Saab awarded contract by Lockheed Martin to upgrade radar for Canadian Navy Halifax Class Frigates

HMCS VANCOUVER is the second of twelve HALIFAX Class Frigates built under the Canadian Patrol Frigate Program. (Foto: navy.forces.gc.ca)

June 1, 2009 -- The defence and security company Saab has signed a contract worth approximately SEK 180 Million with Lockheed Martin Canada, to upgrade the 2D radar, Sea Giraffe 150 HC for the modernization of the Canadian Navy’s Halifax Class frigates. Deliveries are planned for 2010-2017.

Saab has been a radar provider to the Canadian Navy since the early nineties. The contract received is an upgrade and modification of the existing Sea Giraffe 150 HC, and will secure a high level of operational availability as well as new and improved functions of the radar for years to come. The radar upgrade is part of a larger Combat Systems Integration contract, awarded to Lockheed Martin Canada in 2008, that will ultimately provide a new command and control system, radars, tactical data links, electronic support measures and other warfare capabilities for the Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates.

” We are very pleased that Lockheed Martin Canada and the Canadian Navy have selected Saab’s radar for this modernization program”, says Lennart Joelsson, Business Unit Manager, Saab Microwave Systems.

The fully owned Saab company, Saab Microwave Canada Ltd, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, also will provide support services for the Canadian Navy, as well as support for future products from Saab in Canada.

(Saab)

Indonesia to increase personnel in UN peace-keeping missions


May 30, 2009, New York -- Indonesia hoped that the number of the country`s personnel being attached in peace-keeping missions of the United Nations could each 2,000 in 2009.

Indonesia`s target was to have 2,000 personnel in UN peace-keeping missions this year, according to Marty Natalegawa, Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) here on Friday.

"It`s an ongoing process. We have reached the target now, around 1,600 personnel," Natalegawa told ANTARA News at the UN Headquarters, after attending a ceremony observing the anniversary of the International Peace Keeper Day on May 29.

Indonesia intended to improve not only the quantity, but also the quality of its personnel joining e UN peace-keeping missions, he said. Besides, Indonesia hoped to provide more contributions in other forms, he added.


Citing an example of a contribution in another form, he said KRI (warship) Diponegoro 365 sent by the Indonesian Navy to Lebanon last March 2009, to join the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), was part of the maritime peace keeping operation.

"So, it`s not only the number, but also other forms of contributions, from officers, warships, female peace-keepers, and police unit. Even there has been a request from the United Nations that we should send medical personnel to peace mission," the ambassador said.

Meanwhile, Commodore I Putu Adnyana, military adviser of the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, said around 1,600 personnel of the Indonesia Defense Force (TNI) and the National Police, are currently joining the UN peace missions in Lebanon, Congo, Nepal, Darfur and Sudan.

In Mid 2007, Indonesia sent only 1,072 personnel who were all from TNI and assigned in Lebanon, Congo and Nepal, he said.

Putu Adnyana said the UN had also invited Indonesia to add personnel in UNIFIL, namely 175 personnel for infantry company and 140 personnel for logistics.

The UN also invited Indonesia to send 140 more police personnel to be assigned in Darfur, he said.

(ANTARA News)

Russia to upgrade military transport fleet, buy new planes

AN-22. (Foto: airliners.net)

May 29, 2009, Moscow -- The acquisition of new aircraft for Russia's military transport aviation will begin in 2012, while modernized Il-76, An-22 and An-124 aircraft will remain in service for another 20-30 years, a senior Air Force official said on Friday.

According to various sources, there are up to 300 transport aircraft in service with the Russian Air Force, including An-12 Cub, An-72 Coaler, An-22 Cock, An-124 Condor and Il-76 Candid planes. Most of the aircraft entered service in the 1960s and 1970s and are considered outdated by modern safety and noise pollution standards.

"The current state arms procurement program envisions the acquisition of new aircraft for military transport aviation starting in 2012," Lt. Gen. Viktor Kachalkin, commander of the 61st Air Army told a news conference in Moscow.

In the light transport category, Russia has opted for the Il-112V plane although the aircraft is still at the design stage.

In the medium-lift category, Russia relies on a joint Russian-Indian project set to be implemented in three to four years. Russia and India signed last year an intergovernmental agreement on the joint development of a multi-role transport aircraft (MTA).

There is also a need for the Russian-Ukrainian An-70 medium-range transport plane, Kachalkin said.

However, he said the procurement of new aircraft would not be enough to satisfy the demand for the high mobility of Russia's Armed Forces in line with a new military doctrine. Therefore, the current military transport fleet must be thoroughly upgraded and the service life of existing planes should be extended for another 20-30 years, the general said.

"We are planning a deep modernization of the fleet of Il-76 and An-124 in service. Their airframes are still in great shape, and what we really need is to upgrade the avionics and possibly engines," Kachalkin said.

The Russian Air Force has begun in 2002 to upgrade its Il-76MD transport aircraft, but this has been a slow process. According to the modernization program, 12 Il-76 aircraft are due to be modernized to Il-76MD-90 variant before 2010.

The An-124 and its modernized version, the An-124-100, will remain in service as a strategic heavy airlift transport aircraft. Russia currently deploys an air regiment equipped with these planes.

(RIA Novosti)

Britain sends aircraft for N.Korea blast probe


May 31, 2009, London -- Britain has sent a military aircraft to help verify the strength of the nuclear device detonated by North Korea earlier this week, the government said on Saturday.

The secretive Communist country carried out an underground nuclear test on Monday, drawing international condemnation.

The Defence Ministry said a VC10 tanker plane had been sent to Japan to assist with examinations determining the strength of the blast and the type of nuclear material used.

The VC10 enables aircraft to refuel in the air.

On Friday, a U.S. official said initial tests to determine whether North Korea had fired a nuclear device were inconclusive.

The Vienna-based Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said absolute proof awaited findings of radioactive particles and noble gases, expected next week at the earliest.

(ANTARA News/Reuters)

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