S. Korea to buy 21 more fighters from Boeing
South Korea will buy 21 fighter jets from Boeing by 2012, bringing to 61 the total number of its next-generation fighters, the defence ministry said April 25.
A government panel approved a 2.3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) contract to buy F-15K fighter jets from Boeing, said the Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of the defense ministry.
South Korea has already purchased 40 F-15Ks at a cost of $4.6 billion. The last 10 of the 40 jets will be delivered later this year.
The new aircraft will be delivered between 2010 and 2012.
"The new aircraft are expected to make up for the aging fighter jets and bolster strategic deterrence," a spokesman for the DAPA told journalists.
South Korea wants to increase the number of so-called next-generation fighter jets to 120 by 2020 to better counter threats from its neighbours, according to the air force.
US Marines launch major new Afghan operation
US Marines pushed into a stronghold of extremist Taliban resistance in southernmost Afghanistan on April 29, in their first major operation since deploying to Afghanistan last month.
The Marines, supported by British soldiers based in the southern province of Helmand, launched the operation to "enhance security" in the district of Garmser, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
Garmser in southern Helmand is an area of difficult desert terrain that extends to the Pakistan border, across which Taliban reinforcements and weapons are said to arrive to enter a growing insurgency.
Soldiers with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in the neighboring province of Kandahar, were airlifted into forward bases in the area last week or moved in on convoys, ISAF said.
From there, they launched the operation named Azada Wosa, which means Be Free in the Pashtu language of southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Military officials could not say how many soldiers were involved for security reasons.
The abandoned town of Garmser, once a thriving market town about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the Pakistan border, is only partially in government control.
It has a small British base where Prince Harry was stationed for some of his 10-week tour that ended in March, when it was exposed in the media.
British troops stationed across Helmand helped the Marines move through the province and into place, a British military spokesman said.
The area of the operation is known to have strong Taliban influence, Lt. Col. Robin Matthews added.
ISAF commanders were using the Marines as a "strategic tool," he said. "Clearly, they want to have an effect on the area south of Garmser."
The Marines started deploying in March to help ISAF forces after a difficult year in 2007, the deadliest in an insurgency launched after the Taliban were able to regroup following their ouster from government in late 2001.
This year is expected to be just as tough and ISAF has been amassing extra troops and equipment for the battle.
The unrest routinely steps up over spring. The last week has seen several incidents across the country.
Military officials say Helmand is a nest of hardcore Taliban fighters supported by international Islamic "jihadists" and the center of Afghanistan's booming opium and heroin trade.
India's space agency puts satellites into orbit
India has launched another military satellite, the CARTOSAT-2A, using a homegrown rocket.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C9 launched the 690-kilogram CARTOSAT-2A and nine other satellites on April 28.
"In its thirteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre ... ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C9, successfully launched the 690-kg Indian remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, the 83-kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nano-satellites for international customers into a 637-km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO)," an ISRO statement said. "PSLV-C9 in its 'core-alone' configuration launched 10 satellites with a total weight of about 820 kilograms."
CARTOSAT-2A's camera can provide images with better than 1-meter spatial resolution and a swath of 10 kilometers, an ISRO official said.
Defence Ministry sources said CARTOSAT-2A will be used for military purposes as well.
The ISRO launched CARTOSAT-2, an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery, in January 2007. The Indian defence forces also use images from the CARTOSAT-1 series of satellites, launched in 2005.
To meet its intelligence gathering needs, especially in the mountainous terrain of Kashmir, the military wants a satellite with a resolution of half a meter, with a capability for accurate mapping and three-dimensional modelling, a senior Indian Army official said.
In January, India placed an Israeli satellite, the TECSAR, into polar orbit using the homegrown PSLV-C10.
Source: www.defensenews.com
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