Блоги

Россия и Индия создают предприятие в области самолетостроения

Конструкторское бюро "Ильюшин" и крупнейшая индийская государственная компания "Хиндустан аэронаутикс ЛТД." (ХАЛ) достигли принципиальной договоренности о создании совместного предприятия. Российские и индийские специалисты намерены наладить производство гражданских самолетов средних размеров. Проект, оценивающийся в $300 млн, будет финансироваться правительствами обеих стран. Основная цель проекта - продвижение на местный рынок 100-местного самолета ИЛ-214, а также создание его грузовой модификации, которая может быть использована и индийскими ВВС. Кроме того, совместная компания будет продвигать готовую продукцию на рынки третьих стран. Как ожидается, окончательный договор между КБ "Ильюшин" и ХАЛ будет подписан в феврале нынешнего года. //РИА «Новости» www.gazeta.ru

Here's yahoo translation:

Russia, our holy country!
Russia, our beloved country!
A mighty will, a great glory,
Are your inheritance for all time!

Refrain:
Be glorious, our free Fatherland!
Eternal union of fraternal peoples,
Common wisdom given by our forebears,
Be glorious, our country! We are proud of you!

From the southern seas to the polar region
spread our forests and fields.
You are unique in the world, inimitable,
Native land protected by God!

(Repeat refrain)

Wide spaces for dreams and for living
Are opened for us by the coming years
Faithfulness to our country gives us strength
Thus it was, so it is and always will be!

Personaly, I don't like it in either language. Soviet sounded strong and powerful. This one sounds no better than all other ones if not worse (which isn't something I got used to). I think Putin would have to approve bunch of corrections to it over time.

Chile seeks F-16 fighter deal that could be worth 620 million dollars

SANTIAGO, Dec 27 (AFP) - 17:52 GMT - Chile's government has given its Air Force a green light to negotiate the purchase of a fleet of 10 US-made F-16 fighter jets, the Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.
After a three-year review, the decision in favor of the combat aircraft made by Lockheed-Martin — which industry sources say could cost 620 million dollars — comes as bad news to France's Dassault, which sought a contract for its Mirage 2000, and the Anglo-Swedish Saab, which had its Jas 39 Gripen in the running for the Chilean deal.

"Of the three, the US offer is going to be the least appropriate, unless the Chilean Air Force is able to have a guarantee that they will receive more modern weaponry written into the contract," military analyst Daniel Prieto told AFP.

The defense ministry statement said President Ricardo Lagos had received a technical analysis from the air force putting the F-16 — among the world's bestselling fighter aircraft — on the top of its wish list.

Lagos said negotiations should take about six months.

An F-16 group purchase would allow Chile's air force to replace the US-made Dragonfly A-37 fighters purchased 40 years ago, and retired three years back.

At the moment, Mirage fighters dominate Chile's air power.

Prieto underscored that in its offer to place another 10 Mirage jets in Chile, France's Dassault put no limits on the sophisticated weaponry that could come along with the deal.

The Mirages would come with air-to-air BVR missiles capable of hitting a target 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, he said.

The US firm in contrast had offered to outfit its F-16s with missiles that have only an 8-kilometer (five mile) range, he said.

"Only the French and the Swedes are offering all the weaponry options Chile might want to put on order, both the…

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Construction of European anti-missile defense system possible: Russia

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (AFP) - 03:36 GMT - Constructing a joint anti-missile defense system for both Europe and Russia is technically possible, commander of Russian strategic missile forces General Vladimir Yakovlev said on Thursday.
Russia can both create the joint defense shield and test it, Yakovlev said, adding that "we can already begin negotiations with our European partners to that end," the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

However, it remains to be determined "who this anti-missile system will be designed to repel and what countries will join the union," the general said.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed creating a joint anti-missile shield for Russia, Europe and the United States as an alternative to a controversial US plan to set up a national anti-missile defence system, or NMD.

Russia staunchly opposes the NMD project and has threatened in response to tear up the START-I and START-II nuclear disarmament deals if the US does deploy the shield.

Moscow said Thursday it was ready to open immediate talks with the new Washington administration, which has spoken in favor of the NMD, in order to find alternative solutions.
www.defense-aerospace.com

Sukhoi deal to give Indian Air Force technological edge: experts

NEW DELHI, Dec 29 (AFP) - 08:44 GMT - An Indo-Russian deal for the licensed production of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets will give the Indian Air Force (IAF) the technological edge it has been looking for, experts said Friday.
The three-billion-dollar deal (3.2 billion euros), signed on Thursday, envisages the production of some 140 Su-30MKI fighters over the next 17 years by India's largest aerospace company, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

Manufacturing the Su-30s in India will allow the IAF to keep abreast of technological changes and modify the planes as required, said Air Commodore Prashant Dikshit, a security expert.

Licensed production is "the only way" to ensure the aircraft remains up to standard, Dikshit said, citing existing doubts over the plane's technological superiority over similar Sukhoi aircraft bought by China.

The deal is the largest contract in the history of Russian-Indian military cooperation and one of the biggest armaments contracts won by Russia.

More than 70 percent of India's defence hardware is of Soviet origin.

However, of late India has shown interest in acquiring defence equipment from France (Mirage fighters), Britain (Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers) and Israel (Phalcon airborne radar systems).

But Russian hardware continues to be attractive to India as it is "hardy, it can operate in climatic extremes, the Indian troops are used to it and it is available at competitive prices," said Rahul Bedi of Jane's Defence Weekly.

Bedi pointed out that a Mirage aircraft could cost twice as much as an Su-30, with much higher maintenance and operation expenses.

More than 40 percent of India's existing fighter jets are expected to become obsolete in 10 years' time.

Under these circumstances, "the Su-30 is a reasonably competent aircraft, available at a reasonab…

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Promises And Reality. America's Military in 2001

28 December 2000

Summary

As he prepares to move into the White House, the new American president-elect has placed a high priority on restoring U.S. military force, which he has described as overworked, under-funded and in need of new direction. But as his inauguration approaches, George W. Bush faces a global landscape that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to immediately implement the improvements he wants in the American military.

Analysis

The Department of Defense's top-to-bottom review of priorities conducted every four years, the Quadrennial Defense Review(QDR), is getting underway and the Bush camp was scheduled to meet with Pentagon officials the week of Dec. 18. While the QDR is Bush's best chance to chart his own course, his major defense proposals are all filled with potential pitfalls.

But facing increasingly intractable commitments abroad, as well as a partisan split at home, a series of key Bush defense proposals is likely to languish. In Kosovo, the situation is deteriorating as the ethnic Albanian campaign for independence is rekindled, making it difficult for U.S. forces to withdraw. At a global level, the Chinese and Russian governments are making headway in enlisting opposition - most recently Canada's - to an ambitious National Missile Defense.

Throughout the campaign for the presidency, George W. Bush repeatedly attacked the entire approach of the Clinton administration toward the armed forces. A military of 1.4 million people - slashed by one-third since the early 1990s - has been deployed overseas more than three times as often as during the Cold War. The net effect - Bush and his advisors argued - has been to place at risk future U.S. military supremacy in a world fraught with new and daunting challenges.

During the campaign, for example, the Bush team pledged to review overseas milit…

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В 2001 году правительство Москвы продолжит оказывать поддержку НПО "Молния" (30.12.00 16:37:00)

В соответствии с программой правительства Москвы по поддержке предприятий ВПК московского региона, оно в 2001 году продолжит оказание поддержки НПО "Молния", что позволит создать в 2001 году на НПО "Молния" дополнительные 350-400 новых рабочих мест. Помощь правительства Москвы в создании новых рабочих мест будет осуществляться на возмездной и безвозмездной основе. Конкретные мероприятия "московской" поддержки не подлежат оглашению. Об этом сообщил директор по маркетингу ОАО "Международный консорциум Многоцелевые авиационно-космические системы" (МК МАКС) Михаил Гофин.
По его словам, правительство Москвы в объеме 10 млн руб. полностью профинансировало в 2000 году поддержание уникальной лабораторно-стендовой базы НПО "Молния", создававшейся под программу "Буран".

/Финмаркет/

В следующем году Иркутское АПО выделит 15 млн долл. на техническое перевооружение производства (30.12.00 17:50:00)

В 2001 году на техперевооружение Иркутского АПО планируется выделить 15 млн долл. Об этом сообщил президент ОАО "Иркутское АПО" Алексей Федоров.
По его словам, в предыдущие годы ИАПО расходовало на техперевооружение по несколько миллионов долл. ежегодно, вкладывая их в развитие мощной вычислительной техники. В текущем году освоен также первый этап внедрения корпоративной системы управления (BAAN) всеми сферами деятельности предприятия.
По данным Алексея Федорова, ИАПО сейчас использует в пpоизводстве поpядка 60-70 пpоц. установленных мощностей. На ИАПО строятся истребители Су-27 и Су-30 для поставок на экспорт, а также ведется производство серийных самолетов-амфибий Бе-200.

Финмаркет

According to Russian Intelligence Service (FSB), USA increased its espionage activities concentrating its primary force on "Shkval" missile and is going to deploy its top agents, extensive funds and "a whole sequence of commercial cover-ups in Moscow" to obtain top-class missile technology.
This information was published in a special TV movie dedicated to the case of Edmond Pope, who was sentenced to 20 years of physical labor in one of the top-security prisons in Russia. The criminal was later pardoned by Vladimir Putin under excessive pressure of US government which under no circumstances could give up Pope and technological data he obtained.
FSB announced that Edmond Pope attracted their attention in 1994 when he officially resigned from US intelligence service and arrived to Moscow. Full track of his actions have been established since 1996 when Pope's illegal activities became increasingly dangerous to National stability.
According to authors of the movie, USA have been living a dream of planting strategic missile silos on the bottom of ocean floor. This would ensure protection from spies and also from being destroyed by special forces in the event of war. USSR made nonsense of these fairy dreams by introducing Shkval missile in 1970s. This caused increased efforts of USA intelligence service to obtain development technology of "Shkval".
The missile entered duty of Soviet Armed Forces back in 1977. In 1992, Russia introduced export version of the super weapon. However according to main designer of the missile "even if you dismantle it by every bit and piece, it's still impossible to figure out the production technology", including complicated steel production.
According to FSB spokesman, Edmond Pope was nicknamed "Spider". After over 6 years of illegal activity, Pope created a successful "spider w…

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Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would particularly recommend that the gentleman in the other body get the briefings on potential threats posed by forces by Iran, Iraq and Libya, in North Korea and China. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, I would recommend that the Speaker look at the Russian SU-37 with the AA-10, the AA-11 and AA-12 missile, because in today's fleet, if our pilots in the F-14, the F-15, the F-16 or current F-18 meet this SU-27, with the Russian missiles and their jammer and their radar, our pilots will die 95 percent of the time.

That is not spin, Mr. Speaker. That is fact.

I would recommend these briefings on the capabilities of carrier battle groups to meet and defeat these particular threats and the tactics involved in them, which I deal with on a daily basis. The capabilities of carrier aviation today center on two tactical aircraft, both of which I have flown, the F-14 and the F-18 Hornet. The Navy has upgraded them throughout the years. As they buy an airplane, new equipment, new electronics, new stealth capabilities, are placed on those aircraft.

The F-14 airframe was designed in the 1960s, and the F-18 in the 1970s. We have added many things to those aircraft, trying to keep them with the capability to meet those threats that I have previously talked about.

When the F-14 was designed, the Navy desperately needed a high speed interceptor. Right after the Vietnam War, Mr. Speaker, there were many that thought that our only threat was going to be Backfire bombers coming in from the former Soviet Union. We trained many of our pilots as interceptor pilots, although the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which we know as Top Gun, continued to learn how to fight the F-14 and F-18 in what we commonly call a dog fight.

Counterfleets of projected cruise missiles were also a threat coming in not only at the carriers but our battleships and our troops embarked, and our aircraft were designed to mee…

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