tail number 85-0003, a C-5B Galaxy, is the eighth aircraft inducted into modernisation production line to become a Super Galaxy.

• INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  ENISA maps good practice in Europe

  The European Union Agency ENISA has launched online an updated edition of its “Country Reports” on network and information security (NIS) in the member states and other European countries.

• MILITARY
  Government consulting political parties on CDS

  The Defence Minister, A.K. Antony has stated that the Government was taking a view of various political parties with regard to the establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) for a single-point of military advice to the government.

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  Canadian certificate for Vanguard

  Vanguard Defense Industries have received a special flight operations certificate (SFOC) from Transport Canada to operate the Shadow-Hawk unmanned aerial system (UAS) in Canadian Airspace.

• INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  South Korea to start cyber defence programme

  The South Korean military and Korea University have signed an agreement to set up a cyber defence programme aimed specifically at training students in cyber warfare to combat virtual threats from North Korea.

• MILITARY
  Maritime disputes in East and South East Asia to remain

  With political resolution to maritime disputes in East and South East Asia unlikely in the near term, states with claims in the East China Sea, South China Sea

• AEROSPACE / UNMANNED
  India not to manufacture small UAVs

  The Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju has stated in the Parliament that the government does not propose to manufacture small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)...

• INTERNAL SECURITY / CYBER
  Raytheon to support insider threat research programme

  The company said that subscriber information had been Raytheon Company has been selected to support an insider threat research programme led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

• MILITARY
  RUSI’s “conflict, war and culture” programme

  The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has launched its “conflict, war and culture” programme, designed to look at the engagement with and depiction of war and conflict across various media and art forms.

• INTERNAL SECURITY / BREACHES
  Palestinians infiltrate air force base

  In 2008, a serious security breach occurred at the Nevatim Air Force Base, when four Palestinians succeeded in entering the base without anyone noticing.

• MILITARY
  Boomerang to protect troops

  The UK Ministry of Defence has announced that a state-of-the-art new shot detection system called Boomerang III has been protecting troops in Afghanistan against small arms fire.