majalah militer

April 23, 2009, Tel Aviv -- The Israel Air Force (IAF) is negotiating with St. Louis-based Boeing to buy up to six more AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, which the service plans to arm with locally made Spike missiles and U.S. Hellfires.

Defense and industry sources here said the recently launched talks are focused on upgrading four older IAF AH-64As to the advanced Longbow configuration. But an IAF general officer said the service is also seeking additional funding for a six-aircraft deal similar to previous procurement packages.

"There could be six more over the five-year plan, and these aircraft will be a lot more capable than the Sharafs we now have," said the officer, using the Hebrew name for Viper conferred on IAF Longbows.

Since 2005, Israel has acquired three lots of six Apache Longbows, including new builds and remanufactured versions of older-model Apaches. Three of the advanced, all-weather attack helicopters were lost in the 2006 Lebanon War, two in a midair collision and another due to a rotor-related failure.

In addition to fortifying the existing Longbow fleet, defense and industry sources said the remanufactured aircraft are expected to accommodate the Spike ER (extended range) anti-armor missile. In interviews here, sources said representatives from the IAF, Boeing and Rafael, developers of the Spike ER, have begun discussions about integrating the Israeli missile into the Apache Longbow's millimeter-wave fire control and acquisition system.

With a range of up to eight kilometers, the electro-optical, autonomously guided, precision missile is designed for urban strikes and ground support during the day, at night and in bad weather. The Spike ER features multipurpose warheads and is designed to operate in fire-and-forget or fire-and-steer modes for cases where moving targets or terrorists on the run attempt to avoid attack and targets must be switched after launch.

Rafael has integrated the Spike ER on the Eurocopter Tiger and AgustaWestland A129 helicopters, but the pending deal will provide the firm's first opportunity to integrate its ground strike missile on a front-line U.S. platform, sources here said.

Boeing spokesman Paul Lewis declined to discuss details of the pending deal.

"We understand [the IAF] could be interested in additional helicopters, and we welcome the customer's interest," he said.
(Defense news)

April 22, 2009, Washington -- Computer spies have hacked into the Pentagon's costly program for a new fighter jet, a US newspaper reported Tuesday, but the Defense Department said sensitive technology for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft had not been compromised.

Citing current and former government officials, The Wall Street Journal said cyber-intruders were able to copy vast amounts of data on the 300-billion-dollar Joint Strike Fighter project, also known as the F-35 Lightning II.

The newspaper cited unnamed former US officials saying the attack appeared to have originated in China, which the Pentagon says has put a priority on bolstering its cyber-warfare capability.

Asked if sensitive technology for the Joint Strike Fighter had been jeopardized, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: "I'm not aware of any specific concerns."

Whitman declined to confirm the breach of security for the F-35 but said the number of attempted attacks on the US military's computer network were on the rise.

"We have seen the number of intrusion attempts more than double recently," Whitman told reporters, without indicating a time period for the increase or other details.

"I would caution you not to overestimate the ability of people to gain information from our networks. We do have robust, defensive measures to protect our networks."

The report came as President Barack Obama weighed an overhaul of the government's approach to cyber-security, including a possible IT security "czar," with the findings of a policy review expected to be released as soon as this week.

The Journal reported that the computer spies exploited weaknesses in the networks of two or three contractors helping to build the fighter jet.

Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is the lead firm building the sophisticated aircraft, and Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems are also part of the project.

A top US Air Force officer on Tuesday acknowledged that classified information in the hands of contractors complicated the task of safeguarding technology for the Joint Strike Fighter.

"The F-35 has a lot of suppliers, probably a hundred, they have to be networked together, ... but every time you share information, you run the risk, quite frankly, to share this with someone you don't want to share that with," Lieutenant General Robert Elder, global strike commander at the US Strategic Command, told a gathering of defense reporters.

The most sensitive information on the F-35 is reportedly stored on secure computers not connected to the Internet.

Eight other countries are involved in the development and financing of the Joint Strike Fighter: Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Turkey.

According to the Journal, one cyber-security breach may have occurred in Turkey and another US ally.

A Pentagon report last month said the Chinese military was focusing on cyber-warfare and that there have been numerous intrusions against US government and other computer networks around the world that "appear to have originated within" China.

It was not clear if the intrusions were carried out or backed by the Chinese government, the Pentagon report said.

India and Belgium reported Chinese hackers had targeted their computer networks last year and US authorities were investigating whether contents of a US government laptop were copied during a visit to China by the then-commerce secretary.

Officials told the Journal similar breaches were discovered at the Air Force's air traffic-control system in recent months, while the Journal had previously reported that spies hacked into computers used to manage the US electrical grid and other infrastructure.

The Defense Department spent more than 100 million dollars in the past six months repairing the damage done by cyber attacks, General John Davis, deputy commander of the joint task force for global operations, said earlier this month.
(ANTARA)

April 21, 2009, Rostov-On-Don -- The first six Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters have been delivered to Russia's North Caucasus military district, a military source said on Tuesday.

"The first six Mi-28N helicopters have been put in service with combat units [in North Caucasus]," the source told RIA Novosti, without specifying the schedule for further deliveries.

The Mi-28N is the latest modification of the Mi-28 attack helicopter, manufactured by the Rostvertol plant in southern Russia. It has been designed to conduct hunter-killer missions against main battle tanks, helicopters, ground forces, and armor in any weather conditions. (Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopter - Image Gallery)

The Night Hunter is powered by two TV3-117VMA turbo-shaft engines with 2,200 shaft horsepower each. The armored cockpit protects the crew from small-arms fire and absorbs the impact energy during emergency landings, ensuring high survivability.

Its combat range with internal fuel tanks is 450 kilometers (about 280 miles), but with external fuel tanks can be extended to 1,100 km (about 680 miles).

Russia's Defense Ministry has said it is planning to procure between 45 and 67 Mi-28Ns in the next few years, and to fully replace the Mi-24 Hind helicopters in the Armed Forces by 2015.
(RIA Novosti)

April 21, 2009, Moscow -- Russia will deliver the modernized Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to the Indian Navy in 2012, a senior shipbuilding industry official has said.

"Under an agreement with India, the aircraft will be delivered in 2012. Almost 2,000 highly-qualified workers are currently involved in the overhaul [of the ship]," Vladimir Pakhomov, the president of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation, said in an interview published on Tuesday with the Vremya Novostei newspaper.

"We will increase the number of workers and speed up the work, making sure that it does not affect the quality. We are continuing talks with Indian officials about the additional financing of the project," he added.

The original $750 million 2004 contract between Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Indian Navy envisioned that work on the aircraft carrier would be completed in 2008.

However, Russia later claimed it had underestimated the scale and the cost of the modernization and demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi said was "exorbitant."

After long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February 2008 to raise retrofit costs for the aircraft carrier, docked at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the past 12 years, by at least $800 million.

The current contract covers a complete overhaul of the ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

The Admiral Gorshkov carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat carrier, which, although currently operational, is now 50 years old.

After modernization, the carrier is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.
(RIA Novosti)