Iran to Unveil Home-Made Cobra Chopper

TEHRAN (FNA) - The Iranian Army plans to unveil and put into operation Iran's first home-made Cobra chopper in special wargames of the Army's Airborne unit in the near future, a senior commander announced on Wednesday. Speaking to FNA, Lieutenant Commander of the Army's Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari said that the unit would unveil the national military chopper in the special airborne exercises to be held in the near future.

As regards the capabilities of the national chopper, the commander stated, "The chopper is an advanced generation of Model 209, or Cobra, choppers which is also equipped with different types of home-made caliber guns, rockets and missiles."

"All the phases of designing and manufacturing of the chopper have been done inside the country and the helicopter enjoys some capabilities which make it preferable to Apache Choppers," Heidari said. The commander further announced that different types of anti-chopper and anti-armor weapons will be tested in the wargames.

Iran has taken wide strides in designing and manufacturing different types of light, semi-heavy and heavy weapons, military tools and equipment. Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

Credit: courtesy FARS

Sumber : http://worldwide-defence.blogspot.com/2012/05/iran-to-unveil-home-made-cobra-chopper.html

Superjet 100 Wreckage Found at Mount Salak - Indonesia HQ

JAKARTA, May 10 (RIA Novosti)

The wreckage of Russia’s missing Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) has been found at Mount Salak, the Indonesian rescue headquarters reported on Thursday.

Preliminarily, the plane has been discovered at 06.42.61.3 S 106.44.41.2 Е, a headquarters spokesman told RIA Novosti. There have been no reports of possible survivors.

Russian blogger Sergei Dolya, who is in Jakarta, confirmed in his Twitter microblog citing Indonesian authorities that the plane has been detected at the site with those coordinates.

The jet disappeared from radar screens during a demonstration flight near Jakarta on Wednesday with 48 people, mainly foreigners, on board. Indonesian authorities suggested the airplane may have been hijacked or crashed into a mountain in poor visibility.

A search operation is underway.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has established a commission to investigate the incident with the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, the government press service reported earlier on Thursday.

The Industry and Trade Ministry’s Yury Slyusar will head the commission, which also comprises Russian Foreign Ministry and United Aircraft Corporation officials.

On Wednesday, the SSJ 100 carried out two demonstration flights in the Indonesian capital as the manufacturer said Pakistan’s Air Indus has shown an interest in purchasing eight SSJ 100s.

The SSJ 100 arrived in Jakarta as part of a demonstration tour of six Asian countries. It has been to Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and after Indonesia was due to visit Laos and Vietnam.

The United Aircraft Corporation said in February Russia will export 10 SSJ 100 airplanes in 2012. The planes are to be delivered to Mexico, Indonesia, and Laos in the second half of the year.

So far, only one plane has been exported and that was to Armenia.

Another 10 SSJ 100s will be delivered to domestic airlines Aeroflot and Armavia.

The Superjet 100 is a medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell. The aircraft is capable of carrying up to 100 passengers for up to 4,500 kilometers.

In early February SSJ 100 received the Type Certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Sukhoi has received over 200 firm orders for Superjet 100 airliners so far.