it's to be used at esszone coastal area

It's smaller than even the Wasp, afaik.

I'd rather if they use Fennec

Colombian hirelings are all set to enter the fighting. They are paid by one of the Saudi-led coalition members – most likely, by Saudi Arabia itself or the United Arab States – recent reports in South American media claim.

Up to 800 Colombian soldiers are taking “frontline positions” in Aden, the southern port city, where Sunni jihadists – mainly ISIL – have recently stepped into the fray with government forces and Saudi-led coalition units that captured this second most important city of Yemen from Shiite Houthi rebels just in August, the Spanish-language channel TeleSUR reported.

One of the possible reasons for recruiting Colombians might be the need to fight against Salafi jihadists, and first of all, ISIL, which is represented by fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, the sect of Islam many – if not most – in the Saudi-led coalition adhere to.

Colombian combatants had previously been hired by a secret US-led mercenary army, set up by the founder of the controversial Blackwater private military company, Erik Prince, and acting in the interest of UAE under the command of an actual prince, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. It was dubbed the Reflex Response force, and was conducting “anti-terrorism operations,” among other activities, the New York Times reported in 2011.

A soldier dressed in a suicide bomber costume sparked an alert at US Army base Fort Bragg in North Carolina as it was celebrating Halloween on Saturday.

The security response was triggered as the soldier was trying to pass a checkpoint, which was closed while explosive technicians were called in to sweep the scene.

The incident was described on the base’s Facebook page, but the post has since been removed, military.com reported.

“Although the incident remains under investigation, initial reports indicate it was a Halloween costume," the post said.

Indonesia Still Mulling Russian Su-35 Fighter Jets Purchase



10:29 02.11.2015 (updated 10:48 02.11.2015)

Indonesia has not yet made a final decision on the purchase of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 (Flanker-E) jets, an Indonesian Defense Ministry official said Monday.

BANGKOK (Sputnik) — In September, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said Indonesia had decided to replace its US-made Northrop F-5 Tiger II fighter jets with Russian Sukhoi Su-35s.

Jan Pieter Ate, director for international cooperation at the Indonesian defense ministry, said the country is interested in purchasing 32 advanced aircraft but a decision on the supplier had not yet been made and at the moment Indonesia is not engaged in direct negotiations with Russia on the matter.

The official told RIA Novosti that according to Indonesian law, any contract for the purchase of foreign weaponry should entail the transfer of at least 35 percent of the procured technology to the country. Ate added that such an agreement with Russia has still to be made.

Last month, the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade, citing sources, reported that Western companies had intensified their efforts to persuade Indonesia to purchase their aircraft after Jakarta announced its decision to buy Russian Su-35s.

Russia's Su-35 fighter was first introduced to a foreign audience at the 2013 Paris Air Show as a "4++ generation" heavily-upgraded derivative of the Su-27 multirole fighter.

Colombians???

Syria become Hunger Games for terrorists.

The United States military completed the comprehensive testing of its layered missile defense system in the Pacific Ocean, with the military praising the exercise as successful despite one missile missing its intended target.


According to the military, the testing showed that the Aegis and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, weapons systems had the ability to seek out and eliminate incoming cruise and ballistic missiles.

The testing, which cost around $230 million, was conducted in the western Pacific Ocean near Wake Island at 11:05 p.m. EDT. The agencies present during the exercise were the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. European Command, the U.S. Pacific Command, the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense and the Ballistic Missile Defense System Operational Test Agency.

"This was a highly complex operational test of the BMDS which required all elements to work together in an integrated layered defense design to detect, track, discriminate, engage, and negate the ballistic missile threats," the Missile Defense Agency said.

Nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance founder Riki Ellison said that the successful testing is the first instance that the military proved that a layered defense is effective in neutralizing missile threats.

Ellison added that the exercise would improve the confidence in the plans of the United States to launch a THAAD system in Europe, and might assist in a proposal to send such a system over to South Korea.

KAYES: Two people were seriously injured this morning (02/11/2015) following the crash of a military plane in Koussané in the Kayes region. The aircraft had taken off a bit more in the morning in Nioro.

According to preliminary information gathered elements, it would be a Senegalese military plane would have suffered a technical failure during flight. Ten people were on board. The team of civil defense went on site to evacuate the wounded.

AV4 in Digital Camo. Edited



Marhalim Abas November 1, 2015 Malaysian Defence

BANGKOK: AS expected the AV4 will be painted in the Armed Forces digital camouflage when the 20 vehicles contracted are delivered into service.

The digital camoed AV4 is making its public debut at the Chaiseri stand at the Thai Defense and Security show which starts tomorrow here in the capital of Thailand.

The vehicle is featured with a one man turret armed with a 7.62mm mini-gun with what appears to be a 1000 round ammo box at the back.

Parked next to the AV4 is its smaller PDRM AV4 version, which is armed with a RCWS armed with a 50 calibre machinegun.

It is not yet known whether or not Deftech, Chaiseri’s Malaysian partner will be able to sell this version to the police as the force had signed up for eight IAG Jaws at the recent GPEC 2015 show in Kuala Lumpur recently.

When met today (Nov 2), Army chief Jen Tan Sri Raja Affandi Raja Mohammed Nor confirmed that the AV4 displayed at the show was the configuration of the 20 vehicles being procured for ESSCOM duties.

He said not all of the AV4s will be fitted with the mini-guns, with the majority being fitted with 12.7mm HMGs and GPMGs. The AV4s will be a welcome addition to Army units operating in ESSCOM, some of which had been using KIFvs for daily patrols.

Singapore unveils Venus 16 unmanned surface vehicle

Kelvin Wong, Singapore - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
01 November 2015

 
The Republic of Singapore Navy is testing a 16 m variant of the Venus unmanned surface vehicle for maritime security operations, including force protection and mine countermeasure missions. Source: IHS/Kelvin Wong

The existence of a new and never before seen unmanned surface vehicle (USV) currently undergoing sea trials with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) was revealed on the service's Facebook page on 1 November.

Specifications of the indigenously developed Venus 16 USV were not disclosed, although IHS Jane's Unmanned Maritime Vehicles indicates that the vehicle has an overall length of 16.5 m and width of 5 m, displacing 26 tons at full load. Powered by a waterjet propulsion system, the vehicle is thought to be capable of attaining a maximum speed of in excess of 35 kt.

Details of the prototype USV's payload were likewise kept under wraps, but IHS Jane's understands that this vehicle has been configured for mine countermeasure (MCM) missions. A launch and recovery cradle with what appears to be a towed side-scan sonar system can be seen on its payload bay under cover.

"Our navy will be integrating more and more unmanned technology as part of the navy of the future," the service stated in its announcement. "The Venus 16 unmanned surface vessel (USV) is one of the unmanned systems currently being tested to support our maritime security operations."

"The Venus 16 USV can be configured into various roles such as the conduct of patrols as part of our navy's layered coastal defence, or to support mine countermeasure [operations] in conducting underwater scans of the seabed, while significantly improving manpower efficiency and reducing the exposure to risk for our sailors," it added.

The vehicle is the latest model in the Venus family of modular and scalable USV platforms developed by Singapore Technologies (ST) Electronics, a subsidiary of state-affiliated defence prime ST Engineering.


The prototype Venus 16 appears to be equipped with a high resolution towed side-scan sonar array. (IHS/Kelvin Wong)

Besides the 16.5 m platform, the company has also developed the Venus 9 (9.5 m) and Venus 11 (11.5 m) variants. ST Engineering had earlier stated that the USVs can be integrated with the Oto Melara remote weapon station for the force protection role, a Thales dipping sonar for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) persecution, a Thales Towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar (T-SAS) for MCM, and ECA's K-ster expendable mine disposal system (EMDS) for mine identification and neutralisation missions.

US approves sale of ESSM systems to Thailand

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
02 November 2015
 
Key Points

* The US has approved the possible sale of 16 ESSM units to Thailand
* Sale will bolster anti-air capabilities of the Royal Thai Navy's Chinese-built frigates

The US Department of State has approved the prospective sale of RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSMs) to Thailand under a Foreign Military Sale case.

In a statement released on 29 October, the Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) said that the sale, which is estimated to be valued at USD26.9 million, would cover the acquisition of 16 ESSM units (comprising 14 tactical missiles and two telemetry missiles), three Mk 25 Quad Pack canisters, and ten Mk 783 shipping containers.

Paul Rogers, the director of the Army’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC, told DefenseOne this week that the custom-built chopper was able to pick up payload and deliver it several miles away all on its own.

“The unmanned ground vehicle moved through a 10-kilometer scenario where it faced different chemical, biological hazards and then fed that data back via satellite,” Mr. Rogers explained, all the while towing a amphibious all-terrain vehicle, or AATV, to a drop zone near West Palm Beach, Florida.

If the Pentagon sees similar success in future tests, then further plans may be developed for a fleet of UH-60s capable of either flying autonomously or with the aid of a remote pilot — options that could diminish the odds of another tragedy like last year’s Black Hawk crash that killed 11 servicemembers in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Chechen regional television company Grozny TV, a group of young people who had considered themselves followers of the Islamic State terrorist organization (previously ISIS/ISIL) were detained earlier this week and charged with a conspiracy to kill the head of the Chechen Republic with a bomb blast in a mosque.

Kadyrov had a lengthy conversation with all of the detained and ordered their release without any punishment, saying that terrorist intentions had been planted into the young men’s minds through brainwashing and that they had not yet committed any crimes and could be given a chance for correction.

“Even though the detained considered themselves supporters of the Islamic State, they did not have even remote understanding about the person of the extremist leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi. They had their brains polluted by some undereducated so-called imam and they were taught to hate the head of the Chechen Republic as the main enemy of the Wahhabi ideology,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account, which he uses as his main tool for communication with the public.

Kadyrov also wrote that all of the young men sincerely claimed to understand their mistakes, regretted them and promised to mend their extremist ways. Parents and other relatives of the detained were also invited to the meeting and after talks they promised to keep them under strict control.

LATAKIA, November 3. /TASS/. A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber has dropped two BETAB-500 concrete piercing bombs at facilities of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria, Aerospace Forces spokesman Igor Klimov told journalists on Tuesday.

"Russian aircraft used two bombs weighing 500 kilograms each - BETAB-500 - against IS positions," Klimov said.

"BETAB-500 bombs are used to destroy well-protected fortified underground bunkers. They are not dropped at towns," the spokesman assured.