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Daily News
by Gail Helmer
Jane's News Briefs
Thursday, July 05, 2001Jane's Defence Weekly
Private sector to work on Indian submarine
The Indian military has brought in private companies to work on parts of a highly-classified nuclear submarine and test launcher for a nuclear-tipped sub-launched cruise missile (SLCM), showing it is not merely paying lip service to involving private companies in defence manufacturing, long dominated by state-owned firms.
Eurofighter increases Typhoon offer to Korea
Eurofighter has raised the stakes in the Republic of Korea's F-X fighter contest by offering Seoul a 100% offset package should it select the Typhoon.
US Navy commissions Iwo Jima
The USS Iwo Jima, the US Navy's latest large-deck amphibious assault ship (LHD-7) was commissioned on 30 June during a ceremony at Pensecola Naval Air Station, Florida. Built by Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipbuilding, the Iwo Jima is the seventh Wasp-class amphibious assault ship to enter service with the navy.
France likely to boost spending
France is expected to earmark FFr538 billion ($46.2 billion) for new defence equipment in its forthcoming military spending plan for 2003-08, to be unveiled at the end of July, government sources in Paris indicated last week.
Vienna to issue fighter tender
The Austrian government has confirmed it will issue a request for proposals covering the procurement of up to 30 new fighter aircraft before parliament begins its summer recess.
Algeria gets first upgraded Su-24s
The first 14 of 22 Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: 'Fencer') bombers to be modernised by Russia's NAPO (Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association named after Chkalov) for the Algerian Air Force have been delivered after completing airframe overhaul.
IAF claims to be able to deceive Russian S-300
The Israel Air Force (IAF) has announced that it has developed a countermeasures system to the Almaz S-300 (NATO reporting name: 'Grumble') surface-to-air missile system in an effort to confront the prospect that its neighbours will obtain the advanced Russian air-defence system.
Jane's Defence Upgrades
Boeing scoops USAF's C-130 Avionics Modernisation Program.
The long awaited announcement of a contractor to perform the US Air Force C-130 Hercules Avionics Modernisation Program was made on 4 June last, with the Boeing Company being selected.
First E-C2 with eight-bladed propeller flies.
An eight-bladed propeller was successfully flown for the first time recently on a US Navy Northrop Grumman E2C Hawkeye airborne early warning radar aircraft at Patuxtent River Naval Air Station, Maryland.
Shared upgrades for Czechs and Slovaks
Expanded co-operation between the Czech Republic and Slovakia on several major upgrade programmes was one of the goals at a series of ministerial-level meetings at Brno and Bratislava last month (May).
Russian support for L-39 Albatros
Even when Russia starts series production of a new generation advanced trainer (Yak-130 or MiG-AT) a few years hence, the former Czechoslovak Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros will remain in service for some years. Myasishchev-Techservice has been contracted to provide in-service support. The company has also offered the Russian Air Force a modernisation programme for the L-39.
UPGRADE OVERVIEW: Pakistan type 21 enhancements.
The visit of the Pakistan Navy Type 21 Tariq-class frigate, PNS Tippu Sultan, to Singapore as part of last month's IMDEX Asia Exhibition offered an opportunity to examine the various upgrades made to the ship since its transfer from the UK Royal navy in 1994. Richard Scott details the changes.
BACKGROUND BRIEF: Schiebel's Camcopter is upgraded by evolution The past decade has seen the UAV(Unmanned Air Vehicle) achieve an acceptable degree of precision, reliability and effectiveness. What has really made the difference has been the adoption of computer enhanced flight controls and mission planning systems combined with an increased use of digital microprocessors and sensors with a huge power and capacity. Georg Mader looks at this trend in relation to the Schiebel Camcopter.
Jane's Foreign Report
The next president of France Can the two leaders avoid humiliation?
FOR the past three years the French electorate has been wedded to the belief that the next presidential election in 2002 would be fought by the men who slugged it out in 1995: conservative Jacques Chirac, who won, and his left-wing contender Lionel Jospin, who lost but has since ended up as France's prime minister. FOREIGN REPORT asks three embarrassing questions. Who paid for Chirac's globe-trotting? Was Jospin for years a secret Trotskyist mole in the French Socialist party? And how might the two men be replaced?
Latin America: an early warning
REMARKABLY, given their awful track record, the countries of Latin America have put their economies in order and planted democratic roots everywhere except in Cuba. Nonetheless, their achievements are under threat. FOREIGN REPORT identifies the dangers.
His excellency the scofflaw
WALL STREET aside, the presence of the headquarters of the United Nations in New York does most to support the city's claim to be 'The Capital of the World', advertised in lofty banners strung across Manhattan. However, the mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, has a love-hate relationship with the world organisation. Currently he is in hate mode and did not even acknowledge an invitation to attend a UN conference on urban issues. Why?
Most unloved South Asian
NOBODY likes a giant, and it comes as no surprise that India, South Asia's largest and most powerful nation, is also the most disliked. Its relations with all its neighbours are bad and getting worse, even with countries like Bangladesh (which India helped to create) and the Hindu kingdom of Nepal. Curiously, though, it does not seem ready to throw its weight around. India's smaller neighbours, taking their cue from bigger countries, know they can trample on a pusillanimous India.
Mysterious plot in Ukraine
ALLEGATIONS of a Western conspiracy to unseat Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma have been promoted by media outlets close to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. These sources have been alleging that a small group of American policy makers, dubbed the 'Brzezinski conspiracy', are behind a purported attempt to unseat Kuchma (Zbigniew Brzezinski was President Carter's national security adviser). The main source for this KGB-style disinformation is the internet site Strana.ru, controlled by Putin's image maker, Gleb Pavlovski.
Jane's Intelligence Digest
An illusory ceasefire
With all the signs pointing to a further escalation of the crisis in the Middle East, JID's regional correspondent has sent a report which reveals the changing strategies of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. The prospects for peace appear very bleak indeed.
Jane's Intelligence Watch Report and Jane's Terrorism Watch Report
United Kingdom - Northern Ireland
- Republican and loyalist paramilitaries are reported to be stockpiling arms, maintaining arsenals and building up large cash reserves, thereby fuelling fears of increased violence in the run-up to the Drumcree march on 8 July, Irish News reported on 2 July. Articles in the Sunday Times and Observer of 1 July claim that senior security sources have discovered deadly weapons that include metal spike clusters designed to maim police and civilians. Concerns have also been voiced over the development of more lethal pipe bombs that can be hung from front door keyholes and detonated by opening the door.
United States - Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft on 3 July convened a panel of outside experts to assess "new collection technologies" and consider ways for reorganizing the US intelligence community, Washington Post reported on 3 July. In the meantime, a review panel of internal experts will hold its opening session on 5 July, with Joan Dempsey, deputy director of central intelligence for community management, serving as chairwoman. Both panels were mandated by President George W. Bush when he issued a directive in May, which charged CIA Director George Tenet with conducting "a comprehensive review of US intelligence." The whole process is scheduled to be completed by the end of September.
India - Jammu and Kashmir
- The BBC reported on 2 July that an Indian army major and a soldier were killed in clashes with Kashmiri separatist militants on 1 July near Handwara, 53 miles (85 km) north of the state capital Srinagar. Security forces continued to search for the militants.
Iran
- Pravda reported on 2 July that Iran's armed forces have been put on heightened alert to counter a possible US attack resulting from US government indictments in the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 US servicemen. While none of the 14 indicted were of Iranian background, many in the US government regard Iran as the instigator of the attack. (see TWR of 22 June)
Israel _ Islamic Jihad
- The Israeli press on 2 July reported that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ambushed and killed Muhammad Ahmed Basharat, "the most dangerous man in the West Bank," as he headed toward the Israeli border to carry out an attack. Basharat and two Islamic Jihad militants were killed 1 July when their explosive-laden car was rocketed by a helicopter gunship on the West Bank just before midnight. A top ranking Israeli official called the attack, "an act of self-defence."
The Philippines - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
- AFP reported on 2 July that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has agreed not to interfere in government operations to rescue 23 hostages being held by ASG rebels on the southern island of Basilan. DZBB radio broadcast a message from MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu stating that "the MILF has never interfered in the military operations against the Abu Sayyaf," adding that they were not seeking refuge in their areas. Kabalu stated that the MILF would arrest any ASG members that it found in territories that it controlled. Army batteries continued to shell suspected ASG positions on 1 July near Turuban on Basilan.
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