International Military Discussion

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 19 Dec 2013 07:58

Local Turf-Sharing Accord With the Taliban Raises Alarm in Afghanistan

An Afghan Army commander is said to have brokered a turf-sharing deal with the Taliban, a sign of what may come once international troops withdraw.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 19 Dec 2013 17:25

Soyuz ST-B successfully launches Gaia space observatory

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 23 Dec 2013 23:06

Kalashnikov inventor dies aged 94

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 23 Dec 2013 23:22

Google's Schaft robot wins Darpa rescue challenge

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 24 Dec 2013 14:40

Old news but saw has not been posted here so,

1. Intelsat general purposes Orbital refueling of satellites. http://www.intelsatgeneral.com/blog/int ... atcon-2011

2. ALASA program by DARPA supposed to make satellite launch cheaper.http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Progr ... LASA).aspx

3. List of active programmes by DARPA TTO. http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Dec 2013 14:50

govardhanks wrote:Old news but saw has not been posted here so,

1. Intelsat general purposes Orbital refueling of satellites. http://www.intelsatgeneral.com/blog/int ... atcon-2011

2. ALASA program by DARPA supposed to make satellite launch cheaper.http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Progr ... LASA).aspx

3. List of active programmes by DARPA TTO. http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/

no frozen atoms research? or are they just not going talk about that?

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 24 Dec 2013 15:11

^^^^ Sir No Idea about frozen atoms research but got to know a little about cold atoms and Frozen light research work by Lene Hau

for that thanks

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 24 Dec 2013 18:53

May be a dumb question. Why did France did not follow the idea of land based ICBMs and rather develop most advanced SLBM?

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 24 Dec 2013 20:23

govardhanks wrote:May be a dumb question. Why did France did not follow the idea of land based ICBMs and rather develop most advanced SLBM?

.....start here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_de_dissuasion

...like my drill instructor said, "YOU WILL HAVE FUN!"

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 25 Dec 2013 14:57

In his book La paix nucléaire (1975), French Admiral de Joybert explained deterrence as:
Sir, I have no quarrel with you, but I warn you in advance and with all possible clarity that if you invade me, I shall answer at the only credible level for my scale, which is the nuclear level. Whatever your defenses, you shan't prevent at least some of my missiles from reaching your home and causing the devastation that you are familiar with. So, renounce your endeavour and let us remain good friends.

Many thanks for the link, between Merry Christmas

, this news link was thought provoking to me and French leaders are the best they had seen the future clearly and planned accordingly. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 746017.cms

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Dec 2013 20:12

Looks like some mysterious 3rd new ICBM/Payload under development

Some new missile system to be deployed in Dombarovskiy

also Rail Mobile system making a come back

Rail-mobile ICBMs are likely to make a comeback

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 27 Dec 2013 14:39

Turkey to Design, Produce its Own Jet Fighter Aircraft

ANKARA: Turkey has tossed aside plans to purchase the Eurofighter Typhoon and is pursuing an ambitious endeavor to design and produce its own fighter jet instead. The decision, announced by Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, is seen as not only an industrial move, but one aimed at boosting national pride with its “Made in Turkey” fighter.

“The decision we have taken now calls for the production of a totally national and original aircraft,” Gonul told reporters last week after a meeting of the powerful Defense Industry Executive Committee decided to nix plans to purchase 60 of the latest Typhoon jet fighters. “This move by the committee effectively is a decision for making Turkey’s first fighter aircraft,” Gonul said. “The Eurofighter is off Turkey’s agenda.”

According to reports, the new aircraft would replace the aging US-made F-4, which had been upgraded by Israel to last well into the next decade, as well as newer F-16s. The expected roll out date for Turkey’s twin-engine combat jet would reportedly be about 2023.

Ankara has already announced it plans to procure some 100 of the next-generation F-35s Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in a deal worth about $15 billion. The first JSF jets are expected to be delivered around 2015. According to Defense News, however, Turkey would take the approximately 30 F-16 fighters only as a “stopgap” measure.

The decision to fly solo in developing a fighter jet comes as Turkey distances itself from its North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners in Europe and North America, and seeks closer ties with its Middle Eastern neighbors. In November, Turkey disputed NATO plans for a missile shield against a possible Iranian attack and has objected to the alliance sharing information with Israel.

Turkey assembles the F-16s on contract from Lockheed Martin at a Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) plant. The government named state-controlled TAI, based on the outskirts of Ankara, as the general coordinator of the new fighter jet project. The Turkish Defense Industry’s Procurement agency SSM has allotted some $20 million for a two-year conceptual design study.

“It’s a large endeavor. I’m skeptical that they would be able to do the project on their own since Turkey didn’t have the adequate technological know-how,” said one aerospace executive intimately involved with the design and production of the Israeli fighter jet Lavi in the 1980s.

“But it’s not just technological know-how. Developing a fighter jet requires billions and billions of dollars. It’s certainly not the same as assembling an aircraft. It takes a very long time to develop the technology and then you need to have the influx of funding to bring it all together,” the executive, who spoke on condition he not be named, told The Media Line.

Turkish industry officials told The Media Line that the government decision didn’t make sense. Turkey was currently so heavily engaged in joint international aircraft design projects such as the F-35 that it wouldn’t be feasible to embark on such a costly and risky venture, the officials said.

While hardly world class, the Turkish defense industry is growing and modernizing. But it remains dependent on foreign technology. TAI has designed the Hurkus, a basic training aircraft, but it has yet to make its maiden flight. It has also rolled out an unmanned aerial vehicle this year called the ANKA.

“Development is very, very expensive. Israel was a small country without a big defense budget. Even when we had the infrastructure we decided to give up on it because it was just too expensive,” the executive said, adding that any development today would likely be more successful with international partners.

Israel eventually scrapped the Lavi — built to be a competitor with the F-16 –under heavy US pressure and from a lack of funds.

Defense Minister Gonul said Turkey might cooperate with South Korea, which was developing the KF-X fighter jet with Indonesia. However, that project has sputtered due to lack of funding.

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article219778.ece

srai · Post by **srai** » 27 Dec 2013 14:52

^^^

Sounds like a novice with unrealistic timelines for building a new fighter jet by 2023. It will be more like 2033+!

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 27 Dec 2013 17:57

They'll probably take an existing design and customize it. Thats what they did with their national tank and several other programs.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Dec 2013 22:27

US nuclear weapon plans to cost $355 billion over a decade - CBO report

Projected Costs of U.S.Nuclear Forces,2014 to 2023

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 28 Dec 2013 12:48

govardhanks wrote:Old news but saw has not been posted here so,

1. Intelsat general purposes Orbital refueling of satellites. http://www.intelsatgeneral.com/blog/int ... atcon-2011

Here is little more info on the orbital refueling tech,

1. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/progress.htm , http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/cargoes/pr1.sht
Unmmanned spacecraft which had supplied fuel to russian space station in 1978, Salyut 6 EO-1 expedition. Supposedly same kind of tech needed for orbital refueling.

2. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Boein ... e_999.html

Redondo Beach CA (SPX) May 11 2007 - Using a payload provided by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and support from a team of the company's mission specialists, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) Orbital Express (OE) team has successfully performed multiple on-orbit fluid transfers between two space vehicles

3. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n130 ... r54VNIW0gm

During six days of activity from Jan. 14 until Friday, the Dextre robot grappled tools to open a fuel valve on a mock satellite and transfer liquid ethanol into a fuel tank. Dextre, the space station's Canadian-built two-armed robotic handyman, used a wire cutter and other tools to remove locks and caps from a nozzle leading to a fuel tank inside a box designed as a testbed for satellite servicing procedures

Understanding from what I have read, the supposedly cheap satellite launch advertisement is not going to work in future. Yeah, slowly African countries and South east Asian and South American countries might want there own satellites, but alternatives will be very much available ( second hand satellites). I did not get any info , but I would love to see an ISRO satellite having a probe for refueling and soft docking and berthing system so as to keep them alive for longer duration (provided repairs if any).

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 28 Dec 2013 18:17

LASER based space communication

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2013/01 ... 359503825/

Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos reported Oleg Novitsky, Yevgeny Tarelkin and Roman Romanenko used the station's Laser Communication System to transfer information through the earth's atmosphere at a rate of 125 megabytes per second from an on-board laser terminal.

Same story in this link http://en.ria.ru/science/20130129/179111471.html

http://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/267/278/279/488.html

Space laser communications technology has the potential to provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems for the same mass and power. This has now been proven on NASA's LLCD mission. LCRD is a longer duration mission that will provide the necessary knowledge and experience to operate future mission critical optical communications systems.

http://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/267/271.html

LLCD was powered-on, and the signal with LADEE was acquired on September 27th, 2013.LLCD began to demonstrate the capabilities of laser communications, from the Moon, with the first successful pass occurring on October 18th, 2013. LLCD will continue to demonstrate the possibilities of laser communications technology and the future of space communications for 30 days. After LADEE was successfully placed into lunar orbit, the LLGT in White Sands, NM was able to acquire the location of the LADEE spacecraft. After the LLGT connected with the LLST aboard the LADEE spacecraft, their signals were "locked" and data began to flow from the Moon back down to Earth, via infrared laser light.

http://www.isro.org/Ourchairman/present ... d-Opto.pdf

Optical communication links are most suited for inter-satellite links where atmospheric attenuation is not a problem. A typical laser communication system to communicate with deep space probes will essentially consist of a relay mirror or passive reflector in orbit, which will relay the laser to the deep space probes. Innovative technologies like MEMS can also be used to fabricate micromirrors which can be assembled to form the mirrors to relay the signals.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 29 Dec 2013 12:47

Soyuz-2.1b successfully launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Video: http://youtu.be/QokkEThzYSI

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 02 Jan 2014 23:12

Provides some idea of what the future may look like, a move away from the tradition:

The Marines' Dress Rehearsal for Tomorrow's War

(Click on the images below for more details)

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 04 Jan 2014 18:30

Tomorrow's stealth today! What I mentioned in another td.

Aviation Week: “A large, classified unmanned aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman is now flying—and it demonstrates a major advance in combining stealth and aerodynamic efficiency. Defense and intelligence officials say the secret unmanned aerial system (UAS), designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, is scheduled to enter production for the U.S. Air Force and could be operational by 2015.”

“Neither the Air Force nor Northrop Grumman would speak about the classified airplane… If the previous patterns for secret ISR aircraft operations are followed, the new UAV will be jointly controlled by the Air Force and the CIA, with the program managed by the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office and flight operations sustained by the Air Force.”

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 08 Jan 2014 13:28

Falcon 9 Launches With Thaicom 6; Deployment Confirmation Tardy

Liftoff of the Falcon 9/Thaicom 6 mission came at 5:06 p.m. EST, and the company said in its Twitter message that the spacecraft deployed on time at 5:37 p.m. The deployment confirmation was issued at 6:02 p.m. EST.

The mission sent the 3,300-kg (7,300-lb.) Orbital Sciences Corp.-built spacecraft on its way to a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 295 km x 90,000 km altitude and an inclination of 22.5 deg. First-stage separation occurred 5 min. after liftoff, followed by second-stage engine cutoff at about 10 min. into the flight.

Thaicom 6’s highly eliptical transfer orbit called for two burns of the Falcon 9 upper stage. The mission was conducted for Bangkok-based fleet operator Thaicom.

Accurate orbital insertion of Thaicom 6 is crucial to SpaceX, which is counting on three successful Falcon 9 v1.1 missions — including two to be launched consecutively — to obtain U.S. government certification to launch sensitive national security payloads.

Once spacecraft telemetry is established, Orbital and Thaicom will spend several days maneuvering the hybrid Ku- and C-band satellite to its final position at 78.5 deg. east, where it will be co-located with Thaicom 5 to provide communications coverage to Southeast Asia, Africa and Madagascar.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 08 Jan 2014 17:35

Congress Passes 2014 Defense Authorization Bill

The U.S. Congress authorized defense spending of $625 billion in Fiscal Year 2014, but calls for an independent review of the software being developed for the Pentagon’s largest weapons program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. A separate, two-year budget law the Congress passed reduces the more than $100 billion in automatic “sequestration” budget cuts the Pentagon faced over the next two years by about one third.

The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Obama signed on December 26, includes $526.8 billion for base Department of Defense (DOD) programs, $80.7 billion for overseas contingency operations and $17.6 billion for Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs, amounts similar to those the administration proposed in April.

The NDAA calls on the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics to form an “independent team” of subject-matter experts to review the progress of the F-35 software development effort in meeting current program milestones, and report back to Congress by March 3. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer, has said that software remains the program’s largest risk. Within 180 days of the law’s enactment, the under secretary and the F-35 Joint Program Office must also report on plans for sustainment of the F-35 autonomous logistics information system, which receives health and maintenance information from the jets in flight.

The legislation authorizes $133.6 million in research, development, test and evaluation of the Navy’s unmanned carrier launched airborne surveillance and strike (Uclass) system. The Pentagon may acquire no more than six Uclass air vehicles before receiving Milestone B approval to begin the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase. The act requires the Secretary of the Navy to make quarterly cost reports to Congress beginning with Milestone A, which initiates technology development, until EMD.

The NDAA states that “none of the funds authorized…may be obligated or expended to…retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage” the RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft or the A-10 Warthog, except those A-10s the Air Force planned to retire as of April. The Pentagon sought to cancel the Block 30 Global Hawk program in its Fiscal Year 2013 budget submission.

According to a House summary, the NDAA supports multi-year procurement of the E-2D Hawkeye and C-130J Super Hercules, modernization of the C-130H for the National Guard and Reserve and advance procurement of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. It contains a “sense of Congress” resolution that the Air Force “should continue to prioritize development and acquisition of the long-range strike bomber program” to overcome advances in air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 11 Jan 2014 10:11

NIS Chief Executive dispels certain myths surrounding the Russian satellite navigation system.

GLONASS on par with GPS - Alexander Gurko

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 12 Jan 2014 01:06

US to Spend $1 Trillion on Nukes

“Over the next thirty years, the United States plans to spend approximately $1 trillion maintaining the current arsenal, buying replacement systems, and upgrading existing nuclear bombs and warheads,” according to the report, Trillion Dollar Nuclear Triad: US Strategic Modernization over the Next 30 Years, which was released by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) on Tuesday.

These costs will not be spread out evenly over the long time period. Instead, the authors of the report — Jon B. Wolfsthal, Jeffrey Lewis and Marc Quint — conclude that “Procurement of replacement platforms and associated warheads will peak during a four to six year window, sometime after 2020.” During this peak period, the United States will have to devote as much as three percent of its annual defense budgets to its nuclear arsenal. This is similar to the percentage of the defense budget that was devoted to modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal during Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, according to the report.

The CNS figures are roughly consistent with those of the Congressional Budget Office, which projected last month that the U.S. will spend $355 billion over the next decade on its nuclear arsenal.

<snip>

The U.S. intends to modernize all three legs of its nuclear triad in the coming decades. This in many cases is likely to impose a taxing burden on the Air Force and Navy, the two services responsible for the three legs of the triad. As I wrote last May, “The immense cost of the Ohio-class replacement program to build the United States’ next generation ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) threatens to jeopardize the rest of the fleet.” The U.S. Navy currently envisions purchasing 12 new SSBNs to replace the currently 14 Ohio-class SSBNs that will be gradually retired. Each of the new 12 is projected to cost between $4-6 billion, leaving little additional money in the Navy’s shipbuilding budget.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Jan 2014 09:13

This link has better info

Trillion Dollar Nuclear Triad
http://cns.miis.edu/opapers/pdfs/140107 ... _triad.pdf

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 15 Jan 2014 19:56

I wonder why they are still planning for land based ICBMs (somehow they might be thinking SSBMs are not that strong, which means there must be some practical weakness to the system) as I understand US relays more strategic Bombers.

arun · Post by **arun** » 15 Jan 2014 20:04

X Posted from the “China Military Watch - Jan 11, 2011” thread.

China Conducts First Test of New Ultra-High Speed Missile Vehicle : Washington Free Beacon

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 15 Jan 2014 20:13

arun wrote:X Posted from the “China Military Watch - Jan 11, 2011” thread.

China Conducts First Test of New Ultra-High Speed Missile Vehicle : Washington Free Beacon

I have two questions

1. Does this technology bring China one step closer to MIRV capability?

2. Re-entry vehicles used in space missions and this vehicle, are they similar in technology achievements?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 16 Jan 2014 04:32

Nasa launches three military rockets

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 17 Jan 2014 10:54

all terrains of the world have been digitally scanned.
Flying through them is not a problem.
Weather patterns are monitored around the clock to determine suitability for flight.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 17 Jan 2014 11:13

Gerard wrote:Nasa launches three military rockets

Interesting quote from the article

Terrier-Orion is a two stage spin stabilised rocket system with a weight of about 2,900 pounds (1,315 kg), according to Nasa. It can loft a 200-pound (91 kg) payload to an altitude of 200 km and an 800-pound (363 kg) payload 80 km up.

What are small payload low orbit satellites used for

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 17 Jan 2014 12:23

govardhanks wrote:
arun wrote:X Posted from the “China Military Watch - Jan 11, 2011” thread.

China Conducts First Test of New Ultra-High Speed Missile Vehicle : Washington Free Beacon
I have two questions

1. Does this technology bring China one step closer to MIRV capability?

2. Re-entry vehicles used in space missions and this vehicle, are they similar in technology achievements?

Check for US HTV-2/Falcon program thats what they are testing

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 19 Jan 2014 22:50

why think mars rat flicking it? why can't it be the wheels of rover edge stepped and got flicked!?

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 20 Jan 2014 02:09

Israeli company to unveil laser defense

A state-owned Israeli arms company says it will unveil a new laser-defense system next month that will be capable of shooting down short-range rockets and mortar fire.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 21 Jan 2014 08:01

Interesting.

Aug, 2013 :: Arctic Army officer excels on India’s high ground

govardhanks · Post by **govardhanks** » 21 Jan 2014 09:15

http://www.esa.int/For_Media/Press_Rele ... ibernation

The first attempt for landing on a comet by European Space Agency started in 2004.

dnivas · Post by **dnivas** » 21 Jan 2014 11:26

NRao wrote:Interesting.

Aug, 2013 :: Arctic Army officer excels on India’s high ground

interesting inf about course structure

Also the part about Eddy was funny and inspiring.

viveks · Post by **viveks** » 21 Jan 2014 23:29

Somthing I found on youtube. I watch this all time. What a video..I just thought I will share it here..

. Love the way he skims just above the clouds when the sun sets...out of this world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQU1f_bgPFE

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 22 Jan 2014 01:12

^^^^^\

Very nice!!

U.S. Offers Russia High-Tech Aid to Thwart Sochi Terror

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 22 Jan 2014 06:16

Bob Gates is doing a Bob McNamara.
Echoing what I've been enunciating about US foreign/military "expeditionary" misadventures.

Gates said he told the military to look at our decisions of the last 40 years,"We've never once gotten it right."!

http://news.yahoo.com/message-nonviolen ... 11901.html

So it occurs to me to wonder if any Americans today are speaking and thinking like Dr. King. I'd like to offer up two.

First, Robert Gates, the former secretary of defense whose just-released book, "Duty," is causing a firestorm among commentators. They're pinning him down on everything from his personal feelings about President Obama to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the duties of the American officer corps.

But to me, his most important words were expressed in an interview on CNN, when he suddenly started speaking with quiet passion about what many of us derisively call the "small wars" that have occurred since World War II and the Korean War, especially Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

American defense and development planners do not have capacity enough to see the unforeseen, he said, and unless a country has a better idea of what it wants to accomplish and what might happen three or four steps ahead, it shouldn't engage in others' wars.

Then, in an amazing critique of America's defense "thinkers," Gates said he told the military to look at our decisions of the last 40 years -- "We've never once gotten it right."

These words were to me like manna from the gods. Vietnam: We lost 58,000 men and women and caused the deaths of millions, yet the most we do as a nation is pretend it never happened. An honest evaluation of it would have meant, for one thing, we would never have gotten into Iraq or Afghanistan.

Iraq: Again, there was no reason except ego to go into Iraq, and now the situation is even worse than at the beginning. Afghanistan: There were al-Qaida there whom we could have fought using commandos and intelligence; instead, we got into another of our hopeless democratization fantasies and have come close to destroying a country.

PS:It took McNamara decades before admitting that the Vietnam War was a tragic mistake.Hats off to Gates ,former President of the "Aggies" (TA&MU), to admit the folly of US misadventures causing untold suffering across the globe, so soon.