Panetta Takes Reins as Pentagon Chief

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed July 1 to keep the U.S. military the "best" in the world despite mounting budget pressures, after being sworn in as the new Pentagon chief.
"As your leader, I will ensure that our nation continues to have the best-trained, best-equipped, and strongest military in the world - a force prepared to confront the challenges that face us," Panetta wrote in his first message to troops after taking the oath of office at the Defense Department. "Even as the United States addresses fiscal challenges at home, there will be no hollow force on my watch."

Panetta succeeds Robert Gates, who won praise from Republicans and Democrats during his 4½ years on the job.
Panetta assumes office amid growing calls to rein in government spending, with an increasing number of lawmakers saying the massive defense budget can no longer be excluded from cutbacks.
Acknowledging "tough budget choices" on the horizon, Panetta said: "We must preserve the excellence and superiority of our military while looking for ways to identify savings."
The proposed defense budget for 2012 is about $671 billion, including $118 billion for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With a gradual transfer to Afghan forces due to begin this year, Panetta said the U.S. "must remain committed to working closely with our Afghan and international partners to ensure that it never again becomes a safe haven for al-Qaida and its militant allies."
On Iraq, he said the U.S. will need "to reinforce that responsibility, for the future security of Iraq must belong to the Iraqis themselves."
Panetta, however, made no mention of NATO-led air operations in Libya launched in March.
Some lawmakers have accused President Barack Obama of overstepping his legal authority in the Libya conflict, which has proved unpopular with Americans. But the Obama administration has argued the U.S. is playing a limited, supporting role in the operation.
At his swearing-in ceremony, Panetta also pledged to "protect" U.S. troops, according to military spokesman Marine Col. Dave Lapan.
Panetta was quoted as saying there was "no higher responsibility for a secretary of defense than to protect those who are protecting America."
Panetta, 73, is the oldest incoming U.S. secretary of defense and the first Democrat to hold the job since William Perry in 1997. He stepped down as head of the CIA to take the Pentagon job

$2.7B Turk Sub Deal With Germany Takes Effect

ANKARA - A 2 billion-euro ($2.7 billion) deal between Turkey's arms procurement agency and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems for the joint manufacture of six submarines formally took effect July 1, the German group announced.
"The 2 billion-euro order for six U214 submarine material packages placed with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems by the Republic of Turkey has entered into force with receipt of the advance payment," the group said in a statement July 1.

"As a longstanding partner and supplier to the Turkish Navy, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems can now begin executing the order," the statement said. "The order will contribute to securing employment at [ThyssenKrupp's] HDW in Kiel, as well as at many subcontractors in Germany and Turkey, for the next 10 years."
A major loan deal on the last day of 2010 between German banks and the Turkish Treasury rescued the contract between the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the Turkish government's procurement agency, and German shipyard Howaldswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW), Turkish procurement officials said earlier. Since then, the two sides had discussed the loan's conditions, and that process ended successfully in late June.
Turkey and HDW, an affiliate of the ThyssenKrupp conglomerate, originally signed the submarine contract in July 2009, but no price was disclosed at the time. Turkey originally selected HDW over French and Spanish rivals in the summer of 2008, when officials said the German offer was worth 2.5 billion euros.
Renegotiations over price and a clear road map for Turkish local participation led to a final agreement on a price reduction of more than 500 million euros, bringing down the program's final cost to about 2 billion euros.
Under the Turkish modern submarine program, the non-nuclear vessels will be built at the Navy's Golcuk Shipyard on the Marmara Sea coast near Istanbul. The submarine program will become Turkey's largest defense modernization project after a planned $13 billion deal to buy 100 next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force.
Ankara is hoping the U214 submarines will enter service shortly after 2015, two years later than the original schedule when the program was launched a few years ago.
With a decision to proceed, Turkey scrapped a modernization plan for its older Ay-class submarines, also built by HDW.
Turkey also is building its own corvette-type ships and hopes to produce its own frigates by the end of this decade. Several Turkish shipyards are producing patrol boats, coast guard boats and other amphibious platforms.

Russia to Deliver Sub to India By Year End: Report

MOSCOW - Russia will deliver a long-awaited nuclear submarine to India by the end of the year, the country's navy chief was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency on July 1.
The date for the delivery of the Nerpa submarine in which 20 people died in an accident during sea trials in 2008 has been pushed back several times.

"We will definitely deliver the submarine to the customer by the end of the year," Russia's navy commander Vladimir Vysotsky was quoted as saying in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg.
He added that an Indian crew was fully trained and ready to receive the vessel.
The Nerpa was undergoing trials in the Sea of Japan in November 2008 when its fire-fighting system went off by accident, filling the submarine with a toxic gas that killed 20 sailors and shipyard workers.
Russia supplies 70 percent of India's military hardware but New Delhi has been unhappy about delays to arms orders from Moscow and looked to other suppliers including Israel and the United States in recent years.

India To Arm U.S.-built P-8I With U.S. Torpedo

NEW DELHI - India is to buy lightweight torpedoes to arm the U.S.-made P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft that the Indian Navy has ordered.
The Pentagon has officially notified the U.S. Congress of the potential sale of Mk-54 lightweight torpedoes to the Indian Navy, an Indian Defence Ministry official said. The deal will be a government-to-government sale.

The torpedo is an anti-submarine weapon that can be fired from the P-8I aircraft with a high kill probability.
The Navy is buying 12 P-8I aircraft from the U.S. under contracts signed in 2008 and 2010.
The Mk-54, the most advanced lightweight torpedo in the U.S. Navy's inventory, will provide the Indian service with effective long-range anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The final content and price for the deal will be determined during discussions between the governments, an official of the U.S. Embassy here said.
"This sale reflects the mutual benefits of the U.S.-India security partnership," a U.S. Embassy statement said. "For India, the combined sale of the P-8I aircraft with the Mk-54 torpedoes will add to India's anti-submarine capability as it expands its ability to protect India and the critical sea lanes of the Indian Ocean. The offer highlights the U.S. commitment to share cutting-edge technology with India, and to ensure that both nations enjoy the benefits of a secure and stable South Asia."

Taiwan Supersonic Missile Test Flops

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's defense ministry on June 28 confirmed reports that a new supersonic anti-ship missile had missed its target during a routine naval drill in the latest in a series of setbacks.
Analysts say the Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind) III missile, designed to cruise at a maximum speed of Mach 2.0, or twice the speed of sound, and with a range of up to 80 miles, is difficult to defend against.

But the defense ministry said the weapon, the island's first locally developed supersonic anti-ship missile, had failed to hit its objective during the drill due to a computer glitch.
"The ministry will improve on the screening of hardcore facilities ... to ensure the quality of the missiles," it said in a statement. Taiwan started to deploy the Hsiung Feng III on its warships last year in response to China's rapid naval expansion.
But the island's military leaders were left red-faced after two failed missile tests earlier this year that earned rare criticism from President Ma Ying-jeou, who urged the armed forces to practice more.
The Taipei-based China Times said the latest failure was particularly embarrassing for Taiwan's navy, since it "coincided" with Beijing's much-publicized military drills in South China Sea in mid-June.
The missiles are estimated to cost Taiwanese taxpayers at least Tw$100 million ($3.45 million) each, the report said.
Ties between China and Taiwan have improved since Ma became the island's president in 2008 on a China-friendly platform.
But China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting to be reunified by force if necessary, although the island has governed itself since 1949 when a civil war ended.

Lockheed Shifts F-35 Management Team

Lockheed Martin is shifting some of its executives in order strengthen its most important programs, the company said June 27 in a news release.
In perhaps the most significant move, Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed's Mission Systems & Sensors chief, will become the deputy to F-35 general manager Larry Lawson.

"These appointments will strengthen our performance on high-priority programs and provide growth and development opportunities for key executives," Christopher Kubasik, Lockheed's president and chief operating officer, said in the news release. "They build on our commitment to leverage our talent seamlessly across the enterprise to meet the needs of our customers."

Iran Unveils Underground Missile Silo: State TV

TEHRAN - Iran's Revolutionary Guards on June 27 unveiled an "underground missile silo," which the elite force said will allow them to launch the country's long-range ballistic missiles, state television reported.
The broadcaster showed footage of a facility at an unknown location, with an "underground missile silo" holding a projectile described as a Shahab-3.

The unveiling came as the Guards began a military exercise on June 27, codenamed Great Prophet-6, which was to include the launching of different range ballistic missiles.
"The technology to build these silos is completely indigenous," the state television website quoted the exercise's spokesman, Col. Asghar Ghelichkhani, as saying.
State television also showed a missile launch, without specifying its type or when the firing took place.
With a range of nearly 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers), the Shahab-3 is a liquid-fuelled missile that can theoretically reach Israeli territory as well as U.S. bases in the Middle East.
In recent years, Iran has tested a dozen of these missiles, which are believed to have been derived from the North Korean No-Dong missile.
The Islamic republic says the latest exercise would carry "a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the region."
In late May, Iran said it had equipped the Revolutionary Guards with a new surface-to-surface missile, the Qiam-1, which it said was built locally and test-fired last August.
Iran says it has a wide range of missiles in its arsenal, and regularly boasts about developing projectiles with substantial range and capabilities. Western military experts cast doubt over its claims, however.
The country's missile program, which is under the control of the powerful Guards, along with its space projects, has been a source of concern in the West.
World powers fear that Tehran is developing a ballistic capability to enable it to launch nuclear warheads, which they suspect Iran is seeking to acquire under the guise of its civilian atomic program.
But Iran has steadfastly denied the Western allegations, insisting that its nuclear and space programs have no military objectives.