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    First GPS IIF satellite on station
    Erik
    By Erik,
        First GPS IIF satellite on station   By Air Force News Agency on August 11, 2010   LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.: Officials from the Air Space Command's Global Positioning Systems Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center here have announced the first GPS IIF satellite arrived on station Aug. 1. This indicates the satellite is in its designated orbital position and ready for its final phase of on-orbit checkout and testing, to be completed before September. The satellite then will be cleared to serve navigation and timing users as part of the operational GPS constellation.   The next-generation GPS IIF satellites will provide improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks, a longer design life than legacy GPS satellites and a new operational L5 civil signal that benefits civil aviation and other safety-of-life applications. It also will continue to deploy the modernized capabilities that began with the eight modernized GPS IIR satellites, including a more robust military signal.   GPS IIF satellites will provide improved signals that will enhance the precise global positioning, navigation and timing services supporting both the warfighter and the growing civilian needs of the global economy. The GPS constellation remains the most robust and capable system in the history of space.   Air Force Space Command and Space and Missile Systems Center personnel are charged with developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the world's best space and missile capabilities for warfighting forces and for the nation. Air Force specialists are committed to providing uninterrupted GPS service at or above our performance commitments for decades to come.       Defense Talk

    U.K. Eyes Improved Counter-IED Capabilities
    Erik
    By Erik,
        U.K. Eyes Improved Counter-IED Capabilities   By Robert Wall London   The U.K.’s effort to upgrade the Astor ground-surveillance aircraft to enhance detection of improvised explosive devices (IED) is one in a series of equipment upgrades European militaries plan to bolster their military presence in Afghanistan.   The effort comes as the debate over the course ahead in Afghanistan continues in many European countries, signaled most starkly by the formal end of the Dutch participation in the operation on Aug. 1.   The U.K. has been operating the R1 Sentinel Airborne Standoff Radar (Astor) and supporting ground forces by monitoring routes that logistics convoys have to pass through, in some cases augmenting their own sensors with unmanned aircraft. U.K. military officials note that includes forensic analysis to determine where insurgents have come from or headed after an attack.   The ground moving target indicator capability also has been used to help alert ground personnel to the potential presence of IEDs. So far, however, that has concentrated on monitoring ground movements and, when locals notably avoid an area, alert troops on the ground about a potential threat at that location.   But further, more sophisticated technical steps are in the works, including using the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to conduct change detection analysis on the fly. Under such a system, Astor would be used to detect small changes in the ground to alert troops about the potential emplacement of an IED. The Royal Air Force recently conducted trials of this capability at the Salisbury Training Area. The initial SAR system could not perform that function, but with software advances, change detection “is developing,” says a ground operations officer who had deployed with the R1 Sentinel in support of Afghanistan operations.   The U.K. also has been flying unmanned aircraft in the hunt for IEDs, with indications that advanced payloads are being quietly operated in the theater.   On a visit last week to RAF Waddington, where the R1 Sentinels are based, U.K. Defense Minister Liam Fox noted that “highly detailed imagery provides our ground forces with the incredibly accurate information they need to detect insurgent activity and spot potential IEDs.”   Providing ground forces improved airborne intelligence collection also is on the agenda in Germany, where there has been controversy much of the year over concerns that deployed forces are under-equipped. The German parliament’s military ombudsman, Hellmut Konigshaus, has repeatedly urged that known shortcomings be rectified. Most of those concerns have focused on ground equipment, which Berlin is trying to take great strides to improve, benefiting other materiel along the way.   For instance, the German air force this month expects to field a third Heron-1 unmanned aircraft in Mazar-e-Sharif. The Heron-1s are providing direct tactical support to ground forces, while the reconnaissance Tornados, now equipped with a real-time imaging pod, support headquarters functions. Germany acquired four real-time digital RecceLite reconnaissance pods for the Tornados, and in 2012 expects to field four more. The imagery from those sensors is also helping detect IEDs using change detection algorithms.   The German mission to Afghanistan will require parliamentary renewal in the coming months. The current mandate expires Dec. 13, but equipment planners are betting that troops will remain in country in 2011, when a raft of upgrades to ground equipment are due to hit the field.   Meanwhile, the Afghan National Army Air Force has begun live-fire training launching rockets from its Mi-17 helicopters for ground attack. The helos, used for troop transport, eventually also are to supplant the Mi-35s in a ground support capacity.   Credit: High G Technologies               Aviation Week

    MiG-35 stalls in Indian fighter tender contract
    Erik
    By Erik,
        MiG-35 stalls in Indian fighter tender contract   10/08/2010 © RIA Novosti. Ilya Pitalev   Russia's MiG-35 multirole fighter aircraft has failed to make the short-list in a $10 billion international tender for 126 combat aircraft for the Indian air force, according to Indian media reports quoted by Kommersant daily.   The favorites to win the tender are the French Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon, Indian media say.   Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the holding company for most of the Russian aircraft industry, and its fighter subsidiary MiG, have not officially confirmed the reports.   "The official results of the tender have not yet been announced," said UAC's Press Secretary Konstantin Lantratov.   "The MiG-35 is not leaving the tender, and I have no official information about this," said UAC First Vice-President Mikhail Pogosyan.   A MiG source quoted by Kommersant said it was too early to say what the Indians had decided.   "The envelopes with the commercial proposals should be studied by the tender commission only this week," the source said.   Several sources quoted by the paper listed a raft of problems around the MiG-35 program, including a lack of financing to support it. One source said the lack of state funding to support the program had been noted by UAC President Aleksei Fyodorov as long ago as the end of 2008, but the issue was not resolved.   The MiG-35 is said to be a cheaper aircraft than its rivals but is said to have problems with engine life.   "Time between overhauls should be at least 2000 hours and overall life 4000 hours, but the RD-33 doesn't meet these parameters now," said one source.   India already operates the early model MiG-29A fighter aircraft and is taking delivery of the MiG-29K naval fighter, which it will operate from a Russian-built aircraft carrier which is currently under refit.   The selection of two favored aircraft for the Indian tender follows a long trials process, which also involved Sweden's SAAB Gripen, America's Lockheed Martin with the F-16, and Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet, as well as the Russian MiG-35.       MOSCOW, August 10 RIA Novosti  

    Experimental Scramjet in First Flight
    Erik
    By Erik,
        Lockheed Martin Hypersonic ATACMS Motor Boosts Experimental Scramjet in First Flight   DALLAS, TX and SACRAMENTO, CA, August 10th, 2010 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] announced today that its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rocket motor successfully boosted the experimental X-51A WaveRider beyond Mach 4.5, the speed at which a scramjet will start and begin to provide thrust. The successful boost helped the X-51 hypersonic scramjet engine to accelerate to a historic Mach 5, a first for the vehicle.   The X-51 WaveRider is an unmanned aerial vehicle designed for extended hypersonic flight durations. The successful boost with the ATACMS rocket motor will allow for future advancements in hypersonic flight.   In this test, the modified ATACMS motor was air-launched from a B-52 aircraft at 50,000 feet, and data collected validates its performance well beyond the original design specifications. This was the first time an ATACMS rocket motor has been used as a booster for an air-launched vehicle. More tests using the ATACMS motor are planned.   The modified motor included a Boeing designed lightweight, high performance exit cone which was produced by Aerojet, a GenCorp [NYSE:GY] company, for Lockheed Martin. The program is managed by a Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne team for the U.S. Air Force and DARPA.   “The ATACMS rocket motor has proved its power in combat, and now we’re happy to see it performing a mission that advances hypervelocity flight technology,” said Scott Arnold, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.   “We are proud to have played a part in this new milestone in hypersonic flight and to have been given the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to modify existing motor designs for future applications,” said John Myers, vice president of Tactical Programs for Aerojet.   Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, defense and armaments markets. GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real estate assets.   Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.               Lockheed Martin

    Chinese fighter jets train over Tibet
    Erik
    By Erik,
      Chinese fighter jets train over Tibet   (TibetanReview.net, Aug08, 2010) J-11 planes, the most modern Chinese jet fighters said to be pirated copies of Russia’s Su-27, have for the first time been shown in training over the Tibetan Plateau recently. While the Chinese media only showed a picture of some of these planes in the air, with a caption referring to the training flight, Strategy Page online Aug 6 said, reporting on it, that China had no combat aircraft stationed in Tibet, saying there were logistical and attitude problems in doing so.   However, it said, J-7s (cloned from older, MiG-21 Russian jets) had been flying in regularly for temporary duty at major commercial airports in Tibet.   The report said the J-11 jets had been appearing in more unexpected places (like the Chinese naval air force), although fewer than 150 had been built since they were introduced in the late 1990s.   1995 China paid $2.5 billion for the right to build 200 Su-27s. Russia was to supply the engines and electronics, with China building the other components according to Russian plans and specifications. But after China built 95 of these aircrafts Russia cancelled the agreement, saying the former was copying Su-27 to build their own aircraft, the J-11.   The report said the main reason for not stationing fighter squadrons in Tibet had probably to do with the high altitude of the area, and the expense of moving large quantities of fuel and other supplies needed to maintain air units. It pointed out that there was only one rail line into Tibet (recently built) and few heavy duty truck roads.   China also has a serious problem in Tibet with altitude sickness among its troops. The report said the Chinese military was spending a lot of time, effort and money trying to solve this problem. It said currently, most of the troops in the Chinese Chengdu Military Region were in the eastern, lowland half. In the western portion (Tibet), they had stationed the 52nd and 53rd Mountain Brigades, and were struggling to keep these 5,000 troops fit for duty.   In case of an emergency, as there was two years ago, the nearby 13th and 14th Group Armies can send troops from their lowland bases, the report said. Over 20 percent of these troops will be hampered by altitude sickness once they reach the highlands, and commanders are trained to deal with that, it added.   It said that given the alertness required of aircraft maintenance personnel, and pilots preparing for flights, plus the logistical problems, the Chinese air force had declared Tibet fit to visit, but not to base aircraft units in. However, because the Chinese air force may one day have to fight in the air space over Tibet, training up there was necessary.               Tibetan Review

    Russia's missile forces chief to inspect Teikovo division
    Erik
    By Erik,
    The Topol-M mobile ballistic missile system   Russia's missile forces chief to inspect Teikovo division   01:37 10/08/2010 RIA Novosti By: Ilia Pytalev   New commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) will inspect on August 10-12 the rearmament of a missile division in central Russia with new mobile missile systems.   During his first inspection as Russia's missile forces chief, Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev will visit the 54th Strategic Missile Division in the town of Teikovo about 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Moscow.   The division, which had Topol (SS-25 Sickle) mobile ballistic missile systems on combat duty since 1988, has been recently rearmed with 18 Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) mobile systems and at least three RS-24 mobile systems.   According to SMF, Topol-M and RS-24 missiles will be the mainstay of the ground-based component of Russia's nuclear triad and account for not less than 80% of the SMF's arsenal by 2016.   As of June 2010, the SMF operated at least 50 silo-based and 18 road-mobile Topol-M missile systems. The RS-24 was commissioned in 2010 after successful testing.   The Topol-M missile, with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and future U.S. ABM defense. It is capable of making evasive maneuvers to avoid a kill using terminal phase interceptors, and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.   It is also shielded against radiation, electromagnetic pulse, nuclear blasts, and is designed to survive a hit from any form of laser technology.   The RS-24 is heavier than Topol-M, and was created in response to the missile shield that the United States was planning to deploy in Europe.   The missile, equipped with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warhead, is expected to replace the older SS-18 and SS-19 missiles by 2050 and greatly strengthen the SMF's strike capability.       MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti)

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