Japanese Inventor Develops Flying Sphere Drone

TOKYO - A Japanese defense researcher has invented a spherical observation drone that can fly down narrow alleys, hover on the spot, take off vertically and bounce along the ground.

It is powered by a propeller protected by a spherical shield with large openings for airflow, meaning a knock into a wall or a tumble to the ground will not damage it.

About the size of a beach ball and jet black, the remote-controlled Spherical Air Vehicle resembles a tiny Death Star from the "Star Wars" movies but has a more benign purpose - to transmit live images from a video camera.

Research to improve the device is continuing, but its designer says that in the future, it could be used as a formidable pursuit vehicle that can travel above traffic or spy on a target through a window.

Its inventor in pacifist Japan hopes it could also help with non-aggressive operations, such as search and rescue in disaster zones, where it could fly through buildings and even up and down stairways.

"This is the world's first spherical air vehicle," said its developer, Fumiyuki Sato, a research engineer at the Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute in Tokyo.

The latest model, the seventh prototype, is equipped with a single propeller shielded by the shell with flaps and wings to control its flight. It can zip through the air at up to 37 miles per hour.

Sato said all its components can be found on the Internet or in shops in Tokyo's electronic tech-geek heaven of Akihabara.

The motor at the core is contained by a modified plastic bottle, and the total cost for the parts come to 110,000 yen ($1,400) for the latest model, which weighs just 12.3 ounces and has a diameter of 16.8 inches.

Sato admits that many hurdles remain before the flying sphere can be put to practical use, including adding an autopilot function and finding ways to cope with turbulence and poor weather conditions.

The current model could not, for example, be used at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami, because it can only fly within the field of vision of the controller, he said.

"Even though I can see footage from the mounted camera, it would be very difficult to control this" using the video, Sato said, noting that the drone floats in the air at a very delicate balance and cannot stop quickly.

Nonetheless, Sato sees a range of possible missions for the drone in future.

A more advanced model, he said, could hover above a motorcade for security, or if in pursuit of a fleeing target, "it could go below an electric cable, fly above the next one, and then turn a street corner."

2nd Indian AF Jet Crashes Within a Week

NEW DELHI - The Indian Air Force suffered further fleet depletion with the loss of two aircraft within a week. The latest crash involved a British Jaguar on Aug. 5; a Russian-made MiG-21 went down Aug. 2.

A senior Air Force official said nearly 500 MiG variant aircraft, mostly MiG-21 combat aircraft, have been lost since they were bought from the former Soviet Union. The official attributed nearly 40 percent of the crashes to human error, saying pilot training schedules have been disrupted because there are no advance jet trainers and there is a shortage of basic trainers.

In 2010, 10 Air Force aircraft crashes occurred, including four MiG-27s and two MiG-21s.

The Defence Ministry has contracted with BAE Systems to buy its Hawk advance jet trainers.

All the basic trainers have been grounded for over a year due to technical snags, and the replacements have yet to come in. In June, the Defence Ministry selected the Swiss Pilatus PC-7 to replace its basic trainers. However, no contract has been inked, Defence Ministry sources said. In July 2010, all of the 140 basic trainers, called Deepak trainers, were grounded for technical problems with the engines.

Deepak trainers form Stage 1 of the pilots' training schedule. The Air Force official said that even the Stage 2 trainer, the Kiran, is obsolete and needs replacement. The homemade Intermediate Jet Trainer is three years behind schedule.

"Delays in procurement of trainer aircraft, lack of spares and technical snags are the major reasons for the crash of IAF aircraft," said Bhim Singh, retired Indian Air Force wing commander.

Morocco Takes Delivery of F-16 Jets

RABAT - Morocco took delivery on Aug. 4 of a first batch of 24 F-16 fighter jets from the United States as part of its air force modernization program, a senior U.S .officer said.

Another seven would be delivered at the beginning of 2012 and the remaining 13 in the following months, she added.

Four F-16s were delivered to Morocco, Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward of the U.S. Air Force told reporters in the southern city of Marrakesh.

The 24 F-16s, the CD block 50-52 model, were among the most modern versions available, said Woodward.

The contract with the U.S., which includes the sale of equipment, services and pilot training, is worth an estimated $2.4 billion (1.7 billion euros).

The F-16s competed with the Rafale jet produced by France's Dassault to win the Moroccan deal.

The Benguerir air base north of Marrakesh took delivery of the aircraft in a ceremony attended by senior officers of the Moroccan and U.S. military, the MAP news agency reported.

Vietnam to Get Sub Fleet in 6 Years: State Media

HANOI - Vietnam will have a submarine fleet within six years, the defense minister reportedly confirmed Aug. 4, in what analysts say is intended as a deterrent to China's increasing assertiveness at sea.

"In the coming five to six years, we will have a submarine brigade with six Kilo 636-Class subs," Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh was quoted as saying by the state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Russian media reported in December 2009 that Vietnam had agreed to buy half a dozen diesel-electric submarines for about $2 billion.

Thanh said the fleet was "definitely not meant as a menace to regional nations," according to the report.

"Buying submarines, missiles, fighter jets and other equipment is for self-defense," he was quoted as saying.

Ian Storey, a regional security analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore, said the submarine deal has been driven by events in the South China Sea, where China and Vietnam have a longstanding territorial spat over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.

Tensions rose after Vietnam in May accused Chinese marine surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship inside the country's exclusive economic zone.

"These purchases are designed to deter the Chinese from encroaching on Vietnamese sovereignty," Storey told AFP.

He said the country already operates two midget submarines bought years ago from North Korea.

In the newspaper report, Thanh did not specify how Vietnam was paying for its naval upgrade.

"It depends on our economic ability. Vietnam has yet to produce modern weapons and military equipment, which are costly to import," he said.

Analysts say the country's economy is in turmoil with galloping inflation, large trade and budget deficits, inefficient state spending, and other woes.

Much of Vietnam's military hardware is antiquated but this week it received the first of three new coastal patrol planes for the marine police, announced the manufacturer, Madrid-based Airbus Military.

Russian media reported last year that Vietnam ordered 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 warplanes in a deal worth about $1 billion.

Other nations in the region have accused China in recent months of becoming more aggressive in enforcing its claims to parts of the South China Sea.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to all or parts of the waters, which are potentially rich in oil and gas deposits and straddle vital commercial shipping lanes.

China: Japan's Defense Comments 'Irresponsible'

BEIJING - China launched a series of blistering attacks on key rival Japan on Aug. 4 after a defense paper approved by Tokyo criticized Beijing's military build-up and growing territorial assertiveness.

State news agency Xinhua went further, accusing Japan of "China bashing" and warning the document could jeopardize relations between the neighbors, while the defense ministry also issued a statement condemning the paper.

China's foreign ministry branded the paper "irresponsible," insisting Beijing's drive to modernise its forces was entirely defensive, and expressed its "strong dissatisfaction".

Japan's annual defense report, released this week, voiced concern over China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, and what it called the "opaqueness" of Beijing's military budget.

"The Japanese 2011 defense white paper made irresponsible comments on China's national defense construction. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said.

"China's development is offering significant opportunities to all countries - including Japan - and China has not been, and never will be a threat to any other country."

China broke off all high-level contact with Tokyo last September after Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain whose vessel collided with Japanese coast guard patrol ships in waters claimed by both sides.

The row between Asia's two biggest economies was their worst in years and undermined painstaking recent efforts to improve relations marked by decades of mistrust stemming from Japan's 1930s invasion of China.

The Chinese skipper was released after more than two weeks and the two countries, which have deep trade ties, have been trying to mend fences.

Japan's defense report used a Japanese word that can be translated as "overbearing" or as "assertive" to describe China's stance over its "conflicting interests with neighboring countries, including Japan".

The paper also said China's defense spending was not transparent, saying that the budget publicly announced by China "is widely seen as only part of what Beijing actually spends for military purposes."

"Opaqueness in its defense policies and military movements are concerns for the region, including Japan, and for the international community, and we need to carefully analyze them," it said.

Xinhua called claims "groundless" and said the report "dutifully carries out its China-bashing tradition, nitpicking at China's defense expenditure growth and military modernization in the manner of a back seat driver".

Earlier this year, China announced military spending would rise 12.7 percent to 601.1 billion yuan ($91.7 billion) in 2011 after funding slowed last year.

Beijing has repeatedly sought to alleviate fears over its pursuit of sophisticated missiles, satellites, cyber-weapons and fighter jets, stressing that the nation's defense policy is "defensive in nature."

It has invested heavily in developing its first stealth fighter jet, revealed in January, as well as an aircraft carrier and anti-ballistic missile capable of piercing the defenses of even the most sturdy U.S. naval ships.

However, China has become increasingly assertive in its claims over the East China Sea and South China Sea, most of which it views as its maritime territory, but where several other Asian nations have competing claims.

Huge Cyber Spying Effort Revealed, China Suspected

WASHINGTON - The United States, United Nations, defense contractors and the International Olympic Committee were targets of a massive global cyber spying campaign, a computer security firm said on Aug. 3, with China seen as the likely culprit.

McAfee vice president for threat research Dmitri Alperovitch described it as a "five-year targeted operation by one specific actor" but declined to identify the country responsible.

California-based McAfee said in a report it had identified 72 victims in 14 countries of a sophisticated hacking effort dubbed "Operation Shady RAT," which it traced back to at least 2006.

The "compromised parties" included the governments of Canada, India, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States and Vietnam, McAfee said, as well as a U.S. Department of Energy research laboratory and around a dozen U.S. defense contractors.

Others included computer networks of the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the International Olympic Committee, Asian and Western national Olympic committees and the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency.

In a conference call with reporters, Alperovitch, the lead author of the report, said the intrusions into the systems of defense contractors targeted "sensitive military technologies."

He said McAfee had notified law enforcement about the cyber espionage campaign, briefed the White House and members of the U.S. Congress and was working with some of the targeted companies on remediation efforts.

"We believe based on the targeting and the scale and the impact of these operations, and the fact that they didn't just have an economic gain in mind but also political and military, that that this is clearly a nation-state but we're not pointing the finger at anyone," Alperovitch said.

James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the evidence may not be "conclusive in a legal sense," but suspicion points towards China.

"You can think of at least three other large programs attributed to China that look very similar," Lewis told AFP. "It's a pattern of activity that we've seen before."

Google said in June that a cyber spying campaign originating in China had targeted Gmail accounts of senior U.S. officials, military personnel, journalists and Chinese political activists.

In January of last year, Google announced it was halting censorship of its Internet search engine in China after coming under attack along with 20 other companies from hackers based there.

In February, McAfee said in another report that hackers in China have penetrated computer networks of global oil companies, stealing financial documents on bidding plans and other confidential information.

McAfee said it had discovered the "Shady RAT" series of cyber attacks by gaining access to a command and control server in a Western country used by the intruders and examining its logs.

"After painstaking analysis of the logs, even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators," McAfee said.

McAfee said attacks on Asian and Western national Olympic committees, the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency occurred in the lead-up and immediate follow-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It described this as "particularly intriguing and potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions, because there is likely no commercial benefit to be earned from such hacks."

Other targets included a private Western organization focused on promoting democracy, two U.S. national security think tanks, South Korean steel and construction firms, a Danish satellite communications company, a Singapore electronics company, a Taiwanese electronics firm, Vietnam's government-owned technology company and U.S. state and county governments, McAfee said.

It said a major U.S. news organization - identified as the Associated Press by The Washington Post - was "compromised at its New York headquarters and Hong Kong bureau for more than 21 months."

McAfee said the attacks involved sending infected emails to employees of the targeted companies. When opened, the emails implanted malware and established a backdoor communication channel to the command and control server.

Data theft appeared to be the chief objective of the attackers but Alperovitch warned the "potential exists for even more insidious activity."

"These intruders are in our systems, in the systems of all these companies, in all these government systems," he said. "The likelihood that they'll escalate the activity from just stealing data to modifying data or destroying data or destroying systems is also there."

China Officially Offers Pakistan J-10 Variant

ISLAMABAD - China for the first time officially offered Pakistan a variant of its most advanced frontline fighter, the Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon/F-10 Vanguard.

Official Pakistani interest in the fighter dates back to February 2006, when then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf toured the J-10 production facilities on a trip to China. Pakistani government approval for the purchase of 36 FC-20s, a Pakistani-specific variant, was given in April 2006. Service entry was slated for the middle of the decade.

Citing defense sources, the offer was reported in the Urdu press here over the weekend. The offer was made during the recent visit to China by Lt. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the Pakistani Army chief of General Staff.

Precise details of the deal are not yet known. However, Usman Shabbir of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank, said "the initial deal will be for at least two squadrons [at least 32 aircraft] and will be financed by China via a soft, long-term loan."

Analyst Kaiser Tufail said the J-10's operational autonomy would be far greater than that provided by the U.S.-built F-16C.

"It has to be remembered that India refused to consider the F-16C/D and F-18E/F, as they wanted a freer hand in operability aspects as well as technology transfer, which the U.S. was unwilling to provide," Tufail said.

With the J-10, Pakistan would "be able to operate it in an environment not constrained by security restrictions," and could base the aircraft wherever desired, Tufail said. He also said the lack of technology-transfer restrictions from the original equipment manufacturer is a factor.

"The J-10 will provide F-16-class capabilities for Pakistan but without the cost and political encumbrances of U.S.-sourced aircraft," Carlo Kopp of the Air Power Australia think tank said.

"What a J-10 would provide is quantity over any U.S.- or EU-sourced product," Kopp said, though he is still uncertain whether China will supply "pre-loved J-10A…or new-build J-10A or J-10B airframes."

Shabbir said the broader Sino-Pakistani combat aircraft relationship has eroded Western influence over Pakistan, though he remains concerned about the implications Pakistan's fragile economy has for its defense capabilities.

"The availability of J-10 and JF-17 from the Chinese means that Pakistan is now not that reliant on the U.S. and Europe for its aircraft requirements, and this of course will erode U.S influence over Pakistan in the long term," he said.

The Pakistani Air Force is the largest operator of U.S supplied weapons in South Asia and therefore most vulnerable to sanctions