DEFENSE NEWS

The United States has offered to develop the next generation aircraft carrier technology with India, visiting deputy secretary of defence Ashton Carter said Wednesday.

The technology on offer, Electro Magnetic Aircraft Launch System, will be a quantum leap for the Indian Navy that currently relies on the Russian ski-launch technology.

Both Indian carriers, INS Vikramaditya, coming in November, and INS Vikrant, being built in Kochi, can ski-launch only light fighter aircraft. But EMALS would make it possible to launch heavy aircraft, including early warning systems, refuellers and transporters, from future ships. India has yet to freeze the design of the second indigenous carrier it plans to build after Vikrant.

Carter said the US is keen to develop and co-produce defence equipment with India on the lines of Brahmos, a missile developed jointly by India and Russia and which is on offer for export to a third country. One such technology that can be shared under the Defence Technology Initiative is EMALS, Carter said. "The US is developing and fielding that system and is offering the technology to India which has an aircraft carrier and is considering making more," he said.

Also on offer for joint development is the next generation anti-tank guided missile, Carter said.

The Javelin system has been on offer to India for years but it never managed to make the cut due to restrictions imposed by US law on transfer of technology, a critical factor guiding most of India's new defence acquisitions. But Carter said work has been done to amend bureaucratic processes and new version of this system can be jointly developed.

He emphasised that the US wishes to replicate, in part, the Russian model of cooperation with India. "That is exactly the same kind of thing where two industry teams are involved in the whole product life cycle; where the product is both co-produced and developed."

18/09/2013

(Infodefensa.com) Madrid - The public company Navantia is developing a Strategic Plan aimed to be "more competitive in the market", as confirmed to Infodefensa.com company sources.

This was announced its president, Jose Manuel Revuelta , in a letter sent to the template on which notes the difficult situation being experienced by the company due to lack of workload.

As recorded by the Galician newspaper La Voz de Galicia , the manager indicated in the letter that Navantia is "in a situation of structural losses must be reversed, especially when many of our major competitors have reported positive results in recent years."

Since 2005, in which Navantia created as a result of the last conversion naval and heir of some of the factories of Izar , only in 2007 has achieved positive results, but so far had not reached such a delicate situation.

Revolt plight attributes this to a lack of competitiveness, due, among other causad, to the absence of a culture of cost or gradual obsolescence of products developed for lack of new contracts. In this framework, states that will require a new working environment in line with the needs of companies competing globally, improving flexibility and efficiency, and that the change in the working model "oriented processes optimize the cost" .

India is preparing to issue a `50,000 crore tender to build six hi-tech conventional submarines that have now been delayed by three years, with the Navy proposal all set to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) soon.

Navy Chief Vice Admiral R K Dhowan said here on Monday that the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, had recently given its approval for the proposal to be taken up before the CCS, and once the nod from the government’s highest panel on military  matters comes, the tender will be issued.

The DAC, which had met on Friday last, had for the third time in three years extended the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the second line of submarine building, which has been codenamed ‘Project 75I’.

Dhowan was addressing a press conference to introduce the nation’s first-ever five-day naval systems exposition, called NAMEXPO-2013 and organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), at Kochi from September 23.

The DAC had first approved the AoN for Project 75I in July 2010, which had expired after two years. The AoN was revived by the DAC in August 2012, when the second approval was given, and the one provided on Friday turns out to be the third. The AoN is usually valid for the first two years and subsequently renewed for a year at a time.

The AoN normally expires if the Defence Ministry fails to issue the necessary tender for the defence procurement project within the approval period, which had happened twice in the case of Project 75I now.

In the context of submarine INS Sindhurakshak’s explosion and sinking on August 14, Dhowan said the Navy was considering a refit and repair of its existing fleet of conventional submarines, which stands at 13 at present. Sindhurakshak is a Russian-origin Kilo-class submarine and with it out of action, the Navy is left with only nine in this class. It also has four other HDW class submarines in the fleet.

Kilo-class submarines were first bought by India in the late 1980s and most of them have already served their effective life of 20 years. Regarding the reasons for organising NAMEXPO, when the biennial DEFEXPO in Delhi focused on naval systems too, Dhowan said the lack of Indian indigenous capability to manufacture weapons and sensors was a “concern and challenge” and stressed the need to tap the Indian industry’s potential.

Source Ouest France - Pays de Loire

400 marins russes formes a Saint-Nazaire. Ils viendront, au printemps 2014, prendre Ia main après Ia livraison du BPC Vladivostok, mis a l'eau le 15 octobre.

Chantier hors du commun, pour  STX, que celui du bâtiment de projection et de commandement (BPC) russe Vladivostok, actuellement en cours. Cet été, il a fallu assembler les deux parties de ce navire militaire, Iors d'une  jumboisation inédite. II s'agissait d'ajouter a Ia proue, construite a Saint·Nazaire, Ia poupe fabriquée a Saint·Petersbourg, et qui a rallié Ia France fin juillet.
"C'etait Ia premiere fois qu'on mettait ensemble deux morceaux de navires aussi gros" confie le directeur general de STX, Laurent Castaing.
Manoeuvre reussie : "On a pu vérifier qu'un millimetre russe valait
bien un millimetre français ! "
Le BPC sera mis a l'eau le 15 octobre. Suivront les phases d'armement, d'essais et Ia livraison au printemps 2014. Mais l'histoire ne s'arrêtera pas Ia. Une lois achevé, le navire ne partira pas pour autant. Ce sont deux equipages russes qui viendront sur place, pour se former, Iors de sorties en mer. Soit environ 400 marins présents pendant au moins six mois a Saint·Nazaire.
Ou vont·ils dormir ? "La question de faire venir un navire russe pour les loger se pose", repond Laurent Castaing. Un bateau identique (sistership), le Sebastopol, suivra un an plus lard. Lui aussi sera construit moitié en Russie, moitié en France, pour une livraison en octobre 2015.
Parallèlement. STX s'apprête a lancer Ia construction du paquebot geant Oasis. La découpe de Ia premiere tole est prevue le 23 septembre.

Claire DUBOIS.

Commentaires source "Lignes de Défense" Blog de Philippe Chapleau :

Les marins russes attendus à Saint-Nazaire seront formés par DCI, comme précédemment annoncé. La société française, spécialisée dans la formation des militaires étrangers, dispensera une partie de la formation à Saint-Petersbourg et l'autre à Saint-Nazaire.

2013-09-13 — A supply ship was commissioned for the East China Sea fleet of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Thursday.

The supply ship Chaohu is a Chinese-made ocean-going vessel capable of replenishing both dry and liquid cargo, said Zhang Weidong, the ship’s captain.

The ship, with hull number 890, successfully completed supply missions to two naval vessels during a trial voyage conducted recently, according to military sources.

Chaohu has a displacement of more than 20,000 tons and is able to sail to all kinds of sea areas except polar and ice regions, according to Zhang.

13/09/2013

(Infodefensa.com) Nuria Fernandez, London - With the national budgetary situation, the public company Navantia is giving "strong momentum" to the commercial activity abroad to internationalize the company, with offices in Qatar , Brazil , India and in the coming months, Turkey .

Sofia Honrubia, commercial director of military vessels Navantia , has indicated to Infodefensa.com at DSEI 2013 International Exhibition in London, this momentum has been accompanied by a large number of offers launched worldwide, customers both countries traditionally such as Australia or Norway , as countries of Latin America , Africa or Asia . As data, said that in the first five months of this year have already been launched so many offers and throughout the year 2012.

Now, all staff of the company hopes its efforts will be rewarded with the realization of some of these deals in contracts to provide workload shipyards.

The closer in time and chances are the proposals in Turkey and Qatar, the first for a strategic ship LHD type ships and the second for small and medium size.

Light Frigates for Philippines

Furthermore, Navantia has a new open action Philippines , following a request by the country two light frigates deals.

In all these actions, the company has the collaboration and support of the Navy and the Directorate General of Armament and Equipment , which represent "one of our strengths", says Honrubia. The commercial director explains that there is a coordination between institution and company to work being carried out outside fruitful.

In addition, the Navy is set to "best reference" shipyard capabilities, thanks to "excellent operating results" that are giving ships like the Cantabria , currently deployed in Australia, or the Maritime Action Ship (BAM) .

In this framework, Honrubia notes the importance of promoting the agenda of the frigates F-110 , because it would mean for the company to position itself in the international market with a new product, highly technological and very competitive.

A J-15 fighter jet completed a series of difficult take-off-and-landing tests on the Liaoning aircraft carrier, state media reported yesterday.

"The tests were complicated. The test items ranged from easy to difficult levels," the Xinhua report said, adding that the practise runs served as a "foundation for the Liaoning to continue with more in-depth training and experiments".

The development of the J-15 is a key step in the PLA Navy's ambitions to build a "blue water" carrier battle group. Two J-15 jets made successful landings on the Liaoning last year.

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie was quoted on the website of the People's Daily as saying the various J-15 load-outs would aid understanding about the compatibility of the carrier.

Retired People's Liberation Army colonel Yue Gang said real ammunition might be used in the next stage of training.

"More missions can be carried out if the fighter jet can carry more types of weapons on board," he said. "So far, the tests conducted for the aircraft carrier have achieved satisfactory results and the progress is substantial."

Last month, President Xi Jinping observed a training session on the carrier, and called on the military to continue improving its capabilities.

Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, called on the Liaoning's captain and commissar to help build a strong navy.

Sources from Russia's Rubin Design Bureau based in St Petersburg said that the Lada-class mini submarines sold to the People's Liberation Army Navy will be equipped with Chinese power and electronic fire-control systems, reports the Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang or Pinkov (Andrei Chang), a military analyst in Canada.

The purchase was confirmed in a report by the US-based Strategy Page, but it is said that the four Lada class diesel-electric submarines will be modified specifically for China. Based on the PLA Navy's requests, the air independent propulsion system based on oxygen-hydrogen fuel cells — which allows the submarine to extend its underwater endurance to more than 15 days — will be removed.

Because the Lada-class submarine will not be used by the PLA Navy for ocean-going combat, the oxygen-hydrogen fuel cell is no longer necessary. The PLA Navy will instead power the submarine's air independent propulsion system with Chinese Stirling engines. The country's Type 041 Yuan-class submarines and Type 032 Qing-class submarines are also equipped with the Stirling engine, the source said.

The four Lada-class submarines will also be equipped with advanced electronic systems developed in China and the fire-control system will also be modified to launch Chinese anti-air and anti-ship missiles.

From a senior source in the Indian Navy, which has ties to the Russian shipbuilding and ship-repair enterprises in Severodvinsk, our blog has learned that China offers Bangladesh to buy two large diesel-electric submarines of the Russian-built Project 636 from the PLA Navy. According to preliminary information, it is about a Chinese submarine hull numbers "374" and "375" (serial numbers 01701 and 01702) built at "Sevmash" in Severodvinsk in 2002 under a contract for the construction of China's eight submarines Project 636. According to the contract five boats were built for China to "Admiralty Shipyards" in St. Petersburg, one - at the "Red Sormovo" in Nizhny Novgorod, and two - on "Sevmash". Both boats were put Severodvinsk PLA Navy in December 2005 and delivered to China in the summer of 2006. Why China has chosen to offer Bangladesh boat is Severodvinsk construction - is unclear.

According to Indian sources, the Russian representatives and the administration of "Sevmash" and of "CA" Star "aware of these intentions of the Chinese, but simply can not stop them, but it is clear that China has no right to sell submarines built in Russia without the consent of the Russian hand, nor has the rights to exercise and repair and maintenance of these boats from a third party.

Also, the Indian source said that the Indian Navy took a policy decision to hold the second medium repairs of its four diesel-electric submarines of Project 877 EKM (08,773), had previously passed the first repair in Russia. However, only two boats will be on average repair of "CA" Star "in Severodvinsk, and repair of two other boats Indian side intends to implement on their own. Should be noted that the Indian Navy has not yet spent the first three medium repairs on their boats 877EKM, so there is reason to believe that the Indian epic of the repair of boats stretched for a long time.

In addition, the Indian source, it was reported that due to the recent loss of the submarine project Sindhurakshak 08773, leadership of the Indian Navy has decided to crossing the smear has long been a tender for the purchase or construction of six submarines under the program Project 75I, entangled in the very early stages of harmonization of requirements. Request for Proposals (RFR) to the companies participating in the tender must be sent before the end of this year.

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) – All Bulava missiles from the same batch as the one that failed on September 6 will undergo additional tests by their manufacturer, a senior defense industry official told RIA Novosti Monday.

Oleg Bochkarev, deputy head of the government’s Military-Industrial Commission, said the extent of the examination will be determined after the cause of the Sept. 6 launch failure has been identified.

The tests will be carried out by the Votkinsk plant that makes Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles, and could take place on-site at storage facilities, Bochkarev said.

There will also be additional launches using Bulava missiles from the same batch as the one that malfunctioned on Sept. 6, he said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered five additional launches of Bulava missiles following the failed launch of Sept.6, when a missile fired during state trials of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear-powered submarine in the White Sea malfunctioned.

Including this latest failure, eight out of 19 or 20 test launches of the troubled Bulava have been officially declared unsuccessful.

The Russian military has repeatedly stated that there is no alternative to the Bulava.

The three-stage Bulava carries up to 10 MIRV warheads, has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) and is designed for deployment on Borey-class nuclear submarines.

SEOUL, 15 sept. (Yonhap) -- La marine sud-coréenne a procédé aux derniers tirs d’essai d’un missile anti-sous-marin développé localement, et un engin sur quatre a manqué sa cible, a déclaré ce dimanche l’Administration du programme d'acquisition de défense (DAPA).

Selon un officiel de la DAPA, la marine avait procédé depuis le mois de juillet aux tirs du missile Hongsangeo (requin rouge) dans la mer de l'Est et trois engins ont atteint la cible mais un l'a manquée.

L'Agence publique pour le développement de la Défense (ADD) avait développé durant plus de neuf ans ce missile léger à longue portée mer-mer à partir de 2000, avec un budget de 100 milliards de wons (92 millions de dollars) afin de l'utiliser sur les destroyers sud-coréens les plus récents dont le KDX II. La DAPA avait donné son feu vert pour la production des premiers missiles en 2009, dans la mesure où le prototype avait réussi trois tirs d'essai sur quatre, soit un taux de réussite de 75%.

Lors de ce dernier test, le taux a atteint 75% mais lors des tests précédents le taux de réussite n'a pas été concluant ainsi, la DAPA est indécise quant à la reprise de la production du missile Hongsangeo.

MBDA and Lockheed Martin demonstrated the first launch of a Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) from Lockheed Martin’s MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) launcher using the host variant of the Extensible Launching System (ExLS).

This is the first test by MBDA and Lockheed Martin since the May 2013 announcement of cooperation between the two companies to offer MBDA missile systems for use with the MK 41 and ExLS family of launchers. The test used MBDA’s soft vertical launch technology to eject the CAMM from its canister and position the missile for main motor ignition. The trial is the first in a series to demonstrate that the CAMM can be installed using ExLS in vessels that use the MK 41 launcher or on the 3-cell stand-alone ExLS CAMM launcher.

Announcing the result of the trial, Paul Mead, Business Development Director for MBDA said, “This first CAMM trial is an example of how MBDA and Lockheed Martin are offering the global MK 41 customer base a real choice in which missile they use. The missile offers a wide range of benefits, not least its active seeker, as well as low impact of installation on-board due to the soft vertical launch method. This is the start of what we hope will be a wider range of MBDA missile systems available to Lockheed Martin vertical launcher users.”

“The multi-missile MK 41 VLS has fundamentally changed the way world navies think about sea-launched weapons by providing the flexibility to respond to numerous threats," said George Barton, vice president of business development of Ship & Aviation Systems for Lockheed Martin's Mission System and Training business. "Our partnership with MBDA allows us to grow the MK 41 multi-missile capability and offer our customers an outstanding VLS launcher alternative.”

Lockheed Martin, in collaboration with MBDA, is developing a 3-cell stand-alone ExLS CAMM launcher for those navies whose ships cannot accommodate the larger MK 41 VLS but desire the superior missile packing density, survivability and reliability that the 8-cell MK 41 launcher has been offering for over 30 years to 13 navies worldwide.

The trial was carried out on the 10th of September near Bedford, England, using a MK 41 launcher outfitted with a host ExLS.

Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov visited the Severnoye Design Bureau in St Petersburg on 11 September to review its design for a new generation of guided-missile destroyers, according to state news reports.

Adm Chirkov's spokesman said the future destroyer will have "multipurpose capabilities" and increased firepower, compared with the Sovremenny-class destroyers (Project 956) it will replace.

The spokesman added that the new ship could be nuclear-powered, but is also being designed with a conventional powerplant.

Russia's defence procurement plans indicate that series construction is supposed to begin in 2019.

Severnoye designed the Sovremenny destroyers as anti-air and anti-surface warfare platforms in the 1970s.