A 3D-printed drone was recently launched from a British military warship and successfully flew to shore, a demonstration that could pave the way for futuristic spy drones that can be printed at sea.

Engineers at the University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom, built the unmanned aircraft using 3D printing, which has been used to create everything from pelvic implants to a prosthetic tortoise shell. The drone was launched off the front of the Royal Navy warship HMS Mersey. It flew approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) in just a few minutes, and landed safely on a beach in Dorset, England, the researchers said.

The 3D-printed aircraft, dubbed SULSA, has a wingspan that measures 4 feet (1.2 m) long, and it can fly up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Drones like these could one day be used for military surveillance because they can fly almost silently, the researchers said. [The 10 Weirdest Things Created By 3D Printing]

The real challenge, the engineers said, was to create a robust, fast-flying drone that can be assembled easily in less than 5 minutes without the need for bolts or screws. The SULSA aircraft is made up of four 3D-printed parts that click into place like a puzzle toy.

The drone's pieces are made from nylon by a process called selective laser sintering (SLS), which uses a laser to fuse nylon powder into solid structures. This is technology that the University of Southampton has “pioneered over the last five years,” said Andy Keane, a professor of computational engineering at the University of Southampton.

Keane, who led the project, said the use of 3D-printed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), like SULSA, is increasing because they are relatively cheap and quick to make.

"Typically, the print run takes 24 hours,” Keane said in a statement. "It takes another 24 hours to cool, so from the time we send them the files to having the part in your hand, it takes 48 hours."

This type of convenience may be invaluable for the military, because it could enable warfighters to custom-design surveillance drones and print them on-site, in remote locations or even at sea. "These things could be printed anywhere," Keane said.

OCEA launches second Indonesian Navy oceanographic vessel

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
05 August 2015


The Indonesian Navy's first new oceanographic offshore support vessel (OSV), KRI Rigel (933), which is similar to the one launched in France on 5 August. Source: Office of Communications, Indonesian Navy

Key Points

* The second of two hydrographic vessels for the Indonesian Navy has been launched
* The vessel will bolster Indonesia's underwater topographic capabilities ahead of the delivery of submarines

French shipbuilder OCEA has launched the second oceanographic offshore support vessel (OSV) on order for the Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL), the service announced on 5 August.

The vessel was launched at Les Sables d'Olonne on 3 August in a ceremony attended by senior members of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence and the TNI-AL. IHS Jane's understands that the vessel will be named KRI Spica with pennant number 934.

Indonesia signed a USD100 million contract with OCEA in October 2013 for two 60 m OSVs. First-of-class KRI Rigel (933) arrived in Indonesia in May and is currently based with the TNI-AL's Military Sealift Command (KOLINLAMIL) in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

According to specifications provided by the TNI-AL, the platform is powered by two MTU 8V 4000 M53 engines driving two fixed-pitch propellers. The vessel can attain a top speed of 14 kt, has a standard range of 4,400 n miles at 12 kt, and can operate up to Sea State Six. Each OSV can accommodate a crew of 30 and 16 mission personnel at sea for 20 days.

The platform has been lightly armed with a Rheinmetall 20 mm cannon as its main gun and two stern-facing 12.7 mm machine guns for point defence.

The service has not released details on the survey equipment that will be fitted on board the second OSV but Rigel is equipped with Kongsberg's EA 600 single-beam echo sounder and the company's EM 2040 and EM 302 multibeam systems. The vessel also carries Kongsberg Maritime's Hugin 1000 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which can perform high-speed survey missions at depths of up to 1,000 m.

"The second OSV will now undergo harbour-acceptance tests and sea-acceptance tests before delivery," said the TNI-AL in its statement. It added that Indonesian service members will arrive in France from mid-August for training and familiarisation on board the platform. The vessel is scheduled for commissioning in October.

An Afghan military helicopter crashed on Thursday, killing all 17 on board, officials said, in a blow for a fledgling air force whose resources have been stretched since the withdrawal of most international forces last year.

Afghan troops have been battling a growing insurgency that has killed and wounded thousands of people since the beginning of the year, with the United Nations putting civilian casualties at almost 5,000 in the first half of the year.

Taliban insurgents claimed their fighters shot down the helicopter, but a government official blamed a technical failure for the crash, just hours after a Taliban suicide bomb attack on an Afghan special forces compound killed six people.

Twelve soldiers and five crew were killed in the helicopter crash, said Gul Islam Seyal, a government spokesman in the southern province of Zabul, the site of the crash.

The helicopter was ferrying military supplies and troops when its pilot radioed in a report of technical difficulties minutes before it hit the ground and caught fire, Seyal added.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed the crash, but said it would release details later.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said on his official Twitter account that the insurgents had shot down the helicopter.

However, an accompanying helicopter had reported no enemy fire before the crash, Seyal said. The Taliban often exaggerate battlefield gains.

Afghanistan's military has about 150 aircraft and 390 pilots, just a fraction of the air power of NATO, which flew air support, evacuation and supply sorties before last year's drawdown of troops.

The bulk of the Afghan fleet is made up of aging Mi-17 transport aircraft, but it was not immediately clear what type of helicopter was involved in the crash.

Photo: Japan is seeking to donate three TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines for patrols in the South China Sea, sources say. (Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force)
Japan wants to give planes to the Philippines to use to patrol the South China Sea, sources say.

Tokyo is looking to offer Manila three Beechcraft TC-90 King Air planes that could be fitted with basic surface and air surveillance radar, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The sources said talks within the Japanese government were preliminary and would need to overcome legal hurdles.

Japan has yet to formally propose the planes as an alternative to the more sophisticated Lockheed Martin P3-C aircraft that Manila wants to track Chinese submarine activity, they added.

Senior Philippine military and defence officials in Manila said they had not heard about the possible donation of the twin-turboprop TC-90 aircraft, which Japan uses to train military pilots.

"The Philippines doesn't have enough aircraft to conduct regular patrols over the South China Sea," one of the sources in Japan said, declining to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

China's defence ministry expressed concern about the plan.

"We hope that military cooperation between the relevant countries can benefit regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite," it said in a statement.

A maritime power play

The dispute over the South China Sea pits China against its smaller, weaker regional neighbours, writes South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley.
Donating aircraft, even small planes, would represent a military upgrade for the Philippines, which has only a handful of fixed-wing planes it can deploy on maritime patrols.

Tokyo has no claims in the South China Sea, but is worried about Beijing's construction of seven artificial islands in the waterway's Spratly archipelago, which will extend Chinese military reach into sea lanes through which much of Japan's ship-borne trade passes.

Concerns over the islands have dominated regional meetings in Kuala Lumpur this week between South-East Asia and countries including Japan, China and the United States.

PESHAWAR: A Pakistani Army helicopter being used as an air ambulance crashed near Mansehra on Thursday,
and the 12 people on board were feared dead, military officials said. Two security officials said there appeared to be no link to militant activity.

The helicopter was flying from the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, to the northern area of Gilgit, which has been hit by floods.
“There were 12 people on board, all military men. There were doctors, paramedic and aviation people in the chopper,” a senior military official said.
He said the helicopter crashed over the mountains in the Mohar area of Mansehra District.

“We are on the way to the spot of the chopper crash and I am afraid no one has survived but it’s not confirmed yet,” he said.
He said it appeared the helicopter may have crashed due to bad weather.

Sources told Daily Times Major Humayun, pilots Major Muzzamil and Major Dr Shahzad, Major Dr Atif, Major Dr Usman, Havaldar Munir Abbasi,
Flight Engineer Havaldar Asif, Crew Chief Naik Amir Saeed, Tech Naik Maqbool, Sepoy Rehmatullah, Nurse Amanullah, and Sep Waqar were aboard.

“There were 12 people on board, all military men. There were doctors, paramedics and aviation people in the chopper,” a senior military official told Reuters.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed grief over the crash.

Hahaha tak boleh blah langsung.

Advanced armored vehicles mula muncul di Yemen. Dari mana agaknya

Russia's new super tank is supposedly 20 years ahead of Western designs - but that didn't stop it breaking down in Red Square



Russia claiming its new T-14 Armata tank is the "world's deadliest tank" and is capable of turning INVISIBLE to enemy radar.

But the unveiling of the "super tank" in Moscow's Red Square left Vladimir Putin red-faced as the high-tech killing machine reportedly stalled on parade.

The Russian military will be hoping to put that little problem behind them though, as it prepares to reveal the tank at the Russian Arms Expo in September.

Developers have already begun boasting that the T-14 is 20 years ahead of anything produced in the West.

"We made a tank invisible," said Vyacheslav Khalitov, the director of the tank’s manufacturer UralVagonZavod.

"We have applied this system stellz deep-technology radio-absorbing materials, special paint and rational architecture of the machine itself," he told a radio station in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to wait until 2018 to get the T-14 tank into production
The materials act as a cloaking device and disrupt the infared signals that enemies would use to pinpoint its location.

It's also packed with top-grade military tech including heat-seeking target finders and a remote-control gun turret.

According to Russian sources, the T-14 Armata is expected to go into production in 2018.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-sc...tech-14-6204244

belum put into operation lagi, tak heran pun kalau break down. hahahaha

The notion that the T-14 'broke down' is also stupid. Most people didn't even see the entire incident. It did stop for a while and a recovery vehicle was summoned to pull it away (and failed), but it was rectified by the technician from the manufacturer rather quickly and later the T-14 moved away on its own power.

Most likely just a glitch or very minor defect causing it to lose power for a while, but nothing like "har har stupid commie russkies, tank break down=useless tank USA #1. USA USA!!!"

Eurofighter takes dialogue with Indonesia to the highest levels

Press Release | 15 hours ago





Ambassadors and representatives of the Eurofighter founding countries (Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) met with the Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu earlier this week and delivered a formal Letter of Support for Eurofighter which had been signed by the Defence State Secretaries and Minister of State on behalf of the Ministries of Defence of the four countries.

The Letter of Support further endorsed the information already provided by Eurofighter and underwrote the four countries’ full support of the transfer of technology elements associated with the world’s most versatile and reliable fast-jet fighter.

Through the procurement of Eurofighter and associated technologies, Indonesia would also be able to capitalise on the successful long-term relationship which has developed between PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) and the Airbus Group. This unique combination of operational and industrial capabilities could provide the basis for long-term strategic growth in the Indonesian aerospace sector.

Enhancing the science and capacity development of Indonesia

Capitalising on the theme of innovation in the maritime sector, and in support of the activities surrounding the 20th National Technology Awakening Day, more than 25 senior representatives from Indonesia’s strategic industries, research institutes, relevant ministries, the air force and Eurofighter participated in a workshop yesterday in Jakarta.

The workshop explored the innovative use of fighter jets in the maritime environment. The participants identified and discussed areas for further joint research and study in order to assist Indonesia realise its vision of becoming a maritime axis through the enhancement of its defence, surveillance and peacekeeping capabilities.

Hosted jointly by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti) and Eurofighter, the workshop was attended by government officials and engineers including Advisor on Defence Technologies to the Menristekdikti, the Secretary General of the National Research Council, the Head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and PT DI KFX Program Chief Engineer.

The workshop was facilitated by Eurofighter Head of Future Capabilities Laurie Hilditch. “If we are to apply innovation to support the Indonesian maritime axis vision, opportunities for deeper research into a range of Indonesian specific areas could be explored,” Hilditch said.

The initiative received a warm welcome from the participants, coming on the heels of National Coordination Meeting on Science and Technology (Rakornas IPTEK) with stakeholders representing academia, the government and businesses to develop a National Science and Technology Development Roadmap (4/8).

During the Rakornas, Menristekdikti called for a strong partnership between research communities and businesses to help propel Indonesia’s economy and boost the nation’s stature  – a vision shared by the Eurofighter Consortium.

“Reliable maritime protection is a fundamental requirement for this archipelagic nation. Add to that strong indigenous capabilities in the aerospace sector, and Indonesia will truly ‘take off’ as a maritime axis,” Eurofighter Head of Industrial Offset Martin Elbourne said on the sidelines of the workshop. “This is an approach supported by Eurofighter in its continuing dialogue with Indonesia.”

Thursday, August 6, 2015, 10:32 GMT + 7

Russian military commentator newspaper wrote about Vietnam buying French CAESAR artillery



Month 3/2015, Vietnam has put the first batch, comprising 18 CAESAR system and the next time will be raised to 108 the total number of all systems.
Recently, the newspaper "Comments military" Russia has an article on Features, Specifications of the final gun Vietnam chose to buy 155mm self-propelled artillery system CAESAR of France instead of the traditional suppliers from Russia.

kypmbangi with his crash news lately..