March 18, 2013 Military Aviation News
03/18/2013
The Pentagon has squandered billions of dollars over the past two decades on weapon systems it never produced and on rosy cost estimates that ballooned to sizes that ate up funds for other projects, according to government reports and defense analysts.
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03/18/2013
Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, said it has won a $253 million contract to provide F-15SA pilot and maintenance training systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The US defence giant has served as the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15 training partner for more than three decades. The company also provides the service’s weapons systems officer training program.
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03/18/2013
The World Military Balance 2013 published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) reflects the recent trends in the global redistribution of military power. Reflecting the subdued global economic climate, total defence spending fell in real terms in 2012 for a second year running. However, real increases were seen in the Middle East and North Africa, Russia and Eurasia, Latin America and in Asia, while real declines were seen in North America and Europe.
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03/18/2013
Being more vocal than ever regarding the controversial drone campaign, Pakistan is seeking a ban on the unilateral use of pilotless lethal aircraft against sovereign countries. Officials have revealed that Islamabad has insisted that increased reliance on drone strikes for combat operations may cause serious harm to global peace and stability.
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03/18/2013
Asked to sum up his first trip to Afghanistan in his new job, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said, “It’s complicated.” When veteran diplomatic troubleshooter James Dobbins was asked about the problem of deciding which Syrian rebels should receive American support, he noted that the State Department and the CIA had had two years, “and if they don’t know by now we’ve got a pretty hopeless intelligence network.”
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03/18/2013
China has become the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, a respected Sweden-based think tank said on Monday, its highest ranking since the Cold War, with Pakistan the main recipient. China's volume of weapons exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162 percent compared to the previous five year period, with its share of the global arms trade rising from 2 percent to 5 percent, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
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03/18/2013
Turkey’s largest defense company — Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret — has successfully developed the country’s first indigenous identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system, and delivered the first prototypes to the Turkish military. Two prototype electronic systems were delivered to the armed forces last month and mark a “first-time achievement” for Turkey’s local industry, officials and analysts here said.
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03/18/2013
Russian military inspectors will make surveillance flights over the territories of Germany and the Benelux countries under the international Open Skies Treaty within a period starting Monday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian experts will conduct the inspection flights on board an Antonov An-30B (Clank) aircraft between March 18 and 23, the spokesman said.
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