06 Mar 12. The Indian Army has conducted the test firing of its BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at Pokharan range, near the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, in a bid to formally induct the second regiment of the weapon system in service. An Army spokesperson was quoted by Press Trust of India as saying that the second BrahMos unit of the Indian army has been operationalised to pursue operational and strategic surface to surface missile capability development. During the test firing, the missile destroyed the preselected target in the field firing ranges in Rajasthan, the spokesperson added. Derived from the Russian-built P-800 Oniks/Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, the 290km range BrahMos missile has a speed of Mach 2.8 and can be launched from land, ship, submarines and air platforms. The missile is powered by a solid propellant rocket, a liquid-fuelled ramjet to sustain supersonic cruise, and features a very low radar signature. Equipped with advanced seeker software, the missile is capable of intercepting surface targets by flying as low as 10m above the ground even in mountainous terrain and hillocks. The army, which placed orders totalling $4bn for three regiments of the supersonic missile, has so far inducted two units into operational service and is planning to induct a third regiment for deployment in Arunachal Pradesh along the China border. The missile is developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and NPO Mashinostroeyenia of Russia. (Source: armytechnology.com)
12 Mar 12. Northrop Grumman Corporation announced the recent production and delivery of the 100th LITENING G4 targeting pod. LITENING G4 is currently in full production to accommodate separate indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts with the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps. The total value of the Air Force Lot 1/2 and Marine Corps Lot 2/3/4 LITENING G4 production contracts is greater than $575 million. These contracts allow procurement of new LITENING G4 pods as well as upgrades of existing LITENING AT Block 1 configuration pods to the advanced LITENING G4 configuration. “The delivery of the 100th G4 pod is an important milestone,” said Jim Mocarski, vice president of EO/IR Targeting Systems at Northrop Grumman’s Electronics Systems Sector. “Most importantly, our customers have the assets they need to support both deployment and their active bases in the U.S. We have also demonstrated that our production capability is mature and capable of meeting their future requirements.”
10 Mar 12. The Aircraft version of the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world, the Brahmos, would be launched by December this year, a top official of the Brahmos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture company, said. The aircraft modification of Sukhoi-30 to attach the missile is being done in HAL, Nasik and after proper reduction of weight and electronic interface and other various integration, the missile would be ready for launch by year end, Dr A Shivathanu PIllai, CEO and Managing Director of the company, told reporters at Ettimadai, on the city outskirts. (Source: Google)
06 Mar 12. Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) will launch its new Light Machine Gun (LMG) – the NEGEV NG7 – at DefExpo India 2012 and FIDAE International Air & Space Fair. The NEGEV NG7 – the newest in the company’s NEGEV LMG family – is the only 7.62mm caliber LMG in service today with semi-automatic mode, capable of pinpoint, single bullet shooting for enhanced firing accuracy. The NEGEV NG7 shares almost 80% of its components with its smaller brother, the NEGEV 5.56mm caliber – IWI’s exceptionally successful and reliable LMG – which is deployed in dozens of countries around the world including Israel, and has been combat-proven in several wars and in a number of battle arenas. The NEGEV NG7 includes a semi-automatic firing mode that enables accurate fire in combat situations, including ambush, Clos