The Intelligent Soldier System: Military Wearables





http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_...&doc_id=1327262

Russia to Host World Military Games: China Brought its Own Tank





http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/russia-to-h...t-its-own-tank/

Chinese navy conducts live firing drill in S. China Sea



A landing ship division of the South China Sea Fleet, a marine brigade, a navy aviation unit, an amphibious armored force and other units jointly conduct a transportation drill in middle July 2015. (Photo/www.81.cn)

The Chinese navy on Tuesday conducted a live firing drill in the South China Sea to improve its maritime combat ability.

The exercise involves more than 100 naval vessels,dozens of aircrafts, several missile launch battalions of the Second Artillery Corps, as well as unknown number of information warfare troops, navy sources said.

Dozens of missiles and torpedoes and thousands of shells and jamming bombs were fired during the exercise.

The drill tested the navy's air defense and early warning system and improved its ability to react quickly, the sources said.

http://www.ecns.cn/2015/07-29/174861.shtml

Argentina turns away from Xiaolong purchase



A JF-17 Thunder displayed at the opening ceremony of the 51st Paris Air Show on June 15. (Photo/CNS)

Argentina has decided to give up trying to purchase the JF-17 Thunder, a multirole fighter known as the FC-1 Xiaolong jointly developed by China and Pakistan, reports the Shanghai-based Guancha Syndicate.

Argentina has gone instead with Israel Aircraft Industries' Kfir Block 60 as its next-generation multirole fighter. The Xiaolong's lower price had lured the country into considering a purchase, but China refused to provide anti-ship missiles under diplomatic pressure from the UK, according to the Moscow-based Military Parade.

The price of the Xiaolong would not have been much of bargain anyway, since Argentina had insisted that China install avionics and weapon systems purchased from Israel into the Chinese aircraft as part of the deal.

Israel Aircraft Industries has refused to give any comment about the purchase.

Internet users from Pakistan took their chance to ridicule Argentina, saying that the Kfir is an obsolete military aircraft built in 1980s. It currently serves with the Israli Air Force in ground attack operations instead of air combat. Additionally, Argentina is buying previously used planes.

According to one Pakistani netizen, Argentina is too poor to buy the Xiaolong.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclas...=20150729000038

The ability to shoot in all weather conditions, as far and as accurately as possible has always been a major challenge to sniper gun designers, and this is where Russian master armorers have always shined.



Meet their latest creation – the top-of-the-line VSK-94 silenced sniper rifle — developed by the Tula-based Instrument Design Bureau, most famous for its high-performance GSh-series aircraft cannons, as well as for antitank missile systems and other excellent weapons.

The VSK-94 is actually an attempt to create a less expensive rival to their special purpose VSS Vintorez 9mm silenced super-rifle.

The conduct of urban combat operations requires more compact, easily concealed sniping weapons and the VSK-94 fits the bill just perfectly.

It is light and, unlike its prototype, it sports a more rigid and convenient plastic buttstock and an altered iron sight with settings graduated to a range of up to 400 m.

One important component of the sniper complex is the optical sights – the daytime PKS-07 the nighttime PKN-03M, which offer the latest achievements in this field, giving the rifle an edge over its closes competitor – the US-made S-16 Grendel 7.62x39mm unit.

With a comparable effective range, the S-16 is 100 mm longer and 1.6 kg heavier.

The VSK-94 rifle is a simple and reliable gas-operated weapon. It has a long service life (at least 6,000 shots), irrespective of the types of cartridges fired.

The relatively low cost of the VSK-94, with its superior qualities, is also important.

The VSK-94 sniper complex came along at the right time and is now a weapon of choice for Special Ops troops both in Russia and abroad.

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150724/1025005427.html

Laser Weapons: Technology Evolves but Politically a Tough Sell





http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blo...st.aspx?ID=1909

GE Aviation partners with military to develop 'transformer' engine





http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/g...loper-tr/nm5n3/

Two TNI Soldiers Among Seven Arrested for Alleged Abduction of Malaysian Businessman





Military officials confirmed two of the alleged assailants are Indonesian Military soldiers. (Antara Photo/Oky Lukmansyah)

Jakarta. Two Indonesian Military, or TNI, soldiers and an ex-police officer were allegedly involved in the abduction of a Malaysian businessman in Jakarta which reportedly stemmed from a failed business venture.

The three are among seven people arrested over the kidnapping of Malaysian national Sahlan bin Bandan earlier this month.

Sahlan was abducted after agreeing to meet the assailants at a McDonald’s outlet in Cibubur, East Jakarta on July 15.

He met the group after they had abducted his five younger siblings from the family’s residence in Bogor, West Java, and threatened to kill them. The five others were released after Sahlan was attacked.

“They asked the victim to come to McDonald’s [outlet] in Cibubur. After that he was taken to a house in Cijantung [East Jakarta],” Sr. Comr. Khrisna Murti, the director for general crime investigations at the Jakarta Police, told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday.

He added Sahlan was released eight days later, on July 23, after his family sent Rp 100 million ($7,400) to the kidnappers — after which he immediately reported the incident to police.

Khrisna said the abduction was allegedly masterminded by two business partners of Sahlan, identified only as R. F. and D. S.

They allegedly hired the other suspects to kidnap and threaten the Malaysian national because they had lost Rp 100 billion in a failed business venture initiated by Sahlan.

“The victim [Sahlan] asked his two business partners to open a salted fish business and a money changer business in Malaysia and Batam. But the businesses failed; [they suffered] from losses,” Khrisna explained, as quoted by Indonesian news portal liputan6.com.

“Suspects D. S. and R. F. couldn’t accept this and demanded that their money was returned. But the victim could not return the money because he also suffered losses.”

Khrisna added that the victim was assaulted and was threatened with murder during the kidnapping.

Jakarta Military Command spokesman Col. Heri Prakosa confirmed that two of the alleged kidnappers were members of the Indonesian Army.

One has been identified as a first sergeant with the Army Special Force, or Kopassus, and the other is a head sergeant with the Army Strategic Reserves, or Kostrad.

“Both of them were directly involved. They had been asked to do a favor by some people,” Heri said in Jakarta on Sunday.

“They are fools. They should have thanked God for already receiving salaries and work allowances, but apparently those are still not enough for them,” he added.

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news...an-businessman/

CONTRACT SECURED TO MANUFACTURE GLOBAL MILITARY VEHICLE



Tyneside Safety Glass has won a deal to supply ballistic glass to OVIK's Crossway – an entirely British-made vehicle which is attracting interest from defence and security authorities.

Crossways made up of Tyneside Safety's products are already being used by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Dorset Police and Thames Valley Police, with five other UK police forces expressing "considerable interest".

Globally, Dorset-based OVIK is also in discussions with several governments, including those in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, the UAE, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Egypt.

Tyneside Safety Glass managing director Chris Hannant said it is "fantastic to be playing a part in a British car industry success story with such huge global potential".

"The Crossway is a 100 per cent British vehicle and is a great advert for the world-leading manufacturing skills we have here in the North East and the wider UK," he added. "With global interest in the Crossway growing, we expect the vehicle to take our products into numerous territories across the globe in the coming years."

OVIK chief executive Jez Hermer, who served as a Royal Marine for 23 years and commanded troops in Afghanistan, said: "Ballistic glass forms a vital part of the Crossway's architecture, so we needed a supplier we could truly trust.

"When you’re dealing with life-saving products like this, you can't take any chances with your suppliers."

As part of its ongoing contract with OVIK, Tyneside Safety Glass is also supplying parts to the company's other products, including its armoured Land Rover Defender known as PANGOLIN.

Tyneside Safety Glass has a long history in making parts for the British defence industry, having supplied Spitfire windscreens and glass for gas masks in World War II.

Today, it makes bullet resistant and anti-bandit glass products for architectural applications such as banks, building societies, post offices, embassies and private residencies.

It operates from two manufacturing facilities based on Gateshead's Team Valley Trading Estate, where it employs a workforce of 200.

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/north-...litary-vehicle/

Since the beginning of the year, France has reached agreements to deliver Rafale jets to Egypt, Qatar and India. Now the country is in talks to sell the aircraft to Malaysia and the UAE.



France is currently in talks to deliver its Rafale jet fighters to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to expand its military export portfolio, a source familiar with the matter said.
"There should be two other export contracts for the Rafale by the beginning of next year," not including India, the source said as quoted by Reuters. "The most advanced discussions are with Malaysia and the UAE."

The source added that France is aiming to sell 16 Rafale aircraft to the Malaysian military.

Since the beginning of the year, France has delivered 24 Rafales each to Egypt and Qatar and is in talks to finalize the sale of another 36 to India.

Dassault Rafale (English "squall") is French fourth-generation multirole jet fighter designed by Dassault Aviation. It conducted its maiden flight in 1986 and joined the French Navy and Air Force in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150729/1025166635.html

China may use microwave weapon against maritime rivals



The WB-1 microwave directed energy weapon mounted on a truck. (Internet photo)

China is likely to deploy its newly designed WB-1 microwave directed energy weapon against Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in the contested South China Sea, according to the state run Reference News on July 27.

The WB-1 was originally developed as millimeter-wave beam-projecting non-lethal anti-riot system by the China Poly Group Corporation based in Beijing. With an effective range of 80 meters, it can project the millimeter-wave beam to heat water molecules below the skin causing intense pain, the UK-based IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reported in November 2014. The weapon's attack range can be increased to one kilometer when its transmitting power is increased.

Reports from the Zhuhai Airshow held in southern China's Guangdong province last year indicated that Poly was developing the WB-1 for naval applications. To enforce its maritime claims over the disputed East China and South China seas, China is likely to use WB-1 in future non-lethal confrontations with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The weapon could also potentially be used in the People's Liberation Army Navy's counter-piracy operations.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclas...=20150729000083

The Japanese Defense Ministry has allocated money in the defense budget for two new 27DD project destroyers. The warships will be equipped with a modified AEGIS complex weapon system.



The ships are planned to be equipped with not only an electromagnetic artillery installation (‘Railgun’), but also with a laser weapon complex designed to protect the ship.

The laser weapon system (LaWS) is tested aboard the USS Ponce amphibious transport dock during an operational demonstration while deployed in the Gulf

The laser weapons are currently being developed by the Technical Research and Design Institute of the Japanese Defense Ministry.
Such complexes are being created for both sea and land use. They are designed to engage cruise, anti-ship missiles and other high-precision weapons.

Development of the electromagnetic guns for naval destroyers is also being carried out in Japan — funds for this work were incorporated in the defense budget this year.The 27DD destroyers are equipped with a combined gas turbine-electric power plant.

The modified AEGIS weapons systems have improved data exchange and external target designation. In addition, they have new radar to detect surface targets and hydro acoustic collection system with towed antennas.

Electromagnetic weapons are no longer a fantasy. They have been developed and tested in Russia and the United States as well.

The United States conducted tests of laser weapons earlier in the Persian Gulf. According to Pentagon the tests were successful.

Russian specialists are developing military lasers particularly for aviation. Moreover, the development of such weapons in Russian is being carried out without any of the components or sub-assemblies built by foreign machinery.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150729/1025169308.html

Canadian Military Buys Israeli Iron Dome Missile Defense Technology





http://www.ibtimes.com/canadian-military-b...hnology-2030063

Mindef tests remote disabling of gadgets





http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mind...ling-of-gadgets

Beware China’s ‘Basing’ Strategy: Former US Navy Chief





http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/beware-chin...-us-navy-chief/

U.S. military evaluates RADA tactical multi-mission hemispheric radar



NETANYA, Israel, 28 July 2015. U.S. military officials have purchased a Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR) from RADA Electronic Industries (NASDAQ:RADA) of Netanya, Israel, to test and evaluate its capabilities. RADA will deliver the MHR, which also has been adopted by U.S. integrators, before the end of 2015.

The MHR -- an S-Band, software-defined, Pulse-Doppler, active electronically scanned array radar -- has sophisticated beam forming capabilities and advanced signal processing, provides multiple missions on each radar platform, and offers an attractive performance-to-price ratio, RADA officials say.

The MHR is compact and mobile, delivering organic, tactical surveillance for force and border protection applications. It is well suited to: volume air surveillance; detection of multiple threat types, such as manned and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); countering rockets and mortars; serving as a ground-moving target indicator (GMTI).

"We are very pleased with the growing interest in our radars by the US market, which we believe will be one of the most important markets for our radar technology," says RADA CEO Zvi Alon.

RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. is an Israel-based defense electronics contractor specializing in the development, production, and sale of tactical land radars for force and border protection, inertial navigation systems for air and land applications, and avionics systems and upgrades.

http://www.intelligent-aerospace.com/artic...eric-radar.html

LCS Anti-Sub Warfare Package Too Heavy; 3 Contracts Issued For Weight Reduction Study



The littoral combat ships USS Independence (LCS 2), back, and USS Coronado (LCS 4) are underway in the Pacific Ocean in April 2014. US Navy photo.

The Littoral Combat Ship’s anti-submarine warfare mission package needs to shed some weight before it can deploy on a ship, and the Navy awarded three contracts to help find weight-reduction ideas.

The mission package includes two mature and fielded sonar systems, plus the hardware needed to integrate the systems with the ship. LCS Mission Module Program Manager Capt. Casey Moton said Thursday at a Mine Warfare Association lunch that each of his three mission modules is given 105 metric tons of weight on the LCS, but the ASW as it stands today surpasses that limit.

The mission package includes a Variable-Depth Sonar – the Navy chose the Thales UK Sonar 2087, the same VDS used on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate – as well as the Multi-Function Towed Array used on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) and eventually the Zumwalt-class destroyers (DDG-1000). The Navy cannot overhaul either mature system, so it has hired Advanced Acoustic Concepts, L-3 Communications and Raytheon to find more creative ways to reduce weight.

In the early stages of the weight-reduction effort, “we got proposals that ranged from modifying the sensors to reduce weight to things as simple as using composites in the handling system,” Moton said. “So our initial contract is to three companies, and they will do a transition study for us over the next couple months that will give us a lot more insight.”

Each team will submit a package that brings the mission module to under 105 metric tons, and the Navy will then pick and choose which ideas it likes and use them to build engineering development models. Moton said his office had not decided how many EDMs to build but would make that decision over the next few months.

He said he could not recall how many tons over weight the current ASW package is, but “all three companies proposed schemes that would get us to the weight” and he was confident he could meet the requirement to get onboard a ship.

Also during his speech, Moton said his office was making some minor adjustments to the Lockheed Martin AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire radar-guided missile, which the Navy is adapting for use on the ship. The missile currently launches horizontally from a helicopter, and the Navy is making modifications so it can launch vertically and lock on its target after tipping into a horizontal position post-launch. The new version of the missile will be called the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module and should be fully integrated and ready for deployment by late 2017, according to a Navy statement.

The program office began tests on a research vessel at the end of February against “high-speed maneuvering targets out off the Virginia Capes.” That testing wrapped up in June, and based on the results, the office has to do “some tweaking – it’s really that level, tweaking – to the missile seeker and such.”

Another round of testing on the research vessel will take place in Fiscal Year 2016.

Moton also said his office is currently conducting a technical evaluation of the surface warfare mission package on USS Coronado (LCS-4). The package has already deployed twice, but both times on Freedom-variant LCSs. Coronado is an Independence-variant ship, with the same interfaces for the mission package but a different physical layout. Moton said the evaluation is “going very well.”

http://news.usni.org/2015/07/30/lcs-anti-s...reduction-study

U.S. military developing a gun as loud as a fighter jet taking off, but won't shoot



The U.S. military is reportedly working on a gun that creates an extremely loud sound when fired, but doesn't shoot any bullets.

The Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program is working on a non-lethal 130-decibel noise gun which uses quick laser bursts to generate a powerful noise, according to a Defense One report.

The weapon, called the Laser Induced Plasma Effect (LIPE), directs sound at a specific target and uses incredibly quick bursts of plasma energy to fire, aiming to cut down on civilian causalities. It will be used as a scare tactic and won't be capable of shooting real bullets. The gun, which will be tested in the upcoming months, is reportedly so fast that it creates a blue ball of plasma and is charged with directed lasers to produce intense sound seemingly out of thin air.

The goal of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program is to develop weapons which "play a critical role in filling gaps between 'shooting and shouting.'"

LIPE could feasibly be used to shock enemies to retreat, or as Defense One notes, for crowd control and security checkpoints.

Plasma weapons like LIPE have been tested previously , though those weapons were too heavy and unwieldy for practical use.

David Law, the Joint Non-Leathal Program's Technology Chief, told Defense One that the goal of LIPE was to recreate the sound of 130 decibels at a distance of 100 meters. That's about as loud as standing behind a fighter jet taking off from an aircraft carrier.

The loudest concert ever recorded by notoriously noisy rock group The Who was 120 decibels at a distance of 50 meters.

The technology behind LIPE has been proven at short range in the lab, with long-range testing to begin in the coming months.

http://mashable.com/2015/07/30/pentagon-noise-gun/

Britain reestablishes military footprint ‘East of Suez’ for Malaysia war games



Doubling UK military involvement in Far East training exercises is just the first step towards reestablishing Britain’s global strategic footprint, UK officials claim.
Prime Minister David Cameron has spent the past week on an official trip around Asia, strengthening commercial ties with a number of states in the region.

But he has also spent time focusing on the Five Powers military alliance composed of traditional partners Australia and New Zealand, as well as regional powers Malaysia and Singapore.

He is expected to commit Royal Marines, Royal Navy divers and Typhoon fighter planes to Exercise Bersama Lima, a cooperative series of war games to be held in Malaysia next year.

The Five Powers alliance was originally formed in 1971 to support Singapore and Malaysia against a feared communist takeover once Britain withdrew west from its colonial role in the region.

“This is us looking back East of Suez, thinking about where future threats and different challenges [may appear in] the world,” an unnamed official told The Telegraph.

Much has been made in strategic and academic circles in recent years of the so-called “pivot to Asia” – a strategic reorientation of military power, led by the US, toward an increasingly powerful China.

As part of a broad program of increased cooperation with Asian and Pacific allies, the UK has begun to relocate its high-tech constellation of Skynet security satellites over Asia.

The Skynet 5A systems are designed to allow secure communications capacity for Britain’s regional allies.

Airbus Defence and Space, the arm firms which operates the satellites for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), announced on Tuesday that the planned 67,000-kilometer move is progressing well.

The satellites will also provide security overwatch for another alliance: the Five Eyes, which is comprised of the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In a statement on the satellites capabilities and mission, Colin Paynter, head of Airbus Space and Defence, said: “The Skynet 5 constellation consists of the world’s most powerful, nuclear hardened and protected, military X-band and UHF satellites.

“With the move of Skynet 5A, we will expand the availability of our premium secure MILSATCOM services to allied nations in the region who need high grade resilient and secure communications services to complement their existing systems.”

http://www.rt.com/uk/311186-britain-suez-east-rebuild/

US military's smart rifle can be HACKED: Security researchers remotely change weapon's target and disable its scope






Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...l#ixzz3hQLTbG00
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