LONDON Hydro Flask 10 Oz Wine Tumbler Black , May 22 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced Friday it had chosen a new helicopter-borne surveillance system from a French defense contractor to protect the Royal Navy's two future flagship carriers.


The two 65,000-ton carriers, Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, which form the Queen Elizabeth class, are currently under construction. They are described as future flagships for Britain, and will be the largest British warships ever built. The first will start sea trials in 2018.


French multi-national defense contractor Thales was named as the winner of a competition to provide the radar and mission system at the heart of the Crowsnest project, created to act as the Royal Navy's eyes and ears for its next generation aircraft carriers.


The system provides long-range air, maritime and land detection, as well as the capability to track potential threats.


Thales' advanced multi-mode radar and sensor systems have been used in anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean, in Iraq and more recently in Afghanistan and also provided crucial airborne surveillance and control for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.


"It is essential our ships and particularly our future aircraft carriers will have the best possible protection. The Crowsnest system onboard our new Merlin Mk2 helicopter will deliver an essential surveillance and intelligence capability, providing early warnings to our personnel of any potential threats," British Defense Procurement Minister Philip Dunne said.


Crowsnest will also support wider fleet and land operations, replacing the Sea King helicopter's Airborne Surveillance and Control capability in use since 1982 and due to be retired in 2018, the MOD said in a statement.


The MOD's prime contractor Lockheed Martin UK will now conclude the project's 27 million pounds (42 million U.S.dollars) assessment phase, expected in 2016, using the Merlin helicopters onto which the Crowsnest system will be fitted.


Crowsnest is part of Britain's future aircraft carrier capability, which, besides the two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, will deliver fifth-generation Lightning II fast jets to operate from them across the world.


WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is promising that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia for its suspected meddling in America's election process, an accusation the Kremlin has vehemently denied.


As the White House grew more bullish about suggesting President Vladimir Putin was personally involved, Obama said he'd spoken directly to Putin about his concerns about Russian meddling. He said whenever a foreign government tries to interfere in U.S. elections, the nation must take action "and we will at a time and place of our own choosing."


"We have been working hard to make sure that what we do is proportional, that what we do is meaningful," Obama said in an NPR News interview airing Friday.


Obama's remarks were the clearest indication that whatever response the U.S. is planning, it hasn't happened yet. The White House has insisted for months that when the U.S. did retaliate, it might not be made public, a position that has created uncertainty about the strength and timing of any response.


Obama was expected to face questions about the hacking and his response during a news conference at the White House on Friday afternoon.


White House officials said it was "fact" that Russian hacking helped Donald Trump's campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday also assailed Trump himself over his refusal to acknowledge the hacking and his attacks on the U.S. intelligence community.


The tough talk from the White House fell flat in Moscow, where Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations baseless and inappropriate.


"They should either stop talking about that, or produce some proof at last," Peskov told reporters Friday. "Otherwise it all begins to look unseemly."


There has been no specific, persuasive evidence shared publicly about the extent of Putin's role or knowledge of the hackings. That lack of proof undercuts Democrats' strategy to portray Putin's involvement as irrefutable evidence of a directed Russian government plot to undermine America's democratic system.


But the White House pointed to a U.S. intelligence assessment released publicly in October that asserted "only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities." And Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, connected the dots further, saying Thursday Putin was responsible for the Russian government's actions.


"I don't think things happen in the Russian government of this consequence without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," he told MSNBC.


Trump has been under increasing pressure from both parties to acknowledge Russia's actions, despite his insistence that he doesn't believe Moscow was meddling. Trump has rejected the CIA's assessment that Russia's aim was to help him win and argued on Twitter that "these are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction."


The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Sen. Richard Burr, defended the U.S. intelligence community in a statement Friday pushing back on the notion that the CIA was trying to undermine Trump for political reasons. Burr said intelligence officials "come from all walks of life and hold views across the political spectrum."


"We would all do well to remember the sacrifices they make on our behalf and keep in mind that what we do with the intelligence they provide is up to us," Burr said.


Yet Trump appeared undeterred, mockingly asking in a Twitter post "are we talking about the same cyberattack" in which embarrassing information about the Democratic National Committee was also revealed. His tweet invoked emails stolen from Hillary Clinton'. http://www.wholesalecheapnfljerseyschinaonline.com/ Wholesale MLB Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Wholesale MLB Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys Wholesale NFL Football Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap College Hockey Jerseys