UK decepcionado con USA por Malvinas

Gran Bretaña está "decepcionada" con Estados Unidos
Es porque no da "prioridad al principio de autodeterminación" de los habitantes de las Islas Malvinas.



Gran Bretaña está "decepcionada" con los Estados Unidos, porque el gobierno de Barack Obama no da "prioridad al principio de autodeterminación" de los habitantes de las Islas Malvinas, según un documento oficial difundido hoy, un día después de cumplirse 32 años del desembarco argentino.

El Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Parlamento británico difundió hoy un documento sobre el vínculo entre Londres y Washington, reporte en el que abordó no sólo la cuestión de las Islas Malvinas, sobre las que Estados Unidos se mantiene "neutral" pero reconociendo la administración británica "de facto", sino también sobre asuntos como Siria y la presencia norteamericana en Asia.

"Estamos decepcionados porque la administración de Estados Unidos no da prioridad al principio de autodeterminación en su postura sobre la soberanía de las Islas Malvinas (NdR: Falklands en el original).

Es particular, especialmente por la forma en que el Reino Unido permite a Estados Unidos el uso de otros dos territorios británicos de ultramar, la Isla Ascensión y Diego García, para bases militares", indicó el reporte parlamentario.

Perfil

La prensa británica dice que Putin invadiría Ucrania

Putin could invade Ukraine within a week, warns Nato chief



Russia has all the forces it needs on the border to invade Ukraine within the next three to five days, Nato’s top military commander has warned.

The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and the US Air Force General Philip Breedlove described the situation at the border as “incredibly concerning”.

He said Nato had spotted signs of movement by a very small part of the Russian force overnight but there was no indication it was returning to barracks.

"This is a very large, very capable and very ready force" Mr Breedlove told The Wall Street Journal.

The Russian force has aircraft and helicopter support as well as field hospitals and electronic warfare capabilities - "the entire suite that would be required to successfully have an incursion into Ukraine should the decision be made," Mr Breedlove warned.

"We think it is ready to go and we think it could accomplish its objectives in between three and five days if directed to make the actions," he said.

Russia could have several potential objectives, including pushing beyond Crimea to Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa or even threatening to connect to Transdniestria, the mainly Russian-speaking, separatist region of Moldova that lies to the west of Ukraine.

"We are going to have to look at how our alliance now is prepared for a different paradigm, a different rule set... We will need to rethink our force posture, our force positioning, our force provisioning, readiness, etc," he added.

On Wednesday, Russia accused Nato of reverting to Cold War language by suspending all practical cooperation with Moscow the day before in protest at its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Nato also ordered military planners to draft measures to strengthen its defences and reassure nervous eastern European countries.

Mr Breedlove said the ministers had asked him to draw up by April 15 a package of measures that would include reinforcements by land, air and sea.

"We will work on air, land and sea 'reassurances' and we will look to position those 'reassurances' across the breadth of our exposure: north, centre, and south," he said.

The Independent

50 pesos con las Malvinas

Así es el nuevo billete de 50 pesos con la imagen de las Malvinas 




TN

Filipinas quiere sus F/A-50s con capacidad BVR

DND Eyes BVR Upgrades for F/A-50s



Samsung Thales (STC) formally announced the development an AESA radar for FA-50 to compete with LIG Nex1's AESA radar model (photo : SamsungThales)

MANILA, (PNA) -- The Department of National Defense (DND) is planning to install equipment that would give the F/A-50 "Fighting Eagle" a "beyond visual range" (BVR) capability.

BVR is the capability to detect, track and if needed attack air targets beyond 20 nautical miles (around 37 kilometers).

DND Assistant Secretary Patrick Velez said that this is one of the upgrades they are planning to make the F/A-50 a much more capable aircraft in defending the country's airspace.

But due to the cost, estimated at P800 million to P1 billion per BVR fitting, not all 12 aircraft will be fitted.

"We are looking at the possible installation for three to four aircraft to provide us with a long range intercept capability," Velez said.

He added that installing BVR capability to the F/A-50s is relatively simple as the aircraft is already fitted with a decent air-to-air radar.

Adjusting it to BVR standards would just mean upgrading the radar to be capable of detection at much longer range and fitting of BVR weapons like the Raytheon AIM-7 "Sparrow" missile.

The Philippines and Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. signed the P18.9-billion contract for the acquisition of the 12 aircraft last Friday.

DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said that the first two F/A-50 jet aircraft will be delivered 18 months after the opening of the letter of credit; the next two will be delivered 12 months later, and the remaining eight jet planes in staggered basis within eight months.

The F/A-50 has a top speed of Mach 1.5 or one-and-a-half times the speed of sound and is capable of being fitted with air-to-air missiles, including the AIM-9 "Sidewinder" air-to-air and heat-seeking missiles aside from light automatic cannons.

The F/A-50 will act as the country's interim fighter until the Philippines get enough experience of operating fast jet assets and money to fund the acquisition of more capable fighter aircraft.

The F/A-50 design is largely derived from the F-16 "Fighting Falcon" and they have many similarities: use of a single engine, speed, size, cost, and the range of weapons.

The aircraft can carry two pilots seating in tandem. The high-mounted canopy developed by Hankuk Fiber is applied with stretched acrylic, providing the pilots with good visibility, and has been tested to offer the canopy with ballistic protection against four-pound objects impacting at 400 knots.

The altitude limit is 14,600 meters (48,000 feet), and the airframe is designed to last 8,000 hours of service.

There are seven internal fuel tanks with capacity of 2,655 liters (701 US gallons) -- five in the fuselage and two in the wings.

An additional 1,710 liters (452 US gallons) of fuel can be carried in the three external fuel tanks.

Trainer variants have a paint scheme of white and red, and aerobatic variants white, black, and yellow.

The F/A-50 "Fighting Eagle" uses a single General Electric F404-102 turbofan engine license-produced by Samsung Techwin, upgraded with a full authority digital engine control system jointly developed by General Electric and KAI.

The engine consists of three-staged fans, seven axial stage arrangement, and an after-burner.

The aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 1.4-1.5.

Its engine produces a maximum of 78.7 kN (17,700 lbf) of thrust with after-burner.

PNA

Israel recibe su primer entrenador M-346

Getting Closer



At a special ceremony in Italy, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the IAF officially received the first "Lavi" (M-346). The advanced training jet, which bears the namesake of an Israeli jet from the past, will replace the old "Skyhawk A-4" training planes and will bring the IAF the most advanced training capabilities
Tal Michael
There was great excitement in Varese, Italy, as the first "Lavi" (M-346) jet was delivered to the Ministry of Defense and the IAF. The celebratory event marked the end of a process in which the advanced training jet was purchased for the IAF Flight School in Hatzerim. "The 'Lavi' jet represents a quantum leap in the quality of training for future pilots", said Brigadier General (res.) Shmuel Zucker , the Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Defense, after the ceremony.

Meet The Trainer

Anyone who ventures into the aircraft will discover that despite the Italian accent, the dazzling colors and the beautiful pictures of the Alps, the plane is Russian at heart: it was born in Russia in the early 90s, when the "Yakovlev" company began developing the first training jet of its kind for the Russian Air Force. At the same time, the company Aermacchi planned to develop a replacement for the MB-339 planes and the Russians, for their part, did not object.

What made the Western company cooperate with Russia shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union? According to Dr. Van Der Linden, the answer is simpler than most people think.

"'Yakovlev' had worked in Russia since the WWII. Italians knew very well what kind of knowledge the Russians had acquired over the years and cooperation was a good way for them to share it. We shouldn't forget the low cost of production in Russia during the 90s or the fact that the price of the jet would have been especially cheap", he said in a special interview with IAF Magazine.
The Russians also had good reasons to sign the agreements and develop cooperation.
"They tried to direct the sales of their planes to a global market. Over the years, they sold only to the Eastern Bloc countries and this was a golden opportunity for them".After several years of working together, the 130-Yak/AEM planes arrived in Italy in 1996, where they were offered to the local air force. But the potential customers in Italy were not interested in the model and the cooperation was officially discontinued in 2000.

Italian, Russian, German, American and Israeli

In the years that followed, Russia continued developing the 130-Yak and marketing it to Eastern and Middle-Eastern countries, while the Italian company "Aermacchi" produced a new plane: The M-346.
Unlike its Russian predecessor, the Italian plane is based on an "international team" of Western components: an American motor, British ejection seats, German landing gears, while most of the other components are the fruits of the labor of the Italian company. Surprisingly (or not) some of the computer systems and the display system are Israeli-made, from "Elbit Systems".

"After parting ways with the Russians, we adjusted ourselves to NATO and American international standards and we tried to adjust the plane to the Western market", explains Giuseppe Giordo, CEO of "Alenia-Aermacchi" in an interview with IAF Magazine.

The Simulator is ready

The IAF has been looking forward to this moment and the first two planes will arrive in Israel this year. If all goes well, by 2016, 28 additional planes will have been brought to Israel. "There's no doubt that the cadets that will train on the new plane will easily adapt to the advanced planes the IAF operates. The M-346 provides a work environment that is similar to that of the F-16I and F-15 planes", said Giordo. "The work environment will allow the pilots to adapt easily to the fifth generation fighter planes. In fact, all the forces that will use our planes have already decided that the F-35 will be their next fighter jet and I believe that it won't be a problem for any of the pilots to transition with ease from our platform to that of the F-35".

In addition to the preparations in Italy, the IAF has also started revving its engines: The first simulator instructors began their training for the changes in instruction when the "Lavi" lands in Israel. The flight simulator of the plane is considered one of the most advanced flight simulators in the world and cadets and aircrews will train on it during their operational training.

IAF

1982 - 2 de Abril - 2014

Por Aldo Campos (c)

6 Lakotas para el ejército real tailandés

US Approves FMS of Six UH-72 Lakota for Royal Thai Army


UH-72A Lakota (EC-145) helicopter

EADS-N.A., Herndon, Va., was awarded a $34,018,858 modification (P00772) to sole-source, Foreign Military Sales contract W58RGZ-06-C-0194 for six Lakota helicopters with the environmental control unit, mission equipment package and airborne radio communication (ARC-231) radios for the Royal Thai Army.

Fiscal 2010 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $34,018,857 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is April 3, 2015. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss.

Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.

US DoD

Fe de erratas

Disculpas

Se publicó una noticia en el blog que fue un evento histórico, no una noticia actual.
Mil disculpas a todos.

Esteban McLaren

¿Cómo hacen los indios para hacer caer un (nuevo) Hercules?

C-130J Crashes, 5 Killed



In a shocking loss for the air force, one of its most modern special operations C-130 J aircraft crashed Friday during a low-level, tactical training mission, killing all five crew and destroying the plane.

The aircraft, inducted in 2010, was commanded by Wing Commander Prashant Joshi, an experienced pilot and the second-in-command of the 77 Veiled Vipers squadron. It had three other pilots on board, including one who was undergoing training.

Sources said the C-130 J was part of a two aircraft formation that had taken off from Agra and was to carry out low-level flying training before returning to base. Official and eyewitness accounts said the aircraft apparently grazed a hillock before crashing in a riverbed site 116 km west of Gwalior on the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border.

The aircraft, numbered KC 3803, was the number two of the formation and was carrying out a tactical flying training mission. The loss of the aircraft was ascertained by the lead aircraft and rescue choppers were sent from Gwalior, an air force officer told The Indian Express.

What has come as a surprise is that the aircraft was believed to be in good technical condition and did not give out any distress signal before going down. The crash was sudden and there was no indication from the crew that anything was wrong, the officer said.

While a court of inquiry that has been ordered will rely on flight data information from its black box as well as the account of the lead aircraft of the formation, the investigation is expected to focus on a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) situation or a sudden loss of control due to a technical or human error, among others.

Accounts from the ground said the aircraft was observed to be flying low and hitting a small hillock before disintegrating and catching fire on a river bed. Local villagers were the first to reach the site and recovered the bodies of the crew who were thrown out of the aircraft after it disintegrated on impact.
The crew has been identified by the air force as Wing Commander Prashant Joshi (Pilot), Wing Commander Raji Nair (Co-pilot), Squadron Leader Kaushik Mishra (Pilot undergoing training), Squadron Leader Ashish Yadav (Navigator) and Warrant Officer KP Singh (Systems Operator).

India Express