Veteran-Owned Businesses Can And Should Be A Force For Good

Veteran-Owned Businesses Can And Should Be A Force For Good

Here are four reasons why veteran-owned businesses should think about joining the B Corps movement.

Businesses make money. Nonprofits make a difference. At least, that's how many view the divide between doing good and doing well. But for ScoutComms and Hirepurpose, two veteran-owned businesses serving the veteran and military community, there is no distinction between making money and making a difference.

On Sept. 8, as a result of the positive impact our two companies have had in providing services to our customers that support veterans and military families, we were each recognized by B the Change Media as "Best for the World" companies. Honorees set a gold standard for the high impact that business as a force for good can make on important societal issues around the world.

How did this happen? In 2015, our companies were certified — only months apart — as B Corporations, also known as B Corps. The B Corp movement was launched in 2006 by B Lab, a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Its vision is that one day companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world, contributing to a more shared and durable prosperity.

What makes us different from the more than 1,800 certified B Corporations across over 120 industries and 42 countries is that we are two of the only veteran-owned B Corps, as well as two of the only B Corps supporting the veteran and military communities. We should not be so unique.

Here are four reasons why veteran-owned businesses should think about joining the B Corps movement.

It makes you a better business.

Being a B Corps makes you put a critical eye on a number of the core elements of any business, such as the people you employ, the products and services you sell, and your impact on your community and your environment. It is an honor to be recognized, but the B Corps certification process is also a great way to look at your business and think how about how you can do better. Any veteran-owned business would benefit from a critical analysis.

It channels the desire of veterans to continue serving their country.

We all know and believe that veterans are more likely to volunteer to give back and to serve than non-veterans. B Corps taps into that desire to continue to serve and successfully funnel the energy into the business environment, enabling sustainable for-profit models of doing business while also giving back in a number of ways. Ultimately, a successful B Corps is making an impact in multiple ways, not just the work we do for our clients or the people we employ, but also our significant investments in charitable giving, employee voluntarism, pro bono work, and hiring from the community we serve.

B Corps certification is a differentiator to clients, employees and business partners.

Becoming a B Corps is not easy. It requires you to be transparent, to examine your business model and processes carefully, and to subject yourself to a public review. But because it is more than just a rubber stamp, it is meaningful to have an ethical business model as a B Corps. B Corps certification is verification for us and for everyone we engage with that we are doing something differently, that we care and that we are making a difference.

It proves that you can make profits while making a difference.

We are not charities, but because we have an ethical business model that is focused on how we can do good for the world, we always seek to serve the best interests of our clients and our employees. Ultimately, while we do not replace nonprofits, we fill gaps where they cannot thrive. We are not dependent on the charity of others, as we generate our own resources. We are able, unlike many nonprofits, to keep top talent by paying the salaries and giving them the promotions they deserve.

As profit-driven businesses, we are distinctly not charities. But we are committed to making the world a better place — in our case for veterans and military families — and becoming certified B Corps is a step that helps prove to everyone we engage with that we are serious about our commitment. There is no better feeling than to know that you are doing good while doing well.

Iran Dismisses US Claims of Navy Harassment in Gulf

Iran Dismisses US Claims of Navy Harassment in Gulf

A senior Iranian military commander on Sunday dismissed claims from Washington that US patrol ships have been harassed by Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf, saying Tehran acted according to international law.

"Iranian boats continue to act based on defined standards and are well aware of the international laws and regulations, so the claims are not only untrue, but stem from their fear of the power of Iran's soldiers," said Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, according to state news agency IRNA.

The Pentagon last week said seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fast-attack boats approached the USS Firebolt on September 4 with their machine guns uncovered, though not trained on the Americans.

It was at least the fifth incident revealed by the Pentagon in the past month, with US military officials repeatedly criticising the Iranian military for its behavior in the Gulf.

But Jazayeri said the claims were exaggerated.

"When Iranian boats pass by them at a distance of a few kilometres, Americans claim that Iranian boats have approached them within a range of one kilometre," he said.

"Iran's marine corps will never be stopped by the propaganda of extra-regional enemies and their vassals in the region in guarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's sea borders and economic interests," he added.

U.S. Navy officials say ships from the two countries interacted more than 300 times in 2015 and more than 250 times in the first half of this year, and claims 10 percent of those encounters were unsafe and unprofessional. 

Funeral for Marine Who Killed Wife's Boyfriend Had Honor Escort

Funeral for Marine Who Killed Wife's Boyfriend Had Honor Escort

On Sept. 3, days before sheriff's office officials announced Marine Staff Sgt. Cody Wade Smith had been killed in self-defense after killing his estranged wife's boyfriend, a retinue of motorcycles bearing American flags gave him a ceremonial funeral escort to his final resting place in Crossville, Tennessee.

Smith, 33, had an honorable 15-year military career that was cut short in what appears to be a horrific crime of passion.

According to official accounts, he was served with divorce papers Aug. 11 after returning home to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from a deployment to Europe. Some two weeks later, on Aug. 27, he came to his wife's new home near Richlands with intent to kill her and her boyfriend, 43-year-old Gregory Pearce.

Official accounts say he tied up his wife, Monica, fatally shot Pearce and set the house on fire before she broke free and shot him with his own handgun. Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said in a Sept. 7 press conference that the county did not plan to charge her, as officials had found she acted in self-defense.

The tragic situation creates a philosophical dilemma: How does one honor a decorated service member whose life ends, not on the battlefield, but in the commission of a crime?

For the Patriot Guard Riders, a veteran-led organization of volunteers who provide thousands of honor escorts for troops' funerals each year, the lines are simply drawn.

David Westhorp, the Patriot Guard Riders state captain for Tennessee, told Military.com the riders attend funerals only at the request of family members. They accommodate requests with only one exception: if the deceased service member is a veteran who was discharged from the service under less-than-honorable circumstances.

That happens very rarely, Westhorp said.

"If we get a request, we don't go into a background check or anything in depth," he said. "We did do one [escort] for a veteran who died in a bar fight. And we didn't investigate whether or not he provoked the fight or anything else. The fact is, he died."

Westhorp said he had been made aware of the circumstances of Smith's death after the Sept. 7 announcement from the Onslow County Sheriff's Office about their findings. But even if he had had full information prior to getting the request for an honor escort, he said, the guard would have likely accommodated the request.

"We came to honor his military service, not whatever might have happened subsequently," he said. "We are not here to stand in judgment on this."

Smith's family, still reeling from grief and in disbelief about the circumstances surrounding his death, described him as an honorable Marine and a leader who had always wanted to be a Marine. Smith's father, Delbert Smith, of Smyrna, Tennessee, told Military.com he entered boot camp out of high school, just months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

A platoon sergeant attached to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, he had completed 11 deployments, including two tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.

"He's been shot at, he's been blown up in a Humvee," Smith said. "And then for him to come home and to die this way, there's just, you never expect it to end like this."

Delbert Smith said hundreds of Marines who had served with his son at various points in his career had traveled to Tennessee to attend the funeral. Smith had been approved for promotion to gunnery sergeant, he said, and his new rank insignia were buried with him.

He said he didn't personally request the Patriot Guard Riders -- it's unclear who did -- but he was thankful for their presence.

"They were wonderful. They came out, showed up, paid their respects," he said. "It was a beautiful addition to the funeral. That's something that we will be forever grateful for."

Delbert Smith said a sheriff's deputy had called him personally and described the same account of the double-killing that was later made public. It's an account he said he can't and doesn't believe.

But even if the events of Aug. 27 unfolded just as described in the official account, he said they should not detract from his son's military service.

Duterte Orders US Advisers out of Southern Philippines

Duterte Orders US Advisers out of Southern Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte ratcheted up his feud with the United States on Monday, ordering all American special forces out of the southern Philippines where they have been advising local troops battling Muslim extremists.

Duterte's order came a week after he called US President Barack Obama "a son of a whore", causing Obama to cancel their scheduled bilateral meeting at a summit in Laos.

The Filipino leader, the first to hail from the south and who claims Muslim ancestry, has been stepping up efforts to bring peace to the southern Philippines, where decades-long insurgencies with Muslim and communist rebels have claimed more than 150,000 lives.

Last month he restarted peace talks with the largest separatist group, the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which like others has been fighting since the 1970s for an independent Islamic state or autonomous rule.

US advisers in the area help train Filipino troops but are barred from engaging in combat except in self-defense.

Previously, about 500-600 US personnel rotated through the Mindanao region but in 2014, then-defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin said this would be cut back to 200.

Duterte did not specify when or how many Americans would be expelled but said the Philippines alignment with the West was at the root of the persistent Muslim insurgency.

"These US special forces, they have to go in Mindanao," he told a gathering of government employees.

"The (Muslim) people will become more agitated. If they see an American, they will really kill him."

The US embassy could not be reached for comment.

The United States is Manila's main military ally and the Philippines' colonial ruler until 1946. In his speech, Duterte showed photographs and cited accounts of how US troops killed Muslims during America's occupation of the Philippines in the early-1900s to explain his decision.

Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said that "the statement reflects (President Duterte's) new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy".

The Filipino leader also hit out at Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for criticising his bloody crackdown on crime that has claimed 3,000 lives in a little over two months.

"This Obama, when you accuse me of killing... let he who is without sin, cast the first stone," he said.

In a brief encounter in Laos, Obama urged the Filipino leader to conduct his crime war "the right way" and protect human rights, but Duterte has dismissed it as being none of America's business.

US B-1 bombers fly over South Korea in show of force

US B-1 bombers fly over South Korea in show of force

North Korea claimed Friday's test showed it had a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic missiles, a possibility that increases fears for US allies in the region and also poses a threat to US bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam

A US B-1B Lancer bomber flies over the Osan Air Base, South Korea, on Tuesday.

"Today's demonstration provides just one example of the full range of military capabilities in the deep resources of this strong alliance to provide and strengthen extended deterrence," Brooks said.

On the diplomatic front, the US special envoy on North Korea, Sung Kim, said Tuesday that the US and South Korea will be considering "additional unilateral measures" in response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test. Kim also said Japan may be included in additional initiatives.

The B-1s that flew over South Korea Tuesday were moved to the Andersen Air Force base in Guam in August as part of what the U.S. Pacific Command calls it Continuous Bomber Presence.

It is the first time the B-1s, which have the largest payload of any US bomber, have been part of the Pacific bomber force in a decade.

ULA chief says recovery from space launch accident typically 9-12 months

ULA chief says recovery from space launch accident typically 9-12 months

If history is any guide, Elon Musk's SpaceX could be grounded for nine to 12 months while it investigates the cause of last week's launch pad accident and makes any repairs, according to the chief executive of SpaceX's primary U.S. competitor on Thursday.

"It typically takes nine to 12 months for people to return to flight. That's what the history is," Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, told Reuters. Bruno did not mention SpaceX by name.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster exploded on the launch pad on Sept. 1 as it was being fueled for a routine pre-launch test. A $200 million Israeli communications satellite was destroyed in the blast, the second failed mission for technology entrepreneur Elon Musk's privately owned SpaceX in 14 months.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. SpaceX has not publicly disclosed the extent of damage to its launch pad.

Bruno said the main issue after accidents involving space launches has "always been figuring out what went wrong on the rocket, being confident that you know ... how to fix it and then actually getting that fix in place."

Repairing damage to the launch pad is usually not a significant issue, he said. "Historically, it had never been the pad that's taken the longest time," he said.

Bruno spoke with Reuters a few hours before ULA, a partnership of Lockheed-Martin Corp and Boeing Co, was preparing to launch its 111th rocket, so far all successfully.

The Atlas 5 rocket, carrying a NASA asteroid sample-return spacecraft, blasted off at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT) on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about 1.2 miles (2 km) away from the SpaceX launch site.

Bruno also said he had called SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell shortly after the accident to extend his sympathies and offer help.

"It's a small community and issues especially around safety - but even mission success - kind of transcend the competitive piece of this," Bruno added.

ULA and SpaceX are rivals for private space missions and launches by U.S. government agencies. Musk's company in May broke ULA's monopoly on flying U.S. military and national security satellites, winning an $83 million Air Force contract to launch a Global Positioning System satellite in 2018.

NASA probe blasts off on quest to collect asteroid samples

NASA probe blasts off on quest to collect asteroid samples

An Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday carrying a robot space probe on NASA's first quest to collect samples from an asteroid and return them to Earth in hopes of learning more about the origins of life.

The 19-story rocket, built and flown for NASA by United Launch Alliance, lifted off at 7:05 p.m. (2305 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, hurling the satellite explorer Osiris-Rex on its voyage to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

The 3,300-pound (1,500-kg) solar-powered probe separated from the rocket's upper stage an hour after blastoff, soaring into space at 22,000 mph (35,400 kph) - more than 28 times the speed of sound - to begin its $1 billion, seven-year mission.

It will take Osiris-Rex two years to reach its destination, a dark, rocky mass roughly a third of a mile wide and shaped like a giant acorn orbiting the sun at roughly the same distance as Earth.

Bennu is thought to be covered with organic compounds dating back to the earliest days of the solar system.

“You can think of these asteroids as literally prebiotic chemical factories that were producing building blocks of life 4.5 billion years ago, before Earth formed, before life started here,” NASA astrobiologist Daniel Glavin said before launch.

Scientists believe asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth delivered water and organic compounds that seeded the planet for life. Atomic-level analysis of samples from Bennu could help them prove that theory.

Once it settles into orbit around Bennu in 2018, Osiris-Rex will spend up to two more years mapping the asteroid's surface and taking inventory of its chemical and mineral composition.

Scientists will ultimately choose a promising site on Bennu to sample and command Osiris-Rex to fly close enough to extend its robot arm to the asteroid's surface. A sampling container will then release a swirl of nitrogen gas, which will stir up gravel and soil for collection.

"The more big pieces we can get the better ... they could contain the carbon molecules that we want to see," Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said on NASA TV.

After gathering at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of material, Osiris-Rex will fly back to Earth, jettisoning a capsule bearing the asteroid-sample container for a parachute descent and landing in the Utah desert in September 2023.

Only one other spacecraft, Japan’s Hayabusa, has previously returned samples from an asteroid to Earth, but it collected less than a milligram of material because of a series of problems. A follow-on mission, Hayabusa 2, is under way, with a return to Earth planned for December 2020.

The U.S. space agency also hopes Osiris-Rex will demonstrate the advanced imaging and mapping techniques needed for future science missions and for upcoming commercial asteroid-mining expeditions.

Although Bennu occupies the same approximate orbital distance from the sun, it poses little threat to Earth. NASA estimates that there is a one-in-2,700 chance that Bennu might hit Earth sometime between 2175 and 2199.

United Launch Alliance is a partnership of Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Boeing (BA.N).

(Reporting by Irene Klotz at Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)

NASA asteroid probe may find clues to origins of life on Earth

A U.S. space probe was cleared for launch on Thursday to collect and return samples from an asteroid in hopes of learning more about the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system, NASA said on Tuesday.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to dispatch the robot explorer Osiris-Rex on a seven-year mission.

United Launch Alliance is a partnership of Lockheed-Martin and Boeing.

Osiris-Rex is headed to a 1,640-foot (500-meter) wide asteroid named Bennu, which circles the sun in roughly the same orbit as Earth. Scientists estimate there is a one-in-800 chance that Bennu might actually hit Earth 166 years from now.

Heating from the sun gently pushes the asteroid, and charting its path is among the goals of the $1 billion mission. The U.S. space agency also hopes Osiris-Rex will demonstrate the advanced imaging and mapping techniques needed for future science missions and for upcoming commercial asteroid-mining expeditions.

Osiris-Rex is expected to reach Bennu in August 2018 and begin a two-year study of its physical features and chemical composition. The solar-powered spacecraft will then fly to Bennu's surface and extend a robot arm to collect at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of what scientists hope will be carbon-rich material.

"We're going to asteroid Bennu because it's a time capsule from the earliest stages of solar system formation, back when our planetary system was spread across as dust grains in a swirling cloud around our growing protostar," lead researcher Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona told a prelaunch news conference on Tuesday.

Inside the developing solar system, small rocky bodies were beginning to form, many of them studded with water ice and organic materials, which are key compounds that may have made Earth habitable or even given life its start, Lauretta said.

If all goes as planned, the capsule containing samples from Bennu will be jettisoned from the returning Osiris-Rex spacecraft on Sept. 24, 2023, for a parachute descent and landing at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range.

Elon Musk calls SpaceX blast a ‘most difficult, complex failure’

SpaceX founder and chief Elon Musk said on Friday he was unsure why one of the company’s Falcon rockets burst into flames on its Florida launch pad last week, destroying both the rocket and an Israeli communications satellite it was due to lift into orbit.

“Still working on the Falcon fireball investigation. Turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years,” Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who is also the chief executive of Telsa Motors, wrote on Twitter.

A SpaceX-led accident investigation is underway, overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration's Commercial Space Transportation office.

A massive fireball enveloped the rocket on Sept. 1 as it was being fueled for a routine test of its first stage. The rocket was scheduled to blast off two days later.

The rocket’s nine engines had not yet ignited for a test firing when a fireball engulfed the upper stage. “There was no apparent heat source,” Musk said on Friday.

The accident destroyed the $200 million communications satellite owned by Israel-based Space Communication, which was going to be used by Facebook and Eutelsat to expand internet access in Africa.

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has not yet said how much damage was done to its launch pad, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

SpaceX has backlog of more than 70 launches for commercial and government customers, worth more than $10 billion.

The rocket that was destroyed was the second of 29 Falcon 9 rockets to fail. It took SpaceX about three weeks to identify the likely cause of its previous accident, which occurred on June 28, 2015.

The problem was traced to a faulty bracket, which was holding a bottle of helium inside the rocket’s upper stage. When the strut broke about two minutes after liftoff, the upper-stage liquid oxygen tank over-pressurized and ruptured, triggering an explosion.

SpaceX replaced thousands of struts throughout its fleet and had successfully flown nine times before last week’s failure.

China is reorganizing its army

China is reorganizing its army

The newspaper "South China Morning," said the reorganization and restructuring to be held in the Chinese army's operation include revamping half of the ground forces by solving half the 18 legions legions of the number and distribution of its members among the innovative teams supposed to be of between 25 and 30 squad.

The number of members of the same legion of Chinese army corps between 30 thousand and 100 thousand troops.

It is expected that the reorganization will lead to layoffs of tens of thousands of Chinese military personnel.

And it includes the People's Liberation Army, two million individuals currently.

It also plans to reorganize the Chinese military leadership bodies. It is assumed that the solution to the current governing bodies and the formation of 15 new leadership.

Bahrain begins attention of Russian helicopters

Bahrain begins attention of Russian helicopters

Announced the company "Vertolioti were Russian" (helicopters Russia), said on Wednesday that Bahrain is interested in the techniques of Russian helicopters, but at this time there are no plans to sign contracts and agreements with this country in the framework of the "Jeremiah -2016 Forum" (Army - 2016) forthcoming.

She said, Yekaterina Pavlova, a spokeswoman for the company, today: "Bahrain is interested in helicopters" Mai - 17/8 "and" Mi - 26 "and" maidens "and" Mi - 171 A2 "and" Ka - 32 E11 ABC "The after-sales service."

It is worth mentioning that all these helicopters are suitable excellently for use in conditions of southwest Asia, due to the characteristics of climatic and geographical terrain. The company "Helicopters of Russia" is ready to make an offer their products and services in the international military-technical forum "Jeremiah -2016" no plans yet to sign contracts and agreements. "

She explained the spokeswoman, that "helicopters of Russia", had already been carried out, in January 2016, negotiations with Bahrain in the framework of the Bahrain International Air Show 'in 2016, where he offered the company an expert on the Bahraini side, promising a range of helicopters, and talked also about organization of services capabilities aftermarket.

This recently appeared in some media reports that "Russian helicopters" company is about to sign a cooperation agreement with Bahrain in the international military-technical forum "Jeremiah -2016", which will be held in the period 6-11 September / September in Kubinka the outskirts of Moscow.

The company is holding "Russian helicopters" of the world's leading production companies helicopters, was established in 2007.

The holding company includes 5 helicopters factories and office design company and a competent after-sales service.

America is preparing to approve the sale of fighter jets from Boeing Co. to Qatar and Kuwait

Reported four sources familiar with living in the United States and the Arab Gulf region, told Reuters that the United States is on track to sell $ seven billion dollars of fighter aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. to Qatar and Kuwait, after years of delay and perhaps begin to notify the US House of Representatives about it next week at the earliest.

The sales process has been on hold for more than two years amid fears on the part of Israel, Washington's closest allies in the Middle East that it uses a gear against it.

US officials criticized Qatar for alleged ties armed Islamist groups.

Boeing has said it is encouraged by the continued progress and hopes to see progress in the two deals the two big sales soon. The US State Department said it could not comment on any arms sales are under way between the governments.

The reason for the delay state of frustration among US defense officials and industry executives profile officials who warned that a slowdown in Washington could lose billions of dollars if the work is fed up with buyers and sought other suppliers.

And come to the expected sale of fighter jets to approve while the White House is seeking to strengthen ties with Gulf Arab allies, who want to increase their military capabilities.

It is feared allies of Washington rapprochement with Iran's arch-foe after the nuclear agreement with world powers earlier this year.

An official from Qatar's Ministry of Defense declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, "It (the agreement) is imminent. We expect a decision next week."

America is preparing to approve the sale of fighter jets from Boeing Co. to Qatar and Kuwait

The adviser said the Qatari army also said that the deal is moving forward.

Either they did not comment on the cost of the transaction or the number of aircraft to be handed over.

And taught by the Ministries of Defense (Pentagon) and external Americas sell 36 Boeing F -15 fighter aircraft to Qatar worth some four billion dollars. It also is considering selling 28 aircraft F / A - 18 E / F Super Hornet fighter as well as other options for the sale of 12 of Kuwait in a deal estimated at three billion dollars.

Sources said that officials of the two ministries had agreed to a large extent already before the deals while they are waiting for final approval from the White House, which now supports the deals currently.

According to one source, which is not authorized to speak publicly, "management's decision very soon."

Once granted the White House official approval, US officials will inform the US House of Representatives on an informal basis before sending a formal notification to Congress after 40 days to announce the deals at that stage.

One source said that a third deal to sell F-16 fighter jets from the production of Lockheed Martin Corp. for Bahrain is still under study, but approval will not take long that way.

And increase Qatar - which hosts the biggest US air base in the Middle East - Kuwait's military Anvagahma after uprisings across the Arab world, and amid growing tensions between Gulf Arab states and Iran.

Kuwait, Qatar, part of a coalition of 34 countries announced by Saudi Arabia in December in order to face the regulatory Islamic state and al-Qaida in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and

Shoigu: Airplane new Russian early warning superior to foreign counterparts

Shoigu: Airplane new Russian early warning superior to foreign counterparts


Russia continues to work in the construction of the radar of the new bird.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a meeting with the Russian armed forces commanders, Friday continued engineering design and testing project "Premiere 476" to create "a -100" multitasking aircraft business. "He will appreciate the plane," a -100 ", a plane early warning detection targets to be struck, the air traffic control situation and terrestrial and marine. He noted the Russian defense minister to "the plane" a -100 "superior to their foreign counterparts in capacity." He added that the new aircraft capabilities "will enable them to discover new types of targets, tracking and guidance striking the aircraft ".

India opens Vietnam's defensive line of credit worth $ 500 million

India opens Vietnam's defensive line of credit worth $ 500 million


HANOI (Reuters) - gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vietnam on Saturday, line of credit at half billion dollars on defense cooperation to give a boost to the country quickly seek a military deterrent with the intensification of conflicts in the South China Sea.



The agreement came within 12 cooperation agreement signed by Moody's in Hanoi with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Facebook during the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Vietnam 15 years ago.



And linking India and Vietnam share a border and have huge commercial operations with China, which is often disagreed with it because of disputes over sovereignty in the Himalayan region and the South China Sea.



Countries and enhances Dvaathma also strongly promoted by India for the BrahMos missile which

outpace the speed of sound. India is trying to sell the missile to Vietnam and four other countrie, according to a government statement seen by Reuters in June.



It is unclear whether the latter includes a credit line of $ 100 million already India has agreed to make available to Vietnam for four patrol ships in a deal that was agreed upon in late 2014.



Moody's said in a speech to the media that the credit line is intended "to facilitate mutual defense cooperation" and that the relationship between the two countries "will contribute to the stability, security and prosperity in this region."


Modi, who was on his way to attend the Group of Twenty summit in China did not say anything about the patrol ships or BrahMos missiles did not comment on what to do with Vietnam's credit line.


Iji and provide credit line after an increase of nearly 700 percent in Vietnam defense purchases starting from 2015, according to the Stockholm International Peace, a think tank following the arms trade over five years.

Japan and the Philippines provide planes and ships amid a maritime dispute with China

Japan and the Philippines provide planes and ships amid a maritime dispute with China

Vientiane (Reuters) - A Japanese government spokesman said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Tuesday to provide the Philippines my ship on two massive patrol and lend up to five, using reconnaissance planes at a time of freely between the two countries and China disputes.

Koichi Hajewda Deputy Secretary of the Japanese Cabinet, said that Abe and Philippine President Rodrigo Dottirta agreed in Vientiane, capital of Laos to strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful settlement in the dispute over the South China Sea.

China says it has a right to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, through which trade worth more than five trillion dollars annually. It also calls all of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam sovereignty over parts of it.

In July, the Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that it was not the eligibility of China's sovereignty over the waterway after consideration of the case brought by the Philippines. China refuses to recognize the ruling.

The Japan relations, China Vicoppea long odds over the sovereignty of a group of small islands in the East China Sea.

Japan has already agreed to provide the Philippines ten smaller patrol ships.

GLONASS system "interference in the possession of the Russian army

It ended with the formation of satellites collection system "GLONASS" Russian space navigation. And it can be received by the Russian army as a series in its space.

This was announced by the President of the company, "Rchettnov" Satellite systems and industrial informatics "Nikolai Tostoyedov in an interview with Interfax news agency," where he said that Russian military system consists of three sections, a unity of command and unity of the accelerator and the rocket. And it is supposed to be all three sections ready in the fourth quarter for the current year to be delivered to the Russian armed forces.

According Tostoyedov the satellite orbital group of the Russian satellite navigation system "Glons" is currently working and implement the tasks entrusted to it. However, the unit accelerator "Frigat" and a rocket "Soyuz" in their capacity as two episodes of the system has not been delivered yet.

GLONASS system "interference in the possession of the Russian army

The system "GLONASS" Civil Russian designed to ensure a quick navigation, honest and provide 

unlimited support to users in the air, land, sea and space. And the right of all Russians and foreigners to use system "GLONASS" civil charge.

Work officially began the establishment of the system in December / December 1976 decision of the Soviet leadership, which is practically an extension of satellite own local "Tsyklon" satellite navigation system.

And it launched the first satellite of the system in the month of October / October 1982, and continued to satellites and space instrumentation launch until 1995, amounting to 24 satellites.

Then due to stop funding for the project because of the difficult economic conditions experienced by Russia at the time, but the short duration of the satellite service, the number of satellites operating in 2001 fell to 6 satellites only. But in August / August of the same year, the Russian government decided to re-finance the project and launch the necessary number of satellites to ensure the work of the system to cover the entire area of ​​Russia by 2008, and areas outside of Russia in 2010.

And actually the number of satellites operating amounted to 24 satellites in 2009. The number reached 26 in September / September 2010, which has become the system covers almost the entire surface of the globe. "

Moons spin system "GLONASS" navigation around the Earth in 11 hours and 15 minutes, and this is very suitable for use in high latitudes (northern and southern polar regions), where the signals that the American navigation system "GPS" is weak or does not receive there.

This consists system "GLONASS" currently has 24 satellites are running in three orbital planes, a height of 19,400 kilometers, and tend 64.8 degrees, spread over levels evenly (8 in each level), to cover the entire surface of the globe, while sufficient 18 satellites to cover the entire area Russia.

New Russian bomb fly 30 km

New Russian bomb fly 30 km

Russia is preparing to test a new fission bomb end of the year under the name of "Drill", which is 

able to fly to 30 kilometers bomb.

Experts and specialists Ross is being tested, where the bomb was to fly by using the "GLONASS" Russian regulations, without the Russian media reveal further details.

It was the design of the bomb fissile to work day and night in all weather conditions, and deliver it to 

the target with high accuracy, and can destroy armored vehicles and ground radars and control centers, power plants and systems, anti-aircraft missiles.

The length of the bomb 3100 mm, diameter 450 mm, and weighs 540 kg.

Dead from the Revolutionary Guards Peshmerga Kurdistan in Iran clashes Sardasht

Dead from the Revolutionary Guards Peshmerga Kurdistan in Iran clashes Sardasht

A local leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iran said on Wednesday evening that the Iranian Kurdistan Peshmerga forces (mainly Kurdish areas of the north-west of Iran) attacked the forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and killed a number of them.

Sipan Majidi, a leader in the Iranian Kurdistan, said the city of Sardasht in Kurdistan Iran's ARA News: «attacked a unit of the Iranian Kurdistan Peshmerga forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the near Sardasht villages, killing and injuring of them did not know the exact number of them».

The «elevated two fighters two of the Peshmerga to rank certificate after having fulfilled their duty to defend their people».

For its part, announced the official Iranian news agency <Fares>, on Wednesday, that the eight fighters as a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, have been killed in the northwest on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan.

Aziz said Husni, a security official from the Sardasht region «killed eight members of the small group of anti-revolution in clashes with security forces began Tuesday.»

Iran resumed Peshmerga Kurdistan, several months ago, the military operations against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Iran's Kurdish-majority areas.

North Korea announces the fifth conducting nuclear tests

nuclear testsNorth Korea announces

North Korea said Friday that it had conducted "successfully" fifth nuclear test, in the bombing of South Korea described as the largest of its kind.

The announcement came hours after the experiment to monitor the seismic activity near the site of the experiment.

South Korea expressed concern that the size of the tremor caused by the experiment shows that the northern neighbor has made significant progress with respect to its nuclear activities.

He warned US President Barack Obama of "serious consequences" and that during the phone conversation he had with South Korean and Japanese leaders after the announcement of a nuclear test.

She stressed the Chinese Foreign Ministry that Beijing "firmly opposes" the North Korean nuclear tests.

Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that if confirmed, the news about North Korea's nuclear test, then it "would be a cause of tension and anxiety."

The Central News Agency in North Korea that recent experience has shown the ability of the country to install nuclear warheads on missiles.

"Self-defeating and recklessness."

Estimates varied on energy resulting from the size of the experiment, while South Korea said it was up to ten thousand tons of the power unit to measure, experts say preliminary estimates show that the energy generated by the experiment estimated twenty thousand tons says.

The atomic bomb that the US dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 have resulted in an estimated fifteen thousand tons of the power unit measure.

South Korean President Park again has been described Hai's nuclear test as "a self-acts" that shows "the size of recklessness," which is characterized by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un destruction.

Park said, "Experience is a serious test for the international community, as it will only lead to more sanctions and isolation of North Korea."

For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Chenzo Abe said his country "can not condone this."

He said Abe said, "The progress of a nuclear North Korea is a serious threat to the safety of Japan, as it undermines peace in the region and in the world."

A statement issued by the Press Secretary of the White House that Obama stressed in his talks by telephone with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to "Washington's commitment to protecting the security of the allies in Asia and the world."

"National day"

It is usually used North Korea's national events to show its military strength. Friday coincided with the country's National Day, which celebrates the establishment of the current system.

Many of the experts expect North Korea to conduct a fifth nuclear test. Where pictures showed Mtlqth via satellite rising activity in the nuclear test site in North Korea.

Japan, published a survey to monitor the nuclear activities of North Korea plane, while China said it was monitoring the levels of radioactivity near the border with North Korea.

North Korea has conducted in recent months test-fired ballistic missiles ballistic each reached the territorial waters of Japan.

It is noted that North Korea is banned under the sanctions imposed by the United Nations system, which conduct any nuclear tests or missile.

Air defense system S-300V4 get missiles with knives 400 Km

Air defense system S-300V4 get missiles with knives 400 Km

S-300V4 anti-aircraft missile defense system, which has been supplied to the Russian troops since the end of 2014, will be equipped with three types of hypersonic missiles, a representative of Russia’s air defense weapons’ manufacturer - Almaz-Antey Concern, told reporters on Friday at the Army 2016 Forum. "The versatility of the S-300V4 system, according to the

‘efficiency - cost’ criterion, is achieved by using of three

types of missiles - all SAM (surface-to-air missiles) in it -

solid fuel, two-stage, hypersonic, maximally unified with each other", he said.

The company spokesman said that the S-300V4 system will be able to use the 9M83M small missile, the large 9M82MD and intermediate 9M82M missile with the range of up to 200 km. According to him, the 9M82MD missile is designed to intercept aerodynamic targets within the range of 400 km, as well as the main types of ballistic targets, including the warheads of medium-range ballistic missiles flying at a speed of up to 4,500 meters per second For the destruction of ballistic missile warheads, the air

defense system missiles are for the first time equipped with

a directional warhead with "light" and "heavy" strike

elements, said the expert. The effectiveness of such a

warhead is "more than five-fold or six-fold" higher than the

"classic" one, the representative of Almaz-Antey said.

The contract on the supply of the S-300V4 system was signed with the Russian Defense Ministry in 2012, and the first set off the system was made operational in late 2014.

In May, Almaz-Antey General Designer Pavel Sozinov said in

an interview with TASS that a new long-range missile, which allows the system to destroy targets at a distance of 400 kilometers, was made operational.