Asian Defence News: 2011

December 31, 2011

Bravehearts of the Indian Air Force

Watch out for the $10 billion dollar contract to be awarded to either the consortium of EADS, Finmeccanica and BAE Systems (Eurofighter) or the French Dassault (Rafale) in January 2012.

I would go buy stocks in shares of these companies before Government of India finalizes on the IAF's choice by 2nd or 3rd week of January.

ST Kinetics 155mm 39 calibre Lightweight SP Howitzer Pegasus

Specifications
Weight	5.4 t (5.3 long tons; 6.0 short tons)
Barrel length	6.045 m (19 ft 10 in) L/39
Crew	6-8

Caliber	155 mm NATO
Rate of Fire	4 rpm for 3 minutes 2 rpm for 30 minutes
Effective range	19 km (12 mi) (with M107)
Maximum range	30 km (19 mi) (with ERFB BB round)
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Is air- transportable by a Hercules C130 and Chinook - CH47 because it is made in part by titanium and aluminium.

December 30, 2011

Russia battles fire on nuclear submarine - The Yekaterinburg

Russia said it had won the battle with a raging blaze aboard a nuclear submarine on Friday by submerging the stricken vessel at a navy shipyard after hours of dousing the flames with water from helicopters and tug boats. There was no radiation leak, authorities said. Television pictures showed a giant plume of smoke above the yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia as over 100 firemen struggled to douse flames which witnesses said rose 10 metres (30 feet) above the Yekaterinburg submarine. "The fire has been localized," Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu told officials who were leading the firefighting effort from an emergencies control room in Moscow more than nine hours after the blaze began at 1220 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT) on Thursday.

Firefighters spray water on the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine in a dock at the Roslyakovo shipyard in the Murmansk region, Russia Photo: AP Photo/Ru-RTR Russian state channel/ Via APTN

Shoigu's comments indicate the fire was still burning but that efforts to partially sink the submarine at the dock had succeeded in reducing the intensity of the flames. Russia said the nuclear reactor had been shut down and all weapons had been removed from the 167-metre (550 feet) Yekaterinburg, which launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea at a firing range thousands of miles away in Kamchatka as recently as July. "Radiation levels are normal," a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry said. "No one was injured." After hours of trying to put out the flames, officials decided to partially submerge the hull of the 18,200-tonne submarine at the Roslyakovo dock, one of the main dockyards of Russia's northern fleet 1,500 km (900 miles) north of Moscow.

December 29, 2011

China's new-type tanks unveiled - ZTZ-99A2 (Type 99A2) Main Battle Tank

LinkWithin

China has a strange habit of unveiling new technology at the end of the year.

Watch that extra armor on the gun turret.

October 23, 2011

Indonesian navy Corvettes: Sigma Class

Num  Name
365 KRI Diponegoro (DPN)
366 KRI Hasanuddin (HSN)
367 KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda (SIM)
368 KRI Frans Kaisiepo (FKO)

Technical Data :Displacement   : 1,700 tons
Dimensions     : 90.71 x 13.02 x 3.6 meters
Propulsion     : 2 shafts; 2 cruise diesels, 8,910 bhp, 28 knots;
Crew           : 80
Combat System  : Thales TACTICOS
Radar          : MW 08  3D Radar
Sonar          : Thales UMS 4132 Kingklip hull mounted
Fire Control   : LIROD MK2 Tracking radar
ESM            : Thales DR 3000
ECM            : Racal Scorpion 2L
Aviation       : Aft helicopter deck
Armament       : 4
 MM40 Exocet SSM, 2 Mistral TETRAL SAM positions, 1 Oto Melara Super 
Rapid 76mm Dual Purpose, 2 Denel Vector 20 mm, 2 B 515 inch torpedo 
tubes.
Builders       : Royal Schelde Shipbuilding, Vlissingen, Netherlands