Thales upgrading avionics on helicopters
Paris (UPI) May 27, 2013 -
Thales reports it is to modernize the avionic systems on the Brazilian Army's Esquilo/Fennec helicopters through its local subsidiary Helibras.
The modernized helicopters will receive the company's integrated electronic stand-by instrument, which performs three back up functions: artificial horizon, altimeter and airspeed indication.
The system is already outfitted on Sikorsky S- ...
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Chemical weapons team visits Syria chlorine site after attack: rebels
Beirut (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
A Syrian rebel commander said a team from the world's chemical weapons watchdog investigating an alleged chlorine attack against rebel-held Kafr Zita managed to visit the town Tuesday, hours after coming under attack.
Inspectors overseeing the dismantling of Syria's weapons program had been forced to return to their base after their convoy was attacked, but all were safe, the Organisation fo ...
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Libya militia stole US weapons in raid: report
Washington (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Militia fighters stole hundreds of American-supplied automatic weapons and other equipment in a raid on a Libyan base where the US was training local forces, bringing an abrupt end to the secretive program, a report said Tuesday.
Elite US troops have been tasked since last year with covertly forming local counterterrorism units in Libya, Mauritania, Niger and Mali, part of US efforts to wide ...
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Libya PM's home attacked as US deploys marines
Tripoli (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Gunmen attacked the home of Libya's new premier Tuesday, as increasing security fears prompted Washington to order marines to deploy off the coast in case its embassy needs to be evacuated.
Meanwhile, jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia, targeted by an ex-general who says the country has become a "terrorist hub," has called on Libyans to repudiate him.
Businessman Ahmed Miitig, 42, was electe ...
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Obama sets out US exit from Afghanistan by end of 2016
Washington (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
US forces will complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, President Barack Obama said Tuesday, unveiling a plan to end America's longest war 15 years after the September 11 attacks.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Obama confirmed that the 32,000-strong US deployment in Afghanistan would be scaled back to around 9,800 by the start of 2015.
Those forces would b ...
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Marines select SAIC for AAV upgrade work
Mclean, Va. (UPI) May 27, 2013 -
Upgrades to U.S. Marine Corps Assault Amphibious Vehicles are to be performed by Science Applications International Corporation.
Under the contract from the Marine's Program Executive Office - Land Systems, the company will engineer, design and test upgrades to 10 prototype and 52 low-rate initial production vehicles for the Legacy Assault Amphibious Vehicle Personnel Carrier Variant P ...
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ICF International providing services to Army to counter cyber threats
Fairfax, Va. (UPI) May 27, 2013 -
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has selected ICF International to provide cyber network defense research and services, the company announced Tuesday.
The contract covers analytical and engineering services in core areas of computer network defense - including protect and sustainment services and system engineering/development support - for the capture and use large quantities of rea ...
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India receives fourth P-8I Poseidon
Seattle (UPI) May 27, 2013 -
India has received a fourth P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing, featuring India-specific design features and Indian-built sub-systems.
The aircraft arrived in India last week, Boeing said, after leaving Seattle, Wash.
"This marks an important milestone - the halfway point for P-8I deliveries to India," said Dennis Swanson, Boeing Defense and Space vice president ...
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Government aircraft repair plants now managed by Russian Helicopters
Moscow (UPI) May 26, 2013 -
Russian Helicopters has announced it has taken over the management of five aircraft repair plants to strengthen its after-sale services.
The plants, formerly owned by the Ministry of Defense, are in the cities of Khabarovsk, Svetly, Engels, St. Petersburg and Chita, it said.
"The aircraft repair plants that have joined Russian Helicopters will play an important role in strengthen ...
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Construction starts on China to North Korea bridge: Xinhua
Beijing (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Construction has started on a new bridge between China and North Korea, state media reported on Tuesday, as tensions simmer over the North's nuclear program.
The 804-metre long bridge spanning the Tumen river separating the two countries will cost 137 million yuan ($21.93 million), and is expected to open by 2016, China's official Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying.
Chi ...
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Norway arrests three suspected of supporting Syria jihad
Oslo (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Norwegian intelligence services announced Tuesday the arrest of three men suspected of wanting to support or join a radical group in Syria.
"There are strong reasons to believe that two of the arrested people have acted as foreign fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) said in a statement.
The three men were Norwegian ci ...
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Combined Diehl, Elbit missile counter-measures for Germany's A400Ms
Uberlingen, Germany (UPI) May 26, 2013 -
Germany's A400M military transports are being equipped with anti-missile defense systems that combine products from Diehl Defense and Elba Systems of Israel.
Diehl said the agreement with Elbit, signed at the International Aviation and Space Exhibition in Germany, is for inclusion of three of Elbit's J-MUSIC, or multi-spectral infrared counter-measures, into Diehl's multi-turret directe ...
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US seeks light on shadowy online data collection
Washington (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
US regulators called Tuesday for more transparency from data brokers, citing potential for abuse in a rapidly growing industry that buys and sells information on people's Internet and offline activities.
A study by the US Federal Trade Commission said the industry collects vast amounts of potentially sensitive data on ethnicity, income, religion, political leanings, age, and health conditio ...
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NATO agency extends Globalcomms services
Hauppauge, N.Y. (UPI) May 27, 2013 -
Communications services and on-site support for NATO's GPS-based force tracking system will continue to be provided by U.S.-headquartered Globecomm.
The award from the NATO Communications and Information Agency is worth $9.6 million and an extension of its earlier work for NATO, which encompassed the design and deployment of the system.
"Globecomm is pleased to receive this contr ...
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SSTL announces TechDemoSat-1 launch date
Guildford, UK (SPX) May 27, 2014 -
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) is announcing the launch of TechDemoSat-1, an in-orbit technology demonstration mission for innovative UK spacecraft equipment and software, planned for 28th June 2014 by a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle with a Fregat upper stage from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
TechDemoSat-1 is based on the SSTL-150 platform and is part-funded by a grant from the ...
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China's BeiDou system standard ratified by IMO
Beijing (XNA) May 27, 2014 -
The International Maritime Organization has ratified the performance standard of a receiver of the shipborne BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), the Ministry of Transport revealed Wednesday.
This is the first BDS to be standard approved by an international organization. It marks the first step for China's home-grown system in its quest to go global, according to the ministry.
T ...
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Vietnam accuses Chinese ship of sinking fishing boat
Hanoi (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Vietnam on Tuesday accused a Chinese ship of ramming and sinking one of its fishing boats, fanning territorial tensions over Beijing's deployment of an oil rig in contested waters.
The incident, which China's rival Japan described as "extremely dangerous", comes during an ongoing tense confrontation between the communist neighbours in the South China Sea that has triggered international alar ...
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Dozens dead as Ukraine claims control of Donetsk airport
Donetsk, Ukraine (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Ukraine said Tuesday it had recaptured the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk after a day of air strikes and fierce gun battles with pro-Moscow separatist militants that left dozens of people dead.
Caught up in the drama in Donetsk were a team of international monitors with the OSCE who have gone missing after being detained at a checkpoint.
As fear gripped the city's streets, Russia ...
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US hacker-FBI informant walks free
New York (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
The founder of an offshoot of the shadowy hacker group Anonymous, who directed hundreds of cyber attacks before turning FBI informant, walked free Tuesday after getting a symbolic seven-month sentence.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, 30, better known by his screen name "Sabu," was first arrested in 2011 and had already served seven months in jail before being released on bail in December 2012.
M ...
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Iran to West: resist outside pressure in nuclear talks
Tehran (AFP) May 27, 2014 -
Iran urged western powers Tuesday to resist any pressure from third parties not directly involved in negotiations over its nuclear activities, in a clear reference to Israeli-led influence.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, quoted by the official IRNA news agency after meetings with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, also called for "seriousness and realism," in the next round of ...
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