Ground Forces
Active India - Indian Army To Embark On A Massive Tank Active Protection System Programme
The Indian Army is set to begin a major programme to improve the protection of its T-90S Bhishma tanks through the acquisition of an Active Protection System (APS). Currently there are six bidders for the programme who are due to take part in a demonstration programme in mid-2009 in India. However, AD&D sources report that there are already some doubts about how open competition for the programme will be, as many of the requirements seem to be written around the performance characteristics of one of the competing systems.

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Air Forces
Asian Air Force Developments - Programmes and Possibilities
There was a time, and not that long ago, when the choice of combat aircraft available to Asian nations was very limited. One of the reasons behind this was funding, put simply very few Asian nations, with the exception of Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia, had the financial resources to consider state-ofthe- art combat aircraft. Another factor was that few of the regional nations had the capability to operate or support advanced combat aircraft. The final factor limiting the combat aircraft choices available to Asia was the reluctance of suppliers to provide advanced combat aircraft. It was the suppliers, in the form of foreign governments that effectively controlled the Asian combat aircraft marketplace.

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Ground Forces
Indigenous Tank Programmes - Comparing The Indian And Korean Experiences
The modern main battle tank is a complex system of systems, where the design team must seek to use the best available technology to achieve the desired balance between the key elements of firepower, protection and mobility.
Very few countries have the capability to design and build an advanced tank and even the traditional tank building nations can get into difficulties when attempting to build a new tank, for example the British and the Challenger tank programme. The development of an indigenous tank is an ambitious undertaking for any nation and it is a process potentially fraught with difficulty. Major investment is required in terms of time, money and technology and the risk of failure is ever present.

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Naval Forces
Red Star Rising - China’s Expanding Submarine Capabilities
The submarine force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has become a major factor in the regional security equation. Moreover the growing capabilities of the PLAN submarine force have become a global issue, with the United States noting with concern the development of a new class of strategic missile submarines (SSBN) by China. It was not that long ago that China’s submarine capabilities were not that much of a threat to anybody, with the possible exception of those tasked with crewing PLAN submarines. Much has changed in China in recent years and one of the most significant changes is the leap in sophistication of Chinese military power.

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Industry
A Global Player - The Russian Defence Industry
In 2007 export deliveries of Russian defence equipment were estimated to have reached a total of $7.5 billion, Rosoboronexport, the state defence export organization, was responsible for $6.1 billion of that total. Once again the Russian defence industry had surpassed its export delivery achievements compared to the previous year. In 2003 Russian defence export deliveries amounted to $5.4 billion, rising to $5.78 billion in 2004, rising to $6.126 billion in 2005 and reaching $6.46 billion in 2006.

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Small Arms
The M4 Carbine Continues To Court Controversy
If you look at photos or film of the US Army in Iraq or Afghanistan, the chances are if small arms are visible that they would most likely be the M4 carbine. This 5.56 x 45 mm NATO calibre weapon has been in service since the mid-1990s with the US Army and has been exported around the world, for example Malaysia opted to acquire the M4 as its future rifle in 2006. The M4 is a development of the M16 family of weapons that have been in service with the US military since 1964. The US Army seems perfectly happy with the weapon, with the US Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Georgia, having no stated requirement to replace it. So why is the M4 so controversial?

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Exhibition Review
Eurosatory 2008 - Still The Leading Land Forces Exhibition
Eurosatory 2008, the ninth exhibition in this series, ran from 16th to 20th June, and once again demonstrated why it is considered to be the leading international defence exhibition for land forces systems and equipment. The first Eurosatory exhibition took place at Le Bourget, the site of the Paris Air Show, just to the north of Paris, in 1992. Essentially this was a rebranding of the Satory exhibition that was the national land systems event for the French defence industry. For its 1994 event, Eurosatory had taken the decision to become a fully international exhibition with participation opened up to the defence industries of the United States, the Western European Union (WEU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. The 1996 event saw the full spectrum of the global land defence industry invited to participate. Then in 2002 the exhibition moved to its current home at the Parc des Exhibitions at Paris- Nord Villepinte.
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Industry Insight
AD&D in conversation with Manlio Fiore, Senior Vice President Sales of SELEX SISTEMI INTEGRATI
In May SELEX Sistemi Integrati delivered some major air traffic control systems to Malaysia. Although this was a civil programme, we took the opportunity to find out about the activities of the company in Malaysia.


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