Robot X-47B stealth bomber test flight

Newsbeat technology reporter The X-47B stealth bomber takes off for its first test flight

Military chiefs in America say a new, unmanned stealth bomber has carried out its first test flight.

The X-47B jet is being designed by weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman for the US Navy.
It was in the air for 29 minutes during its maiden flight and reached an altitude of 5,000 feet.
Officials say it will help form part of a new generation of unmanned drones and works like a smaller version of the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
As such it would be very different from the current fleet of remote controlled military planes like the Predator and Reaper.

Designing a tailless, fighter-sized unmanned aircraft from a clean sheet is no small feat

Janis Pamiljans VP Northrop Grumman

Instead the X-47B would be virtually invisible to radar and fly at much faster speeds than those older, propeller driven machines.
£395 million contract In a statement Captain Jaime Engdahl, a programme manager for the warplane, said: "Today we got a glimpse towards the future as the Navy's first-ever tailless, jet-powered unmanned aircraft took to the skies."
The flight was primarily designed to test the jet's guidance and navigation systems and the aerodynamic control of the tailless design.
It was controlled from the ground by a joint team of the company's engineers and Navy specialists.
Northrop is building the bomber as part of a £395 million contract signed in 2007.
Janis Pamiljans is vice-president of Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.
"Designing a tailless, fighter-sized unmanned aircraft from a clean sheet is no small feat.
"Commitment, collaboration and uncompromising technical excellence among the Navy [and] Northrop Grumman made today's flight a reality.
"We are indeed honoured to have given wings to the Navy's vision for exploring unmanned carrier aviation."
Although it will be several years before the X-47B is ready for operations officials say it should have its first test flight from an aircraft carrier in 2013.

Iran unveils missiles, satellites as warning to foes

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks during a press conference in Tehran on February 7, 2011 where he announced that Iran is mass producing a ballistic missile capable of travelling at a speed three times faster than that of sound and hitting targets on high seas. – AFP Photo

TEHRAN: Iran showed off new missile and satellite technology on Monday, and told its enemies it had “complete domination” of the entrance to the oil-rich Gulf.
As part of Iran’s annual revolution celebrations, a time traditionally marked by new technological and military advances, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled locally-made satellites while a senior commander showed off mass produced missiles.
“We should reach a point where we will be able to provide our knowledge and technology in the aerospace field to other countries,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech, unveiling the satellites he said were for scientific purposes, and showing film of a satellite-carrier rocket.
Although Iran is not engaged in any military conflict, it is on constant alert against possible attacks from the United States and Israel which have not ruled out possible pre-emptive strikes to stop Tehran getting nuclear weapons.
Iran says it has no intention of making nuclear bombs and that its atomic programme, which is the subject of US, European and UN sanctions, is entirely peaceful.
In 2009, Iran launched a domestically-made satellite into orbit for the first time, a step that increased the West’s fear that the Islamic Republic is seeking to build a nuclear bomb and missile delivery systems.
The chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said the new mass-produced missile would be able to target enemies at sea.
“Its speed is three times greater than the speed of sound and it cannot be traced and deactivated by enemies,” official news agency IRNA quoted Jafari as saying.
Another Guards commander, Ali Fadavi reiterated Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel through which 40 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes.
“The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz are under the complete domination of the Revolutionary Guards … and it would be blocked in case of a threat,” he said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Foreign analysts say Iran would be reluctant to take such a drastic step as it would cut off its own oil exports.

Iran Mass Producing New Anti-Ship Missiles

TEHRAN - Iran is mass producing a new ballistic missile that can travel at more than three times the speed of sound and hit targets on the high seas, top commanders said on Feb. 7.
Cmdr. Mohammad Ali Jafari, who heads the elite military force, the Revolutionary Guards, said the missile - named "Persian Gulf" - had a range of 300 kilometers.

"Iran is mass producing a smart ballistic missile for sea targets with a speed three times more than the speed of sound," state news agency IRNA quoted Jafari as saying about the new missile.
He said the missile was "undetectable and can't be neutralized by enemies," without specifying the name. "It has very high precision in destroying targets," Jafari added.
"As the enemy's threats will likely come from the sea, air and by missiles, the Guards have been equipped with capabilities to neutralize the enemy's advanced technology," he said, according to another Iranian news agency, ISNA.
Iran's missile and space programs have sparked concern in the West that such advanced technologies, combined with the nuclear know-how which the nation is acquiring, may enable Tehran to produce an atomic weapon.
Tehran denies its nuclear program has military aims.
The new missile can be fired "from surface ballistically and can hit enemy vessels from a high altitude," Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards' air force wing told Fars news agency.
"The missile is named Persian Gulf ... its warhead will carry 650 kilograms of explosives," he said, adding that the missile was powered by solid fuel and designed by the Guards.
Footage on state television showed the missile being fired atop a mobile launcher from a desert terrain.
The announcement of the new missile comes as Iran holds celebrations to mark the 32nd anniversary of its Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Iran uses the run-up to the Feb. 11 anniversary to tout its scientific and technological achievements.
In a separate function, Iran unveiled four new home-built satellites and engines of a rocket.
Meanwhile the head of naval Guards' naval forces, Ali Fadavi, issued a warning that Iran will hit back if it came under attack.
"The Islamic republic has the ability of blocking the Strait of Hormuz if threatened," Fadavi told Mehr news agency.
"We will deliver a very firm response if any powers do the slightest thing to hurt the security of the region."
Iranian military officials regularly warn of blocking the Strait of Hormuz - the route through which 40 percent of world's oil supply by sea passes - in case Iran comes under attack.
The U.S. and Israel have never ruled out the option of military strikes against Iran to stop its nuclear program.

Budget Delay Hurts USN Shipbuilding, Maintenance

Life under a continuing resolution (CR) already is causing problems inside the U.S. Department of the Navy, and the prospect of operating for an entire year under a CR is sending chills throughout the service.

"That we're still operating under a continuing resolution is a nightmare" that affects every appropriations category, one senior Navy official said. "We've operated under a CR before, but never for this long, and certainly not by the time we're submitting the next year's budget."

A full year of a CR would cause "a severe funding shortfall," said a Navy source.
Among the worst effects is the disruption and uncertainty, one former Navy official said.
"With all that uncertainty, they have to make cuts, and they need to start making them now," the former Navy official said. "They can't plan on getting money. They have to start actions now."
Navy budget director Rear Adm. Joe Mulloy is charged with keeping calm amid the budget storm. Dealing with a few months of the CR can be managed, but problems grow as the second quarter of the fiscal year begins in January.
"We can hold our breath," Mulloy said Feb. 3. "Typically, a lot of contracts are not designed to be let in the first quarter of the fiscal year. But when we go into the second quarter and there's still the potential of a yearlong CR - which has never happened to the entire Department of Defense - you reach a point where you're limited by dollars and by quantity.
"And the dollars become extremely difficult in the operations and maintenance world, and in the manpower costs," Mulloy said. "You have inflation, pay raises, the cost of doing business, along with some programmatic growth - more maintenance, more operations, more whatever. So you end up rolling over, in the Navy's circumstance, $4.6 billion between '10 and '11, the delta [difference] of what I'm short. About $1.5 billion of that is price growth - just the cost of buying fuel, buying things - and the rest of it is all parts of programmatic growth. More ships in maintenance, a full year of more ships being deployed, and aircraft maintenance and all that."
The cash crunch will hit several accounts especially hard, said the senior Navy official: personnel, shipbuilding and other procurement. Among the effects, he said, are:
■ Yearlong support and maintenance contracts for base operations can't be signed. "Hundreds of contracts have been broken into short installments."
■ Personnel travel has been cut by 25 percent.
■ Hiring freezes have been put in place in the Marine Corps and Navy.
■ Security clearance investigations have been curtailed.
■ Permanent-change-of-station orders are being slowed.
Other effects of prolonging the CR, the Navy source said, would be:
■ Cancellation of 29 surface ship overhauls.
■ Deferred maintenance on aircraft, aircraft engines and equipment.
■ Deferred certification of weapons.
■ Cuts in training and exercises, ship and aircraft operations, and combat support and combat service support.
Navy aviation accounts aren't severely affected by the spending limitations, as the service asked for about $1 billion less for aircraft in 2011 than in 2010. The only problem area might be the purchase of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne control aircraft, but that isn't scheduled to happen until the summer.
The shipbuilding accounts, however, could take a hard hit.
One of the chief problems with managing shortfalls in the shipbuilding accounts, Mulloy said, is that Congress appropriates monies for specific ship programs rather than for shipbuilding as a whole. That prevents the service from shifting money between shipbuilding programs. "I'm about $6 billion out of whack in ship construction," Mulloy said.
For 2011, the service wants to spend money on a new aircraft carrier, a second Virginia-class submarine, a new destroyer and the upcoming refueling overhaul of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.
About $1.7 billion is available for a new amphibious ship - the Navy received that much for a 2010 ship - but the service doesn't need one in 2011. But without the specific authority to move money between ship accounts, the Navy's hands are tied.
"I have dollars in the wrong place," Mulloy said.
This was to have been the first year since 1989 that the Navy hoped to order two submarines. A contract to start work on one was awarded in January to General Dynamics, but no money is available for the second sub. GD agreed, however, to hold the price for the second ship until March 21, so if the money comes by then, the Navy can still take advantage of the price benefits of ordering two at a time.
But the impacts on ship maintenance won't be cured that fast if the CR continues, as the fleet looks for overhauls that can be put off. None have been canceled so far.
But if enough shipyards don't get that maintenance work and similar work on 70 aircraft and 290 aircraft engines is deferred, up to 1,300 private sector jobs might be lost, the Navy source said.
"This is a nightmare," said the senior Navy official. "It has to be fixed."

South Korea To Deploy Guided Imaging Rockets On Border Islands

SEOUL - South Korea plans to eventually deploy precision-guided rockets jointly developed with the United States on islands near the disputed western sea border with North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Feb. 4.

A U.S. Navy AH-1W attack helicopter launches a Low-Cost Guided Imaging Rocket during a May 2010 test at the Point Mugu sea range. An official said Feb, 4 that South Korea will soon deploy the rockets near its disputed sea border with North Korea. (U.S. Navy)

The deployment of the Low-Cost Guided Imaging Rocket (LOGIR) is aimed at thwarting a possible infiltration by North Korean combat hovercraft in the western waters of the Korean Peninsula, a JCS spokesman said.

"Recent intelligence indicates that North Korea has forward-deployed its high-speed hovercraft to a naval base near the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," the spokesman said. "If that's true, there is a limit for us to responding to it only with coastal artillery guns. So we're considering the deployment of the 70mm guided rocket to the border islands."
Previously, the local Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have detected construction work being done for a base in the Koampo area in Hwanghae province, just 50 to 60 kilometers from South Korea's Baengnyeong Island, one of the five islands near the NLL. The base is presumed to be able to accommodate up to 70 hovercraft, and each of the air-cushion vehicles can carry a platoon and travel up to 90 kilometers per hour across water and mud flats, according to the report.
North Korea has rejected recognizing the NLL, drawn up by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, making occasional provocations near the border.
In March 2010, South Korea said its patrol ship Cheonan was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine near the border. Forty-six sailors were killed. The North also fired about 170 shells from its coastal artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers in November onto Yeonpyeong Island, killing four people, including two South Korean Marines.
Since then, South Korea has vowed to fortify the islands by deploying more troops and high-tech weapons, such as the Israeli GPS-guided Spike missile and the Swedish ARTHUR artillery-finding radar.
The 60-billion-won LOGIR project was signed by the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center and South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in 2007.
The joint project aims to equip the 2.75 inch (70mm) unguided air-to-air or air-to-ground rocket, or Hydra 70, with a precision-guidance system, an infrared-ray-image sensor with a rocket motor and wings.
The first test-launch of the rocket system was successfully made in June.
The weapon is schedule to begin service by 2014, and the U.S. Navy is expected to buy about 30,000 LOGIRs, according to the ADD.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts to boost its defenses against North Korea's possible artillery attacks on the border islands, the South Korean military has ordered more ARTHUR weapons locating systems from Swedish defense group Saab under a contract worth nearly $69 million, according to Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the supplier.
The new batch of ARTHURs will be manufactured by LIG Nex1, an electronic weapons maker in South Korea, with technical assistance from Saab.
The South Korean Army first ordered six ARTHURs in 2007.
"We are delighted to have received this important additional order from South Korea that further proves our customer's confidence in the capabilities of our weapon locating system, Arthur," said Micael Johansson, senior vice president and head of Saab's Electronic Defense Systems business.
The ARTHUR is a stand-alone, C-band, medium-range weapon-locating system that detects and locates enemy fire using a passive phased-array antenna technology for optimized battlefield performance.

Turning Presence Into Sales

TEL AVIV - Patience, persistence and an expanded market presence in Brazil are generating new business for Israel's Elbit Systems, which barreled into the new year with two important orders from the Brazilian Army and Air Force and two fresh local acquisitions.
On Jan. 6, the Haifa-based company announced that its subsidiary, Aeroeletrônica Ltda. (AEL), snagged a 440 million Brazilian real ($263.1 million) contract to supply automated 30mm turrets for the Army's Guarani armored troop carrier project. The multiyear contract followed a 2009 award to Elbit for a limited number of the unmanned weapon stations.
Company executives are aiming for similar success with the Brazilian Air Force, which on Jan. 19 selected Elbit's Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle for a program likely to form the backbone of the service's nascent unmanned aerial force. Like the 2009 Army award, the UAV award to AEL starts out with a limited number of systems, with no material impact on Elbit's bottom line.
Nevertheless, Elbit CEO Joseph Ackerman hailed the Jan. 19 award as a milestone in AEL's longtime cooperation with the Brazilian Air Force and an incentive for future collaboration.
"This open tender was the first of its kind, and their choice of our Hermes 450 is extremely significant … It's small in the beginning, but the long-term potential is tremendous," Ackerman said in a late January interview.
He added, "Brazil is a huge aerospace power of strategic and economic importance, and we made the decision long ago to cultivate our long-term commitment there."
In the mid-1990s - nearly a decade before Israel's other top-tier defense companies turned their sights on Brazil - Elbit was cultivating ties there, winning bids and investing for the long term through partnerships, particularly with Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer.
Its first order, for avionics displays for Brazil's AMX fighter jet, paved the way for a major upgrade contract for the Air Force's F-5 fighters and an $80 million avionics order for Embraer's Super Tucano, a turboprop combat and trainer plane.
By 2002, Elbit's Brazilian portfolio included more than $300 million in multiyear orders and the control of AEL, its first wholly owned local subsidiary.
Last month, Elbit announced it had acquired two more local companies, both providers of defense electronic systems and services for the Brazilian military and other regional customers.
According to a Dec. 30 announcement, Elbit acquired its latest two holdings - Ares Aeroespecial e Defesa S.A. (Ares) and Periscopio Equipamentos Optronicos S.A. (Periscopio) - following a series of transactions totaling tens of millions of Brazilian reals.
Executives here said the 2001 buy of AEL and the two recent acquisitions in Brazil embody a corporate strategy of acquiring established local firms to maximize opportunities in key markets.
"We decided 15 years ago that Brazil was becoming a very important country in the world, and that Elbit would commit the long-term investment needed to become its strategic partner," Ackerman said.
The Elbit chief declined to say how much the company invested in its cultivation of the Brazilian market but noted that Elbit is satisfied with the accumulated benefit to its balance sheet.
Ackerman estimated Bra-zilian sales over 15 years at "several hundreds of millions of dollars," with spending on defense, homeland security and other relevant sectors projected for significant growth in the years to come.
"In retrospect, it was a long process," he said. "There were years when we didn't see anything. But to those with patience, good faith and good will come the fruits of success."

No 'Zero-Sum Game'

Ackerman adamantly rejected concerns raised by some that Brazil's socialist government may move toward the aggressive anti-Western policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Brazil last month joined nearly a dozen Latin American nations in recognizing a free and independent Palestinian state, and has opposed a U.S.-led drive for tougher sanctions on Iran for its uranium enrichment program.
"The fact that they recognized a future Palestinian state is all the more reason to strengthen Israel's existing and very good ties with Brazil," Ackerman said. "It is not a zero-sum game."
Ella Freid, an equity analyst with Israel's Bank Leumi, said investors hold very favorable views of Brazil and are not concerned that it will become the target of isolation and sanctions.
In addition to an expected rise in defense spending stimulated by a growing eco-nomy, Brazil's hosting of soccer's World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016 should translate into major orders in homeland security, border control and paramilitary sectors, Freid said.
As for Elbit's recent acquisitions in Brazil, Freid said they appear to be less product-oriented and more market-oriented, which will allow Elbit to expand its presence elsewhere in South America.
"These specific companies are not as transparent as we would like, but generally, it seems that Elbit made very clever and strategic acquisitions that will allow it to diversify its activities among multiple sectors in the region," she said.
Elbit has not released year-end financial figures for 2010. Despite lower defense spending trends and global economic hardship last year, Ackerman said he expects organic growth, as well as more mergers and acquisitions to yield increased sales in the years to come.
In recent months, Elbit finalized acquisitions in Israel of Soltam Systems, Saymar and ITL, and has increased corporatewide sales through the integration of previously acquired Israeli firms.
"When we look at what's happening in the world, we can't escape the fact that most governments, with Brazil and certain Asian countries as notable exceptions, are becoming more cautious with defense spending," Ackerman said.
"But while we're seeing lower budgets for platforms, spending on defense electronics is not dropping," he said. "As a leading provider of electro-optics and C4I systems, we're trying to see how to take advantage of this trend."
According to the company's published data, Elbit's 2009 year-end backlog stood at $5 billion on sales of $2.8 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2008. It reported a 2009 net profit of $215 million.

China Developing Counterspace Weapons: DoD Deputy

WASHINGTON - China is developing counterspace weapons that could shoot down satellites or jam signals, a Pentagon official said Feb. 4 as the United States unveiled a 10-year strategy for security in space.
"The investment China is putting into counterspace capabilities is a matter of concern to us," Deputy Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Gregory Schulte told reporters as the defense and intelligence communities released their 10-year National Security Space Strategy (NSSS).

The NSSS marks a huge shift from past practice, outlining a 10-year path for the United States to take in space to ensure it becomes "more resilient" and can defend its assets in a dramatically more crowded, competitive and challenging environment, Schulte said.
A key reason for developing the new strategy was "concern about the number of counterspace capabilities that are being developed," said Schulte.
"China is at the forefront of the development of those capabilities," he said.
China in 2007 shot down one of its own weather satellites using a medium-range ground missile, sparking international concern not only about how China weaponizing space, but also about the debris from the satellite that is still floating around in space.
Beijing is also working on ways to jam satellite signals and is developing directed energy weapons, which emit energy towards a target without firing a projectile, Schulte said.
U.S. concerns over China's space activities have led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to seek to include space in the stability dialogue with the Chinese, Schulte said.