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Report: Pakistani president suspected of graft in submarine sale South Asia News Nov 10, 2009, 10:56 GMT Paris - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is suspected of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 sale of three French submarines to the Pakistani Navy, the daily Liberation reported Tuesday. In addition, investigators believe that the non-payment of the full amount of the agreed kickbacks may have led to the deaths of 11 French nationals in a 2002 terror attack in the city of Karachi. In the report, Liberation says it acquired documents that allegedly show that Zardari received...

France to offer bigger Scorpenes for $5 billion Indian submarine order Sandeep Unnithan | New Delhi, December 6, 2010 | France will offer India a bigger version of its Scorpene conventional diesel-electric (SSK) submarine for a $5 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) contract for six submarines. This is the world's largest order for conventional submarines. Stating this, Patrick Boissier, Chairman and CEO of French shipbuilder DCNS, confirmed that the design of the existing Scorpene submarine could be lengthened with the addition of more sections including Air Independent Propulsion (AIP). Boissier was part of the trade delegation visiting New Delhi with French...

Fuel cells plumb new depths Spanish plan fuel cell powered submarine James Murray, BusinessGreen, 06 Dec 2007 They have already been used in space and now low-carbon fuel cells are set to break another barrier after UTC Power announced it has inked a deal to provide a new 300KW fuel cell for use in the Spanish Navy's S-80 submarine. The company said the deal with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia represented one of the largest deals in its history and would see it develop a new proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell for the submarine. "One of the places that fuel cells...

India plans to buy 6 new subs, says Navy chief 2 Dec 2007, 0305 hrs IST,Rajat Pandit,TNN NEW DELHI: With both Pakistan and China progressively adding muscle to their underwater arms, India too has begun the hunt for six more submarines to add to the six being built at Mazagon Docks under the mammoth Rs 18,798-crore Scorpene project. "We are now actively looking at the second line of submarines after the Scorpenes. I think the global tender for the six new submarines should be floated in the next financial year (2008-2009)," navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta told TOI. The contenders...

June 27, 2007 Democrats Highlight Accomplishments In Face Of Republican Obstructionism Washington, DC—Senators Charles Schumer and Debbie Stabenow and House Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel today discussed Democrats’ achievements since assuming the majority six months ago. Even with Republicans stalling progress at every turn, this Democratic Congress is delivering on our promises to move America forward. Senate Democrats have made great progress in addressing America’s priorities and tackling problems this Administration and past Republican Congresses have ignored. Both houses of Congress have passed energy legislation that strengthens our economy and national security, the 9/11 Commission recommendations, and tough ethics and...

French Navy validates the BPC concept in Lebanon 10/10/2006 Better than a theory or a series of exercises, the deployment of the Mistral during the Lebanon crisis has enabled the Navy Headquarters to validate the new concept for a Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD): the Projection and Command Ship (BPC). Captain Frédéric Jubelin, who was the skipper of the ship until 5 September 2006, has accepted to take a look with us at the Baliste Operation and the baptism of fire of the BPC. This officer knows particularly well the ship as he arrived in Brest in September 2004, at a...

In January on PBS, Jim Lehrer asked Sen. Reid why lobbying reform was moving so slowly. Reid replied, "Jim, it's taken a while for this culture of corruption the Republicans have developed to come into the fore." Aspiring "Speaker Pelosi" just gave a speech at Georgetown University pledging to "drain the swamp" of GOP corruption on Capitol Hill. The Democratic National Committee even had a page on their Website devoted to the "Republican Culture of Corruption." But that "Culture of Corruption" page on the DNC home page has disappeared. Something funny happened on the way to the polls this year....

A multiple rocket launcher on the frigates multi-missions? The ministry for Defense currently thinks of the possibility of installing a new type of material on the future frigates multi-missions. It would be about a navalized version of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), conceived by American Lockheed Martin and developed in co-operation with Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Paris plans the launching of a study plan upstream (PEA) in 2007 to determine the feasibility of the project. This material, successor of the LRU, imposing rocket launcher used on the vehicles of the terrestrial forces, would have, thanks to its...

Navy planning for two new aircraft carriers March 14, 2005 SECRET discussions have been held with ship builders about equipping two large new Australian warships with fighter aircraft. The Royal Australian Navy plans to buy two $800 million, 25,000 tonne amphibious ships by 2010. A push is under way to give the vessels the capacity to carry eight or more so-called short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) fighters. The aircraft would cost about $6 million more than the $70 million price tag for the conventional joint strike fighters (JSF) being purchased for the RAAF. The Government wants to buy up...