A brand new stealth corvette was delivered to the Russian Navy in mid-May 2013.

The third Steregushchy-class corvette, the Boikiy was laid down in July 2005 and first launched in April 2011. It now joins the Steregushchiy and the Soobrazitelnyy in Russian naval service and it, in turn, will be joined by three more Steregushchy-class corvettes in months ahead.

The Boikiy is one of four Steregushchy-class stealth corvettes destined to serve with the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet, while the other two vessels will become part of the Pacific Fleet.

To date, the only firm Steregushchy-class stealth corvette orders have come from the Russian Navy, although several foreign nations have expressed interest.

Steregushchy-Class Stealth Corvettes

In general terms, the Steregushchy-class stealth corvettes are 342 feet long and displace up to 2,200 tons of water. Each has a 15-day endurance and a range of 3,800 nautical miles, with a maximum speed of 27 knots.

There is space on deck for a single Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter and, on the armament side, various weapons are carried including the Kashtan close-in weapon system (CIWS), Kh-35 missiles and two 14.5mm machine guns.

A key feature is the inclusion of stealth materials in the construction, which help to significantly lower the corvettes' infrared signatures and presence on radar screens.

Russian Navy Stealth Corvettes

These Russian Navy stealth corvettes - which specialise in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare - were the brainchild of the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau and they're being pieced together at St. Petersburg's Severnaya Verf shipyard.

In Russian naval surface, the new stealth corvettes have the role of taking over from the Grisha-class corvettes, which were produced between 1970 and 1994 in five different versions.

Named the Steregushchiy, the lead Steregushchy-class stealth corvette was launched in 2006 and commissioned in November 2007. It was followed, four years later, by the Soobrazitelnyy. In the Boikiy's wake, the Stoikiy, Sovershennyy and Gromkiy are set to be delivered in (late) 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Steregushchy-class corvette image copyright Mike1979 Russia - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Northrop Grumman's AN/AAQ-24 (V) Nemesis LAIRCM (Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures) System is set to be purchased by two Middle Eastern nations: Qatar and Oman.

Worth $210 million, the contracts would see each US ally receive a pair of LAIRCM Systems, along with spare parts, logistical assistance and training.

Information concerning the potential AN/AAQ-24(V) Nemesis sales was supplied to US Congress on 16 May by DSCA - the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency - within two separate documents. In both AN/AAQ-24 (V) Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures Systems sale notifications, it specified that each nation has requested two such systems to fit to its Boeing 747 VIP transport aircraft.

On the spare parts side, besides the systems, Oman and Qatar would also get 11 Small Laser Transmitter Assemblies, 3 System Processors/Repeaters, 14 AN/AAR-54 Missile Warning Sensors, User Data Module Cards and other key components.

Qatar and Oman Nemesis Sales

'This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a partner country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East', DSCA stressed in the Oman Nemesis sale document, reiterating the same message in the Qatar document.

'The proposed purchase of LAIRCM will enhance the safety of Oman's [/Qatar's] political leadership, promoting the global engagement of a friendly country', it added.

AN/AAQ-24(V) Nemesis System

The AN/AAQ-24(V) Nemesis system protects large transport aircraft and combat helicopters against infrared missiles by providing an autonomous launch detection, missile evaluation and countermeasures capability. It's compatible with many different platforms including the C-5B Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III airlifters, the E-3A Sentry airborne early-warning platform and the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

Should either or both of these AN/AAQ-24(V) sales go through, Northrop Grumman would be appointed as the lead contractor. Among the sales' other terms, US officials would be obliged to visit each nation for a 10-year period in order to supply relevant training and technical support services.

AN/AAQ-24 (V) Nemesis image copyright Northrop Grumman

The Beam 100 Optical Detection Unit, featured at the Industry Convention for the Special Operations Forces, can detect proximate surveillance gear by emitting a laser pulse, including observation lenses, rifle scopes and cameras.

Surveillance Detection

This is the brain-child of Torrey Pines Logic, based in San Diego.  According to lead engineer Russell Purcell, the system can perceive optical targets from just over a kilometer away, which provides protection for a Forward Operating Base, or small moving units in a quick-paced tactical situation.

Purcell explained that the essence of the surveillance detection technology is to alert forces to their surveillance, or being monitored by a potential or nearby opponent.

"So the laser pulse comes in and reflects off of each piece of glass inside a lens. Return pulses create a signature. The receiver captures and analyzes that signature," said Purcell. With its superior false target rejection, you don't get non-optical devices like bottles and glass, he added, so if there is detection, the object will have some interest to you.

Beam 100 Optical Detection Unit

Continuously scanning a view-field over 360-degrees, the Beam 100 optical detection unit is linked with a computer that uses digital mapping technology, software and algorithms to locate the signature origin of the area's nearby optical device.

Considering the laser within the device, the Beam 100 Optical Detection Unit could potentially be modified to incapacitate or even blind the felonious object (i.e. person) but laser weaponries and countermeasures that actually cause damage to the eyes of humans are illegal under international convention.

Torrey Pines Logic designs and develops numerous technology solutions and electronic systems for government and industrial needs. It offers IR, NV and visible sensors, wireless data and optical voice communication systems, image process and analysis systems, and lasers and electro-optical design. Aside from Beam 100, the firm's products include DeadEye, a system that can be directly fastened to spotting scopes or gun scopes to enhance accuracy, automatic geo-registration and mosaic systems that tackle the requirement to render mosaic images on-the-fly among other solutions.

The firm was founded back in 2002, and is based in California, but it has a accompanying office in Essen, Germany.

TrackingPoint precision-guided rifles take decisions in to their own hands, regarding when to take their best shot.

A Texas-based precision-guided rifle development firm has created breakthrough technology that allegedly equips a combat rifle with jet fighter lock-and-launch technology, giving the average shooter sniper-level accuracy.

Released on Wednesday, TrackingPoint, Inc. claims that their Intelligent Digital Tracking Scopes will permit an unskilled user to accurately reach long-range targets.

On a firing range in the city of Liberty Hill just outside of Austin, a rookie shooter takes aim with the TrackingPoint rifle 500 yards away from his target. Typically he would have to practice for years to hit something from that distance. But this person gets it on the first attempt.

TrackingPoint Amplifies the Skills of the Shooter

How is this possible? Featuring an advanced colour graphics display, the tracking scope's view is initially only a magnified vision of the target on an axis that is parallel to the rifle barrel. The shooter identifies the target by selecting an impact position on the surface of the target. A red dot is added on the electronic display to indicate the desired impact point, and remains statically on this target even as the rifle's direction changes.

If the gun were fired at this point, the shooter would certainly miss. Between cross-winds, parallax, atmospheric drag and gravity, bullets don't travel in a straight line. The riflescope computer then displaces the targeting crosshairs, so that they specify the bullet's point of impact, as anticipated by the firing solution.

Now if the trigger squeezed, the gun will not shoot until the predicted and desired impact points are adequately close together, taking into account the numerous variables. At 914 metres, or 1000 yards, the majority of shots should be hit within the leeway of one hand.

In fact, the rifle is so accurate that some people in the shooting community regard it as unsafe to sell to the public.

21st Century Rifle

This is definitely a 21st century rifle, featuring a ballistics computer with Wi-Fi transmitter to stream live audio and video to a proximate network-enabled device. Each shot is recorded so that it can be played back, or posted to Facebook or YouTube.

"Think of it like a smart rifle. You have a smart car; you got a smartphone; well, now we have a smart rifle," says Jason Schauble, company President.

Image Copyright Oren Schauble - courtesy wikimedia commons

Australia is keen to acquire the US Navy's MQ-4C Triton UAV design, it's emerged.

According to Stephen Smith - the Australian Defence Minister - the nation's looking to obtain "unmanned aircraft capable of undertaking broad-area maritime surveillance and fleet overwatch" and the Triton's firmly in its sights.

Once in service, the MQ-4C Triton UAVs would augment the Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft Australia is also pursuing, giving the Navy a state-of-the-art, two-pronged, conventionally-piloted and unmanned maritime patrol capability.

Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton

Unveiled in mid-2012, the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is scheduled to join the US Navy in 2015. The US Navy intends to press 68 MQ-4Cs plus 117 P-8A Poseidons into service as the replacements for its P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. Australia is another current Orion user and, so, is aiming to act similarly.

In a statement, Northrop Grumman's Tim Paynter expressed satisfaction with Australia's potential MQ-4C Triton purchase. "We believe Triton is the best solution for the Australia's maritime surveillance and coastal border protection needs", he said.

As an unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-4C has no cockpit but is controlled by four operators on the ground. 130 feet wide and 47 feet long, it's powered by a Rolls-Royce AE 3007 turbofan, giving it a top speed of 357 miles per hour. Maximum ceiling is 60,000 feet and maximum endurance is 30 hours.

Triton Naval UAVs

In news related to the potential Triton naval UAVs purchase, US researchers have set an new drone endurance record by keeping an Ion Tiger drone in the air for more than two days. Equipped with an upgraded liquid hydrogen fuel tank, the Ion Tiger flew for a total of 48 hours, one minute - smashing the previous 26 hours, two minutes record.

"Liquid hydrogen coupled with fuel-cell technology has the potential to expand the utility of small unmanned systems by greatly increasing endurance while still affording all the benefits of electric propulsion", the US Naval Research Laboratory's lead investigator, Doctor Karen Swider-Lyons, commented.

MQ-4C Triton UAV image courtesy Northrop Grumman

The Interactive Defense and Attack System (IDAS) development programme has a new partner: Turkey's Roketsan. It joins German firms Diehl Defense and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as they work to bring this new submarine-based missile system to fruition.

The Interactive Defense and Attack System is designed to equip the German Navy's Type 212 submarines. Diesel-powered, the Type 212s have a maximum speed of 20 knots and can submerge to a depth of more than 700 metres. Once the Type 212 submarine construction programme concludes in 2014, ten examples will have been built: six for the German Navy and four for the Italian Navy.

IDAS: Interactive Defense and Attack System

Once deployed, IDAS is set to become a naval warfare game-changer. Never before has any Navy been able to launch missiles from submerged submarines against airborne targets but that's a capability the Interactive Defense and Attack System will deliver.

Involving a Type 212 submarine, the first IDAS trial was carried out in May 2008 and it's planned for the weapon to join the German Navy next year.

According to information published by Diehl Defense, IDAS is a fibre-optic guided missile system able to defeat anti-submarine warfare helicopters, surface vessels up to medium-size and pre-determined land targets. It's comprised of three elements, including a missile with folding wings and a 20 kilogram warhead.

Roketsan's contribution to the IDAS programme will include developing, qualifying and mass-producing this 20kg warhead.

Sub-Launched Missile

'IDAS provides new self-defense and asymmetric warfare capabilities', Diehl Defense explained in a statement on the sub-launched missile programme. 'The submarine can launch the multi-role missile from a torpedo tube under water by means of a launching container.

'Aided by an innovative fibre-optic data link, the operator in the submarine is capable of controlling the missile during the entire flight offering the opportunity of target change, correction of the target impact point or mission abort.'

Roketsan formally agreed to partner Diehl Defense and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems at the recent IDEF (International Defense Industry Fair) event, held in Istanbul.

Image copyright Bin im Garten - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

US defence/aerospace firm Lockheed Martin and the US Missile Defense Agency have carried out an initial air-launched ballistic missile target test, with positive results.

According to Lockheed Martin and the MDA, the eMRBM (Extended Medium-range Ballistic Missile) target was dropped from a USAF C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft, positioned over Arizona at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Once released, the Extended Medium-range Ballistic Missile prototype detached itself from the carriage extraction system and deployed parachutes as it descended to the ground.

In a press release, Targets and Countermeasures programme director, Patricia Dare, commented: "The eMRBM air-launch equipment and carriage extraction system performed nominally in this test, verifying system performance and preparing the launch team for future mission operations."

EMRBM Flight Test

The eMRBM flight test involved an unpowered pilot missile target and, so, the sortie took place to confirm that the system's support equipment performed as expected. Next, the missile target itself will be launched and that mission's scheduled to take place before the end of 2013.

"This new target is designed to provide the threat realism that is essential to ensuring that missile defense systems are developed against accurate representations of the systems they would likely encounter in an operational environment", added Lockheed Martin Missile Defense Systems' John Holly

Ballistic Missile Target

The air-launched Extended Medium-range Ballistic Missile target is being developed by Lockheed Martin as a strike platform for warfighters to practise-hit when they're being taught how to operate the Ballistic Missile Defense System, which would be activated in the event of ballistic missiles being directed towards the United States.

Lockheed Martin is presently working on no less than 17 missile target designs, in line with the Targets and Countermeasures Prime Contract awarded it a decade ago. According to Lockheed Martin literature released at the time, 'These target systems will enable the US to realistically, reliably and affordably test the full range of ballistic missile defense systems under development.'

Image copyright US Missile Defense Agency

The US Navy plans to launch a carrier drone for the first time, making aviation history.

On Tuesday, the Navy will catapult an unmanned plane from an aircraft carrier, testing a stealthy, long-range, bat-winged jet that signifies a leap forward in drone technology.

With a flying capability of over 2,000 nautical miles in one journey and a six-hour endurance, the X-47B is scheduled to depart in the Atlantic from the USS George H. W. Bush utilizing the same sling-shot method that shoots manned jets upward from aircraft carriers' short runways.

X-47B Drone Launch from US Aircraft Carriers

Developed by defense technology firm Northrop Grumman, the jet was first flown in 2011, and boasts a 62-foot wingspan. The X-47 project is now part of the US Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program, and as of January 2012, the project's cost inflated to $813 million.

Due to its stealth potential and bettering the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's range nearly two-fold, the X-47B and its descendants are regarded as a potential solution to the posing threat by Iran and China's developed anti-ship medium-range missiles, among other potential rival, according to defense analysts.

These missiles and other reputed area denial, anti-access weapons would oblige US aircraft carriers to function distant enough from land that F/A-18 and F-35 jets would be forced to undertake refueling to execute their missions, leaving them susceptible to attack.

Dual-Purpose Attack and Defence Capabilities

But an unmanned drone such as the X-47B could provide the Navy both with a reconnaissance competency and a long-range attack.

"That makes it strategically very important," says senior defense analyst Anthony Cordesman, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He regarded the jet as "essentially a really long-range stealth system."

Subsequent variants of the aircraft could potentially be developed for full-spectrum broadband stealth, making it difficult for the radar to position it, said the analysts.

US drones currently in operation in areas like Afghanistan and tribal regions of Pakistan, like the Reaper and Predator - are not stealthy planes and are not subject to air defense.

Due to its long range and requisite to have take off and landing capability from an aircraft carrier, day and night, the X-47B can operate with much greater autonomy than existing remotely piloted jets.

The Indian Navy now has its first new fighter squadron since the early 1980s. Formally commissioned in the presence of Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, 303 Squadron (the 'Black Panthers') has been created to operate the state-of-the-art MiG-29K and two-seat MiG-29KUB from India's Vikramaditya aircraft carrier.

Unfortunately, this aircraft carrier won't be received until late 2013 but, nonetheless, the Black Panthers MiG-29K/KUB squadron's launch has been recognised as a major Indian naval aviation milestone.

The Indian Navy has been equipped with MiG-29s since 2010 and, over the past three years, these advanced multirole fighters have been engaged in sea trials and training flights. Currently, the Indian Navy has 15 MiG-29Ks and MiG-29KUBs, with 29 more examples of both types on order.

Indian Navy MiG-29Ks

Compared to the MiG-29s in Indian Air Force service, the Indian Navy's K/KUB-models boast several modifications to suit naval operations. These include a strengthened undercarriage to better absorb the impact of heavy carrier deck landings and an arrester hook. Other changes include more powerful engines, an upgraded four-channel digital fly-by-wire system, extra weapons hardpoints, folding wings, extra fuel capacity and a reconfigured cockpit view, facilitating typical carrier approaches, in which aircraft come into land at a high angle of attack.

The Indian Navy's MiG-29Ks and MiG-29KUBs can be armed with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, including R-73s, RVV-AEs and Kh-35Es, along with KAB 500KR/OD TV guided bombs and S-8KOM rockets. Their service ceiling is 58,000 feet, while they have a maximum range of 1,300 kilometres.

According to further information released by manufacturer Mikoyan, these upgraded MiG-29s - designated 'Fulcrum-Ds' by NATO - boasts a significantly-lowered radar profile and composite materials make up 15 per cent of their construction.

First Indian MiG-29K Squadron

Prior to the Black Panthers' creation, the last time the Indian Navy inaugurated a new fighter squadron was in 1983, when its Sea Harrier FRS1s entered service.

The Black Panthers takes its '303' numeric from the .303 cartridge that, when introduced in the 1800s, changed the face of warfare.

The INS Vikramaditya is an ex-Russian Navy Kiev class aircraft carrier. Once in service, it'll field 16 MiG-29K/KUBs, supplemented by ten helicopters.

MiG-29K image copyright Rulexip - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

BAE Systems' and Iveco Defence Vehicles' 8x8 MPC vehicle has been put through its paces during 12 days of intense testing, which included amphibious sorties.

The 8x8 MPC trials were part of the USMC's MPC (Marine Personnel Carrier) assessment programme and, according to those involved, went extremely well. Various aspects of the 8x8 MPC's capabilities were explored during the Water Performance, Stowage Capacity and Human Factors stages.

According to BAE Systems, all criteria envelopes were exceeded, with the 8x8 MPC showing that it could be exited by a full personnel load within 17 seconds and accommodate enough equipment to support a three-day long battlefield engagement without compromising its own safety or that of those on board.

8x8 MPC Trials

The 8x8 MPC trials were staged at Camp Pendleton's AVTB (Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch) in California. In their wake, further 8x8 MPC testing's now in prospect, this time at the Automotive Test Center in Nevada.

The BAE Systems' MPC's roots lie in Iveco's SUPERAV design. Constructed specifically for the USMC, it combines performance, payload and protection into a package intended to serve alongside the JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), ACV (Amphibious Combat Vehicle) and AAV (Assault Amphibious Vehicle).

Marine Personnel Carrier

The USMC Marine Personnel Carrier programme is aiming to deliver a new amphibious vehicle design into service in 2015. Four vehicles are presenting in the running to win it, including the SAIC Terrex and the Lockheed Martin Havoc.

"The highly experienced team of BAE Systems and IVECO presented an impressive 26-ton, open-ocean, swim-capable vehicle that exceeded all projected vehicle requirements", BAE Systems' MPC programme director, John Swift, explained in a company press release.

"Despite a demanding programme, our MPC was completed on schedule and on budget. It will provide our Marine Corps customer with a highly manoeuvrable solution both in water and on land, with excellent amphibious capabilities and a high level of survivability."

Image copyright © 2012 BAE Systems