Jun 30, 2011 17:21 UTC
Kilo Class
Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped in Indonesia to finalize a $1.2 billion defense agreement and to strengthen economic ties. Indonesia has begun buying Russian equipment, including the recent $335 million purchase of more SU-27/30 Flanker family fighters, but Defence Ministry spokesman Edy Butar Butar told Reuters that no banks had stepped forward yet to finance the deal. The Russian defense package opens a line of credit that will allow Indonesia to buy Russian military equipment during the next 15 years, something they can afford as natural resources have made Russia the world’s second-largest holder of foreign currency reserves after China. A pair of SSK Kilo Class attack submarines, 20 armored vehicles, and 15-22 helicopters are reportedly on the shopping list, as part of larger modernization efforts; meanwhile, President Yudhoyono was blunt about their other reasons for accepting:
“We want to diversify the sources of our equipment. Russia is offering us a generous package, and Russia also does not attach any conditions whatsoever. Russia is all business and does not attach any political conditions and that is the way we like it, and that is why we took up the offer.”
Indonesian Defence Minister (and blogger) Juwono Sudarsono was even blunter:
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Jun 30, 2011 16:27 UTC
ZBV remote operation
June 29/11: The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground’s Natick Contracting Division in Orlando, FL recently issued a 7-vendor, multiple-award contract for “non-intrusive” systems that can scan the inside of personnel, vehicles, and cargo containers; and Entry Control Point (ECP) systems for protecting bases in war zones. The ECP Hardware Sets will include day/night cameras, command and control stations, environmentally protected work stations, biometric systems, barriers, and protective shelters. Most of these systems will be used in Afghanistan, but some few systems will be bought for for training in the United States.
Up to $248.5 million in equipment will be bought, with the winning vendors competing for task orders. In several cases, the vendors listed below are actually leading teams of sub-contractors. The contract will run until August 31/14. Bids were solicited through the Internet, with 7 bids received. The winners were:
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Jun 30, 2011 10:17 UTC
Latest updates: ORS-1 satellite launched aboard Minotaur 1 rocket.
TacSat-1 Concept
(click to view larger)
At a time when defense budgets are being cut, the era of the multi-billion dollar military satellite program might be over. Witness the fate of the massive $12 billion TSAT program, which was shut down in 2009. As a much cheaper alternative, governments are exploring the possibility of using microsatellites to perform many of the functions currently performed by expensive large satellite systems: GPS navigation, communication, surveillance, and earth imagery.
At a 10th of the cost of their larger cousins, microsatellites are much easier sell to budget conscious procurement officers. They are much cheaper and faster to build and launch. For key military missions, however, their reliability and longevity are an issue. They might be cheaper, but if the military has to use 10 times as many to do the job of traditional satellites, would that be a cost savings?
This DID Spotlight article will focus on the US military’s microsatellite development and launch programs, as well as the Army’s development of nanosatellites for battlefield communication, and take a brief look at the problem of space debris.
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Jun 28, 2011 17:36 UTC
US UH-60M carries
Iraqi PM, 2007
June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates’ formal request for 5 UH-60M Black Hawk VIP helicopters. The move will bring the UAE’s UH-60M fleet to 45 helicopters, which breaks down as at least 17 standard transports, up to 23 modified and armed AH-60M Battlehawks, and 5 VIP helicopters. It will also keep pace with Jordan’s monarchy, which recently bought a pair of UH-60M VIP machines. With nearby Bahrain as a UH-60M customer, and Saudi Arbia submitting a major buy request for the type, the UH-60M is quickly becoming the Gulf Cooperation Council’s referenceable standard.
The estimated cost is $217 million, but actual costs will depend on negotiated contracts. The complete request involves…
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