India's homeland security challenges can be summed up by a recent oil spill. Surveillance of the Mumbai coast proved lacking when oil from a sinking cargo ship fouled the waters and remained undetected by authorities for a week. The incident shows that much remains to be done when it comes to surveillance—and thus security—despite the fact that Mumbai was the scene of a 2008 terror attack that killed 164, and in July suffered three bombings that killed 17.
Contrary to the belief that smallpox is gone, there are at least two places where the virulent virus can be found. It is locked away in secure laboratories in Atlanta and the Russian city of Novisibirsk in Siberia. Pressure is mounting on the U.S. and Russia to destroy all remaining samples of the Variola virus that causes the disease. Both countries have resisted, claiming that the stocks are still vital and needed for study, especially for vaccination research in the event of an outbreak sparked by bioterrorism.
The Italian navy is moving closer to commissioning the first of its planned 10 Fremm multipurpose frigates. The first-in-class Carlo Bergamini was launched in July (see photo). Outfitting is expected to be complete by the end of the year, since the navy plans to take delivery of the vessel in early 2012.
High-intensity wars have been the domain of industrial militaries. These forces brought advanced technologies to the battlefield and prevailed with them through tactical leadership, discipline, superior logistics and political will.
Rheinmetall has developed an economical solution for programming the fuze of its battle-proven DM11 120-mm high-explosive shell after it is loaded in a tank gun. The German company self-financed the development of a programmer kit that can be readily installed in a Leopard 2 or other tank with a 120-mm gun, with minor modifications and additional components.
The 155-mm/52-cal. PzH (Panzerhaubitze) 2000, developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rhein- metall Defense, is the gold standard of self-propelled artillery. It is also heavy—56 tons—and expensive. While the weapon is formidable, many armies want self-propelled artillery with greater strategic mobility and lower cost. Two candidates from KMW and Rheinmetall meet this need. KMW's entry is Donar (an ancient Germanic god of fire), a tracked system. The Rheinmetall weapon is the RWG-52, a wheeled platform. (RWG means Rheinmetall Wheeled Gun.)
On the edge of a World War II Royal Air Force station here that now houses a few private aircraft is the headquarters of Supacat Ltd. Its recent history and current plans highlight the sometimes challenging relationship between small, innovative companies and the military's urgent operational requirement process.
If scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) get their way, in a few years there may be networked clusters of dozens or even hundreds of small, cheap, easily replaceable satellites working together in place of the large, expensive and difficult-to-replace birds now in orbit.
Thales Australia has been making waves underneath the surface of Jervis Bay, off New South Wales, Australia, with a towed antimine acoustic device that is designed to protect surface vessels from mines programmed to explode when they detect soundwaves generated by a ship.
Few details about the merger are being disclosed, but if approved, it will create a company with more than 40,000 employees and operations to 115 destinations in 23 countries. The combined entity will be named LATAM Airlines Group, although the two companies will operate as separate brands.
It might be summer in the northern hemisphere, but the time is coming for U.S. and Russian officials to show their “homework” for moving ahead with another new nuclear arms reduction treaty. So says Rose Gottemoeller, the assistant secretary of state charged with arms control. However, she admits the two sides still have a long way to go in defining mutual terms like what exactly a non-strategic nuclear weapon is, whether an overall limit on strategic and tactical weapons is applicable, and how transparency measures might be implemented.
“Time For Change” (AW&ST July 12/25, p. 50) presents a truss-braced wing design as a potential option in the field of research for fuel-burn reduction.
Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is facing an existential threat on Capitol Hill. Senators are actively trying to end funding for the system and renegotiate the U.S. agreement to develop the missile with Italy and Germany. Rather than simply push back on the cuts, Lockheed Martin is making a run at the competition, arguing it will cost the government more in the long term to sustain Raytheon's Patriot missile system than to opt for Meads.
BENGALURU, India - India's Defense Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory has developed an oxygen life-support system for helicopter pilots operating at high altitudes.
Some broad decisions have already been taken, though. The defense ministry will be structured into three pillars: policy and strategy, armed forces, and procurement and estates.
After the hugely embarrassing two-week partial shutdown of the FAA, lawmakers are turning their attention to negotiations on a long-term reauthorization bill—something the agency has not had since 2007. However, that does not mean posturing on the Hill is being replaced with “Come, let us reason together.” Lawmakers return to town after the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday with less than two weeks to agree to a long-term bill, pass the 22nd extension of the Airport and Airways Trust Fund authority or hit replay on the shutdown drama.
The Pentagon's biometric collection system has come a long way since it was established less than a decade ago, when the idea of collecting fingerprints from enemy combatants captured on the battlefield was a relatively novel idea. Perhaps not surprising, given the small size of that early database, the match rates were, to say the least, dismal. “When we first started this system there were eight [biometric] matches,” says Craig Archer, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command's Identity Intelligence Branch.
U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) plans to embark on a program in fiscal 2012 to replace its patrol boat, the MK V Special Operations Craft (see photo), with a new vessel called the Combatant Craft Heavy (CCH). “We'll basically be doing an analysis of alternatives with the new start funding,” says Navy Capt. Richard Blank of Socom. The command, which has its own procurement authority, hasn't yet settled on requirements for the boat, according to Blank. He thinks the CCH will be 80-120 ft. long, or possibly bigger.
The Indian coast guard will for the first time dry lease eight twin-engine helicopters, for five years. A decision on the supplier is expected by year-end. The move could set a trend by introducing dry leasing to the Indian military. The contract will be based on an Australian model with Cobham Aviation Services, prime contractor for Australia's Coastwatch aerial surveillance program. Helicopters are to be equipped with a certified avionics package including navigational aids.
Germany will receive equipment upgrades for Afghanistan from Rheinmetall by year-end. The $34 million order consists of four refitted Buffalo armored recovery vehicles and seven road-clearing systems. The Buffalo is a 59-ton tracked armored vehicle that supports, recovers and tows Leopard 2 tanks and other tracked vehicles (see photo). The upgrades include antimine hull reinforcements, and up-armored flanks and top armor to protect against roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and light antitank weapons.
Israel could require more than a dozen air-defense systems to detect and defeat rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, says a former Israeli military officer. “[To] defend our northern and southern fronts, a good number is 10-15 batteries,” says Brig. Gen. (ret.) Ilan Bitton, former head of air defense forces, about Iron Dome, the new mobile air-defense system. Iron Dome, from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, was fielded in March. In April, it shot down a Grad rocket from Gaza. Bitton says Iron Dome's achievement is the psychological protection it provides.
Since its launch in 2010, a Chinese conventional submarine (SSK) has puzzled observers (see top photo). It is bigger than current SSKs and features an unusually large sail, reminiscent of Soviet Golf- and Hotel-class ballistic missile subs. While this has led to speculation that the SSK will perform antiship and antisubmarine missions with an antiship cruise missile, India's reputable Force Magazine reported that a version of the submarine that will be sold to Pakistan could carry a nuclear version of China's CJ-10 cruise missile.
U.S. special operations forces (SOF) have identified more than 1,000 “high-value individuals” using biometrics, says Special Operations Command (Socom). When SOF started using biometrics to identify individuals on the battlefield, they only made a handful of matches, says Craig Archer, chief of identity intelligence for Socom. Now identification is up to a 40% rate, and matches can be often be confirmed in “2 min. or less,” he says. According to Socom, 1,103 high-value individuals have been identified using biometrics.
