Asian military review 2012v20n4 by atao99

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Contents JULY/AUGUST 2012 VOLUME 20 / ISSUE 4

Air Defence in Asia

Jim O'Halloran There is no doubt that the subject of Air Defence in Asia is a continual expansion and modernisation programme way beyond that of those countries in the West and North of the equator. Those countries that canafford to upgrade and modernise their Air Defence are doing so and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future

Front Cover Photo: A US soldier launching an RQ-11 Raven small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) in Afghanistan's Logar province at Forward Operating Base Shank. SUAV acquisition in the Asia-Pacific has been slow as AMR's Regional UAV Directory 2012 shows, but with an Indian announcement in June of its intent to acquire 95 SUAV systems in 2013, numbers look set to grow © DoD

04 30

Airborne Watchers Over The Waves Martin Streetly That a region that contains two of the world’s great oceans should have invested heavily in Maritime Patrol Aircraft capabilities should come as no surprise to although provision in the region varies considerably

David Oliver An unprecedented number of regional nations acquiring, or planning to acquire, fifth generation combat aircraft and the question of what the appropriate flight training solution should be will have to be addressed sooner rather than later

11 AMR UAV Directory 2012 Adam Baddeley The Asia-Pacific’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ranks continue to swell with the region continuing to offerering both key markets to overseas suppliers and a crucible for domestic designs

Infantry Weapons & Sights: Empowering the Soldier

JULY/AUGUST 2012

Airborne Communications Adam Baddeley Extending the communications network on which aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles rely is not simply about increasing effectiveness & efficiency. Joint operations demand that each Service work together, using common protocols and interfaces

Combat Submarines in the Asia Pacific Tom Withington Ongoing programmes around the Asia-Pacific are aimed at revitalising the submarine fleets deployed across the region; upgrading some of its existing submarines, while also procuring new designs, including both nuclear-powered and conventional hunter-killer boats

Adam Baddeley Small arms define the dismounted infantryman and marine. But maximizing lethality is no longer just a function of the weapon itself. Users have often chosen to enhance existing designs via new sights, enabling rapid targeting at day or night

Jet Trainers vs Turboprops

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That's not entirely true. India isn't so easily categorised and it can't be ignored.

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ith Leon Panetta's articulation of plans to shift a further ten percent of the US fleet to the Pacific by 2020 to move it from half to sixty percent, the first Littoral Combat Ship to deploy to Singapore next year, the US, coupled with its long standing willingness to work with the Middle Kingdom culturally, economically and politically, has signalled its renewed ability to â&#x20AC;&#x153;engageâ&#x20AC;? China in every potential way.

The bipolarity of this contest is rarely questioned, each corner has its allies (OK so for China that ally is North Korea which is an ally only if you consider a rabid dog held back by a frayed length of rope to be good thing) but the consensus is that these only have either a supporting role or are catalysts for tension.

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India's status however continues to be brought into view with events like the USIndia Strategic Dialogue held in Washington in June. US leaders talk-up the relationship, although phrases like 'alliance' remain firmly stuck in the wings for now. India's leaders (and they are not alone by any means) are happy basking in the reflected glory of the US. Shared democracy, recent, significant and ongoing defence purchases by India and a concern for China's territorial expansion is presumed to be the glue that will keep the two close and then grow into something more substantial. This assumption is buttressing some of the security calculus regarding future tension with China.

Maybe, but relationships need to be worked on and there remain significant differences which need to be addressed and certainly mean an alliance isn't a foregone conclusion. Trade tallies shows that India exports more to China than to the US, India's proximity to Iran and vulnerabilities to that country sending resources to Kashmir can't easily be ignored in any dispute, US expectancy that good strategic-relations should lead to favours in the award of defence procurement contracts is unrealistic, economic populism in India wins over US preference for free-trade and competition not to mention India's hankering for the non-aligned movement and equal friendship with Russia all create strains that preclude deeper relationships today. Perhaps India's biggest near-term concern after Pakistan is what happens after the US/NATO pulls out of Afghanistan with some members already doing so with unseemly haste. India needs stability in that location. If the US takes the time to understand this concern and bring it into their own thinking, India may be lot more receptive to US priorities in the future. Adam Baddeley, Editor

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MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

That a region that contains two of the world’s great oceans should have invested heavily in Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) capabilities should come as no surprise to readers of AMR, with countries as diverse as Australia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand all operating or procuring such platforms. As might be expected within such a range, provision varies considerably, with the high end being exemplified by the multi-role P-3 aircraft. Looking at the regional Orion inventory in more detail, Australia continues to operate a fleet of AP-3C aircraft in the role and is likely to retain the type in service until at least 2015.

by Martin Streetly

Airborne

Watch Waves Over The

ased on the P-3C, the AP-3C is a Raytheon-sourced upgrade that revamped the baseline configuration with new systems such as BAE Systems’ ALR-2001 Electronic Support (ES) System, CAE Electronics’ AN/ASQ-504 Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD), Elta’s EL/M2022(V)3 surveillance radar, FLIR Systems’ Star SAFIRE® III Electro-Optical (EO) sen-

B 04

sor, General Dynamics AN/UYS-503 acoustic processor and the Unisys DDC-060 data management system. Assigned to the Royal Australian Air Force’s Nos 10 and 11 Squadrons, the service’s AP-3C have most recently been the subject of an ES system upgrade that went badly enough wrong to have at one time been on the Australian Department of Defence’s “projects of concern” list. In terms

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of future provision, the RAAF is known to have shown some interest in the acquisition of a mix of Boeing P-8 manned and Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to replace the AP3C post 2015. While such aspirations remain alive, it will be interesting to see what impact the global economic downturn has on this and other ambitious Australian defencerelated plans in the short to medium term. Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Japanese

MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

hers Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) operates a considerable fleet of P-3C Update II.5 and III aircraft that have been assigned to five maritime patrol squadrons based at Kanoya, Hachinohe and Atsugi. Since the JMSDF began operating the Orion during 1981, the type has been progressively upgraded with incremental upgrades such as an enhanced ES architecture, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation provision, a satellite communications capability and a new mission computer. Operationally, the JMSDF’s P-3Cs have been at the forefront of Japan’s renewed military activity outside its own borders and have been used to support international anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. Looking to the future, the JMSDF intends

With as many as 80 in-service, the JMSDF is the largest P-3 Orion user in the Asia-Pacific region © JMSDF

to replace its approximately 80 P-3Cs with 65 examples of the indigenous Kawasaki P-1 aircraft. Launched in November 2001, the 59.8 kN IHI XF7-10 turbofan-powered P-1 has been designed with the optimum degree of structural commonality with Kawasaki’s next generation C-2 transport aircraft. To fit it for the MPA role, the P-1 is flown by a crew of 10 (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, observ-

The JMSDF intends to replace its approximately 80 P-3Cs with 65 examples of the indigenous Kawasaki P-1 aircraft l

JULY/AUGUST 2012

er, navigator/communications operator, a tactical system commander and four system operators) and is equipped with an X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) Toshiba Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) search radar, a Fujitsu HAQ-2 Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) sensor, a Mitsubishi HSQ-102 MAD, a sonics chain, sonobuoy provision, an ES system, an internal weapons bay and eight underwing stores stations. Making its maiden flight on 28 September 2011 and on the latest available information, a total of eight such aircraft have been ordered during the period Japanese Fiscal Years 2008 to 2011. Whether or not the original figure of 65 P-1s will be achieved remains to be seen, particularly in view of the economic impact of the earth-

MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

The Indian Navy is acquiring the country-specific P-8I variant of the US Navy’s P-8A platform as its next generation maritime patrol aircraft © USN

quake and tsunami that devastated much of north-western Japan in March 2011. Returning to the Asia-Pacific Orion community, South Korea has procured eight P3C Update III+ aircraft together with a further eight P-3CKs. Of these, the P-3C Update III+s are fitted with a Raytheon AN/APS134(V) search radar and the AN/ASQ-212 central computer, while the P-3CKs are reworked P-3B airframes that have been produced by United States contractor L-3 Communications and Korea Aerospace Industries (six aircraft) and feature a mission suite similar to that of the country’s Update III+s. In South Korean service, the Orion is understood to be assigned to the Republic of Korea Naval Air Arm’s Nos 613 and 615 Naval Squadrons based at Pohang and Jeju Air Bases respectively. Further east, the P-3C is also in service with the Pakistan Navy’s No 28 Squadron. A total of 12 such aircraft (three being replacements for those lost in a 2011 terrorist attack on their base) have been

The next generation Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft made its maiden flight during June 2008 © Kawasaki

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MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

Royal New Zealand Air Force’s half dozen P-3K aircraft are being progressively updated under Projects ‘Rigel’, ‘Kestrel’ and ‘Guardian’. In order, ‘Rigel’ introduced (amongst other things) the AN/APS-134(V) search radar, the AN/AAS-36 infra-red detection set, a new data handling system and improved navigation equipment. Project ‘Kestrel’ took the form of a life extension effort and involved re-winging, replacing the aircraft’s horizontal stabilisers and

Taiwan is acquiring 12 refurbished P-3Cs that Lockheed Martin have upgraded with a structural life extension and new avionics

acquired and are augmented by additional squadrons equipped with the Breguet Atlantic (No 29 Squadron) and MPA configured Fokker F27s (No 27 Squadron) respectively. Here, both the Atlantics and the F27s are known to have been equipped with Thales France’s DR 3000 ES system and a variant of the Thales/Cassidian Ocean Master surveillance radar and all three Pakistani MPA squadrons are based at Sharea Faisal Air Base. For its part, Taiwan is acquiring 12 refurbished P-3Cs that Lockheed Martin have upgraded with a structural life extension and new avionics prior to delivery which as originally scheduled, was to begin during 2012. The remaining members of the AsiaPacific Orion club – Thailand and New Zealand – operate a small number of P-3T and six P-3K/K2 aircraft respectively. Here, usually reliable sources report the Thai P-3Ts as being assigned to the Royal Thai Navy’s No 102 Squadron at U-Tapao, while the

refurbishment of their engine nacelles. So configured, the fleet was expected to remain structurally viable for an additional 20 years. Most recently, the L-3 Communicationsprimed Project ‘Guardian’ replaces the AN/AAS-36 with the L-3 Wescam MX-20 EO sensor, the AN/APS-134(V) radar with the Elta EL/M-2022(V)3 sensor, new navigation equipment, an L-3 developed data handling system and a glass cockpit. Now known as the P-3K2, the first ‘Guardian’ aircraft made its maiden flight on 11 August 2009, with the remaining examples being modified in

Pakistan has acquired 12 P-3Cs to supplement its existing fleet of Atlantic and Fokker F27 maritime patrol aircraft © Lockheed Martin

JULY/AUGUST 2012

MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

Over time, Australia, India and Japan have all expressed interest in the acquisition of an MQ-4C BAMS-type high-altitude longendurance unmanned aerial vehicle © Northrop Grumman

country by national contractor Safe Air. Of the remaining cited country’s the PRC’s People’s Liberation Army Navy is know to operate at least four Shaanxi Y-8X and a similar number of Shaanxi Y-8J aircraft as MPAs. Here, the Y-8X is equipped with a Canadian APS-504(V) radarm, while the J model carries the Thales UK X-band Skymaster combined surface search and airborne early warning sensor. Of the two, the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) is known to have intercepted the Y-8J reconnoitring Japanese air space during the recent past. In a similar context, Japanese fighter aircraft have also regularly intercepted Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft operated by the naval air arm of Russia’s Far Eastern Fleet. Usually reliable estimates put the number of Tu142M/MZ aircraft in service with the Russian Navy at around 20. Allocated the NATO Reporting Name ‘Bear-F Mod 3’ (and also known as the Tu142MK), the Tu-142M is an updated version of the basic design that is equipped with a

Korshun-K search radar, the Ladoga MAD, an NPK-142M navigation suite, a Strela 142M communications package and the ability to handle passive and active directional sonobuoys. For its part, the Tu-142MZ (‘BearF Mod 4’) replaces the -142M’s NK-12MV engines with NK-12MP turboprops and features the Korshun-KN-N-STS anti-submarine warfare ‘complex’ (Russian terminology for a mission system) and the Nashaty-Nefrit sonics chain. Elsewhere in the region, the Indian Navy has acquired eight Tu-142MK-E platforms that are flown from Indian Naval Stations Rajali and Hansa. Taking the form (as its designation suggests) of an export version of the Tu-142MK (‘Bear-F Mod 3’), the MK-E’s mission suite is said to be a less capable version of that fitted to Russian Tu-142Ms and has been the subject of an upgrade programme that was launched in 2003. Here, the update is believed to have centred on the introduction of the Novella/Sea Dragon complex which is also a feature of India’s Ilyushin Il-38SD maritime patrol aircraft. At least one upgraded aircraft has been redelivered. ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

As noted above, the Indian Navy fields five Il-38s which (like the service’s Tu142MK-Es) have been upgraded with a variant of the Novella/Sea Dragon complex (comprising a new radar, an IR sensor, a new central computer system, a MAD and new ES and ASW capabilities) and the ability to carry Kh-35 anti-shipping and Brahmos cruise missiles. Designated as the Il-38SD, the Indian Navy acquired its first pair of updated aircraft in January 2006 and had received a third before it suspended contract payments on the programme (due to dissatisfaction with the Novella/Sea Dragon system) during the following year. Such problems are likely to have influenced India’s decision to acquire the Boeing P-8I Poseiden as its next generation full-capability ASW and MPA platform. Generally similar to the United States Navy’s P-8A aircraft, India’s eight P-8Is incorporate some country specific features including a MAD, an aft-facing Telephonics sea- and airsearch radar and provision for Harpoon and possibly Brahmos anti-shipping missiles. Elsewhere, the Indian Navy has stood up

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MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

three squadrons of unmanned aerial vehicles that are equipped with surveillance configured Searcher and Heron air vehicles and operates approximately 10 Do 228s in the short-range MPA role. Of these, the Do 228 platforms are equipped with a mixture of Thales Super Marec and Elta EL/M2022A(V)3 search radars and at least one of the fleet is known to have been deployed on anti-piracy duties to the Seychelles during 2011. In the longer term, India wants to acquire a new medium-range platform with which to replace its Dornier patrollers, with a request for information understood to have already been issued. Mention of the Do 228 leads neatly to the Royal Thai Navy’s fleet of seven such MPAs that are assigned to the service’s No 101 Squadron at U-Tapao. Equipped with a 360° search radar, at least four of these aircraft have been equipped with an Optimare track-while-scan system, with at least one having also been fitted with an EO sensor. Again, at least one Thai aircraft has had its surveillance radar removed. Moving south, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s No 121 Squadron is equipped with five Fokker 50 Maritime Enforcer Mk 2 maritime patrol aircraft. Flown by a crew of eight, such aircraft are known to have been equipped with a mission suite that has (over

time) included a Raytheon AN/APS-134(V)7 search radar, a Fokker-sourced TMS-250V tactical computer, a General Dynamics Canada AN/UYS-503 sonobuoy processor, an Alliant M101E acoustic signals recorder, an Ultra Electronics AN/ARR-502 sonobuoy receiver, a type specific Elta EL/L-8382MPA ES system variant, provision for 60 sonobuoys, an EO sensor, a CAE Electronics AN/ASQ-504(V) MAD and provision for four torpedoes, depth charges or AGM-84D

One of Singapore’s Fokker 50 maritime patrollers is known to have been deployed to Djibouti for anti-piracy duties

Harpoon air-to-surface missiles. In terms of recent operations, one of Singapore’s Fokker 50 maritime patrollers is known to have been deployed to Djibouti for anti-piracy duties over the Gulf of Aden during 2011. The remaining country — Indonesia — listed at the start of this survey operates three Boeing 737-2X9 Surveiller, three CN-235MPA and up to six NC-212-200 aircraft as MPAs. In order, the Boeing 737s are combined transport

During April 2011, the Republic of Singapore Air Force deployed one of its Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft to Djibouti for antipiracy patrols over the Gulf of Aden © Singapore MoD

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

and surveillance aircraft that are equipped with a variant of Motorola’s Side-Looking Airborne Modular Multi-mission Radar (SLAMMR) and are assigned to the Indonesian Air Force’s Air Squadron 5 at Ujung Pandang/Hasanuddin. Air Squadron 5 is also home to at least three Indonesian Aerospace Airtech CN-235MPA platforms that are equipped with a Thales AMASCOS mission suite that includes a Thales/ Cassidian Ocean Master radar, an Elettronica ALR-733 series ES system and a Thales Chlio EO sensor. Air Squadron 5 is understood to have received its first CN-235MPA aircraft during June 2008 and both Brunei and the Indonesian Navy are understood to be interesting in or actually acquiring up to three and up to six examples of the type respectively. In the Brunei context, the specified mission suite is reported to include a Raytheon search radar, a Selex Galileo ES system and an AN/AAQ-21 FLIR sensor. For their part, Indonesia’s NC-212-200PATMAR MPAs are assigned to the Indonesian Navy’s Air Squadron 800 based at Surabaya/Juanda. Again a product of Indonesian Aerospace, the PATMAR platform is understood to be fitted with an Ocean Master radar variant, with the first example being delivered to Air Squadron 800 during May 2005.

REGIONAL UAV

DIRECTORY

AMR

UAV DIRECTORY 2012

Prepared by Adam Baddeley l

JULY/AUGUST 2012

REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

Australian Shadow UAVs began operations in Afghanistan in May © Commonwealth of Australia

HE NUMBERS and variety of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the hands of Armies, Navies and Air Forces in the Asia-Pacific as well as new prototypes and maturing designs created by the region's industries over the past twelve months has expanded again. As before, the majority of activity is focused on a few countries: Australia, China, India, South Korea, Singapore and to a degree Pakistan although with recent purchases and deals, like those inked by Indonesia and Vietnam, new capabilities and know-how is now increasingly being injected into the second tier of UAV adopters in the region. The UAV Directory has been researched using a range of resources notably AMR correspondents, industry experts and serving military personnel throughout the region as well as open sources.

requirement until Shadow 200 fielded. Deployed Iraq 2006-8 and in Afghanistan since 2007. In Afghanistan they have flown 32000 hours on 6,200 missions, or an average of 22 hours a day for nearly five years RQ-7B Shadow 200, AAI; Selected under JP129 Phase 2 and requested from US DCSA in May 2011. Deployed to Afghanistan in May 2012. Skylark I , Elbit Systems; Eight systems ordered in Nov. 2005 onwards with 20 STA Reg. deployed to E Timor and Iraq, further orders subsequently. Aerosonde III, AAI; Solomons in 2003 four Aerosondes sent to the Solomon Islands on Operation Anode with Army’s 131 STA Battery. Avatar, Condarra; 18 UAVs acquired since 2001 deployed to E. Timor with ADF SF in 2003, status unknown.

AUSTRALIA

Maritime Ranges Sensor Delivery System, Mincham Aviation; Able to deploy sonobuoys 15nm in trials with RAN as of late 2010. Heron 1, IAI; Six week, A$5.5m trial with Border Protection Command May-June 2008 with 80 hours flying in maritime surveillance trial equipped with ELTA 2022

FIELDED

Heron I, IAI; Project Nankeen lease via MacDonald Dettwiler extended to end 2012, supporting three-platform Army and RAAF Unit from Kandahar which began in January 2010, flew 4000 hours in first year of operations. Scan Eagle, Isitu/Boeing; Interim Tier 2 type

TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

multimode radar. Aqua Puma, AeroVironment; Naval trials in early 2007. Patriot GQ-90, Guardian Aerospace Systems; MALE 20 hour endurance, 20Kg payload, focus on RAN as customer, completed flight test programme. RQ -8A Fire Scout, Northrop Grumman; Company believes it has interest. RQ-4 Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman; Flew non-stop to Australia in 2001 and took past in joint exercise Tandem Thrust. Planned to acquire the UAV as part of its participation in BAMS project but dropped out in 2009 although options remain for maritime and littoral surveillance from 2016. MQ-4C again being pushed by Northrop Grumman.

NOTES: Australia may upgrade airfield in Cocos Island in Indian Ocean to host US RQ4 Global Hawk with an estimated $80-$110 million cost. Fauntrackway is to supply new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Aircraft Landing Mat (ALM) from the Australian armed forces. AeroVironment has acquired exclusive global distribution rights for Australian firm’s Sentient Kestrel Land MTI Tier I automated target detection software for use with small UAVs. The Royal Australian

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REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

Navy is to conduct trials with the ScanEagle, Aerosonde and Camcopter UAVs on an ANZAC class frigate in Sept. and Nov. and on the HMAS Choules in early 2013.

CHINA

FIELDED

BZK-005, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics; MALE UAV thought to have been in limited service since 2009 with a 40 hr endurance. Pterodactyl 1/Yilong, AVIC; Predator-like MALE with 400km range first seen in 2008 with initial development completed in 2009 and production beginning during 2010 and can be equipped with AR-1 missiles. W-30/W-50 ser ies , NRIST; Sometimes called PW-1 and entered service with the People’s Liberation Army during 2005, radius of 100km. Later PW-2 version has longer range. ASN206/7, Xian ASN Technology; In service with PLA. RMAX, Yamaha Motor Company; Nine systems procured in 2001 for paramilitary use ASN-15, Xian ASN Technology; Hand launched UAV in 2000 largely used for test and proof of concept. ASN-104/ 5B , Xian ASN Technology; In service with PLA. ASN-206/207, Xian ASN Technology; Developed from mid 1990, limited service, range of 150km, ASN-207 first seen publicly in 2002. ASN-209, Xian ASN Technologies; Twinboom pusher design called Silver Eagle in PLAN service, reported to be tested by PLA as comms relay in June 2011. I-Z, Z-3, Z-2, NRIST; rotary wing design some military and paramilitary use from early 2000s. Harpy, IAI; Sold to China in 1994, When China returned the Harpy for maintenance, US concerns over possibility of upgrade to Harop standard, saw Israel return the UAV in 2005. WJ-600, CASIC; 130Kg MALE design for maritime surveillance, turbo-jet powered, options for air to surface engagement, in early development, 3hr endurance WJ-600A has 5 hr endurance, a number delivered in PLAAF. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

CH-3, CASIC; MALE 12 hr endurance, canard design 108nm radius in advanced development, first seen in public in 2008,

China’s Wing Long design © AJB

reported to be fitted with FT-5 small PGMs. Long Haul Eagle, AVIC; Another Global Hawk like design, status unknown. Soaring Dragon, Xianglong; Global Hawk class, reported range of 7000km. ASN-229A , Xian ASN Technology; 20hr endurance, armed UAV, in testing phase could enter service in 2011. A SN-213, Xian ASN Technology; 5Kg design with in-flight morphing design first seen in 2008. Night Eagle, AVIC; Hand launched, similar to Aerosonde design. Whirlwind Scout, AVIC; Compact VTOL ducted fan design. U 8E , AVIC; Lightweight VTOL design shown as Singapore Airshow 2010. SL-200, CASC; Armed HALE, described as a stealthy design. CH-802, Poly Technologies Inc; Hand launched similar to Pointer, 3m wingspan, 2kg payload, endurance 3hours. V 750, Qingdao Haili Helicopter Manufacturing Co; Rotary wing UAV. Tian Yi-3, LOEC; High speed HALE. Warrior Eagle, AVIC; Only sketches see publicly and may utilise a morphing wing design. Soarhawk, Sunward; Described as similar to piston engined ADCOM SAT-400, status unknown. DUF-2, BUAA; Hand launched SUAV. Wing Long, AVIC; Completed flight testing in Oct 2008, 20 hour endurance and a range of 400km.

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Anjian/Darksword, Shenyang Aircraft Co; UCAV in early development. BL-60, BVE; K-MAX like rotary design. SVU200, Sunward Tech Star-Lite; First flight of rotary wing platform in 2012, planned endurance of 2+hrs. Daofeng/Blade SF-460, CASIC; Prototype, 3 hr endurance, first seen Zuhai 2010. Daofeng 300, CASIC, 31kg weight, operates civil SLR camera, endurance of 3+hrs. B lue Eage 200W, Keyuan; MALE, eundurance of 12 hours speed of 160kmph,

REGIONAL UAV

equipped with air to ground munitions on six external hard points. T-120, Hubei Taihang Xinghe Aircraft Manufacturing; Reconaissance UAV with spped of up to Mach 1.5. T-100, Hubei Taihang Xinghe Aircraft Manufacturing; Electrically powered SUAV. TF-1C, Shenyang Aerospace; 1200km range endurance of 12 hours. TF-5, Shenyang Aerospace; 13kg SUAV single CCD camera. TF-8, Shenyang Aerospace, Hand launched

platoon level, 4.7Kg SUAV. Z-5, PLA Research Institute; Shown publicly in Sept. 2011 rotary wing design.

NOTES: China’s aerospace industry continues to produces dozens of new UAV designs for evaluation although few are currently reaching service although recent developments suggest a move away from imported engines to indigenous designs. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force released pictures of what appear to be four examples

In Afghanistan, ScanEagles they have flown 32000 hours on 6,200 missions, or an average of 22 hours a day for nearly five years © Commonwealth of Australia

DIRECTORY

The Yotais X200 is one of a number of designs to emerge from Chinese industry over the year © AJB

of the Scheibel Camcopter design operating from Type 054A missile frigates, either on deck on in flight.

INDIA

FIELDED

Searcher I & II, IAI; India’s Army and Navy are understood to have acquired 18 and possibly as many as 50-70 UAVs. Lakshya, DRDO/ADE & HAL; High speed reusable drone with 100 now in service. Israel pulled out of Lakshya buy in 2005. Heron I/II, IAI; IAF/IN order in 2002 for four UAVs. Navy ordered 12 in 2005 and operates the UAVs in mixed units alongside its Searcher UAVs. Potential requirement for 50 UAVs. Harpy, IAI; 30 in service delivered from 2005. Harop/Harpy II, IAI; 10 UAV/Loitering Munition ordered by IAF in 2009 in $100m deal with video datalink system. Deliveries started in 2011. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

Rustom 1, DRDO/ARDE; First successful test flight in Oct. 2010 after prototype crashed in Nov. 2009, 12-15 hr endurance, airframe built by Zephyr Aerospace. A fifth, 25 minute flight took place in Nov. 2011 attaining a speed of 100Kmph.

JULY/AUGUST 2012

REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

Rustom HALE, DRDO/ADE; MALE UAV in development for tri-service customers, also precursor for UCAV development prototype in 2014-15, 12-15 hour endurance and 45kg payload. Netra SUAV, ARDE/Ideaforge Technology; 1.5m Quadrotor SUAV, altitude 200m, 30 min endurance. Nishant, DRDO/ADE; Development began in 1990 trial completed in Feb. 2011. 12 Nishants ordered in 2005 with four delivered so far and two crashing in April 2010. The balance due in 2013-14. Kapothaka, DRDO/ADE; Mini-UAV to test ISR as well as launch and recovery concepts Pawan, DRDO/ADE; SUAV in development. Gagan, DRDO/ADE; TUAV in development.

Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman; Listed India as a potential customer at Paris Air show 2011 in maritime and overland role UCAV, N/A; IAF issued RFI in mid 2010. R Q-16B T-Hawk, Honeywell Aerospace; Demonstrated at the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College at Kanker in Chattisgarh in 2010. ‘HALE’ UAV, N/A; IN HALE RFI issued October 2010. NG reported to have responded with its MQ-4C BAMS which could operate with P-8I Poseidon. TER P 2, MKU; hand launched pusher SUAV, 90 min endurance, 10X optical zoom day camera and Uncooled IR camera range 10km. Cheetak-based UAV, IAI/HAL; discussions to produce an unmanned version of the Based in Kandahar, three Heron I UAVs leased under Project Nankeen have operated in support of Australian and other forces since January 2010 © Commonwealth of Australia

stalwart helo. Skylark, Elbit/BEL; Indianised example on show at DEFEXPO 2012. Lakshya-II, DRDO; Tenth test flight of target drone in January for 30 mins, operating from 12-800m.

NOTES : In June India announced plans to acquire 95, 2.5Kg SUAV split between the Army (60) and Navy (35) with the competition beginning in early 2013. In April, India's Navy announced the inauguration of the INAS 344 Squ. "Spirited Shadower," tasked with maritime patrol equipped with two IAI Searcher IIs and two Herons and based in Tamil Nadu from where it will operate in the Palk Strait, Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay under Eastern Naval Command. Two similarly equipped units INAS 343 Squ. at Probander and the INAS 342 Squ. at Kochi. A fourth unit is planned for the Andaman islands.

INDONESIA FIELDED

Searcher Mk II, IAI; fielding in 2012, delayed and originally ordered in 2006 from Kital Philippines Corp. Fox AT1, CAC/EADS; Four UAVs with a fixed wing design fielded with Armed Forces Strategic Intelligence Agency and Air Force in Bandung in early 2000s. Contract valued at $10m and issues over non-delivery of rotary wing UAVs. UAVs withdrawn from service in 2006. SS-5, PT Wesco Aerospace; one or more systems reported to be deployed to Aceh in 2005. Aerosonde, AAI; Deployed with paramilitary and Police forces. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

BBPT-04C Sriti, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology; 10km range tactical UAV using a flying wing design. AL AP, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology; 25kg, 50km range UAV. ‘TUAV’, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology; 120kg UAV with a range of 120km. Three design shape prototypes; the BPPT-01A “Wulung” with Hi rectangular-wing, Low Boom T-tail, the BPPT-01B “Gagak” with Lo rectangularwing, Low Boom V-Tail and the BPPT-02A “Wulung” with a Hi rectangular-wing, Hi

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

The Remoeye-006 from Ucon Systems has a 2.59m wingspan and an endurance of two hours © AJB

Boom Inverted V-Tail design.

NOTE S: Pesawat Udara Nir-Awak or

PUNA is the Bahasa Indonesia acronym for UAV. Indonesia has been carrying out a programme headed by the government's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology to develop indigenous UAVs since March 2007. Military announced TUAV programme in Oct. 2009 to be acquired “from 2011” with the UAVs themselves to be manufactured locally by PT Dirgantara.

JAPAN

FIELDED

Forward Flying Observation System, Fuji Heavy Industries; Development of rotary wing design began in 1991 with three systems equipping Army artillery units from 2004. Civil version is the RPH-2. RMAX, Yamaha Motor Company; Deployed with Japan’s Iraq contingent in 2005. B Type Machine II, Fuji Imvac; Deployed over Fukushima. ScanEagle, Insitu; Two systems on order. TAyoutoK(C)Ogata Mujinki (TACOM), Fuji Heavy Industries; Trans. ‘Multi-role small UAV’. Japan’s Technical Research and Development Institute have been working on the concept since 1995. Evaluation flight test in 2001. In 2011 Japan released film of two turbo jet powered drones carried by an

F-15J. TACOM launched while aloft and returns to base using a retractable undercarriage. A prototype launched from a Mitsubishi/Lockheed Martin F-2 was lost at sea in 2010. J/AQM-1, Fuji Heavy Industries; Air force target drone, entered services 1987, indigenous design. BQM-34AJ, Fuji Heavy Industries; Navy target drone, licensed development of Firebee. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

RQ -8A Fire Sco ut, Northrop Grumman; Company believes it has interest from the military. B Type Machine II, Fuji IMVAC, Used to monitor Fukushima. Ball Shaped UAV; Development or SUAV for Urban ops for Army. RQ -16B T-Hawk, Honeywell Aerospace; Used to monitor Fukushima. Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman; listed Japan as a potential customer at Paris Airshow 2011 in maritime and overland role. Thought to be as part of 2011-2015 Mid-Term Defence Programme with three of the UAVs potentially required probably working in conjunction with P-3C Orion. Japanese interests first noted in 2004. Improved Satellite surveillance the main alternative. NOTES: Japan seems far behind others in regards to UAVs. There are however a large number of UAV companies in Japan including Fuji Heavy Industries, Yamaha Motor, Yanmar Agricultural Equipment, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Industries, Sky Remote, Hirobo, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Hitachi, NEC Corporation, GH Craft, Fuji Imvac and Nippi Corporation.

NORTH KOREA FIELDED

Pch ela, Yakovlev OKB; Unconfirmed reports that North Korea acquired the Russian UAV in 1995. NOTE S: Also reports that it operates Tupolev DR-3/M-141 jet-powered tactical reconnaissance UAVs.

REGIONAL UAV

DIRECTORY

The Smart UAV developed by KARI and Ministry of Knowledge Economy has a maximum speed of 500Kmph © AJB

SOUTH KOREA FIELDED

Harpy, IAI; 100 systems valued at $45m fielded from 1999. RQ-101 Night Intruder 300, KAI; Began development in 1991 with Ministry funding with the Army receiving five systems 20012004 for Corps level operation, Navy also acquired the system. Shadow 400, AAI; One system in service with Navy for evaluation from 2006. Skylark I I, Elbit Systems; Announced selection in Dec 2007, equipped with the Micro-CoMPASS E/O payload with first A scale model of KAI’s Korean — Combat Unmanned Vehicle was shown in october © AJB

delivery in 2008.

TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

KUS-11 TUAV, KAI; Division level solution, awarded development contract in Sept. 2010, delivery in 2015. KUS-9, Korean Air, KAI; Development completed in 2009, work on project now ended Devil Killer, KAI; Miniature UAV weighs 25Kg, durance 8 hrs. KUS-15, Korean Air; V-tail MALE design, mock up shown at Seoul 2011. Night Intruder NI-11N, KAI; Development began in 2006 with focus on maritime surveillance. Korean - Combat Unmanned Vehicle, KAI; K-CUAV model at Seoul 2011. KUS-X, Korean Air; Turbo-jet Delta design wing space 4.5m length 3.5m. Urban Star, Kyung An Cable Company; VTOL UAV in development. R emoeye-002A, Ucon Systems; 1.5m wingspan, range 10km endurance 1 hr. CCD TV or IR with single axis scanning. Remoeye-006, Ucon Systems; pylon mounted high wing design, 6.8kg, 2.59m wingspan, 2 hr. endurance. Remoeye-015, Ucon Systems; Development complete in June 2005, 15Kg TUAV endurance 4hrs plus range 40km, CCD TV or IR camera paylaod. Remo H-120, Ucon Systems; In development, 340CC engine rotary wing design endurance of two hours and rnage of 50km. R Q-8A Fire Scout, Northrop Grumman; Company believes it has interest. R Q-4 Glob al H awk Block 30, Northrop

JULY/AUGUST 2012

Grumman; Korea allocating $40m for partial payment in 2011 budget for four aircraft for delivery in 2015-16 but since canceled plans. Northrop Grumman had partnered with DACC Aerospace, Foosung, KJF and Korean Air. Smart UAV, KARI and Ministry of Knowledge Economy; Tilt rotor design launched in 2002 with significant government funding, unveiled in 2005 was to begin flight testing in 2011, at 500Kmph aircraft described as the world's fastest UAV, altitude of 20,000ft and operational radius of 200km. FMAV, Korea Agency for Defense Development, Hanwha and USAFRL, Flapping Wing MAV, weigh 200g, endurance 25 minutes. NO TES : In January Noh Dae-lae, head of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration has said in Feb. that plans to acquire Global Hawk have been canceled following a price hike from $442m in 2009 to $899m in November 2011. Korea now plans to open a new competition. Collapse of deal has led to AeroVironment Global Obsever and Boeing's Phantom Eye being publicly cited as candidates with Israeli competition also expected notably the Heron TP.

MALAYSIA FIELDED

Eagle 150B, CTRM; Conversion of CTRM’s Eagle 150 trainer aircraft into an aircraft which could function either as manned aircraft or a UAV, three aircraft and a GCS

REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

entered service in 2002 and withdrawn in Feb 2006. Aludra Mk1, CTRM; Trials from October 2008 to late 2010. Aludra Mk2, CTRM; Mk2 version leased by Malayisan Armed forces since 2008 who will continue to operate two from Semporna in East Malaysia. Yabhon Aludra, CTRM/Adcom; co-development with UAE firm, 500Kg MALE design with endurance of 30 hours. Two aircraft to be leased for counter-terrorism surveillance via CTRM. ScanEagle, Insitu Pacific; leased by CTRM to Malaysian Armed Forces. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

Cyb er E ye, Sapura; demonstrated to Malaysian Military, sales to Thailand, Australia and Europe. Cyb er Shark, Sapura; demonstrated to Malaysian Military. Cyb er Hawk, Sapura; 20Kg with 6 hr endurance. Cyber Quad, Sapura; two sizes, linked to SAKTI soldier programme. S-100, Schiebel; Camcopter was the only UAV taking part in LIMA 2011 flight displays.

NOTES: New leased UAVs due to be operational in Summer.

NEW ZEALAND

TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

Kah u/H aw k, SKYCAM UAV NZ; New Zealand is exploring SUAV concepts, 80 minuted enduracne, 12km rnage.

NOTES: New Zealand troops benefiting from UAV coverage in Afghanistan. Kahu Hawk is a 3Kg design operated by 16 Field Regiment with two systems each of a GCS and two aircraft having been acquired to date.

PAKISTAN FIELDED

Uqab-II, ACES; First squadron inducted into Pakistan Navy in July 2011 and tasked with Maritime Interdiction Operation. The timing coincided with the crash of an Uqab-II Navy UAV near an oil refinery. Developed from Eagle Eye system. Uqab , Integrated Dynamics; Flight tests completed in March 2008, developed with Turkish help similar to the US Army RQ-7B Shadow 200. Bu rraq, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex;

The Skyblade 360 is a 9kg hand launched UAV with a 3 hour endurance although a fuel cell solution now in development will double its flight time and was first flown in May 2011© AJB

KAI's Devil Killer swarm UAV caused a stir at its launch last year ©AJB

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

REGIONAL UAV

DIRECTORY

Luna, EMT; Acquired for Pakistani Army in 2006. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

S-100C, Scheibel; VTOL UAV tested on PN Type 21 frigate in March 2008 in a four hour mission. RQ-7 Shadow 200, AAI; 12 UAVs in three systems requested, confirmed in Jan 2010 by Sec Def. Gates. Now in limbo with an estimated cost of $150m from the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund budget ‘UQAB III’, ACES; presumed designation for HALE/’Strategic’ version with radius of operation of over 300km. K1, AWC; Trial by Army in 1997. NOTES: Pakistan aviation firms involved in UAV development include Integrated Dynamics Surveillance & Target Unmanned Aircraft, East West Infiniti, Air Weapons Complex National Development Complex (NDC) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Somewhat ironic if true, Tusas Aerospace Industries signed an MoU in May 2007 with local firm Air Weapons Complex working on a MALE solution.

PHILIPPINES FIELDED

Predator A, General Atomics; Two of the UAVs operating in Philippines were reported to be registered with the Office of the National Security Advisor. Hu nter RQ -5, Northrop Grumman/IAI; Reported to be from the US Army and operated by the Philippines Air Force. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

B lu e Horizon , UVision Air; Reportedly obtained for trials and operational testing in 2001.

Korean Air’s KUS-9 design © AJB

Based on Falco-Selex Galileo technology and is believed to be intended as Pakistan's main equivalent to the American Predator to be equipped with NESCom designed laser designator and laser-guided missiles. Falco, Selex Galileo; Pakistan bought 4-5 unarmed reconnaissance drones from Italy. First Italian produced aircraft operational in early 2009 after delivery 2006-8. Some pro-

duced locally by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex with local production beginning in August 2009. B ravo+/ Jasoo s II, AWC; In use of the Pakistan Air Force since 2004 and supports Operations and Training Programme. CH-3, CASC; 20 UAVs reported to be on order from China for delivery in 2011 and equipped with FT-5 PGM.

JULY/AUGUST 2012

NOTES: First known US drone strike in the Philippines reported in February on Abu Sayyaf base on Jolo island, killing 15 including three senior leaders including Zulkifli bin Hir/Marwan.

SINGAPORE FIELDED

Searcher I, IAI; Fielded with No. 119 and No. 128 Sqns RSAF operates at least ten systems, deployed to Afghanistan as part of Singapore’s deployment since 2010. Hermes H-450, Elbit Systems; No. 116 Sqn operates the UAV with 12 platforms fielded since 2007.

REGIONAL

UAV

DIRECTORY

Heron 1, IAI; delivered in 2012, equipped with IAI/Tamam Multimission Optronic Stabilised Payload, to replace Searcher 1 with 119 Squ first to convert and inducted May 23rd. Skyblade III, ST Aerospace; Fieldidn with Amry in 2011, equipping units at battalion and brigade level developed by Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the DSO National Laboratories, ST Aerospace and the Defence Science and Technology Agency. Skyblade II, ST Aerospace; delivered to SAF in mid 2005, 5kg range of 8km. Skylark, Elbit Systems; Fielded by RSAF from 2006. Scan Eagle, Insitu Pacific; Republic of Singapore Navy successfully trialed the ScanEagle in March 2009, the trials involving the successful operation of the UAV from a RSN frigate and LST. Fielded in 2012 operated in Exercise in May off RSS Valiant corvette. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

Blue Horizon , Singapore Technologies Dynamics, MALE ordered in 1998 acquired in 1999. ST Skyblade IV, ST Aerospace, 54nm range UAV unveiled 2006. Global Hawk; Northrop Grumman; Listed Singapore as a potential customer at Paris Airshow 2011, possibly to meet Singapore’s requirements. FanTail 5000, ST Aerospace, VTOL SUAV 30 min hover endurance 8km range ground and naval role.

MAV -1, ST Aerospace; Low-observable developmental UAV. RQ -8A Fire Sco ut, Northrop Grumman; Company believes it has interest from the military. Skyblad e 360, ST Aerospace's, SUAV in development 9kg 3 hour endurance with 6 hours with fuel cell, range 15km altitude 900m first flown May 2011.

NOTES: In May 2007, responsibility for UAV development, training and operations were placed under the RSAF’s UAV Command. Typically using the Generic GCS from Singapore Technology mounted on Bronco tracked ATV.

SRI LANKA FIELDED

Searcher, IAI; Mks II and III variants equip No 111 Air Surveillance Squadron based at Anuradhapura with one or two systems in service.

NOTES: No public plans for new UAVs although in 2011 the Sri Lankan military said they were testing an indigenously developed UAV.

TAIWAN

FIELDED

Chu ng Shyan g II, CSIST; Initiated programme in 2002 unveiled in 2005, entered service with 601st and 602nd Airborne Brigades in 2011, 32 platforms ordered. “Zhongxiang III UAV", CSIST; Prototype

crashed and found by fishermen in June 2010, reported counter-radar role. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

'MQ-9 Equivalent', CSIST; Concept shown at last Aerospace and Defense technology Exhibition. UCAV, CSIST; Could be deployed in several years similar to X-45/X-47B. AI Rider, Gang Yu Corp; Indigenous sixrotor 1.5Kg design launched at Secutech, in Taipei in April used by Taiwan’s military and academic institutions for surveillance and geographic surveying. Kestrel II, CSIST; Early development nonoperational. Cardinal, CSIST; Hand launched Mini-UAV, 1.5 hour endurance military interest reported Blue Magpie, CSIST; Hand launched MiniUAV, no military interest reported. The Heron I was inducted into the RSAF's 119 Squadron in May © AJB

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

REGIONAL UAV

Korean Air's V-tail MALE design was shown at Seoul 2011© AJB

NOTES: Air Force reported to be interested in a HALE UAV but not Global Hawk in 2010. Focus of April Exercice Han Kuang military exercise inlcuded mass UAV attack from China.

THAILAND FIELDED

AL-4, Aeroland UAV Inc; Hand launched UAV ordered by non-Military customer in Taiwan. ‘Gray-faced Buzzard’, National Cheng Kung University; Fuel-cell/lithium battery powered 22kg UAV first flew in 2010. Spoonbill, National Cheng Kung University; Flew 92km in 52 minutes over water in 2009.

Cyber Eye, Sapura; Three systems acquired from Malaysia in 2009. Aero star; Aeronautics Defence Systems design; One system, ordered in late 2010. Raven , AeroVironment; Successive contracts with Aeronautics since 2008. Searcher I&II, IAI; One system comprising four UAVs and GCS and RVT, since retired. TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

G-STAR , Innocon/G-Force Composites; based on MiniFalcon 2, RTAF has bought

DIRECTORY

one system for TUAV evaluation. RQ -8A Fire Sco ut, Northrop Grumman; Company believes there is interest.

NOTES: Thai Air Force is leading efforts on UAV strategy with plans outlined in 2009 to equip a squadron and calling for a three systems with 15km, 30km and 100km range aimed at acquiring capability and building a domestic research and production base. Burma denounced unidentified UAV flights on Thai-Burma border in January 2011.

VIETNAM

TRIALS AND DEVELOPMENT

R &D UA V/I rku t-200 Variant; Irkut Engineering; deal announced in March 2012.

NO T ES : The Vietnam Aerospace Association has signed a deal with Irkut Ebgineering for a 100Kg UAV system to develop UAV competency and experiecne in the country intially for civilian pruposes, later for military applications.

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Hall 1, Stand C14

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N E X T

I S

N O W

S MA L L A

IWI 5.56mmX95 Flattop with MEPRO 21 Reflex Sight and Assault Grip © IWI

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

S MA L L A

Infantry

Weapons & Sights: Empowering the

Soldier Small arms define the dismounted infantryman and marine. But maximizing lethality is no longer just a function of the weapon itself. Limits on weight mean that significant further reductions in that area can only be achieved by the use of high-grade aluminium, titanium or other materials, putting them out of the reach of conventional forces.

by Adam Baddeley

qually, significant increases via the performance of ammunition in terms of range and lethality are equally difficult to achieve while big reductions in weight will only come via the maturation of technologies such as case telescoped or caseless ammunition which remain several years away. Rather than pursuing diminishing performance returns at large cost, users have often chosen to enhance existing designs via sights, enabling rapid targeting at day or night at distances that correspond to the effective range of the weapons.

Lethality

While the biggest improvements do derive from precision engagement devices, that is not to say that improvements over legacy

JULY/AUGUST 2012

weapons are not being pursued, both by replacing aging or obsolescent weapons as well as adding new capabilities to the squad. India is a key small arms market in the Asia Pacific region with two key programmes currently in competition. The first is the 44,000 requirement for a CQB Carbine with a Request For Information (RFI) for this being issued in mid 2011. Bids have now been submitted with the customer recently undertaking the Technical Evaluation which should lead to a request for samples for trials later this year. A larger 66,000 requirement for an Assault Rifle was issued via an RFI in 2011 with responses due to be submitted in April. The requirement calls for a weapon along with a reflex sight, laser pointer and dayscope with around 7000 Underbarrel grenade launchers. It is thought that the expected bid-

S MA L L A

France has adopted the HK417 in a crash programme © AJB

ders for this requirement will include Arsenal, Beretta, Ceska, Colt, Israel Weapon Industries and SIG Sauer. Not content with one of the largest small arms tenders in the world, India is also seeking a range of other weapons. Since the start of the year, there has also been a Request for Information (RFI) for a 7.62mm Light Machine Gun for the Army’s Parachute (Special Forces) battalions in January. This was joined by an RFI for a 9mm ‘Cornershot’ type weapon. Beretta’s ARX160, developed for the Italian armed forces has been refined following extensive deployment with the Folgore

Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan. Izhmash’s AK12, launched in 2010 is offered with 5.45x39mm rounds. From the assault rifle variant other weapons have been developed; the AK-12U carbine, PPK12 submachine gun, SVD-12 sniper rifles and RPK-12 LMG. A range of 5.56x45mm Kalashnikov type weapons includes the AK101 and AK-102. Colt is expected to begin local production of the M4A1 for the Malaysian Armed Forces in 2014. Remington's Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) was designed in co-operation with MagPul Industries Corp. and Bushmaster firing both 5.56x45mm and 6.8mm SPC II rounds. The ACR is designed to be a family of weapons with a range of modular options

India is a key small arms market in the Asia Pacific region with two key programmes currently in competition

including 10.5”, 14.5”, 16.5” and 18” barrels and uses a gas piston operating system. SIG Sauer is heavily promoting its SIG516 5.56mm assault rifle concept which uses a four position short stroke gas piston operating system. The rifle also offers enhanced accuracy through the use of a free floating forearm and a chrome lined and phosphate coated barrel. Users can opt between five barrel lengths up to 457mm with a high-grade aluminium receiver to reduce weight Heckler and Koch’s HK416 was originally developed in the US with Delta Force with a notable difference between it and the M4 which it replaced from 2004 in that unit's

An IWI Tavor Star Flattop with one of the company's X4 sights © AJB

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

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The Gladius soldier systems operates the Zeiss ZO 4x30 sight ÂŠ AJB

inventory is with the substitution of a piston driven gas operating system. From the SF world, the weapon has been adopted by others including the armed forces of Norway who has acquired the HK416 and its sibling the 7.62x51mm HK417. In France, the FRF2 sniper rifle was replaced in FELINequipped units going to Afghanistan with the HK417 in a crash programme. France plans to begin replacing its FAMAS with new assault rifle in 2015, coincidentally at the point at which all units will be equipped with the last of 22,588 soldier systems. The new 7.62x51mm FN SCAR-H TPR Tactical Precision Rifle was launched in June and designed for snipers and marksman and uses a sniper-buttstock and is designed for rapid and accurate fire and short and long ranges. Another dedicated sniper rifle is the Sako TRG M10 which is being put forward for the USSOCOM's Precision Sniper Rifle and supports 7.62x51mm, .300 WinMag and .338 Lapua Magnum. A range of personal defence weapons are now entering service, a category which

S MA L L A

Pulse Inteco Systems latest MESLAS Sniper's Fire-Controlled Riflescope 10x40 © Pulse Inteco Systems

includes sub-machine guns as well as non9mm parabellum weapons offering enhanced capabilities over this now elderly round. The Kriss Super V system, manufactured in Taiwan works by eliminating large portions of rearward felt recoil and associated muzzle recoil by redirecting the recoil downwards. The company claims that the Vector weapon results in 60 percent less felt recoil and 95 percent less muzzle climb. The weapon is offered in .45 ACP 230g FMJ and has a cyclic rate of fire of 1200 rpm with users switching between single, two round bursts and automatic, using an ambidextrous fire selector. DEFEXPO saw the stalwart of the post war submachine gun market, the Uzi with a significant revamp with the launch by IWI of their Israel Weapon Industries Uzi Pro. The 9mm weapon has been made more compact with Picatinny rails, ergonomic butt, foldable assault handle, pistol style magazine release, adjustable shoulder stock and cheek rest. Beretta’s 9mm MX-4 was ordered by India’s Border Security Force with an order for 34,000 weapons in February 2011 which has recently been completed.

Another new design shown at DEFEXPO was the IWI Negev NG7 7.62x51mm LMG which shares 80 percent of the components with the 5.56mm Negev. The 700 rpm NG7 weighs 8kg and for mobile firing it has a semi-automatic firing mode as well as tritium night sights and Picatinny rails. At Eurosatory, Thales and SteyrMannlicher showed their new F90, a jointly developed enhancement to the F88 assault rifle currently in service with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in five versions, building from the 3.25Kg standard F90 to the F90G with integrated grenade launcher and the F90CQB short barrel version which weighs just 3.15Kg.

Sights

As with small arms in India, there have been a recent flurry of acquisition activity related to weapon sights. This includes a February RFI for an image intensification (I2) rifle carbine sight with a figure of merit for its tube of

At Eurosatory, Thales and Steyr-Mannlicher showed their new F90, a jointly developed enhancement to the F88 assault rifle

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

1700. This was received by a requirement for an uncooled thermal Imaging sight for a 7.62mm LMG with a range of 800m. Singapore’s Special Forces have adopted Aimpoint’s CompM4 sight, although for the country’s Advanced Combat Man System the Micro T1 is used with Australia’s SF, conventional forces and police also using the sight with the ADF replacing its legacy M2s with the newer M4s. New Zealand has recently made a decision to equip their police with the Bushmaster M4 along with the CompM4 sight, beginning in April. A recent development to the Micro T1 sight is the introduction of a two Minute of Angle (MOA) solution down from a four MOA to enable greater accuracy at long distances, particularly when used with a 3X magnifier, improving effective range of a 5.56mm round from 300m to 500m and increase 7.62mm assault rifles to 500m. In October 2010 the millionth Aimpoint sight was delivered to the US Army with the company is in the latter part of the delivery of 565,000 sights to the US Army under a 2009 award. Trijicon have been active in India since 2006 with 100 percent of sales to date being at a state police and paramilitary level with the ACOG 4x32 sight and Ruggedised

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Qioptiq have supplied a range of sights to the UK's FIST programme © AJB

Miniature Reflex sights as well as older reflex sights. Indonesia uses a number of ACOG 4x32s with a commercial reticle while the ADF has opted for the same sight but with a custom reticule. Trijicon have also supplied conventional scopes on Beretta .50 cal sniper rifles. Trijicon is also participating in a competition to supply sights on the South African Defence Force R4 assault rifles with an announcement on the outcome expected from the Summer onwards. US firm American Technology Network has sold their Thor thermal rifle sight to Thailand and are currently is discussion about the potential to supply their latest Thor 320 which uses a FLIR sourced VoX core rather then the earlier L-3 core. India has acquired their MARS 4 and 6 thermal sights. Other customers include the OTIS-17 weapon sight to the Peruvian Air Force as well as the MARS 4 to the Army. The company uses thermal cores and I2 from a variety of course with ATN sourcing I2 tubes from ITT, L-3, Photonis and three Russian sources. Israel has been an important source of sights with both Meprolight and MSE Limited – part of Star Defense Systems. Meprolight recently launched their new sub1 Kg Noa Nyx uncooled thermal rifle sight and 700g, 2x Mini-Hunter which can operate for forty hours on a single AA battery. The Noa Nyx can detect man sized targets at up to 900m and can store up to three sight reticles defined by the user and has a sub-five second warm up time, running continuously for seven hours on just four AA batteries. MSE Ltd have approached the requirement for

sights on the dismounted soldier with maximum affordability. The result is the AQC family of reflex sights with the AQC-1 having two built in reticle options couple with large window size while the AQC-2 adds an IR or visible laser designator. MSE also offers the Or-Sight weapon mounted night sight.For snipers, Pulse Inteco Systems have developed recently launched the MESLAS 10x40 fire controlled riflescope, noted for the use of a single pulse laser to reduce susceptibility to detection from enemy sensors. Bulgarian firm Optix is has sold a number of night vision devices in the region. The firm's ONS-4V/4M I2 weapon sight which can use Gen 2 and Gen 3+ as well as XD-4, XR-5 and XR-5 Onyx tubes can detect man sized targets at between 520m and 860m. Czech firm Meopta has developed the Meopta Modular Systems initially for the Army of the Czech Republic for use with their new CZ 805 Bren assault rifle but which can be integrated on other weapons. The Modular Systems comprise the NV-Mag 3 night vision microscope, DV-Mag 3 daysight and ZD-Dot red dot sight. QioptiQ’s latest sights comprise the five strong Dragon Uncooled Thermal Imagers. The smallest is the Dragon Combat or C which can be clipped onto a weapon. The sub-390g Dragon-C has a magnification of 2X with an E-Zoom and no focus control is required. The device has a detection range, using a 320x240 detector with 2X magnification against a mansized target at 1070m. The Dragon-C can be used with additional day sights with up to 4X magnification. The earlier VIPR series of thermal sights continue to be used widely. In the I2 world, the Dragon family are complemented by a three-strong Merlin family, the Merlin SR denoting Short Range and can detect a man sized target in moonlight at 1589m and weighs less than 820g with a single AA battery supporting 40 hours of continuous use. Leupold recent released its new Mark 4 High Accuracy Multi-Range Riflescope (HAMR) designed for carbines and optimised for mid range accuracy and fast acquisition in day and low light, the latter via the use of the company's The Xtended Twilight Lens System. In combination with the firm’s DeltaPoint reflex sight a CQB capability is added.

Sagem's new Sword Light uncooled thermal imager © AJB

JULY/AUGUST 2012

TRAINER

A I R C R A F T S

Jet Trainers vs Turboprops he answers to this question will differ from nation to nation, with some looking at their whole flight training regime from the basic to the advanced platforms while others will integrate new or updated equipment with legacy fleets. Those that can afford it will follow the system taken by Singapore which has acquired a fleet of Pilatus PC-21 basic turboprop trainers plus Aermacchi M-346 Master advanced/ lead-in-fighter trainers (LIFT). South Korea has adopted a similar solution although it has a three-tier training system that includes

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the KAI KT-1 turboprop basic trainer and the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic advanced/LIFT aircraft while retaining its fleet of BAE Systems Hawk Mk 67 advanced trainers. Indonesia has decided to mirror the South Korean mix, KT-1 and T-50, although

Indonesia has decided to mirror the South Korean mix, KT-1 and T-50, although the latter will replace its Hawk Mk.53 advanced trainers

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

the latter will replace its Hawk Mk.53 advanced trainers. All of these countries have chosen a turboprop basic training aircraft over a jet-powered basic trainer of which the Chinese Hongdu K-8 Karakorum and Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HAL HJT-36 Sitara. The former it cheaper than most turboprop trainers and has been sold to Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in addition to the large numbers being delivered to the Chinese Air Force. Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Air Force and Navy have a requirement for HAL HJT-36 Sitaras to replace the HJT-16 Kiran in its role as a Stage-2 trainer, although the type has

TRAINER A I R C R A F T S

The new kid on the block, the Grob G 120TP is carving a niche as a cost effective basic training package ÂŠ Grob

With an unprecedented number of regional nations acquiring, or planning to acquire, fifth generation combat aircraft, including Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea by the end of the decade, the question of what is the appropriate flight training solution will have to be addressed sooner rather than later.

by David Oliver

had a protracted development and is unlikely to attract serious overseas interest. According to market forecasts, the K-8 will account for more than 30 percent of annual basic trainer sales over the next decade to nations that are unable to afford Western turboprop aircraft. Meanwhile India has a $1 billion requirement to replace its ageing fleet of 150 HJT-16 Kiran basic trainer aircraft for which the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II has been short listed, beating off the KAI KT-1 and the T-6C Texan II. However this contract has not yet been confirmed and Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basic trainer options

are still open. With the overall market for turboprop basic trainers predicted to drop by more than 50 percent by the end of the decade, one manufacturer is hoping to buck the trend. The German Grob Aircraft company that has delivered some 400 of its G 115 pistonengined composite constructed aerobatic primary trainer, launched its turboprop G 120TP in 2009 that it claims symbolises the 21st century evolution of basic flight training. According to the company, simplicity in pilot operation and system functions make the G 120TP the only sophisticated mission

JULY/AUGUST 2012

training platform that can accommodate typical elementary, basic and advanced pilot training segments. The cost efficiency of the G 120TP redefines training cost and budgets. High performance, full virtual tactical training capability including HOTAS, combined with high dispatch reliability make the G 120TP not only the most cost efficient solution for the future, but also the best integrated training system overall. Equipped with the new lightweight Martin Baker Mk 15B ejection seat and powered by the reliable Rolls-Royce RM250-B17F turbine provides a power upgrade while

TRAINER

A I R C R A F T S

eliminating the need of multiple fuels. G 120TP is the only side-by-side military training aircraft with a glass cockpit The top of the range turboprop training aircraft in the market is the Pilatus PC-21 selected by the Singapore Air Force © Pilatus

designed by Elta of Israel certified in the 21st century with full aerobatic and military training capability. Turbine powered high performance combined with operating simplicity makes the G 120TP the ideal platform for learning the first steps of flying all the way to pushing the envelope at 6g during the aerobatic training phase. The G 120TP’s flight performance and embedded cockpit training simulations could allow any air force to have the ability to use a single platform to train and stream student pilots for rotary, transport and fast jet types from the outset of their training. Grob Aircraft secured an important new

customer in Asia by winning the selection competition to supply Indonesia with its future trainer aircraft earlier this year. The Indonesian Air Force will operate the G 120TP in the elementary and basic training roles but the innovative ‘system of systems’ training approach that the G 120TP represents as a complete package, will encompass computer based ground training, mission briefing/debriefing and advanced, state-ofthe-art embedded cockpit simulation. Deliveries will commence in 2012. Grob is focusing on marketing in India, offering the G 120TP to the Indian Air Force which is looking at replacements for the HAL

Grob Aircraft securedan important new customer in Asia by winning the selection competition to supply Indonesia with its [G 120TP] l

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

HPT-32 Deepak elementary trainer, most of which have been grounded for the past two years. India is planning to purchase 75 aircraft and Grob is in contention Chief Sales Officer and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Andre Hiebeler says that Grob sees Asia is seen as a key region for its total ’21st Century Turn Key’ operations for the G 120TP that will deliver the complete training and operating system including the aircraft, line support, maintenance support and simulators. In this way, any potential Air Force can concentrate on the flying whilst Grob takes care of everything else on a ‘power by the hour’ lease basis which can dramatically reduce future defence budgets for both support and procurement. At FIDAE 2012 in Chile, the German manufacturer announced a partnership with the Argentine aircraft company Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) which will offer the G 120TP as a package with an upgraded AT-63 Pampa II as the Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) aircraft. The two air-

TRAINER A I R C R A F T S

procurement of up to 100 F-35A Lighting II aircraft in the next decade. New Zealand has no fast jet fleet, nor does it have any plans to acquire any, but it has fleets of maritime patrol and transport aircraft. Flight training is carried out on New Zealand-built piston-engined Pacific Aerospace Ltd CT-4E Airtrainers and a handful of Hawker Beechcraft King Air 200s for multi-engine training. The Philippines has been plagued by severe budget restrictions until recently but has pledged to increase defence funding over the next five years to complete a capability upgrade and proceed to a modernisation programme aimed at meeting basic requirements to address external security threats. In addition to being targeted by Grob for its future basic flying training requirements, Russia’s Rosoboronexport

agency is promoting the Yak-130 Mitten advanced jet trainer/light attack jet and has tendered for six aircraft to replace the Philippines retired Northrop F-5A Tiger fighters, and its current fleet of Alenia S-211 basic jet trainers. The Yak-130 has also been offered to Bangladesh to replace its Aero L39 jet trainers. The Malaysian Air Force has an eclectic mix of training aircraft including SME MD3-160 AeroTiga piston-engined elementary trainers, Pilatus PC-71 Mk I/II basic trainers, Alenia MB-339A and Hawk Mk 106 advanced trainers, and Northrop F-5F Tiger II fighter aircraft re-rolled as leadCompeting with the T-50 is the Aermacchi M-346 Master that has been chosen by the Singapore Air Force © Aermacchi

craft will have standardised glass cockpits to reduce student conversion time and costs while retaining the advanced avionics and embedded cockpit ‘virtual training’ modes common to both types. Grob CEO, Andre Hiebeler said that the Argentine Air Force has a requirement for 11 basic training aircraft, but for other markets, it will be offering the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano as the LIFT option. Potential markets for supplying its training systems package, either by direct sale or under a PPI/PFI contract, include Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Malaysia. Currently Royal Australian Air Force carries out all elementary and basic training on its ageing fleet of Pilatus PC-9A aircraft and the Hawk Mk 127 advanced trainers but the flight training system is under review pending the The high end of the Lead-In Fighter Trainer market is the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle which has sold to the South Korean and Indonesian Air forces © David Oliver

JULY/AUGUST 2012

TRAINER

A I R C R A F T S

The Hongdu K-8, such as this Pakistan Air Force example, is proving to be a market leader in the basic jet trainer sector © David Oliver

in-fighter trainers. It has an obvious need to reduce the number of types in its training fleet and Grob’s ‘21st Century Training Solution’ may well succeed in Malaysia while the Aermacchi M-346 Master is seen as a probable contender for the advanced trainer/LIFT role. China is one of the few nations that does not have a turboprop aircraft in its training inventory, the backbone of which is the Hongdu JL-8 basic jet trainer and the Chengdu JJ-7 advanced trainer that was based on the Russian MiG-21US. Over the next decade, the Hongdu L-15, a development of the Yak-130, is expected to replace the JJ-7 in the advanced training/LIFT role. With many nations looking to acquire multi-mission aircraft, trainer manufacturers have developed light attack variants fitted with hard points and advanced sensor systems. The target market for these aircraft are those nations that cannot afford fast-jet combat aircraft but have enough funds to purchase new advanced trainers/light attack aircraft. This capability was highlighted recently by the United States Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft requirement for the Afghanistan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC) to be fielded by 2013.

The programme called for fixed-wing single-engine turboprop platforms, with a number of critical requirements that the winning aircraft had to fulfill including a rough-field capability without ground support, dual controls, ejection seats, specific air-to-ground weapons and systems and a defensive-aids system. The two down selected contenders for both turned out to be adaptations of basic trainer aircraft, the Brazilian Embraer EMB314 Super Tucano and the US Hawker Beechcraft AT-6B Texan II. On 1 January 2012 the USAF announced it had selected the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano for the LAS programme and awarded a contract for twenty aircraft and associated support valued at $355 million. Almost immediately, Hawker Beechcraft, manufacturer of the competing AT-6, claimed unfair contracting practices resulting in USAF issuing a stopASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

BAE System’s widely used Hawk is operated by Australia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, illustrated © BAE Systems

work order on the LAS contract. However, the UAS announced in April that the contest would be re-run and that the ANAAC would receive its first combat aircraft for more than a decade. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are marketing armed variants of both the turboprop KT-1, the KA-1, and the T-50 advanced jet trainer, the T/A-50, although Pilatus has no plans to develop an armed variant of its PC-21 turboprop basic trainer. The Philippines operate an armed version of the Aermacchi SF-260SP turboprop basic trainer and the Italian company offers a light attack variant of its M-346 Master that was a westernised version of the Yak-130. An armed variant of the Hongdu K-8 is produced by

TRAINER A I R C R A F T S

The Beechcraft AT-6B is competing with the Embraer Super Tucano in the turboprop basic trainer/light attack aircraft market ÂŠ David Oliver

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the prototype L-15 has been modified with underling hardpoints for the carriage of TL10 air-to ground missiles and rocket pods. There is a growing awareness of the importance of tailoring a flight training system towards frontline capabilities and the options are wide open. A prime example of not getting a correct and cohesive training

The Philippines operate an armed version of the Aermacchi SF-260SP turboprop basic trainer

system in place is India which has a very high attrition rate of frontline combat aircraft, most of which are still second or third

generation fighters. When considering the relative merits of turboprop versus jet trainers, there is no suitall solution. The top of the range turboprop, the Pilatus PC-21 has the performance and handling capabilities of an advanced trainer, and the price tag to go with it, while the Grob G 120TP offers an adaptable and affordable training solution for primary and basic training to streaming level. Some, such as China, have followed the all-jet path for their basic and advanced training regimes, with the Hongdu K-8 as a clear leader in the basic jet trainer market. For other nations, the trainer/light attack aircraft may be a cost effective solution although working out the ratio of the differing roles may be a challenge. Whatever the mix, there is a large market in the Asian region for manufacturers of training aircraft to focus on over the next few years.

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THE ESSENTIAL AVIATION, AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE SHOWCASE FOR AUSTRALIA AND THE ASIA PACIFIC

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AIRBORNE COMMUNICATIONS

A key element to the Malaysian Armed Force's airborne network is the Rohde and Schwarz’s M3XR SECOS UHF waveform © R&S

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

AIRBORNE

COMMUNICATIONS

Airborne Communications: Networking the Extending the communications network on which aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) rely is not simply about increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the air through improving situational awareness and sharing targeting information. Joint operations demand that each Service work together, requiring the ground, air and naval communications networks be merged or at the very least, establish interoperability protocols and interfaces.

Skies by Adam Baddeley

A key element to the Malaysian Armed Force's airborne network is the Rohde and Schwarz’s M3XR SECOS UHF waveform. On the ground, the country's new 8x8 IFV, the AV8 uses the company's M3TR MH3000U in the ground to air role. In the air, users can opt between a number of physical housings, specifically the MR6000A in an ARINC 600 housing and the ARC-164-sized and remote controlled MR6000R and the MR6000L, which is operated via a local control panel. Physical differences between the sets however, shroud internal commonality. The radios operate over the 30-400 MHz frequency range and support HAVE QUICK I/II, SATURN and the company’s SECOS solution. The SECOS is a frequency hopping, encrypted, TDMA waveform supporting throughput of 16 Kbps and offer protection against active jamming even at high speeds with up to 128 participants able to exchange information within a network. The radio also supports the widely used Link 11 waveform.

he air environment also poses unique challenges not seen on the ground or at sea with the resulting communications systems needing to meet tough weight, space, and power limitations, operate in circumstances of electromagnetic interference as well as addressing ruggedisation issues related to high speed operation, altitude as well as dealing with extreme temperatures, often experiencing both ends of the spectrum in a single mission.

T Radios

The entry-level requirements for airborne communications will remain the provision of VHF and UHF communications covering air to ground links which if NATO interoperable will encompass HAVE QUICK I/II waveforms with a number of proprietary solutions in place for countries outside the Alliance. At DEFEXPO 2012, Bharat Electronics Ltd showed a mock up of its airborne Software Defined Radio (SDR) to meet Indian Air Force requirements and is one of 16 planned SDR variants in the family with development expected to complete in 2013.

In the Phoenix II Exercise held by France in 2011 an aerostat was used as the airborne platform to support a communications relay © AJB

JULY/AUGUST 2012

AIRBORNE COMMUNICATIONS

Elbit’s SDR-7200AR was launched in India in 2011 and is based on its ground based, vehicular SDR-7200. For airborne applications, changes to support integration with avionics have been made along with other aviation related enhancements. The radio supports VHF, UHF, L-Band, S-Band and SATCOM. The product is fully compliant with the Software Communications Architecture (SCA) version 2.2.2. Rockwell Collins’ 5th Generation ARC210 remains a dominant force in airborne communications both for NATO and nonNATO countries. Its most recent iteration is the Gen5 radio which was recently adopted by the US with key features including an increase in frequency range from 30-400Mhz to 30-941 MHz, enabling for example communications in the public safety arena and is also able to support Line Of Sight data transfer rates up to 80 kbps in a 25 kHz channel. Rafael’s Broadband Mobile Ad-hoc Network SDR or BNET was developed from its Globelink/Netcor airborne communications system is an SCA compliant system. The Globelink system includes the RTDN Global Link Voice-Data Link in V/UHF and provides and L-band datalink and the Ravnet-300 which is an adapted ARC-210. The Raytheon AN/ARC-231 Skyfire supports Airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM Communications System and is used throughout US Army segments of the Blackhawk and Apache fleets and the entire Chinook fleet US users now include MH-

60L/M and UH-60L/M Black Hawks, MH47E/G and CH-47G Chinooks as well as a number of NATO users. Outside NATO, the export version of the ARC-231 is the MX4000. In South Africa, Reutech Communications’ 10Kg ACR 500 airborne radio has been supplied to a number of countries including India and South Africa, to platforms that include the Lynx, A109E LUH, Mi-17, Mi-26 and Mi35. The company’s latest, second generation SDRs for airborne platforms are the new ACR5020-L and ACR3020-UL. For rotary wing aircraft, Thales’ Nextw@ve radio has been in service on AH-64D Apaches in service with the United Arab Emirates for the past three years and is also in service on Eurocopter Panther, Fennec and Tiger platforms in French service.

Satcom

Raytheon has recently validated the renewal the satcom capacity of its 5000 in service AN/ARC-231 airborne radio terminals wit the instantiation of the new UHF Integrated Waveform (IW)waveform after successful testing. Novelsat launched its NS3 third genera-

A key element to the Malaysian Armed Force’s airborne network is the Rohde and Schwarz’s M3XR SECOS UHF waveform l

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

tion satellite modulation technology in November which has been shown to boost satellite capacity by 28-70 percent using the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-S2) standard. The company describes the benefits of this as reducing satellite leasing costs and antenna size by a third as well as improving the aerodynamic profile of the aircraft on which it is installed. N3 technology can currently support data speeds on up to 358Mbps today on a 250MHz transponder and is scheduled to increase to 1Gbps by the end of 2012. In the same month, ViaSat demonstrated an high capacity secure throughput from its 12-inch VR-12 Ka airborne satellite antenna and ArcLight 2 modem HD video supporting backhaul, video conferencing, IP phone communications, and web browsing. A forward link with a maintained throughput of 4 Mbps with the return link performing at 6 Mbps. Hughes Network Systems has recently been contracted by the US to provide satcom for airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), using the company’s HX System, HX satellite Gateway, HX 200 satellite router and Expert Network Management System.

Comms relay

Without the availability of satcom, users must rely on traditional terrestrial communications for data rates above those offered by high frequency radios. Line of Sight communications are as its name suggests limited by physical and human geography and the cur-

AIRBORNE

COMMUNICATIONS vature of the earth. Overcoming that requires the use of relays to extend the range of communications. In distributed operations and in difficult terrain the need for multiple communications nodes dotted around the battlefield, each requiring its own force protection detail means this is almost impossible to achieve on today's battlefields. Instead, users are increasingly mounting relays on airborne platforms and particularly UAVs to gain the range extension they need as they provide a low cost, high endurance option relative to manned platforms. In addition to extending range, this is increasingly matched with an onboard server technology to allow the 'smart' distribution of information. In February, the United States Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $47m contract to provide two further Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) payloads, an internet protocol based relay, on two Block 20 Global Hawk UAVs. BACN supports Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems, UHF DAMA satcom, Enhanced Position Location Reporting System, the EPLRS Situation Awareness Data Link (SADL); Havequick' I and II, Link 16, Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT), Tactical Common DataLink (TCDL). The US has also fielded BACN on three Bombardier E-11A aircraft and participated in the US Network Integrated Evaluation 12.1 in November last year. In November, Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the US Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) undertook a major capa-

To support airmobile communications, France has integrated Link 16 in its ALAT airborne command posts ÂŠ AJB

The JTRS AMF terminal has been integrated on the AH-64D Block III as part of its development programme and has also been included in the Network Integration Evaluation exercise ÂŠ Lockheed Martin

JULY/AUGUST 2012

AIRBORNE COMMUNICATIONS

bility demonstration of pre-engineering development model AMF JTRS Small Airborne radios on board the AH-64 Block III Apache helicopter using the ITT Exelis Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), the key waveform for ensuring high capacity links at low level tactical echelons, even for dismounted soldiers. The demonstration included several scenarios including an aerial range extension for SRW over mountainous terrain, replicating circumstances in Afghanistan and did this automatically, while carrying out its core mission of close air support. In addition to dedicated airborne relays, advanced communications packages with radio and waveforms that support Mobile Ad Hoc Networking, communications systems can be used to automatically and opportunistically support range extension when they fly into range and do so without preplanning. When they move out of that area networks, rather than collapsing it, system then automatically reroute signals again to maintain connectivity. A range of UAV based relay solutions have already been adopted and assessed by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan using adapted versions of well known conventional radios. Harris AN/PRC-152 radios have been included in the tail of a Shadow 200 UAV to support SINCGARS as part of the Communication Relay Package-Light programme which deployed to Iraq in mid-2007, subsequently being deployed to Afghanistan, achieving a range extension of 170km. Dual

The Royal Thai Air Force Gripen JAS-39C/D has been acquired as part of an integrated package that comprises a Saab 340 and Command and Control system with data links © AJB

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

AIRBORNE

COMMUNICATIONS The Indian Air Force has funded the development of its Operational Data Link via partner Israel Aerospace Industries as part of its network centric strategy © AJB

Thales AN/PRC-148 JTRS Enhanced MBITR (JEM) radios have been used in a similar role in the VHF/UHF Lightweight Multi-band Airborne Radio effort which is packaged in a standard Air Transport Radio (ATR) type enclosure and has been used on a range of UAVs including the Extended Range/MultiPurpose Platform. In August last year, Boeing demonstrated a long range narrow-band relay on the Puma AE and ScanEagle platforms. Other systems include the AAI Corporation/ViaSat/Textron Systems Overwatch consortium which has developed the Forward Airborne Secure Transmission and Communication or FASTCOM pod which relays information down to a platform as small as a smartphone. Ultra Electronics' Advanced Tactical Systems have developed two relay systems; the 68 Kg Joint Aerial Layered Network Tactical Communications System which has been flown onboard AeroVironment's hydrogenpower Global Observer high-altitude long endurance UAV and the Tactical Airborne Command control and intelligence POD or TACPOD which supports Link 16, SADL, TDL and the Automatic Identification System. The US Naval Aviation Center of Rotorcraft Advancement also recently completed tests of a helicopter based 3G/4G relay comprising a Rockwell Collins QNT-200C and Harris AN/PRC -117G radios along with an OCEUS Xiphos portable 4G LTE mobile broadband capability. Communications relays are rare in the Asia Pacific although the People's Liberation Army

Navy (PLAN) was reported to have fielded a X'ian ASN-209 UAV based package in 2011.

Datalinks

Situational Awareness in the air is the domain of the data link, sharing information of the location of airborne platforms in the network in effective real time resulting in improved decision cycles and much reduced susceptibility to fratricide amongst those in the network. India has oped to advance its data link capabilities through its Operational Data Link (ODL) programme with Israel Aerospace Industries in a $4.2 million contract signed in 2009 following a three year competition with the capability originally due to be fielded on manned and unmanned platforms in 2012. Samsung Thales has developed and produced the Link–K solution for the Republic of Korea's military. The system comprises four elements; the Datalink Processor Hardware Type I and a second Type II variant, Transceiver and GPS. The system is designed to support access to multiple communications types including D-TDMA and CSMA/CA.

The spread of Link 16 has moved progressively from a NATO only solution to a global standard including in the Asia-Pacific region and to other allies l

JULY/AUGUST 2012

The spread of Link 16 has moved progressively from a NATO only solution to a global standard including in the Asia-Pacific region and to other allies. Users now include Saudi Arabia who will see it included in 84 new F15SA Eagle combat aircraft. In February, Datalink Solutions a joint venture announced contracts with Taiwan and South Korea for the Taiwan P-3 and Ground Link-16 Programmes and Republic of Korea Air Force’s KF-16 fighters using the latest Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS LVTs). Traditional UHF LOS datalinks such as Link 16 do however have disadvantages in that it requires rigid network preplanning and is stovepiped. Some changes have been made to the original link itself to provide enhancements such as the Joint Range Extension Applications Protocol allowing connection of messages to IP and to use networks outside of the closed Link 16 network. As in other domains, ad hoc networking solutions are progressively replacing them. One of the most prevalent is the Rockwell Collins' TTNT solution designed to provide high capability high-capacity links between aircraft for as well as ISR feeds and will also allow TTNT to quickly enter and move between networks on an ad hoc basis. Last year TTNT was used to control a Northrop Grumman Corporation built X-47B unmanned aircraft as part of the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration programme from a controller on board a US Navy F/A-18D aircraft.

COMBAT SUBMARINES

Combat

Subm

Several programmes are ongoing around the Asia-Pacific aimed at revitalising the submarine fleets deployed around the region. China, for example, is upgrading some of its existing submarines, while also procuring new nuclear-powered ballistic missile (SSBN) and conventional hunter-killer (SSK) boats. It is also upgrading some of its nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to deploy cruise missiles (SSGN). Likewise, India is obtaining new SSBNs along with a Russian-origin SSN, and a fleet of new conventional boats.

by Tom Withington

The Republic of Korea Navy also uses the ‘Son Won Il’ class of SSK, itself a development of the highly successful German Type-214 design. The Korean boats feature an advanced low-probability of intercept radar system © US Navy

alaysia has also taken the decision to buy new SSKs, alongside Indonesia. This investment into conventional submarines is mirrored in Japan which is purchasing a new SSK class to replace legacy vessels, while South Korea is taking important steps forward in developing an indigenous series of conventional submarines. Rather than purchase new submarines, Singapore has taken the decision to obtain second-hand boats from Sweden, although performing an exten-

M 42

sive refit of the vessels to enable them to operate in tropical waters. Last but by no means least, Australia has recently detailed plans to replace its Collins class boats.

China

In the Asia-Pacific region, China possesses one of the largest submarine fleets. Details of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) subsurface fleet are occasionally hard to come by but at present it is thought to comprise around 79 boats spread across nine different classes. At the strategic level the nuclear bal-

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

listic missile submarine fleet comprises four Type-94 ‘Jin’ class boats, with a fifth vessel reportedly under construction. These four Jin submarines are supplemented by a single Type-92 ‘Xia’ class submarine which is currently thought to be undergoing a conversion into an SSGN. The nuclear powered attack submarine fleet of the PLAN comprises around four Type-3 ‘Shang’ class SSNs, and the same number of Type-91 ‘Han’ class vessels. Despite having a sizeable nuclear submarine fleet, the PLAN continues to maintain a similarly large fleet of SSKs. To this end, five

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marines Asia Pacific in the

Three of the Royal Australian Navy’s ‘Collins’ class conventional submarines have now entered service. These boats are the largest such vessels in the world. Thoughts are now turning to the design of their successor © US Navy

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Type-39A ‘Yuan’ class boats are joined by the same number of Type-39 ‘Song’ class SSKs. The largest classes of SSKs in the PLAN includes the twelve-boat strong ‘Kilo’ class, the 14 submarines comprising the ‘Ming’ class and the 30 ‘Romeo’ class submarines kept in reserve which are used for training. The PLAN is currently performing some important changes to its subsurface fleet. The Type-91 ‘Han’ class SSNs are being withdrawn and replaced by the Type-93 ‘Shang’ submarines, with a possible two additional boats joining the four already delivered. The Shang boats are thought to be capable of achieving a top speed in the region of 30 knots, with the ability to launch cruise and Anti-Ship Missiles (AShMs), plus torpedoes. Similarly as regards the SSK fleet, two additional Type-39A ‘Yuan’ class vessels are expected to be joining the fleet. These submarines are thought to be equipped with six torpedo tubes and capable of reaching a top speed of over 20 knots.

India

China’s nearest regional rival, as far as submarines are concerned, is India. The country’s submarine fleet has a total of 14 boats. These include ten ‘Sindhughosh’ class and four ‘Shishumar’ SSKs. Nevertheless, India’s submarine fleet is currently undergoing a significant overhaul. In line with the country’s roll-out of nuclear weapons across its air, land and sea forces, the Indian Navy is testing a single ‘Arihant’ class SSBN. This eponymous vessel was launched in 2009 and is currently said to be undergoing sea trials. The Navy may yet receive a total of six boats, with the INS Arihant expected to enter service in around 2015. She will join the in service

Singapore has replaced its ‘Challenger’ class submarines with two ‘Archer’ class boats from the Royal Swedish Navy. These vessels have undergone a comprehensive upgrade to make them suitable for operations in tropical waters © Kockums

INS Chakra, formerly the Nerpa; a renamed Russian Navy Project-971 ‘Akula-II’ class SSN which will be leased to India for ten years. She commenced her service with the force on 4th April this year. India’s conventional fleet is also undergoing a major overhaul. This modernisation effort will replace the 14 conventional boats that the navy currently operates with a tranche of new SSKs in the form of the Project-75 ‘Scorpene’ class submarines which are based on a design from the French shipbuilder DCNS. These submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Docks, Mumbia. The first Scorpene boat is expected to be commissioned in June 2015, with a total of six vessels scheduled to be delivered by 2019. These boats can accommodate MBDA SM.39 Exocet AShMs, plus up to 18 heavyweight torpedoes, or 30 mines. The submarines can reach a speed of around 20 knots and have a range of up to 1,020km when submerged and travelling at five knots. The Royal Malaysian Navy is another member of the Scorpene club operating two such vessels in the ‘Tunku Abdul Rahman’ class

Pakistan

While Malaysia and India have both chosen DCNS’ Scorpene class of SSK, Pakistan operates the French ‘Agosta’ class design. Pakistan acquired two boats; PNS Hashmat and PNS Hurmat in the early 1980s. These

The Republic of Korea navy uses the ‘Chang Bogo’ class of SSKs. These boats displace around 1,285 tonnes when submerged and are equipped with eight 533mm torpedo tubes © US Navy

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were then followed by a further three vessels built as modernised Agosta-90B vessels. This improved the diving depth of the boats, lowered their acoustic signature and reduced their crew size. Pakistan operates three of the Agosta-90B class the last of which, the PNS Hamza, was commissioned in 2006. These submarines are thought to be capable of reaching 10.5 knots submerged, and are equipped with four torpedo tubes.

Indonesia

Indonesia’s submarine fleet comprises just two Type-209/1300 ‘Cakra’ class SSKs. These boats are based upon a German design and can carry up to 14 torpedoes which can be fired form any of the vessels’ eight 533-mm torpedo tubes. In terms of performance, they can achieve a range of 740km travelling at four knots, although they have a top speed of 22.5 knots when submerged. The Indonesian Navy is now receiving three Type-209/1400 submarines, which are themselves an evolution of the Type-209/1300 boats that the fleet already operates. The Type-209/1400 boats have a displacement of 1,586 tonnes, compared to the 1,390 tonnes of the Type-209/1300, and a smaller complement of 33 crew. All three of Indonesia’s Type-209/1400 boats are expected to be commissioned by 2018.

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based on the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Type-214 conventional submarines which include an air independent propulsion system. One interesting feature of these boats is the addition of a Thales Sphinx-D radar which has a low-probability of intercept, although it can also operate with an open pulse mode allowing the radar to be visible to friendly electronic support measures. Deliveries will commence this year as design work continues on the KSS-III attack submarine programme. This project may yield the construction of up to nine 1,800-ton submarines by 2018.

Singapore

Japan

Like Indonesia, Japan is enhancing its submarine fleet. The Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force currently possesses 20 SSKs of varying descriptions, including two ‘Soryu’ class, ten ‘Oyashio’ class, six ‘Harushio’ class and two ‘Asashio’ class vessels; the latter of which are used for training. Currently, two Soryu SSKs are under construction, and will be fitted with a Stirling Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system with deliveries completing by 2013. Another two vessels are also scheduled for construction. The Soryu boats are expected to replace the Oyashio class once in service.

North Korea

Much mystery surrounds the submarine fleet of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The fleet is thought to be quite antiquated, consisting of around 25 Project-633 ‘Romeo’ class SSKs, which are thought to have been built locally using Chinese-supplied components. Supplementing the four ‘Romeo’ class are four Project-613/644/665 ‘Whiskey’ class SSKs. Both of these classes are vintage to say the least. The Whiskey class design can trace its routes back to the late-1940s/early1950s, while the ‘Romeo’ class design is also around 50 years old. In addition to these circa 29 boats, the DPRK navy is thought to operate

some 25 ‘Sang-O’ class coastal boats, which have a range of up to 2,800km and a top speed of nine knots submerged, plus up to 50 ‘Yugo’ class midget submarines which can reach a four knot top speed submerged.

South Korea

The balance of sea power in terms of submarines on the Korean peninsula is more than equalled by the subsurface fleet possessed by the South Korean Navy. Currently this coun-

At the strategic level the [PLAN’s] nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet comprises four Type-94 ‘Jin’ class boats, with a fifth vessel reportedly under construction

try’s fleet includes three Type-209 ‘Son Won Il’ class SSKs, nine ‘Chang Bogo’ conventional submarines, plus three ‘Tolgorae’ and ‘Cosmo’ class midget submarines. Some important enhancements are occurring as regards the South Korean submarine fleet. Six additional ‘Son Won Il’ class submarines are expected to enter service. These vessels are

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While countries like South Korea have purchased German designs of submarines, and French designs have proved popular with India, Malaysia and Pakistan; Singapore has furnished its navy with Swedish boats. The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) currently operates four ‘Challenger’ class SSKs which were acquired from the Royal Swedish Navy in the mid-1990s. As these boats were purchased second-hand and are all said to be over 40 years old, a major programme is now ongoing to equip the RSN with new submarines. This is being facilitated by the acquisition of two ‘Archer’ class boats from the Royal Swedish Navy. Prior to their transfer to Singapore, they underwent a comprehensive overhaul to outfit them for operations in tropical waters. They also contain an air independent propulsion system. Two boats comprise the fleet; RSS Archer and RSS Swordsman; both of which have now been commissioned into the RSN.

Taiwan

Despite the sophisticated equipment used by its land, sea and air forces, the Taiwanese navy has a relatively old submarine fleet. The subsurface inventory currently includes two ‘Hai Lung’ class submarines which commissioned in the late 1980s. During their service lives, these boats have undergone a number of improvements including the addition of Boeing UGM-84 submarine-launched Harpoon AShMs and, most recently, the Block-II version these weapons. The Taiwanese navy is also reported to maintain two ‘Hai Shih’ class SSKs, themselves former US Navy ‘Guppy’ class SSNs for training.

Australia

No article on submarine developments in the Asia-Pacific region would be complete with-

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The Soviet-era ‘Kilo’ class of conventional submarine has is used by two services in the Asia-Pacific region, chiefly China’s People’s Liberation Arm Navy, and Russia’s Pacific fleet © Wikimedia Commons

out also mentioning the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) fleet. Currently, the RAN operates three ‘Collins’ class conventional boats. Said to be the largest conventional submarines in the world they replaced the RAN’s former ‘Oberon’ class SSKs. Eventually, the RAN plans to have six Collins boats in service. In terms of performance, the boats can achieve 21 knots submerged, and have a range of 900km submerged travelling at four

knots. The weapons payload of these vessels includes 22 torpedoes which can be fired from standard 530mm torpedo tubes, or UGM-84C anti-ship missiles. Plans are already afoot for the eventual replacement of these boats. The RAN expects to obtain new submarines in circa 2025, with twelve boats to be delivered to this end. The new submarines are expected to be outfitted with an air-independent propulsion system, plus the wherewithal to carry cruise missiles and possibly to deploy midget submarines. The design and construction work will also take place in Australia. The final approval for the submarines’ construction is expected to be given by Canberra in circa 2015.

On paper, Russia has possibly the largest submarine fleet in the Asia-Pacific region, although how many of these boats are operational remains unknown. Included in the fleet are ‘Delta’ class ballistic nuclear missile submarines © US Navy

Russia

One must also not forget Russia. The country has one of the largest submarine fleet in the Asia-Pacific region. This currently comprises five Project-667BDR ‘Delta-III’ class SSBNs. These are reinforced by three Project-949A ‘Oscar-II’ SSGNs, the same number of Project-971 ‘Akula’ SSNs and around nine Project-636 ‘Kilo’ class conventional boats. How many of these boats are active is difficult to ascertain. Many of the Delta-III boats are now over thirty years old,

The Indonesian Navy is now receiving three Type-209/ 1400 submarines, which are themselves an evolution of the Type-209/1300 boats that the fleet already operates

and several have been removed from service, although both the Podolsk and Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets are still thought to be active with the fleet. The stealth that the submarine offers continues to make it a highly desirable vessel for navies around the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Submarines, be they conventional or nuclear-powered, offer an unseen method by which targets on land can be struck, other submarines countered and special forces commandoes infiltrated and exfiltrated quietly, not to mention their striking power against surface shipping. As one quotation from one US Navy submariner states; “some ships are designed to sink, others require our assistance.”

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Air Defence oving East into the Indian Ocean there has been much said and written about the expansion of the Indian Armed Forces and their future Air Defence Systems. Indeed even from within the Ministry of Defence there have been indications that all is not well and that up to ninety per cent of the Indian Air Defence capability may be obsolete. Then again, the wording of obsolescence should be better defined than just thrown around as if all of the Indian defence was non-operational. Some of their equipment is of an age that has long passed into the history books such as the very old ex-Soviet S-75 (NATO SA-2 Guideline) systems, along with its counterpart the S-125 (NATO SA-3 Goa). The S-75 is now believed to be held in reserve whereas the S-125 can still be found in some form of operational capability but is expected to be superseded by more modern systems within the next two to five years. Both of these systems were originally designed way back in the 1950s and 60s in what was then the Soviet Union. Remembering that memories of the Second World War were still extremely fresh in the designers minds, these systems were expected at that time to deal with a threat that had barely changed from the 1940s when massed air-raids from low-to-medium altitude bombers were used extensively by both sides during the war. Immediately following the cessation of hostilities, and before the start of what was described as the Cold War, this type of air raid was expected to continue at least into the 1950s and most likely beyond into the 1960s. A consequence of the German scientists being captured at Peenemunde and distributed to the four major allied powers, France, UK, US and Russia, those that went to Russia were used to develop what is now known as the Soviet missile industry. The first of the Air-Defence missiles was the S-25 that then leads on to the development and export of the S-75 and S-125 to many countries in the world and in particular to those Asian countries that now found themselves choosing sides either with Communism or

Asia

The new and improved land-based variant Barak-8 is coming to the end of its development and should be with the Indian forces very soon © Rafael

the West. Many Asian countries such as Vietnam, China, India, Burma, Myanmar and Cambodia were recipients of these systems in one form or another. To be fair, there have been many upgrades and modernisation programmes applied to both these systems since then, but what still remains is the basics, and that is showing its age. India has in the more recent past set contracts with Israel for the modernisation of some of its Air Defence and should before very long see many improvements to come soon. The Indian Navy for instance is now

India has now joined a very exclusive club by developing (and proving) its very own PAD/AAD Ballistic Missile Defence System l

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operating with the Barak system, a much improved defence capability over the older Osa (NATO SA-N-4 Gecko) that was previously mounted on their ships. The new and improved land-based variant Barak-8 is coming to the end of its development and should be with the Indian forces very soon. At the other end of the scale, India has now joined a very exclusive club by developing (and proving) its very own PAD/AAD Ballistic Missile Defence System (ABM/ATBM). Flight trials with missiles fired from Wheelers Island at targets launched from the Orissa Test Range at Chandipur-on-Sea (70 km away from Wheelers Island) have proved the system is capable of tracking and engaging such targets both endo- and exo-atmospheric. By making use of the Israeli “Green Pine” early warning and tracking system, the PAD/AAD missile tests have been very successful and placed India into a club of only a handful of countries that can honestly boast an ABM defence capability. The “Green Pine” radar is being replaced in India by an indigenous produced variant known as the “Sword Fish”. Moving further east and into Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, their armies have kept some sort of pace with technology mainly with man-portable SAMs such as the Russian Igla and Chinese copy known as the QW family of systems. Strategic Air Defence however is not up to much, and could do with being upgraded in the future should a threat deem this to be necessary. For instance, Myanmar took delivery many years ago of the ex-British Bloodhound Mk2 system which was left in Singapore when the British pulled out of the Island and was subsequently sold by Singapore. It is very dubious if this system is capable of being operationally deployed today and even if it is the system should

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There is no doubt that the subject of Air Defence in Asia is a continual expansion and modernisation programme way beyond that of those countries in the West and North of the equator. Furthermore, as we see the shrinking of the US Empire and the vacuum left behind in certain areas from South East Asia through the Pacific Rim, there is hard evidence that those countries that can afford to upgrade and modernise their Air Defence are doing so and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

by James C Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Halloran

Singapore is one of a number of Mistral operators in the Asia-Pacific region ÂŠ Commonwealth of Australia

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This Chinese TD-2000B air-defence system had Indonesia as its first export customer, equipped with QW-4 missiles ÂŠ Gordon Arthur

have been retired a long time ago. The other strategic systems in country include the S125, S-200 and even some ex-Chinese HQ-2 systems. The HQ-2 is a direct copy of the old Soviet S-75. The medium-to-short-range systems in country include the Russian Buk-M1-2 and the Tor-M1 and the very short-range Igla. Vietnam on the other hand has ordered and is receiving the Russian S-300P family of systems that will replace the S-75 and S125 that have been in country since the war

with the US in the 1960s and 70s. The operational deployment of the S-300P is a major step forward in the order of modern technology. But even the S-300P with all its bells and whistles is not in the same class as that of the US THAAD, or the European Aster family of missile systems. Within Russia, the S-300PS and PT variants that originally

Vietnam on the other hand has ordered and is receiving the Russian S-300P family of systems that will replace the S-75 and S-125 l

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used the 5V55R and 5V55K missiles are now considered obsolete and are being replaced as quickly as production of more modern systems will allow. Taking a look at Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, these countries like those others in the area, appear to be much more concerned about upgrades and modifications with their medium-to-short-range SAM systems. Although in the case of Singapore, the Aster missiles that are now deployed with the Navy will provide a very valuable means of Air Defence should they consider this to be necessary. Malaysia does not really possess any strategic long-range SAM systems but relies

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Rafael's Spyder systems is designed to allow multiple missile types to be fired, the Python originally a IR Air-to-Air Missile ÂŠ Rafael

primarily on short-range systems such as the MBDA Rapier. Although a purchase made from China of the KS-1A system has raised several eyebrows. Meanwhile, for at least the last ten years Malaysia has been looking at and listening to the Russian offer of the Buk (NATO SA-11 Gadfly) and this year at DSA 2012 had a briefing on the Buk-M2E variant. Should this Buk purchase ever go ahead, it would replace the Chinese KS-1A that is considered by most western analysts as very old and tired technology. Indonesia like many other Asian countries does not possess a dedicated long-range strategic SAM system. It has however started to replace its ageing Rapier systems with more modern weapons such as the Polish (Bumar) system Poprad that uses the Grom

missile. It has also purchased from China some new and modern QW man-portable SAMs that were initially purchased for use with its UN peacekeeping forces. It is very unlikely therefore that at any time in the near future Indonesia will have any desire to purchase and deploy those medium-to-longrange missiles for its Air-Defence. Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands like most others have updated recently there primary Air-Defence which are based on either man-portable systems or short-range missiles. In particular Australia and New Zealand have purchased systems for use with their army assets that are for the defence of the front line troops when deployed on either peacekeeping roles or in conflicts such as Afghanistan.

The Rapier family have served with both Malaysia and Indonesia ÂŠ MBDA

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This now leaves that part of Asia where if trouble is to be found it will be here; North Korea, South Korea and Japan. Both South Korea and Japan continue to update and improve their Air-Defence capabilities with the threat of North Korea in mind. Japan whilst developing its own indigenous systems such as the Type 81 Tan-SAM, Chu-SAM and Kin-SAM does rely heavily on US strategic systems for its long-range defence. The MIM-23A and MIM-23B HAWK and I-HAWK are gradually being replaced by the Patriot systems, both PAC-2 and PAC3. These SAMs are being deployed not only in defence of high value military and political assets but also in and around cities for the defence of civilian populations, something most other countries not do. It would therefore be logical that as and when new and improved US defence systems become available, that Japan would be looked upon as a favourable country and potential customer for such weapons. South Korea has recently (late 2011)

released information on a new mediumrange SAM system, the Cheongung (sometime translated as Cheong Ung) or Iron Hawk II, that has been developed in country with the help of the Almaz/Antei Concern of Air Defence in Moscow. It is understood that the system is based on the Russian S-400 subsystem missile 9M96. It is also understood that the Iron Hawk II will replace the US HAWK system in country as and when production allows. For its long-range strategic defence South Korea has the US Patriot PAC2 GEM/T variant. North Korea continues to display during its many parades some of the older SAM systems that have either been supplied or copied from China or Russia. These include the ex-Soviet S-200, the ex-Chinese HQ series of missiles. There is no doubt that these systems are in country and deployed, and that they are getting to a point where without proper servicing and maintenance their effectiveness could be called into question. Even so, replacement of these older systems

Indonesia has the Polish Poprad system mounting six Grom missiles in service ÂŠ Gordon Arthur

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The AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, a HMWWV based air defence platform is in service with Taiwan with 70 systems acquired ÂŠ Raytheon

must be on the minds of the Generals for the future or the Air-Defence of the North could be called into question. Since the early 1990s many countries particularly in Asia have studied those wars and local conflicts that have occurred throughout the world involving the NATO allies and Coalition Forces. One of the major influences directly leading to the outcome of these wars has been the initial phase where the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defence) tactics have been employed allowing the NATO/Coalition forces dominance of the air. It is absolutely essential that before boots can be employed on the ground enemy air defence sites including airfields must be neutralised in order to reduce the

Japan whilst developing its own indigenous systems such as the Type 81 Tan-SAM, Chu-SAM and Kin-SAM does rely heavily on US strategic systems

loss of troops and equipment on the battlefield. Even so, with the best Air-Defence equipment in the world, sporting the most forward technology, those Air-Defence troops must show willing to stand and fight with their equipment. There is no question that should this have happened during any of those conflicts that have taken place over the last decade NATO and Coalition forces would or could

The Mistral missile is offered by MBDA with a range of launcher options for land sea and air platforms ÂŠ MBDA

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have taken more casualties both in the air and on the ground. This may not have changed the outcome of those wars but would most certainly have swayed the civilian population in the west who now see such conflicts beamed direct into their homes via the world TV or computer internet. Civilians particularly in the west do not like to see their own forces taking casualties, especially when shown live on the TV in their living rooms. A link could thus be found directly between modern or upgraded Air-Defence systems and the demoralisation of the civilian population both of which could possibly effect the fighting efficiency of the ground forces. Most countries in Asia will continue to improve Air-Defences as long as it can be seen or proved that with good, effective and well trained Air-Defence troops freedom of the skies can be contained and thus denying a potential adversary the advantages that would almost certainly give the ground troops a massive advantage.

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Asia Pacific Procurement Update SOUTH ASIA

Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, head of the Indian Air Force has visited France where he met with senior French officers, the DGA and an Armee de l’Air squadron equipped with the Rafale. The US has asked India to contribute defence equipment, financial and training personnel in support of Afghan National Security Forces. Lt Gen Kuldip Singh, Director General of Army Air Defence has said that India is making changes to address the use of air platforms by non-state actors. Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering has been formally selected by Mazagon Dock as its partner in a new joint venture in the construction of warships and submarines for the Indian Navy. Plans to begin Phase IIA of the upgrade of the Indian Navy’s new West Coast strategic port of Karwar have been passed to the Cabinet Committee on Security for review. If successful, the programme will see the number of major warships and submarines accommodated at the base rise from 11 to 32 by completion in 2018/19. The first fifteen MiG-29K aircraft that will operate from INS Vikramaditya when it arrives in December have been declared operational by the Indian Navy. A further 29 of the aircraft are on order under a $1.5 billion award announced in

2010. The future INS Tarkash has begun sea trials in the Baltic. The Improved Talwar class frigate will join the INS Teg which entered the fleet in April, in October. The Indian Navy’s new base in the Lakshadweep Islands was commissioned in May. The INS Viraat completed 25 years of service with the Indian Navy in May, travelling some 500,000 nautical miles in the process. It completed it last refit in 2009. The Indian Coast Guard has commissioned the ICGS Rajtarang, the second of eight, 50m Inshore Patrol Vessels. The long awaited contract for 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk II basic training aircraft has been signed by the Indian Ministry of Defence with delivery beginning in late 2012. The contract, worth $640 million includes options for additional aircraft by 2015. The Indian Air Force had its request to participate in Exercise Malabar, the fifteenth bilateral IndoUS event which was held off the coast of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. The IAF had planned to send its Jaguar maritime attack squadron but this was declined. The Indian Navy’s assets included INS Satpura, destroyers INS Ranvir and INS Ranvijay, and the corvette INS Kulish along with the replenishment oiler INS Shakti. India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Ru ssia’s United Aircraft Corporation have signed a contract to jointly develop and produce 205 Multirole ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Transport Aircraft with 100 for Russia, 45 for the Indian Air Force and with a planned 60 for export, all built by the Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd joint venture. The Indian Air Force has successfully tested its 25km range Akash surface to air missile, test firing two missiles at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha. The procurement of 145 M-777A1 155mm Ultra Light Howitzer has been endorsed by the Defence Acquisition Council. The $560 million Foreign Military Sale deal is with BAE Systems through the United States. An Indian Army Cheetah helicopter has crashed on Siachen Glacier. Pakistan has released details of a test launch of its new Hatf-9 Nasr surface-to-surface missile. The nuclear capable missile has a range of 60km. Two Pakistan Air Force Super Mushshak MFI-17 basic trainer aircraft collided in mid-air during a training flight killing four. Bangladesh has request four Lockheed Martin C-130E Hercules transport from the US. The deal, valued at $180 billion will cover the refurbishment of surplus US aircraft. Bangladesh currently operates four C-130B aircraft. Pakistan is reported to be seeking to sign a deal to double its four F-22P/Jiangwei II (Type 053H3) class Frigates. The original order for the frigates was signed in 2005.

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SOUTH EAST ASIA

Indonesia and Australia have completed Exercise Cassowary off the coast of Darwin in which patrol boats from the two countries practiced coordinated patrols, boarding party procedures, maritime safety and search-and-rescue operations. Australia sent the Armidale-class patrol boats Ararat and Larrakia while Indonesian sent the Kakap-class boats Kakap and Tongkol. Indonesia has inked a deal to buy 37 amphibious BMP-3F through Russia's JSC Rosoboronexport in a $114 million deal. The Indonesian marines will begin receiving their new IFVs in July next year. Pakistan has renewed its offer of licensed protection of the JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft to the Indonesian Air Force. The Philippine Navy has issued what its goals for its fleet in 2017 are under its new “Philippine Fleet Desired Force Mix" strategy. The list includes six frigates and 12 corvettes with helicopters, 18 offshore

patrol vessels, three submarines and three mine mine hunters. This would be complemented by four strategic transport ships, landing craft and support ships as well as a large number of fast patrol boast and RIBs. In the air, the Navy also want eight maritime patrol aircraft as well as 18 ASW helicopters and eight support helicopters. The former USCGS Dallas has reached the Philippines and will be renamed the BRP Ramon Alcaraz where it will join its sister ship the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar which underwent minor maintenance in May. The Philippines is reported top be consider non-US aircraft to meet its fighter requirements. The concerns are begin driven by the long term support costs associated with the F-16 which the Philippines had previously been seeking in similar deal to that of Indonesia. Instead President Benigno Aquino has floated the idea of buying new aircraft from and undisclosed country for the same price as second hand US aircraft. Who that might be has con-

centrated on Taiwan’s AIDC F-CK-1A Ching-Kuo and South Korea’s F/A-50 Golden Eagle. The C hines e training vessel the Zhenghe visited Port Klang in Malaysia as its second stop on its round the world tour began in April, setting off from Dalian. All six of Singapore’s Sikorsky S-70B Seahawks were declared operational in May. They recently participated with the Republic of Singapore Navy operating from Formidable class frigates. Thailand's defence budget has risen to THB180.8 billion for 2013, an increase of seven percent. The Royal Thai Army is allocated roughly roughly half of the total. With the Navy and Air Force taking roughly a quarter each. In a visit to China in late April, Thai Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat inked a deal for the joint development development of a new guided multiple launch rocket system building on earlier work between the two countries which resulted in the Dti-1, a version of china's WS-1 302 mm. The former USCGC Dallas before it become the BRP Ramon Alcaraz in May © DoD

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Boeing delivered the third Peace Eye 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force on May 16th © Boeing

EAST ASIA

As the cost of Taiwan's planned new and upgraded F-16s, the latter with the first ever active electronically scanned array on board has risen from $8 to $10 billion with a further $3.7 billion for the upgrade, Taiwan is reported to be now actively discussing a request for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter if the US stalls further on the F-16C/D. Taiwan is scheduled to take delivery of two ex-US Navy minehunters in July. The Osprey class vessels, the former USS Oriole and Falcon were decommissioned in 2006 and will be renamed Yung Jin and Yung An. The roll out of Taiwan's new Hsiung Ffeng (Brave Wind) III anti-ship missiles, characterised as a carrier-killer has been extended to the first five of eight Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates with work on installation on fast patrol boats beginning recently. Taiwan plans to acquire 120 of the missiles in a $400 million programme. Chung Mong-joon, a hardline-conservative presidential hopeful in South Korea has called for the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapon to the country.The HMAS Ballarat has joint the Sejong Daewan and nine other ROKN vessels and submarines for Exercise HaedoriWallaby near South Korea's Jeju Island. The Anti-Submarine exercise is the first such event

held by the two countries. The HMAS Ballarat had previously joined the PLA(N) for drills near Shanghai. South Korea and the US have undertaken their Max Thunder joint air defence exercise in May in the south west of the country. South Korean Forces will take on the role of the aggressor while a combined blue team made up of aircraft from the two countries will fly against them. The aircraft involved include the F-15K and KF-16 as well as US F-16, A-10 and KC-135. South Korea's third E-737 Peace Eye aircraft has been delivered to the Republic of Korea Air Force by Boeing. A total of four aircraft are begin delivered under a contract warded in 2006 with the first two aircraft arriving in 2011. Following the disclosure by Seoul of the new 1500 Km Hyunmu-3C longrange cruise missile in April, South Korea has outlined a five year plan to fund new missile acquisition worth $2.1 billion which includes long range cruise missiles. Thales Australia has signed a contract with ITT Exelis to provide acoustic generators for the Repub lic of Korea Navy's new class of minesweeper hunters being delivered by GMB USA. The Republic of Korea Navy has selected Rheinmetall’s MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) naval countermeasures system for its new Landing

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Ship, Tank vessels class ships. The Navy has also requested 18 UGM-84L HARPOON Block II All-Up-Round Missiles worth $18 million. Japan and Australia have signed a national security agreement committing the two to information sharing, considered the first step to wider co-operation in the areas of military technology and intelligence. China is completing the final phase of a new base near Shuimen on the cost of the east China Sea allowing aircraft there to reach both Taiwan as well as Japan's Senkaku islands. The US DoD's annual report to Congress on China’s military strength stated in May that China may already have begun work on a new carrier to an indigenous design and could be ready for delivery in 2015. China's Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier, the Varyag completed two sea trials in May. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has released pictures of what appear to be four examples of the Scheibel S-100 UAV flying from a Chinese Type 054A missile frigate. Two PLA(N) frigates, the Type 054A missile frigates Zhoushan and Xuzhou and the Beijixing intelligence-gathering ship, operating in international waters, sailed through Japan’s Osumi Strait, the first time China has done this in nearly a decade.

REGIONAL NEWS A N D

D E V E L O P M E N T S

Australian and Indonesian naval vessels participating in Exercise Cassowary in May ÂŠ Commonwealth of Australia

AUSTRALASIA

Australia and China have completed their first joint maritime exercise with HMAS Ballarat travelling to Shanghai to conduct a Passage Exercise with the Chinese frigate Anqing in the mouth of the Yangtze River. The Australian government has cancelled the Land 17 self propelled artillery programme and postponed the purchase of the Joint Strike Fighter resulting in savings of A$3.1billion. The Royal Australian Navy has advertised for the recruitment of former US sailors and officers with expertise in amphibious warfare, air warfare and also helicopter systems.

The Australian Defence Force have begun using the newly acquired SHADOW 200 UAVS replacing the Boeing ScanEagle which has been deployed there since 2007. Australia's Department of Defence has opted to acquire ten C-27J Spartan aircraft to meet its requirement for tactical transport to replace the DHC-4 Caribou for a cost of $1.4 billion with delivery taking place from 2015-16. Australia temporarily grounded its training programme for its 19 of 22 new Tiger attack helicopters that are currently operational after fumes entered a cockpit of one of the aircraft. The Aegis design for Australia forthcoming Hobart Class of air warfare destroy-

ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

ers has successfully completed a key test undertaken by Lockheed Martin at a US Navy test site. New Zealand has increased its defence budget by nine percent for the next financial year with a budget of NZ$3.07 billion. New Zealand has released a new Defence White Paper which calls for savings of $302 million annually in operating costs with roughly a third of that retained for modernisation. New Zealand's Ministry of Defence is to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 2013 rather than the previous planned 2014. the troops are currently deployed in a Provincial Reconstruction in Bamyan province.

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HELICOPTERS DIVISION

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