VOLUME 20/ISSUE 5
SEPTEMBER 2012 US$15
ASIA PACIFIC’S LARGEST CIRCULATED DEFENCE MAGAZINE
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Contents
SEPTEMBER 2012 VOLUME 20 / ISSUE 5
Manportable to Vehicle Mounted Tank Killers
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Front Cover Photo:
Protection of military convoys have becoming a critical issue for military planners. Securing those logistic lines has required a many layered approach but based largely around well protected, new and upgraded vehicles equipped with the right route clearance package to reduce their vulnerability to attack while providing sufficient speed and mobility so as not to increase their susceptibility to enemy action (c) DoD
Doug Richardson World events have done little to reduce the importance of weapons of this type. India, Pakistan and South Korea face the threat of large-scale attack by enemy armoured forces today while a number of regional players upgrading their forces with new main battle tanks creating concerns for the future
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Asian Naval helicopters
David Oliver Navies throughout the region are procuring new naval helicopters and upgrading existing assets to improve their Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities in the air as the underwater threat becomes both more widespread and increasingly acute
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Tactical Vehicles Adam Baddeley Ensuring that troops and their materiel needs are able to reach their destination has always been a challenge to commanders. Today those challenges have become more acute as both the sophistication of the enemy, the complexity of the threat and difficultly of terrain have increased
Maritime and Land Border Security
Adam Baddeley A high fence, taller towers and powerful searchlights are no longer an option for governments seeking to secure their borders and monitor activity in territorial waters. New technology is allowing smart solutions to replace the physical overlays that were once the only option with considerable success
Asia-Pacific Airborne Early Warning
Martin Streetly Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan all possess Airborne Early Warning assets, with countries such as Malaysia aspiring to acquire such capabilities in the near future
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Surface Ship Radar and Sonar Trends
Ted Hooton Sensors are as much a feature of naval and even law enforcement vessels as their hulls and engines with even the smallest patrol vessel equipped with radars although sonars are usually restricted to vessels of 500 ton displacement or more
MBT Weapons Systems
Adam Baddeley The popularity of the Main Battle Tank (MBT) continues to ebb and flow. For some, the MBT remains the king of the battlefield while for others is has become of limited utility compared to lighterweight platforms
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Index of Advertisers AGUSTAWESTLAND AIRSHOW CHINA AM GENERAL AMR & DSI AMR SUBSCRIPTION AUSTRALIAN AIRSHOW DEFENCE AND SECURITY THAILAND EUROCOPTER GLOCOM GLOBAL COMMUNICATION GSA IDEAS IDEX IMDEX ASIA ITT EXELIS KAMAN LIMA MSPO RAFAEL ROSOBORONEXPORT SINGAPORE AIRSHOW TELEPHONICS TRIJICON
7 3rd COVER 3 33 23 43 49 2nd COVER 17 59 45 57 53 4th COVER 11 55 35 15 29,37 41 21 27
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Editorial hough some two years off, the end of combat operations in Afghanistan will mark the end of a revolution in unmanned systems that began with initial operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, accelerated by the demands of Iraq since and arguably culminating in their ubiquitous operation in Afghanistan today. Years of operating in uncontested airspace has led users to become accustomed to the availability of overhead unmanned assets providing advance warning of enemy activity 24/7. Yet, designs today have had few if any requirements for self protection both from air-to air and ground to air threats. Neither have the insurgents, particularly in Afghanistan posed more than a passing electronic threat to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). They have largely been able to fly where they like and do what they like with the only barrier to this being Air Traffic Control and the weather. There is however, no reasonable expectation that such a benign environment will ever be replicated in future operations, let alone a conventional conflict between states. Users and developers recognise this and high-end military operators are taking measures to secure their UAVs from a growing spectrum of threats with hackers quickly becoming a key security fear. Tests in the US, undertaken by a university department have successfully spoofed a UAV, feeding in an erroneous GPS signal that would have ensured that the platform crashed had the experiment been allowed to continue. Knowledge of how this could be done has become increasingly widespread. Achieved in an experiment, the same conditions could easily have been replicated by a terrorist cell, not to mention a military adversary. Pirates could seek to crash maritime surveillance UAVs, a civilian UAV that was out of control near a busy airport would at the very least cause mass disruption if not a significant tragedy while military UAVs conveying erroneous targeting information could cause collateral or fratricidal damage while leaving the enemy untouched. But what does it mean for the Asia-Pacific region? Whereas few countries would embark upon the indigenous development of a new manned military aircraft the relative simplicity of UAV designs and the ready availability of payloads have enabled a plethora of national designs to appear both for civil and military applications and reliance upon them is growing. Development has occurred in a benign environment and potential security weaknesses now need to be addressed. For many in the region however, export controls mean that many of the hardening measures from overseas that could be used to protect their unmanned assets are denied to them. UAV progress in the region may be in for a rough ride as adaptation to this new environment takes place.
USA (West/South West)/Brazil Diane Obright, Blackrock Media Inc. Tel: +1 (858) 759 3557 Email: blackrockmedia@cox.net
Adam Baddeley, Editor
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NAVAL AVIATION
ASIAN NAVAL HELICOPTERS
It may be a coincidence that two of Asia’s high flyers are both conducting sea trials of former Soviet aircraft carriers, India’s INS Vikramaditya, the 45,400-ton former Admiral Gorshkov, and China’s Shi Lang, the 65,000ton former Varyag. by David Oliver
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t the same time, China has expressed concern at the United States’ pledge to reassert its role as a Pacific power by planning to deploy up 60 percent of its naval power in the region and the possibility of reestablishing a permanent presence at in the Philippines. A capable aircraft carrier task force would enhance China’s ability to exert pressure in the region and would force the US to reassess its strategy in a conflict or high tension scenario. This would be another area where the projection effect of the carrier would matter more than its actual capability. China also has a strong navy imperative to protect the vital sea-lanes of communication so critical for energy and trade transit through the South China Sea to the Malacca Straits, and
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around disputed islands on its doorstep such as the Spratlys, the Paracels and Scarborough Shoal. However, before its carrier force can become a viable operational tool, in addition to fighter aircraft, the PLA Naval Air Force (PLANAF) has an urgent requirement to acquire a mix of modern helicopters for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), search and rescue (SAR), airborne early warning (AEW) and general utility duties. Currently, the PLANAF operates about 35 frigates and destroyers, and several LPDs and replenishment ships equipped with helicopter landing pads and hangars. With an inventory of less than 70 helicopters, of which only about 30, including the domestically produced Hafei Z-9, a licence-built Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin, and the Russian Ka-28 ‘Helix-A’, which serve as ASW, and SAR
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helicopters, are capable of operating from PLAN warships. Additionally, there are approximately 15 medium-sized Change Z-8 helicopters, based on the Aerospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon, capable of operating off of larger ships such as the Type-071 LPD and the Type-920 hospital ship. Apart from an aircraft carrier, China also has plans to develop the Type-081 LHD helicopter assault ship, similar in size and capability to the French Mistralclass LHD. With the lack of sufficient number of helicopters for its current force structure, the PLANAF needs to add a significant number of rotary-wing aircraft in order to support its future fleet of destroyers and frigates and amphibious assault ships. This will likely be accomplished in the near term it will increase its inventory of existing types, but the Z-9 is limited
NAVAL AVIATION
Korea Aerospace Industries Surion KNH is being offered to the ROK Navy and Marine Corps for ship borne operations © KAI
in capability due to its small size, and production of the Z-8 has been curtailed due to unreliability of its Chinese turboshaft engines. A potential future solution is a militarized variant of the Z-15, China’s co-produced variant of the Eurocopter EC-175. However, production of the commercial variant of the helicopter will not begin before the end of 2012 with the first Z-15 following in 2014 and any specialized military variants will not see production for at least several years. Additionally, beyond the acquisition of new platforms, organizing, training and equipping an expanded rotary-wing force will take a significant amount of time and effort. For its AEW requirement, the PLANAF is taking delivery of up to nine Ka-31 ‘Helix-B’ helicopters equipped
with a large NIIR rotating radar antenna. China has fielded a prototype of an AEW-variant of the AC313, a further development of the Z-8 medium-lift helicopter, powered by three Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B turboshafts. The Indian Navy also relies on the Russian “Helix-B’ as its primary shipborne AEW platform role but this is only one type that it is committed to replacing with long term solutions. The Indian Navy is expected to announce a new tender worth a potential $2 billion to purchase 75 helicopters with an ASW/ASuW capability to replace the unsuccessful naval variant of the indigenous multirole HAL Dhruv helicopter, 120 of which were originally ordered in 2001. This contract is in addition to a current competition for the procurement of 16 multi-role helicopters to replace the
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ageing fleet of Westland Sea King Mk 42 aircraft. Among several helicopters being considered for both roles are the AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat, the NH90 NFH, the Sikorsky S-92 Cyclone and MH-60R Seahawk. The latest versions of the Seahawk is building on its recent sales to the Australian and Thai navies with the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notifying the Congress in May this year of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Government of the Republic of Korea for eight Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk MultiMission helicopters, with associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.0 billion. The ROK Navy already has a fleet of 19 UH-60P Black Hawk helicopters used for utility duties and naval special forces support by 62 Air Group.
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NAVAL AVIATION
The Chinese Navy’s “new” aircraft carrier, the former Soviet Varyag, is undergoing sea trials
South Korea is also looking for a replacement of its fleet of Lynx Mk 99 shipborne ASW helicopters for which the AW159 Wildcat is a leading contender. However it is facing potential competition from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Eurocopter and Israel’s Elbit Systems which have proposed the Korea Naval Helicopter (KNH) based on the co-developed Surion, a twin-turbine utility helicopter being developed for the Republic of Korea Army and Air Force. The proposed naval variant would be equipped to serve aboard warships with a displacement of 2,500 tonnes or more. It would perform roles such as anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and maritime surveillance. The ROKN has a requirement for up to 40 Surion amphibious assault helicopters to be deployed aboard it new Dokdoclass Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) ships by 2016. The ROK Marine Corps, which as yet has no helicopters in its arsenal, is campaigning for ownership of any amphibious assault helicopters, and
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future attack helicopter acquisitions which it maintains are considered crucial to the operations of the Marine Corps, while the Navy has been arguing that it
For its AEW requirement, the PLANAF is taking delivery of up to nine Ka-31 ‘Helix-B’ helicopters should be in charge of such equipment as it already has an aviation component. Adding to the argument a reported offer from the US Third Marine Amphibious Corps to provide the ROK Marine Corps with some 20 surplus CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters, soon to be decommissioned when the unit withdraws from Okinawa in Japan. This is seen by the ROK Marine Corps as a useful interim solution to work up its amphibious assault helicopter capability prior to the introduction into service of the Surion, However, the bottom line
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may be the cost of establishing a new air arm and maintaining the ageing fleet of CH-46 helicopters which the US Marine Corps is replacing with the MV-22B Osprey tilt rotor. Anti-piracy operations are in the ascendance for Asian navies although apart from the direct threat of piracy to shipping, there is also a wider strategic context. Piracy has served the broader strategic interests of the rising powers of Asia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. All these countries have sought to play a role in anti-piracy operations both off Somalia and in Southeast Asia, but so far an element of strategic competition has been evident in their initiatives. They have all deployed warships to seas off Somalia and have provided capacity building assistance to local security forces both in the Indian Ocean as well as the water around Southeast Asia. In June of this year, Rear Admiral Chung of the Republic of Korea Navy took over command of the UN’s counterpiracy operation, Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 based in Bahrain, from Rear Admiral Likitawong of the Royal Thai
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NAVAL AVIATION
PLANAF Hafei Z-9C Haitun helicopters are used for anti-piracy operations aboard Chinese warships in Somali waters Š UK MoD
Navy which has had considerable counter-piracy experience in the region over the last two years having previously deployed ships to the US-managed Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) counter-piracy mission with a further deployment scheduled for later in 2012. The international anti-piracy operations have encouraged Japan take part in several bilateral naval exercises during 2012. For the first time, Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) warships and helicopters have conducted exercises with the Indian and ROK Navies focusing on improving interoperability and communications. However, with reduced military budgets and its long-standing ban arms exports, several Japanese military programmes are facing cutbacks
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An AEW-variant of the Chinese-built Chenge Z-8 PLANAF SAR helicopter is being developed for future aircraft carrier operations
or cancellation. These may include additional Kawasaki-built MCH-101 mine countermeasures helicopters and Mitsubishi-built SH-60K ASW
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helicopters ordered for the (JMSDF). Another poor relation in the region is New Zealand that is hoping to benefit from the US focus on strengthening defence
NAVAL AVIATION
A maritime variant of the Eurocopter/Hafei Z-15 may be adopted by the PLANAF in the next decade © Eurocopter
relationships with the Asia-Pacific region. The Royal New Zealand Navy is pushing to increase its capability and would like to have naval helicopters deployed to
The Indian Navy is expected to announce a new tender worth a potential $2 billion to purchase 75 helicopters with an ASW/ASuW capability Russian Ka-28 ‘Helix-A’ multi-role helicopters are operated by the Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese navies © US Navy
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most of its offshore patrol ships. In June of this year the Kaman Corporation confirmed today that The US Department of State has granted authorization that
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NAVAL AVIATION
would permit the Company to negotiate a possible sale of upgraded SH-2G(I) Super Seasprite helicopters to the Government of New Zealand. The potential sale would include the eleven SH-2G(A) helicopters that were rejected by Australian in 2008, a full motion flight simulator, training aids, spares inventory, publications and the introduction into service and through life support of the aircraft. This potential deal would enable the RNZN to replace its ageing fleet of five SH-2G Seasprites which would be used as part payment for the newer aircraft. Following the recent spat with China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal island in the South China Sea, the Philippines is also hoping to boost its severely underfunded armed forces. The only maritime helicopters operated by its Navy are a handful of BO 105Cs, one of which was lost in 2010. That same year the Navy issued an urgent requirement for two multirole helicopters for search and rescue, resupply, and the deployment of personnel during combat and counterterrorism operations. The request for bids was then deferred and has not yet been reinstated. However, commercial US companies are being encouraged to establish repair, maintenance and logistic support facilities for the US Navy at Subic Bay which was one of the largest US overseas
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bases until the 1990s and this may act a spur to re-equipping the Philippine Navy’s aviation arm. The United States has also declared its interest in another Southeast Asian port and airfield facility that it retreated from in 1975, Cam Ranh Bay in southern Vietnam. Vietnam is also another country that has clashed with China over which country has rights to territories in the South China Sea, this time the Paracels and Spratly Islands. Vietnam has one of South
A potential future solution is a militarized variant of the Z-15, China’s co-produced variant of the Eurocopter EC-175 East Asia's fastest-growing economies with foreign investment growing, the United States is now Vietnam's main trading partner, and it has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020. Recently Vietnam has been expanding its armed forces and is looking to the US for help to upgrade its air force and navy. Vietnam's small naval aviation unit is equipped with a handful of obsolete
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A Japan Maritime Self-Defence Sikorsky MH53E Sea Dragon operating from a US Navy LSD in the Philippine Sea © US Navy
Mil Mi-14 ASW/SAR helicopters Kamov Ka-25 Hormone ASW helicopters which are being replaced by Western types. The first are two Eurocopter EC 225s to fulfill the SAR role. The Vietnam Navy is in the process of taking delivery of new Russian-built Gepard frigates equipped with helicopter landing platforms and hangars which will have to filled by a new ASW/ASuW types, but to date none have been acquired. Although the United States has embarked on a strategy to building a strong power projection in the Asia-Pacific region in the next decade, with North Korea its focus, not China, there is no guarantee that its countries will become the dominant market for US naval helicopters. If fact they remain resolutely diverse in their choice of rotary-wing platforms placing contracts with Russian, Chinese and French manufacturers, as well as American companies, although some of their products are being built on local assembly lines namely in Japan and Indonesia. After more than a decade of international operations that have focused on land and air operations, the future will see the military initiative moving back towards naval operations especially in the Asia-Pacific region. AMR
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FORCE PROTECTION
T
he assets that can be used to ensure the safety of that patrol of convoy can be immense. They range from J-STAR or ASTOR aircraft monitoring the pattern of life to determine whether the tell tale signs of an ambush are underway, down to tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) providing an electro-optical view of any disturbance in the roadside that might indicate the presence of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). These assets are nonetheless not universally available to most users around the world and for many, access will be at best intermittent and can realistically be expected only for the largest convoys and most critical routes. Instead, troops have to rely on the equipment they can can carry on their vehicles and the inherent protection of the platforms they travel on.
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Route Clearance Clearing a route is a slow but effective way of defeating IED-teams as even the most highly armoured vehicles can be defeated by large, daisy chained devices. Operations in Iraq lead to immediate demands that were met by scouring the world for suitable systems and quickly deploying them, nonetheless with significant success. The enduring nature of the threat has led users to seek refinement and adaptation to this capability to provide a long term capability that can be integrated into future operations. In December 2011, Australia announced that it had authorised the procurement of four route-clearance systems along with additional Thales Australia Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles under Project Ningaui. This comprises two Husky Mk 3 protected route-clearance vehicles
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fitted with a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), a Husky Mk 3 equipped with an interrogator arm to investigate potential IEDs, two armoured JCB High Mobility Engineer Excavators (HMEE) and finally two Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles equipped with Self Protection Adaptive Roller Kit mine rollers.
Clearing a route is a slow but effective way of defeating IED-teams Rheinmetall has been tasked with delivering a route clearance package for Germany with each system consisting of a tracked Rheinmetall Landsysteme Wiesel 1 vehicle with a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) which cues a
FORCE PROTECTION
TACTICAL VEHICLES:
SUPPORTING & PROTECTING CONVOYS
The RMMV HX 8x8 can support all cabs up to STANAG 4569 3/3b for ballistic and mine protection while the HX 4x4 supports all cabs but only supports an IAC up to 2/2b.
Ensuring that troops and their materiel needs are able to reach their destination, whether that be a front line jumping off point for an offensive, a patrol travelling by road or a supply column delivering water and food to a Forward Operating Base, protecting those convoys has always been a challenge to commanders. Today if anything, those challenges have become more acute as the sophistication of the enemy, the complexity of the threat and difficultly of terrain have increased. by Adam Baddeley
Mini Minewolf to deploy for clearance operations. Both vehicles can be carried on a single Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Multi FSA 8x8 15-tonne logistics vehicle. Both the platforms are also remotely controlled via a 6x6 Rheinmetall Fuchs 1A8 armoured command vehicle. In addition further Fuchs 1A8 vehicles are being adapted for the route clearance role being given a manipulator arm with a reach of up to 14m to remove barriers safely and dispose of objects with delivery for 2013. The UK Talisman route clearance package has now been delivered by Thales and has been operational since 2010 using the adapted 6x6 Mastiff 2 and Buffalo as well as the JCB Defence HMEEE with a front shovel and a backhoe as well as a package which comprises sensors, communications and electronic devices
to counter IEDs. Honeywell has provided the T-Hawk Micro UAV, while QinetiQ has provided the proven Talon remotecontrolled UGV. France deployed its MBDA SOUVIM 2 (Système d'OUVerture d'Itinéraire Miné) mine-clearing system to Afghanistan in 2011. Protected Mobility Protected mobility systems provide the fighting edge of troop transport and patrol capability today as well as protective enhancements to tactical vehicles who undertake the bulk of the resupply of troops in the field. The US Army has further enhanced the Stryker design with an order for a new blast-resistant Stryker Double-V Hull (SDVH) vehicle with an order for 450 now complete, and deployed in
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Afghanistan with the numbers sufficient to support a Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) as well as training stock in the US and replacement vehicles. Further orders are planned for both upgraded as well as new vehicles. A new suspension systems has also been added to maintain cross country capability with the additional weight of the upgrade. At Eurosatory, General Dynamics Land Systems showed a international upgrade version of the systems on a LAV-25 which will be added to 550 Canadian vehicles. The US Military Police (MP) are equipped with the Textron Marine & Land Systems M1117 Armoured Security Vehicle (ASV) and have been widely used to support convoy operations as well as equipping other units outside MPs with US field artillery units also equipped
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FORCE PROTECTION
STK have teamed with South Africa’s Paramount to produce a family of protected wheeled vehicles building on the latter’s Mbombe, Marauder, Matador and Maverick © Paramount
with the M1200 Armored Knight. Other users of the ASV family include the Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Colombia and Iraq with the Afghan Nation Army opting for the Enhanced Survivability Standard (ESV) version in a 440 strong order. However there could be opportunities on the horizon within the US market. With the potential termination of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle programme, the requirement for light tactical vehicles has fallen to the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), Modernised Expanded Capacity Vehicle (MECV) recapitalisation programme with potentially 60,000 to 100,000 vehicles being upgraded with additional protection and potentially worth over $10 billion. The Renault Trucks Défense's amphibious capable 6x6 Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé (VAB) Mk 3 was publicly launched in June, offering more volume and payload. Renault is also upgrading up to 400 legacy VABs to the VAB Ultima standard for the French Army which in protection terms includes increased external armour, suspended seating, a V-shaped blast hull, improved suspension and braking system and can offer STANAG 4569 Level 4 ballistic
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Rheinmetall has been tasked with delivering a route clearance package for Germany protection similar to that seen in much heavier vehicles. Singapore Technologies Kinetics' (STK's) Bronco New Generation allterrain tracked vehicles can be upgraded to STANAG 4569 Level 4 ballistic
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protection and was launched at the Singapore Airshow in February which take elements of the UK's Warthog variant design to a wider market. The Warthog was the British Army replacement for the BAE Systems BvS 10 Viking, and has been deployed in troop carrier, ambulance, command vehicle and repair and recovery variants. France has opted for the BvS 10 MK II for a similar role. The Ural Automotive Ural-ZA MRAP vehicle based on a 6x6 truck but with a protected crew compartment at the rear of the vehicle © AJB
FORCE PROTECTION
Thales Australia are currently completing development and testing of its Hawkei protected mobility vehicle after begin selected in late 2011 for Australasia's Land 121 Phase 4 solution to replace its Land Rover 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles with Australia funding a further six vehicles for trials in June. Acmat's new VLRA NG high mobility protected vehicle is protected to STANAG
The Oshkosh MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) is pursuing international markets, principally to meet requirement for special forces and with the design’s ambulance variant Š Oshkosh
STK have teamed with South Africa's Paramount to produced a family of protected wheeled vehicles building on the latter's Mbombe, Marauder, Matador and Maverick and the Singaporean Terrex vehicle.
The 4x4 BAE Systems RG35 Reconnaissance Patrol Utility vehicle bridges the gap between IFV and MRAPtype vehicle with modular protection that can provide modular protection against mines to STANAG 4569 4b.
The US Army has further enhanced the Stryker design with an order for a new blastresistant Stryker Double-V Hull 4569 against mines and IEDS. The M113 is in front-line use in the region. A number of upgrades have been offered by manufacturers. A recent one is the protected Mission Module 5 from Germany's FFG, a private venture which have developed a range of mission modules to be added to a basic M113
FORCE PROTECTION
Rheinmetall’s AMAP ADS system, uses a passive and laser radar to detect threats then detonates an explosive module placed in a pattern around the vehicle using a cutting blast to defeat the round © Rheinmetall
chassis such as a twelve man plus two crew APC with internal volume of 14.5m2 and a new MTU/ZF power pack. General Dynamics European Land Systems recently launched their Eagle 6x6 which increased the gross vehicle weight to 15 tonnes from the 10 tonnes of the 4x4 variant. A new development from Russia is the Ural Automotive Ural-ZA MRAP vehicle based on a 6x6 truck but with a protected crew compartment at the rear of the vehicle for twelve troops with an overall gross vehicles weight of 24 tonnes with the vehicle completing its development in 2013. The Oshkosh MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) has now has largely met its US deliveries for Afghanistan and is pursuing international markets, Rafael’s Trophy family of hard-kill APS use a focused blast to defeat threats has now been tested operationally © Rafael
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principally to meet requirement for special forces and with the design's ambulance variant. Iveco and KMW have worked to produce the Medium Protected Vehicle
The Renault Trucks Défense’s amphibious capable 6x6 Véhicule de l’Avant Blindé Mk 3 was publicly launched in June based on the former's Trakkar truck with the 4x4 version having a volume of 13.3m3 and a maximum combat weight of 18 tonnes. The Iveco LMW has been
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Iveco and KMW have worked to produce the Medium Protected Vehicle based on the former’s Trakkar truck © AJB
delivered in a number of variants with the Austrian Army recently ordering 150 of the LMV Digital across seven variants which also utilised an on board electronic architecture. Thailand's Chaiseri Defence Vehicle are currently delivering to an order for the domestic market for a 4x4 protected mobility vehicle, based around a monocoque hull with protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4 and is able to carry ten troops and a single crewman. The Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) HX line has been developed purely as a military truck which in its basic form is unarmoured. The 11 tonne payload on the front axle has however allowed a number of
FORCE PROTECTION
capable protected cabs to be offered for the vehicle. The HX is offered in three variants; unprotected, a Modular Armoured Cab (MAC) and a dedicated Integrated Armour Cab (IAC). In its basic form the MAC cab appears as an unarmoured design with the fixings to add in modular armour upgrades, allowing a fleet of such vehicles to share a smaller number of protection systems. The HX 8x8 can support all cabs up to STANAG 4569 3/3b for ballistic and mine protection while the HX 4x4 supports all cabs but only supports an IAC up to 2/2b. At Eurosatory, RMMV showed an AMAP (Advanced Modular Armour Protection) hardkill Defensive Aids Suite on an 8x8 HX vehicle. Active Defence The use of an explosive effect or counter missile to defeat Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), Anti-tank Guided Weapons up to high velocity tanks rounds is the preserve of Active Protection Systems (APS). APS consist of systems that rely on launching counter missiles or other effects for the defeat of missile threats at a distance from the defended vehicle, relying on vehicle armour to stop
any remaining incoming remnants. Once tank only solutions, newer designs can be fitted down to the level of tactical vehicles in convoys. Rafael's Trophy family of hard-kill APS use a focused blast to defeat threats have now been tested operationally In March 2011 a Merkava 4 equipped Trophy Heavy Vehicle system defeated an incoming RPG near Gaza intercepting it 10-30m from the defended tank. The family been expanded to support Medium Vehicle (MV) variant and the most recent Light Vehicle (LV) implementations providing key advancements in protection for the protected mobility solutions deployed in the convoy and patrol roles. The LV hardkill solution is designed to address RPG threats, keeping its all up weight to 200kg with testing complete with transition to a product due by next year. Trophy MV is also in the final stages of testing and in addition to defeating RPGs it adds anti-tank guided missiles and tank rounds to its target set. It weighs just over 500Kg and can be fitted to vehicles of 8-15 tonnes. In the region, South Korea is developing its own APS solution, developed by
Korea's Agency for Defense Development. This consists of a two-tube counter missile launcher which will be fitted to the K-2 Black Panther MBT. Incoming projectiles are tracked using an infrared (IR) sensor which cues the launch of a 70mm rocket from the launcher. Saab Avitronics Land Electronic Defence System (LEDS) 150 have been tested on a variety of systems including the Piranha 5 and CV90. The Ukrainian Zaslon system operates by exploding on the vehicle and directs a fragmentation ring at the oncoming missile and is able to defeat it at very short ranges. It has been deployed on light and medium armoured vehicle for testing. In the US, DARPA has funded the Iron Curtain solution developed by Artis LLC which is sized for HMMWV sized vehicles and is designed to defeat RPGs. Rheinmetall's AMAP ADS system, uses a passive and laser radar to detect threats then detonates an explosive module placed in a pattern around the vehicle using a cutting blast to defeat the round. The system has been trialed in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden, with the system also having been acquired by AMR Singapore for its armed forces.
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RADAR AND SONAR
SURFACE SHIP RADAR AND SONAR TRENDS
Sensors are as much a feature of naval and even law enforcement vessels as their hulls and engines with even the smallest patrol vessel equipped with radars although sonars are usually restricted to vessels of 500 ton displacement or more. by Ted Hooton
A
lthough Asian industry has overtaken the First World in many aspects, Daewoo’s contract for tankers to support the British Royal Navy being a case in point, and although most electronic components come from the region, navies in the Pacific Rim tend to use imported sensors or imported sensor technology. The vast majority of radars used in Asian naval and coast guard vessels are traditionallybased sensors with an antenna rotating at up to 60 revolutions a minute, the larger the antenna the narrower the beam but the greater the return which increases with the proximity to land with returns from mountains, rain, sand storms and atmospheric turbulence. Ground or sea surface reflection can cause multi-path effects with multiple signals reaching the receiver and one version of this in warmer climes causes atmospheric refraction to bend waves causing ‘holes’ or ‘ducting’ in which the signal is restricted except close to the surface where it will travel a longer distance. The radar’s frequency dictates performance both in precision and the susceptibility to these environmental and geographic conditions. Almost all vessels have a navigation radar which is a high frequency (I-band or 8-10 GHz) sensor designed to detect potential hazards both stationary and
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manoeuvring. While dedicated naval navigation radars are used, many navies use commercial sensors such as the Furunu family; indeed these are fitted in almost all the Protector class patrol boat used by Pacific island states. Surprisingly, Japan does not follow this trend but uses dedicated OPS-20 while Malaysia’s Kedahs use the Atlas 9600 with automatic radar plotting feeding into an electronic chart system which is also used by the Australian Anzac class frigates. Indian ships are increasingly using the Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) Rashmi based upon the Thales Nederland ZW 06 antenna, although the new Kelvin Hughes 6000 has been selected for the Kolkata (Project 15A) class destroyers and Talwar (Project 1135.6) class frigates. Some navies, such as Singapore’s Formidable class frigates, use their navigation radars, in this case the Danish Terma Scanter 2001, for search or surveillance roles but most use a dedicated sensor operating in the E/F- band (2-4 GHz) although Chinese ships tend to use G-band (4-6 GHz) sensors such as the Type 264 Seagull in the Luzhou (Type 051C) and Jangkai (Type 054) class frigates while Japanese ships use the Japan Radio Corporation OPS-28 in the Kongou and Atago class destroyers. These wave bands are selected for optimum search and
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tracking performance in this particular role while larger ships provide the basis for higher masts which, in turn, helps to extend radar coverage. Larger ships, such as destroyers and frigates, can carry both surface search radars and also dedicated long-range airsearch sensors in D-band (1-2 GHz) such as the BEL RAWL 02 in India’s Godavari (Project 16) class frigates and some of the Rajput class destroyers, which is a licence-built Thales Nederland LW 04,
RADAR AND SONAR
or the Melco OPS-24 used by Japan’s Takanami class destroyers. Some navies select C-band systems (0.5-1 GHz), such as the Raytheon AN/SPS-49 used in the Anzacs and South Korea’s Kwanggaeto Daewang (KDX-1) class destroyers while others use E/F-band such as the Thales Nederland DA 08 used by Malaysia’s Lekiu class frigates. Search radars provide general surveillance to support tactical picture compilation, missile detection especially
of low-level sea-skimming threats and target designation to cue weapon systems and dedicated fire-control sensors. The last tend to be I/J-band (8-20 Ghz) sensors (although some are I/K-band or 8-40 GHz) and their role is to track a target and feed this data to a weapon, usually a missile although gun fire control radars do exist, guiding missiles into proximity with the target when their on-board sensor will then acquire it and guide the weapon throughout the terminal phase.
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An artist’s impression of the Australian Hobart class destroyers which will have the SPY-1 radar and an Ultra sonar suite © BAE Australia
Western-influenced designs tend to use their search radars for gun and surfaceto-surface missile weapon control and to have a dedicate weapon control sensor for surface-to-air missiles; the Anzacs use the J-band (10-20 GHz) Ceros 200, the Australian Adelaides use the I/J-band AN/SPG 60 while the Korean KDX-1 use the I/K Thales Nederland STIR. The FCS
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RADAR AND SONAR
The Raytheon AN/SPS-49 is used in the Anzac and Korean KDX-1 class destroyers © Raytheon
2 systems used in the Japanese Takanami and Murasame class destroyers is for both surface-to-air missiles and guns. Large Russian-influenced warships have dedicated sensors for each weapon; the H/I-band (6-10 GHz) MR-90 (‘Front Dome’) used in China’s Luyang (Type 052) and Sovremenny class destroyers as well as India’s Talwar class frigates is for surface-to-air missiles. In the Luyangs and Sovremenny’s the Russian I-band Mineral (‘Band Stand’) and in the Talwars the I/J-band Garpun (‘Plank Shave’) is used for surface-to-surface missiles while for gun fire control the Chinese ships the I-band Type 344 is used in the Luyangs and MR-114 (‘Kite Screech’) in the Sovremennys while the Talwars have the Puma 5P-10E system.
Most of these sensors use linear or parabolic reflector antennas which fan out beams to produce a two-dimensional (2D) picture but new radar technology permits the use of stacked elevation beams to produce a three-dimensional (3D) effect which is especially valuable for air search scenarios. Processing improvements give some relatively conventional radars a multi-role capability and these include Cassadian’s (formerly EADS) G-band TRS-3 fitted in Malaysia’s Kedahs and Ericcson Microwave’s Sea Giraffe in Anzacs. Planar array sensors are becoming more common, China’s Luzhou and Sovremenny class destroyers use the Russian MR-700 Fregat (‘Top Plate’)
Malaysia’s Lekiu class frigates feature a tri-national sensor suite with Thales Nederland DA 08 and Ericsson Sea Giraffe radars and Thales Underwater Systems Spherion sonar suite © BAE Systems
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| ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW |
E-band 3D air search radar while the Indian Kolkatas will have the Israeli EL/M-2238 Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (STAR) which is also installed in some Kashins and Godavari class frigates. But the ultimate expression is the active array multi-role radar. These use thousands of transmitter/ receiver modules which steer beams to provide rapid detection of targets and faster tracking of multiple targets in three dimensions. There is the added advantage that while most radars have a separate transmitter and receiver cabinets and can cease functioning if one or both develops a fault, the new sensors have so many transmitter/receiver modules that if several of them develop faults then the sensor will continue functioning.
Almost all vessels have a navigation radar which is a high frequency (I-band or 8-10 GHz) sensor Singapore’s Formidable class frigates have the Thales Herakles radar which features the traditional rotating antenna, with a single face and a total of 1,761 elements, and this can operate concurrently in 3D and long range search modes. But the trend is to use these active phased array radars in static mountings incorporated in the ship’s superstructure with the most famous being the Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-1 which has been selected for Australia’s Hobart class, Japan’s Atago, Kongou and 19DD class as well as South Korea’s Sejong Daewang (KDX-3) class destroyers. SPY-1 is a highpower (4 MW) multi-function sensor with 1,087 elements per face capable of search, track and missile guidance functions against up to 1,000 air and surface targets and the operator can boost range and resolution in a particular area of interest. The original systems were so good they suffered return overload problems in littoral environments but the Littoral Warfare Upgrade has in KDX 3 improved performance in clutter and severe electronic environments and this is known to be fitted in Korea’s KDX-3 ships. SPY-1 can be used to track
RADAR AND SONAR
Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-1 radar is in operations with the US Navy Norway, Spain, Japan and South Korea, US Navy itself © US DoD
ballistic missiles, a feature incorporated in Japanese ships and possibly scheduled for Australian and Korean ones, but it suffers limitations and loses resolution while tracking multiple targets although this can now be met through digital beam-forming with each target assigned a separate beam. This feature is already incorporated in CEA’s CEA-FAR multi-function radar which is to upgrade Australia’s Anzacs, the company also producing CEAMOUNT weapon control sensors. China has produced a SPY-1-type radar, the Type 348, with 381 modules per face and these are installed in the Luyang II (Type 052C) destroyers. This form of technology seems likely to see further applications but there will continue to be demands for conventional radars for functions such as search because they can be mounted higher in the ship to extend the radar horizon. By contrast sonar horizons against submarines are more limited by complex
hydro-dynamic conditions. Sound travels slightly more slowly in fresh rather than sea water and its speed is also effected by water temperature, salinity and pressure. Deeper water tends to be colder than
surface water which tends to have a more constant temperature but at 30-100 metres there is a layer, the thermoclime, which can refract sound while higher pressure at greater depths accelerates sound
RADAR AND SONAR
Selex Galileo’s OTS-90 dipping sonar has been integrated with the NH Industries NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter © Selex
but this can be absorbed by the water itself. If sonar signals can penetrate the thermoclime then refract back then it can reach a convergence zone some 5 nautical miles (9 kilometres wide) at distances decided by water conditions and these will ring a ship at various distances but they are not possible in waters of less than 180 metres (600 feet). Sonars seek narrowband noise, made by machinery and propellers and broadband noise which is ambient sound such as the flow of water over a submarine’s hull, bubbles created by the submarine’s propeller (cavitation) or even liquids moving within a submarine. The majority of sonars are hull-mounted sensors which have been designed for lower frequencies to increase their range and most are medium frequency
(8-10KHz) search/attack systems. The Anzacs feature a Thales Underwater Systems’ Spherion (as does Taiwan’s Kang Ding or La Fayette class), while many Chinese frigates such as the Jiangwei (Type 053) have the EH 5 (Echo 5) which is also in the Bangladeshi BNS Osman as well as Thailand’s Chao Phraya class while India introduced its first systems, the BEL Advanced Panoramic Sonar Hull (Apsoh) first into the Nilgiri and Godavari classes from 1971. This system has evolved first into the HullMounted Sonar Advanced (Humsa) in the Brahmaputra (Project 16A) and, from 2008, Humsa New Generation (Humsa NG) in the Shivalik (Project 17) and Talwar classes. While Korea’s KDX-2 ships have a medium frequency sensor, in this case the Atlas Sonar 90, later ships have opted for the low frequency (2-4 kHz) AN/SQS-53 together with Taiwan (Keelung or Kidd class) and Japan (Atagou and Kongou
Thales’s I-Mast design consolidates key sensors including radar with the ships’ communications systems into a single signature reducing mast © Thales
classes), the latter producing the sensor under licence as OQS-102. The Takanami and Murasame class destroyers use another low frequency sensor, the OQS-5. Hull-mounted sensors operate in both passive and active roles. In the former they detect radiated noise which peaks at certain frequencies which can then be used to classify the target. It has the advantage of not revealing the surface ship’s presence and most sensors are supported by large acoustic data bases which help to identify the target. However, there are limitations especially with the effort expended by submarine manufacturers to reduce acoustic signatures and passive systems can rarely give the precise location of a target only a general indication of where it is located. Active sensors will provide the target’s exact bearing and often the range but it also reveals the emitter’s position. It cannot be used for target classification and is therefore used only intermittently. The performance of hull-mounted sonars is limited by ship noise and to overcome this problem off-board sonars have been developed. The first were variable depth sonars which can be lowered below the thermoclime often augmenting the hull-mounted sensor with which it is often integrated to enhance overall performance. Many of Indonesia’s and India’s major surface combatants have this combination and Raytheon’s AN/AQS-22 sonar supports multifrequency operation © Lockheed Martin
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RADAR AND SONAR
ITT’s AN/SPS-48 surveillance system has been upgraded to extend its service life © US DoD
New Delhi has developed an integrated system as the BEL Hull-mounted and Variable Depth (Humvad) used in most of the Delhi class destroyers while the Talwars have provision for a variable depth sonar. Singapore, on the other hand, uses the EDO 980 Active Low
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Frequency Towed Sonar (ALOFTS) as its sole anti-submarine sensor. Low frequency towing passive sonar systems provides a greatly increased range, some British sensors were reported to be capable of detecting submarines at ranges of 100 nautical miles (185
kilometres) although they are unable to locate them without the ship performing manoeuvres. India has developed the Nagan, which will probably be installed in the Kolkatas, while most of Japan’s destroyers have the OQR-1 or OQR-2, Korea’s KDX-1 and 2 have the Daewoo Telecom sensor. To overcome the problems of passive towed arrays active/passive sensors have been developed, with Taiwan one of the first to use them after purchasing the Thales Underwater Systems’ Active Towed Array Sonar (ATAS) which has also been purchased for INS Mumbai. The greatest drawbacks to these offboard sensors is that they restrict ship movement, are expensive and require large winches while they are of little use in shallow waters. Towed array sonars, like active array radars, are likely to be confined to Asia’s largest navies. But conventional sensors will still provide warships with a good AMR degree of situational awareness.
BORDER S E C U R I T Y
SECURING SEA AND LAND BORDERS
A high fence, taller towers and powerful searchlights are no longer an option for governments seeking to secure their borders and monitor activity across territorial waters. New technology is allowing smart solutions to replace the physical overlays that were once the only option, with considerable success. by Adam Baddeley
I
f anything, the need to monitor the maritime borders and territories has taken on greater importance in response to sustained pirate activity, insurgency and terrorist threats in archipelagic states such as the Philippines as well as the need to prevent state led encroachment against national maritime territory in the South China Sea.
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Indonesia and Australia completed their biennial patrol boat exercise Cassowary which took place off the coast of Darwin. Royal Australian Navy Armidale Class Patrol Boats and HMA Ships Ararat and Larrakia were joined by Indonesian Armed Forces patrol boats KRI Kakap and KRI Tongkol for the exercise Š Commonwealth of Australia
Maritime Borders Airborne assets will always be one of the more cost-effective ways of maintaining a rapidly deployed presence over water and developing a detailed understanding of the activity in an area. In June, Boeing released details of
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a P-8I derived mission package for airborne littoral surveillance and patrol requirements. Based on a business jet, it is due to fly in 2013. The Mexican Navy have recently brought into service two Airbus Military CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft also without an offensive
BORDER S E C U R I T Y
capability and equipped with the Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS) with an undisclosed radar and an EO/IR solution to enable detection, tracking and classification of small boats used for drug trafficking and smuggling. It will also be able to control the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and carry out search and rescue missions. The CN-235 in a similar configuration is in service with Ireland and the US Coast Guard. Indra showed its Maritime Light Surveillance System (MLSS) at Farnborough this year. The littoral surveillance platform and mission system is hosted on the P2006T MRI aircraft and includes the Selex Galileo Seaspray 5000E AESA surveillance radar and Indra's ISIS mission system and is designed for operations at up to 150 nm from the coast.
In June, Boeing released details of a P-8I derived mission package for airborne littoral surveillance and patrol requirements India is also supply a coastal surveillance systems including a Dornier 228 aircraft to the Seychelles. On the ground, integrated maritime surveillance packages, often turn-key are being implemented, stitching together legacy but often incomplete sensor coverage with new systems with users presented with a single fused picture. Indonesia recently brought into service its Integrated Maritime Surveillance
System programme, an integrated system for coastal surveillance. It comprises a total of eight coastal surveillance stations, supported by 11 ship radars as mobile platforms all of which report to two regional command centres and from then on to two fleet command centres in Jakarta and Surabaya. In March, China was reported to have offered a similar, complementary system to Indonesia. The waters around Indonesia's Maluku and Papua provinces, both in the East of the country now have two Kelvin Hughes S-Band SBS-800-51 systems surveillance radars in operation which use the solid-state SharpEye radar transceiver and antenna. Over 60 of the radars are deployed in similar roles world wide. Indonesia is also looking at indigenous
The first of eight new Cape class Patrol Boats for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service will be delivered in April 2013 (c) Austal
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ESRI GIS has been used to support EUNAVFOR’s operations against pirates off the Horn of Africa (c) Crown Copyright
designs to provide surveillance of its maritime territory. Indonesian firm Radar and Communications Systems (RCS) is currently developing a new S-band 2.83.1GHz radar, the LPI Portable Coastal Radar for shelter and vehicle mounted operation with a range of 96km in a government funded programme due to complete in 2013. Other national efforts includes Memorandum of Understanding signed in July by Brunei for further work on the National Coastal Surveillance System (NCSS) which fuses information amongst Brunei's various maritime enforcement agencies and was first formed in February 2010. Elsewhere in the region, Indra is currently developing a coastal surveillance solution for the Island of Hong Kong and the over 200 islands within its administrative control. The US has also released details of work that has begun on supporting the Philippines in creating a single maritime picture for its territorial waters, integrating and legacy sensors. Thailand recently opted for Selex Sistemi Integrati Kronos radar to meet its coastal surveillance requirements via a November 2011 contract. To counter pirate threats off the Horn of Africa, European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Operation Headquarters went to ESRI to create a Recognised Maritime Picture (RMP) which will allow
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BORDER S E C U R I T Y
Technology Limited's exactView-1 satellite provide's commercial AIS outside the limitation of 50nm for terrestrial AIS. The launch was on behalf of exactEarth is jointly owned by COM DEV International Ltd and HISDESAT Servicios Estratégicos S.A.
Nuriplan is teamed with Plextek for supply of Blighter radars for South Korean market © Plextek
commercial shipping and naval vessels to be viewed with the same RMP. The systems comprise the ArcGIS for Server version 2.5 with a server on each ship with further servers at EUNAVFOR’s base at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, UK. The VHF-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) provides a means to eliminate normal traffic from the list of suspicious craft scanned by radar but placing a transponder in each vessel over a certain tonnage. India has recently begun a trial run of its National Automatic Identification System (NAIS) system at 74 first phase sites across the country earlier this year. Each of these sites links to regional control centres at Jamnagar, Kochi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Visakhapatnam and from there is linked to two coastal control centres at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam, and from there to to the National Data Centre in Mumbai. In July, Northrop Grumman Information Systems has completed delivery of
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a $12 billion Nationwide AIS contract, awarded in December 2008, to the US Coast Guard. New AIS technology is being added regularly with Saab TransponderTech releasing their new type approved Class A fifth-generation scalable, modular maritime AIS onto the market using a software defined transceiver and high-
Indonesia recently brought into service its Integrated Maritime Surveillance System programme speed analogue-to-digital converters. For the Indian market, companies are developing smaller cheaper devices. In its current form, AIS is limited by the line of sight range of its VHF signals but this can be supported by space based implementations. Surrey Satellite
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Patrol vessels Offshore patrol vessels, inshore patrol craft and a plethora of other naval auxiliary craft have taken on the role of patrolling national waters, leaving larger naval vessels to conduct warfighting missions and other roles. The French Navy's OPV L'Adroit, the first of DCNS' new Gowind class recently returned from its first mission spending two months in the maritime surveillance and fisheries protection role. The 87m Gowind class has been selected by Malaysia for its six second-generation patrol vessels to be built by Boustead and has a crew of 30 and a range of 8000nm. India is making considerable investment in patrol raft. Goa Shipyard for example recently began work on a six strong class of 2400 tonne, 105m Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. May also saw the Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. built ICGS Rajtarang commissioned, the second of eight 50m Inshore Patrol Vessels with a range of 1500nm. The second Hoverworks ACV from UK-based Griffon Hoverworks Limited, was also delivered in July to India's Coast Guard base on Bay on Bengal where it will patrol the Sunderbans tidal mangrove forest. Domestic production of indigenous designs is taking place throughout the region. In July, China's Wuchang shipyard launched the 5,418-tonne Haixun01, the largest ever patrol vessel produced by the country. Based in Shanghai its roles will combine rescue and marine inspection which include safety monitoring, rescue, oil spill detection and handling and has a range of 10,000nm. The Philippines Navy recently received new 17m Multi-purpose Patrol Craft from local manufacturer Propmech Corp., part of a modest $6 million deal. The Philippine Navy's $11.5 billion 'Philippine Fleet Desired Force Mix' plan includes a range of patrol craft in its shopping list including; 18 Offshore Patrol Vessels, 12 Cyclone class Coast Patrol Interdiction Craft, 30 Patrol gunboats, 42 Multi-Purpose Assault Craft and 24 Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats. Japan has plans to supply the Philippine Coast Guard with
BORDER S E C U R I T Y
vessel in island areas and as a command vessel for smaller craft. Australia's Austal yard recently had the first keel laying ceremony for its planned class of eight Cape class Patrol Boats for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service due to be handed over in April 2013.
The Protector unmanned surface vehicle (USV) was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and has been adopted by Republic of Singapore Navy for use in a number of littoral security roles
twelve new and fully equipped vessels in 2014 as development aid. Thailand’s Marsun Company recently laid the keel on the first of three 36m Patrol boats for the Royal Thai Navy, based on the firm's commercial Crew Boat design. Powered by three Cummins KTA50-M main engines, the design has a load capacity of 50 tonnes which can
inlcude two 20-foot containers on the aft deck. The design can also be equipped with a 30mm cannon and pedestal mounted SAM. France's Constructions industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM) is pursuing opportunities in Thailand for its Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R) cataramaran-design fast landing craft for operation as a patrol
Land Borders Requirements in the Asia-Pacific also place demanding requirements for land borders in areas such as Jammu and Kashmir and the border between the two Koreas being two key areas. To meet these and other demands, industry is rapidly developing new solutions with governments establishing more sophisticated requirements. Solutions for fixed site and border surveillance include Thales' new Combined Surveillance and Intrusion Detection System (CSIDS) launched this year. This comprises sensor agnostic systems which are linked via IP and are fused via the company's Multi-Sensor Command and Control or MUSEC² software. Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS)
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BORDER S E C U R I T Y
Thailand is considering the CNIM EDA-R to support naval patrols along its coastline © AJB
are an archetypal border security sensor solution being small, compact and able to detect targets while remaining undiscovered and communicate that information long distances and for extended periods without the need for battery resupply. Harris’ Falcon Watch multi-sensor has been designed from the outset to be fitted into a standard military backpack. When employed, Falcon Watch uses its acoustic and seismic sensors to first detect and then classify potential concerns – it's a truck but is it delivering food aid or soldiers? Once this is achieved, it can then cue the power hungry electrooptic sensors. These then can take a still or video of the target and then communicate that to take a snapshot of the target for communication over satcom or combat net radio to the command post. Ground Surveillance Radars provide a key solution for ground based persistent surveillance with solutions able to detect and identify a range of targets including single individuals at tens of ESC Baz anounced the sale of its TOM SMS advanced vehicle-mounted surveillance mast systems to a Central Asian customer in 2011 © ESC Baz
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kilometres. In addition they are relatively affordable and easy to deploy according to need. Plextek's manportable Blighter B202 Mk 2 Radars are used in the UK, France, Poland and the Czech Republic in Europe; Saudi Arabia South Korea and Australia as well as North America. Networked together in the MultiWatch capability, six radars can comprehensively cover a 300 km² area of land. Nuriplan is teamed with Plextek for the supply of Blighter radars into the South Korean market. Thales I-band Ground Observer 80 or GO80, is a new addition to the BOR-A radar family and can detect individuals at 29km.
Indra is currently developing a coastal surveillance solution for the Island of Hong Kong Selex Galileo has expanded its 110kg payload active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar's range of applications by supplying the Seaspray 7500E to Worldwide Aeros Corporation for service with a persistent ground-surveillance tethered aerostat. India has invested in numbers of Elta Systems EL/M-2083 Aerostat radars used on TCOM aerostats. To provide local coverage in an area of border or other interest, Rafael have developed the STALKER - Mobile Intelligence, Surveillance, Target
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Acquisition & Reconnaissance (ISTAR) System which provides border authorities with a real-time situational awareness picture, perhaps of illegal immigrants massing at border crossing or insurgents planing a cross border raid. The system is sensor agnostic with its own power supply independent of the vehicle on which it is mounted. Typically it would be equipped with an auto tracking equipped MultiSensor Day/Night Pod with a range of 10-15km, other day and night sights, also integrating geolocation capabilities and a 20km range doppler radar. Physical barriers will remain a key requirement for many users. Elbit Security Systems' SafeFence Electronic Alarm Sensing Fence which detects fence cutting, climbing, stretching, and leaning. This is achieved via two technologies Vibration Intrusion Detection System (VIDS) and Advanced TautWire Intrusion Detection System (ATIAS) both of which can be installed on fences and walls and which can't be triggered by wind gust unless they exceed 70kmh and provides differential alarm signals for different intrusive activities. Elbit's LORROS or Long Range Reconnaissance and Observation System has been designed with border security in mind. It acts as a host for sensors offering Multiple thermal camera and CCD camera choice including the 25fps Sony EX view HAD CCD and IVORY ZP Thermal Camera which has a range of 20km, onto a network centric host platform which allows the user to remotely control the pan, tilt of the pedestal mounted sensor package. AMR
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MANPORTABLE TO VEHICLE MOUNTED TANK KILLERS Since we last reported on anti-tank systems in early 2011, world events have done little to reduce the importance of weapons of this type. Although India, Pakistan and South Korea are probably the only nations in the region who face the threat of large-scale attack by enemy armoured forces, the last few years have seen a number of regional players upgrading their forces with new main battle tanks (MBTs), lighter wheeled and tracked armoured vehicles. A few examples of recent procurements will illustrate the trend. by Doug Richardson
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ndia is likely to order a further 250 Arjun Mk II MBTs, a vehicle able to fire the Israel Aerospace Industries 120 mm Laser Homing Anti-Tank (LAHAT) missile from its main gun. Earlier in 2012, it was reported to be negotiating with Russia for the supply of 25,000 Invar missiles for its T-90S main battle tanks and a total of 10,000 9K113 Konkurs wire-guided anti-tank missiles. Singapore’s ageing AMX-13 light tanks are now being replaced by ex-German Army Leopard 2A4 MBTs, which were refurbished by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann before delivery. A total of 66 will be deployed as operational MBTs while the remainder have been earmarked as spares. Deliveries of the Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) Terrex 8x8 infantry carrier vehicle have begun, and a first battalion was reported to have been equipped earlier this year. The Terrex series of vehicles includes specialised variants including a version able to fire anti-tank missiles. The Polish company Bumar-Labedy has now supplied a total of 48 PT-91M MBTs to the Malaysian Army, plus support vehicles including engineering, recovery and bridgelaying variants.
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In 2011 the Royal Thai Army (RTA) signed a contract for 49 Ukrainian-built Oplot MBTs, making it the first export customer for the type. First deliveries of 101 Ukrainian BTR-3 series 8x8 APCs took place in 2010, and a second batch was ordered in the following year. According to Ukroboronprom, talks were held with Thai MoD officials during the recent Eurosatory 2012 defence exhibition in Paris on the joint production of BTR-3E1 APCs. Indonesia has procured 20 Russian BMP-3F infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in a version optimised for amphibious operations, and is expected to acquire Leopard 2A6 MBTs in the near future. Meanwhile, the South Korean company Hyundai Rotem has completed development of the new-generation K2 MBT, and at least 500 are expected to enter service with the South Korean Army. Combat experience in recent conflicts has provided another spur for procurement of anti-tank weapons, by showing that these can be used effectively against a much wider range of targets than their designers had originally envisaged, including bunkers, compound walls, sniper positions, and even personnel in the open.
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Milan, which currently serves with Indonesia, Pakistan, and Singapore is being used on a significant scale by French forces in Afghanistan. UK ground forces also made heavy use of their Milan systems in the same theatre until the weapon was retired in 2008-09.
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In Afghanistan, the MBDA Eryx shortrange anti-tank missile system has been used by the French Army to attack firing positions and reinforced bunkers, and to breach the thick walls around compounds. However, its usefulness in this role is reported to be constrained by its modest
maximum range of 600 m. Malaysia is the only regional operator of this weapon. In order to address the growing requirement for a guided weapon able to engage non-armoured targets, Rafael is developing the Mini-Spike. Currently in full-scale development,
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This Javelin launcher has been integrated onto a Kongsberg Remote Weapons Station (c) Lockheed Martin
it consists of a miniature control launch unit (MICLU) weighing about 8 kg when fitted with a containerised missile. A single soldier will be able to
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The 3UBK20 INVAR is compatible with the main gun of India’s fleet of T-90S tanks. Its tandem High Explosive Anti Tank warhead was designed to penetrate 700mm of steel armour protected by explosive reactive armour (c) Defence Research and Development Organisation
carry the MICLU and two missiles. The MICLU uses a CMOS sensor for day imagery, with an uncooled IIR sensor providing a night capability. When a target is detected, the operator will activate the missile. Once an aim point has been selected and the missile seeker has been locked on, the missile is fired. It has a maximum range of 1.5 km and can be employed in fire-and-forget or fireand-update modes. The latter involves refining the aimpoint via an RF datalink. At first sight, the use of expensive antitank missiles against such modest targets may been like a waste of money, but in practice the ‘instant firepower’ of these weapons can be a rapid and cost-effective alternative to conventional artillery strikes or close-air-support missions. More expensive targets can also be engaged using anti-tank weapons. In March 2012, rebel forces in Syria posted a video on the internet showing the apparent destruction of a MiG-23 fighter parked outside a shelter at a Syrian air base. The weapon used has tentatively been identified as a Russian-made Metis system. Over the last few years, at least six nations in the region have upgraded their anti-tank weaponry or are planning to do so. Development of India’s indigenous Bharat Dynamics Nag fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) has been protracted. It had been due to enter service last year, but according to reports in the Indian press, its service debut was delayed by the need for modifications to the missile and its launch vehicle that had been found necessary as a result of trials conducted in 2010. India’s indigenously-developed Arjun tank can fire the IMI Laser Homing AntiTank (LAHAT) missile from its main gun (c) Doug Richardson
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For a new series of trials conducted in the summer of 2012 at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, the missile was fitted with a new imaging infrared seeker of improved resolution. This is intended to overcome a range-limitation problem noted during earlier trials. Nag is a lock-on-before-launch (LOBL) missile, so its nose-mounted seeker must be able to recognise the target and achieve lockon at the full 4 km design range planned for the missile. Under most conditions, this could be achieved, but in extremely hot conditions the target is not so conspicuous in the thermal image when seen against the terrain background. According to a 23
Milan, which currently serves with Indonesia, Pakistan, and Singapore is being used on a significant scale by French forces in Afghanistan July report in India’s Business Standard, a typical instance of such stressing conditions is during summer afternoons in the desert. In such cases, the lock-on range falls to around 2.5 km. Development of the improved imaging infrared seeker is due to be completed by the end of the year. Alternative charge coupled device (CCD) based and millimetric wave (MMW) active radar seekers have also been developed for Nag, but the infrared variant will be the first to enter service. The summer 2012 trials were also intended to test a modified version of the Namica carrier vehicle. Based on India’s Sarath version of the Russian BMP-2 tracked infantry combat vehicle, Namica carries four ready-to-fire Nag missiles and eight reload rounds. It had originally been fitted with a single fixed sighting system used by the gunner, but according to a recent report in the newspaper The Hindu, the modified vehicle has two stabilised electro-optical systems.
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Rafael Advanced Defence Systems’ new MiniSpike was developed as a lower-cost method of dealing with threats that do not require an antitank missile (c) Doug Richardson
These two sights will allow a ‘hunterkiller’ mode of operation. One will be used by the gunner, while the other will allow the vehicle’s commander to search for and identify a second target while the gunner is engaging the first. The commander will then be able to cue the gunner, speeding the process of engaging the second target – a process similar to that used for main-armament gunnery in many models of main battle tank. The 2012 test series may be the last milestone before the Nag system is formally accepted for Indian Army service. Bharat Dynamics also licencemanufactures a number of foreigndeveloped anti-tank missiles for the Indian Army. This includes the Milan 2T, more than 30,000 of which had been built by early 2010. The company also licencemanufactures the KBP Instrument Design Bureau 9K113 Konkurs (AT-5 'Spandrel'). In March 2011, India ordered 321 missile launchers, 8,356 missiles, and 15 training simulators for the Rafael Spike, a deal that is expected to include coproduction by Bharat Dynamics. At least one of these manufacturing programmes has experienced problems. In a statement made in May 2012, India’s Ministry of Defence said that the production of antitank missiles had slowed slightly due to what were described as “difficulties in indigenisation of some explosives”. In 2010 India announced that it planned to procure the Lockheed Martin/ Raytheon Javelin Joint Venture Javelin under a Foreign Military Sales deal that would include the transfer of technology. Under a letter of request (LOR) submitted to the US Government, India planned to acquire some Javelin systems off the shelf, but the remainder would be built locally under licence by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics.
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In order to address the growing requirement for a guided weapon able to engage nonarmoured targets, Rafael is developing the Mini-Spike Recent press reports have claimed that the US has reduced the number of missiles to be supplied to less than half the number that India had requested, but this was denied by US defence secretary Leon Panetta. Speaking at a press conference held in New Delhi, India, on 6 June, he said: “It's just not true. We have not cut the sale in half… I want to assure you that we're committed to a full sale of the Javelin to India.” More than 32,000 Javelins have already
been manufactured for the US forces and a total of 12 export customers. Around 3,300 have been fired in combat. In 2010, the monthly consumption of missiles in Afghanistan was reported to be around 100, a figure than probably includes US and UK totals. Until recently, South Korea’s highestperformance anti-tank weapon was the KPB 9K115 Metis. However, following a November 2010 attack by North Korea on South Yeonpyeong Island, the Seoul government announced that it was considering the deployment of Spike antitank missiles on Yeonpyeong Island. The 25 km range system would allow strikes to be mounted against North Korean artillery hidden in caves along that country's coastline some 20 km distant. The Ukraine is reported to have offered the Skif man-portable guided anti-tank system to Thailand. A joint development by Ukraine and Belarus industry, Skif uses the R-2 missile, a 5.5 km range weapon that receives its command-toline-of sight guidance instructions via a laser beam transmitted from the launcher. An as-yet unidentified anti-tank missile is included in Thailand's 2008 plan to modernise its indigenous defence industrial capabilities. This weapon could be based on one of China’s current anti-tank missiles. Singapore is now known to be a Javelin user. In May 2012, Russia’s Rosoboronexport
If the next series of trials is successful, India could finally take delivery of its Nag fire-and-forget missile (c) Defence Research and Development Organisation
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confirmed that it was offering anti-tank missiles of unspecified type to Brunei. The Malaysian Army's requirement for a long-range (LR) anti-tank guided weapon may be linked to its projected procurement of a new 8x8 armoured vehicle AFV to replace the existing Sibmas 6x6 wheeled fire-support vehicle and Condor 4x4 wheeled APC.
Development of India’s indigenous Bharat Dynamics Nag fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile has been protracted In April 2012 Malaysia signed a contract for an undisclosed number of Romarm RPG-7M anti-tank launchers for the Malaysian Army; it also ordered an undisclosed number of Nammo M72 Anti-Structure Munition weapons for use by its special forces.
The Saab Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle has been in service for more than 60 years, but its current lightweight M3 version is still attracting orders (c) Saab
As the last two Malaysian orders illustrate, there is still a role on the modern battlefield for unguided shoulder-fired weapons, and even the US Army has learned this lesson. Although
Saab’s Carl Gustaf M3 recoilless rifle has been used by the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Ranger units where it has been designated the Medium Anti-Armour Weapon System (MAAWS)
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In March 2011, India ordered 321 missile launchers, 8,356 missiles, and 15 training simulators for the Rafael Spike or Ranger Anti-Tank Weapon System (RAWS) respectively, it was not available to regular infantry units. When faced with attack by Taliban units armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the infantry had only anti-armour missile systems with which to respond. Late last year, Saab announced that it had now delivered Carl Gustaf systems to the US Army for use by infantry. The Army had purchased 126 launchers and about 3,000 rounds of ammunition – a mix of high-explosive (HE) and highexplosive dual purpose (HEDP) types. This was essentially an evaluation batch, sufficient to equip two brigades. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) was another recent customer, ordering approximately 400 additional 84 mm M3 Carl Gustafs, and a similar number of uncooled AN/PAS-13C(V) thermal weapon sights for use on these weapons. Five regional users operate the Carl Gustaf – India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. One current trend in anti-tank missile development is to mount systems onto wheeled or tracked vehicles, a solution that offers high fire-power packed onto a relatively light chassis. This could prove
Ukraine has been promoting its Skif man-portable guided anti-tank system at recent defence exhibitions, and is reported to have offered the system to Thailand (c) Doug Richardson
attractive to regional operators who lack the budget and operating environment required by heavy armoured vehicles. Currently, Javelin is fired from an infantry-operated Command Launch Unit and Launch-Tube Assembly, but during the Eurosatory 2012 exhibition Lockheed Martin and the Norwegian company Kongsberg announced that during a live-fire demonstration sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, two Javelin missiles fired from a Kongsberg Protector Remote Weapon Station (RWS) mounted on a MOWAG Piranha V wheeled vehicle scored direct hits on targets located 800m and 1,650m from the launch vehicle. The RWS allowed the operator to fire Javelin missiles while remaining safely under armour, while the Javelin Vehicle Launcher (JVL) electronics allowed the Javelin missile round to interface with the vehicle’s fire-control systems. The JVL electronics can be adapted to allow
Tamuz was an early version of the missile now known as Spike NLOS © Israel Defense Forces
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Javelin to be integrated with any remote weapons systems or manned turret, giving a fire-on-the-move capability. Norway may adopt the new system for use on some of its armoured vehicles, and Lockheed Martin reports that interest is already being expressed by other customers. First revealed in 2011, Rafael’s Tamuz missile is a vehicle-mounted variant of the Spike NLOS. Used on a large scale during Israel's war with Hizbullah in Lebanon in 2006, the system proved a disappointment, This triggered the creation of a revised operational doctrine covering use of the system in urban combat. As a result, the system was subsequently used with success against targets in the Gaza Strip. The system is mounted on the Hafiz, an M113A2 armoured personnel carrier (APC) modified to carry two launchers, each capable of holding three missiles, while a further four missiles can be stored within the hull. After launch, Tamuz flies towards the target zone, transmitting imagery back to the launcher. The operator can use the weapon’s nose-mounted seeker to examine the terrain revealed as the flight continues and then select a suitable target. According to IDF Artillery Corps Commander Brigadier General David Swisa, Tamuz is the IDF's most accurate ground system. It can be directed against point targets after being launched towards an approximate location, and is accurate enough to be flown through the window of a house. Tamuz is an earlier version of what is now Spike NLOS [non line-of-sight]. Either of these systems may be the mysterious ‘Exactor’ missile known to be operated by the British Army in Afghanistan, and known to be available with high-explosive antitank (HEAT) and AMR fragmentation warheads.
AEW AIRCRAFT
ASIA-PACIFIC AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING Within the geographical area covered by AMR, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan all possess Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and/or AEW and Control (AEW & C) assets, with countries such as Malaysia aspiring to acquire such a capability. by Martin Streetly
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aking these in order (and at the time of writing), Australia has received its sixth and final Boeing E-7A ‘Wedgetail’ AEW&C aircraft. Based on the Boeing 737 airliner, the E-7A has had a troubled history due to problems with its Northrop Grumman L-band (1 to 2 GHz) Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) AEW and surveillance radar and the integration of its electronic support system. Accordingly, its introduction into
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service is way behind the date originally planned and the performance of the MESA radar continues to fall short of its original specification. None-the-less, the Royal Australian Air Force believes it has a capability that will progressively become a world-beater as the MESA radar’s software is progressively improved. For its part, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has overcome its failure to procure offshore AEW technology and has gone on to develop an indigenous
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capability. According to the one time Executive Vice President of China’s Academy of Electronics and Information Technology Wang Xiaomo, the PRC began work on its first AEW radar (the KJ-1 programme) during the 1960s. Xiapmo reports KJ-1 as having been abandoned due to ground clutter, transmitter, signal processor and antenna problems. The country’s next attempt to acquire an AEW capability came in the early 1990s with an abortive attempt to procure the
AEW AIRCRAFT
Israeli Phalcon AEW&C architecture installed aboard a modified Beriev A-50 airframe. This setback appears to have to have been the main driving force behind the programmes that have resulted in today’s indigenous KJ-200, KJ-2000 and ZDK-03 systems. Of these, the KJ-200 and the ZDK-03 systems are based on the Y-8 airframe, while the KJ-2000 suite is installed aboard a modified Il-76. Discussing the KJ2000, Xiaomo describes its design team’s initial thinking as centring on a nose/ lateral antenna array solution that would have provided 260° coverage. Such a solution was deemed inadequate and the final choice fell on a fixed rotodome housing three static arrays that were arranged in such a way as to provide full 360° coverage. Here, Xiaomo was of the opinion that work with the Israeli Phalcon suite before its cancellation had taught Chinese industry a great deal about transceiver module and composite material specification, quality control and the design of architectures based on data bus networks. Taken together, these strands suggest that the KJ-2000 radar is an active electronically steered sensor that makes use of transceiver module arrays within the rotodome or radiator/ receiver arrays within the rotodome that are driven by modules banks housed within the host platform’s fuselage.
In programmatic terms, a KJ-2000 ground rig is understood to have been under test by the end of 2002, with at least one prototype starting flight trials during the following year. Service entry was circa 2007 after a series of bugs (including electromagnetic and software
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has overcome its failure to procure offshore AEW technology and has gone on to develop an indigenous capability compatibility, data fusion problems, datalink connectivity and the radar’s performance over mountainous terrain) had been ironed out during a five year development programme. In terms of the radar used within the KJ-2000 system, unconfirmed PRC sources have associated it with a ‘14th Institute’ and report it as having incorporated that organisation’s experience in building the
Type 346 shipboard active phased array radar. Again, the KJ-2000 radar has been postulated as operating in either the S- (2 to 4 GHz) or the C-band (4 to 8 GHz). For its part, the KJ-200 architecture’s radar is claimed to be a product of the PRC’s ‘38th Institute’ and like the KJ-2000 sensor, is thought to be electronically scanned and to makes use of an arrangement of transceiver modules mounted in the dorsal fairing or radiator/ receiver arrays driven by module banks housed in the aircraft’s fuselage. Examination of available photographs suggest the use of an air cooled dorsal plank radome and the Y-8 airframe used to house the KJ-200 suite is reported to have undergone major upgrading when compared with the baseline. Here, updates include structural modifications, new engines, integrated avionics (including a glass cockpit), composite propellers, a beefed-up environmental control system and new braking and hydraulic systems. So configured, the aircraft is designated by the Chinese military as the Y-8W The remaining indigenous Y-8 based system (the ZDK-03) is equipped with a dorsal rotodome that features two dielectric sections. Analysis suggests that the architecture is based on a demonstrator that was first identified in the mid-1990s and which is known to have been flown in Pakistan (the purchaser of four ZDK-03s)
Japan’s JASDF operates a fleet of 13 E-2 Hawkeye aircraft in the AEW & C role © USAF
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AEW AIRCRAFT
At the time of publication, Brazilian contractor Embraer had delivered two EMB-145I aircraft for use in India’s indigenous AEW & C programme © Embraer
a Mission Computer (MC), a datalink capability, a Mission Communications System (MCS), a Data Handling and Display System (DHDS) and in-flight refuelling provision.
India has acquired a first tranche of three Il-76 based AEW & C platforms that are equipped with the Israeli Phalcon mission suite © Beriev
during 2007. If this is the case, the ZDK03 is likely to make use of a mechanically scanned array with the possibility of electronic scanning in elevation and/or azimuth. Readers should also be aware of the PRC Navy’s Y-8J aircraft that is equipped with an X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) Thales UK Skymaster radar that gives it a limited AEW facility. Like China, India is trying to develop an indigenous platform to augment its fleet of Israeli Phalcon suite equipped Il-76 AEW&C aircraft. Here, the new capability is based on the Brazilian ERJ-145 airframe and a nationally developed mission system. Here, work on the EMB-145I (as the new aircraft is designated) is being undertaken by a consortium that is led by the Bangalore-based Centre for AirBorne Systems (CABS – itself a part of India’s Defence Research and Development
Organisation - DRDO) and is designed to detect, identify and classify air threats and to act as an airborne command and control centre that can both support air defence and offensive air strike operations. As such, the architecture includes an S-band Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR), radar and communications band Electronic Support (ES) capabilities, an Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) interrogator, a Self-Protection Suite (SPS),
At the time of writing, two of the AN/APY-2 radars installed aboard the JASDF’s quartet of E-767 AEW & C platforms are known to have undergone the RSIP upgrade © USAF
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India is trying to develop an indigenous platform to augment its fleet of Israeli Phalcon suite equipped Il-76 AEW & C aircraft In more detail, the PSR takes the form of an active, electronically steered radar that uses multiple Integrated Antenna Arrays (IAA) that form the outer faces of a plank-shaped housing located above the host aircraft’s rear fuselage. Again, a DRDO illustration shows this structure to be a rectangular frame with fore and aft aerodynamic fairings that incorporate an air inlet and an exhaust respectively.
AEW AIRCRAFT
South Korea is the second Asia-Pacific country to acquire a MESA radar-equipped Boeing 737 AEW & C aircraft © Boeing
A ventral T-frame appears to be used for rigidity and the entire assembly appears to provide accommodation for 10 IAAs per side. Other identifiable features include a cooling duct running the entire length of the assembly and what seem to be internal mountings for the radar's Transmit-Receive Multi-Modules (TRMM) - developed by the Hyderabadbased Astra Microwave Products Ltd on top of the cooling duct. Patented by Astra and the DRDO, each TRMM weighs 3.2 kg and incorporates eight transceivers per module. Other features include a wide bandwidth at S-band, a high peak/low noise figure, pulsed power generation and digital control of switching, phase and amplitude. For their part, each IAA offers integrated S- (radar) and L-band (1 to 2 GHz - for the IFF interrogator)
functionality, incorporates cavity-backed slotted arrays and is packaged in the form of a Teflon-coated fibre substrate that is used to clad the sides of the described plank housing. In terms of operating modes, the radar is designed to provide search, track-while-scan, priority tracking and high performance tracking, with
Currently, the Royal Thai Air Force plans to acquire two Saab 340AEW aircraft © Saab/ Peter Liander)
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the latter featuring optimised tracking accuracy. For its part, the priority tracking mode is understood to maintain specified tracks throughout the radar’s primary surveillance area, with the PSR as a whole being further noted as being a fast-beam agile system that is able to operate in several modes concurrently.
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Overall, India’s EMB-145I AEW & C aircraft is fitted with five operator stations, four of which are devoted to radar surveillance, fighter direction, radar ES and communications ES respectively. Grouped into the DHDS sub-system, each of these is reconfigurable, with each workstation displaying both imagery and menus. Again, the DHDS consoles provide mission planning, communications handling, weather data handling and mission data preparation/ handling facilities. MCS provision includes a C-band (4 to 8 GHz) voice/data datalink (with Ku-band (12.5 to 18 GHz) satellite communications redundancy) and air-to-air Very/Ultra High Frequency (30 MHz to 3 GHz) band voice/data channels, with the whole being integrated with the platform’s intercommunications system and providing integral electronic counter-countermeasures proofing for the external links. AMR sources report India’s EMB-145I platform as having a service ceiling of 10,668 m (35,000 ft), a radar operating altitude of 7,620 m (25,000 ft), an endurance of more than five hours on
India’s EMB-145I AEW & C aircraft is fitted with five operator stations, four of which are devoted to radar surveillance, fighter direction, radar ES and communications ES respectively internal fuel, 240° radar coverage and a detection range of between 250 and 370 km. In programmatic terms (and at the time of publication), Brazilian manufacturer Embraer has rolled out two EMB-145I AEW & C aircraft which will be fitted out and flight tested (originally scheduled to start during November 2012) in India. Moving eastward into the Pacific, the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF)
operates a mixed fleet of 13 E-2 Hawkeye and four Boeing E-767 AEW & C aircraft. In reverse order, the JASDF’s Boeing E-767s have most recently been the subject of a Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) upgrade. As applied to the E-767, RSIP improves the type’s AN/APY-2 radar’s effectiveness (particularly against low radar cross section targets) and includes a new pulse compressed waveform (improving the radar’s sensitivity), an enhanced manmachine interface, the introduction of new general purpose adaptive signal processors, enhanced data sampling rates and range/velocity resolution and improved reliability/maintainability. As of April 2012, two of Japan’s four E-767s had been ‘RSIPed’. For their part, the service’s E-2s have undergone their own upgrade programme under which, their original AN/APS-138 radars, mission computers, IFF system, operator displays and cooling system have been replaced with the AN/APS-145 radar, the Hawkeye 2000’s Mission Computer Upgrade (MCU), the same aircraft’s IFF and display systems and a 15-ton cooling
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AEW AIRCRAFT
Singapore is the second country after Israel to procure the Gulfstream G550 CAEW AEW & C aircraft © Martin Streetly
system. The AN/ALR-73 ES system and communications suite installed aboard the ‘as delivered’ aircraft are retained on the upgraded platforms. Japan’s neighbour South Korea is procuring a Boeing 737 airframe/MESA radar combination that is generally similar to Australia’s E-7A ‘Wedgetail’ aircraft, while Pakistan is acquiring up to four Saab 2000 AEW&C aircraft to operate alongside its ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle AEW platforms. The Pakistani Saab 2000 AEW & Cs are fitted with Saab’s S-band Erieye active, phased array, pulse Doppler surveillance radar and the same company’s HES-21 ES and self-protection sub-system. Of the two, HES-21 incorporates ES and Radio Frequency (RF) threat warning, laser warning, missile approach warning and countermeasures dispensing subsystems. Here, the ES/RF warning provision covers the 0.7 to 18 and 28 to 40 GHz bands. For its part, Erieye has a target dependent detection envelope of between 150 and 450 km; includes a range of features such as adaptive waveform generation, frequency agility, low and medium pulse repetition frequency modes and graceful degradation and is said to have particularly impressed the Pakistan Air Force by virtue of its ability to detect low-flying, low-speed targets. Returning to Southeast Asia, Singapore has procured four Gulfstream G550 Conformal AEW
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(CAEW) aircraft that are equipped with the Elta Systems EL/W-2085 mission suite. As such, EL/W-2085 includes a dual-band (L- and S-band) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, an integrated IFF system, radar and communications band ES systems and up to six operator consoles. Looking more closely at the type’s dualband radar, the sensor incorporates four radiator/receiver arrays (driven by internally-mounted banks of
The Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) operates a mixed fleet of 13 E-2 Hawkeye and four Boeing E-767 AEW & C aircraft transceiver modules in at least two of the four implementations) that provide 360° coverage in azimuth. The fore and aft arrays operate in the S-band while its port and starboard lateral elements function in the L-band. Other features i nclu de time-space management, selectable surveillance sectors, high value and target verification modes and a ‘track before detect’ function. Software driven elements include Doppler compensation, waveform generation,
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sidelobe management, beam shaping/ pointing and beam stabilisation. Singapore’s neighbour Thailand has (like Pakistan) opted to procure an Erieye radar-based AEW capability that takes the form of a single Saab 340AEW platform (the export designation for ex Swedish Air Force S 100B Argus aircraft) that is being integrated into a national air defence network that Saab is under contract to develop and install. Unlike Pakistan’s Saab 2000 AEW & C machines, the Thai Saab 340AEW does not carry onboard operators and downlinks received data for processing to groundbased facilities within the overall air defence system. As currently envisaged, Thailand intends to acquire a second Saab 340AEW aircraft when funding permits. At the time of writing, the Thai aircraft was assigned to the Royal Thai Air Force’s No 702 Squadron based at Surat Thani International Airport. The final regional country – Taiwan – listed at the beginning of this brief survey is another E-2 Hawkeye operator that over time, has procured four E-2T (E-2C Group II configuration – Japan’s original aircraft were E-2 Group 0s) and two E-2C Hawkeye 2000E aircraft. Again like Japan, Taiwan’s E-2Ts have been progressively brought up to Hawkeye 2000 standard, with the entire force understood to be assigned to the Republic of China Air Force’s 2nd Electronic Warfare Squadron based at AMR Pingtung-South Air Base.
MBT WEAPONS
MBT WEAPON SYSTEMS:
MAIN GUNS, MUNITIONS AND REMOTE WEAPON STATIONS The popularity of the Main Battle Tank (MBT) continues to ebb and flow. For some, the MBT remains the king of the battlefield while for others is has become of limited utility compared to lighterweight platforms. by Adam Baddeley
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ilitaries in the West are reducing their inventories of MBTs in favour of lighter solutions and in some cases disposing of them altogether. In April this year, the Royal Netherlands Army took the decision to give up its tank fleet in its entirety. The Czech Republic is only operating 30 modernised T-72M4 CZ MBTs with over 100 earlier T-72s up for sale. Even Germany, which
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is a major tank operator in Europe only operates 350 Leopard 2A5/A6 MBTs. In contrast, those in the Asia-Pacific region are continuing to maintain their fleets and in some cases switching from smaller, lighter designs to heavier MBT solutions, originally designed to fight Cold War era battles on the Inner German Border. In addition to their role in tank versus tank or other AFV combat, events in Afghanistan in particular have been the
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catalyst to develop and field rounds that can more effectively and more cheaply defeats sangars, bunkers and missile fielding insurgent teams in the firesupport role.
The MBT
China is a major investor in MBT technologies, the fruit of that research seen in the new export-focused MBT3000, a three man crew design developed by China North Industries Corporation
MBT WEAPONS
(Norinco) launched at Eurosatory in June. The MBT-3000's firepower is based on a 125mm smoothbore gun and automatic loader with 40 rounds carried and is able to fire both conventional rounds and laser-guided projectiles. The MBT-3000's weight is also put at 52 tonnes making it more suitable for many Asia-Pacific users. Australia has acquired 59 M1A1 Abrams but appears to have postponed plans for an upgrade in its latest four year plans. US tanks also remain in
China is a major investor in MBT technologies, the fruit of that research seen in the new export-focused MBT-3000 | SEPTEMBER 2012 |
India has funded large investments in its MBT fleets and plans to field the FMBT in 2020 Š Indian MoD
export demand both within the region and without with Morocco seeking to acquire 200 surplus General Dynamics Land Systems M1A1 Abrams from the US with the $1.02 billion plan announced in June. Morocco has also acquired 150 Chinese VT1A MBTs since 2010, replacing legacy T-72, M60A1/A3 and M48A5 tanks.
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MBT WEAPONS
Operations in Afghanistan have required MBTs to adapt to asymmetric threats © US DoD
60-70 tonne MBT marks a huge break with the past for Indonesia which has operated only light amphibious tanks such as the Scorpion, AMX-13 and PT-76 amphibious light tanks. Neighbouring Malaysia, which been operated the Polish PT-91M tanks since 2007 is rumoured to be considering T-90S MBTs. While the fashion for tanks has wavered in the West, Russia' commitment to the tank has never changed. The most recent example of this is the T-90MS MBT which sees improved fire power
Malaysia have acquired Bumar PT-91 but has been linked to a future T-90S buy © Dzirhan Mahadir
Indonesia has recently ended its plans to acquire Leopard 2A6 tanks from Netherlands as part of the country's Minimum Essential Force or MEF programme and is now pursuing
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German-sourced vehicles after the Dutch Parliament stopped any purchase in June. The expected price of of the deal was reportedly $280 million for up to 100 vehicles. The pursuit of a
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While the fashion for tanks has wavered in the West, Russia’s commitment to the tank has never changed
MBT WEAPONS
and protection and was shown first at DEFEXPO in Delhi earlier this year with a number of potential operators in the Asia Pacific. A key lethality upgrade on the tank is the move to the 2A46M-5 125 mm smoothbore gun which has better accuracy at longer ranges than legacy 125mm guns with 22 rounds ready to use and a further 18 carried aboard. The MBT is also equipped with the UDP T05BV-1 RWS. The Indian Army has acquired a total of 647 T-90S MBTs since 2001 with a number produced locally in kit form. India plans to build a further 1,000 T-90S MBTs under licence at the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory. For the future is also pursuing the 120 mm smoothbore 50-tonne future main battle tank (FMBT) lead by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and slated to replace the country's T72M1 'Ajeya' fleets by 2020. The DRDO previous foray into the MBT arena with the Arjun has had mixed success with 124 Arjun Mk 1s currently in service with more on order with the Mk 2 in the wings but with a high price tag of $8 million per tank. India has not entirely forsaken the light tank with a long standing requirement for a capability that could be deployed along its border with India as well as a reconnaissance role in other areas. Another South East Asian country bulking up its tank fleet is Thailand with the Royal Thai Army replacing its obsolescent M41 light tanks with Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau 49 Oplot MBTs, a version of the T-84 further developed in Ukraine Ukrspetsexport, in a $240 million deal signed in September with delivery beginning in 2013. Pakistan is basing its MBT fleet via partnership with Norinco which has delivered the upgraded Type 59 and Type 69 MBTs, enabled local assembly of the Type 85-IIAP with the two also working together on the development of the Al Khalid. Otokar's new Altay MBT is expected to be a competitor in several of the future tank competitions being planned in the region. Its main gun is the South Korean 120 mm L/55 smoothbore gun now in operation on the Hyundai Rotem K2 MBT with up to 250 Altays expected to be acquired by Turkey by the end of this decade. Turkey's Aselsan has also developed a Leopard II upgrade known as the Leopard 2 Next Generation which
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Australia has acquired 59 M1A2 Abrams MBT but has postponed upgrade plans Š Commonwealth of Australia
improves the accuracy of the Rheinmetall 120 mm L/44 smoothbore gun which also features a RWS.
The Indian Army has acquired a total of 647 T-90S MBTs since 2001 Adding an enhanced capability in urban operations has increased the utility of tanks in asymmetric conflicts and typically comprises additional armour around all aspects of the tank but particularly the engine compartment and turret bustle was well as the addition of a RWS and better situational awareness in its immediate vicinity. The Action en Zone URbaine (AZUR) capability has been delivered by use by the United
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Arab Emirates fleet of Nexter Systems Leclerc MBTs. Bumar has developed the similar PT-72U designed for T-72 family of vehicles with Malaysia's PT-91 fleet a possible candidate. The US TUSK upgrade to the M1A1 and M1A2-series Abrams as prompted by the experience of Iraq with the resulting package comprising a Common Remote Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) as well as additional sensors and armour.
Rounds and Weapon Systems
Nammo's 120mm IM HE-T round is in service with Norway on the Leopard 2 where it is designated the M253 where it has been shown to produce twice the HE effect of in-service HE rounds with rounds also being evaluated by Sweden. In Canada, Nammo have worked with General Dynamics on the evaluation
MBT WEAPONS
A number of users around the world have acquired the Leopard II MBT Š Rheinmetall
of the round for forces there and the company have opened discussions with Chile on using the round. The round contains 3.2Kg of HE with the round having muzzle velocity of 1030m/s and uses a two mode fuze with point detection and delay mode. The US Army has turned to ATK to develop its next generation of 120mm rounds for the Abrams via the M829E4 Advanced Kinetic Energy (AKE) tactical tank round designs to defeat heavily armoured targets, including those with ERA to a range of over 4km as well as non traditional targets now found on the battlefield and which is currently in its engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase. ATK's saboted, sub-calibre shaped charge warhead design is the 120mm M830A1 which is the standard HEAT round for the US Army and builds on the legacy M830 with a greater range and
faster time of flight with its fuze setting for proximity giving it an anti-helicopter capability although to date this has not been used in anger. The ATK M1028 antipersonnel canister round can be used with L44 120mm barrels. Israel Military Industries continues to serve MBTs of both Western and Eastern heritages. The 125mm High Explosive Multi-Purpose Tracer (HE-MP-T) round is compatible with T-72, T-80 and T-90 MBTs and is optimised for urban warfare, being able to penetrate 200mm of double reinforced concrete with the round's programmable fuze being able to support three settings; Point Detonation Delay, Super Quick/Point Detonation and Air Burst. The company's M339 HE-MP-T provides the same capability in L44 and L55 smoothbore barrels. Russian-origin tank rounds include the 125mm 3VOF36/3OF26 HE Fragmentation rounds, the 905m/s 3VBK16/3BK18M and 1700m/s 3VBM17/3BM42 APFSDS rounds designed for the D-81 gun and produced by the Mechanical Engineering Research Institute-Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Canada uses the Rheinmetall DM33A2 long-rod KE round and DM12A2 HEATMP together with the GD OTS M1028
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canister with its Leopard II 2A4/A6M CAN fleet. DMI, the US based Joint Venture (JV) between Rheinmetall Defence and General Dynamics provides tactical tank ammunition to a number of customers. The JV's DM43A1 APFSD-T round was launched in Egypt and also counts Australia as a customer. After Fallujah, the US Marines developed a requirement to engage dismounted and mechanised targets being able to punch through 20cm double reinforced concrete walls with a need to create a walk through hole in that wall in three shots. The DM11 round matched these requirements.
Otokar’s new Altay MBT is expected to be a competitor in several of the future tank competitions being planned in the region The DM11 round, given the working title Multi-Purpose High Explosive (MPHE) is in theatre in Afghanistan, with the
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MBT WEAPONS
Russia has developed a number of upgrade paths for its T-90 family of MBTs Š AJB
Marines. A programmable round, it offers point delay impact, delay and airburst. In the first engagement by the marines with the round, a Taliban target was engaged at 2.9km. The round has a range of 5km. The DM11 round was type qualified in 2009 with serial production beginning in 2010 with 3000 rounds delivered to the USMC to date from DMI. The round is in procurement with the Bundeswehr and contract negotiations with others. While 120mm and 125mm are the calibres of choice for MBTs today, a number of in service MBTs will continue to operate the 105mm weapon for some time to come. In Belgium, CMI Defence has developed a range of munitions to extend the effectiveness of this main gun. These include the M1061 HEAT with a velocity of 1173m/s which is capable of penetrating over 400mm of NATO heavy RHA armour at 1500m and the M1204 canister round with the M393 A3 HESH round able to burst through 20cm of double reinforced concrete, creating a 60cm diameter hole for the ingress of troops. In addition to direct fire solutions, precision guided munitions that can be
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fired from tanks have begun to enter forces' inventories. CMI Defence has created the Falarick 105 round which has a maximum range of 5000m which takes 17 seconds and is guided by a semiautomatic laser beam and can penetrate 550mm of RHA behind ERA.US work on guided munitions was via the 120 mm XM1111 Mid-Range Munition although work on this now appear to be on hold. Israeli Aerospace Industries' LAHAT (Laser Homing Attack or Laser Homing Anti-Tank) can be fired from 105mm and 120mm guns and potentially other barrels and is guided via a semi-active laser guidance system for direct and indirect engagement with a range of 8km and is capable of penetrating 800mm of RHA steel using a tandem warhead. The AT-11 Refleks is the version of the 9K119 guided munition used on the T-80U, T-80UD and T-90E tanks, while the AT-11 Svir or 'sniper' can be used with the nonstabilised sights on the T-72B and T-72S tanks both the AT-11 9M119 Svir and 9M119M Refleks are laser beam riding. It is reportedly in use by China. Other designs include the earlier AT-8 Songster and a Ukrainean development known as Kombat.
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RWS provide a natural extension of a tank's offensive and defensive capability, allowing the crew to engage targets while remaining under armour. Australia's EOS recently teamed with South Korea's Hyundai-Wia in the area of RWS in Korea and for export markets. EOS recently won an order for its R-600 dual weapon remote weapon station worth $27 million from Singapore with the RWS already in service on Singapore on its new Terrex Infantry Combat Vehicle. Rafael outlined a significant expansion of its RWS range at Eurosatory with two new designs suitable for MBTs; the Samson Junior, shown with a Russian 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun with the design also capable of using smaller calibre weapons and a modular Non Lethal Weapons package mounted on a Samson Junior RWS which included smoke, tear gas or flashbang-type 76 mm grenades 10 40 mm grenades, loud hailer and dazzle lights. Other RWS solution include the Kongsberg Protector selected for the US CROWS programme the Krauss Maffei Wegman FLW100/200, Saab's Trackfire AMR and Elbit's ORCWS.
REGIONAL NEWS AND
DEVELOPMENTS
After an independent investigation into the selection of the Dassault Rafale found no irregularities, the procurement process is continuing Š AJB
ASIA PACIFIC PROCUREMENT UPDATE
South Asia
An independent inquiry ordered by Defence Minister A.K. Antony has found that the bid evaluation process than led to the selection of the Dassault Rafale for the Indian Air Force's 126-strong MMRCA programme was fair and proper. The decision has allowed progress towards a final contract to continue. India's Ministry of Defence is to revise its offset policy, expanding the areas of India economy which can be included in such deal to include civil aerospace, homeland security and training sectors as well as encouraging overseas firms to invest to small and medium sized firms. India's Cabinet Committee on Security is reported to have begun initial discussions on the potential to build a ballistic missile defence network around Delhi and Mumbai. Initial planning for locations around the two cities is also reported to have begun. A test fire of the Indian Army's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile took place at the end of July at the Chandipur missile test range in the eastern province of Orissa. Plans for a flight test of the airborne version of the Russian Indian missile, which will equip the Indian Air Force's SU-30MKI Flanker-H aircraft are on track for 2013. Trials of the Arjun Mk II Main battle Tank began in late June at the Army's test site at the Pokhran range in North-Western India. India has established a new unit, known as the Thar Falcons, recruited from the Border Home Guards to guard oil fields in Rajasthan. The go ahead for the procurement of a new fleet of 56 transport aircraft worth
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$2.4 billion to replace the ageing BAE Systems HS-748s has been given by the Defence Acquisition Council on July 23rd. The Indian Air Force plans to begin an international competition to acquire 16 aircraft direct from the manufacturer with a further 40 built locally. Reports suggest that a private contractor may be selected over the public sector incumbent; Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. India has given the green light for the purchase of 14 Dornier maritime patrol aircraft worth $1.5 billion. The Indian Air Force's Air Marshal (Training) Rajinder Singh has said the first 13 PC-7 Mk II training aircraft will be inducted by January 2013 with a total of 75 aircraft requried. The US has signed off on India's request for an additional six Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft for its Special Forces following a submission of a Letter of Request in September 2011 for a Foreign Military Sales acquisition. The purchase would take the total Indian Air Force fleet to twelve. Details of India's Indian Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle programme have been reported in the international press. The flying wing design, being developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization who have approached Dassault, Saab and BAE Systems for support in the efforts and is expected to fly in 2015-16 with plans for deliveries from 2020. India’s Hindustan Aeronautics and Russia's United Aircraft Corp have signed a deal for the development of a 15-20 tonne Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA) programmes. The two engined MTA is due to have its first flight in 2017.
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Vice Admiral Devender Kumar Joshi, currently head of the Western Naval Command is to be India's next Naval Chief and will replace Admiral Nirmal Verma in the role. India has established a new base; Naval Air Station Baaz in the Andaman and Nicobar islands with the existing airstrip being expanded to take larger transport planes. Sea trials of India's Russian-built aircraft carrier; the Vikramaditya are underway in the Barents Sea and are reported to have been successful and are on track ready for the ship's transit to India and arrival in December this year. The Indian Navy sent four Navy ships, the INS Rana, INS Shivalik, INS Karmukh and INS Shakti to China in June; docking in Shanghai. Pakistan has tested the Hatf VIII missile, a nuclear capable cruise missile with a range of 350km. Lieutenant General Asif Yasin Malik, a retied Army officer who left the service in December has been selected as Pakistan's Defence Secretary. The Pakistan defence budget is to rise by ten percent in 2013, up from $5.3 billion to $5.8 billion which represents an 18 percent share of the country's central budget. Pakistan has inducted the new Azmat fast attack craft into the fleet after it reached Pakistan after being launched in China in April. Five aircrew died when a Pakistan Army Mi-17 helicopter crashed near an airport near the city of Skardu. The Sri Lankan Air force has ordered 14 Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport, worth $300 million funded via a ten year loan.
REGIONAL NEWS AND
DEVELOPMENTS
South East Asia
The Eurofighter Typhoon package being offered to Malaysia will include an Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar with the radar scheduled to enter service with the four core nations in the Eurofighter programme, Germany, Italy Spain and the UK in 2015. The Philippines has announced plans to replace its OV-10 aircraft and MG520 helicopters with ten new attack helicopters in 2013. The Air Force also have plans to acquire twelve Service Attack Aircraft/Lead In Fighter Trainer (SAA/ LIFT) in 2014 along with three tactical transports. A Chinese Navy frigate has ran aground just off Palawan, 60 nautical miles to the disputed Scarborough Shoal. It was refloated several days later. Indonesia’s Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro met with China’s General Jing Zhiyuan, the commander of China’s strategic missile organisation in Indonesia to discuss increased defence co-operation. Indonesia and Germany has signed an agreement, dubbed the ‘Jakarta Declaration’ – on defence cooperation following a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to
the country. Germany is on the verge of completing a deal to sell 100 Leopard II MBTs to Indonesia. Indonesia has sent observers along with the countries of Brunei, European Union, Japan, Malaysia and Norway, to observe the case fire between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The UK ministry of Defence has began a media training programme with the Indonesian military, working with the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. An Indonesian court has sentenced Umar Patek, a leader of Jemaah Islamiyam liked to Al-Qaeda to twenty years in prison for his part in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed over 200 people. The Indonesian Air Force has ordered a further eight Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, bringing to 16 the total ordered since November 2010. An Indonesian Air Force Fokker F-27, part of 2nd Squadron crashed in the Suburbs of Jakarta while trying to land at the Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force base killing six crew and three civilians on the ground. Two senior Indonesian officers have died from nitrogen
intoxication and severe decompression during a submarine rescue exercise off the coast of Pasir Putih near Situbondo. Thailand’s government has extended the state of martial law which exists in the restive Muslim-majority provinces in the country’s south for a further three months to September 19th. Martial law has been in place since 2005. The government also announced that it had tasked the Internal Security Operations Command to provide the government with data on the number of attacks in the period to determine if the measure was being effective. Sailors on board the four new US Navy Littoral Combat ships that will deploy to Singapore in 2013 will live on ship while in Singapore rather than live ashore. Vietnam has passed a new law asserting its sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands and has begun airborne patrols over the Spratlys. A delegation from Vietnam led by Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Truong Quang Khanh, has travelled to discuss defence cooperation and further defence sales, meeting meeting Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in Moscow. The Typhoon package offered to Malaysia will include an AESA radar © AJB
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REGIONAL NEWS AND
DEVELOPMENTS
The F-35 Lightning II is one of three competitors for Korea’s FX-III programme a decision on which is expected from October © US DoD
East Asia
South Korea announced the pushing back of a deadline for bids for its requirement for 60 FX-III aircraft, originally due in June. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) cited errors in key documents and asked that the bidders; Boeing’s F-15SE Silent Eagle, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II and the Eurofighter Typhoon resubmit on July 5th. The DAPA plan on making a decision in October. Deliveries are due from 2016-21. South Korea has selected Elbit Systems for a $62 million contract to upgrade ten of its C-130 aircraft with new glass cockpits and digital flight displays. The Republic of Korea Air Force has also ordered four new C-130J aircraft. Rolls Royce have been selected by the Republic of Korea navy to supply eight MT30 gas-turbine engine on the country’s FFX Batch II frigates as part of hybrid design with an as yet to be determined diesel engine. For the FFX Batch I ships, two General Electric LM2500
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engines were used. BAE Systems has completed upgrading 236 US Bradley vehicles based in South Korea with the Bradley Urban Survivability Kit III kit. Japan’s latest Defence White Paper has stated the country’s concern over what it sees as increased Chinese belligerence in the seas around the country as well as limited transparency over spending and force levels. It also calls for increased surveillance around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands which both countries claim. Japan and Russia have agreed to implement regular high-level talks on the future of the Kurile Islands, ceded to Russia from Japan and the end of World War II. Japan’s General Shigeru Iwasaki, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff has visited Russia to meet with his counter part General Nikolai Makarov where the two discussed bilateral military cooperation and security issue in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan has opened a military attaché office at its embassy in Kazakhstan.
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Japan’s Ministry of Defence is finalising plans for its UH-X utility helicopter programme, a replacement for the legacy UH-1J and UH-1H helicopter fleets. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is developing the aircraft which is scheduled to enter service from 2017. The UH-X will be able to carry eleven passengers in addition to its two-man crew or carry over 1.9 tonnes of cargo. Japan has increased its fleet of Hydroid autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) to five following the purchase of a REMUS 600 which can dive to 600m, from the Kongsberg Maritime subsidiary. China has announced that it is now deploying combat ready patrols in the areas around the disputed South China Sea islands. Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs visited Beijing during which time she met with Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie with the two stating that they promised improved defence and security cooperation.
REGIONAL NEWS AND
DEVELOPMENTS
The HMAS Choules lost half its electrical power on the way to an exercise and it will take several month before it re-enters service © Commonwealth of Australia
Australasia New Zealand and the US have inked an agreement to further enhance defence cooperation while still retaining the former’s stance that no nuclear armed vessels can dock in New Zealand, a policy that has been in place since 1985 and has effectively banned all US vessels from the country. Australia has released its 2013-2016 Defence Capability Plan (DCP) outlining plans to spend over $150 billion on defence procurement over the next four years. The recently acquired HMAS Choules amphibious ship limped back into Sydney
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harbour in June after a transformer in its propulsion system failed result in a drop in power to the vessel of 50 percent. The Royal Australian Navy has been forced to acquire a replacement which will take a number of months to arrive. Australia has awarded Rockwell Collins a $67.8 million contract for its Digital Terminal Control Systems programme. Under the deal, the Army will use the company’s FireStorm ensemble which comprises a tablet computer, Laser Range Finder, Target Designator, video
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datalink receiver and Combat Net Radio. Australia’s Tiger attack helicopter fleet were grounded again in June after fumes were detected in an aircraft cockpit. This was shortly after they were cleared to fly again after similar incident in May. The Philippines Senate has passed a status of forces agreement covering the legal status of Australian forces in the country. The Royal Australian navy is setting up a deal whereby it will use electricity created by a wave energy generators to power its main naval base at Garden Island.