DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Boeing Delivers Air France's 60th 777 Passenger Jetliner

DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Boeing Delivers Air France's 60th 777 Passenger Jetliner

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / EVERETT, Wash - April 4, 2012: Boeing [NYSE:BA] and Air France celebrated the delivery of Air France’s 60th 777 passenger jetliner on April 3. The airplane, showing taking off from Paine Field in Everett on April 3, is a 777-300ER (Extended Range) model. Air France’s newest 777-300ER seats 468 passengers in a three-class configuration. 

Air France's newest 777-300ER seats 468 passengers in a three-class configuration. The brand-new cabin includes 14 business class lie-flat seat beds measuring over 78.74 inches (2 m) in length, plus an in-seat entertainment system with 15-inch (38 cm) wide screens in 16:9 format. It also features 32 "Alize" new premium economy fixed-shell seats offering 40 percent additional space compared with seats in economy class.

Air France, a member of Sky Team, will operate this 777-300ER between Paris and the French Overseas Departments in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean regions, including Fort de France, Pointe a Pitre and St-Denis de la Reunion.

By summer 2012, Air France will operate a total of 62 777 passenger jetliners and two 777 Freighters.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-airlines-news-boeing-delivers.html

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canada May Re-Think Acquisition Of F-35 JSF On Damning Report By Auditor General

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canada May Re-Think Acquisition Of F-35 JSF On Damning Report By Auditor General 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 4, 2012: The Harper government froze spending Tuesday on the multi-billion-dollar plan to buy new jet fighters minutes after the auditor general produced a withering report accusing the Department of National Defence of keeping Parliament in the dark about spiralling problems with the F-35 purchase.

The government also announced it would take away DND's ability to buy new weapons systems and hand it to Public Works — all in an effort to shield itself from the ensuing assault in the House of Commons that followed the release of the report by new Auditor General Michael Ferguson.

The Defence Department faced wide-ranging scorn over its management of the a plan to buy 65 new F-35 radar-evading stealth fighters for what the military initially insisted would cost $9 billion. The cost of the purchase, which is already the largest single purchase of military hardware in Canadian history, will almost certainly be far higher than originally budgeted, Ferguson said.

He added that Public Works should have done a better job of overseeing the purchase, but Ferguson was particularly scathing about DND's failure to come clean on potential problems with buying the F-35.

“Briefing material did not inform senior decision makers, central agencies, and the Minister of the problems and associated risks of relying on the F-35 to replace the CF-18," Ferguson said in his report. "Nor did National Defence provide complete cost information to parliamentarians."

DND pointedly rejected criticism that it did not exercise due diligence in managing the project.

The auditor general's criticism does not mean the government will scrap the F-35 purchase or even consider opening up the sole-source procurement to other competitive bids.

Ferguson's mandate limits his criticism to the conduct of bureaucrats, but his findings could be incendiary for the Harper government. The audit came just one week after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced $5.2 billion in cuts to public spending in his deficit-fighting budget.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-canada-defense-news-canada-may.html

DTN News - MYANMAR NEWS: Suu Kyi's Party Wins 43 Seats In Myanmar Parliament

DTN News - MYANMAR NEWS: Suu Kyi's Party Wins 43 Seats In Myanmar Parliament 


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 3, 2012: Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi's party won almost all the seats it contested in Myanmar elections, becoming the main opposition force in the national parliament, official results showed Tuesday.


The veteran dissident's National League for Democracy stormed to victory in 43 of the 44 constituencies where it fielded candidates in Sunday's polls, according to an election commission announcement on state television.


The landslide win in the by-elections gave Suu Kyi her first-ever seat in parliament, although it will not threaten the comfortable majority of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).


The Nobel laureate said in her victory speech on Monday that she hoped the vote would mark a "new era" for the nation after decades of repressive junta rule, but appealed for political unity and urged her supporters not to gloat.


The NLD won 37 seats in the 440-seat lower house, along with four in the upper house and two in the regional chambers, the results showed.
One quarter of the seats are reserved for unelected military officials.


The NLD lost one seat in eastern Shan state to the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, which has strong support among ethnic minorities.


The USDP took just one seat, in a constituency in northwest Sagaing where the NLD candidate was disqualified from standing.


Suu Kyi's election to political office marks the latest sweeping change in the country formerly known as Burma after decades of outright military rule ended last year.


Myanmar's quasi-civilian government has surprised even its critics over the past year with a string of reforms such as releasing hundreds of political prisoners and welcoming the opposition back into mainstream politics.


President Thein Sein hailed the polls as a success.


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-myanmar-news-suu-kyis-party.html

DTN News - ASEAN SUMMIT 2012: Presidents And Prime Ministers - Group 'Family Photo' During ASEAN Summit 2012 At Peace Palace In Phnom Penh Cambodia

DTN News - ASEAN SUMMIT 2012: Presidents And Prime Ministers - Group 'Family Photo' During ASEAN Summit 2012 At Peace Palace In Phnom Penh Cambodia

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 3, 2012: Presidents and prime ministers pose for a photograph during the opening ceremony of the 20th ASEAN summit and the celebration of the 45th Anniversary of ASEAN at the Peace Palace, in the Office of the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh April 3, 2012. 

Pictured are (L-R): Philippine President Benigno Aquino, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Brunei's President Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesia's Vice President Boediono, Laos' Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak and Myanmar's President Thein Sein.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: F-35 Stealth Fighter Program Faces Day Of Reckoning

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: F-35 Stealth Fighter Program Faces Day Of Reckoning

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 3, 2012: National Defence and Public Works face a day of reckoning today as the auditor general releases a much anticipated report on the troubled F-35 stealth fighter program.

A draft copy of Auditor General Michael Ferguson's report has been making the rounds in Ottawa for weeks.

Sources say it criticizes the government for not doing its pricing homework and failing to follow procurement rules in the largest ever military hardware purchase.

The Canadian Forces wants to buy 65 stealth fighters to replace the aging fleet of CF-18 jet fighters.

The Conservative government says it will pay US$75 million per aircraft when it starts buying them in 2016, which some critics say is too low by half.

The U.S. and Britain signed contracts for the delivery of early-production aircraft at between US$140 million and US$145 million each, but Canadian officials have long insisted that the price will drop as the assembly line ramps up.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-canada-defense-news-f-35.html

DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Japan Orders Interception Of North Korean Missile - JMSDF Transport Vessel With PAC-3 Missiles Sails From Western Japan To Intercept North Korean Missile

 

DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Japan Orders Interception Of North Korean Missile - JMSDF Transport Vessel With PAC-3 Missiles Sails From Western Japan To Intercept North Korean Missile


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 2, 2012: Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's transport vessel Osumi carrying unit of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles sails from Kure base off the coast of Kure, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 1, 2012. 


Japan on Friday ordered its military to intercept the North Korean missile Pyongyang plans to launch next month if it poses a direct threat to Japan, a scenario the government considers unlikely.


 Japan plans to deploy Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 ground-based interceptors on some of Japan's southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said. Mandatory Credit.


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-japan-defense-news-images-show.html

DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Images Show North Korea Launch Work

DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Images Show North Korea Launch Work

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 2, 2012: A truck loaded with a unit of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles is placed into Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's transport vessel Osumi at Kure base in Hiroshima, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo on March 31, 2012. 

Japan on Friday ordered its military to intercept the North Korean missile Pyongyang plans to launch next month if it poses a direct threat to Japan, a scenario the government considers unlikely. 

Japan plans to deploy Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 ground-based interceptors on some of Japan's southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-japan-defense-news-images-show.html