F-22 fighters allowed back in the air: US Air Force

The US Air Force said Monday its fleet of F-22 fighter jets will be allowed back in the air after officials grounded the planes over concerns about the aircraft's oxygen system.

The F-22 Raptors, the most advanced combat aircraft in the world, were barred from flying for four months, a highly unusual move that reflected serious worries over safety.

"We now have enough insight from recent studies and investigations that a return to flight is prudent and appropriate," Air Force chief of staff General Norton Schwartz said in a statement.

"We're managing the risks with our aircrews, and we're continuing to study the F-22's oxygen systems and collect data to improve its performance," said.

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US suggests it will supply Taiwan with F-16 upgrades

A senior US administration official all but confirmed reports that the United States will help Taiwan upgrade its 145 US-made F-16 A/B fighter jets.

The official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity on Monday, could not confirm the information until Congress is notified of the administration's decision, which the official said will happen "Wednesday afternoon."

The official sought to clarify leaked reports about the F-16s after saying "something got lost in translation" amid suggestions that Washington was caving in to a powerful China.

"Assuming the decision is to upgrade F-16 A/Bs, they will provide essentially the same quality as new F-16 C/D aircraft at a far cheaper price," the senior US official said.

"And Taiwan would stand to get 145 A/Bs versus only 66 C/Ds and we're obviously prepared to consider further sales in the future," the official said.

There were renewed calls for the US to help Taipei update its fleet last week after two Vietnam War-era jets crashed, killing all three pilots.

A US congressional source said Friday that Washington has decided not to sell Taiwan F-16 C/D, the improved version of F-16 A/B now serving the Taiwanese air force, for fear of upsetting Beijing.

But the source said Washington will help Taipei upgrade what the source said is 146 US-made F-16 A/Bs to the F-16 C/D levels.

Taipei applied in 2007 to buy 66 F-16 C/D fighters, which have better radars and more powerful weapon systems, in response to China's growing military muscle.

Washington recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei but remains a leading arms supplier to the island.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008 on promises of ramping up trade links and allowing in more Chinese tourists.

But Beijing has refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan even though the island has ruled itself for more than six decades since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

The US official sought to counter any impression Washington was going soft on supplying Taiwan with weapons.

"First the US is profoundly committed to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and that commitment remains unwavering. Second, the scale and pace of defense article sales to Taiwan over the last two years is unprecedented," the official said.

"Weapons sales to Taiwan since 2009 will be greater than in the previous four years and they will be double the sales that occurred between 2004 and 2008."

US Air Force vows to spare F-35 from budget cuts

The US Air Force vowed Monday to "protect" costly weapons programs despite budget pressures, saying the country needed the F-35 fighter jet, a long-range bomber and other aircraft.

While acknowledging the need for reductions to the defense budget, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley proceeded to list several big ticket programs that were not up for negotiation.

"There are certain capabilities we will protect. We will apply best military judgment to oppose reductions that would cause irreparable harm," Donley told retired members of the Air Force in a speech.

The firm line taken by Donley comes as the Pentagon seeks to fend off possible deep budget reductions by lawmakers. Congress has to find a way to trim the country's deficit by a November 23 deadline or else automatic cuts will be triggered that could derail the Pentagon's budget plans.

With an aging fleet of fighter planes, it was crucial to build the next generation combat aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, to ensure US air superiority, Donley said.

"With a fighter fleet now averaging 22 years old and with two decades of declining fighter force structure, modernizing our aging and smaller fighter force depends on the fifth generation capabilities of the Joint Strike Fighter," Donley said.

"Simply put, there is no alternative to the F-35 program. It must succeed," he said of the aircraft, which has been plagued by cost overruns and delays.

The F-35 has come under growing scrutiny amid speculation that the Pentagon may be forced to downsize the program, including possibly eliminating a version of the plane designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings.

The civilian head of the Air Force also argued for maintaining funds for a planned long-range bomber, space satellites, nuclear forces, unmanned robotic aircraft and benefits promised to service members when they joined.

Donley said that budget reductions would require the Air Force to accept "greater risk in some areas, terminate some lower priority programs, streamline others," but did not provide details.

In his speech to the Air Force Association, Donley also said that within 10 years the force could be "potentially smaller than in previous decades" but did not offer an estimate.

Chinese sub logs new depth milestone

A Chinese submersible conducted the country's deepest manned dive Tuesday in the latest technical milestone for China, which theoretically puts most of the ocean floor's vast resources within its reach.

The Jiaolong undersea craft -- named after a mythical sea dragon -- reached 5,057 metres (16,591 feet) below sea level in a test dive in international waters of the northeastern Pacific, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Though less than half as deep as a record 1960 dive by the US Navy, the achievement highlights a Chinese push to catch up with advanced nations in space, sea, and polar exploration, which has revealed fast-growing technical capabilities.

This campaign has been exemplified by a space programme that in 2003 made China just the third nation to conduct manned space flight.

Wasp Prepares for Joint Strike Fighter

The crew of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) is preparing the ship to become the first at-sea test platform for the U.S. Navy’s test variant of the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Recently, four members of Wasp’s Air Department traveled to one of the Navy’s premier test facilities at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., to help give them a good idea of what WASP can expect when testing begins. The group consisted of Cmdr. Stephen McKone, Wasp’s Air Boss; Lt. Michael Curcio, Wasp’s Aircraft Handling Officer and F-35B Ship Integration Project Officer; Ens. Maguel Brooks, Wasp’s Air Bos’n; and Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handler) Richard McCray.

First Euro Hawk Unmanned Aircraft System Touches Down in Germany

Euro Hawk, the first high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE), signals intelligence (SIGINT) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) based on the RQ-4 Global Hawk produced by Northrop Grumman for the German Bundeswehr, successfully touched down in Manching, Germany, today.

The Euro Hawk took off on July 20 at 2:50 PDT (11:50 Central European Summer Time) from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and landed at 10:06 Central European Summer Time July 21 in Manching Air Base.

The Euro Hawk will carry a new SIGINT mission system developed by EADS Deutschland GmbH (Cassidian) and integrated in Manching, Germany.

Russia's enters Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fifth-generation fighter

Russia's Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fifth-generation fighter has been placed on a short list of a South Korean tender for the delivery of advanced fighter jets, a Russian arms industry think-tank said on Monday.

Korea is seeking to buy 60 fighters with advanced stealth capability from a foreign aircraft maker in the biggest arms-procurement deal ever for the country with an estimated budget of $7.86 billion under a program code-named FX-III.

Russia's Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade cited South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) as saying that Sukhoi's fighter would compete with the F-15SE Silent Eagle from Boeing, the F-35 Lightning II from Lockheed Martin and the Eurofighter Typhoon from the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS).

Multi-national maritime exercise involving the Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac class frigate

BAB EL MANDEB STRAIT (BNS): A multi-national maritime exercise involving the Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac class frigate, two Turkish naval vessels and French Mirage fighters has concluded in the Gulf of Aden.

Commanded by the RAN’s seventh Anzac class frigate, HMAS Toowoomba, exercise ‘Scimitar Exocet’ held between July 22 and 23, was aimed at contributing to maritime security in the Bab El Mandeb Strait in the Middle East.

Pak to add more nuclear-capable missiles to its arsenal

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan plans to add 24 nuclear-capable, short-range missiles to its arsenal this year, reflecting an urge in the security establishment to seek "strategic parity in the region", according to a media report Monday.

This will be the highest number of missiles Pakistan has ever produced in a year if the government achieves the target; The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.

IAF pushes for opening of aircraft bids to replace MIG 21s

NEW DELHI (PTI): Keen on getting 126 combat aircraft as early as possible, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is pushing for the commercial bids of the two contenders – Eurofighter and Dassault – to be opened before the end of this month.

“We are pushing the Defence Ministry to open the bids of these two companies by the end of this month,” a senior IAF official told PTI.

After the opening of the commercial bids, the Defence Ministry will work out the L-1 (lowest bidder) in the tender on the basis of the life cycle cost of operating the two aircraft.

India successfully test-fires short-range Prahaar missile

CHANDIPUR–ON-SEA, ORISSA (PTI): India Thursday successfully carried out the first test-firing of its latest surface-to-surface quick reaction tactical missile `Prahaar', which has a range of 150 kms.

Prahaar is capable of carrying different types of warheads and will be operated by the Army as a battle field support system.

"The test-firing was conducted successfully at 0820 hours Thursday. Prahaar with a capability to strike targets at 150 kms, comparable to ATACMS missile of the United States, fills the vital gap between multi barrel rockets and medium range ballistic missiles," DRDO spokesperson Ravi Gupta said.

Indian Navy's new frigate to be fitted with BRAHMOS

NEW DELHI (PTI): India will get a new frigate within six to eight months from Russia that will be equipped with the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system.

"During his visit to Russia, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma reviewed the progress of the Talwar Class follow-on warships, under construction at the Yantar shipyard there and was reassured that the first ship 'Teg' would commence trials shortly and be delivered in six to eight months," the Navy said in a release here.

Atlantis makes historic final landing

WASHINGTON (BNS): Bringing a glorious and highly successful era to an end, NASA's space shuttle Atlantis on Thursday touched down at Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15, after completing its 13-day long final space mission.

It was the 25th night landing, the 78th landing at Kennedy and the 133rd landing in shuttle history.

Atlantis' main gear touched down at 5:57 a.m. (EDT) followed by the nose gear at 5:57:20 and wheels stop at 5:57:54 a.m. At wheels stop, the mission elapsed time was 12 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 50 seconds, according to a NASA press statement.

Small Tanker Cum Utility Ships (STUS) MADADGAR and RASADGAR were commissioned, PNS ALAMGIR was formally inducted in the PN fleet

PN Ships RASADGAR, MADADGAR & ALAMGIR.

PNS RASADGAR

PNS ALAMGIR was formally inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet during an impressive ceremony held at Pakistan Navy Dockyard on July 19th 2011.

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir in a group photograph with Naval officials at Pakistan Navy Dockyard as PN Ships MADADGAR and RASADGAR; the Small Tanker Cum Utility Ships (STUS) have been commissioned and PNS ALAMGIR formally inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet during an impressive ceremony.

Russian Navy to receive new air defense system

The Russian Navy will soon receive a new ship-based gun/missile air defense system, KBP Instrument Design Bureau, the developer of the system, said on Monday.

The system, dubbed Pantsyr-M, has been developed on the basis of the land-based Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound).

"Pantsyr-M will replace the Kortik air defense systems and will be installed on all new classes of Russian combat ships, from corvettes to cruisers," said Alexander Zhukov, a senior KBP official.