The technology in Recce's gun, which can be fitted to assault rifles, would make those guns useless to those criminals. Even if privately re-sold, Sebastian says the weapon, in theory, would require reauthorization through a licensed dealer.

That the technology isn't already on gun store shelves is a problem of politics and money. After the NJIT received $1.5 million a decade ago to develop the biometric sensors, and another $250,000 to create the control system that blocks the firing mechanism during unauthorized use, the money has dried up.

"We lost all the public [funding] and we can't get private funding because no one believes pro-gun activists would ever allow this smart gun to see the light of day," says Sebastian. It's happened before. In 2014, German gunmaker Armatix introduced a .22 caliber smart gun that uses RFID technology and found dealers in California and Maryland willing to sell it. That is, until protests and death threats forced those same stores to remove the iP1 from their shelves (Armatix filed for a chapter 11-style restructuring earlier this year).

Still, with the proper funding, Sebastian believes, NJIT could produce a field-tested, evaluated, and ready-for-market smart gun in two years. It could also produce grips and firing mechanisms that could be retroactively installed on other guns. And it's the type of personalized technology that gun owners might actually find palatable.

Aerial mining was used in Vietnam, and was one of the key factors that led to the Paris peace accords. Operation POCKET MONEY kicked off with a mere nine aircraft – and shut down North Vietnamese maritime traffic until the end of the war. Mine drops were conducted entirely at low altitude, which while not particularly accurate, were far more so than the mines delivered by B-29s against Japan. Mine delivery was risky in that it required low altitudes and relatively slow airspeeds, increasing the vulnerability of minelaying aircraft. In DESERT STORM, this vulnerability was highlighted when the first aerial mining mission from USS Ranger resulted in the loss of Jackal 404 and its crew, presumably to hostile fire. No combat aerial mining missions have been flown since.

The first enhanced Quickstrike mine was demonstrated in VALIANT SHIELD 14, when the Air Force B-52J and Marine F-18A+ employed the weapons for the first time. The enhanced Quickstrike comes in several variants, all of which are essentially assemblies of off-the-shelf equipment. The Quickstrike-J is a JDAM conversion of the Quickstrike and will come in 1000-lb. and 2000-lb. variants. The Quickstrike-ER is a conversion of a winged JDAM-ER, and will come in 500-lb. and 2000-lb. variants. Quickstrike-J has the same range as any other JDAM, while Quickstrike-ER is a glide weapon with a substantially extended range. Both variants are fully compatible with existing aircraft software and any aircraft that can employ the base JDAM can employ an enhanced Quickstrike. The benefits to the minelaying aircraft are substantial. Instead of making multiple slow passes at low altitude, aircraft can release all of their mines in a single pass from any altitude and need not directly overfly the minefield. Winged mines will greatly reduce the standoff, allowing minelaying sorties to remain outside the envelope of short range air defenses of the type that downed Jackal 404. No additional crew training is required, because there is no difference between hitting a set of surface coordinates on land or a set at sea.

Saudi Arabia has used cluster bombs many times before, but this is the first time that it is using it against its own population in a desprate move to stop the huge advances made by the Yemeni forces inside the kingdom in recent days.

The Yemeni army and popular forces have frequently crossed the border captured the Saudi military bases and outpost, ruined the military sites and returned home in the last few months and after the Riyadh-led coalition refrained from stopping its air raids on residential areas in Yemen's cities.

But, after months of coalition intensified air raids on civilian areas, the Yemeni forces changed strategy and warned that they would start ground assaults on Saudi territories to force Riyadh stop the massacre.

The new strategy was put into effect on Sunday, when Yemen's army and popular forces crossed the border and captured several key military bases in three provinces in Southern Saudi Arabia near the border.

The Yemeni forces seized Malhama, al-Radif and al-Mamoud military bases in Jizan, al-Rabou'a military base in Asir and Nahouqa military base in Najran provinces.

Then on Monday, the Yemeni forces took control of three more Saudi military bases in al-Shurfa region in Najran.

They also captured a military camp in Najran, and destroyed the military vehicles in there.

On Tuesday, the Saudi warplanes used banned cluster bombs against civilians in 5 airstrikes on residential areas in Yemen's Hajjah province. Tens of people were killed and wounded in the air raids.

Earlier today, the Yemeni army spokesman Sharaf Luqman said that the army and popular forces are advancing deep inside Saudi Arabia and capturing more military bases in the Southern parts of the kingdom.

"The Yemeni forces have managed to inflict heavy losses on the Saudi enemy inside Saudi Arabia," Luqman said.

He reiterated that the Yemeni army and the popular forces are having high morale to fight the enemy, and said, "The military operation to capture new military bases of Saudi Arabia is underway."

A well-known Saudi online activist says some 2,000 Saudi nationals have lost their lives and 4,850 others sustained injuries during nine months of Riyadh’s military campaign against neighboring Yemen.

The whistleblower, known on Twitter as @mujtahidd, once again took to the social networking service and released the figures as part of a report detailing damage suffered by Saudi Arabia in its military operation in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has spent more than 200 billion rials (USD 53 billion) in its ferocious campaign over the past nine months, according to @mujtahidd, adding the kingdom spends 750 million rials (almost USD 200 million) a day on its war. 

The activist further said 450 tanks and armored vehicles have been destroyed or disabled during the Saudi war on Yemen, adding that Riyadh’s military had lost four Apache jets and an F-15 aircraft.

Three warships have also been annihilated, while two other vessels have been damaged severely, said the activist who reportedly has more than 1.8 million online followers.

The whistleblower, whose account was created in July 2011, uses his platform to leak documents about corruption inside the Saudi royal family amid the kingdom’s harsh crackdown on political activists.

The amount of oil smuggled into Turkey from areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group is economically insignificant, the United States said on Friday, after Moscow accused Ankara of profiting from the trade.

US officials said coalition air operations have seriously degraded IS's oil infrastructure, but that in any case most of the crude pumped from its wells was absorbed inside Syria's war zone economy.

Russia and Turkey have in recent days traded allegations that they are involved in the illegal trade, further ratcheting up tensions after Turkish jets downed a Russian bomber on the Syrian border.

"The amount of oil being smuggled is extremely low and has decreased over time and is of no significance from a volume perspective - both volume of oil and volume of revenue," said Amos Hochstein, US special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs.

I once asked  LTZ where do military  guys go to release  tension but he was being evasive about it... now I  know  they have  such high class taste to go to strip clubs in NZ

Is substance  abuse rampant in the military  force?

well Spain postpone 13 A400M order,
how about RMAF take 2 unit of Spain order, it without refueling module, much cheaper too, 4 original for RMAF is with refueling module should be enough.
than continue pay via installment.
than we can retire C130H in 2022-2025 already.
btw, just dream since we no have budget.

S. Korea, RI aerospace firms sign KFX cooperation deal

Novan Iman Santosa
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | December 05 2015 | 3:12 PM



South Korea and Indonesia are set to elevate their strategic partnership by signing a strategic cooperation agreement on the joint development and production of KFX/IFX jet fighters.

The agreement was signed on Friday by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. president and CEO Ha Sung-yong and his counterpart PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) president director Budi Santoso.

Witnessed by Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and South Korean Ambassador to Jakarta Cho Tai-young at the Defense Ministry, the agreement represents the second phase of the KFX/IFX program, the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase.

Ryamizard said that aircraft technology was not a simple process but was something that needed support and commitment from all parties including the sharing of expertise, knowledge and technology.

“The agreement is a strategic early step for bot defense industries, especially PT DI, to develop production and technology capabilities, especially jet fighters,” he said, expecting the jet fighter to become Indonesia’s leading product.

Ryamizard revealed that the agreement would lead to production, maintenance or sustenance, modification and upgrade of the jet fighter.

Meanwhile, Cho said South Korea wanted to demonstrate that both countries were strategic partners.

He said the there were more than 2,000 Korean companies operating in Indonesia and that defense cooperation was also significant.

“We have bought from and sold to Indonesia a number of weapon systems,” he said.

“We want to upgrade the relations into a collaboration, such as KFX/IFX.”

South Korea has sold a squadron of T/A-50 advanced jet trainers and three submarines to Indonesia while buying transport and maritime patrol CN-235 aircraft from Indonesia.

“Jet fighter cooperation is not easy because it needs sophisticated technology,” Cho said. “South Korea is the right partner, one which can contribute to not only a jet fighter program, but also submarines.”

After the signing ceremony, Ha said that the program would use original South Korean technologies and would not affected by the US refusal to provide his country with four critical technologies, namely active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, infrared search and track system (IRST), electronic optics targeting pod and radio frequency jammer.

Budi said the US’ refusal would not hinder the US$7.8-billion joint program as there were other suppliers of such technologies.

He said that the first prototype would be produced by 2019 and that the fifth prototype would be produced at PT DI’s facility in Bandung.

“The jet fighter is expected to be operational in 2024 or 2025,” he said.

“PT DI will send a contingent of some 200 engineers to South Korea for the production preparation stage.”

He added that there would be minor differences between the KFX and IFX.

“The IFX will have a greater range as required by the Indonesian Air Force ,” he said.

“For air refueling, the IFX will use a probe system while the KFX will use a boom system.

“The third difference will be the data link. South Korea will use the US-made Link 16 and probably develop their own while we will also develop our own.”

Budi said Indonesia needed its own data link to allow communications with the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flankers heavy jet fighters.

 

"In case you don't know what's happening in the middle east.

President Assad ( who is bad ) is a nasty guy who got so nasty his people rebelled and the Rebels ( who are good ) started winning ( Hurrah!).
But then some of the rebels turned a bit nasty and are now called Islamic State ( who are definitely bad!) and some continued to support democracy ( who are still good.)

So the Americans ( who are questionably good ) started bombing Islamic State ( who are bad ) and giving arms to the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) so they could fight Assad ( who is still bad ) which was good.
By the way, there is a breakaway state in the north run by the Kurds who want to fight IS ( which is a good thing ) but the Turkish authorities think they are bad, so we have to say they are bad whilst secretly thinking they're good and giving them guns to fight IS (which is good) but that is another matter.

Getting back to Syria.
So President Putin ( who is bad, cos he invaded Crimea and the Ukraine and killed lots of folks including that nice Russian man in London with polonium poisoned sushi ) has decided to back Assad ( who is still bad ) by attacking IS ( who are also bad ) which is sort of a good thing?

But Putin ( still bad ) thinks the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) are also bad, and so he bombs them too, much to the annoyance of the Americans ( who are good ) who are busy backing and arming the rebels ( who are also good).

Now Iran ( who used to be bad, but now they have agreed not to build any nuclear weapons and bomb Israel are now good ) are going to provide ground troops to support Assad ( still bad ) as are the Russians ( bad ) who now have ground troops and aircraft in Syria.

So a Coalition of Assad ( still bad ) Putin ( extra bad ) and the Iranians ( good, but in a bad sort of way ) are going to attack IS ( who are bad ) which is a good thing, but also the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) which is bad.

Now the British ( obviously good, except that nice Mr Corbyn in the corduroy jacket, who is probably bad ) and the Americans ( also good ) cannot attack Assad ( still bad ) for fear of upsetting Putin ( bad ) and Iran ( good / bad) and now they have to accept that Assad might not be that bad after all compared to IS ( who are super bad).

So Assad ( bad ) is now probably good, being better than IS ( but let’s face it, drinking your own wee is better than IS so no real choice there ) and since Putin and Iran are also fighting IS that may now make them Good. America ( still Good ) will find it hard to arm a group of rebels being attacked by the Russians for fear of upsetting Mr Putin ( now good ) and that nice mad Ayatollah in Iran ( also Good ) and so they may be forced to say that the Rebels are now Bad, or at the very least abandon them to their fate. This will lead most of them to flee to Turkey and on to Europe or join IS ( still the only constantly bad group).

To Sunni Muslims, an attack by Shia Muslims ( Assad and Iran ) backed by Russians will be seen as something of a Holy War, and the ranks of IS will now be seen by the Sunnis as the only Jihadis fighting in the Holy War and hence many Muslims will now see IS as Good ( Doh!.)

Sunni Muslims will also see the lack of action by Britain and America in support of their Sunni rebel brothers as something of a betrayal ( mmm.might have a point.) and hence we will be seen as Bad.

So now we have America ( now bad ) and Britain ( also bad ) providing limited support to Sunni Rebels ( bad ) many of whom are looking to IS ( Good / bad ) for support against Assad ( now good ) who, along with Iran ( also Good) and Putin ( also, now, unbelievably, Good ) are attempting to retake the country Assad used to run before all this started?

So, now that you fully understand everything, all your questions are answered." - author unknown.

Thx to Michael Rubin, author apparently is:
Daniel Gordis https://www.facebook.com/daniel.gordis.1/po...849297245187002

Raytheon’s system involves several calmly named “kill vehicles,” which are rocket-launched missile hunters. As designed, they are fired into space to stop ballistic missiles. Once there, the kill vehicle is designed to track the weapon and then destroy it by physical collision. This is done chiefly by Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. It works together with the Standard Missile-3, and Raytheon boasts that together the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle and the Standard Missile-3 have a “combined record of 35 successful intercepts in space.”

In addition to these two vehicles, Raytheon is working on a “Redesigned Kill Vehicle”, which is in function and purpose supposed to be a cheaper and better kill vehicle than its first one. With a contract awarded in August of this year, Raytheon is also working on a weapon called the “Multi-Object Kill Vehicle”, which is built to destroy several missiles in space.

The Office of Naval Research commissioned this project in the hope of creating a new vehicle capable of rapid deployment for a multitude of missions. For example, a combination quadcopter-sub could inspect bridge foundations, investigate undersea pollution, or perform search-and-rescue operations.

While these would make great commercial applications, the military is most likely interested in the technology to rapidly detect and map underwater mines. As Javier Diez, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, says, "Mines are probably the biggest problem for the Navy."

This first prototype is merely a proof of concept that has a few development hurdles to overcome. Those include scaling up to a size that can support relevant payloads like cameras and sensors. Underwater dynamics must also be improved to allow increased maneuverability and depth. Because radio transmission through water is difficult, the craft must be tethered at this time to provide continuous communications. Even so, it's easy to watch this demo and imagine an unmanned autonomous drone that can be programmed to accomplish a mission that requires it to swim and fly.

An additional 50 aircraft are to be deployed there, plus a spetsnaz brigade and support personel. There already are Russian military personnel at Shairat, as well as helicopters and base preparation troops. At the moment the base is being used by Syrian Air Force which bases MiG-23, -25, and Su-22 aircraft there. Moreover, Moscow is about to send a large number of TOS-1 rocket self-propelled armored flamethrowers to Syria.

A Russian defense source told lenta.ru that Shairat is necessary in order to prosecute operations in southern and eastern Syria.

The standard scenario is one regiment, one airbase. Our small group in Latakia was the first step. Our permanent presence in Syria demands further infrastructure development and increasing the size of the air group.

It is now necessary to expand Russian presence in Syria in order to increase the number of airstrikes,  to deploy additional fighter aircraft in order to provide protection for the strike aircraft, and to base electronic intelligence gathering aircraft to locate targets for aircraft and cruise missiles. I would not rule out the deployment not only of the Il-20M but also the A-50 airborne early warning aircraft. The Military Transport Aviation component will also be increased to ship munitions and other cargoes.

SP: There are reports that our transport aircraft are active at Shairat. However, Homs province is the site of heavy fighting between government forces and militants. How are we going to ensure the security of take-off and landing of our airlifters?

–It’s clear the militants have nearly no SAMs. They mainly use ZU-23 cannon for air defense with a maximum ceiling of up to 2km, which means they cannot harm landing and taking off aircraft.

Under the agreement, negotiations between the opposition and Assad’s government will begin on January 1, 2016, followed closely by a cease-fire involving all parties except ISIS, Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, and other groups designated “extremists” by Jordan.

Ultimately, Hassan notes, this plan serves Russia well: If rebel groups want to be included in the ceasefire, then they can’t interfere with members of the opposition who choose to work with Assad toward a transition.

This all but forces opposition groups to either accept a role for Assad, or become more extreme — and thus risk being targeted by Russian and regime airstrikes.

As such, the plan is bound to sow division among moderate Syrian rebels broadly affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). This is exactly what Russia wants — indeed, Moscow has been trying to discredit the moderate opposition since well before the latest round of peace talks.

The FSA — which has traditionally refused to devote its resources to the ISIS fight for fear that it would take away from the rebels’ battle against the regime and help Assad maintain his hold on power — was quick to deny the reports.

But rumors of a budding Russia-FSA alliance soon reached the mainstream media and succeeded in creating even more confusion within the international community over who these moderate rebels are and what they actually stand for — signaling a key win for Moscow in the all-important information war.

For years, officials in the US, Europe, Turkey, and the Arab World have been promoting ‘the moderate FSA’ or even ‘the secular FSA’ as Syria’s great hope for the future, without ever arriving at a better explanation of what that means [other] than ‘any damned armed group in Syria that we can work with.’”

This ambiguity, Lund noted, has ultimately helped Russia pick and choose which rebels it wants to work with — and those it wants to eliminate.

“By rebranding their own allies and all kinds of random exiles as ‘FSA representatives,’  they [the Russians] are trying to wring a very useful fiction out of the hands of their enemies or, failing that, to destroy it by adding to the confusion,” Lund wrote.

“Some might call this diplomacy. I call it elite-level trolling.”