Sweden’s Gripen International, which earlier sold six fighter aircrafts to the Royal Thai Air Force, is expected to invest in setting up a maintenance centre in Thailand, said Thai Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungrueng.
Charnchai was speaking after after meeting the firm’s senior executives in Stockholm which has supplied fighter planes to a number of countries. Thai News Agency said the firm wants to invest in establishing an aviation information and maintenance centre.

Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, today met with a range of United States Government officials in Washington DC, at the Pentagon and at the US Department of State, to discuss defence-related aspects of our alliance.
Mr Combet is in Washington to advance our Defence relationship, including aspects of our materiel and research cooperation.
“Australia and the United States have built a strong defence partnership through close cooperation on areas of mutual interest. Today was an important opportunity for me to renew that cooperation with key officials in the Obama Administration,” Mr Combet said.
The meetings included the Deputy Secretary for Defense, Mr William Lynn III; the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Ms Ellen Tauscher; and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Dr Ashton Carter.
“Our strong relationship with the United States Government is critical for the delivery of our current major capability programs, and will be essential for the delivery of our future force.
“I was able to discuss the high level of cooperation we are enjoying on current major projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter. This has given us a wonderful insight into the project. I was also able to get further briefings to those I have received at the Fort Worth facility on the progress of the project.
“Australia’s partnership in the JSF Program has provided Australian industry with the opportunity to become part of the F-35 global supply and support chain.
“Just as importantly I was able to discuss future cooperation regarding the development of Australia’s future submarine with some of the key officials in the Obama Administration. A key area of interest was the parallels between procurement reforms being pursued by the Rudd Government and the Obama Administration.”
To further this potential area of cooperation Mr Combet met with senior research and engineering officials at the Pentagon, including Assistant Secretary Navy – Research and Acquisition and the Director of Defense Research and Engineering.
Mr Combet also took the opportunity to reinforce Australia’s support for the ratification of the Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty.
Cooperation through a Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty will serve to further strengthen the relationship between our two countries. The treaty will enhance Australia-US interoperability in defence and counterterrorism activities, improve cooperation on joint research and capability development projects and expand opportunities for Australian industry.
“We look forward to its ratification and the benefits on trade in controlled defence goods and technology that it will bring for both countries,” Mr Combet said.
“The United States Administration has expressed support for the Treaty, and its desire for quick US Senate ratification of the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty.”
Apart from his meetings at the Pentagon and Department of State, Mr Combet also met with officials of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and committee member Senator Jim Webb.
“I appreciated the opportunity to discuss with the Committee the Defence Treaty and the conditions required for implementation. I was also able to discuss recent developments in regards to Climate Change with Senator Webb,” Mr Combet said.

New Delhi: Facing flak over the controversial Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, the government on Tuesday indicated that it will renegotiate the terms with Russia.
Minister of State Defence Pallam Raju said that India will once again hold talks on the terms of agreement including the price with Russia but maintained that India may have to go through the deal since it urgently needs aircraft carriers.
“India is going to sit down with Russia to re-negotiate Gorshkov deal. Cost of the carrier has shot up but since the Navy needs the 3 carriers we have to go through with the deal,” Raju was quoted as saying by a news channel.
Recently, stung by CAG criticism for escalating cost of second-hand aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov bought from Russia, the government had assured the Rajya Sabha that it would agree to a fresh price for the warship only after going through the audit report.

South Korea will refocus its KF-X fighter-development program, which aimed to create a fifth-generation stealth fighter, and instead solicit foreign firms’ help in producing about 250 F-16-class fighter jets after 2010, according to a research institute here.
The Weapon Systems Concept Development and Application Research Center of Konkuk University was ordered in April by the government to look at the feasibility of the controversial KF-X effort, which originally aimed to produce and market about 120 aircraft, stealthier than Dassault’s Rafale or the Eurofighter Typhoon but not as stealthy as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II.
On May 18, the center told major foreign aircraft manufacturers that the South Korean military wants to replace older F-4s and F-5s with a lesser fighter, one on par with the F-16 Block 50. In a letter, the center sent detailed operational requirements for the new jet, which is to have basic stealth technology and a domestically built active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
“Korea has been evaluated with the capacity of 63 percent of necessary technology if the total technology is assumed 100 percent,” the letter said. “That … means that self-development of aircraft is possible with joint development of core technology … and technology transfer from abroad.”
On May 29, the center asked Boeing, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin and Saab about their views on the per-plane cost estimate of $50 million, as well as budget-sharing ideas and technology transfer.
The center will wrap up the feasibility study by October. The Ministry of National Defense will issue a decision on the KF-X initiative by year’s end.
REQUIREMENTS
The new jet is to have a combat radius about 1.5 times that of the F-16; an airframe life span 1.34 times longer than that of the F-16; better avionics than that of the F-16 Block 50; an electronic warfare suite; an infrared search-and-track system; and data link systems fit for a network-centric environment, the document says.
Among other required capabilities are thrust of 50,000 pounds, provided by either one or two engines; super-velocity intercept and supercruise capabilities; and the ability to hit targets in the air, on land and at sea.
In the first 11 years of exploratory and full-scale development, about 120 KF-Xs would be built to replace F-4s and F-5s, and more than 130 aircraft would be produced after the first-phase models reach initial operational capability.
An industry source here said Boeing might be the front-runner with its F/A-18 Super Hornet and other 4.5-generation fighter technologies.
Sweden’s Saab aerospace group might take part as a systems integrator with Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s only aircraft maker, he said.
Greg Lexton, vice president of Boeing Korea, said July 23Boeing is looking at South Korea’s KF-X proposal and called an F/A-18 green aircraft a “possible idea.”
A Lockheed Martin executive noted that his firm had worked with South Korea to produce KF-16s under license and develop the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet. He also noted Lockheed’s co-development work with European nations, Japan and Taiwan.
“We’ll look at what South Korea wants carefully and discuss what Lockheed Martin will be able to do or not be able to do for the KF-X in the coming months,” he said.
Defense analysts here remain skeptical about the effectiveness of the KF-X program.
One chief researcher at the state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) recalled an earlier study by a local economic policy think tank that concluded that the program would cost at least $10 billion, but would reap only $3 billion in economic benefits.
“I believe there have been no major changes in the content of the KF-X program since the 2007 feasibility study,” he said. “There is almost no persuasion in the rationale behind the costly program. Do you want to acquire sophisticated stealth aircraft technologies through the KF-X partnership? Or do you believe indigenous KF-16+ aircraft could be operationally feasible and sold to other nations after 2020?”
State-of-the-art fifth-generation combat aircraft, such as the F-35 and Typhoon, are expected to dominate the global market between 2020 and 2050, so developing an indigenous KF-16+-level fighter could never be sound economically and technically, the researcher said.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, left for Visakhapatnam on Saturday morning to launch India’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the INS Arihant.
Dr. Singh will arrive at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) airbase INS Dega here by a special IAF plane along with his wife Gurusharan Kaur, Defence Ministry colleagues and a host of defence personnel.
Gurusharan Kaur will break the coconut on the hull of the indigenously built submarine at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam around noon.
‘Ari’ means ‘enemy’ and ‘Hant’ means ‘the killer’.
The 6000-tonne submarine will undergo sea trials for two years before being commissioned for full service. To maintain secrecy, the submarine was always referred to as an advanced technology vessel.
The submarine, which has taken eleven years to build, will also undergo harbour trials for its nuclear reactor and other systems.
The INS Arihant has been built under the Advanced Technology Vessels Programme at a cost of 3,000 crore rupees at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
With the launch of the submarine, India will join the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and the UK who have similar capabilities.
According to sources, the nuclear reactor of the submarine has been developed at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam.
Nuclear submarines are powered by a nuclear reactor, which generates high levels of heat that in turn drive a steam turbine, which rotates the propeller.
The “INS Arihant ” is armed with nuclear-tip ballistic missiles. DRDO and BARC scientists described the launching of the nuclear submarine as a historic and challenging achievement.
India used a nuclear submarine leased by Russia from 1988 TO 1991. New Delhi has since signed an agreement with Moscow for the transfer of a couple of nuclear -powered Russian-Akula class submarine, one of which is expected to be inducted by the Navy later this year.

South Korea will develop an indigenous mechanically scanned array (MESA) radar for aircraft with the help of Israel, officials at the Defense Acquisition Program (DAPA) said Thursday.
LIG Nex1, a leading defense firm in South Korea, will sign a deal with Israel’s Elta Systems on the first phase of development of radars to equip TA-50 light-armed aircraft and FA-50 attack fighters, they said.
Both firms will hold a signing ceremony Sept. 3 in Seoul.
The TA-50 and FA-50 are modified versions of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet jointly built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin of the United States.
The South Korean Air Force is buying 82 T-50 variants ― 50 T-50s, 22 TA-50s and 10 T-50Bs modified for aerobatics.
KAI signed a deal last December to develop and produce 60 FA-50s by 2012 to replace A-37 attack jets and F-4/5 fighters as backup to the Air Force’s KF-16s and F-15Ks.
Under the envisaged agreement, LIG Nex1 will push for developing an indigenous MESA radar based on the Israeli firm’s EL/M-2032 radar technologies, agency officials said.
The EL/M-2032 radar is credited with a look-up tracking range of 65 to 100 kilometers.
“The indigenous radar is expected to be built by the end of 2010 and subsequently enter service in 2011,” a DAPA official said, asking to remain anonymous.
In the mid- to long-term, the domestically-built radar is likely to be installed on upgraded KF-16 fighters and further developed to an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to equip “KF-X” fighters with technology transfers from Elta, sources said.
Initiated in 2001, the KF-X program aims to develop more than 120 indigenous fighters by 2020 in partnership with foreign aircraft manufacturers.

The T-50 Golden Eagle, a South Korean supersonic trainer jet, is ready for a shot at a contest in Singapore. But it needs to get over its Italian nemesis to achieve the feat after frustration in its first bidding competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On the shortlist with the T-50 is the M-346 of Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi, which was picked up as the preferred bidder in the Middle Eastern country earlier this year.
Lockheed Martin, the bid partner, and the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the T-50 manufacturer, submitted its bid to Singapore this month. The country’s government sent the selected competitors requests for proposals late last year, and plans to decide on a preferred bidder between the two before the end of the year.
The T-50 is trying to consolidate in the $500-million deal by pursuing stronger defense ties with Singapore. Following the introduction of the high-end jet during the Singapore Air Show in February last year, Korean Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Kye-hoon met with Singapore’s Air Force chief, Maj. Gen. Ng Chee Khern, to promote the jet in his three-day visit to the Southeast Asian country.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is avoiding involvement in the project, marking a contrast to the strong government involvement in the T-50 bid for the UAE deal. This time, Lockheed is taking the lead.
“This time, the minitry is just following the bid progress, but is not involved in the deal itself,” said Jung Hong-kon, a ministry official. However, an industry watcher says that Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi is playing an active role in promoting his country’s bid. “This needs involvement at the highest level,” he said, calling on President Lee Myung-bak to push the T-50 bid.
KAI could have an advantage in Lockheed Martin’s involvement in the project, as the U.S. maker participated in Singapore’s PC-21 contract and also forms the essential part of the country’s combat capability with its F-16 fighters.
On the other hand, Aermacchi is teamed with ST Aerospace, a state-run Singaporean aviation service company.
KAI expects that success in Singapore will be pivotal to the T-50 program, with which it wants to secure some 30 percent of the global trainers market within 25 years.
It says it is confident when it comes to the quality of the Golden Eagle jet. The T-50, first launched in 2001, is regarded as the world’s sole supersonic high-performance trainer in production. However, high prices were a huge drag in the UAE contest, according to industry watchers.
The T-50 jet’s flyaway cost is set at between 20 and 25 billion won ($16 and $20 million), while that of the M-346 is cheaper by up to a fifth.
The Korean company has kept an extremely low profile about the prospects for the deal, saying that both the quality and price competitiveness of the jet and education service are their strong point in winning the bid. There were rumors that it would try some “special discount” for the first export deal, but a KAI official refused to confirm the speculation.

India and US today said they have finally reached an understanding on the End-User Verification Agreement (EUVA), which gives rights to Washington experts to inspect hi-tech military hardware sold to New Delhi.
“We have shown progress also by finalising important agreements today including the end user agreement that will pave the way for greater defence cooperation between our countries,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a joint press conference with Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna here this evening.
In his remarks, Krishna said the two countries have agreed on EUVA that would henceforth be referred to in the letters of acceptance in procurement of defence equipment and technologies.
Once signed, the generic EUVA would be applicable to all future defence equipment purchases that India would make from the US.

A provision of Rs. 40367.72 crores (US Dollar 8.5 billion approximately) in respect of procurement under capital acquisition has been made in the Budget Estimate for the year 2009-10.
A modernization plan in the form of Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP), 5 years Services Capital Acquisition Plan (SCAP) and Annual Acquisition Plan (AAP) is prepared with due consideration to our security concerns, perspective defence capabilities and equipment profile. The plan is prioritized in the light of operational exigencies.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri S S Ahluwalia in Rajya Sabha today. The Qualitative Requirements for Futuristic Infantry Soldier-As-A-System (F-INSAS) is being finalized together by the developer and army, indentifying critical technologies requirements. Out of five major technologies for the futuristic soldiers, the following two have been projectised in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
(i) Design and development of Muti-Calibre Individual Weapon System.
(ii) Design and development of Air Bursting Grenade for Individual Weapon.
Integrated Management System with Public-Private-Partnership is contemplated in order to produce cost-effective system in large quantity.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Shri Prabhat Jha in Rajya Sabha today.
Comment: Although USD8.5 might be available now it is highly likely that around 25 per cent of this total will be returned to the finance ministry in around 12 months because India has been unable to spend the quota. This is traditional practice in India.