France offers Indonesia Rafale technology transfer

Jon Grevatt, Bangkok - IHS Jane's Defence Industry
26 March 2015

France has pledged to transfer technologies to Indonesia to enable local involvement in the production of the Dassault Rafale multirole combat aircraft if it is selected to meet a requirement in the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).

The French ambassador to Indonesia Corinne Breuzé said in a statement on 26 March that France intends to be flexible in facilitating Rafale collaboration between manufacturer Dassault and Indonesia's state-owned aerospace company PT Dirgantara (PTDI).

She added, "With the support of the French government, Dassault is open to any possibility of partnerships and transfer technology." In the statement the ambassador also promoted the Rafale as a "100% French" aircraft that would provide the TNI-AU with operational independence, without the requirement for approval from a third party.

Boeing, Destini Prima To Explore Service Opportunities For AH-6i Helicopters

March 20, 2015 15:39 PM 


(From left) Destini Prima Sdn Bhd CEO Tunku Johan Tunku Mansur, Destini Prima Sdn Bhd Executive Director Kabol Surat (Rtd), Chief of Armed Forces Malaysia General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, Regional Director of Southeast Asia / Vice President, International Business Development of Malaysia and Indonesia, Boeing Defense, Space & Security Yeong Tae (YT) Pak in a signing ceremony to explore potential opportunities for Destini Prima to provide services and support for Boeing's AH-6i helicopter. Pic courtesy of Boeing

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Boeing and Destini Prima Sdn Bhd, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) supplier for aviation safety equipment, today signed an agreement to explore potential opportunities for Destini Prima to provide services and support for Boeing's AH-6i helicopter.

Boeing's AH-6i, a light attack/reconnaissance helicopter, is currently being considered by the Malaysian government to fulfill the country's attack helicopter requirement, it said in a statement.

Under the agreement, the two companies will discuss opportunities for Destini Prima, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Destini Bhd, to expand its current expertise in aviation safety MRO to provide services and support for aircraft such as component maintenance.

"Exploring the possibilities for Destini Prima to build on its current services portfolio would not only benefit Destini Prima's business, but also is consistent with Boeing's aims to help expand opportunities throughout Malaysia's aerospace and defence industry," Jim Armington, East Asia & Pacific International Business Development Vice-President, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said.

Destini Prima Chief Executive Officer Tunku Johan Mansur said, "We are delighted to cooperate with Boeing to identify efficient and effective support solutions for the AH-6i helicopter and expand our aircraft-support capabilities."

The Destini Group is a leading Malaysian integrated engineering solutions provider, while Destini Prima specialises in maintenance, repair and overhaul of safety and survival products and spares for the aviation industry.

The group holds internationally recognised certifications from leading industrial regulatory and accreditation authorities.

-- BERNAMA

In the paper, DARPA hints at how it’s going to develop a positioning system without the use of satellites: “The need to be able to operate effectively in areas where GPS is inaccessible, unreliable or potentially denied by adversaries has created a demand for alternative precision timing and navigation capabilities. To address this need, DARPA is investing in radically new technologies that have the potential to deliver GPS-quality position, navigation and timing information for military systems, including novel inertial measurement devices that use cold-atom interferometry; chip-scale self-calibrating gyroscopes, accelerometers and clocks; and pulsed-laser-enabled atomic clocks and microwave sources.” 

Financial constraints are the key reason cited for cutting the military order from 52 to 12 of the planes over the next few years, according to the Moscow daily Kommersant.

After failing to purchase F-16C/D fighters from the United States, Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation is seeking assistance from Russia to design domestic fifth-generation fighters, according to our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily. 

The move by Taiwan may take casual observers by surprise given the island's anti-Communist history, but during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Soviet Union was a major supplier of military aircraft to the Republic of China Air Force.

In addition to 322 bombers, 777 fighters and 100 trainers, the Soviet Union even sent 3,665 pilots and ground crew to support China's war of resistance against the Japanese. After the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed in 1941, the United States then replaced the Soviet Union to become the Republic of China's major supporter.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has replied to the 106 questions posed to them recently.

The questions, pertaining to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), was handed to the department during an anti-GST protest at the Customs Department headquarters in Kelana Jaya on Monday.

During the rally, the protestors demanded answers to 106 questions on GST in which the Customs assured that the answers would be uploaded onto their official website.

One of the questions posed was why lobsters were not imposed the 6% GST, but canned sardines were.
“Lobsters are classified as basic food under “crustaceans”, which were classified as “zero rated”, unlike sardines which is processed food and will be subjected to GST,” the department said.

However, when asked to explain how goods were determined as “zero rated”, Customs replied that the decision was made based on goods and services that were deemed as “basic necessities and critical services”.

There were many talking points from the response to these questions. For instance, Customs confirmed that only Ron 95 petrol and diesel would be exempted from GST.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) weighing 14kg and below would be exempted.

The department stated that under the GST (Relief) Order 2014, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultans, Negeri Sembilan royalty, Yang Dipertua Melaka, Pulau Pinang, Sabah and Sarawak are exempted from GST for everything except petrol.

All residential home purchases including low-cost housing are also exempted from GST.
The department had also reiterated that with the implementation of GST, the Sales and Services Tax (SST) will be scrapped.

According to one of the answers in the list, the money collected from GST would go to a consolidated fund and would be spent on national development such as:
- Learning and teaching programmes — RM60 billion;
- Health facilities and services — RM23.3 billion;
- 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) — RM4.9 billion;
- Infrastructure and facilities — RM4.5 billion;
- government scholarships — RM3 billion;
- Funding to poor families, children, elderly, disabled — RM1.2 billion; and
- 1Malaysia Book Voucher (BB1M) — RM325 million.

For companies whose revenue is below or on the threshold of RM500,000, they will have the option of not registering and collecting GST but are however encouraged to register anyway. After the registration has been approved the company must stay in the GST system for no less than two years.

Answering other questions, the department stated that no country had ever proven whether implementation of GST had managed to lessen the gap between the rich and poor while the additional amount for BR1M was a short-term benefit to households with income less than RM3,000 a month.

Customs also confirmed that inflation was set to rise by 1% after the implementation of GST from the 3% currently.
Meanwhile, the fare increase for public transport of between 23% and 67% had nothing to do with GST, said the department in its reply.

It said GST had minimal effect on the cost of public transportation as public transport were exempted from from GST, which is lower than the Sales Tax and Services Tax (SST).

The fare increase for taxi has been proposed to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and studied long before the introduction of GST.

The Customs Department also denied allegation it was too corrupt to administer the collection of GST, saying it was always on the lookout against corrupt elements.

It was also proactive in preventing graft, with measures such as emphasising positive values, job rotation and disciplinary action against errant officers.

On religious matters, it said bibles and holy books were exempted form GST, although prayer materials and paraphernalia are not.

Public transport, including school bus services, will also be GST-exempt.

Most other school related items and services purchased from GST-registered traders are not exempted from the tax, including school uniform and stationery.

On concerns that the GST will be increased, the department noted that the sales tax and services tax introduced in the 1970s had only been increased after 10 and 36 years respectively.

It said that several factors were taken into consideration prior to any increase, such as economic stability, the robustness of GST system in place and level of public acceptance.

At the same time, it replied that even if the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) was cancelled, GST would still go ahead.

For zero-rated items such as rice, the department clarified that GST-registered traders could claim back GST from the government on related costs such as rice transportation.

On education, it said that only basic fees are GST-exempted while additions such as tuition would be subjected to GST although GST-registered merchants can claim for refund on GST paid towards business expenses.

Public can direct complaints on corrupt Customs Department officers to http://aduan.customs. gov.my/aduanawam/ or to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at http://aduan. customs.gov.my/aduanawam/.
For full report, go to:
Report

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/03/...posed-by-group/

Tak nampak pun military budget dlm GST ni.... sedihnye

MD Helicopters MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter at LIMA '15: Tiny but packs a lot of punch!



This is what i mean by heavy promotion of the little bird.. Technically improvement of the little bird

US P-8A tracks PLA Navy submarines and 052C class warships in south China Sea

Most likely from okinawa

LTZ u know anything about this?

Wow...dont know about that