a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/RvvFTvzufrI/AAAAAAAAAUg/p9gv_bXMlNQ/s1600-h/growler0925flash.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/RvvFTvzufrI/AAAAAAAAAUg/p9gv_bXMlNQ/s320/growler0925flash.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114898744850939570″ border=”0″ //aLike a proud parent, Boeing Co. handed over the keys of its newest fighter plane Monday.br /br /With all the pomp one might expect, the aerospace giant formally delivered to the U.S. Navy its first EA-18G Growler, a next-generation electronic warfare version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, in a ceremony at its final assembly plant.br /br /There were politicians and engineers and officers dressed in crisp white. There was a snazzy video and group photos and congratulations all around. And at the center of it all, there was a plane, dubbed “G-1,” that Navy officials say will be a “game-changer” in the world of jamming enemy radar and ground defenses.br /br /”This is a good day for the Navy, a good day for the nation,” said Rear Admiral Kenneth Floyd, who oversees aviation requirements for the Navy. “I think the only people having a bad day are the people who’ll wind up on the business end of this thing.”br /br /Plans are to build 85 of the planes, at roughly $60 million apiece, to complement the Navy’s fleet of Super Hornets and improve on the slower, Vietnam-era EA-6B Prowler.br /br /”G-1″ will go through flight testing next year and enter service in 2009. Meanwhile Boeing will continue to pump out the planes at its plant north of Lambert Field, about 20 a year through 2012.br /br /The company and the Navy have been working together since 1993 to develop the Growler, which shares an airframe with the Super Hornet and fighter-jet speed, but contains another 2,500 feet of wiring and 1.5 million more lines of software code.br /br /”(The team) had to design and integrate all that and everything else involved in the Growler into the existing Super Hornet production line,” said Chris Chadwick, vice president of Global Strike Systems for Boeing. —…’Seamlessly’ is all that was asked for.”br /br /Hanging over Monday’s celebration, though, was the question of how many more Growlers and Super Hornets will get built.br /br /Production on the planes, which provide about 5,000 jobs here, is due to end in 2012, and Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter is eventually slated to replace the Super Hornet.br /br /But development has lagged on that plane, and so Boeing recently offered a new multi-year contract for 170 more Super Hornets, at $49.9 million each. It says talks continue with the Navy about the deal.br /br /Military officials have been noncommittal, at least publicly. At Monday’s ceremony, Delores Etter, the Navy’s acquisition chief, said her service is studying how many more fighters it may need.br /br /”The operational side is always reassessing their needs,” she said. “Whatever they determine they need, we’re glad to help.”br /br /Meanwhile, Boeing is beating the bushes for foreign orders, which can extend the production line and keep the price down.br /br /Last year, it inked its first deal, for 24 Super Hornets to Australia, and Chadwick said that country has “shown interest” in 24 more.br /br /It is offering to build 126 of the planes for India, in a six-way competition for the decade’s biggest fighter buy.br /br /And Japan and Switzerland soon may be in the market for Super Hornets as well, Chadwick said.br /br /But Monday’s event was a celebration of the Growler, the fastest, most versatile radar-jamming plane the Navy has yet known. And when it was over, as some white-uniformed officers milled about by G-1′s wing, they sounded a little like teenagers who were given the keys to a new car.br /br /”People are going to find ways to use this airplane that no one’s even thought of yet,” said Capt. Tom Tack, who commands the electronic attack wing for the Pacific fleet. “It’s going to be an unbelievable airplane.”

Russia has tested the world’s most powerful vacuum bomb, an explosive device unleashing a destructive shock wave with the power of a nuclear weapon, the military said on Tuesday.br /The bomb is the latest in a series of new Russian weapons and policy moves unveiled as President Vladimir Putin tries to reassert Moscow’s role on the international stage.br /“Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon,” Alexander Rukshin, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff, told Russia’s ORT First Channel television.br /“You will now see it in action, the bomb which has no match in the world is being tested at a military site,” the state-controlled channel said. It showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb over a testing ground. A large explosion followed.br /Pictures followed of what looked like a flattened multi-storied block of flats, surrounded by scorched soil and boulders.br /“The defense ministry stresses this military invention does not contradict a single international treaty. Russia is not unleashing a new arms race,” the channel said.br /Such devices generally detonate in two stages. First, a small blast disperses a main load of explosive material into a cloud, which then either spontaneously ignites in air or is set off by a second charge.br /This explosion generates a pressure wave that reaches much farther than that from a conventional explosive. The consumption of gases in the blast also generates a partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself.br /“The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shock wave and an incredibly high temperature,” the report said. “All that is alive merely evaporates.”br /“At the same time, I want to stress that the action of this weapon does not contaminate the environment, in contrast to a nuclear one,” Rukshin said.

pNEW DELHI: The race for the multi-billion dollar fighter aircraft deal has opened with a high-level Swedish delegation proposing a defense partnership pact with India and offering a partnership to develop the next generation of fighters./p pSweden is also planning to post a defense Attache at its embassy here to pursue further defence opportunities in the country. The Scandinavian country had found a foothold in India’s defence market when it supplied the Bofors artillery guns in the mid-eighties. But the ensuing scandal made the defense establishment wary of dealing with companies from the country. /p pThe Swedish Grippen fighter is the underdog in the tenders issued to six companies including the U.S. heavyweights Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the Russian MiG, the Eurofighter backed by four European nations and Rafael of France./p pSpeaking to news persons here, the Swedish Secretary for defense H.G. Wessberg said his country was looking for strategic partners in the development of the aerospace industry. Sweden was fully backing SAAB International (Grippen’s makers) with its Parliament approving more investments in the company as well as upgradation of the Grippen fleet in its Air Force. /p p“We are firmly committed to using the plane for another generation and we need partners,” said Mr. Wessberg. /p pAccompanied by Pontus Melander of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Major General Staffan Nasstrom, Special Adviser to the Swedish Ministry for Defence, the Secretary for Defence said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence with India “would make life much easier for both countries to discuss the fighter plane tenders.”/p span style=”font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;color:red;” class=”subsectionhead” span style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 0);” Cost-effective/span /span p align=”justify” /p pThe draft MoU submitted promises greater involvement with the Swedish Defence Research Agency which is an acknowledged world leader in under-water technology including submarines and co-developing the futuristic unmanned combat aerial vehicle or a pilot-less fighter plane. /p pGen. Nasstrom said the planes being offered by Sweden were cost-effective and had low life-cycle costs. “It is astonishing that few countries have produced planes that everyone can afford,” he observed, indicating that planes from his country would not be expensive./p

France will redeploy six Mirage jets currently stationed in Tajikistan to a NATO base in Afghanistan, Defense Ministry officials said Friday.br /br /The redeployment, along with a planned increase in French troops in Afghanistan, comes as new President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks to improve ties with the United States and boost France’s visibility on the world stage.br /br /Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck said the planes, based in Dushanbe, are to be transferred to Kandahar, in the troubled south of Afghanistan. Three of the planes — designed to support ground troops — are to be transferred in late September, while three others — equipped for surveillance missions — are slated to move in mid-October, Prazuck said.br /br /Some 150 personnel, including the jets’ pilots and technical crew, are also to be transferred to Afghanistan, Prazuck said. About 300-350 servicemen will remain in Dushanbe to help with transportation to Afghanistan, said the first councilor of the French Embassy in Tajikistan, Olivier Shaterlais.br /br /The Mirages are part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan. The transfer will allow the planes to spend more time patrolling southern Afghanistan — a Taliban stronghold — by eliminating the two-hour flight time to and from Tajikistan.br /br /pPrazuck said there was a need to “bring (the planes) closer to the zones of action.” He said “there is no change in the mission or the means.”/p pSome 11,000 troops, including Americans, British, Australian, Canadian and Afghan soldiers, are stationed at the Kandahar base./p pBefore the redeployment, French Defense Minister Herve Morin plans to visit Afghanistan Sept. 7-8, Prazuck said./p pEarlier this week, Sarkozy announced he would send about 150 additional troops to Afghanistan to train the Afghan army, ending months of speculation about France’s commitment to the international force./p pFrance has about 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The additional French troops are to arrive in the country by the end of the year./p

TEL AVIV — The biggest victim of reordered, post-Lebanon war spending priorities is the Israel Air Force, which now stands to acquire much fewer — perhaps only half — of the 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) initially planned for its future force.br /Under the 2008-2012 spending plan, IDF brass approved funding for just one squadron of 25 JSF aircraft, which will become operational around 2015-2016, defense and industry sources here said.br /In the follow-on, five-year plan, the Air Force hopes to receive funding for another two squadrons, which would boost its JSF force to 75 by the end of the decade. However, defense and industry sources say this assessment is overly optimistic.br /“They’re now talking about one squadron of 25 planes … and if we’re lucky, we may get another squadron of 25 in the next five-year plan,” said a prominent airpower lobbyist. He added, “Few are seriously talking any more about the full 100 planes.”br /Despite the prospective cuts in JSF buys, U.S. sources said it should not have an impact on the ongoing bilateral program, which is running behind schedule due to protracted, but now resolved, technology transfer problems.br /Earlier this summer, the Washington-based JSF program office released data from a so-called Phase One study that the Israel Air Force needs to assess its future requirements. Those data were expected two years ago, and could have helped the Israel Air Force make a stronger case for more funding in the recently approved spending plan, Israeli sources here said.br /The plan, as approved, includes funding for a small number of C-130 airlifter replacements and boosts in the service’s UAV force. However, it also provides funding for several programs that would likely have been featured in multiyear spending plans prior to the Lebanon War, when Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, a former Israel Air Force commander, was chief of general staff of the country’s military.br /Dropped from the newly approved investment plan are funds for new and refurbished AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, new primary aircraft trainers and additional F-15I fighters to bridge gaps prior to deployment of the F-35, sources here said.

An Indian Air Force contingent comprising 29 Air Warriors alongwith an IL-76 aircraft would be participating in joint Indo-Russian Indra 07 Exercise from 11 Sep 07 till 20 Sep 07at Pskov in Russia. Ex Indra 07 is an airborne exercise in which there would be joint participation between the airborne forces of Russia, Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.br /br /The Indian Air Force team, led by Gp Capt SRK Nair, would be participating in paradrop and other exercise maneuvers at Pskov near St Petersburg in Russia. This 10 day coy level exercise is based on the theme of counter terrorism. Exercise Indra 07 would give boost to the bilateral defense cooperation between India amp; Russia. The exercise is also very important from training point of view as the Indian Air Force would familiarize with Russian training aspects and understand the counter terrorism doctrine of the host Nation. The exercise also provides an opportunity to practice free fall technique with highly experienced diving team in the world.br /br /It may be recalled that in Oct 2005 Exercise Indra 05 was held in India in which three IL-76 from Russia along with their airborne forces had participated. During exercise Indra 05 heavy drops and combat training and training was done between participants.br /br /Exercise Indra 07 poses unique challenges for flying. The accuracy of drops is an absolute necessity to success of such operations. The IAF crew would be maintaining accurate flying parameters while negotiating unknown terrains and changing weather conditions for the success of the operations.

Japan’s defense ministry plans to request billions of dollars to upgrade its F-15 fighter jets and develop its own stealth fighter since Washington is reluctant to sell its advanced Raptor fighters to its Asian ally.The ministry is asking for a 4.82 trillion yen ($41.6 billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning next April, an increase of 0.7 percent from this year, officials said.The budget request, announced Aug. 31, must be approved by the government as part of its draft budget in December and then enacted by parliament by the end of March.It includes a request for 112 billion yen to upgrade 32 F-15 fighter jets. Japan has about 200 F-15s and only eight of them have been upgraded so far.The ministry wants to upgrade the F-15s to be competitive with neighboring countries, such as China and North Korea, at least until Japan finds successors to its aging fighter fleet, officials said.Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan, on a rare visit to Japan this week, has sought to ease Tokyo’s concerns about Beijing’s huge military buildup, but mutual mistrust runs deep.China — seeking to modernize its huge but often poorly equipped military force of over 2 million personnel so it can extend its strategic reach — has said it would increase defense spending by 17.8 percent to about $45 billion in 2007.Worries about North Korea also persist after Pyongyang tested its first nuclear weapon last year, despite progress toward implementing a disarmament deal struck in February.A Japanese air force official said that although the F-15s are major players, they are “lagging behind the global trend.”br /br /strongRAPTOR, THE BEST CHOICE?/strongbr /Japan’s defense ministry wants to buy Lockheed Martin’s radar-evading F-22s (Raptors), as well as Boeing F-15FX fighters to replace its aging F-4EJ fighter fleet.But current U.S. law bans exports of the Raptor, Washington’s most advanced stealth fighter, for security reasons.Japanese defense officials still figure the Raptor, which is equipped for ground attack, electronic attack and eavesdropping, was the best replacement to deal with regional threats.But they have not ruled out selecting European-made rivals to the F-22, which carry a $136 million price tag.Possible alternatives include the Eurofighter Typhoon, built by a consortium headed by BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defense firm, and France’s Rafael fighter.”Whether we continue to upgrade remaining F-15s beyond the next fiscal year depends on the situation involving the selection of next-generation fighter jets,” a ministry official said.In the face of U.S. resistance to exports of the cutting edge fighter, the ministry will seek 15.7 billion yen for research and development on home-made radar-evading fighter jets.”We may be able to have a bargaining chip in our negotiations with the U.S. by demonstrating the possibility of Japan developing fighter jets on its own,” another official said.The ministry is also seeking 158 billion yen for missile defense, including the purchase of ground-based PAC-3 interceptors worth 9.7 billion yen.The budget request also included proposed purchases of one 5,000-ton destroyer, one 2,900-ton diesel submarine, one 570-ton mine sweeper and four patrol helicopters.The army wants funds to buy nine tanks, one fighter helicopters and two transport helicopters.