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NATO Open To Return Of French Military Paris sees time to 'clarify' role By Mark John, Reuters News Agency BRUSSELS — NATO is ready to discuss bringing France back fully into the fold after signals from Paris it may reverse its decision 41 years ago to quit the alliance's military structures, officials said yesterday. President Nicolas Sarkozy set the tone with a keynote foreign-policy speech last month, insisting NATO was no rival to France's ambition of a robust European Union defense capability. Speculation that Paris is ready to reverse the 1966 decision by President Charles de Gaulle to pull out of NATO's integrated military command mounted after …

From DefenseNews Posted 09/12/07 10:26 Paper: Russia Developing Top-Secret Submarine By REUTERS, MOSCOW Russia could be developing a top-secret new type of submarine capable of patrolling underwater longer than existing diesel-powered submarines, a Russian newspaper said Sept. 12. The project — code-named 20120 — came to light when details were inadvertently posted on the Internet site of a provincial town, Kommersant newspaper reported. The posting has now been taken down and the navy denied any knowledge of the project. Russia is boosting military spending to back up its increasingly assertive foreign policy. That has allowed it to resume work developing new…

Russia to revive bomber patrols Putin says Moscow to resume practice ended with Soviet Union's collapse The Associated Press Updated: 9:47 a.m. ET Aug 17, 2007 MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he had ordered the military to resume regular long-range flights of strategic bombers, news agencies reported, returning to a practice that ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Speaking as Russian and Chinese forces held major war games exercises for the first time on Russian territory, Putin said a halt in long-range bombers’ flights after the Soviet collapse had affected Russia’s security as other nations had continued such missions — an oblique …

Serbia Says Use Of Force Is An Option In Kosovo By Nicholas Wood BELGRADE, Serbia, Sept. 5 — Serbia is ready to use force to prevent Western states from recognizing Kosovo as an independent state, a senior Serbian official warned on Wednesday. Dusan Prorokovic, Serbia’s state secretary for Kosovo, outlined an array of tough measures to squeeze Kosovo that he said Serbia was ready to take in the event that Kosovo’s Albanian-dominated government declared independence and was recognized by Western governments. These included the possible deployment of Serbian forces to the province, the sealing of its borders, and a trade embargo. The potential steps are the …

Russia's Military Might Is Center Stage At Show By Associated Press ZHUKOVSKY, Russia -- The largest air show in Russia's post-Soviet history opened yesterday to show off the country's growing military might and to try to boost the country's sagging civilian plane-making sector. "The task stands before us of supporting our leadership in the production of military aviation technology," President Vladimir Putin said at the International Aviation and Space Show at the once-secret Zhukovsky military airfield in Moscow's outskirts. He said Russian manufacturers "must more actively enter the world market for passenger and transport aircraft with competitive prod…

Russia: Bombers Grounded After Crash By C. J. Chivers The air force grounded its fleet of hundreds of Su-24 attack planes after one of the jets crashed during a training flight in Russia’s Far East. The pilots ejected safely and the cause of the crash was not clear, according to comments by Col. Aleksandr Drobyshevksy reported by Interfax. The Su-24 is a Soviet-era twin-engine jet that was first manufactured in the 1970s and saw action in the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The crash occurred during a week in which President Vladimir V. Putin spoke of the need to modernize Russia’s civilian and military aviation sectors.

From RIA Novosti Georgia and Russia - doomed to conflict 21:06 | 20/ 08/ 2007 MOSCOW. (Yelena Imedashvili for RIA Novosti) - It would be naive to assume that a joint Russian-Georgian expert inquiry would produce a unanimous opinion on what aircraft became a catalyst for another aggravation of bilateral relations. It is hard to say why Tbilisi and Moscow went into this joint inquiry, considering that it was clear from the very beginning that neither side would give radar evidence against itself. This is exactly what happened and both Georgia and Russia hastened to accuse each other of concealing information and forging evidence, although both understood wh…

From RIA Novosti Belarus asks Russia for S-400 SAM systems by 2010 - source 14:27 | 24/08/2007 MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus wants Russia to supply them with the advanced S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system in 2010, a source in Russian military-industrial circles said Friday. The S-400 Triumf is a new air defense missile system developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. Russia first demonstrated the S-400 system at an ongoing air show outside Moscow. "Belarus submitted a formal request for two S-400 battalions to be made available by 2010," the source said. He said that it is too soon to tal…

Start of Production for the Second Batch of German Fuel Cell Submarines On August 21, about 150 guests were present when the production of the first of two Class 212A submarines for the German Navy was started by Harald Stein, Deputy President of the German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement. The ceremony took place at the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. Both boats will be built of non-magnetic steel and equipped with an air-independent propulsion system based on the fuel cell. The second batch of these submarines for the German Navy will be constructed according to the general design for the first f…

Hunting Red October - Sonar Top Guns By Geoff Meade Sky's Defence Corespondent Updated: 00:32, Wednesday August 22, 2007 For the first time the Ministry of Defence has opened the doors of its highly secret top gun school for sonar operators. For 30 years, during the cat and mouse game of the Cold War, when Royal Navy boats and RAF surveillance planes tracked the seas for Soviet submarines, the school was one of the services' closest guarded secrets. Sky's Defence Correspondent Geoff Meade has been allowed inside. If it wasn't for the combination locks on the doors and the notices warning operators to secure documents under lock and key before leaving…

Carrier Relaunches Jets After 2 Years MOSCOW -- Russia has started flying jets again from its only operational aircraft carrier after a two-year break, state-run television reported yesterday in the latest show of the country's reviving military capability. "Aircraft are taking off and landing from the deck of the Kuznetsov after a gap of two years. To the pilots and crew [the gap] seemed enormous," Channel One television said in a report from on board the vessel. Last week, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia was returning to its Soviet-era practice of sending long-range bomber aircraft on regular patrols near to NATO airspace. Observers saw those sorties as…

Russia's Resurgent Military Fueled by billions in oil wealth, it looks to reclaim the USSR's status as a global military power. By Fred Weir, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor As a newly self-confident, oil-rich Russia teams up with China in joint military exercises Friday, it is moving to reclaim the former Soviet Union's status as a global military power. A seven-year, $200-billion rearmament plan signed by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year will purchase new generations of missiles, planes, and perhaps aircraft carriers to rebuild Russia's arsenal. Already, the new military posture is on display: This summer, Russian bombers have ex…

From Navy Times WWII mine discovered in port as Navy visits The Associated Press Posted : Friday Aug 10, 2007 6:04:31 EDT KIEV, Ukraine — A World War II mine was discovered Thursday in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Sevastopol as a U.S. Navy ship called for a visit, and efforts were underway to safely dispose of it, officials said. The mine, weighing up to 1,100 pounds and containing up to 110 pounds of TNT, was found drifting in the water Wednesday near a local navy hospital on the shore, said Valery Strelets, spokesman for the local branch of Ukraine’s Emergencies Ministry. The report came as the guided-missile destroyer Forrest Sherman arrived at the por…

From Flight International DATE: 07/08/07 SOURCE: Flight International BAE Nimrod MRA4 reconnaissance aircraft passes torpedo drop test By Dan Thisdell BAE Systems' Nimrod MRA4 has successfully released the Sting Ray torpedo for the first time, during the 75th flight of development aircraft PA02. The MRA4's stores release system is a radical redesign compared with that of the Nimrod MR2, to ensure weapons are programmed and released correctly. The MRA4 has the potential to carry an extensive range of weapons and equipment in the bomb bay including the Sting Ray, a fully programmable lightweight anti-submarine torpedo that can detect and track a target using i…

From DefenseNews Posted 08/06/07 11:30 Russia Activates Missile System Around Moscow AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, MOSCOW Russia’s long-delayed Triumph anti-aircraft missile system was activated around Moscow on Aug. 6 in an upgrade of the capital’s air defenses, Russian military officials said. "The new anti-aircraft rocket system will defend Moscow’s sky," Interfax news agency cited Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, chief commander of Russia’s air forces, as saying at an opening ceremony in the Moscow region. An initial anti-aircraft regiment will be followed by a second next year, the director of the Almaz plant that designed the rockets, Igor Ashurbeily, told the news ag…

By the year 2025 Russia plans to increase its ocean going fleet size to a total of 300 battleships, exceeding the level it maintained during the 'cold war'. The Russian Navy plans to maintain six battlegroups, each consisting of an aircraft carrier and various combat support and auxiliary ships. Three attack groups are to be based in the Northern Fleet with three others in the Pacific Fleet. This expansion will address Russia's strategic aspirations especially its territorial demands in the melting arctic zone. According to the Russian Fleet’s Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, three attack groups will be based in the Northern Fleet with three others in th…

From Defense Aerospace Raytheon Awarded Contract for Paveway IV Weapon Integration on F-35 Lightning II (Source: Raytheon UK; issued Jumy 30, 2007) HARLOW, England --- Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) has been awarded a contract to support the integration and flight trials of the Paveway IV new generation guided weapon on to the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) version of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. The contract is valued at £24 million. The UK is currently one of six European nations that are planning to take delivery of the F-35 aircraft. The integration of the RSL developed Paveway IV onto the F-35B wi…

From DefenseNews Russian Bombers Spotted Again Over North Sea; Fighters Scramble By Agence France-Presse, Oslo British and Norwegian fighter jets scrambled over the North Sea after Russian bombers were spotted flying at “unusual” latitudes overnight, the Norwegian military said July 20. The repeated sightings of Russian jets — the most numerous off Norway’s coast since the end of the Cold War, according to Norwegian public radio NRK — came amid an escalating diplomatic crisis between Russia and Britain. In the third incident of its kind this week, Norwegian jets were again called out early July 20 as another two Russian bombers were spotted close to Norwe…

From Defence Talk World's Most Advanced Warship Departs River Clyde on Maiden Voyage BAE Systems | Jul 20, 2007 The most advanced warship in the world to date, HMS Daring, has departed from BAE Systems’ shipyard in Scotstoun on her maiden voyage down the River Clyde to begin sea trials off the west coast of Scotland. Launched by HRH the Countess of Wessex in February 2006, HMS Daring is the first of six Daring class Type 45 destroyers being built for the Royal Navy. They will provide the British fleet and her allies with an unparalleled level of anti-air warfare capability through to the middle of the 21st century and will be the most capable warships of the…