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August 24, 2016 (JUBA) – A peace conference between rival communities of Dinka Bor and the Murle aimed at ending child abduction, cattle raiding and creating harmony in two regions of South Sudan's Jonglei state is in the offing, an official has disclosed.

The map of Jonglei state in red

The commissioner of Bor county, Isaac Mamer Ruuk said the governor of Jonglei state Philip Aguer and his counterpart for the newly-created state of Boma, Baba Medan Konyi both agreed to bring traditional chiefs and political leaders together in a week's time.

“On August 30, 2016, we are going to have a peace conference either in Gumuruk or Pibor,” he said in reference to main towns inhabited by members of the Murle tribe.

Also expected to attend the conference is the country's deputy minister of defense and veterans affairs David Yau Yau who is popular among the armed cattle wrestlers.

The conference, according to the commissioner, would also involve issues of child abduction and how to stump out crimes between the two neighbouring communities.

“We want the communities to interact amongst themselves through trade and other activities,” he told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

“We have a plan that after peace conference, the traders doing the business between the two states will be escorted by organized from Boma State until the reach safely into Jonglei State and back” he added.

Planned efforts to reconcile the two communities has been welcome by several citizens.

“We can't live as enemies if we want peace and delivery of basic services in our greater Jonglei state,” John Chol posted on the social networking site Facebook.

Currently, there are no business activities between Pibor and Bor. Cattle traders from Pibor travel directly to Juba by-passing Jonglei state. The two communities of Dinka Bor and Murle often trades accusations of cattle raiding, child abduction and deadly attacks on their villages but local officials have not initiated any grassroots peace conference.

However, if the proposed peace initiative commences later this month as planned, it will be the first time the rival communities directly discuss their differences in 15 years.

The first ever peace conference held in 2001 resulted into four years of tranquility in the area.

(ST)

August 23, 2016 (WAU) - Shortage of fuel in South Sudan's Wau state has badly affected the supply of water to residents living in town, the urban water manager in the area said.

Tankers line up before water distribution in Juba (MDI photo)

Eng. Olwak Mugo said lack of fuel forced the station halt pumping and supplying water.

“The station consumption is two barrels per day of which the station could not afford such amount of money because at the end of the month, the station could reach 66 barrels which is 1,748,000 SSP of which the station cannot afford it,” said Mugo.

He said the station was being supported by the United Nations children fund (UNICEF), but the funds have reportedly been halted due to the high prices of fuel.

But the station management, he said, was in contact with UNICEF to offer more support.

According to Mugo, the recent violence in Wau town which forced thousands of people out of their homes also affected the station's subscription ccollections used to buy fuel.

Reconstructed in 2011, Wau's water treatment plant was meant to supply over 100,000 households within the town and the construction was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at an estimated cost of about $8 million.

(ST)

August 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A reconciliation conference between Darfur's Rizeigat tribe and a clan of the Ma'alia tribe known as Agarba kicked off on Wednesday in West Kordofan's state town of Al-Muglad.

West Kordofan State (Wikipedia)

The conference, being held under the auspices of West Kordofan and East Darfur states, aims to settle the longstanding conflict between Rizeigat and Agarba tribes.

The first session of the conference was held in the presence of the Minister of Federal Government Chamber and representative of the presidency Faisal Hassan Ibrahim.

For his part, head of the Agarba delegation Muslim Saeed said they came to the conference determined to open a new chapter of relations with the Rizeigat.

On the other hand, the representative of the Rizeigat, Mahmoud Khaled Mohamed said it is hightime to settle the prolonged differences between the two tribes.

Ibrahim said that First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih would attend the closing session of the conference on Thursday if the two sides reached an agreement, stressing the government is determined to end the tribal conflicts.

Governors of West Kordofan and East Darfur states praised participation of the two sides in the conference, underscoring the need to achieve reconciliation between the two tribes.

Meanwhile, traditional and youth leaders from the Ma'ala have issued a statement ahead of the conference, describing it as incomprehensive because it only includes one clan within the tribe.

It added that the traditional administration of the Ma'alia is not aware of the conference and has nothing to do with it, saying the tribe refuses to participate in any reconciliation conference that doesn't recognize its unity as a social entity.

Tribal clashes are now seen as the first source of violence in the western Sudan region and displaced thousands of civilians in Darfur five states.

The conflict between the Rezeigat and the Ma'alia tribes in East Darfur state is considered one of the longest and most deadly in the region.

Both the Rizeigat and the Maalia are pastoralist tribes, based in East Darfur. The centre of Rizeigat territory is in El Daein town, while the Maalia centre is in Adila, the second largest town after El-Daein.

Numerous reconciliation conferences and mediation efforts have failed to end the long-standing feud especially after reports that the disputed land contained oil.

Last year, the reconciliation conference between the two tribes, which was held under the auspices of Sudan's first vice-president, Bakri Hassan Salih in the locality of Merowe in the Northern state, stalled over the right of land ownership known as Hakura (traditional land grant).

Tribal clashes are now seen as the first source of violence in the western Sudan region and displaced thousands of civilians in Darfur's five states.

(ST)

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The Spanish government has approved payments totalling EUR97 million (USD109.4 million) to cover upgrades and general maintenance on various types of auxiliary aircraft and helicopters operated by the Spanish Air Force. Of this, EUR33 million will be assigned up to 2020 for the Airbus A310 aircraft

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Americas

• Raytheon has been awarded a $92 million US Navy contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR). The deal includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $723 million. A 2015 US Naval Institute report stated that EASR will be deployed on the future USS John F. Kennedy, the second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier that is set to debut in 2020.

• The US Army awarded a series of contracts as part of the preliminary design review for the replacement of General Electric’s T700 engine. General Electric and Advanced Turbine Engine were awarded $102 million and $154 million contracts respectively, with the winner getting to provide engines for a wide variety of military helicopters including the UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64E Apache. The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) plans to deliver an engine early in the next decade that will replace the T700 with a new design that delivers more power and consumes less fuel, yet fits into the same space reserved for current engines.

• Following the Twitter reveal of the Northrop Grumman & BAE offering to the USAF’s T-X trainer competition, Boeing and Saab’s clean sheet design was revealed on Boeing’s website. With two engine inlets, a high mounted wing and a conventional, vertical tail, the design is a step away from its T-45 Goshawk used by the US Navy. Things are hotting up.

• After much waiting, trial and error, the F-35’s Block 3F software upgrade has speeded up testing of the new fighter’s weapons systems. Since it’s completion, Lockheed Martin has completed 30 weapons delivery accuracy tests in one month, compared to just three accomplished with the Block 2 software. These include Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and GPS-guided Small Diameter Bomb, and Raytheon’s AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder.

Middle East & North Africa

• The US State Department has approved the sale of Mark V fast patrol boats, weapons, ammunition and training to Qatar in a $124 million defense package. Used by US Special Operations Forces for insertion and extraction of SEAL combat swimmers, the vessels will be equipped with .50-caliber machine guns, MLG 27mm naval gun systems and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Systems.

• An inquiry into a leak of sensitive technical information of France’s Scorpene attack submarine is being planned by the French government. The leak surfaced in a report by an Australian newspaper who received 22,400 pages of ship builder DCNS’s company data on the six Scorpene boats it’s constructing for the Indian Navy. The company fears that such a leak may harm the company’s deal with Australia to design and build the Shortfin Barracuda A1 diesel-electric submarine.

Europe

• Russia’s latest armored tank, the T-14 Armata, is to be equipped with additional protective armor in order to better defend it in urban operations. Developed by the Russian Research Institute, “plate shields,” which are similar in appearance to the bars on metal bunk beds, will be installed along the perimeter of the machines giving additional protection to the platform’s wheels and tracks. The Russian Army plans to acquire 2,300 of the tanks by 2020.

Asia Pacific

• The annual US-South Korean war games kicked off this week in what has been a year of growing diplomatic tension on the peninsula. The Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise will run until September 2 and involves some 50,000 US troops stationed in South Korea. In response, the The North called the exercises preparations for invasion, and early on Monday threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike that did not occur. The last number of months has seen increased North Korean missile testing, the deployment of THAAD systems in the South and most recently, the defection of the North Korean ambassador to the UK. What’s next?

Today’s Video

The T-14 Armata:

T700 engine
(click to view full)

GE’s T700 family powers a number of helicopters, from Army UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters to the USAF’s HH-60 Pave Hawks, naval SH/MH-60 Seahawks, and even the US Marines’ H-1 Hueys and AH-1 Cobras.

In 2004, the US military placed a multi-year production contract to cover engines and spares for its H-60 family helicopters, covering up to 1,200 engines. That contract has now been extended to cover up to 4,900 T700-401C (Coast Guard HH-60J, Navy SH-60/MH-60 Seahawks), T700-701D (UH-60A/L/ early-build M), and T700-701E (new UH-60M) engines for the US Army and Navy through 2014. Each helicopter requires 2 engines…

Contracts and Key Events

MH-60S, giving a lift
(click to view full)

August 25/16: The US Army awarded a series of contracts as part of the preliminary design review for the replacement of General Electric’s T700 engine. General Electric and Advanced Turbine Engine were awarded $102 million and $154 million contracts respectively, with the winner getting to provide engines for a wide variety of military helicopters including the UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64E Apache. The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) plans to deliver an engine early in the next decade that will replace the T700 with a new design that delivers more power and consumes less fuel, yet fits into the same space reserved for current engines.

September 29/15: The Army has launched its T700 engine replacement competition, with the program set to deliver 3,000 new helicopter engines after production begins in 2019. Two companies will be awarded development contracts for the new engine design, with GE Aviation and a Honeywell/Pratt & Whitney team appearing as the most likely candidates, although Turbomeca could also participate in the competition.

May 11/15: General Electric Aviation was awarded a $2 billion IDIQ contract Friday in part to fulfill a Foreign Military Sale to Taiwan for the company’s T700 engine, with the contract stretching to 2020. The T700 engine family powers a number of US-manufactured helicopters, including the UH-60 Black Hawk, which Taiwan purchased 60 of in 2010. GE Aviation is not unaccustomed to significant contracts, with the company awarded a major multi-year contract extension in 2009. Friday’s contract covers not only the Taiwanese FMS but also US defense and other government agency requirements.

April 14/09: GE announces the 5-year extension of its contract for H-60 family engines, which adds up to 3,700 more engines to the contract.

Under this arrangement, GE will provide new engines to upgrade existing helicopters, and also ship engines for Sikorsky’s manufacturing lines. These order covers T700 series engines for the US Army (UH-60), Navy (SH/MH-60), Coast Guard (HH-60), and foreign military sales (other mentioned, plus S-70). A portion of these engines will also serve as spares for aircraft currently operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their release notes that 3 more orders have been received since September 2008 for a total of 211 more engines, to be delivered between 2009-2011. According to GE, this brings the total number of engines ordered under this contract to 1,704.

Price is not specified, but it’s a firm-fixed price contract, and 293 engines cost $96.2 million (about $328,000 each). As such, the cost if all 3,700 extra engines are awarded would be about $1.215 billion.

Sept 11/08: General Electric Aircraft Engines in Lynn, MA received a $96.2 million order for 293 engines, as part of a 5-year firm-fixed-price contract extension. Deliveries will take place in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/14. Since GE is the designated engine manufacturer for H-60 helicopters, one bid was solicited and one bid was received by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile command (AMCOM) in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-04-D-0037).

Jan 15/04: General Electric Aircraft Engines in Lynn, MA received an $824 million firm-fixed-price, 5-year contract for T700 series helicopter engines to equip US Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and foreign sales H-60 family helicopters.

They also receive the first deliver order: $22.75 million for 74 T700-701C spare engines (incomplete without hydro mechanical control units and digital electronic control units) and 74 containers.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA, and is expected to be complete by Dec 31/09. since the T700 family are the only engines certified for the H-60 helicopters, this was a sole source contract initiated on June 11/02 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-04-D-0037).

Turkish MPT-76 Automatic Rifle