Iran unveils bomber drone!

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian leaders on Aug. 22 unveiled a bomber drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), touting the Islamic republic's home-grown capacity to resist attack, state media reported.

THIS PHOTO RELEASED by the Iranian Defense Ministry claims to show the launch of the long-range drone, dubbed Karar, at an undisclosed location. (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)
Television footage showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad applauding as a blue cloth covering the drone - called Karar ("Assailant") - was removed to reveal a short aircraft marked "bomber jet" in military-green.

"This jet, before it heralds death for enemies, is the messenger of salvation and dignity for humanity," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the unveiling in a hall at Tehran's Malek Ashtar university.

The broadcast showed the high-speed unmanned aircraft in flight, while Fars news agency quoted Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying the drone had a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.

State television said the drone was built to "carry and fire four stealth cruise missiles... and, depending on the mission, it can carry two bombs of 250 pounds each or a precision missile of 500 pounds."

Ahmadinejad said Iran's defense abilities "should reach a point where we can cut off the aggressor's arm before he acts, and if we miss, we should destroy him before he hits the target."

"The main message of the Karar bomber is to prevent any kind of aggression and conflict" against Iran, which is embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program, he added.

The drone was unveiled on Iran's annual Defense Industry Day, and two days after it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile also built domestically, called the Qiam ("Rising").

Iran is expected to follow up with series of military announcements during the nation's "government week," a period when Tehran boasts of its latest technological achievements.

The country is also expected to test-fire a third generation Fateh ("Conqueror") 110 missile, after having already paraded a version with a range of 90 to 125 miles (150 to 200 kilometers).

The production lines for two missile-carrying speedboats, Seraj and Zolfaqar, are also due to be inaugurated.

Karar's unveiling came days after Iran took delivery of four domestically built Ghadi mini-submarines, a "stealth" vessel designed to operate in shallow waters such as the Arabian Gulf.

The moves coincide with Iranian warnings against any attack. The United States and Israel have not ruled out taking military action over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

On Aug. 21, Iran began loading nuclear fuel in its first nuclear power plant. The Russian-built reactor in the southern port of Bushehr, which is not targeted by U.N. sanctions, aims to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

On the military front, Gen. Ali Fadavi, a naval commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said earlier this month that the country is to mass-produce replicas of the Bladerunner 51, often termed the world's fastest boat.

"The Bladerunner is a British ship that holds the world speed record. We got a copy [on which] we made some changes so it can launch missiles and torpedoes," he said.

Iran will make the strategic, oil-rich Gulf region unsafe if it comes under attack over it nuclear program, Yadollah Javani, deputy chief of the Guards, said at the start of August.

The Guards were established after the 1979 Islamic revolution to defend the regime from internal and external threats.

WhiteKnightTwo plane damaged in test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug 20 (Reuters) - An aircraft designed to launch Virgin Galactic's suborbital passenger spaceship was damaged in an accident on a California runway, manufacturer Scaled Composites said.

In a statement on its website, Scaled, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), called Thursday's incident "minor" and noted that SpaceShipTwo was not attached to the carrier aircraft, known as WhiteKnightTwo, at the time.

Aviation Week & Space Technology, an industry trade publication, is reporting that WhiteKnightTwo's left main landing gear collapsed on the runway. It was not known if the plane was taking off or landing at the time.

Scaled said no one was injured in the accident at a Mojave, California, airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

WhiteKnightTwo began flying in 2008 and was making its 37th test flight on Thursday. The aircraft is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of about 45,000 feet (13,650 metres).

The six-passenger, two-pilot spaceship would then be released so it can fire its rocket engine to punch through Earth's atmosphere, experience a few minutes of weightlessness in suborbital space and then land on a runway.

Virgin Galactic, which is selling tickets to ride SpaceShipTwo for $200,000 a seat, has signed up about 340 customers so far. The company is an offshoot of Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group and hopes to begin commercial space operations in late 2011 or 2012.

SpaceShipTwo is based on a prototype known as SpaceShipOne, which made a trio of suborbital piloted spaceflights in 2004 to clinch a $10 million contest for private human spaceflight.

Scaled did not say how the damage to WhiteKnightTwo will affect the testing program for SpaceShipTwo and pilot training.

North Korean Jet Fighter Crash May Have Been Defection

A North Korean aircraft, which may be a fighter jet, has crashed in China near the country's shared border, say Chinese and South Korean reports.

It is believed the pilot, who was killed, may have been trying to defect to Russia, according to unnamed intelligence sources cited by Yonhap.

The crash happened on Tuesday afternoon in Fushun county, Liaoning province.

Defections are common but an attempt by plane is highly unusual and would be a source of embarrassment for Pyongyang.

China has a repatriation agreement with North Korea, which could explain why the pilot may have been trying to reach Russia, the report added.

North Korea has a military airbase in Sinuiju, near the border with China.

China's state media confirmed an unidentified small plane had crashed and that it may belong to North Korea.

An investigation into the cause of the crash was under way, Xinhua reported.

Soviet-era jet
Photographs of the wreckage reportedly taken by a local resident and posted on the internet showed a North Korean flag on the plane's tail.


Military experts said the plane appeared to be a Soviet-era fighter jet, which were used during the 1950-53 Korean War.

A report in Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper said that a second pilot had bailed out but gave no information on his whereabouts. It conflicts with the South Korean report of only one pilot on board.

Technically, North and South Korea remain at war although a ceasefire agreement ended fighting in 1953.

Their border is the most heavily militarised zone in the world.

Russia is doing something extremely stupid ...

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russia will start loading a nuclear reactor in Iran with fuel next week, moving the project closer to being complete, both nations said Friday.
The August 21 arrival of fuel at the Bushehr facility, which Iran says will create atomic energy but other nations fear could be used for nuclear weapons, marks a key step toward its completion, Russia said.

"This event will symbolize that the period of testing is over and the stage of physical start-up has begun," said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency.
The head of that agency will visit Iran next week, said the semi-official Fars News Agency. A Russian group is already in Iran to make the necessary arrangements for his arrival.
The reactor in the western Iranian port city of Bushehr will be operational by the third week of September, Fars said, though Novikov said the plant will not be ready to produce energy for another six months.

"All the installations and tests are now complete and the plant is now headed for launch," said Mahmoud Jafari, head of the Bushehr plant workshop.
Russia's state-sponsored nuclear corporation has been under contract for several years to help Iran build the Bushehr reactor site.

The United States has urged Russia to wait, saying more evidence is needed that Iran doesn't plan to use the site to make weapons.
Novikov said the fuel's arrival and loading into the plant will be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The IAEA inspectors will remove seals from containers with nuclear fuel, examine it," he said. "The fuel will be then transferred into a special storage facility. And when the Iranian nuclear watchdog agency gives its permission, the fuel will be loaded into the reactor."

Western corporations began the Bushehr facility in the 1970s but after the Iranian revolutions, the Islamic regime looked to Russia to complete the $800 million nuclear facility.
Iran has maintained all along that the site will produce energy, but the United States and other international observers remain unconvinced.

Earlier this month, the United States extended sanctions against Iran, saying it was targeting a number of Iranian businesses and groups accused of helping organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Taliban.

In June, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions targeting the country's nuclear and missile programs -- identifying more than 20 companies and several individuals allegedly involved with those programs.

Piper Flips For Air Force 2

WASHINGTON — Air Force Two with Vice President Joe Biden aboard was involved in a minor accident with no injuries Wednesday morning at a Long Island airport.

A small private plane parked nearby was lifted a few feet into the air by the jet wash from Biden's plane as it taxied to take off from Francis S. Gabreski Airport, said Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Michelle Lai.

The left wing of the Piper Cub was damaged but no one was on board, Lai said. Biden's 757 took off with those on board apparently unaware of what had happened.
Biden was returning to Washington from vacation, his office said. The airport is in Westhampton Beach, N.Y.

An investigation will be conducted, including determining the cost of the damage to the Piper and whose responsibility it will be to pay, Lai said. The damaged light craft belongs to an aerial media company.

Last week, two New York City police motorcycles got into a minor accident while escorting Biden to Kennedy Airport, but Biden's vehicle was not involved and no officers were seriously hurt.