US Navy yet to decide on new SSBN design

The US Navy (USN) will start concept and system-definition studies in Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) for a new ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) to replace the current Ohio class, Rear Admiral Stephen E Johnson, director of the USN's Strategic Systems Program Office, told a recent National Defense University Foundation forum in Washington. The studies will enable construction to start in FY19 and replacement of current SSBNs to start in FY25-28. Rear Admiral Johnson said the initial design work will be on the missile compartment and that there has been no decision on fundamental issues regarding the new SSBN design

[first posted to http://jmr.janes.com - 30 July 2009]

Brazil releases more details of SMK bomb kit

More details have appeared in the Brazilian press on the indigenous Acauan (Falcon) SMK (Smart Kit) bomb guidance kit first exhibited at the Latin American Aerospace and Defense (LAAD 09) exhibition in Rio de Janeiro in April. An article in the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper on 19 June described the SMK as the result of research by the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics' Aerospace Technical Command (CTA) in Sao Jose dos Campos (Sao Paulo State).

[first posted to http://jmr.janes.com - 28 July 2009]

Closing time - Colonel Lawrence Morris, chief prosecutor

In January, incoming US President Barack Obama announced that the controversial Guantánamo Bay detention facility would be closed by January 2010. Eight months later, the exit strategy appears to have shifted, with Jeh Johnson, a lawyer at the Department of Defense, telling a Senate committee on 10 July that some detainees could be held indefinitely.

[first posted to http://jir.janes.com - 23 July 2009]

German Navy takes IDAS into production

The German Navy has earmarked funding to take the IDAS (Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines) submerged-launched precision weapon into production for retrofit to its Type 212A submarines, according to industry and navy officials speaking at the UDT Europe 2009 conference and exhibition. Talks are meanwhile continuing with Norway regarding its participation in the IDAS full-scale development programme...

[first posted to http://jni.janes.com - 11 June 2009]

Rocking the boat - China prepares to expand its carrier navy

On or about 25 April 2009, the incomplete former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag made its first voyage in Chinese waters. From its berth in Dalian harbour, where China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has kept it since 2002, the Varyag moved about 3 km to a dry dock in a new, nearly complete large ship construction facility.

[first posted to http://jir.janes.com - 11 June 2009]

Hands free: helmet-worn displays poised to give ground forces the heads up

Following decades of development in helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) in the aviation field, a trickle-down effect is now benefiting dismounted troops who are witnessing tailored requirements for future designs. Since its inception in the early 1970s for fixed- and rotary-wing applications, the global HMD market has grown considerably thanks to improvements in display and sensor technology, lightweight materials and transition to OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology

[first posted to http://idr.janes.com - 08 June 2009]

EEZ claim drives Brazilian ship procurement programmes

The Brazilian Navy has unveiled plans to establish a second fleet - operating from a new base on or near the Amazon River - and procure a new class of 1,800-ton offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). Meanwhile, proposals for the acquisition of additional 54 m Navio Patrulha (NAPA 500) patrol ships have also emerged as the navy accelerates efforts to modernise its surface fleet

[first posted to http://jdw.janes.com - 05 June 2009]

Boeing prepares X-51A for hypersonic test flight

The US Air Force ( USAF) plans to fly the Boeing Phantom Works X-51A Waverider hypersonic engine research vehicle at up to Mach 6 later this year. Joseph Vogel, Boeing X-51A programme manager, Advanced Network and Space Systems, and Charles Brink, X-51A programme manager, USAF Research Laboratory, spoke to reporters at Boeing's Huntington Beach facility in southern California on 14 May...

[first posted to http://jmr.janes.com - 05 June 2009]

Iran set to acquire S-300PTs from Belarus

Amid conflicting reports that Moscow has agreed to sell Iran a number of S-300 low-to-high altitude air-defence systems emerging at the end of 2007, Jane's has learned that Tehran is actually in the final stage of negotiations with Belarus for the acquisition of two surplus trailer-mounted towed S-300PT (SA-10A 'Grumble') systems. These systems were, until recently, deployed near Minsk as part of Belarus's operational air-defence configuration, and include command-guided Fakel 5V55K missiles (with a range of 47 km) and the baseline 5V55R semi-active radar and Track Via Missile (TVM) guided missile (range 75 km).

[first posted to http://idr.janes.com - 16 January 2008]

US warns Iran on threat to close oil strait

Senior US military officials have responded to Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a strike against its alleged nuclear facilities. Any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to an attack on its nuclear facilities would be an "act of war", Commander of the US Fifth Fleet Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff said

[first posted to http://jdw.janes.com - 03 July 2008]