German Navy Christens New High-Tech Sub

BONN - The German Navy on Nov. 15 christened its most modern submarine at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) shipyard in Kiel. The vessel includes improved communication, sensor and combat systems.
The U35 is an updated version of the Navy's four 212A-class submarines, which were put into service between 2005 and 2007. After having bought the four boats, the German military in 2006 placed an order with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems subsidiary HDW for two additional vessels. While staying with the basic design, the U35 and U36 will benefit from recent experiences with the first batch of subs.

With an air-independent propulsion system that combines hydrogen fuel cells and diesel engines, they can remain submerged for weeks.
At about 56 meters, both boats are about 1.2 meters longer than the earlier version. The two submarines have a displacement of about 1,450 tons and are operated by a crew of 27 sailors.
The two new submarines feature a communications system suitable for network-centric warfare, as well as an integrated German sonar, command and weapon control system. The Callisto B submarine communication system, with its towable transmitter buoy, allows each boat to communicate while remaining deeply submerged.
The flank antenna array will be substituted with a superficial lateral antenna. One periscope will be replaced by the Carl Zeiss Optronics OMS 100 Optronic non-hull penetrating mast system. It can be remotely controlled via a multifunctional combat system console.
The mast system offers various automatic functions such as sector scan or quick look-round. The sensor unit consists of a third-generation thermal camera and a high-definition TV camera, and it can be refitted with a laser rangefinder.
The improved boats also feature a special diver lock-out system integrated into the sail to deploy special forces.
U35 is expected to be officially put into service in the summer of 2013. Until then, systems checks and sea trials will be conducted. U 36 is scheduled to be put into service in the winter of 2013.

Norwegian Defense Firms Hacked, Intel Reports

OSLO - The biggest wave of hacking and espionage attacks in Norway's history has hit key defense and energy companies, the National Security Agency (NSM) said Nov. 18.
At least 10 companies have over the past year fallen victim to hackers in a string of attacks believed to be the work of one group, the NSM said in a statement.

"We have to suppose that the actual number (of victims) is much higher, but that many (companies) have not been in contact" with authorities, the agency said.
The security agency said it was difficult to track down the perpetrators, who used servers based abroad for their attacks, refusing to point fingers at any suspects.
"This is the first time that a hacking campaign of this magnitude has been detected in Norway," said NSM spokesman Kjetil Berg Veire.
The hackers in each case tried to gain access to the corporate network by sending seemingly legitimate emails to specific people, along with a well-concealed virus handing them remote access to the computer in question, according to the agency.
But each attack was "tailored" for the specific company, making it possible to escape detection by anti-virus programs, it said.
The main targets of the attacks were companies in the oil, gas and overall energy sector, as well as in defense.
The names of the targeted companies were not divulged.
"The attacks have, on several occasions, come when the companies have been involved in large-scale contract negotiations," NSM said.
The attacks had allowed the hackers to gain access to documents, industrial charts, usernames and passwords.
According to Berg Veire, however, it is impossible to quantify the possible losses, as no overview exists of what had been taken

Falcons outfight Eagles in Red Flag

U.S. Marines Won't Fly Brit Harriers

An official announcement could come within days of Britain's sale of its remaining Harrier jump jets to the U.S. Marine Corps, but sources are saying privately the purchase will be strictly for spare parts and logistic support, and not a move to increase the operational fleet.

A GR9 Harrier lands at RAF Cottesmore following a retirement ceremony in 2010. Britain retired its joint force of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Harrier aircraft late last year. (U.K. Ministry of Defence)

"We have no intent at any point to ever fly any of these" British jets, said one U.S. source.

The two-part deal was revealed Nov. 10 during a conference in New York, when Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, chief of the U.S. Navy's Supply Corps, told attendees he had negotiated a $50 million deal to purchase the spare parts inventory from the British.
A separate deal, he said, was being negotiated by the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to acquire all 74 remaining GR Mark 9 and Mark 9A Harriers and their spare Rolls-Royce engines from the British.
Neither NAVAIR nor the British Ministry of Defence would officially comment on the negotiations, but sources on both sides of the Atlantic confirmed the deal was in the works.
Heinrich said the spare parts deal was worth $50 million, but no value for the larger aircraft and engine deal has been revealed.
One U.S. source, however, said that acquisition of the British aircraft and their spares could save the Marines up to $1 billion over the life of the fleet. The Marines plan to operate the AV-8B at least until 2025, when conversion to the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is expected to be completed.
Britain retired its joint force of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Harrier aircraft late last year in one of the most controversial moves in a series of defense reductions, which also cut the aircraft carriers that operated the jets, other warships, maritime patrol planes and personnel.
British and U.S. Harrier II aircraft had a high degree of commonality from the beginning. The planes were developed and built in a joint arrangement between British Aerospace - now BAE Systems - and McDonnell Douglas, now a division of Boeing. While each company built its own wings, all forward sections of the British and American Harrier IIs were built by McDonnell in St. Louis, while British Aerospace built the fuselage sections aft of the cockpit.
"All the planes have to fit together," Lon Nordeen, a Harrier expert and author of several books about the aircraft, pointed out.
"There are significant differences between Royal Air Force GR Mark 9s and Marine AV-8Bs, which would be a challenge to overcome," Nordeen added. "However, the engines and spare parts would be very valuable for long-term sustainment of the Marine Corps Harrier fleet."
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps sources would not comment last week on media queries about their plans for the British jets, leading to speculation that the aircraft might be made operational.

U.S. House Panel Urges Fighter Jet Sale to Taiwan

WASHINGTON - A key U.S. House of Representatives panel on Nov. 17 approved bills urging the sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan and letting its leaders travel more freely to the United States, steps opposed by Beijing.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the legislation by voice vote.

President Barack Obama's administration on Sept. 21 announced a $5.85 billion upgrade of Taiwan's 146 aging F-16 A/B jets, saying that the move would allow the island to bolster its defenses against a rapidly growing China.
But a number of lawmakers have pushed the administration to sell 66 of the new and more powerful F-16 C/Ds, a longstanding request of leaders on the self-governing island which China claims as part of its territory.
The two bills that cleared the committee urge Obama to provide the more potent jets, which Taiwan had sought in response to China's military ramp-up.
One of the measures calls for adding Taiwan to the list of countries benefiting from a U.S. travel visa waiver program and boosting travel by senior Taiwan officials to the United States and vice versa.
"Why is it that the president of a democratic partner of the United States is not allowed to visit this country, except as part of transit stops to other countries?" said the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman. "It's time that all Taiwanese officials are afforded the proper respect and be allowed to visit the United States," he said.
One of the bills also urges the Obama administration to seek a free trade agreement with Taiwan.
The legislation could clear the full House but its fate is unclear in the Senate, where similar efforts to push for the sale of the F-16s has stalled.

DoD Successfully Tests Hypersonic Flying Bomb

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon held a successful test flight of a flying bomb that travels faster than the speed of sound and will give military planners the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world in less than an hour.
Launched by rocket from Hawaii at 1130 GMT on Nov. 17, the "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon," or AHW, glided through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific "at hypersonic speed" before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, a Pentagon statement said. Kwajalein is about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.

The Pentagon did not say what top speeds were reached by the vehicle, which unlike a ballistic missile is maneuverable.
Scientists classify hypersonic speeds as those that exceed Mach 5 - or five times the speed of sound - 3,728 miles an hour.
The test aimed to gather data on "aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies," said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
The U.S. Army's AHW project is part of "Prompt Global Strike" program which seeks to give the U.S. military the means to deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within an hour.
On Aug. 11, the Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider dubbed HTV-2, which is capable of flying 27,000 kilometers per hour, but it was a failure. The AHW's range is less than that of the HTV-2, the Congressional Research Service said in a report, without providing specifics.
The Pentagon has invested $239.9 million in the Global Strike program this year, including $69 million for the flying bomb tested Nov. 17, CRS said

Britain's Iraq Inquiry Delayed by 6 Months: Website

LONDON - The release of an official British inquiry into the Iraq war will be delayed by at least six months due to debates over access to secret files, a statement on the inquiry's website said Nov. 17.
Inquiry chairman John Chilcot previously said the five-member panel would publish its report on Britain's role in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion before the end of the year, but the conclusions are now not expected until mid-2012.

"The Inquiry has advised the government that it will need until at least summer 2012 to produce a draft report which will do justice to the issues involved," said the statement. "As well as drafting the report, the Inquiry will need to negotiate the declassification of a significant volume of currently classified material with the government, to enable this to be quoted in, or published alongside, the Inquiry's report.
"The Inquiry has made clear that it will need co-operation from the government in completing this in a satisfactory and timely manner," it added.
The inquiry was set up to learn lessons from the conflict, in which 179 British troops died. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians died in the conflict, according to the NGO Iraq Body Count.
Despite the delay, "very considerable progress has already been made," according to the statement.
The inquiry was launched after British troops left Iraq in July 2009 and public hearings began in London that November.
Former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were among the wide cast of diplomats, ministers, military chiefs and civil servants who were called as witnesses, some of them - including Blair - more than once.
The inquiry has looked at the justification for the invasion and its legality, the conduct of the war and the supply of military equipment to Britain's troops, and Iraq's descent into chaos after the invasion.