Sorry delayed response...I was away....anyway....since it is under development, little is known about the S-500 system...the Prometheus...announced to be deployed 2013 but not later than 2014....it's gonna be very expensive

Russia’s planned sale of the S-300PMU1 to Iran for five “battalion sets” $800 million....while some sources said as much as $1-1.2 billion. Some report says S-400 will double the S-300′s price and the S-500 double the S-400′s.

In actual scenario...I think it will boil down to tactical....the system have taken into account ESM/ECM, decoys, multiple threat....the advantage in terms of the russian is it's long range.....bout 400km IINM

This post has been edited by noavatar: Jun 1 2013, 05:09 PM

The U.S. military will devote more air power, ground troops and high-tech weaponry to the Asia-Pacific region


Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the annual Shangri-La Security Dialogue in Singapore.




Source: Reuters

Italy's ruling party divided over order for F-35 combat jets


(Reuters) - Italian opposition parties and some lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party called on the government on Thursday to abandon its plans to buy 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.

Italy's total planned investment in the new Lightning II Joint Strike fighters (JSF) exceeds 10 billion euros ($12.97 billion) even though it cut its order last year to 90 aircraft from the 131 it had originally penciled in to buy more than a decade ago, a move it said would save 5 billion euros.

Defense Minister Mario Mauro, a member of Monti's party, said last week the month-old government wanted to go ahead with the purchase, saying, "we need defense tools to guarantee peace".

The deal includes a provision to give maintenance contracts to state-controlled defense group Finmeccanica as Italy's aerospace industry is a development and production partner in the F-35 project and Italy has already invested about 2 billion euros in it.

However, the project is seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over initial cost estimates. Other countries have also cut their provisional orders for the plane because of the economic crisis that has shrunk defense budgets worldwide. ($1=0.7712 euros)


More at : Reuters

This post has been edited by noavatar: Jun 1 2013, 08:53 PM

Analysis: Israel could swoop on S-300 missiles in Syria, but with risks


(Reuters) - Israel could overcome advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles if they were deployed in Syria but any strikes on the system would be difficult and risk alienating its supplier, Russia.

Israel has pledged to take preventive action, seeing a future Syrian S-300 as a "game-changing" threat to its own airspace as well as to the relative free rein with which it now overflies its northern foe and neighboring Lebanon.

Experts agree that Israeli sabotage or open force to disrupt delivery by Russia is extremely unlikely - a view seemingly shored up by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's announcement on Thursday that the first missiles had arrived.

That leaves Israel lobbying Moscow to slow down the shipment in hopes it would be overtaken and scrapped if Assad fell to a more than two-year-old rebellion, and in parallel preparing counter-measures to neutralize the S-300 on the ground in Syria.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror as warning European diplomats that Israel would "prevent the S-300 missiles from becoming operational". That may be achieved by ensuring Assad does not get the full system, experts say, or by disabling it militarily if he does.

"The S-300 would be the pinnacle of Russian-supplied arms for Syria," Colonel Zvika Haimovich, a senior Israeli air force officer, told Reuters in an interview. "Though it would impinge on our operations, we are capable of overcoming it.

He said Israel's "red line" on the S-300 was "between Syria and others". This was a hint Israel might hold off on bombing the batteries as long they did not appear set on shooting down planes within Israeli airspace, of being transferred to Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas or to Iran - both staunch allies of Assad and enemies of Israel, or of being looted by Islamist rebels.

MARKETING MOSCOW

The Israelis excel in electronic warfare. In 1982, they "blinded" Soviet-supplied Syrian anti-aircraft units in Lebanon, then destroyed 19 of them without Israeli losses. Similar technologies helped Israeli jets destroy a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007 and, this year, to hit Syrian targets on at least three occasions to prevent what intelligence sources called attempts to move advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.

A source close to Russia's defense ministry agreed that the Israelis "likely have a million ways to combat the S-300 electronically". But he questioned their feasibility because they had not been tested in war.

"So, whether the S-300 would fail or not cannot be known".

Robert Hewson, an IHS Jane's air power analyst, predicted Israeli prowess would prevail in Syria while cautioning that the S-300 would be the most formidable air defense system it had ever faced. "Israel has had nasty surprises from these things before," he said, noting its steep losses to the Soviet anti-aircraft missiles used by Syria and Egypt in the 1973 war.

Hewson felt Israel would prefer to destroy the S-300 in Syria but may opt instead just to circumvent it as required for missions, especially if there was the risk of inadvertently killing or wounding Russians helping to install the system.

Security sources have put the number of Russian military personnel in Syria at several hundred.

"The Russians would react badly to losing their people, and Israel knows that equally," Hewson said.

Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Arens said Moscow should be mindful of the harm that seeing the S-300 defeated in Syria would do to exports of the system elsewhere.

Past clients include Cyprus, whose S-300, posted on the Greek island of Crete, may have given Israel's air force a chance for test runs during maneuvers over the Mediterranean.

"I'd be very surprised if the Russians deliver this system (to Syria)," Arens told Israel Radio. "It would become apparent that our air force is capable of besting this system, and that would not make for good advertising."

Playing down the strategic challenge that would be posed to Israel by a Syrian S-300, Arens added. "We are not afraid. This would simply change the situation, and we are not interested in the situation being changed to our detriment."

HAZY DEPLOYMENT TIMELINE

The timeline for the anticipated Syrian deployment of the S-300 remains hazy. Hewson said it could be "up and running within a minimum of a few weeks" once all components were in, and provided qualified Syrian personnel were available.

But the Russian defense ministry source said he knew of no Syrians who had already been trained by Moscow, and put the completion of the S-300 delivery at "six to 12 months from now".

Assuming Assad survives in power, such a lag could provide Israel with thwarting opportunities.

Hewson said the truck-towed S-300 would be physically hard to conceal. Its radar, if activated, would emit a distinctive signal that Israel could easily monitor, he added.

Diplomatic alternatives may not have been exhausted, though.

Yuval Steinitz, a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, held on Thursday what political sources described as a discussion of the Syrian S-300 deal with Russian Ambassador Sergei Yakovlev.

In 2010, following Israeli appeals, Russia scrapped an S-300 sale to Iran. In what may have been a quid pro quo, the Israelis also agreed that year to sell Russia surveillance drones that would narrow its technological military gap with rival Georgia.

Russia now has other strategic interests - for example, investment in Israel's Mediterranean gas fields. Silvan Shalom, another Israeli cabinet minister, told Reuters that Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the gas fields while hosting Netanyahu in Sochi on May 14 for talks that focused on Syria.

But Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Moscow, was skeptical that Israel could offer anything that would spur Putin to slacken his support for Assad. "There's too much at stake here for the Russians," he said.

He was alluding to the conflagration's wider geo-strategic dimensions - pitting a Russian preference to keep Syria under Assad's control to preserve Moscow's last significant toehold in the Middle East against a Western and Gulf Arab desire for the downfall of Assad to roll back Iranian influence in the region.


Source: Reuters

Finally! New F-35 IOC Dates are Firm





After years of ambiguity on when the U.S. services would introduce their F-35 variants into service, they are finally acknowledging firm plans.

The ambiguity was driven largely by repeated program restructurings that made availability of the aircraft a moving target for the services. Now, however, they have been forced by Congress to declare a path forward. This not only allows for overseers to better craft retirement plans for legacy aircraft, but it also puts the pressure on for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor, to deliver the aircraft and software as planned.

Below are the dates for the services.

U.S. Marine Corps: December 2015 (with 2B software capability)

U.S. Air Force: December 2016 (with 3I software capability)

U.S. Navy: February 2019 (with 3F software capability)

USMC and USAF officials stress that the IOC dates are just that -- an initial capability. Thus, they are willing to accept the limited engagement envelope and weapons package of the 2B/3I with a growth plan to introducing the 3F software, which provides far more extensive multi-role capability, into the fleet with a full operational capability.

This strategy is likely to generate criticism from F-35 critics, who point out that the price of the aircraft -- at just over $100 million for the A variant in the latest lot -- calls for a far greater capability. And, they note, the aircraft continues to be later than promised.

The Navy, by contrast, is willing to wait for a more robust capability before placing the F-35C aircraft carrier variant onto decks in the fleet. The service has this luxury, in part, because it has invested in a hedge buy of F/A-18E/Fs while awaiting the Joint Strike Fighter.


Source: Aviation Week


NOTE:

IOC - Initial Operational Capability : the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The specifics for any particular system IOC are defined in that system’s Capability Development Document (CDD) and Capability Production Document (CPD). The date at which IOC is achieved often defines the in-service date (ISD). Once the capability is fully developed, Full operational capability (FOC) may be declared.







This post has been edited by noavatar: Jun 1 2013, 09:26 PM

Iraqi Payment Unblocks Russian Arms Deal


AMMAN May 31, 2013 --- Russia has started fulfilling its recent arms exports contract with Iraq after receiving an advance payment from Baghdad, Russian Technologies (Rostech) CEO Sergei Chemezov said.

“The contract is being implemented, the production [of ordered equipment] has started,” Chemezov told RIA Novosti at the opening ceremony of a Russian grenade-launcher assembly facility in Jordan on Thursday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki signed an arms package purchase agreement with Russia worth $4.2 billion during his visit to Moscow in October 2012.

Under the deal, Moscow is to supply 30 Mil Mi-28NE night/all-weather capable attack helicopters, and 50 Pantsyr-S1 gun-missile short-range air defense systems.

The deal was suspended by Iraqi authorities a few weeks after the signing over suspicions of corruption. The Iraqi Parliament initiated an investigation into several officials suspected of taking kickbacks.

However, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in March 2013 that Iraq and Russia had initialed a revised deal and deliveries under the contract would start by summer.

The corruption investigation was closed shortly after but resumed in May. Iraqi officials said at the time the probe would not affect the Russian contract.

Source: RIA Novosti / Defence Aerospace




Mil Mi-28 Havoc

Iranian television showcased a collection of transporter erector launchers (TELs) capable of launching the Iranian Shahab-3 guided ballistic missiles





Iran could have enough launchers to send a salvo of medium range ballistic missiles that would overwhelm Israeli ballistic missile defense systems, according to a Wednesday report from IHS Jane’s.

“Iranian television footage showed at least 26 TELs lined up in two rows for the event, which marked their purported delivery to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, which operates the country’s ballistic missiles,” according to the report.

The Shahab-3 is based on a North Korean design and is capable striking Israel from Iranian territory.

“The delivery of such a large number of missile launchers demonstrates the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-sufficiency in designing and building the strategic system and shows the Iranian Armed Forces’ massive firepower and their ability to give a crushing response to the enemy,” Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said in a report carried by Iranian state news.

The more missiles Iran can launch at once, “the greater its chances of overwhelming defensive systems, such as Israel’s Arrow, which only have a limited number of interceptors ready to launch at incoming targets,” according to the Jane’s report

Arrow is a joint U.S.-Israel BMD system which saw its first deployment in 2000.

woah many news today!

O sweet sweet Havoc~~~

guys, bout the scorpene deals..did we pay it all in cash? or barter again like Pendekar? and every arms deal we didn't pay it all at once during the purchase right? we pay it secara ansuran kan?

haha, kalo aku kerja kat PAC bleh la jawab
usually when there is barter or other deals involve it would be stated
but with the french, I don't really know!
maybe some industrial deals!

ooo..okay..another one, why gov buy the refurbished Agosta-class for scorpene's crew training purposes? are there no other new submarines within the price of that Agosta that can fulfill the task as training submarine?

the agosta is free bud, iinm even the refurbishment are paid by the DCNS,
one thing for sure that the agosta is almost 100% manual and the best for pioneer team at that time
now that the simulator and training center have completed we do not need the agosta class anymore!

ahah! i knew it..PR bloggers said we bought that Agosta at 370 million USD..haha thanks for the info brother

sure,
that is the part of the deal, 2 new subs and 1 trainer subs will be provided
I have 2 friends with the pioneer team, they said the subs are bathed with their sweat, tears and blood

at one time an idiot french trainer asked them to fill and empty the balast tank manually!

sounds like they are handling WW2 U-boats than modern subs..haha

btw the "idiot" part is exactly the word they said it

basic maa!

Dynamit Nobel presents its full range of RGW 90 short-range anti-armour weapon systems At FED 2013



The German-made anti-armour weapon system RGW 90-AS at FED 2013, business meeting for buyers and suppliers of Defence Industry.


The RGW 90-AS is specially designed to support troops in an urban environment. The tandem warhead with a Break In Charge (BIC) and a Follow Through Bomb (FTB) is extremely effective against a variety of structures.

The smart fuze of the FTB bomb allows the gunner to select from two modes: a "blast mode" to detonate inside the building so as to remove the protective value of the building and a "mousehole mode" to create a man-sized hole.

The high penetration capability of the BIC combined with the FB acting as a blast warhead, also proves particularly effective against light armoured vehicles. The high muzzle velocity of 200 m/s and the use of a sustainer rocket motor, which keeps the velocity constant over the whole flight path, result in an excellent hit probability over distances from 10 m to 400 m.

Designed to operate on the Davis Gun principle, the RGW 90-AS uses only a small amount of propellant together with a gel countermass. This enables the weapon to be fired from enclosures whilst remaining compliant with the noise requirements of Def Stan 00-27 and Mil-Std 1474.

The RGW 90-AS is man portable, weighing less than 10 kg, requires minimal logistics, and is fully disposable.