Myth and
Realities of Turkey's Hidden Islamist Agenda
Oriental experts are asking themselves whether there is
a secret government agenda to impose Islamic law in Turkey.
But are the secularists merely stirring up fears about political
Islam to win more power? In a debate fueled by suspicion
and acrimony, there are no clear-cut answers. But given
Turkey's geographical location, it is hardly surprising
that the nation is susceptible to the threat of radical
Islam being imported across its south-eastern borders.
Self
Victimizing Democracy?
Israel's defeat in the Second Lebanon War came not at the
hands of Hezbollah, but through the internal contradictions
of being the region's sole functioning democracy in the
Internet age - a Harvard University study has concluded.
In this analysis feature, Defense Update examines how Hezbollah
has won the war by using sophisticated, well executed psychological
warfare campaign.
The proposed cuts to the program would effectively prevent
the development of Future Combat Systems manned ground vehicles.
This means Soldiers would operate Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting
vehicles “indefinitely,”. The Army also intends
to cancel the development of the infantry load carrier, or 'Mule'
and one of the two remaining unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) if
budgets are cut at the proposed level, said Lt. Gen. Stephen
the U.S. Army director of force development and deputy chief
of staff. Commenting on the possible cut of $876 million in
the 2008 budget for the Future Combat Systems, proposes by the
Congress. Gen. Speakes said the proposed cuts endanger a program
that would improve military capabilities today and in the future.
The total Future Combat System request for fiscal 2008 is $3.7
billion.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) successfully
demonstrated a low-cost system enabling ground forces elements
to control, monitor and manage multiple airborne imagery sources
sharing a common airspace. The system, known as HURT, for Heterogeneous
Unmanned Reconnaissance Team, allows ground forces to receive
video surveillance imagery of the surrounding area and request
specific information about suspected enemy positions on user-friendly
touch-screens. The system autonomously processes multiple requests
and directs the most suitable aircraft to take a closer look.
Rafael has fielded an advanced data communications system designed
to support dismounted command and control and small unmanned
systems. The new digital datalink called Lightlink provides
robust communications of real-time video and data at high speed
and in conditions that challenge other means of communications,
such as forest, jungle or urban area, where buildings and other
obstacles cause interference by multipath signals. Lightlink
has been fielded and employed in combat missions with some of
RAFAEL's unmanned systems.
Aurora Flight Sciences has been awarded a contract to develop
navigation and control technology that will allow micro air
vehicles (MAVs) to avoid collisions as they fly through urban
and other cluttered environments. Due to their small size, MAVs
hold great potential for providing valuable military intelligence
while avoiding detection and destruction. Vision-based techniques
derived from insects and bats will be integrated with Aurora-developed
navigation and maneuvering strategies to create a highly sensitive,
robust, autonomous system in a package suitable for the low
size, weight and power constraints that are inherent to MAVs.
Raytheon Seeking Partner to Challenge
IED
Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) announced its interest to partner
with companies offering innovative solutions to defeat Improvised
Explosive Device (IED). The company has been studying this
issue for the past six months at its Texas-based Network Centric
Systems division, which led a company-wide drive to rapidly
develop and field solutions to defeat IEDs. To broaden the scope
of the research, Raytheon is now inviting potential partners
to join the effort.
Spartan
to Produce Chassis for MRAPs for $100 Million
Spartan Chassis
announced it has received a $60.0 million order from General
Dynamics Land Systems and a $47.6 million order from Force Protection,
Inc. Both companies were awarded last week a contract to produce
1,000 MRAP vehicles for the US Marine Corps and the Army. Both
orders are scheduled to be completed in 2007
British
MoD Commissions Skynet 5A Communications Satellite
Skynet 5A, the new British communications satellite has been
commissioned into service following successful launch and deployment
into orbit in April. The satellite, first of three to be launched
under a £3 billion Private Finance Initiative (PFI) program
supports military communications supporting deployed forces
as well as maritime operations. Skynet 5 is designed to sustain
about 2.5 times the capacity of the old system. The next satellite,
Skynet 5B, is due to be launched towards the end of this year,
and Skynet 5C in 2008.
Singapore
to Replace Hawkeye With G550 AEW
Singapore will buy four Gulfstream G550 special mission business
jets, configured for Airborne Early Warning missions. The aircraft
will replace four Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye aircraft currently
in service. According to the Singapore MOD, the G550 AEW will
be capable of flying 9 hours missions at an altitude of 41,000ft
(12,500m). Singapore will receive the first aircraft by 2008,
and all four are expected to be operational by 2010. While Singapore
has not released further details about the electronic and radar
suite to be installed in the aircraft, the only system currently
available for this platform is the Israeli PHALCON radar, developed
for four Israel Air Force G550 AEW aircraft known as Eitam,
currently being delivered by IAI/Elta. The first aircraft was
handed over by Gulfstream on September 2006.
Sikorsky Aircraft announced today that it has selected four
subcontractors to design and fabricate the major fuselage sections
for its new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter currently under development
for the United States Marine Corps. Sikorsky's Fuselage Team
will consist of Aurora Flight Sciences, EDO Corp., GKN Aerospace,
and Spirit AeroSystems. Sikorsky will conduct the integration
and test program on the complete fuselage structure. The major
subcontracted sections include the cockpit and cabin (Spirit),
aft transition (GKN), tail rotor pylon and sponsons (EDO), and
main rotor pylon (Aurora).
Prototype obstacle warning radar, developed at BAE Systems
has completed flight testing on a helicopter. The system can
operate under all-weather conditions, identifying cables and
other obstacles, indicating the pilot the precise altimeter
information necessary to negotiate the obstacle through combat
flight maneuvering. The system detects cables and other obstacles
using low-probability-of-intercept, low-probability-of-detection
radar technology.
EADS Accelerates
UH-72A Production
EADS North America is accelerating the deliveries of UH-72A
Lakota Light Utility Helicopter to the US Army. To date, six
helicopters have been delivered, ramping up to a production
rate of two helicopters per month in September, the company's
production target for the current program phase. At full-rate
production, EADS NA plans to build five UH-72As per month. The
Army has a requirement for up to 322 UH-72As in a 10 year program
with a total life-cycle value of over $2 billion. These helicopters
will be operated primarily within the U.S. for homeland security
operations, medical evacuation, passenger/logistics transportation
and drug interdiction missions.
In the past week BAE Systems conducted three successful test
flights of its 2.75-inch guided rocket, the Advanced Precision
Kill Weapon System (APKWS). In these tests, held in partnership
with the U.S. Navy program office, production-ready rockets
were used for the first time. As required, the rockets hit the
target within the 2 meter of the laser spot that was designating
the target. In 2006 BAE Systems was selected by the US Army
as Prime contractor for the APKWS program, a joint-interest
program with Army and Navy/Marine Corps participation. Sofar
the program included ten successful ground launches.
The US Air Force received five Predator Mission Aircrew Training
System (PMATS). By June 2007 seven PMATS systems will be based
at the Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, NV to support
the newly established unmanned systems wing. L-3 Link is a division
of L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL). The simulator enables Predator
UAS pilots and sensor operators to undergo fully immersive,
mission-based simulated training exercises.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has been selected to provide a Tactical
Reconnaissance and Counter- Concealment Enabled Radar (TRACER)
capability to the United States Army. Under this contract, Lockheed
Martin will work with the Army to incorporate low frequency
synthetic aperture radar systems into Predator class unmanned
aerial vehicles. The total value of the TRACER contract is approximately
$40M.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), in conjunction with
the Office of Naval Research, demonstrated the ability to extend
communications range and capability using the Killer Bee tactical
unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV), built by Swift Engineering,
Inc. ACcording to John Featherston, chief engineer for Northrop
Grumman's Beyond line-of-sight TUAV Communications Relay (BTCR)
project, the UAV can extend communications over the long distances
and across obstacles, such as mountainous or urban terrain,
"We have successfully demonstrated that TUAVs can function
as airborne communication relays and move information back and
forth between tactical and command and control units."
New USAF UAV
Wing Tasked With Global Recce & Strike
As unmanned aerial vehicles become more important to the global
war on terrorism, the US Air Force has reactivated the 432nd
Wing to become the first MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper wing
in the Air Force. The new wing is located at Creech Air Force
Base, near Las Vegas, Nev. Over the next three years, the Air
Force plans on greatly increasing the number of UAVs in the
service, which will also mean an increase in personnel to fulfill
the Predator and Reaper missions. This will include Airmen across
the Total Force to fill pilot, sensor operator and maintenance
positions.
Wing commander is Col. Christopher Chambliss. The 432nd Wing
was last active in 1994 at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Prior to
that, it was a based out of Udorn, Thailand, and was responsible
for reconnaissance and tactical missions over Southeast Asia.
Stumble It!
