Rapid Fire May 14, 2012: Open Bahrain?

  • RIA Novosti says that Russia is considering a joint venture to make Iveco’s wheeled Centauro tank-destroyer vehicles, along with their smaller, blast-resistant Lynx MLV.

  • The 1st converted QF-16 has taken flight, with a pilot at the controls. The F-16s are being turned into unmanned aerial targets for the US military.

  • There’s a lot of piping in a ship for fresh water, wastewater, ballast, and fuel. AMMTIAC Quarterly explains [PDF] that the latest generation of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) composites have been tested with good results to replace the sturdy but heavy traditional copper-nickel alloy. The Royal Navy got such piping retrofitted [PDF] in the ballast area of 2 landing platform docks in 2010.

  • The IFRI European think tank published a paper [PDF] critical of France’s defense budgets “between denial and decline.’

  • Categories: Asia - Central, Boeing, Daily Rapid Fire, Europe - Other, Fighters & Attack, France, Middle East - Other, Other Corporation, Russia, Tanks & Mechanized, Think Tanks, UAVs, USA

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