Taiwan Happy With U.S. Senate Push for F-16 Sale

TAIPEI - Taiwan on May 29 said it welcomed a push by nearly half the U.S. Senate for the sale of dozens of F-16 fighters to the island in an arms deal Taipei said would help its dealings with China.

A Taiwanese Air Force F-16 releases flares in December 2008 during a live-fire drill at Paolishan, southern Taiwan. The island wants to buy F-16s and other weaponry from the United States. (File photo / Agence France-Presse)

In a letter to President Obama last week, 45 senators urged the administration to swiftly approve the sale of 66 F-16C/Ds to Taiwan as the fast-expanding Chinese forces tip the military balance in the region, the foreign ministry said.

"We're pleased to see the bipartisan move in the U.S. Senate," foreign ministry spokesman James Chang said.
"The arms sale will help Taiwan boost its self-defense capabilities, thus giving it more leverage while engaging the Chinese mainland," he said.
Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since 2008 after Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power on a platform of beefing up trade links and allowing in more Chinese tourists.
Taiwan applied to the U.S. government to buy 66 F-16 fighters in early 2007, but observers say Washington has held up the deal for fear of angering Beijing.
The United States in January 2010 approved a $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan, prompting a furious Beijing to halt military exchanges and security talks with Washington.
During a trip to the United States earlier this month, Chinese People's Liberation Army Chief of Staff Gen. Chen Bingde renewed his objection to any U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Lockheed: Little to No Damage from Cyberattack

WASHINGTON - Major U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin said May 29 it was investigating the source of a major cyber-attack one week ago against its information network, the company said.
"Lockheed Martin detected a significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network," the company said in a news statement released late May 28.

The company said the cyber-assault took place on May 21, and that quick action by its security team successfully repelled the attack.
"No customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised," Lockheed's statement said, adding that federal authorities had been notified.
"Throughout the ongoing investigation, Lockheed Martin has continued to keep the appropriate U.S. government agencies informed of our actions," the company said.
President Obama has been briefed about the attack, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"It has been part of the briefing materials that he has," Carney said. "My understanding, based on what I've seen, is they feel it's fairly minimal in terms of the damage."
Lockheed Martin said its officials are working "around the clock to restore employee access to the network, while maintaining the highest level of security."
It did not mention the suspected source of the cyber-attack.
The company's information security team detected the attack almost immediately and took what is described as "aggressive actions" to protect all systems and data, the statement added.
The statement said that despite the attack, the company remains confident in the integrity of its "robust, multi-layered information systems security."
Federal officials, for their part, told U.S. media that the consequences of the attack for the Pentagon and other agencies was "minimal," and no adverse effect on their operations was expected.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 126,000 people worldwide. It focuses on design, development and manufacturing of advanced technology systems, including some of the military's most advanced weaponry.
Seventy-four percent of the company's 2009 revenue came from military sales, according to published reports.
Lockheed Martin's products included the Trident missile, P-3 Orion spy plane, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets, and C-130 Hercules military cargo planes among many other major weapons systems.
The company is a primary developer of stealth technology used in U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, the F-117 fighter jet as well as the F-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter designs.
The corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations reached $45.8 billion.
However, the stealth Joint Strike Fighter program has faced delays and cost overruns, and the Pentagon overhauled the program last year.
The initial estimate for each F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft was $50 million eight years ago, but more recent estimates were up to $92 million.
Meanwhile, NASA announced last week that a new spacecraft to ferry humans into deep space would be based on designs for the Orion crew exploration vehicle built by Lockheed Martin.
The Orion capsule, originally designed to take astronauts back to the moon, is a surviving component of the Constellation manned space exploration program canceled by Obama last year for being behind schedule and over budget.
The capsule will weigh 23 tons and NASA has no date set for a potential launch, said Douglas Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems mission directorate.
There is also no final cost associated with the project.
Lockheed Martin is to continue its work on building the space capsule begun in 2006.

Hostage To Lead U.S. Air Combat Command

The U.S. Senate has quietly confirmed Lt. Gen. Michael Hostage as the next commander of Air Combat Command.
Hostage, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central who oversees air operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, will take over for Gen. William Fraser, who has led ACC since September 2009.

The Senate Armed Services Committee received Hostage's nomination on May 16 and the full Senate confirmed the fighter pilot on May 26 by a voice vote, according to a notice in the congressional record. The notice did not list an assignment, only that Hostage will be "assigned to a position of importance and responsibility." However his assignment will be ACC, according to an Air Force official.
The Pentagon typically announces high-level, general officer promotions publicly. However, Hostage's name was not included on any general officer promotion lists released in May.
In addition, the Air Force usually announces pending nominations on the specific general officer's official biography on its website. Hostage's biography lists him as the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central in Southwest Asia.
Defense sources say Fraser, whom Hostage will replace, is being considered to lead U.S. Transportation Command, replacing Gen. Duncan McNabb, who is expected to retire. Some sources have said Fraser is considered a candidate to replace Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, should Schwartz become the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The White House is expected to announce a new chairman and vice chairman as soon as next week.
Hostage spent the former part of his career flying F-15 and F-16 fighters, but has spent much of the last decade in important staff positions, including the senior military assistant to the secretary of the Air Force, director of requirements integration (J8) at U.S. Joint Forces Command and vice commander at Pacific Air Forces.
Air Force officials declined to comment on Hostage's assignment.

San Diego Shipyard Gets 2 Ship Orders

The General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego, Calif., received a major contract award May 27 when the U.S. Navy ordered the first two Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ships.
The $744 million fixed-price incentive fee contract is for the detail design and construction of the two ships. The order follows several previous contracts for preliminary work on the ships, including a $115 million contract last August for long-lead material for the first ship.

The ships, which will be built to a design originally proposed by NASSCO, will be able to ballast down to float on or off barges and smaller craft. The ships will have a reconfigurable mission deck, feature a vehicle staging area and be able to carry up to three air-cushioned landing craft.
The Navy intends to order a total of three ships. The first as-yet-unnamed ship is to be delivered in 2013, although it is not expected to be operational until 2015. The ships will be assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship squadrons.
The MLPs were crucial to NASSCO's ability to keep its workforce employed as it starts to wind down series production of the T-AKE 1 Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships for the Navy. A keel-laying ceremony took place May 18 for the 14th and last T-AKE, the Cesar Chavez, due for completion in November 2014.

Poland To Host U.S. F-16 Rotations: Official

WARSAW - U.S. F-16 fighter jets and Hercules transport aircraft will be deployed in Poland on a rotating basis while a U.S. aviation detachment will be permanently stationed there, a senior U.S. adviser said May 27 as President Obama arrived in the country.
"We are going to announce tomorrow the conclusion of the agreement to establish an aviation detachment in Poland that will allow for our two air forces to cooperate in training the Poles to utilize the American aircraft that they purchased, F-16 and (Hercules) C-130," Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a senior adviser for European affairs on the National Security Council told reporters. "What we will be doing is rotating trainers and aircraft to Poland so that they can become more interoperable with NATO. This will be a small permanent presence on the ground and a permanent presence that will be rotational."

Ahead of the visit, officials in Warsaw had expressed hope it would bring a deal for the permanent stationing of a U.S. Air Force technical ground crew at a Polish F-16 base, as well as training rotations of U.S. F-16 fighters and Hercules transport aircraft as of 2013.
Last year saw the first three rotations of unarmed training batteries of U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland, a move that also sparked Russia's ire. Four rotations are planned this year.

Russia, U.S. Sign Chopper Deal for Afghanistan

MOSCOW - Russia has signed a contract with the U.S. Army to deliver 21 MI-17 helicopters to Afghanistan, new agencies quoted the defense ministry's arms oversight service as saying May 27.
The contract includes new helicopters, along with "delivery of spare parts, on-ground service, and material-technical support," RIA Novosti quoted the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation statement as saying.

The contract was previously valued by the Russian media at $367.5 million.
The Russian helicopters will be sent to be used in Afghanistan's air force starting in October, with deliveries continuing through next year, RIA-Novosti reported.
Washington has decided to pick up the tab after months of talks between NATO and Russian officials ground to a halt.
Some NATO states pressed Russia to deliver some of the transport helicopters for free as they were unable to pay Russia for the aircraft.

Russian Sub To Join NATO Exercise for 1st Time

BRUSSELS - A Russian submarine will take part in the world's biggest submarine rescue exercise with its former Cold War foe, NATO, next week, the military alliance said May 27.
The Russian submarine, the first to participate in any NATO exercise, will drop to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea along with Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish submarines and will await listless for a rescue mission off the coast of Cartagena, Spain.

About 2,000 military and non-military personnel as well as ships and aircraft from more than 20 nations will take part in the exercise, dubbed Bold Monarch 11, that will run from May 30 to June 10.
Held every three years, it "is the world's largest submarine rescue exercise," said a statement from NATO's SHAPE allied military headquarters based in Mons, Belgium.
"The exercise is designed to maximize international cooperation in submarine rescue operations - something that has always been very important to NATO and all the submarine-operating nations," it said.
The inclusion of a Russian submarine in the exercise comes amid a warming of ties between Moscow and the 28-nation alliance, nearly three years after Russia's war with Georgia had sparked tensions between the two sides.
The U.S., Russia, Italy and Sweden are contributing submarine rescue vehicles and sophisticated gear to clear debris. France, Norway and Britain will use a jointly owned rescue system.
Aircraft will deploy from Italy, Britain and the U.S. to help locate the submarines and drop parachutists to provide emergency assistance.
The vast exercise will culminate with a 48-hour coordinated rescue and evacuation of 150 survivors, including casualties, from a submarine acting in distress.