Look like a flying egg with attached rocket pods

Defense Industry: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria & Turkey to Spend $61.1B by 2019

By ReportsnReports
Published: Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014 - 10:28 am

DALLAS, February 16, 2014 -- /PRNewswire/ --

ReportsnReports.com adds "Future of the MINT Defense Industry - Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2019" research report to its store. It says the MINT defense industry is expected to become one of the most attractive defense markets in review period.

The MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) region is expected to increase its defense spending from US$40.6 billion to US$61.1 billion over the forecast period, according to a new report titled Future of the MINT Defense Industry - Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2019.

The shift in focus on the MINT region from the BRIC countries over the last year has generated significant interest on all aspects including the respective defense sectors. Turkey with a cumulative budget allocation of over US$100 billion over the forecast period is the major contributor in the region, followed by Indonesia with US$88.4 billion, Mexico with US$46.4 billion and Nigeria with approximately US$20 billion.

Elbit Systems Debut with a New Variant of ATMOS

February 6, 2014 by News Desk

A new version of Elbit Systems’ Autonomous Truck Mounted howitzer System (ATMOS) 155 mm/39-calibre SP artillery system was developed for the Royal Thai Army (RTA), in cooperation with Thailand’s military industrial complex. A first unit comprising six CAESAR 155mm/52 caliber guns is currently in service. The ATMOS platform is designed to operate the 155mm/52 caliber tube, but in Thailand the Army opted for the 155mm/39 caliber howitzer using a 6×6 truck. The ATMOS has already been demonstrated implemented on 8×8 trucks, carrying 54 caliber guns.

The RTA is expected to field a second battery of truck-mounted howitzers. It is designed with a low silhouette making the camouflaged vehicle indistinctive on road travel. Many of the gun’s systems are automated, enabling operation by a crew of three personnel. The ATMOS system is fully integrated with Elbit Systems’ command and control and various systems enabling to reduce the workload the crew is faced with.

The prototype development has recently been completed in Israel and was demonstrated in firing series prior to delivery to the customer. Follow-on production systems will be built in Thailand. The current requirement is for six systems. The development has been underway since 2012.

The RTA currently operates a battery of six Nexter Systems CAESAR 155 mm/52-calibre (6×6) SP artillery systems and it had been expected that additional systems would be ordered to form a complete regiment of 18 weapons.

According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, the SPGs will be produced at the Thai Army Artillery and Mortar Production Division of the Royal Thai Army’s (RTA’s) Weapon Production Centre (WPC). The locally produced guns are expected to be delivered by the military factory in 2015.

In India, Elbit Systems and Bharat Forge are promoting the ATMOS to meet the Indian Army MGS requirement. The two companies are also collaborating in other artillery modernization programs in India, including the up-gunning of 130mm M46 to 155mm/45 Caliber. The program offers the Army operators improved logistics through the lifespan of the gun.The two partners are also pursuing the Indian 155mm/52 Autonomous Towed howitzer requirement offering the ATHOS towed gun system. As an autonomous weapon platform ATHOS integrates a highly sophisticated and accurate navigation and positioning system, comprising an inertial navigation system, global positioning and on-board firing computer offering maximum flexibility and efficiency. Automated ammunition loading system to accelerate firing series and minimize the exposure of the gun in the firing position.

wataniah got snipers?
they dun get digital camo ka later?

These 1 not bad.
perhaps viper and little bird combo would be very interesting.
But then again we already have a109.

18 Feb 2014 | Macro

PAL Secures US$ 250 M Capitals for Technology Transfer

BY Yosi Winosa

JAKARTA – The House of Representatives (DPR) agrees on utilization of state equity participation (PMN) worth US$ 250 million to PT PAL, State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) engaged in shipbuilding industry, to develop submarine in Surabaya. The equity participation aims to sustain national defense industry. 

The agreement resulted from a work meeting between the Commission I of DPR and the government on Monday. By the end of December 2011, Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense secured contract on procurement of three units of submarines with shipyard company from South Korea, Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME).

PT PAL gets more funds to build submarine

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Tue, February 18 2014, 9:54 AM

The House of Representatives’ Commission I has approved the disbursement of US$250 million this year to state-owned shipyard PT PAL to build the country’s first submarine with technical assistance from South Korea.

Commission I deputy chairman TB Hasanuddin said that the construction would start in April.

Indonesia signed a contract in 2011 with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) to build three submarines worth some $1.07 billion. Two will be built in Korea while the third will be built in PT PAL’s facilities in Surabaya, East Java.

The contract requires that the work starts in Surabaya by November at the latest otherwise the contract will be void and the third one has to be built in Korea.

“We approved the plan and appointed the Finance Ministry to channel the funding to PT PAL through the State-Owned Enterprise Ministry as bridging finance,” Hasanuddin said in a coordination meeting with several ministries, the Navy and the Army on Monday afternoon.

PT PAL needs the additional capital not only to improve its financial position but also to acquire specialized equipment to build submarines. The company has the capability to build surface ships but not submarines.

Deputy Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the funds would be injected as state capital (PMN) over three years.

He said the government would disburse $180 million this year consisting of $30 million for consultation costs and $150 million for infrastructure. The remaining $70 million is for personnel.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that that the PMN would have value-added benefits for the local defense industry, including the ability to meet the need for 12 submarines by the Navy to ensure adequate defense.

Purnomo added that the South Korean technical assistance had begun in 2013, with the sending of Indonesian engineers to that country to learn the techniques of submarine manufacturing.

“The third one will be constructed by 200 Indonesian engineers and under the supervision of DSME,” he said.

“There will be a transfer of technology in this project.”

Previously, Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio said that Indonesia currently had two German-made submarines, KRI Cakra and KRI Nenggala, which were built in the 1980s. They will be decommissioned in 2020. (gda/nvn)

Malaysian Defense Procurement To Hit A Lull This Year

Source : Bindiya Thomas ~ Dated : Monday, February 17, 2014 @ 01:25 PM

Unlike other Asian countries such as Singapore, India and Indonesia, Malaysia is moving slow on defense procurement if the country’s military leadership is to be believed.

Malaysia’s navy chief Admiral Aziz Jaafar, in January, said that his country will not undertake any significant procurement programs in 2014.

He cited budgetary restraints and said that the current financial situation precluded any major programmes, including the procurement of additional ships.

Speaking to reporters following his annual New Year address to the RMN at the Ministry of Defence in Kuala Lumpur, he added that should any opportunities to purchase secondhand ships that met the RMN's operational criteria come up, the RMN would ask the government to fund such a purchase.

"We are open to such possibilities, if it arises but it would depend on the financial situation of the government," he said, citing previous failed attempts to purchase the Bruneian Nakhoda Ragam-class OPVs because no funding was available.

Putrajaya going ahead with Nuri upgrade, says Hishammuddin

BY JOSEPH SIPALAN

February 17, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The government is going ahead with the upgrade of its fleet of Sikorsy S-61 Nuri and C130 Hercules military transport planes, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

He brushed aside claims that Putrajaya has decided to defer plans to upgrade its air fleet but would not say whether the country’s ageing fleet of 18 MiG 29 fighter jets will be replaced with multi-role combat aircrafts.

“We are looking at upgrading the Nuris and the C130s... things are already in the works,” he said at a press conference for the 14th Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition and conference here.

Last week, Aviation International News Online (AINOnline) reported that the government has deferred plans to update existing military assets that are already behind schedule amid pressure from the country’s chronic budget deficit and increasingly vocal opposition on military procurements.

Malaysia has 18 Russian-made MiG-29s but only eight are still operating. The planes are due to be decommissioned in 2015 but must now remain in service until replacement multi-role combat aircraft are approved.

Malaysia also cannot buy trainer aircraft until it decides which of four manufacturers, Boeing, Dassault, BAE Systems or Saab, secures the deal to replace the MiG-29s.

The country’s Nuri helicopters, which were pressed into service as a stop-gap measure during last year’s Sulu incursion into eastern Sabah, are also due to be replaced. 

Hishammuddin said that AIOnline’s report last week was “a case of misreporting”, but did not elaborate on either the Nuri or MiG29 deals.

The minister said that Malaysia is “leveraging” on cooperation among ASEAN member countries to manage regional defence but gave no details.

Malaysia’s MiG-29s were purchased during the early 90s and are due to be replaced owing to reported difficulties in obtaining parts and services to keep the Russian fighters flying.

Reuters reported last year that Malaysia had shortlisted five manufacturers to replace the Russian-made MIG-29s.

The choice was between the Britain-backed Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, France’s Dassault Aviation Rafale, Boeing’s F/A 18E/F Super Hornet and Russia’s Sukhoi Su-30, it quoted then defence minister Zahid Hamidi as saying on the sidelines of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition last year.

Since September last year, Putrajaya has embarked on aggressive cost-cutting measures after pressure grew for it to rein in a chronic budget deficit that traces back to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, and which has left Malaysia’s national debt at just below a critical legal ceiling.

Among others, the government has reduced fuel subsidies, removed the price control for sugar and increased the excise tax for tobacco. It also approved an increase to power rates. The moves are blamed for rising inflation and cost of living hitting Malaysians.

In 2008, the opposition parties of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) denied the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) a two-third majority in Parliament for the first time.

Opposition lawmakers have been relentless in their criticism of Malaysia’s defence procurements, which they allege to be inflated due to corruption.

Among the deals targeted were the Defence Ministry’s purchase of armoured personnel carriers, offshore patrol vessels, and helicopters — all of which PR lawmakers demonstrated to be available for less than what Putrajaya paid.

*Singapore Airshow 2014*

I will focus on military tech, some are real stuff while some are just models on display.
No shots on the aerobatic display cos i'm sure you can find very very good pics on those online (mine suck  )

IAI introduces the new Super Heron UAV at this airshow

ATM no need to send pepol to airshows/defence shows this year, mana ada duit mau beli, nnt kasi meleleh jer pegawai2 ATM tgk