majalah militer

April 6, 2009, Bandung, W Java -- A Fokker 27-03 belonging to Indonesian Air Force with 23 passengers on board crashed and burst into flames at Sastranegara airbase, in Bandung, West Java, at 1.02 p.m on Monday, airport officials said.

Yanto, an official at the operator center of Husein Sastranegara airport, when contacted by ANTARA, confirmed the incident. "It is true that a Fokker 27 of the Indonesian Air Force had crashed at the airport," he said.

He said that his side could not yet conclude the cause of the accident.
In the meantime, Commandant of Air Squadron II of the Halim Perdanakusum Airbase, Lt. Col. Donal Kasenda said he had not yet known the fate of six crew of the ill-fated Squadron 2 plane.

When contacted, he said that the airplane also carried 17 parachuters of the Air Force`s Special Force who were scheduled to undergo a jump exercise at Banddung`s Sulaeman airbase.

"Our team is now heading to Bandung to study the cause of the crash and the conditions of the plan," he said.

Four people were immediately taken to Salamun hospital in Ciumbuleit village, Bandung. They were believed to be victims of the explosion of the military aircraft. (ANTARA)

April 06, 2009, Seattle -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] on March 16 successfully demonstrated simultaneous command and control of three ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Wedgetail 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft flying over Washington state.

Using the company's UAS battle-management software, airborne operators issued NATO-standard sensor and air-vehicle commands via a UHF satellite communication link and ground-station relay.

"Our standards-based UAS command/control system, which is based on commercial off-the-shelf architecture, allowed us to integrate UAS control into existing battle-management software," said Pierce Lutter, Boeing Associate Technical Fellow for Unmanned Vehicle Control Systems. "This would have been a major event even if we had accomplished it in a laboratory using surrogates, but we used currently fielded platforms and systems in a real-world setting to demonstrate a new level of command-and-control capability for warfighters.

"Maureen Dougherty, Boeing vice president of the AEW&C program, added, "This network-centric capability substantially increases the operational versatility of Boeing's battle-management platforms and reduces the need for dedicated ground control of unmanned systems. It also demonstrates that our operational 737 AEW&C system is open and robust enough to allow integration of the future capabilities our customers require."

The three ScanEagles were launched from Boeing's Boardman Test Facility in eastern Oregon, approximately 120 miles (190 km) away from the airborne Wedgetail. Operators tasked them with area search, reconnaissance, point surveillance and targeting. They demonstrated extended sensing; persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); and manned-unmanned teaming and sent back real-time video imagery of ground targets.

Boeing will conduct a follow-on demonstration of this capability for the Australian government in early May at RAAF Base Williamtown in New South Wales. A Wedgetail will take control of ScanEagles operated by Boeing Defence Australia personnel at Woomera Test Facility in South Australia, approximately 1,080 miles (1,730 km) from Base Williamtown.

A joint effort of Boeing and its wholly owned subsidiary, Insitu Inc., the long-endurance, fully autonomous ScanEagle UAS carries inertially stabilized electro-optical and infrared cameras that allow the operator to track both stationary and moving targets. Capable of flying above 16,000 feet and loitering over the battlefield for more than 24 hours, the four-foot-long (1.2 m) platform provides persistent low-altitude ISR.

The 737 AEW&C aircraft, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 commercial airplane, is designed to provide airborne battle-management capability with 10 state-of-the-art mission system consoles. Able to track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously using an advanced, multi-role electronically scanned array radar, the mission crew can direct high-performance fighter aircraft while continuously scanning the operational area. (Boeing)

April 5, 2009 -- The first ever indigenous Wankel Rotary engine, powering Nishant, the Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), took off from a World War II abandoned runway near a village eight kilometres from Kolar in Karnataka. The maiden flight of the indigenous Wankel engine of a UAV, which took off yesterday morning, climbed to an altitude of 1.8 km effortlessly before cruising for 35 minutes.

The air vehicle was recovered safely at the intended place at a dried-up lake after a total flight duration of 40 minutes, a defence press release said here today. The event signifies achievements in many categories: It is the first time that a Wankel engine has been developed within the country and UAV flown with an indigenous engine.

The engine, a Wankel Rotary type, was a developmental project, which originated at the DRDO through VRDE, Ahmednagar, and was jointly designed and developed by NAL, a CSIR laboratory, VRDE, Ahmednagar, and ADE, Bangalore, it said. The Wankel engine is the first of its kind that was totally designed and developed in the country. Very few countries in the world have the capability to develop and master this technology, the release said.

This indigenous engine is expected to replace the present imported engine for Nishant.

Wikipedia: DRDO Nishant
The DRDO Nishant is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed by India's ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) a branch of DRDO for the Indian Armed Forces. The Nishant UAV is primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory and also for recce, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, damage assessment, ELINT and SIGINT. The UAV has an Endurance of 4 hrs & 30min. Nishant has completed development Phase and User trials.

The 380 kg Nishant UAV requires rail-launching from a hydro-pneumatic launcher and recovered by a Parachute System. Launches at a velocity of 45 m/s are carried out in 0.6 seconds with 100 kW power and subsequent launches can be carried out in intervals of 20 minutes. The Mobile Hydro-Pneumatic Launcher (MHPL) system mounted on a Tatra truck weighs 14,000 kg and boasts of a life cycle of 1000 launches before requiring overhaul.

Nishant is one of the few UAVs in the world in its weight-class capable of being catapult-launched and recovered by using parachute, thus eliminating the need for a runway as in case of conventional take-off and landing with wheels. (India-Defence)

April 5, 2009 -- In a very short time, the Swedish corvette HMS Malmö and Stockholm, and support ship Trossö have been modified to be able to operate in very different waters than they originally intended. FMV has been responsible for a series of modifications of the vessels.

On December 19 came the decision from the government that Sweden should participate in EU intervention in the waters around Somalia. Since then, there has been full speed on the preparations.

In a team consisting of Naval base at Karlskrona and 3rd naval squadron, which will implement the action, FMV has participated in the preparatory work and was responsible for a series of measures to make the vessels more suited to operate in tropical waters.

The ships have undergone a so-called third-party verification in order to verify the safety at sea for vessels operating in other waters than they were originally intended. Third Party Verification, made by the classification society Det Norske Veritas, identified needs that are now implemented.

The vessels have been supplemented with rescue and safety related equipment. Ventilation and cooling capacity have been improved for operation in warmer environments. The satellite communications have also been improved.

To make the vessels interoperable with other nations the ships have been equipped with new installations, including equipment for secure text and secure voice and crypto equipment. Arms have been supplemented by heavy machine-gun and ballistic protection for the marksmen.

Work has been carried out under great time pressure.

- Thanks to the wise decision in the autumn and forces now at the end of everyone involved, we have succeeded in implementing these measures in a short time, "says Ingvar Backman, Coordinator for Somalia bet at FMV.

Aid ship Trossö has undergone corresponding measures as the corvettes, moreover, the vessel received a new system. The vessel also equipped with several heavy machine guns and ballistic protection for the marksmen.

Friday, April 3 the loading of the ship-lift starts. It will carry the three vessels to the area of operation in the Gulf of Aden. The Swedish team will be stationed in port of Djibouti, bordering Somalia and has a strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The task is first and foremost to act escort to the aid packages as UN (World Food Program) sends to the area. But it can also be envisaged to act in areas where pirates operate and show its presence. (Defpro)