Iran to launch long-range radar systems

The Islamic Republic is to install and launch long-range radar systems in certain parts of the country in the near future, an Iranian military official says.


Deputy Head of Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base for Communications and Technology Information Brigadier General Hamid Arzhangi said that the radars are of two kinds, ISNA reported Saturday.

He further pointed out that the first type can cover a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers while the other is capable of covering up to 3,000 kilometers.

According to General Arzhangi, the radar antennas have been installed and the systems will soon become operational.

The Iranian official went on to say that Iran was also developing and using monitoring systems capable of passing on intelligence to command and control headquarters in the shortest possible time.

The Khatam al- Anbiya Air Defense Base is in charge of coordinating aerial defense activities of Iran's Army and Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran successfully tested and utilized advanced equipment used for communication and exchange of intelligence during massive defense maneuvers dubbed "Modafean Aseman Velayat 3" (Defenders of Velayat Skies) in November, 2010.

Iran also successfully test operated a new generation of its first domestically manufactured air defense system during the drills.

The Mersad (Ambush) modern medium-range system is capable of spotting and destroying advanced aircraft at low and high altitudes.

In addition to its high mobility, Mersad's new generation can be used in electronic warfare and can be networked with other radar and defense systems.

IAF to finalise 350 helicopter order in a month: IAF Chief

Plans for modernising Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Soviet-era helicopter fleet are gathering momentum with acquisition plans of attack, heavy-lift and medium-lift helicopters reaching final stage. The IAF is gearing up to induct new rotary wing machines to match the emerging strategic scenario and for ferrying troops, men and material even during natural calamity.

The decision on acquisition of nearly 350 helicopters of different genre will be reached in a month’s time, according to Air Chief Marshal PV Naik. The procurement process is on for acquiring 22 attack helicopters to replace fleet of ageing Mi-35 attack choppers. The contract value is pegged at $600 million approximately.

“The contest for the attack helicopters is between Russian Mi-28 and American Apache AHG-64D. The flight trials have been completed and the report is expected in a week or so,” said Naik.

The IAF has contracted the Russian Rosoboronexport to supply 80 Mi-17 V5 medium-lift helicopter valued at $1.3 billion. The rotary wing aircraft will be supplied in 2011 only. The force is going for add on order of 40 choppers, the IAF chief said.

The Mi-17 V5new acquisitions will replace the existing fleet of around 150 Mi-8 helicopters of Russian vintage.

In the heavy-lift segment the trials have been conducted between the US’ Chinook CH-47 and Russian Mi-26 helicopters for a deal potentially worth $2 billion. The IAF intends to buy 15 of these units.

“The flight evaluation bit is over and final report is expected in a month or so,” revealed Naik.

Alongwith this, IAF in conjunction with the Indian Army would be getting 197 light utility helicopters to replace its 300-odd ‘Cheetah’ and ‘Cheetal’ choppers.

“For light utility helicopters army is the main buyer. Flight trials are over in this and the report would be reaching to us in a week.”

Moreover, the successful flight of the indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) in 2010 has given another option to the IAF which will be inducted the machine in its force only by 2014-2015.

Apart from this, the IAF is actively pursuing a comprehensive plan to upgrade its Soviet era helicopter fleet by upgrading older machines. A parallel plan is underway to renew assets in the next 10 years as part of the air force's overall perspective plan. Plans are afoot to upgrade over 50 choppers in the fleet of Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters. The upgrades are expected to increase the life of the rotary wing aircraft by a decade.

U.S. Air Force Needs Long-Range Strike

The U.S. government should be lamenting the fact that despite numerous warnings and sufficient international stimulus, it has failed to attend to the desperate need for robust, rapid, long-range strike capability.
As the military service charged exclusively with arming, training and equipping forces for air and space operations, with the exception of its airlift fleet, the U.S. Air Force has chosen to build a short-range, limited payload combat force. Its fleet of very effective F-22 and F-35 fighters are about to take center stage in the global arms arena. As capable as they are, with a combat range of 400 or so miles, they just don't fit the bill. Let's review:

The Opposition

We are still heavily committed to major combat operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan while ramping down our efforts in Iraq. Relations with China, the largest and second most militarily powerful nation on Earth, can only be conservatively described as "testy." It is rapidly building a military structure that its leaders hope will be able to keep American sea and air forces at bay during a not inconceivable conflict, including a ballistic missile designed to attack aircraft carriers well out to sea.
A paranoid, bipolar North Korean government is increasingly belligerent, having recently killed 50 South Koreans in military attacks. And in addition to its huge advanced conventional force, it is known to have nuclear weapons as well as a burgeoning missile fleet with which to deliver them.
Iran is genetically hostile to anybody in the Western world and reportedly on the cusp of nuclear capability, never mind its substantial band of conventionally armed fanatics.
Then there are a bunch of Mexican drug lords with more money with which to buy weapons than the Mexican government has. They are committing murder and mayhem right up to, and occasionally across, our border.
Have I missed anybody? And we are looking to our military forces - already to a large extent pinned down in Iraq and Afghanistan - to also keep a lid on this global menagerie of hostility.

The Home Team

The U.S. government has been building a military force that is exceptionally good at placing ground forces directly in harm's way to fight terrorists and insurgents. That's all well and good if the enemy is an insurgent with no sophisticated weapons, which many are. But some of our opponents are technologically savvy with powerful conventional and nuclear force structures that demand something substantially different than a boots-on-the-ground, infantry-heavy structure.
Critics have maligned even the latest generation of advanced but short-range combat aircraft for the wrong reasons. They are referred to as relics of the Cold War and the faceoff with the Soviet Union, too complex and expensive for what they say we face today: terrorists and insurgents.
The fact is, they are indeed effective against just about all our opponents, if they have sufficient range to get to where they can have some effect.
These same "experts" also often seriously question the need for a force component with the capability to fly farther than from Topeka to Chicago. But range is absolutely vital to a defense structure like ours designed to conduct expeditionary operations from long distances. We got that one wrong.
So, here's the big rub. This nation is just about broke. With a $14 trillion debt (ironically, mostly owed to our friendly neighborhood banker, the People's Republic of China), unemployment close to 10 percent, and overdue projects from dilapidated bridges to a foundering health care system, we are not likely to begin a crash weapon-building program to protect ourselves.
Those long-range strike aircraft we so desperately need to reach out and touch adversaries around the world are just not coming, unless we re-arrange some priorities. Even the fleets of fifth-generation fighters the Air Force has ordered are being drastically reduced.

Bitter Medicine

The only way to reverse a situation that has been a generation in the making is a change of strategy, requiring bitter medicine for the folks in blue who are managing what we may eventually see as a flying circus - good for air shows and moving ground forces and supplies around, but not much else.
Rather than relying on short-range aircraft that must be brought into close proximity to the adversary, making them and their bases vulnerable, we need to be able to cover global distances to carry our message to diverse adversaries from secure bases. That is the domain of the long-range combat aircraft: the bomber.
But they cannot be so expensive that we can afford only 20 of them. We've been there, done that. And note I have not said they all must be manned.
Yes, it would be very useful to have a massive fleet of both advanced fighters and bombers. That would truly put a lid on at least the aviation portion of many contingencies, but it is just not going to happen. The alternative is not to lock ourselves out of high-threat theaters by not having sufficient range and payload. It is to adapt range and payload to mission needs.
There are rumors of Air Force plans to build a new long-range strike aircraft over the next decade. We have heard that before. I question the service's commitment to this and the cuts in other plans that would be an inevitable result. And would Congress be willing to fund it if USAF leaders showed they would compromise on some fighter fleet plans?
It would signal a major shift in defense strategy. I just wonder if it's too late to switch horses

India Considers 'Pain Gun' Buy From Raytheon

BANGALORE, India - U.S. defense group Raytheon says it wants to sell India a controversial "pain gun" it claims would be safer than rubber bullets in quelling unrest in the insurgency-racked country.
The Silent Guardian Protection System is billed by its makers as the 21st-century equivalent of tear gas or water cannons - a way to subdue rioters while inflicting minimal harm.

The U.S. military withdrew the weapon last year from war-torn Afghanistan amid opposition from human rights activists worried about its safety. The U.S. Army has not commented on why it withdrew the system.
"We are meeting various elements of the Indian government, who are seeking information" on the weapon, senior Raytheon executive George Svitak said Feb. 11 while attending Aero India.
Raytheon says the weapon, which causes agonizing pain but no lasting damage, would be less likely to cause injury than water cannons, tear gas or rubber bullets frequently used by Indian troops to break up unruly crowds.
Raytheon has already sold the system, variously dubbed the "pain gun" or "ray gun," to unnamed government clients, Svitak said.
India has been searching for better ways to control crowds after 114 people were killed last summer during anti-India street protests in restive India-controlled Kashmir, mainly by police bullets.
The weapon sends out beams of radiation that stimulate human nerve endings from a transmitter the size of a large TV screen mounted on the back of a truck.
The beam barely penetrates the skin, meaning it cannot cause visible or permanent injury, Svitak said. However, anyone in its path will feel an extremely painful sensation across their body.
It can also be used to pinpoint individuals.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently told state police chiefs to deal with protesters humanely.
"We need to revisit crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures," Singh said, referring to use of excess force in Kashmir.

Arjun tank to get more Indian muscl

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will roll out a more potent and indigenised variant of the Arjun tank in three years. DRDO chief VK Saraswat said the German engine on the current version of the tank would be replaced by an Indian power plant and the new variant (Arjun

Mk-II) would have 90% indigenous component. The existing tank may be hailed as an indigenous project but imported items such as power pack, gunner's main sight and track account for 58% of the cost per tank. Saraswat, also the scientific adviser to the defence minister, told HT at Aero India-2011, "The new variant will have high indigenous quotient, except for some hydraulic and electronic systems. The tank should be ready in early 2014. It will feature several modifications including superior missile firing capabilities. "
The army raised its maiden armoured regiment equipped with Arjun tanks in May 2009, more than 35 years after the project was conceived. The army has so far placed an order for 248 tanks, each costing R16.8 crore. The Arjun was earlier plagued with problems concerning its fire control system, suspension and poor mobility due to its weight.
The army accepted the Arjun tank only after a third-party audit by an international tank maker roped in by the DRDO to endorse the battle-worthiness of the tank after extensive evaluations. The tank has been designed and developed by the DRDO and the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Avadi.
Saraswat said the DRDO was laying the groundwork to develop future main battle tank. The tank would be lighter than the 60-tonne Arjun, he said. Currently, Russian T-90s and T-72s are the mainstay of India’s tank fleet.

India has technology to defend satellites: Saraswat

India did not believe in space wars but had all the technology required to integrate systems to defend its satellites, V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, said today.

"Our country does not have a policy to attack anybody in space. We don't believe in it. But as part of the Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, we have all the technology elements which are required to integrate a system through which we can defend our satellites or take care of future requirements."

As a country, "we do not believe in space wars", he said in response to a query whether India had anti-satellite weapon capabilities.

India did not have a formal anti-satellite weapon policy of attacking satellites in space, but was well geared in case of any eventuality, he told reporters here.

India to have satellite navigation system by 2015

Bangalore, Feb 11 (PTI) India will launch seven satellites in the next four to six years to develop its own version of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for enhancing surveillance capabilities and improving accuracy of its weapon systems.

The Indian Navigation System (INS) satellites would provide coverage over India's areas of interest for military purposes along with its civilian uses, IAF sources told PTI here.

Till now, India is dependent on the American GPS and has signed a deal with Russia for using their GLONAS system but having an indigenous system would guarantee the availability of system during crisis or conflicts.

Asked about similar developments in the neighbourhood, they said China was developing its own version of the GPS which will cover the whole globe.

"But we don't want to cover the whole world and want to focus on the region important for us," the sources said.