Kobus

A Russian nuclear submarine which caught fire during repairs in the Arctic in December had its nuclear-tipped missiles and other weapons on board, the newspaper Kommersant Vlast reported on Monday. The Yekaterinburg submarine was being repaired in a dry dock outside the north-western city of Murmansk when wooden scaffolding next to it caught fire and the flames spread to the craft on December 29. Nobody was killed in the blaze which raged on for hours. The Defense Ministry said all weapons... Read Full Story

The number of Russia's Sukhoi T-50 5th generation fighters involved in test flights will be increased to 14 from three by 2015, Russian Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin told RIA Novosti on Monday. “There are three fighters already in tests, another three are expected to be tested in the nearest future. The entire number of aircraft planned for test flights is 14,” Zelin said. Read more Read Full Story

In a country where defence policy has traditionally not been a key aspect of overall foreign policy, seeing a former powerful Foreign Minister assume the Ministry of Defence is certain to raise some eyebrows. And so it happened when, in August 2011, President Dilma Rousseff chose Celso Amorim, the architect of Brazil's foreign policy under the Lula administration, to replace Nelson Jobim after the latter had openly questioned the capacity of several of his fellow cabinet members. While Jobim... Read Full Story

A Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Defence has revealed that the controversial scrapping of the entire UK Harrier fleet took place whilst the planes were still undergoing a £500 million upgrade. The retirement of the jets, eight years earlier than scheduled, leaves the country without carrier-borne aircraft. As to their fate, a second batch of aircraft has now made its way from RAF Cottesmore to Southampton where they are being shipped to America, having been sold to the US... Read Full Story

At least $12.8 billion in shipbuilding funds will be part of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2013 defense budget, according to a Pentagon document prepared for Monday’s news briefings and obtained by Defense News. That’s enough for 10 new warships, and includes money to start construction on a new aircraft carrier and refuel another. The request includes: • Funding to begin construction of John F. Kennedy, the second CVN 78 Ford-class aircraft carrier. Read more Read Full Story

This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the greatest search and rescue cases in the history of the Coast Guard, the Pendleton rescue. Due to the heroism, leadership and skill of Petty Officer Bernard C. Webber and his crew, 32 souls aboard the Pendleton were saved. Webber’s legacy in the service lives on, and nowhere was this more visible than Miami, where the service’s first fast response cutter, pulled into homeport for the first time. Read more Read Full Story

Boeing has frozen the price on its bid for a multi-billion-dollar Brazilian air force jet contract, sources close to the deal told Reuters, as the global race to sell military hardware to emerging economic powers becomes more competitive. Boeing is offering to sell its F-18 fighter to Brazil for the same price per plane as its previous offer during a round of bidding in 2009, the sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the bidding process. The sources... Read Full Story

The Israel Air Force may stop the production of the Iron Dome and David Sling missile interception systems in 2012 as a result of insufficient funds, a military budget breakdown revealed on Sunday. Last month, the government backtracked on its intention to cut NIS 3 billion from the defense budget, meant to pay for social benefits in the wake of last summer's wave of protests according to the recommendations of the Trajtenberg committee. The move was decided after Prime Minister Benjamin... Read Full Story

South Korea is seeking to build a pilot training center in Portugal that will be equipped with the Korean Aerospace Industries' (KAI) T-50 supersonic military jet trainer, a government source said Saturday. The defense ministry source, who declined to be identified, said Portugal was tapped as the primary negotiation partner for the International Military Flight Training Center Consortium (IMFACC) last year. He said final negotiations are underway to sort out details that may lead to a... Read Full Story

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States readies its muscles against Iran, while focusing on a powerful war machine with the involvement of Arab states in the Persian Gulf, local media reported on Saturday. Local media reports cited Israeli sources which referred to a deployment in this country of about 10,000 US soldiers to test a new missile defense system. According to the Interfax Information Services Group, USAF fighters operates from the Sinai peninsula, flying over... Read Full Story