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24 Apr 19. Rosoboronexport to present Yak-130 and MiG-29M jets at Mexico fair. Rosoboronexport is set to showcase the Yak-130 combat-trainer and MiG-29M multirole frontline fighter aircraft at the Mexico Aerospace Fair FAMEX-2019. The exhibition is being held at AFB 1 in Santa Lucia, Mexico, until 27 April. The company sees the fair as an opportunity to attract potential buyers as it aims to export a range of military products to Latin American countries. In addition to the Yak-130 and MiG-29M, the company is keen to secure customers for the Mi-17V-5 and Mi-171Sh military transport helicopters, Mi-35M attack helicopter with troop-carrying capacity, Mi-28NE and Ka-52 gunships, as well as Ka-226T light multipurpose helicopter.
Rosoboronexport director general Alexander Mikheev said: “Rosoboronexport takes consistent steps to strengthen its positions in Latin America.
“We are going to keep cooperating with Latin American countries to the extent of supplying the whole range of military products, including modern Russian weapons, advanced drones, air defence platforms and ammunition among them.
“In a number of states in the region, we already demonstrated our expertise in construction of aftersales infrastructure to maintain supplied equipment and train personnel.”
This marks the second time Rosoboronexport will take part in FAMEX.
The company will set up a joint expo with fellow Russian companies, including Russian Helicopters. Together, the firms will display more than 200 pieces of military equipment.
Rosoboronexport is also looking into the export potential for the Orlan-E, Orlan-10E, and Takhion unmanned aircraft systems.
The expo will also feature Pantsir-S1 gun-missile system, Viking and Buk-M2E surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), as well as Verba and Igla-S man-portable air defence missile systems (MANPADS).
The company is aiming to supply systems for the military equipment demand from agencies fighting crime, terrorism and drug trade in the region.
Rosoboronexport expects increased demand from customers for the BTR-80A/82A personnel carrier, assorted small arms and grenade launchers, Tigr-M and Typhoon vehicles. (Source: army-technology.com)
23 Apr 19. Australian Tigers operate overseas for first time. Australia has deployed its Airbus Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) overseas for the first time, with a detachment participating in joint training exercises with Malaysia. Four Australian Army Tiger ARHs were airlifted to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) air base at Subang on a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III strategic airlifter on 21 April, before embarking for training exercises aboard the HMAS Canberra landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ship. Australia operates 22 Tiger ARH helicopters, with deliveries running from December 2004 through to December 2011. The ARH is a hybrid variant of the Tiger that is based on the French HAP (Hélicoptère d’Appui et de Protection), with an undernose Giat 30-781 30 mm cannon, roof-mounted sight, and provision for underwing 70 mm rocket pods, but with added anti-tank capability. Apart from being the first overseas deployment of the Tiger, the exercises aboard HMAS Canberra mark a major milestone for the helicopter given that until very recently Australian auditors were recommending that it not be operated aboard ships due to performance limitations. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
23 Apr 19. Japan scrambles to recover F35 fighter jet before Russia or China. Civilian ship joins search operation that highlights sensitivity of craft’s technology. Japan has dispatched its most advanced ocean research vessel to join the search for its missing F35 stealth fighter as it scrambles to recover the ultra-sensitive technology before Russia or China get there first. The Kaimei, a three-year-old survey ship that belongs to Japan’s science ministry, will join the US and Japanese forces hunting for the fuselage of an aircraft that crashed into the ocean off north-eastern Japan on April 9. Japan’s decision to add a civilian vessel to the search highlights the sensitivity of the technology on the fighter as well as the urgent need to understand why a new aircraft suddenly disappeared from radar. “At this time, following a request from the defence ministry and the maritime self-defence forces, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology research vessel Kaimei has joined the search,” said defence minister Takeshi Iwaya.
The Kaimei is equipped with echo-sounders, magnetometers and an unmanned submarine able to reach depths of 3,000m for seabed surveys. The crashed F35 is thought to lie in deep water at 1,500m: well below the operating depth of a normal submarine. The Pentagon and the Japanese military authorities insist there is no chance of Russia or China getting to the crash site before them but are nonetheless devoting a flotilla to the search. Japan has five military vessels and three coastguard ships in the area, along with a number of patrol aircraft. Mr Iwaya said the US had chartered the Van Gogh, a privately owned vessel for deep diving, with cranes able to work in 3,000m of water. The F35, made by Lockheed Martin, entered US service in 2015 after a protracted development. Designed to be hard to observe on radar, it is expected to become the mainstay fighter aircraft for the US and its allies in the first half of the century. Details of the aircraft’s design, equipment and radar-absorbent coatings are classified and it would be a blow if any part of an F35 fell into the hands of a military rival. There is a history of clandestine salvage operations to recover military technology and code books. In 1974, the US CIA secretly raised part of a Soviet submarine that had sunk to the north-west of Hawaii six years earlier. Air forces operating the F35 also have an urgent need to understand why it crashed, with the pilot unable to eject or report the problem, so they can make sure the costly aircraft are safe to fly. The land-based F35A, which was the first of its kind to be assembled in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, disappeared 28 minutes after taking off from Misawa Air Base in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Debris has been found on the surface but the aircraft’s pilot and fuselage have not been located. (Source: FT.com)
22 Apr 19. Details of new Chinese aircraft carrier revealed in sea trial footage. China’s state broadcaster has aired footage of the country’s new aircraft carrier, revealing details for the first time of the home-grown warship’s interior. While the new aircraft carrier is not expected to take part in a fleet review marking the PLA Navy’s 70th anniversary on Tuesday, a CCTV report has offered a rare glimpse of the vessel in footage taken during its most recent sea trial. The naval parade will include 32 Chinese warships – including its first and only operational aircraft carrier the Liaoning – and 20 foreign vessels from 10 countries, deputy naval commander Qiu Yanpeng said on Saturday.
The new warship, the Type 001A, is the first Chinese-built aircraft carrier. Its design is based on the Liaoning, an unfinished Soviet Kutznetsov-class vessel Beijing bought from Ukraine in 1998 and retrofitted. In the 23 seconds of footage shown in the report, several operators are seen standing on the bridge, while a team of technicians sit at the control panels. The warship is also seen moving at high speed, and it shows the bridge and ski-jump flight deck without any aircraft on board. A close-up shows the vessel’s advanced active phased array radar with an integrated mast structure – a significant upgrade from the Liaoning’s set-up – and its close-in weapon system to counter incoming artillery and rockets. According to the report, the warship “underwent full testing and demonstration of its command system and combat capabilities” during the recent sea trial, its fifth so far, from February 27 to March 5 in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Dalian, where it was built. Testing of its docking, power, combat and logistics functions had already been completed, it said.
But military experts said the aircraft carrier may not be fully combat ready and it was not expected to join the naval parade this week.
“One is enough for the same class of carrier,” said Yue Gang, a military commentator and retired People’s Liberation Army colonel. “But the new carrier will surely be presented as a huge gift for National Day in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.”
The fleet review off the coast of Qingdao, Shandong province is expected to be the fifth military parade inspected by President Xi Jinping since he took the helm in late 2012.
Last year’s naval parade in the South China Sea – the Chinese navy’s biggest ever fleet review – involved 48 vessels, including the Liaoning, 76 aircraft and 10,000 troops.
With a bigger hangar, the new aircraft carrier can accommodate up to 32 J-15 fighter jets – compared to 26 on the Liaoning. Other redesigned elements include a bridge on two levels rather than one, with bigger windows. Its conventional steam turbines give the Type 001A a top speed of 31 knots, a little slower than the Liaoning’s 32 knots. But it has a full displacement of 70,000 tonnes, compared to the Liaoning’s 58,600 tonnes. The Type 001A, which has yet to be named, made its maiden voyage in May last year. (Source: News Now/https://www.thestar.com.my)
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