Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review 5-20-16

Briefs
U.S. Navy poised to take ownership of its
largest warship
The U.S. Navy is ready to take ownership of
its largest and most technologically sophisticated
destroyer.
Capt. James Kirk, the ship’s skipper, says sail-
ors’ personal effects and supplies are being moved
aboard the warship in anticipation of the crew tak-
ing over responsibility of the Zumwalt this week
in Bath, Maine.
The 610-foot Zumwalt features a stealthy
shape, electric propulsion and new guns.
It’s the first new class of warship built at Bath
Iron Works since the Arleigh Burke slid into the
Kennebec River in 1989.
Litchfield electrician John Upham says ship-
builders have overcome challenges and are proud
of the work they’ve done. AP
For more on this story, visit www.aerotech-
news.com.
Poland’s defense minister accused of un-
dermining military
Several former Polish defense ministers are
calling for the dismissal of the current minister,
arguing that he is undermining the image of Po-
land’s military within NATO and Polish society
itself.
The letter, made public May 15, comes several
days after Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz
accused his predecessors of leaving the country
defenseless with mismanagement and allowing
Russian agents to influence military training.
The signatories say Macieriewicz’s claims
aren’t true. They said he has discredited the army,
undermined the country’s image with its allies
and encouraged “aggressive activities against our
country” by enemies.
A spokesman for the president, an ally of the
ruling Law and Justice party, denounced the let-
ter as a “tool of the opposition” being used in a
“political fight.”
The letter was signed by former Defense Minis-
ters Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Bronislaw Komorows-
ki, Radoslaw Sikorski, Bogdan Klich and Tomasz
Siemoniak, and former deputy defense minister
Janusz Zemke. AP
UAE military plane crashes during training
The military of the United Arab Emirates says
a military aircraft has crashed during a training
flight in the Gulf country, killing two onboard.
The military’s general command announced the
accident in a brief statement May 15. It says the
pilot and an instructor were killed.
The statement did not say what type of aircraft
was involved or where or when the crash hap-
pened.
The seven-state Emirates federation has one of
the Arab world’s best-equipped militaries. It is
part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic
State group in Syria and Iraq, and a Saudi-led
force battling Shiite rebels in Yemen.
Its armed forces include F-16 and Mirage 2000
fighter planes as well as several types of transport Martin used taxpayer money in lobbying for
aircraft, helicopters and trainers. AP
China says U.S. report hypes up its so-
called military threat
China’s defense ministry says a U.S. report
assessing its island-building efforts in the South
China Sea has “hyped up” China’s so-called mili-
tary threat.
Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun says the U.S.
Defense Department’s annual report on China’s
military activities had “wilfully distorted China’s
national defense policy” and says the U.S. is too
suspicious.
Yang said in a statement on the defense min-
istry’s website late May 14: “China follows a na-
tional defense policy that is defensive in nature.”
The Pentagon report to the U.S. Congress May
13 said that China was focused on developing and
2
weaponizing the islands it has built in the South
China Sea so it will have greater control over the
maritime region without resorting to armed con-
flict. AP
Moldova: 500 Russian soldiers stage mili-
tary exercises
Some 500 Russian soldiers and 100 military ve-
hicles stationed in Moldova’s breakaway republic
are staging weeks of military exercises.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported
May 13 that the exercises aim to test the capac-
ity of troops in confronting and defeating con-
ventional fighting groups engaged in trying to
destabilize the situation in Trans-Dniester and
seize strategic objectives.
The pro-Russian region broke away from Mol-
dova in 1990 and a war broke out in 1992, leav-
ing 1,500 dead.
The commander of the Russian troops in
Trans-Dniester, Dmitry Zelenkov, was quoted
as saying the exercises would last until the end
of May.
Russia’s defense ministry says some 1,300
troops are stationed in Trans-Dniester, of which
350 are peacekeepers.
Moldova protested the presence of Russian
troops in a Victory Day parade in Trans-Dniester
last week. AP
Bid process expected to decide Sandia lab
contract
The $2.9 billion contract to manage Sandia Na-
tional Laboratories in New Mexico is up for grabs
for the first time in two decades.
The National Nuclear Security Administration
is expected this month to issue a final request for
proposals to run one of the nation’s premier fed-
eral laboratories.
Sandia spokesman Jim Danneskiold told the
Albuquerque Journal that while any possible
change can cause concern, the lab doesn’t expect
a disruption in its work.
A current schedule set April 2017 as the dead-
line for the new contract.
Longtime lab operator Lockheed Martin has
indicated interest in bidding.
“We are reviewing the draft request for pro-
posals now, and as with any proposal opportu-
nity, we’ll make a final decision on bidding after
we’ve received and completed a thorough review
of the final RFP documents,” said a statement
from Jill Krugman, a spokeswoman for the de-
fense contractor. “We previously expressed our
interest in bidding to NNSA in response to their
request for information in 2015. We’re proud of
our long-standing partnership with Sandia and
our support of its vital national security mission.”
The agreement has been extended several
times since the Department of Energy announced
its intent in 2011 to put the contract up for bid.
Lockheed Martin is considered the front-
runner, but Jay Coghlan, executive director of
Nuclear Watch New Mexico, thinks it should be
barred.
A Department of Energy Office of Inspector
General report in 2014 found that Lockheed
its no-bid contract extension several years ago.
Sandia Corp. and Lockheed Martin paid a $4.8
million fine.
“The lab does create jobs, of that there is no
dispute, but there is a lot of economic propagan-
da that it has this multiplying effect,” Coghlan
also said. “I just don’t think it’s true.”
Administration and Sandia officials declined
to comment on the bid process. AP
Putin says Russian arms industries meet
production targets
Russia’s arms industries have met most produc-
tion goals for new weapons, but some contracts
haven’t been fulfilled, President Vladimir Putin
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said May 12.
Putin, who spoke at a meeting with military of-
ficials and defense industry leaders in Sochi, said
the military last year received 96 planes, 81 heli-
copters, 152 air defense systems and 291 radars
among other new weapons.
Despite Russia’s economic downturn, the
Kremlin has pushed ahead with an ambitious
arms modernization program amid tensions with
the West over Ukraine.
Putin said that some of last year’s contracts
hadn’t been honored and urged officials to ana-
lyze the reasons behind the failures, but gave no
details. He said that that the government will con-
tinue to support defense industries, work to create
new jobs and raise salaries.
The meeting was part of a series of conferences
Putin has held with the top brass and military in-
dustries. Earlier this week, he hailed the perfor-
mance of Russia’s new weapons in Syria, but said
that the campaign has revealed some problems
that need to be fixed. He offered no specifics.
On May 12, the president inspected a lineup
of new military vehicles, but the military had an
awkward moment when Putin wanted to get inside
one of them, called Patriot, but the door didn’t
open.
A general then tried to open the door for Putin
in front of TV cameras, but he pulled the handle
off instead. He then successfully opened a back
door.
The vehicle’s maker, UAZ, explained the gaffe
by saying that the door was locked. AP
U.S., British troops hold joint exercises
with Georgia’s army
About 1,300 U.S., British and Georgian troops
are conducting joint exercises aimed at training
the former Soviet republic’s military for participa-
tion in the NATO Response Force.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said
at the May 11 opening of the two-week exercises
that his country would one day become a member
of the Western military alliance.
Georgia has 870 troops taking part in the NA-
TO-led mission in Afghanistan.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry last week called
NATO’s ongoing “exploration” of Georgian ter-
ritory a “provocative step” aimed at destabilizing
the region. The ministry statement noted that un-
like last year, when the first such exercises were
held, the U.S. forces brought Abrams tanks with
them to Georgia.
Georgia responded by saying that Russia’s sup-
port for Georgia’s breakaway regions — Abkhazia
and South Ossetia — is significantly more pro-
vocative. AP
China says U.S. patrols justify defensive
deployments
China says U.S. Navy patrols in the South Chi-
na Sea require it to increase the defense capabili-
ties of the islands it controls in the area.
The Chinese Defense Ministry has condemned
the May 10 latest sail-by by the U.S. Navy to re-
inforce its position that China’s new man-made
islands in the strategically vital water body do not
enjoy the legal rights of natural islands.
The destroyer USS William P. Lawrence passed
within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Fiery
Cross Reef, the limit of what international law re-
gards as an island’s territorial sea. The reef is now
an island with an airstrip, harbor and burgeoning
above-ground infrastructure.
Chinese authorities monitored and issued
warnings to the U.S. destroyer as it passed. The
ministry said in a statement that it may also boost
patrols. AP
Danish government recommends buying
Lockheed Martin’s F-35
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May 20, 2016