Defence Alert

WASHINGTON: Defying the White House veto threat, the Republican-majority US House of Representatives on Friday passed the defence authorization bill for 2013 that among other things calls for certain conditions for US aid to Pakistan.  The White House, in a statement this week, had said such conditions and certification would be counterproductive. The National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) 2013, passed by the House - 299 votes to 120 - now heads for a showdown with the Democrat-majority Senate.

SHANGHAI: As the Australian warship HMAS Ballarat glided in from the horizon to dock at the Shanghai Bund, Australian and Chinese flags fluttered in the wind in unison, naval officers from both sides mingled warmly, and a banner was unfurled to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.  As an exercise in diplomacy, it was a success - and offered a respite for the tough induction to foreign relations with China that the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, received this week.

The Australian army suspended flying operations for the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter after detecting fumes in the cockpit of one of the aircraft. The army has a fleet of 22 Tiger helicopters, 19 of which are flying operationally in the fully capable configuration and used for training purposes. The remaining three aircraft are completing a retrofit program and should return to the fleet later in the year, the Ministry of Defense said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co's program to develop a new refueling tanker is proceeding well, but an aggressive test schedule and Boeing's plan to close the Wichita, Kansas, plant still pose some risks, said the Air Force general in charge of the program. Major General Christopher Bogdan, who runs the $51.7 billion program for the Air Force, said on Thursday he was cautiously optimistic after the program passed a first critical milestone earlier this month, but that there is more hard work ahead.

Gunmen dressed in Afghan police uniforms and wearing suicide vests have stormed a government compound, killing seven people and wounding 12 others. The four attackers targeted the offices of the governor in Farah, which borders Iran. An Interior Minstry spokesman says two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests and the other two were shot dead by police.

Scientists in the United States have demonstrated a new technique which has allowed two people who are paralysed from the neck down to control a robotic arm using their thoughts.
It's an exciting glimpse into the future for people who have spinal cord injuries - and it may be just the beginning. Simon Lauder reports that the scientists are in the early stages of developing an implant which heals the brain.

Contributions towards the Defence industry in Australia are expected to rise at a rate of 1.4% per annum over the five years through 2011-12. The rise in Federal Government funding, which makes up the majority of total revenue, represents the government's commitment toward ensuring the safety and security of Australia and its neighbouring nations. In 2011-12, the industry will generate revenue of $23.9 billion, representing a fall of 3.8% from the previous year.

RIM's latest operating system update is now available to Australian users - including those in government jobs where security is an issue.BlackBerry 7.1 OS is available from Vodafone and Optus for owners of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, Torch 9860 and 9810, and Curve 9360. New features include support for Near Field Communication between BlackBerry handsets, using the phone as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, universal search, and an application to drive the FM radio built into the Curve 9360.

DEFENCE'S plans to develop the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean as a base for Australian and US spy drones and aircraft run counter to assurances Canberra has given the United Nations, one of Australia's most senior foreign policy figures has warned. Australia promised it would not ''militarise'' the islands when persuading key nations at the world body not to oppose the transfer of the former British possession to Australian sovereignty, the former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Richard Woolcott, said.

Cuts to the defence budget mean Australia has lost a decade of momentum towards achieving the defence force that was envisioned in the 2009 Defence White Paper, a leading defence analyst says. Mark Thomson, budget program director manager with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), said the government needed to use the planned 2013 Defence White Paper to spell out its plans for the defence force.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has stopped short of committing a future federal coalition government to restoring defence funding or to buying 12 next generation submarines. But Mr Hockey said the opposition would have more to say on the issue of defence policy. He echoed the words of Opposition leader Tony Abbott in expressing concern at falling defence funding.

Let's hope someone tells China that Australia does not intend to nuke it, at least not for another decade or two. Sam probably thought his post had placed some qualifications on the extent to which China's military capabilities could be used to justify the numbers of strike aircraft or submarines that the Australian Defence Force should acquire.

Australia and Indonesia have completed a biennial patrol boat exercise off the coast of Darwin.
Exercise CASSOWARY involved Royal Australian Navy Armidale Class Patrol Boats HMA Ships Ararat and Larrakia along with Indonesian Armed Forces patrol boats KRI Kakap and KRI Tongkol. Officer Conducting the Exercise, Commodore Braddon Wheeler, said CASSOWARY provided an opportunity for skills development between the two nations and fostered the exchange of ideas.

It is the ultimate spy in the sky. A $600 million plane that James Bond would love, and this weekend Perth aviation lovers can get up close to it and all its gadgetry. The plane itself, a converted 150-seat Boeing 737-700, cost $70 million - small change compared with the $530 million for its array of radars, sensors and support equipment. For that money, the Royal Australian Air Force gets the world's most sophisticated surveillance platform, the Boeing Wedgetail, which can track 3000 targets simultaneously up to 400km away.

The U.S. is the world's largest aerospace and defense market, and also home to the world's largest military budget. The growth of the Aerospace and Defense industry depends largely on the spending outlook of government departments, with the U.S. defense budget being the primary driver. The industry largely depends on U.S. government contracts. Given the uncertain macroeconomic environment, not just in the U.S. but also globally, the industry faces the risk of fewer new orders as customers are more likely to postpone or cancel contractual orders and/or payments.

Australia - Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully demonstrated the latest variant of its new launching system that maximizes the use of existing hardware and electronics to reduce the integration costs of weapons by more than 50 percent. During a May 5 test at the Royal Australian Air Force's Woomera Test Range in South Australia, the new Extensible Launching System (ExLS) standalone variant successfully fired two Nulka Offboard Countermeasure missile decoy test rounds.

For the first time, an Army M1A1 Abrams tank has been flown on board a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A Globemaster III transport. On May 11th, the C-17A carried the Abrams from RAAF Base Darwin to the Capricornia region as part of Exercise Hamel, where it will participate with other Defence units in the Shoalwater Bay Field Training Area. Air Commodore Gary Martin, Commander Air Lift Group, said the Abrams is one of the heaviest single loads which can be carried on board the C-17A.

Australia has defended its decision to acquire the L-3 Communications/Alenia C-27J tactical airlifter following a press release by Airbus Military expressing dissatisfaction with the decision. In a point-by-point statement on the department of defence web site, minister for defence Stephen Smith dismissed Airbus Military's contention that there was no "competition" to fill the AIR 8000 Phase 2 requirement for 10 battlefield airlifters.

Kabul: An Afghan-led, coalition-supported security force detained a Taliban facilitator and another insurgent in the Kandahar district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province today, military officials reported. The facilitator supplied weapons, ammunition and equipment to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition troops in Kandahar City, a US Department of Defence press release quoted officials as saying. He also was planning an attack against a district centre and was plotting to assassinate a district governor.

MELBOURNE — Funding for Australian land and air programs and naval operations will be reduced under a plan that cuts 971 million Australian dollars ($980.5 million) from Australia’s defense budget to help reverse a growing national deficit and return the budget to surplus. The contribution toward deficit reduction from the 25.7 billion Australian dollar defense budget is the first of four planned that will total 5.4 billion Australian dollars.