South Korea to Gift Corvette to Philippines Navy

South Korea is donating one of its recently retired Po Hang class corvettes to the Philippines Navy. The Po Hangs are 1,200 ton warships that first entered service in 1984. Since then 24 have been built. Each is armed with four Harpoon anti-ship missiles, one 76mm cannon; two twin 40mm automatic cannon, six torpedo tubes and twelve depth charges. The crew of 95 also operates radar and sonar. Top speed is 59 kilometers an hour. Two Po Hangs have been retired so far, and one was sunk by a North Korean torpedo last year.

KP to computerise prison record

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to computerise its prison department`s record to streamline the procedures of the inmates` entry and release.
The decision was taken in a meeting that reviewed the Prisons Management Information System in Central Jail, Peshawar, in the Annual Development Plan under the chairmanship of provincial home secretary Muhammad Azam Khan here on Thursday.
Senior officials of the science and technology and information technology departments along with computer experts attended the meeting which was told that after the computerisation of the prisoners` database, details of their punishment, remission, appearance before the court, release and treatment on the premises could easily be checked online.
According to officials, the service record of the prison department`s employees, including tenure, posting and transfers, and disciplinary action against them by wardens and assistant deputy superintendents of jails, will also be available online.They said linking of all jails in the province through internet, installation of close-circuit television cameras in jails and provision of electronic security equipment to them had also been planned.
Officials said PC-1 of the computerisation of Peshawar Jail`s record would be revised to ensure that the province`s two central prisons in Peshawar and Haripur were computerised in the first phase at the same cost.

Germany clears India for receipt of dual-use tech

India had been on a list of countries subject to export restrictions, but will now be treated on par with EU countries
 
New Delhi: Germany has removed India from a list of countries subject to restrictions for the export of dual-use items and technology, adding a new dimension to its strategic partnership with the South Asian nation.
 
Germany’s ambassador to India Thomas Matussek said the move was in keeping with an understanding reached between the two countries during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Berlin in December.
 
A week before German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to New Delhi on 31 May, “Germany modified its export control legislations vis-a-vis India”, Matussek told reporters.
 
“We have repealed our national restrictions for export of goods of nuclear power plants. India was removed from a list of countries subject to national export control restrictions. Now India will be treated by us just like any EU (European Union) country,” he said. The step was in recognition of India’s “excellent non-proliferation record” and added a “new cornerstone to our strong strategic partnership”, the ambassador said.
 
This follows a decision by Germany to shut down all its atomic plants by 2022, based on the recommendations of an expert commission to review the safety of atomic power plants after some units of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear power plant started leaking radiation after being crippled by a tsunami triggered by a 11 March earthquake. But the move paves the way for German companies such as Siemens AG to export critical and sensitive civil nuclear safety equipment to India, which included nuclear power as a component of its energy mix needed to fuel its economic growth. According to Prime Minister Singh, India currently produces only 5,000 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power but has plans to increase it to 20,000MW by 2020.
 
Matussek, who was briefing reporters on the outcome of Merkel’s visit, said Germany supported India’s entry into international bodies framing the rules for the trade in nuclear and dual-use equipment and knowhow such as the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Wassenaar Group and the Australia group. But he urged India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)—an international pact that prohibits member states from testing nuclear weapons. India, which conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and in 1998, has resisted pressure from the international community to sign either the CTBT or the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But the difference of views was not an irritant in India-Germany ties that span education, science and technology to defence and strategic issues, the ambassador indicated.
 
Matussek, however, urged India not to carry out the death penalty awarded to Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, whom Indian courts found guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 September Delhi bomb blast case that targeted then youth Congress leader Maninder Singh Bitta.
 
Bhullar was deported from Frankfurt after his application seeking political asylum was rejected by German authorities, but the decision was declared illegal by a Frankfurt court two years later. India’s President Pratibha Patil recently rejected his mercy petition.
 
“Our government together with the European Union is certainly going to make the appeal not to execute the capital punishment. The EU high representative Catherine Ashton has written to the home minister in this regard,” Matussek said. Germany and many EU countries have abolished the death penalty.
 
On a proposal to remove the Taliban from a list of groups that are subject to United Nations sanctions following the 2001 attacks in the US, Matussek said the move was aimed at helping the “reconciliation process” between the Afghan government and the rebels.
 
“We feel that if the Afghans feel that the reconciliation process is easier, then you take the Taliban off the list,” Matussek said. India, which suspects the Taliban of having links with Pakistan military spy agency the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is uncomfortable with the move. India blames the ISI for the 2008 Mumbai attacks and for fomenting insurgency in Kashmir.
 
Germany’s ambassador to the UN Peter Wittig chairs the Security Council committee that currently monitors sanctions against the groups. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been making peace overtures to members of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan for five years and sheltered the Al Qaeda before being driven out of power in the US-led invasion in late 2001. The Taliban has long demanded removal from the sanctions list to help promote reconciliation. The US and Afghan governments have said they are willing to reconcile with Taliban members who renounce violence, embrace the Afghan constitution, and sever ties with the Al Qaeda.

Indian Army Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher system

Russia supplies 4 su-30 mk2 fighters to Vietman

Russian Arms Exporter has supplied the first batch of four Su-30MK2 fighters to Vietnam, head of the company's delegation at Paris Air Show 2011 said.

Speaking about the share of aircraft equipment in overall exports of Russian armaments, Sergei Kornev noted yesterday that it made up 43 percent in 2010.

Normally, this indicator ranges between 45 and 50 percent, and this trend will keep in the near future, Kornev said.

The largest buyers of Russian aircraft are India, Algeria and Vietnam.

According to the Rosoboronexport official, the first four Su-30MK2 fighters had been recently sent to Vietnam.

"By our return to Moscow (i.e. by June 25) they will have been assembled and tested in flight. Rosoboronexport also offers Vietnam the Yak-130 trainer, but it is up to the customer to make the decision," he noted.

Earlier reports said Vietnam had concluded two contracts with Russia to buy 20 Su-30MK2 fighters.

The day when Chinese made Sri Lankan Air Force's F7/J-7 / F-7 Airguard aircraft failed to lock on

Tuesday’s failure to shoot down a single LTTE aircraft despite timely detection by radar has jolted the SLAF into investigating its limitations amidst evidence that the enemy has acquired a capability to neutralise the threat of a heat seeking missile attack.

An authoritative source said that Chinese F7s launched from Katunayake air base had failed to zero-in-on the enemy aircraft. "Their (F7s) missile systems failed to ‘lock on with the enemy aircraft," the source said. This would necessitate an overall review of the SLAF’s strategy, the source said. The military asserted that the LTTE could try to exploit the situation.

The initial detection had been made north-east of Mannar at 10.18 p.m. by 2D radar installed by the Government of India at the SLAF base at Vavuniya.

Thaladdi had come under attack within minutes after the detection, the source said.

Both the Indian radar and a Chinese 3D radar station located in the Western Province had detected the enemy aircraft but interceptors failed to carry out a successful missile strike. 2D radar provides direction and the distance of a target whereas the Chinese radar provides even the altitude of a target.

Sri Lanka Air Force F-7BS fighter--photoed by Rogier Westerhuis

Bangladesh Army Inventory

KOPASKA IN ACTION - INDONESIAN NAVY SEAL

PGZ-04A PGZ95 self-propelled anti-aircraft air defense system of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army

china mengshi 4x4 military jeep

JF 17 and the Chinese weapons it carries

Final Stage set for Indian Air Force Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Competition

Role Multirole fighter aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Dassault Aviation
First flight 4 July 1986
Introduced 4 December 2000
Primary users French Air Force French Navy
Program cost €39.6 billion (1 January 2008[1])
Unit cost Rafale C: €64 million, US$82.3 million (flyaway cost, 2008)
Rafale M: €70 million, US$90.5 million (flyaway cost, 2008)
Average unit cost: €138.46 million (including development, 2008)

Role Multirole fighter
Manufacturer Eurofighter GmbH
First flight 27 March 1994
Introduced 4 August 2003
Primary users Royal Air Force Luftwaffe Italian Air Force Spanish Air Force
Number built 260 as of January 2011 471 ordered (as of January 2009)
Unit cost €90 million (system cost Tranche 3A) 125M£ (including development + production costs)
Developed from British Aerospace EAP
Variants Eurofighter Typhoon variants