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Upgraded Surveillance Aircraft Arrive in Afghanistan
By Erik,
Upgraded Surveillance Aircraft Arrive in Afghanistan
Defence Talk — By UK Ministry of Defence on August 25, 2010 at 5:51 am
Upgraded Desert Hawks - hand-launched, remote-controlled surveillance aircraft which can record video footage day and night, sending it directly to troops on the ground - arrived in Afghanistan this weekend.
The latest version of the Desert Hawk has been bought as part of a £3m Urgent Operational Requirement to provide a further boost to the surveillance capability on the front line.
The Desert Hawk's cameras have been upgraded, giving a huge improvement to image clarity and stability. It also has a new wing design which improves its performance in the hot and high conditions of Afghanistan.
The aircraft is just 91cm long, with a wingspan of 137cm, but it can fly for 90 minutes with a range of nine miles (14km).
Desert Hawk is operated in Afghanistan by 47 Regiment Royal Artillery. It is light and easily transportable by patrols, weighing about 3.7kg. It can be dispatched in ten minutes and is virtually undetectable once it is in the air.
Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Peter Luff, said:
"Continuing to support this capability demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that troops on the front line get the cutting-edge equipment to help them in the fight against the insurgents.
"The improved Desert Hawk is a remarkable piece of kit. It provides a detailed picture of what is happening on the ground for our troops, giving them an operational advantage and keeping them safer."
Staff Sergeant Dan Gardner from 47 Regiment Royal Artillery, who recently used Desert Hawk on operations in Afghanistan, said:
"Desert Hawk provides an eye in the sky that has become indispensable to troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
"The fact that it is hand-launched and lightweight means we get a very quick and thorough appraisal of the tactical situations faced on operations.
"It is used in a variety of roles, including reconnaissance and surveillance of troops and patrols, and it provides valuable situational awareness to commanders of troops in contact with the enemy."
Duncan Robbins, programme manager for mini-unmanned air vehicle systems at the MOD's Defence Equipment & Support organisation, said:
"Recent technology advances have resulted in front line troops getting crystal-clear imagery from the cameras now being introduced.
"General improvements in Desert Hawk 3 introduced by Lockheed Martin allow it to operate more effectively in difficult conditions and provide our soldiers with greater situational awareness in a timely manner.
"These air vehicles are essential in delivering highly flexible and responsive intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance [iSTAR] to soldiers on the front line."
Desert Hawk is one part of the range of ISTAR assets that are operated by the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army to support our forces in Afghanistan. The ISTAR aircraft systems supporting troops in Afghanistan include:
-- Sentinel aircraft and radar system which provides wide area detailed surveillance of ground movements.
-- Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado GR4, RAPTOR, which can read the time on Big Ben in London from the Isle of Wight.
-- Reaper, Desert Hawk and Hermes 450 remotely-piloted aircraft which provide tactical levels of surveillance direct to troops on the ground.
The RAF's combat ISTAR assets like Reaper remotely-piloted aircraft and Tornado GR4 can provide detailed surveillance for ground forces but can also deliver an armed response should it be required.
Defence Talk
Saudi pilot killed as Eurofighter crashes in Spain
By Erik,
Saudi pilot killed as Eurofighter crashes in Spain
Flight Global -- 24/08/10 by Niall O’Keeffe
A Eurofighter aircraft has crashed at Spain's Morón air base with one fatality, the Spanish ministry of defence has confirmed. The combat aircraft, which was on a regular training flight, crashed into the ground "moments after take-off" from the base near Seville, according to the ministry's statement.
It was being piloted under dual control by a lieutenant colonel from the Saudi Arabian air force, who was killed, and a Spanish air force commander, who ejected before the crash.
The ministry says the Spanish pilot is "well" and required only a "basic" level of medical attention.
CITAAM, the Spanish body responsible for investigating military aircraft accidents, has despatched a team to Morón to identify the causes of the incident.
The Saudi lieutenant colonel was at the Spanish base after the two nations signed a Eurofighter training contract.
Flight Global
Mexico buys drones, may use for marijuana search
By Erik,
Mexico buys drones, may use for marijuana search
REUTERS --MEXICO CITY | Tue Aug 24, 2010 6:08pm EDT
Mexico has purchased Israeli-made unmanned drone aircraft, the government said, which may be used for spotting remote drug fields as officials fight powerful cartels. Mexico's defense ministry said it bought an unspecified number of Hermes 450 drones last year from Israel's Elbit Systems Ltd for $23.25 million, according to a filing seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The defense ministry declined to say how it would use the drones.
But Javier Oliva, a security analyst at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the military was likely using the remote-controlled drones, which can fly for 20 hours and are equipped with cameras, to locate marijuana and opium in the northwestern states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua.
"These are areas that are very difficult for troops to reach," Oliva said, adding that the military had started to use the planes over the past five or six months.
Mexico is the main transit route for South American cocaine into the United States but is also a major marijuana and heroin producer. President Felipe Calderon launched a major military-backed assault on drug cartels upon taking office in late 2006 with millions of dollars of aid from Washington.
More than 28,000 people in Mexico have died in Calderon's drug war but the president said on Tuesday he was sticking to his strategy even though more violence is likely.
The defense ministry made the drones' purchase public under Mexico's freedom of information rules after a request from leading Mexican newspaper La Jornada.
REUTERS
Chilean Air Force Seeks To Buy Six Embraer Military Jets
By Erik,
Chilean Air Force Seeks To Buy Six Embraer Military Jets
The Wall Street Journal - 8/25/2010
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Chile's Air Force is considering the acquisition of six KC-390 military cargo jets from Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer (ERJ, EMBR3.BR), the company said Tuesday in a statement. In addition, the company said that Chile's Defense Ministry plans to help Embraer to develop the KC-390. Embraer is developing the KC-390 tactical transport for the Brazilian Air Force and offers military variants of its ERJ145 regional jet used for maritime and ground patrol and airborne early warning.
The company did not unveil an estimate price for the planes.
Earlier this year, the Brazilian Air Force announced a plan to buy 28 KC-390 cargo jets.
The Wall Street Journal
Are you interested in participating at CombatACE?
By Erik,
Are you interested in participating at CombatACE?
CombatACE -- 22 August 2010 by Erik Thompson
We are currently looking for a few good people who are interested in participating as news staff editors to help us out with creating, referencing, and posting our daily news.
I'm aware there are many more relevant and interesting topics we should report on not to mention the interest of our own content which is why we are looking for participants. If you share the passion and interest in reporting and developing news and have a few minutes a day to spare we want to hear from you.
A principle position I'd like to fill is Editor in Chief . As a key participant you should possess the interest and ability to manage a small staff and be willing to be responsible to vendors and news feed sites.
If you would like to participate with either submitting news articles or developing the news section as a Staff Editor we want to hear from you as well.
Those interested please reply here with a short note on what you'd like to help with. Applicants must possess an ability to write and proof read concisely and accurately in English. If you would like to share news in a language other than English the same native abilities would apply. Ideally all interested like to keep current and knowledgeable in a segment of topical news for this site (ie gaming hardware, software, military aircraft, gaming news, and related content).
Be brave, be bold, be part of our community here at CA.
West Point ranked high in Forbes picks for best colleges
By Erik,
West Point ranked high in Forbes picks for best colleges
Defense Talk — By Agence France-Presse on August 20, 2010 at 2:05 am
WEST POINT, N.Y.: A report released Aug. 11 by Forbes ranked the U.S. Military Academy at West Point fourth in the country in their annual ranking of America's Best Colleges.
"West Point is again honored and pleased to be selected as one of America's top five best colleges. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our exceptional cadets, faculty and staff operating in world-class facilities. This excellence, as recognized by Forbes, is a key element in preparing our cadets for the challenges they will face as future Army officers," said West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. David Huntoon.
"We review just nine percent of the 6,600 accredited post-secondary institutions in the U.S., so appearing on our list at all is an indication that a school meets a high standard," Forbes stated in their release.
Forbes uses more than 10 factors in compiling these rankings, with no single factor counting as much as 20 percent. The rankings are objectively determined, with the only subjective judgments being those of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and Forbes as to which factors to include and the weights to be used in evaluating each factor.
The Center for College Affordability and Productivity in conjunction with Forbes, compiled its college rankings using five general categories, with several components within each general category. The weightings are listed below:
1. Student Satisfaction 27.5 percent
2. Postgraduate Success 30 percent
3. Student Debt 17.5 percent
4. Four-year Graduation Rate 17.5 percent
5. Competitive Awards 7.5 percent
Also, U.S. News & World Report announced its "2011 America's Best Colleges Rankings" this week and ranked West Point the "Top Public Liberal Arts College" for the third consecutive year.
West Point was also named the third-best "Undergraduate Engineering Program," where a doctorate is not offered, tying with Cooper Union (N.Y.). Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Ind., and Harvey Mudd College, Calif., were first and second, respectively.
In the Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs category, West Point's Civil Engineering Program was ranked second, Mechanical was tied for second and Electrical tied-for third.
"We are very pleased with U.S. News & World Report's acknowledgment of the quality of the educational experience at West Point," said Dean of the Academic Board Brig. Gen. Tim Trainor. "We are proud of our nationally renowned curriculum and the well-earned recognition our engineering program receives from independent organizations."
The engineering rankings are based solely on a spring 2010 peer survey of deans and senior faculty that asked them to rate each program they are familiar with on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). West Point's average was 4.1.
Out of 266 liberal arts colleges that U.S. News categorized as awarding more than half of their degrees in the arts and sciences, West Point was listed as tied for 16th-best Liberal Arts College overall, when combining both private and public colleges. Williams College, Mass., was ranked number one.
In other categories U.S. News ranked West Point second in The High School Counselors' Picks. West Point was also ranked second in two categories under Key Criteria in Judging Schools, Lowest Acceptance Rate and Highest Proportion of Classes Under 20.
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