Asian military review 2013v21n5

VOLUME 21/ISSUE 5

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Contents AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 21 / ISSUE 5

48 Made in Taiwan Hong Kong-based defence photojournalist Gordon Arthur takes a look behind the headlines at Taiwan’s current, and future, defence posture and procurement priorities across its ground, sea and air forces

Front Cover Photo: An injured Afghan Army soldier receives help from a US Army medic and his Afghan counterpart. Predicting injuries and monitoring soldier health is the subject of this edition’s ‘Military Health Insurance’ article © US DoD

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Stopping the Signals Improvised Explosive Devices characterise modern warfare and are responsible for killing and maiming countless soldiers and civilians. UK-based defence journalist Peter Donaldson looks at some of the ongoing efforts to render them ineffective

14 Of Atlas and Hercules While the multi-role combat aircraft market is characterised by several firms chasing comparatively few orders, AMR editor Thomas Withington finds out that things look altogether healthier in the military airlifter market

Military Health Insurance

United Kingdom-based naval affairs expert Ted Hooten examines in detail the latest news regarding corvette and offshore patrol vessel acquisition and modernisation programmes ongoing around the Asia-Pacific region

A Shot in the Dark?

Heaven Sent AMR editor Thomas Withington looks at some of the latest developments in the fast-moving field of vehicle and soldier satellite communications, taking the temperature of several ongoing programmes around the globe

Mumbai-based Sarosh Bana, executive editor at Business India, takes a detailed look at a range of Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence programmes around the region across the land, sea and air domains

Ballistic missiles have become a badge of prestige for many nefarious regimes around the world. The United States is leading efforts to develop defensive systems to protect against these threats. AMR editor Thomas Withington investigates

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Connecting the Dots

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Offshore Investments

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Ways and means of monitoring a soldier’s health are fast becoming a reality on the battlefield.

United Kingdom-based defence journalist Peter Donaldson takes a look at some of the fascinating technologies helping to save lives

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9 17 COVER 4 63 COVER 3 61 65 69 55 67 47 5 25 51 21,29 59 33 COVER 2

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Editorial LONDON

CALLING ith the Paris Air Show only just behind us, although it already feels like a lifetime ago, a sizeable chunk of the world’s defence community will descend on London, refreshed from their holidays, suited, booted and ready for the biannual Defence Security and Equipment International, better known by its acronym ‘DSEi’.

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This year, DSEi will be held between 10th and 13th September. The event is wellestablished on the international exhibitions calendar and, for the best part of a week, London’s Docklands, the former port of the City of London, and now home to financial institutions, banks and bijou apartments will play host to warships in the dock of the Excel Exhibition Centre, where the event is held, and a cornucopia of vehicles and defence technologies inside its halls. Unsurprisingly, the show’s organisers are promising a huge spectacle; 1,400 exhibitors and 40 international pavilions. However, this year’s exhibition will be particularly significant in that it will be the last DSEi before the United States of America and her allies commence their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Your editor first attended DSEi very early on in his career at the start of the 21st Century. During successive shows he has witnessed an ever-increasing amount of exhibits designed for the protracted counter-insurgency campaigns being waged in Afghanistan and also Iraq. Light wheeled vehicles, soldier protection and counterimprovised explosive device technologies were all in abundance. This was not surprising, there was a clear operational need for such materiel, and money was plentiful with the United Kingdom among several nations requiring the speedy purchase and deployed of kit via Urgent Operational Requirements.

Such wares will no doubt be on show once again in mid-September. It may seem like (forgive the pun) jumping the gun, but what will the next DSEi look like in 2015? Not only will this be the first DSEi in a post-Afghanistan environment, but the defence budget financial climate in Europe and North America may still be chilly. If this is the case, will the organisers be able to maintain a show as large and wideranging as the one we enjoy today? Only time will tell.

Thomas Withington, Editor

Editor: Thomas Withington E-mail: t_withington@hotmail.com

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STOPPING THE SIGNALS

Detecting explosives hidden in mud or other media with a high water content using non-contact sensors is the goal of DARPA’s Methods for Explosive Detection at Standoff (MEDS) programme © DARPA

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In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker presents voluminous statistics from diverse sources that chart the spiky and patchy but clear long-term decline in violence of all kinds, offering explanations for what he suggests is the most important thing that has ever happened in human history.

by Peter Donaldson

in wars overseas in an attempt to deny terrorists safe havens. One key to that success lies in capturing media attention with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks that generate distressing images of carnage, mostly overseas, and a stream of dead and damaged soldiers coming home.

The numbers of casualties may be small in comparison with previous wars, but most developed societies’ sensitivity to them is higher then ever, reflecting a growing abhorrence of violence.

Ironically, as societies become less violent and less tolerant of violence, the IED may become even more attractive to those terrorist groups who want to gain leverage from the media’s ‘if it bleeds it leads’ culture but fail to take popular disgust into account. Such people could do a lot of damage before they eventually fail. This argues strongly for continued efforts to defeat the IED, efforts that are technological as well as social and politi-

n many different graphs, statistics such as homicides per 100,000 people, numbers of wars between and within states, genocides and even terrorist campaigns trace a downward sloping sawtooth. Pinker cites many causes for the decline; such as broadly effective government, spreading literacy, education and mass media, empowerment of women, engagement in international trade and political bodies, and peacekeeping forces to name but a selection.

He also argues that all terrorist groups fail in their stated objectives, erode their own support bases in host populations and eventually die. In one respect, however, they have been very successful; that is in terrorising people and consequently forcing governments to respond with precautions that add to the friction and frustration of everyday life at home and to engage

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Chemring division NIITEK, known for its ground penetrating radar technology, has won a DARPA MEDS contract. Here, its VISOR 2500 systems are seen fitted to Husky vehicles © US DoD

cal, the international military draw down from Afghanistan notwithstanding. A further irony, one with a more positive flavour this time, is that as the IED threat has become internationalised so have efforts to combat it, drawing together government and military representatives from around the world and motivating them to work together, a further violence-reducing development.

Pakistan

On 20th May 2013, for example, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, called for a regional military Counter-IED (C-IED) forum supported by a wider international forum to benefit from the experiences of all the countries involved.

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IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE Gen Kayani’s call came at the end of his address to a symposium at Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in which he also commented: “The participation of representatives from 28 countries is a vivid expression of the desire of international community to fight terrorism. It is also reflective of the international community’s willingness to play a greater role in the region in dealing with the multiple issues associated with IEDs.” Gen. Kayani added that: “The threat and impact of these weapons is not Pakistan specific. IEDs have caused devastation at both regional and global levels. These have been used with unfortunate consistency in Iraq and Afghanistan and thankfully, somewhat inconsistently, in other countries of the world. The recent Boston bombings involving use of homemade IED manifests the international dimension of this threat and A US Marine Carries a Sierra Nevada Thor II IED jammer. SNC recently completed delivery of more than 3,000 of the smaller Baldr model © US DoD

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serves as a stark reminder that even the most developed nations of the world remain vulnerable to this threat.” The IED is a lowinvestment, high-payoff weapon that forces governments and militaries to develop countermeasures that are disproportionately complex, expensive and laborious.

Defeating it requires a multi-pronged approach, which the US Joint IED Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO) neatly encapsulates in the mantra “attack the network, defeat the device, train the force”.

DARPA

While much progress has been made in the second prong, particularly in making it difficult and dangerous to use radio frequency remote triggers such as cell phones, the problem of detecting explosives at useful and safe distances remains a tough nut to crack. This is the goal of DARPA’s Methods for Explosive Detection at Standoff (MEDS) programme, under which the organisation awarded contracts to Quasar Federal Systems (US $1.8 million), the University of Arizona ($1.5 million) and BAE Systems

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($427,000) in April 2013.

The MEDS effort seeks to rapidly develop and demonstrate non-contact methods to detect explosives embedded or packaged in opaque media with high water content, such as mud, meat and animal carcasses.

The organisation sought proposals from industry for proof-of concept systems.

Issuing the solicitation in mid-October, DARPA acknowledged two decades of significant progress in C-IED technologies with increasing levels of sophistication, citing indirect methods to detect packaging, wiring, or fusing and more direct detection methods, which are the subject of the MEDS programme.

Direct methods can be divided into trace detection and bulk detection, said DARPA, listing optical absorption and fluorescence, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), and biosensors among the trace detection techniques. Bulk detection techniques, the organisation continued, include spectroscopic methods such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR); imaging using ionising

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A controlled explosion destroys an IED near Nawzad in Helmand. The IED is likely to remain a threat around the world beyond NATO involvement in Afghanistan © US DoD

radiation such as X-rays and Gamma rays; and electromagnetic methods using InfraRed (IR), Terahertz (THz) and millimetre wave radiation. Each technology has its strengths and limitations in terms of sensitivity, speed, specificity, ability to penetrate various media, and health effects, said DARPA, also commenting that their applicability can be highly dependent on packaging and operational conditions.

Killing Cancer

DARPA noted that some evolving techniques to detect breast cancer also have promise in the detection of explosives. This link is the subject of the organisation’s

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award to the University of Arizona College of Engineering’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, where professor Hao Xin is the Principal Investigator (PI) leading a team applying thermo-acoustic imaging and spectroscopy to the problem while continuing to investigate its usefulness against breast cancer, the original target of professor Xin’s work. What breast tis-

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency noted that some evolving techniques to detect breast cancer have promise in the detection of explosives l

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sue has in common with the mud and meat often used to conceal explosives is a high water content, which makes it difficult to identify objects or abnormalities using current ultrasound or microwave imaging techniques, according to a University of Arizona (UA) statement. Ultrasound images show a clear shape, but the properties cannot be delineated, adds the UA statement. Microwave images have contrast, but shapes are not clear. “We started our research in 2009 with no funding but kept working because we knew it would make a huge difference. Eventually we had some internal funding, and here we are today.” Professor Xin is the director of the UA’s Millimeter Wave Circuits and Antennas Laboratory.

The UA team is developing a new hybrid technology intended to combine the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses of

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using a powerful, magnetic field to line up the protons in the hydrogen nuclei, disturbing the alignment with bursts of RF energy and then recording the RF energy they emit as they return to their pre-disturbance alignment. The pictures that MRI generates are highly detailed. QR is a chemical analysis technique that can identify individual substances by sensing the interaction of the electric field gradient with the quadrupole moment of the electric charge distribution in the nuclei of the substances atoms.

Further description is beyond the scope of this article (and the brain of this writer), but is a non-contact sensing technology that is complementary to MRI, and QFS has expertise in both.

high-resolution ultrasound and high-contrast microwave imaging to detect IEDs. UA points out that this technology also mitigates the harmful radiation effects of X-ray imaging and works without making contact with the material concealing the explosives.

“We take advantage of both technologies and avoid the disadvantages to increase detection specificity,” said professor Xin.

Quasar Federal Systems

Quasar Federal Systems (QFS) is also combining two technologies under its own MEDS contract from DARPA, bringing together Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Quadrupole Resonance (QR) techniques.

The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr Lowell Burnett, will serve as PI on the contract. In medical scanning applications, MRI takes advantage of the human body’s high water content by

NIITEK

DARPA also awarded a MEDS contract, valued at US $2.13 million, to NIITEK in late

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Member of the Cambodia National Counter Terrorism Special Forces walks with a bomb suit during a recent exercise held in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Counter IED Fusion Center © US DoD

June. A business unit of Chemring Sensors and Electronics, NIITEK is well known for its Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology used in mine detection systems fitted to manned and unmanned ground vehicles.

“We are pleased to have been given the opportunity by DARPA to continue the development of this unique detection capability,” said Juan Navarro, President of Chemring Sensor and Electronics.

“Although the work in this program is intended to be proof-of-principle experimentation, NIITEK and its partners are confident that, with proper development, the technology can be transitioned into a system

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IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE that could prove useful to both the Department of Defense as well as domestic security and law enforcement.“

Sierra Nevada

In addition to longer-term technology development, C-IED requirements have also generated urgent needs to miniaturise capabilities so that dismounted troops can have similar protection to that which they could previously only enjoy from within a vehicle.

The US Army’s Individual Counter Radio Electronic Warfare (ICREW) programme, under which Sierra Nevada Corporation announced the delivery of the last of more than 3,000 soldier-worn Baldr IED jammer units in June, is a case in point. The Army launched the programme last year, ran a competitive evaluation of candidate systems and awarded a US $56.5 million contract to Sierra Nevada on 16th October 2012. The company delivered the last Baldr unit on time in May 2013, just eight months after contract award.

Named for the Norse god of light and son of top god Odin, Baldr is an four-kilogram (8.9lb) transmitter that disrupts radio

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trigger signals to Remotely Controlled IEDs (RCIEDs), providing a zone of protection around the wearer during dismounted operations. “SNC is proud to partner with the U.S. Army and delivers unparalleled solutions to saving soldiers’ lives,” said Paul Plemmons, corporate vice president

Counter-Improvised Explosive Device requirements have also generated urgent needs to miniaturise capabilities to provide enhanced protection to soldiers

for SNC’s Electronic Warfare and Range Instrumentation business area. “SNC’s light-weight, counter-RCIED systems provide the dismounted soldier the confidence and protection to maneuver in an RCIED environment.”

As new and improved C-IED technology continues to evolve and proliferate, the need

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for training grows with it, compounded by the international nature of many operations that encounter the threat. Numerous bilateral and multilateral organisations and relationships are forming as a result. Illustrating this, the Royal Thai Armed Forces Chief of Defence Forces, General Tanasak Patimapragorn visited his Australian counterpart, General David Hurley, in February for bilateral discussions on, among a range of subjects, defeating IEDs. The two countries Armed Forces have already developed a C-IED engagement plan described as delivering an enduring capability to the Royal Thai Armed Forces. “Thailand was one of the first countries to sign a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Counter Terrorism with Australia (2002) and we have continued to work closely together on counter IED issues, in an effort to combat the global threat posed by improvised explosive Staff Sgt. Byron Delgado, of the 15th Explosive Hazard Team stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, briefs Tentara National Indonesia Angkatan Darat Soldiers prior to a building search exercise during Garuda Shield © US DoD

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Malaysian military engineers look for IEDs during Keris Strike 12 at Camp Ulu Tiram near Johor Bohru, Malaysia 22nd Sept 2012.

Keris Strike 12 is U.S. Army Pacific-sponsored Theatre Security Cooperation Program exercise conducted annually with the Malaysian Armed Forces © US DoD

devices”, said General Hurley.

Thailand is engaged in a protracted guerrilla war in its southern provinces and so has an on-going need for C-IED training, to which its agreement with Australia contributes. Another source of urgently needed expertise its participation in bilateral exercises with the US Army, whose Asia Pacific C-IED Fusion Centre in Hawaii provides training on request throughout the region.

Many Asian nations participate in training facilitated by the Centre including Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia. Royal Thai Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) soldiers received C-IED training during Bilateral Army Exercise 12 (BAE 12) in Thailand in June and July last year. “By teaching these EOD guys first, who already know how to handle explosives, we are creating an enduring

Thailand is engaged in a protracted guerrilla war in its southern provinces and a need for C-IED training, to which its agreement with Australia contributes

capability that they will in the future, trained their own Soldiers and we just advise and assist," according to lead instructor Richard Bell, quoted in a report by the Asia Pacific C-IED Fusion Centre’s Russell Shimooka. Royal Thai Army Master Sgt Sanchai Kongim, an EOD expert who participated in BAE 12, has good reason to be keen to pass on his skills to his comrades.

"A few years ago my team responded to an initial blast in Yala [province] and we parked our vehicle right over a secondary device. There must have been a malfunction because it never detonated. I’m given a second chance so now I will help other Soldiers stay alive.”

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TANKER

AND TRANSPORT

OF ATLAS AND HERCULES This year’s Paris Air Show held in the French capital between 17th and 21st June was a perfect opportunity to take the temperature of the world military freighter market which, in contrast to other parts of the global defence industry, appears to be enjoying good health.

by Thomas Withington nsurprisingly the Airbus A400M strategic freighter, now named ‘Atlas’ by its manufacturer, was on show for all to see, resplendent in the colours of the Armée de l’Air (AdlA/French Air Force); it’s launch customer. Not only could the aircraft be seen close-up on the ramp, but it also treated visitors to daily flying displays, demonstrating its impressive maneuvering. It was joined in the skies, and on the apron, by Antonov’s

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AN-70 with which the Ukrainian airframe builder hopes to challenge Airbus for a share of the increasingly lucrative mediumto-heavy freighter market.

Like the A400M, the AN-70 has suffered its share of development problems.

Unlike the Atlas, these have focused on accidents involving the aircraft. The A400M, meanwhile, has been beset on more than one occasion by the political fortunes of the initiative’s partner nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg,

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Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom), geopolitical challenges heralded by the end of the Cold War, and funding issues.

Nevertheless these difficulties now appear to be well and truly behind both programmes, with the race to eagerly chase orders around the world well underway.

Airbus

The AdlA has taken delivery of its first A400M, and will acquire a second before the end of 2013. France will be the second-

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largest operator of the type with 50 airframes, behind the 53 expected to be acquired by Germany. In addition Spain will obtain 27 examples, the Royal Air Force will get 22; ten will be delivered to Turkey, seven to Belgium, four to Malaysia and a single example to Luxembourg.

It has been a busy year for the A400M. As well as commencing deliveries to the French Air Force, the type achieved full civil certification with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in March

Airbus Military’s A400M Atlas turboprop strategic freighter is entering service with its launch customer, the French air force. By the end of the year, deliveries will have commenced to its second customer, Turkey © Airbus Military

2013. The Atlas is remarkable as it is receiving dual military and civilian clearance which could potentially open additional non-military airfields for the freighter to use. This is a particularly important consideration given the type’s

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anticipated role in supporting humanitarian operations. Meanwhile, at the military level, the aircraft will continue to be cycled through numerous tests and trials until it receives its military certification.

Although sales of the A400M and Airbus Military’s smaller CN-235 and C295 turboprop freighters are still very much concentrating minds at the firm, the company is contemplating new airframe designs. Prior to the Paris Air Show, reports surfaced that Airbus

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The CN-235, like its C-295 sibling, has sold well.

Its manufacturer, Airbus Military, has used the airframe not only as the basis for a turboprop freighter, but for other applications such as maritime patrol © Airbus Military

Military was considered the development of a new freighter offering a smaller capacity between the Lockheed Martin C-130J and the Boeing C17A/B/ER Globemaster-III tactical and strategic airlifters (see below). The company foresees a new aircraft with a payload of between nine and 18 tonnes. This could potentially present Embraer with a future rival to its KC-390 turbofan freighter (see below) which is expected to enter service in circa 2016 offering a payload capacity over 20 tonnes. In fact, Embraer’s development of the KC-390 could be the motivation behind Airbus Military’s plans to offer an aircraft which could occupy this sector of the market.

That said, with Airbus now ramping up towards the full production of the A400M, plus the marketing efforts it is undertaking regarding its smaller turboprop aircraft and its larger A330-MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) platform,

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it seems unlikely that any new prototype freighter will be produced anytime soon.

Airbus may well be watching which way the wind blows regarding KC-390 orders and deliveries before deciding whether to move ahead with its initiative.

C-130

Although the baseline Lockheed Martin C-130 design will be 60 years old next year, having taken its maiden flight on 23rd August 1954, the aircraft shows no signs of retiring. There is a truly staggering number of C-130s of all variants flying around the world, along with the new C130J/J-30 models which are entering service. Older models continue to obtain upgrades to keep them capable. In June 2013, Israel’s Elbit Systems was awarded a

Although the C-130 will be 60 years old next year, having taken its maiden flight in August 1954, the aircraft shows no signs of retiring l

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contract worth $62 million to modernize twelve C-130H/H-30 models operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF).

The upgrade will include new glass cockpits and avionics.

It is noteworthy that the RoKAF is also receiving new C-130Js, of which it is expected to obtain four from 2014. The Republic of Korea is not the only nation with C-130J ambitions. Since the ousting of its erstwhile dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s new government has been working hard to retrain, reconstitute and reequip its armed forces. Procurement of new air platforms form an important aspect of this policy, and Tripoli is keen to secure the supply of stretched C-130J-30s to this end. The acquisition could be worth up to $588 million for two aircraft, spare parts, engines and training.

In the Asia-Pacific region, new C-130s are in demand from Bangladesh. Dhaka is reportedly in the market for four C-130E airframes purchased from United States Air Force stocks for circa $180 million.

This sum would also include the supply of engines, documentation and support equipment. Should the deal go through,

The C-17 Globemaster III is the world’s most capable and versatile airlifter, performing the full range of tactical and strategic operations: from transporting troops and heavy cargo, to airdrop, aeromedical evacuation and delivering humanitarian aid virtually anywhere. No other airlifter measures up. The C-17.

Proven and ready for a world of missions.

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this will add to the four-strong C-130B fleet already operated by the Bangladesh air force although, having entered service in the early-1960s, these aircraft are now a little long in the tooth.

Part of the secret of the C-130’s longevity is the relative ease with which the overall design has been upgraded and improved as the aircraft has gone through its life. Improving engine efficiency plays an important part in this process, and powerplant experts Rolls-Royce are currently developing a number of improvements which could make the AE2100D3 turboprops produced by the company for the ‘Juliet’ variant yet more efficient, and thus cheaper to run. The company is taking a number of components which it has developed for other powerplants and folding them into the AE2100D design; an altogether cheaper option than designing a new engine from scratch.

Boeing

Some nations which have adopted the C130J have also purchased Boeing’s larger Airbus Military offers smaller turboprop freighters in its catalogue. They include the C-295 which has been widely exported. The thoughts of the company are now turning towards what could eventually replace its lighter airlifters in the future © Airbus Military

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Lockheed Martin’s C-130 series represents one of the oldest designs of military aircraft still flying, but its rugged construction and solid performance have enabled it to be constantly modernized; the latest example being the C-130J which has won customers around the world © USAF

C-17 Globemaster; the United Kingdom and India being two examples. India became the eighth C-17 operator this year after it received its first Globemaster in June 2013. The country will become the second largest operator of the type after the US Air Force, and is due to receive a total of five airframes by the end of 2013, and the same number again in 2014. The deal to purchase the ten C-17s was finalized by New Delhi in June 2012 at a cost of circa $1.8 billion. Beyond these ten aircraft, New Delhi has options on a further

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six. Australia is the only other nation in the Asia-Pacific region, save for the US presence in the area, which operates the C-17, with other users being found in the Middle East, notably the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with the Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also using the type; the latter under the terms of a pooling arrangement. As noted above India has ordered the C-130J, buying six examples, with an additional second order for the same number of aircraft expected soon.

The recent orders from India, and from NATO, have breathed life into what, for some time, looked like a moribund production line at Boeing’s C-17 facilities in Long Beach, California. For the time being New Delhi’s order of the aircraft guarantees production until 2014, although this could be extended if additional international sales are concluded.

Closer to home, by the end of this year, the United States Air Force will have received its final two C-17s, topping off a total fleet size of 223 examples.

The company believes that the market for the Globemaster could be sufficient for the production of a further 48-60 airframes. Based on a production rate of ten aircraft per year, this could see the Long Beach plant producing C-17s until 2018/2019, providing that these quanti-

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ties of airframes are purchased. One country which could enter the C-17 club is Kuwait which has signed a letter-ofintent with the United States Government regarding the acquisition of at least one Globemaster which is expect-

Alenia Aermacchi’s C-27J is aimed at the lighter end of the freighter market. This is an increasingly lively battleground with several suppliers, both new and established, offering airframes in this category © Thomas Withington

ed to complete production by the end of this year. The Middle East country has shown interest in procuring a second example, although when this aircraft will be produced remains to be seen.

Ultimately, the future of the C-17 will depend on securing international orders.

Further USAF purchases seem unlikely, so the export market will be crucial for Boeing. Moreover, the Seattle-based

Although production of the Boeing C-17A/B/ER Globemaster-III strategic freighter is coming to an end for the United States Air Force, the aircraft continues to sell well around the world.

India is one of the latest entrants to the ‘Globemaster’ club and will soon have a fleet size second only to the United States © USAF

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plane-maker will once again face its perennial rival in the guise of Airbus which will soon be ramping up towards full production of the Airbus A400M. Nevertheless the C-17 remains the only Western-built turbofan-powered strategic freighter in mass production. Because of US and NATO involvement in Afghanistan, military operations in Iraq, and a multitude of recent humanitarian

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Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation is moving ahead with a new version of the venerable Ilyushin Il-76 design, which features improved avionics and updated engines. The Russian air force has placed one of its largest orders in recent times for this modernized airframe © USAF

undertakings, the C-17 is a thoroughly proven platform which constitutes additional selling points.

Ilyushin

Despite the competition posed by the C-17 Russian manufacturer United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is continuing to evolve the Ilyushin Il-76 design. Having performed its maiden flight on 25th March 1971 the Il-76, like its C-130 counterpart, has been cycled through a number of upgrades and enhancements to ensure that the design remains capable. This has culminated in the Il-76-MD90A version which includes a glass cockpit and new Perm PS-90A76 engines affording significant fuel savings compared to the earlier Aviadvigatel PS-90-76 powerplants equipping legacy Il-76-TD90 freighters.

Full flight testing of this new aircraft is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. The Russian air force could procure 39 airframes with a contract signed to this effect with UAC, which oversees the production of the freighter, in October 2012.

The acquisition is worth $4.5 billion and

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represents one of the largest Russian defence procurements in recent times.

New Players

While established companies such as UAC, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Airbus continue to refine their offerings, new companies are entering the freighter marketplace. For example, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) of India, and UAC have joined forces to develop a new medium-lift freighter known as the Il214MTA (Medium Transport Aircraft).

This will be able to carry up to 20 tonnes of freight with Russia potentially acquiring up to 100, and India possibly purchasing around 45.

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Another much-discussed design is Embraer’s KC-390 twin turbofan medium-freighter. Its manufacturer is confident that the first example of this new aircraft will perform its maiden flight by 2015, with the Força Aérea Brasileira (Brazilian air force) expected to purchase 23 aircraft. Other orders from Latin American customers could be forthcoming including purchases by the Fuerza Aérea de Chile (Chilean air force) which may obtain six. Embraer believes that there may be a market for around 700 aircraft of the KC-390’s size, which boasts a 23-tonne payload. This market could in turn be worth up to $50 billion, however, the company will have to compete with the C130J; the CN-235 and C-295 and Alenia Aermacchi’s C-27J; the number of competing airframes underlining just how lucrative this market is thought to be.

While air forces around the world are looking hard at the number of combat aircraft that they can afford to operate and maintain, freighters, which have arguably been marginalized by some air forces since the Second World War, have emerged as essential airframes. They are indispensible not only for the projection of power, but to assist disaster recovery and humanitarian efforts.

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A SHOT IN THE DARK? The clandestine missile programmes of North Korea and Iraq both continue to spur Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) initiatives led by the United States of America. These efforts are developing Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) and radar technologies which can be applied to combat these threats.

by Thomas Withington

A Raytheon RIM-161B SM-3 Block-1A tears open the night sky as it roars from the deck of a Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force destroyer during a test of this anti-ballistic missile weapon Š US Navy

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Former US Defence Secretary Robert Gates (left) inspects one of the missile silos and interceptors of the United States’ Ground-Based Midcourse Defence system. Two sites in Alaska and California host these interceptors. © US DoD

ciently advanced to attain vast ranges.

The ramifications regarding not only Asian, but global, security of the rocket launch are significant: Such techniques could be applied to missiles which could traverse intercontinental distances, bringing scores of countries across the globe within potential striking range of the Hermit Kingdom.

North Korea’s ballistic missile programme and, further afield, the similar programme of Iran, are the two main drivers behind the current BMD efforts of the United States.

These efforts rest on the development of land-based systems such as the GroundBased Midcourse Defense (GBMD) initiative, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) BMD effort; and Raytheon’s MIM-104F PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) and Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) SAM programmes.

At sea, the US is enhancing the capabilities of its Lockheed Martin Aegis Combat Management System (CMS) BMD capability with new features and weapons. All of these efforts are intended to yield an umbrella capable of defending the Continental United States (CONUS) and its allies around the world using SAMs which can perform both exo-atmospheric (out-of-atmosphere) and endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere) engagements. This article will examine recent developments in each of these programmes in detail.

The ramifications regarding not only Asian, but global, security of North Korea’s December 2012 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 satellite launch are significant

he decision of North Korea to launch its Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 satellite into orbit on 12th December 2012 once again cast dark shadows, not only over the Korean Peninsula, but over the wider Asia-Pacific region. The launch demonstrated that North Korean scientists had perfected the ability to place an object into orbit, and that the country’s rocket technology was suffi-

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GBMD

Designed to protect the CONUS, the GBMD initiative uses SAMs deployed at two bases, namely at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenburg Air Force Base (AFB), California. Each of these bases can launch Raytheon Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicles (EKVs) carried by an Orbital Sciences interceptor; the former of which destroys the missile by sheer force of impact. As the EKV’s name suggests, it is designed for space-based interception. Although the United States cur-

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rently has two GBMD sites, both of which are located on the west coast, plans are afoot to construct a third base on the east coast.

The Fiscal Year 2014 Defence Authorisation Bill includes $140 million of funding towards the construction of this site. While this facility is still some way from being built, it could provide additional protection to the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Whereas the facilities in Alaska and California are designed to provide protection against missile threats from North Korea, the new facility could protect against Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launches from Iran. However, the eventual construction of a new base on the east coast could trigger objections from Russia, which has historically been critical of US BMD efforts arguing that they alter the strategic balance by potentially blunting the potency of Moscow’s nuclear deterrent. At the time of writing (early July 2013), a GBMD interceptor test was expected to be performed against a representative ballistic missile target launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with the interceptor launched from Vandenburg AFB. In other technical news, US defence contractor Bechtel announced that it had completed construction of three interceptor launch fields at the Fort Greely base. Bechtel was awarded the contract for their construction in 1997 along with several other elements of the overall GBMD architecture. Boeing is the prime contractor for the GBMD programme.

EPAA

While the GBMD is designed to protect the CONUS, the EPAA initiative is aimed at protecting NATO’s European membership and US interests on the continent from ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East. The EPAA is being rolled out across several phases: Phase One has seen the authorization of a permanent deployment of US Navy Aegis CMS-equipped (see below) warships capable of performing BMD to patrol in the Mediterranean, and the activation of a Raytheon AN/TPY-2 X-band ground-based air surveillance radar to eastern Turkey. This supplements an existing US-operated AN/TPY-2 already operational in Israel. The two radars provide a means of detecting missile launches from the Middle

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Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle forms a key part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defence system. It is mounted on top of an interceptor missile and destroyers its target during a collision at high speed © Raytheon

East, most notably Iran, and the capability to intercept those missiles via the warships which will operate from the Spanish port of Rota by 2015 at the latest.

The warships, which will include ‘Arleigh Burke’ and ‘Ticonderoga’ class destroyers and cruisers, will commence operations at the same time as Phase Two of the EPAA commences. Phase Two will see

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the establishment of a land base in Romania equipped with Raytheon RIM-161 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) SAMs at Deveselu AFB in the south of the country. Initially RIM-161C SM-3 Block-IB SAMs will be based at this site. These missiles have a two-colour infrared seeker alongside their semi-active radarhoming guidance system, an advanced signal processor and throttle-able divert attitude control systems to improve their agility. RIM-161 SM-3 missiles have a range of circa 500 kilometres (270 nautical miles), and a ceiling of 160km (86nm). They are expected to be operational at the base from 2015.

By 2018, these SAMs could be exchanged for

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RIM-161D SM-3 Block-II missiles which will have a higher target intercept speed and a redesigned first stage. The combination of the Aegis ships, and the land-based RIM161C/D SAMs, will provide protection for most of Europe’s NATO members against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East.

Phase Three will see the establishment of a second land-based facility, this time at Redzikowo on the northern Baltic coast of Poland, which will host RIM-161 (undesignated) SM-3 Block-IIA missiles. These weapons will have an improved target discrimination seeker and a more advanced kinetic warhead. Expected to occur in the

2018 timeframe the activation of the facility in Poland will provide complete a BMD umbrella to protect all of NATO’s European membership against ballistic missile attack.

The EPAA was supposed to have included a fourth phase which would have implemented an anti-ICBM element into the EPAA architecture via the procurement of RIM161(undesignated) SM-3 Block-IIB SAMs. However, the procurement and development of this weapon has now been cancelled and instead the United States will purchase additional GBMD interceptors for deployment at Fort Greely, Alaska (see above). This will increase the number of interceptors deployed at the base from 30 to 44.

The US Army is currently equipping with Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defence surfaceto-air missile system. This will provide theatre-level ballistic missile defence, and has also been acquired by the United Arab Emirates and Oman © US DoD

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Raytheon’s MIM-104 Patriot series of medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air is receiving a major missiles enhancement via the PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) initiative which updates the missile system with a new round considered highly capable against ballistic missiles. © US DoD

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Patriot and THAAD

While the EPAA and GBMD (see above) both provide a strategic-level defence against ballistic missile attack, investment is flowing into deployable capabilities which can provide protection at the theatre level, most notably via the Raytheon MIM-104F PAC-3 and Lockheed Martin THAAD programmes.

The MIL-104F PAC-3 configuration of Patriot includes command and control software enabling improved tactical ballistic missile search and engagement compared to legacy MIM-104 variants. Moreover, the MIM-104F has a new missile in the form of the PAC-3 round; four of which can be housed in a single legacy MIM-104F launch box. Four boxes are mounted on each Patriot launcher giving a total complement of 16 PAC-3s. These missiles are outfitted with a Ka-band active radar seeker which enhances the missile’s reaction time during the end game and enables it to perform a highly accurate interception of a ballistic missile target, via the specific destruction of the target’s warhead. To this end, a number of engagement options exist on the missile including a hit-to-kill mode, or the employment of a lethality enhancer which projects a stream of steel fragments into the path of an incoming missile. On 11th June 2013, PAC-3MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement) rounds successfully intercepted and destroyed a tactical ballistic missile target with a second missile destroying a representative BQM-74 cruise missile at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The MSE enhancement is currently in the developmental stage and focuses on a new design of fin, and an enhanced rocket motor for the PAC-3 missile.

The THAAD system has a range of circa 108nm (200km) and, like the PAC-3 (see above), employs a hit-to-kill interceptor to effect the ballistic missile’s destruction. The AN/TPY-2 (see above) provides target detection and fire control giving THAAD a capability against short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. In the short term, a third THAAD battery is planned for activation at Fort Bliss, Texas.

So far, two batteries are active with the US Army’s 4th Air Defence Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defence Artillery Brigade, and the service’s 2nd Air Defence Artillery Regiment. Beyond the United States, sales of

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THAAD have been concluded to the United Arab Emirates and Oman; the latter acquisition being announced on 27th May 2013.

Both countries are in close proximity to Iran and hence that country’s clandestine ballistic missile programme, with the delivery of THAAD no doubt providing some important additional protection.

Aegis

The last piece of the United States’ on-land and at-sea ballistic missile defence jigsaw is the Aegis-BMD initiative. Essentially, this combines Lockheed Martin’s Aegis CMS with Raytheon’s RIM-161 SM-3 family of SAMs to create an at-sea BMD capability which can protect a naval task force, or provide theatre-wide BMD coverage.

At the CMS level, Lockheed Martin has developed a series of enhancements to the Aegis combat management system to provide it with progressively increasing capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles. At present 37 current and future US Navy ships have, or will have, Aegis CMSs able to perform BMD. Four standards of BMD enhancement for the Aegis CMS are in service or development.

The most numerous Aegis-BMD configuration in use by the US Navy today is the BMD3.6.1 standard. This outfits 25 ‘Arleigh Burke’ and ‘Ticonderoga’ class vessels (two of the latter, and 23 of the former). The BMD-3.6.1 standard enables these ships to deploy RIM161B SM-3 Block-IA SAMs which have a single-colour infra-red seeker and a solid divert attitude control system. This allows these ships to perform the exo-atmospheric interception of short- and medium-range ballistic

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missiles, along with some intermediate-range threats. ICBM targets can be tracked by the BMD-3.6.1 standard architecture, and targeting information shared with other users.

The BMD-4.0.1 standard is in service onboard a single US Navy vessel, the ‘Ticonderoga’ class cruiser USS Shiloh. It adds a Ballistic missile Signal Processor (BSP) to the BMD-3.6.1 architecture and the ability to deploy the RIM-161C SM-3 Block-IB missile (see above). Four vessels, meanwhile, have the BMD-4.0.2 enhancement which corrects some of the technical issues discovered during interception tests performed using the

Washington’s BMD efforts were never intended to destroy large ICBM attacks, although some systems will have a residual anti-ICBM capability

BMD-4.0.1 standard, but continues to use the RIM-161B SM-3 Block-IA SAM. The latest version of the Aegis BMD architecture is the BMD-5.0 standard. Either this configuration, or the BMD-4.0.2 architecture, is earmarked for the forthcoming seven ‘Arleigh Burke’ class destroyers that the US Navy has under construction. BMD5.0 will fully integrate the BMD architecture into the overall Aegis CMS as opposed to running the system using separate hardware. It will also configure ships with this software standard to deploy Raytheon RIM-

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At the heart of Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defence system is the AN/TPY-2 Xband radar. This system has been deployed in its own right to provide ballistic missile surveillance in Turkey and Israel © Lockheed Martin

156A SM-2ER Block-IV and RIM-141 SM-6 Extended Range Active Missiles for the endo-atmospheric engagement of ballistic missiles. Furthermore, the BMD-5.0 standard is expected to equip the EPAA bases in Poland and Romania (see above).

The United States’ BMD efforts have earned their fair share of criticism in recent years. Opponents of these various schemes, particularly the strategic-level initiatives, argue that they will destabilize the nuclear balance between the United States and Russia by enabling the US to neutralize a Russian missile attack, or to launch a similar attack on Russia under a protective BMD umbrella. Other detractors point to the high cost of these systems, arguing that the money could be better spent fighting terrorism in Afghanistan, for example.

However, Washington’s BMD efforts were arguably never intended to destroy large ICBM attacks, although as noted above, some systems will have a residual anti-ICBM capability. Instead, they are intended to destroy small salvoes of shorter-range weapons of the type that could be employed by North Korea or Iran. At the financial level, some supporters have argued that these BMD efforts are akin to an ‘insurance policy’ by which the money spent, and the systems deployed, are intended to dissuade an adversary from ever performing such an attack.

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A soldier lies exhausted during marksmanship training in 100°F heat on a firing range in Iraq.

Heatstroke can be fatal so wearable sensors that monitor temperature have a high priority Š US DoD

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All complex military hardware, vehicles and weapons in particular, have built-in health and usage monitoring sensors. For the most part such capabilities are missing from the most capable, flexible and complex battlefield asset of them all; the soldier.

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fforts to remedy this situation are gathering pace internationally, gaining leverage from miniature biometric sensors that can be integrated into advanced combat clothing and linked to smart devices and tactical communication systems. Besides early detection of wounds, biosensors promise to provide timely warnings when soldiers are approaching physiological limits such as exhaustion or heat stress, dangers thrown into sharp relief by the July deaths of three reservists undergoing selection for the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) during unusually hot weather in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. While the causes of these soldiers’ deaths had not been ascertained at the time of writing, the combination of intense physical exercise and high temperatures is likely to be at the centre of the investigation. Increasing social and legal pressure to recognise a soldier’s right to life in training and even in combat is a potent driving factor behind research into biosensor technology.

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Sensing exhaustion

The first human tests have been carried out of a biosensor able to provide warning of when someone – athlete or soldier – is about to collapse or ‘hit the wall’ from extreme physical effort, according to a July report (see Electromechanical Tattoo Biosensors for Real-Time Noninvasive Lactate Monitoring in Human Perspiration, Journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS)). The report describes the work of a team led by Joseph Wang at the Department of Nanoengineering at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla. Applied to the skin like a temporary tattoo, the biosensor samples sweat and accurately measures levels of lactate, which is a form of lactic acid.

“Lactate forms when muscles need more energy than the body can supply from the aerobic respiration that suffices during mild exercise”, according to the article. “The body shifts to anaerobic metabolism, producing lactic acid and lactate. That helps for a while, but lactate builds up in the body, causing extreme fatigue and the infamous ‘bonking out’, where an athlete just cannot continue.

Current methods of measuring lactate are cumbersome, require blood samples or do not give instant results,” it continues.

Tests on ten volunteers reportedly demonstrated the ‘tattoo’ sensor’s ability to accurately measure lactate levels in sweat during exercise. “Such skin-worn metabolite biosensors could lead to useful insights into physical performance and overall physiological status, hence offering considerable promise for diverse sport, military, and biomedical applications”, according to the study.

Understanding blast

While physical exhaustion and environmental stresses are constant dangers in training and operations, injuries from survivable Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts and their long-term effects remain a major issue in counter The Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System measures linear and rotational accelerations experienced by the soldier’s head in blasts to provide information for treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) © BAE Systems

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insurgency operations, and mitigating their legacy for soldiers and society looks set to be important for decades to come. As well as obvious major trauma such as loss of limbs, blast has more subtle effects that in some cases can take time to show up in soldiers who have been exposed to it. Better understanding leading to better treatment of the less obvious blast injuries is the goal of the US Army Rapid Equipping Force’s Integrated Blast Effect Sensor Suite (IBESS) which the service approached Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in 2011 to develop.

IBESS is part of a US Department of Defence (DoD) Information Analysis Center (IAC) programme to measure the physical environment of an explosion and collect data to correlate what the soldier experienced with long-term medical outcomes, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in particular.

“At GTRI we are developing an integrated system that is intended to help collect data relevant to traumatic events that soldiers are experiencing in Afghanistan”, says Douglas Woods, GTRI’s IBESS program Optical sensing of blood chemistry is an evolving technology that can be applied to wearable sensors and handheld monitors based on smart phones © Worcester Polytechnic Institute

manager. “Primarily it is intended to capture data from blast events that soldiers are being exposed to.”

IBESS consists of a system worn by the soldier that works with a vehicle sensor suite.

The soldier worn part features a data recorder linked to four pressure sensors attached to shoulder straps that place two of them on the chest and two on the back. This positioning adds directional information to the sensors’ shock wave and overpressure measurements.

To minimise power consumption, the system remains in sleep mode until pressure or shock waves cross a threshold and switch the recorder on. The recorder time stamps blast events using time signals from a GPS receiver.

The vehicle system not only records blast events that affect the vehicle, it automatically collects any data recorded by the soldier sys-

IBESS is worn by the soldier. It works with a vehicle sensor and has a data recorder linked to four pressure sensors

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tem, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to activate a Bluetooth link to download any data the soldier system has.

Rapid progress has been a hallmark of the IBESS programme; following contract signature in July of 2011, researchers had completed preliminary designs by September and testing and refinement was under way by early 2012. August 2012 saw the first overseas shipments and by April of this year IBESS had been issued to more than 650 troops. It is scheduled for fitment to 42 vehicles in Afghanistan. “We know people are coming back with these injuries called mild traumatic brain injury. It was the first system of its type to record any of the data relevant to the environment that those soldiers were exposed to that we think produces those injuries”, says Mr Woods.

“What we don’t really have is information about how a soldier was injured”, adds Dr. Shean Phelps GTRI technical director, health systems. “We don’t really know, in an underbelly blast, all the pieces of the puzzle. So getting this type of information allows us to build a more complete picture.

You can also take that information to inform the physician or the medical team to say that

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A soldier takes a drink from a comrade’s Camelbak. Light based sensors have shown that they can measure reductions in blood volume and may be capable of detecting dehydration © US DoD

this person was in this type of event, we expect these types of injuries and start looking for them.” IBESS’ open architecture will enable it to form the heart of a system that includes other sensors to measure, for example, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen and hydration levels, body temperature and EKG activity, says GTRI. Continuing development work is going into a structured database and tools to analyse the information in it and into sensors that fit into communications headset ear cups. These sensors are designed to measure linear and rotational accelerations in six axes and, following tests, are planned for issue to 200 Army Rangers.

HEADS up

This kind of research and development is

also going on within industry, with measurement and recording of accelerations of the head that can lead to TBI being the purpose of BAE Systems’ Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System (HEADS).

The light, slim sensor system fits unobtrusively inside the top of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH). Around 40,000 of which had been delivered to the US Army by the time of the 2013 Brain Injury Awareness Day held on 13th March 2013 in Washington DC. “It is an ideal location because the soldiers, whenever they go out into combat, they have the helmet on, they don’t always wear headsets or skull caps”, said Scott Hartley, Protection Systems, BAE Systems Support Solutions, at the event.

“What we are measuring is linear and rotational acceleration in all three axes. So we are taking six channels of information. We added a seventh channel, which is for pressure data because we have an embedded pressure sensor. Also there is a time stamp associated with it, so it tells you exactly at what time the event occurred.”

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As with the IBESS sensors, HEADS only records data that exceeds a predetermined threshold. After such an event, an LED lights up to warn the soldier and his or her comrades of a potential head injury. Data can then be downloaded via a USB port or a wireless connection when interrogated via antennas at a forward operating base, for example. These antennas can interrogate all the HEADS units within range to identify any soldier who may have been affected by an explosion. “Once you understand what the forces are, you can start developing better equipment or solutions”, Mr. Hartley continues. “One of the things that BAE Systems does is make helmets, so understanding those forces that are being transmitted to the head will, in theory, allow us to develop better protective measures for the

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head.” The HEADS product was first fielded in 2008, and BAE Systems is currently developing the HEADS Generation-II version.

TBI markers in blood

Portable diagnostic tools could supplement this kind of system in the near future. In Singapore, for example, the Institute of Microelectronics (IME), which is part of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is working with US company SFC Fluidics on a sensor that can detect up to three biomarkers associated with TBI in a drop of blood. A*STAR describes the proposed tool as a fully-integrated, automated device that will display its readings on an easy-to-read screen with an indicator to alert a caregiver to the severity of the injury. “This collaboration exemplifies the extension of

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“More-than-Moore” technologies to healthcare. Building on our core capabilities in silicon-based microfluidics and biosensor technology, we can help our partner create innovative diagnostic tools to improve TBI treatment,” said Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director of IME, speaking when the project was announced in November 2012.

Blood loss warning

Efforts are also being made in the early and automatic identification of blood loss with the use of wearable biosensors. August 2012 saw the announcement of a three-year research and development programme at the US Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) into miniaturised wireless sensors able to simultaneously measure seven physiological parameters, including early detection of

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Physical training has to push soldiers hard; working out just how hard to push them or to allow them to push themselves has always been difficult. Wearable biomedical sensors promise valuable supporting data © US DoD

levels. They will shine infrared and visible light through the skin and detect how different wavelengths are absorbed by arterial blood and use the signal processing algorithms to correlate subtle shifts in the spectra to a wide range of physiological parameters, says official information released by WPI. The smartphone diagnostic tool will use the device’s video camera to provide the

blood loss, and contribute to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. WPI is conducting the US Army funded effort in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). Dr. Ki Chon, professor and head of WPI's Biomedical Engineering Department, and Dr. Yitzhak Mendelson, associate professor of biomedical engineering, are leading the project. Dr Mendelson’s team will develop the wearable sensor devices while Dr Chon’s laboratory will work on signal processing algorithms and also on adapting the technologies for smart phones that medics can use as handheld diagnostic tools.

The new sensors will use a much more sophisticated version of the technology used in today’s pulse oximeters that clip on to a patient’s finger to measure blood oxygen

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light source and record the reflections.

This effort is building on previous work

by Dr. Chon and Dr. Mendelson that developed wireless sensors and algorithms that successfully measured heart rate, heart rhythm, respiration rate, skin perfusion (delivery of blood to capillaries) and blood oxygen saturation, the information continues. Such light-based sensors have demonstrated the ability to detect early signs of reducing blood volume and may be able to detect dehydration in patients and soldiers not suffering blood loss.

The sensor system will also feature embedded accelerometers to measure body movement and posture. This is important because maintaining accurate measurements in the face of signal degrading noise caused by body movement is among the toughest challenges in sensor development.

“This is not a trivial matter, so we hope that our strategies will work to overcome this noise,” Dr. Mendelson says. “Unless we can prove that the information is consistently accurate and reliable, medics and trauma physicians won’t trust or use the device.”

UMMS will evaluate both sets of technologies in an observational study of trauma patients directed by Dr. Chad Darling, assistant professor of emergency medicine, and Dr. David McManus, assistant professor of medicine at the medical school.

“This is a very exciting program, and we're pleased to be able to work with the WPI team, Dr. Darling of UMMS said. “The majority of trauma victims we see have a blunt-force injury, with no visible signs of bleeding. So we are always concerned about internal bleeding, and typically order a CT (Computed Tomography) scan to see what's happening inside. An early-detection system for internal bleeding would be helpful, and certainly would be very important for first-responders in the field.”

Integrating this kind of sensing capability into soldier systems looks set to be an increasingly important theme in soldier modernisation programmes.

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In assessing the region’s capabilities in the Corvette/Offshore Patrol Vessel (C/OPV) market the most important question is what is the difference between these two platforms, and what makes these two diverse vessel types exceptional?

by Ted Hooten

The Royal Malaysian Navy's KD Kedah blurs the line between OPV and corvette. Officially an OPV the ships have interfaces for advanced weapons and are to receive antiship missiles Š BAE Systems

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he question can best be understood by looking at Malaysia. To meet its New Generation Patrol vessel (NGPV) requirement the Royal Malaysian Navy selected the Blohm & Voss MEKO 100 design as the ‘Kedah’ class. They seem to be OPVs at first sight for their armament consists of a 76mm (three-inch) gun and a 30mm (one inch) gun but they feature a sophisticated combat management system, an electro-optical director, a chaff launcher and are equipped to operate surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles and an electronic warfare suite.

These are not installed but it was recently revealed that Kuala Lumpur now intends adding anti-ship missile systems to them.

They are rated in the naval bible, Jane’s Fighting Ships as corvettes and will be joined

by DCNS ‘Gowind’ class ships ordered last year from France’s DCNS with the first example to be delivered in 2017. The French

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Navy operates one as an OPV but the design can be used as a corvette and Malaysia intends operating them in this role.

OPV-type platforms can be used as corvettes for both are generally around the 1,000-2,000 tonne mark but the OPV is more a law-enforcement platform. It is designed to protect a nation’s resources within the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) extending some 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from shore and also to assert national sovereignty and law while providing a search and rescue as well as an environmental protection capability with some having a hydrographic survey capability. Compared with a corvette it tends to be slower but with higher endurance often operating a helicopter while some have sophisticated command and communications systems to interact with foreign agencies, but they are generally armed with nothing larger than a 76mm gun.

The corvette is a surface combatant usually optimised for Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) and featuring surface-to-surface missiles and consequently it has more sophisticated sensors than the OPV with higher speeds for rapid transit or manoeuvres.

The largest OPV operators in Asia are China, India and Japan, which have to secure green or blue water interests, while a number of countries such as Indonesia rely on their surface combatants in the offshore role. This can sometimes ratchet up tension in times of crisis, such as the recent confrontation off Borneo between Malaysia and Indonesia, while the OPV acts as a less threatening platform.

China

Most of China’s OPVs are operated by China Maritime Surveillance (CMS) which

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An artist’s impression of the Gowind 170 which will form the basis of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s corvette-type Littoral Combat Ship © DCNS

continues to be expanded and is scheduled to receive another 36 hulls of various sizes. Both the Indian Navy and Coast Guard operate OPVs, the former operating a fleet of six vessels and the latter having about a score of hulls from 1,200 to 2,200 tons and due to receive half-a-dozen Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels with a displacement of 2,230 tons. There has been a considerable degree of cross-pollination between the services in OPV design and the navy’s latest requirement for Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPV), the 2,215-ton ‘Saryu’ class, whose first-of-class was commissioned in December 2012, is based on the Coast Guard’s ‘Sankalp’ class.

Japan

Japan’s Coast Guard has some 50 OPVs, including the biggest in Asia in the two 5,204ton ‘Mizuho’ class. Following clashes with the CMS off the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands last year Tokyo is expanding its Coast Guard and will purchase four 1,000-ton OPVs by the end of 2014. Neighbouring South Korea has a Coast Guard which operates four OPVs of some 1,200-tons and is receiving a small

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expansion of some five vessels from the Hyundai yard including a 3,000-tonne OPV.

South East Asia

Within South East Asia Brunei has three 80metre (24-feet) ‘Darussalam’ class OPVs, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has two ‘Langkawi’ class OPVs, the Philippines Navy operates three ‘Jacinto’ class ‘corvettes’, which are actually OPVs, and has acquired two former US Coast Guard ‘Hamilton’ class High Endurance Cutters, and may acquire a third to meet a long-standing requirement for three OPVs. It is now considering installing anti-ship missiles in these vessels to make them full corvettes. Thailand has requirements for five OPVs of which four would be sophisticated craft, reportedly having the same design as OPVs built for Trinidad and Tobago but sold

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the Brazil, while one will be a more basic vessel. It operates two ‘Pattani’ class ‘corvettes’ which are also actually OPVs.

Indian Ocean

Around the Indian Ocean Burma operates three ‘sheep in wolves’ clothing, ‘Anawrahta’ class ‘corvettes’ which are actually OPVs, while Bangladesh acquired two former Royal Navy ‘Castle’ class OPVs and the ‘Hamilton’ class cutter USCG Dallas but there is a requirement for three more OPVs. The cutter will be upgraded to a corvette with a combat system, anti-submarine torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. Sri Lanka operates a number of former Indian and US Coast Guard OPVs but might well expand the force. In the Pacific, New Zealand acquired two ‘Protector’ class OPVs which are unusual because they have ice-strengthened bows to operate in Antarctica.

Australia has a plan, Project Sea 1180 for a 2,000-tonne Offshore Combat Vessel (OCV) which would meet a variety of roles including acting as an OPV. This $3.1 billion programme is unlikely to be implemented until the first half of the next decade.

The demand for true corvettes has grown steadily in the past couple of decades replacing requirements for Fast

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Attack Craft (FAC). FACs are small platforms especially vulnerable to air attack because their surveillance radar antenna is relatively low reducing the search area and counter-measures reaction times, they cannot mount a significant air defence system which makes them vulnerable even to helicopter stand-off attack and their lack of compartments means a bomb or missile strike can inflict catastrophic damage. The corvette overcomes most of these problems making them a useful surface combatant with superior radar search area, more compartments and the introduction of damage control while bringing the prospect of better air defence protection. It is also a more versatile platform for it can be used for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) through the installation of sonars and lightweight torpedo launchers.

Indonesia

It should be noted that not all corvettes have surface-to-surface missiles, and Indonesia’s former East German ‘Parchim Is’, or ‘Kapitan Pattimura’ class, are unusual in being dedicated ASW platforms with hull-mounted sonar, augmented in some ships by variable depth sensors, armed with both anti-submarine torpedoes and mortars. Indonesia augments these 16 ships with seven Dutch-built vessels; three 30-year-old ‘Fatahillahs’, which also feature a strong ASW suite, and the most modern Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) ‘Diponegoro’ class which are one of Damen’s Sigma family (Sigma 9113), with their shaped hulls to reduce the radar cross section.

The Sigmas form the keel of a new family of corvettes (also designated ‘light frigates’) to meet the Guided Missile Escort (Perusak Kawal Rudal) 105 requirement

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which are being designed by DSNS and the domestic yard PT PAL under an August 2010 agreement. Based upon the Sigma 10514, these 2,400-tonne vessels will be optimised for ASW with the first of two scheduled to be laid down this year and to enter service in 2016 but it is unclear how many are required. Priority may have been given to a requirement for three submarines with work starting next year.

Malaysia

Neighbouring Malaysia’s requirements have been mentioned earlier and it should be The BAE Systems’ built Amazonas, acquired for Brazil, is typical of modern OPVs and includes a sophisticateed command system which can exchange data with other law enforcement agenecies © BAE Systems

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noted that the Royal Malaysian Navy also operates six corvettes; four former Iraqi ‘Assads’ (as the ‘Laksamana’ class) and two German-built ‘Kasturis’, while Singapore has six ‘Victory’ class ships based upon the Lürssen MGB 62 design but with an exceptionally high mast for its search radar.

Nearby Thailand operates seven corvettes of which the five ‘Khamronsin’ and ‘Tapi’ class are ASW vessels. There is no requirement for new vessels with Bangkok more interested in acquiring frigates and upgrading its vessels.

Vietnam

By contrast Vietnam is expanding its corvette The launch of Thailand’s new OPV HTMS Krabi at Mahidol Royal Dockyard in December 2011 © BAE Systems

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fleet steadily from the original four ‘Tarantul’ (‘Project 1241E’) class, with an ASW capability, and two domestically-built ‘Improved Pauks’ (‘Project 12418’) and is acquiring up to ten ‘Improved Tarantuls’ (‘Project 1241.8’) all of which are pure ASuW vessels. In 2011 DSNS revealed they were discussing the sale of four ‘Sigma 10514s’ to Vietnam, of which two would be built domestically Vietnam is also acquiring Russian-built frigates, two of which have been delivered, reflecting the preference of some Asian navies for larger, multi-role platforms capable of projecting power in ‘blue water’ environments. South Korea, for example, which operates 23 ‘Po Hang’ class ASuW/ASW corvettes will replace them with the ‘FF-X’ frigates and the ‘Gumdoksuri’ class fast attack craft for coastal operations in offshore islands, with

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the first FF-X ship having been delivered in 2012. By contrast Japan has never been interested in corvettes.

Taiwan

However, both China and Taiwan want large surface combatants and corvettes. Last year China’s first two ‘Jiangdao’ (‘Type 056’) class corvettes were launched and will join the fleet this year. They were revealed to be modern vessels similar to the ‘Diponegoro’ class with shaped hulls, but at 1,440-tonnes (compared with 1,692 tonnes) they are slightly smaller. They are reportedly to replace the 40-year-old ‘Jianghu I/I’ (‘Type 053H/H1’) class frigates and the ‘Houxin/Houjian’ (‘Type 037 1G/2’) fast attack craft/patrol craft. These ships are being built by the Hudong-Zhonghua and

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as ASW vessels but were built as ASuW platforms, their only ASW capability being in the helicopter for which there is a deck, and the same applies to the improved versions of the ‘Kora’ (‘Project 25A’) class, the most significant difference being the replacement of first generation SS-N-2 ‘Styx’ surface-to-surface missiles with SSN-25 ‘Switchblade’.

The latest Indian corvettes are the ‘Project 28’ ships of the ‘Kamorta’ class. Like all Indian corvettes they are intended for deployment in offshore waters but these are multi-role vessels which incorporate ‘stealth’ technology. They also possess a considerable ASW capability with hull-mounted and towed array sonars, helicopter torpedolaunchers and mortars as well as a useful Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) capability through their local-area defence Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles. However, construction of these ships has been unusually protracted with the first-of-class laid down in 2006 but not scheduled for commissioning until the third

Huangpu yards, who also built the ‘Jianghus’ and it is reported that ten are at various stages of construction with at least two more on order.

Taiwan, which has previously relied upon a combination of major surface combatants and fast attack craft, has its own corvette programme as ‘Hsun Hai’ (‘Swift Sea’). Revealed in April 2012 the programme envisages ‘stealthy’ corvettes of 900-1,000 tonnes with supersonic surface-to-surface missiles which are reportedly to be introduced to combat the China’s new aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. It will be a domestically-designed and produced vessel with some ASW capability, possibly incorporating weapon and sensor systems from the Taiwanese Navy’s decommissioned ‘Gearing’ class destroyers, its current ‘Knox’ class frigates and ‘Jin Chiang’ class fast attack craft. The requirement is for a dozen vessels with deliveries beginning next year. It is expected that they will be constructed by Lung The Shipbuilding.

The choice of corvettes and/or OPVs

by Asian navies will clearly be shaped by a raft of factors including cost and theatre of operations

India

There is interest in corvettes around the Indian Ocean. The Indian Navy itself has operated corvettes since the 1960s and originally relied upon Russian designs currently using four ‘Abhay’ (‘Modified Pauk II’) ASW ships, which may be re-engined, and twelve ‘Tarantul I’ or ‘Veer’ class ASuW ships. The first indigenous ships were the ‘Khukris’ (‘Project 25’) which were planned

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The DSNS Sigma design has been acquired

by Indonesia as the Diponegoro class and will be the basis for the Indonesian Navy’s new corvettes © DSNS

quarter of 2013. Four ships are currently on order, with the last to be delivered in 2016, and the difficulties and delays encountered in producing this class must put at risk New Delhi’s plans for twelve ships but these may be overtaken by plans for ‘Project 28A’ class ships which might involve a trimaran hull.

Pakistan

Neighbouring Pakistan prefers its surface fleet to consist of a mixture of frigates and fast attack craft while Sri Lanka focuses upon OPVs. However, Bangladesh has incorporated requirements for corvettes in the ambitious defence procurement plan it published in February 2009. Two small, 600 tonne, corvettes or patrol craft are in the plan but China’s separate tender for two corvettes has been accepted and Dhaka is considering a long term plan to order four more corvettes from Turkey.

The choice of corvettes and/or OPVs by Asian navies will clearly be shaped by a raft of factors including cost, theatre of operations and the need to have dedicated craft for the small surface combatant role. It is clear, however, that these vessels will continue to be found in Asian naval inventories well into the decade.

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HEAVEN SENT

Since the dawn of the space age, Satellite Communications (SATCOM) has provided Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) ranges for the transfer of large quantities of voice and data traffic. Increasingly SATCOM transmitters are being miniaturized, enabling troops and vehicles to stay in touch with other echelons of command far away.

by Thomas Withington raditionally the military has relied on High Frequency (HF) 330 Megahertz (MHz) radio for BLOS communications. The advantage of HF compared to Very High Frequency (VHF/30-300MHz) and Ultra high Frequency (300MHz to three gigahertz) communications, both of which are limited to line-of-sight ranges, is its enviable range made possible by the ability of HF signals to skip across the upper reaches of the atmosphere to reach their destination.

Yet HF has a major disadvantage for military users; chiefly its inability to be used for the transmission and reception of significant quantities of data.

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Six decades ago during the Second World War when HF communications began to be used en masse this was not so much of a concern, but on today’s battlefield where the need to transfer large quantities of imagery and written information, as well as voice traffic, the narrow bandwidth offered by HF for data transmission is a significant impediment. SATCOM, on the other hand, provides a capability by which large packages of data and voice communications can be moved across global distances. In the past military SATCOM has primarily been used to connect static headquarters in the field back to National Command Authorities (NCA) or to other fixed installations in the-

atre. Nonetheless, advances in miniaturization are reducing the physical space needed by military communications systems and antenna technology which is in turn placing lightweight SATCOM terminals in the hands of the individual soldier both in the form of soldier-carried flyaway terminals and vehicle-mounted equipment. Such apparatus can use a range of dedicated SATCOM frequencies including the L- (1-2GHz), X- (8-12GHz), Ku- (12-18GHz) and Kabands (26.5-40GHz).

L-3 Communications

Australia is one country which is enhancing its mobile SATCOM capabilities. L-3 Communications of the United States is Satellite communications are now an indispensable part of contemporary military operations. The United States Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) is providing mobile SATCOM to several echelons of command Š US DoD

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supplying the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with Hawkeye-III Lite 1.2 metre (three feet) diameter Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs). Deliveries of these terminals will commence in 2014. Once in service, they will carry X-, Ku- and Ka-band traffic with the Ku-band communications utilizing the United States Army’s Strategic Command (ARSTRAT) network. As well as using ARSTRAT, Australia is a partner in the United States Air Force Wideband Global SATCOM initiative.

Thales

French defence electronics specialists Thales are heavily involved in the world of military SATCOM. Unsurprisingly, they have won significant business in their home market, as well as with other customers worldwide.

The firm is currently performing work to extend Internet Protocol (IP) network architecture to the ground component of the French armed forces joint SYRACUSE-3 (Systeme de Radio Communications

Utilisant un Satellite-3/Satellite Radio Communications-3) satellite constellation.

SYRACUSE-3 provides SATCOM to French users across the Extremely High Frequency, X- and Ku-band frequencies. The current work that the company is undertaking is important as it adds an IP network to Ka-band intra-theatre and theatre-to-NCA communications. Along with providing extra SATCOM capability to mobile platforms such as ships, these improvements can be utilized for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs). SYRACUSE-3 works alongside Thales’s System-21 SATCOM terminal which can be used on-the-move and has the capability to ‘remember’ the position of its satellite in the heavens, should its gaze become temporarily obscured by tall buildings or natural features.

The System-21 product is at the heart of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiative involving Thales which is enhancing the Alliance’s Electronic Protection Measure (EPM) secure SATCOM modem

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system, known as the NATO-EMS (NATO EPM Modem System). The NATO-EMS provides a secure link between mobile and fixed SATCOM terminals and Thales is performing work to increase the quantity of Thales is heavily involved in the provision of military satellite communications. The Frenchbased company provides full SATCOM spacecraft payloads as well as individual terminals © Thales

traffic which the NATO-EMS can handle and extending its bandwidth to enable more users to employ the NATO-EMS when required. Thales is implementing a solution based upon the firms’ System-21 product

Israel

Alongside Thales, Israeli defence electronics specialists Elbit Systems is well-versed in the design and production of specialist SATCOM on-the-move terminals. The company’s offerings include the ELSAT-2100

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General Dynamics’ Warrior product line provides a number of military SATCOM products. The firm is a leader in the field of military satellite communications, much as it is in the conventional tactical communications domain © US DoD

product which is terminal designed to outfit wheeled and tracked vehicles. In 2012, Elbit announced that it had won a contract to equip an unnamed Latin American country with the ELSAT-2100 product. This is not the only mobile SATCOM product in the Elbit Systems stable. Other offerings include the MSR-3000 tactical SATCOM product which provides tri-band (X, Ku and Ka) communications in a package weighing a mere twelve kilograms (26lbs).

The MSR-2000, meanwhile, has been designed as a vehicular SATCOM package operable with Elbit’s MSR-R and MSR-PRO rugged broadband receivers.

United States

A quiet revolution is ongoing in the United States regarding tactical conventional radio communications used by its armed forces which has witnessed the restructuring of the

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erstwhile the former Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) programme. Similarly important work is being performed regarding SATCOM on-the-move. In June 2013, the Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate (STCD) belonging to the US Army’s Communications Electronics Research and Development Engineering Centre (CERDEC) announced the commencement of development for an open systems standard to facilitate the procurement of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Distributed Aperture SATCOM (DAS) antennas to equip current and future classes of US Army vehicles.

These antennas, as their name suggests, will be distributed around a vehicle’s hull to provide mobile SATCOM. Once the open standard is developed, it could be applied to the Distributed and Embedded Standard SATCOM On-The-Move Terminal Architecture (DESSTA), itself part of the US Army’s Warfighter Information NetworkTactical (WIN-T) which is providing mobile voice and data BLOS communications to US Army vehicle platforms. The goal of the DAS

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open architecture initiative is to develop standards which will enable the utilization of COTS antennas and equipment to be installed with ease on vehicles to provide X-, Ku- and Ka-band mobile SATCOM. This development will enable vehicle mobile SATCOM terminal manufacturers to develop products which can adopt these open standards and thus be easily installed.

Looking towards WIN-T several developments have been witnessed over the past year. In September 2012, SATCOM specialists L3 Linkabit announced that it had successfully tested its RMPM-1000 modem using an Over-The-Air (OTA) multiband, multi-beam configuration across the United States Air Force’s WGS-3 (Wideband Global SATCOM-3) satellite. This satellite forms part of the planned seven-spacecraft WGS SATCOM constellation being funded by the United States and Australian Departments of Defence. The test was performed using the Network Centric Waveform (NCW) which forms part of Increment-1 of WIN-T to provide dynamic SATCOM at optimized bandwidths. WIN-T Increment-1 enables

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craft combined. Four of the WGS satellites are operational and the constellation could eventually include seven birds.

Other important milestones for the WGS programme were reached in 2012 including Boeing’s demonstration of its Ka-band SOTM terminal. The demonstration saw these terminals used to carry voice, data and imagery traffic between three locations in the Continental United States and Australia. The terminals carried the traffic which was relayed from AM General High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) equipped with cameras connected to vehicular radios which also carried the data and voice traffic. The significance of this experiment was that it underlined the ability of vehicles to handle SATCOM traffic across intercontinental ranges.

networking at-the-halt at the operational, core, division, brigade and battalion levels.

NCW also forms part of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) Network-On-TheMove (NOTM) mobile command and control system.

The demonstration performed by L3 Linkabit highlighted the ability of the RPRM-1000 modem to provide a link between a fixed X-band hub and two Kaband mobile SATCOM terminals. Beyond the RPRM-1000 modems, L3 Linkabit provides the AN/USC-66 KaSAT Ka-band long-range SATCOM terminal for the WGS architecture. The AN/USC-66 is transportable in four flight cases and is quick to build and disassemble.

The WGS initiative will replace the existing Defense Satellite Communications System-III (DSCS-III) constellation, the last of the 14 spacecraft which constitute the DSCS-III network entered service in 2003.

WGS offers a major enhancement vis-à-vis the quantity of SATCOM traffic that it can handle. This includes 4.8GHz of instantaneous bandwidth; a ten-fold improvement on that offered by the DSCS-III. As a means of comparison, the first WGS spacecraft, USA-195, offers 2.5GHz of bandwidth; already more than all of the DSCS-III space-

Advances in miniaturization are reducing the physical space needed by military communications systems placing lightweight SATCOM terminals in the hands of the soldier

The United States is overhauling much of its military communications architecture. This includes the replacement of the erstwhile Milstar satellite communications constellation with the Advanced Extremely High Frequency SATCOM network © Lockheed Martin

ITT Exelis’s GNOMAD provides global satellite communications on-the-move. This includes the provision of Ku-band services in both vehicular and soldier terminals with data rates of two megabits-per-second © ITT Exelis

Work is ongoing in the US Army to augment existing, conventional tactical radio systems with SATCOM capabilities. In January 2013, General Dynamics was awarded a $5 million contract to supply upgrade kits to enable the force’s AN/PRC-155 multiband manpack transceivers to access the force’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). The MUOS satellite constellation will provide narrowband SATCOM at a maximum rate of 64 kilobits-per-second for use by the United States and allied forces.

The upgrade will be rolled out across up to 100 AN/PRC-155 sets to facilitate voice and data communications across the US Navy’s MUOS constellation. MUOS effectively provides cell-phone style communications services for manpack, vehicular, ship-borne and airborne radios. In hardware terms, the upgrade adds a power amplifier along with the necessary software to support the MUOS waveform. The upgrade will be completed by the end of 2013.

Harris and ViaSat

In addition to the DoD initiatives discussed above, a number of companies lease SATCOM services to military customers.

They include ViaSat, based in San Diego, California, which offer K-band and Ka-band communications using its own spacecraft

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S A T C O M which provide coverage over North America. Additional spacecraft are expected to be launched by the company in the coming years which will extend the coverage offered by ViaSat still further.

Like many commercial SATCOM leasing houses ViaSat offers a suite of services ranging from straightforward communications airtime through to comprehensive end-toend solutions in which the company will roll out an entire SATCOM network for its client including the provision of hardware.

Along with providing commercial military SATCOM services, ViaSat furnishes the US armed forces with its AN/PSC-14 Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) SATCOM terminal which can be employed as either a manpack or vehicular system providing 422kbps data rates across a secure link via the International Maritime Satellite, better known as INMARSAT. Harris CapRock is another US-based company offering SATCOM services to military users. Based in Fairfax, Virginia, the company can establish a comprehensive SATCOM network via its CommandAccess service. This can include the provision of Harris CapRock is one of several companies which offer a full suite of satellite communications services to military users. This enables such customers to contract these services as opposed to developing their own expensive SATCOM capabilities © HarrisCapRock

The United Kingdom’s military satellite communications services are being enhanced via the Skynet-5 constellation which has its ground segment based in southern England and which provides SATCOM to fixed and mobile installations © Astrium

vehicle-mounted and soldier SATCOM terminals and end-to-end SATCOM services carrying traffic to and from the strategic to tactical levels. This is done using SATCOM links which are fully secure conforming to military standards. CommandAccess made its debut in 2009 and, since then, has been used by several NATO nations. The company is currently rolling out a new service which will see the provision of UHF communications across BLOS ranges using SATCOM. As noted above while UHF can handle large quantities of data, it has a line-ofsight reach. This not only restricts the ability of UHF traffic to be carried over-thehorizon, but can create problems in urban or rugged terrain where buildings and mountains sometimes block transmissions. The ability to move UHF traffic across SATCOM

links is one way to avoid such challenges.

Placing mobile SATCOM in the hands of the individual soldier could herald important developments on the battlefield. At the purely practical level, the ability to keep in touch with comrades and other echelons of command regardless of physical obstacles such as buildings and mountain ranges enables troops to keep in touch irrespective of where they are. Tactically, the ability to move large quantities of voice and data traffic contributes to that oft-repeated military

ViaSat provides K-band and Ka-band communications coverage over North America.

Additional spacecraft are expected to be launched by the company which will extend coverage mantra ‘situational awareness’. Critical information can be passed down to soldiers on the frontline such as video gathered by UAV operators in another continent which may show that a high-value, wanted insurgent is driving their car behind a hill in their immediate locale. In such a scenario, this capability may have a strategic effect too, not only alerting the troops to their nearby quarry, but giving them the opportunity to capture a known ‘ne’er do well’ and to change the course of the conflict. Ultimately, information is power, and the more of this that can flow to and from soldiers, the stronger they will be.

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The government wants an all-professional force by the end of 2014, although many obstacles will likely prevent this Š Gordon Arthur

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MADE IN TAIWAN

Although the Korean Peninsula has been grabbing headlines in 2013, another simmering tension exists between China and Taiwan.

The re-election of President Ma Ying-jeou in January 2012 could be seen as a vote for the status quo as ties between the two Chinese states gradually warm.

by Gordon Arthur

A Dassault Mirage 2000-5Ei of the ROCAF taxis at Hsinchu Air Base. This is currently the most capable air defence aircraft in the air force © Gordon Arthur

owever,” Taiwan’s Defence Minister Kao Hua-Chu warned in the country’s 2013 Quadrennial Defence Review, “to this day Mainland China has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan and its annual defence budget growth has continuously increased at a double-digit rate.” Moreover, in November 2012, Mainland China declared in its 2013 White Paper it would continue “expanding and intensifying military preparedness” and “building strong national defence and powerful armed forces commensurate with China’s international standing.”

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The two countries maintain a warlike posture. In September 2012, three retired Taiwanese officers were arrested amidst fears they had passed information about Taiwan’s submarines and naval doctrine to Beijing. In the worst case of Chinese espionage in 50 years, authorities conceded Taiwan’s Po Sheng air defence command and control network could have been compromised by Major General Lo Hsien-che before his arrest in 2011. William Stanton, Washington’s de facto ambassador to the Republic of China (ROC) from 2009-12, conceded the success of Chinese espionage and the “potential loss of unknown quanti-

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Destined to replace the BAE Systems M113-based tracked family, the indigenous CM32 “Cloud Leopard” from the ORDC is an extremely important vehicle for the ROCA © Gordon Arthur

ties of classified information...undermines US confidence in security cooperation with Taiwan.”

Restructuring

China’s defence budget, the world’s secondlargest, eclipsed Taiwan’s 2013 spending of USD10.5 billion (2.1% of GDP). Furthermore, Taiwan expenditure has decreased annually under President Ma. A US Congress-sponsored report entitled ‘Taiwan’s Declining Defense Spending Could Jeopardise Military Preparedness’, published in June 2013, warned Taiwan’s “diminishing ability” to maintain a credible deterrent capability could provide “incentives and create opportunities” for China, including military coercion. The report warned, “Taiwan could find it increasingly difficult to make progress toward key modernisation goals, such as preparing for a wider range of missions at greater distances from Taiwan, and integrating innovative and asymmetric capabilities.”

In 2004 the Republic of China (ROC) Armed Forces possessed 385,000 troops.

This has already fallen to 270,000 and will

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drop to 215,000 by the end of 2014 to produce a “small but superb, small but strong, small but smart” force. The 2011-14 Jingtsui modernisation programme is abolishing conscription, streamlining active-duty forces and expanding reserves. Taiwan wants a wholly professional force by the end of 2014, but the military fell 4,000 short of its goal of 15,000 volunteers in 2012.

Maintaining conscript levels is unfeasible because of declining birth rates, but the voluntarism plan is destined to fail unless the defence budget jumps significantly.

Voluntarism increases personnel costs, but the decreasing budget prevents benefit packages from significantly improving. The corollary is a lack of incentive for young recruits and retention difficulties. On 1st January 2013 the original one-year conscription period changed to just four months of compulsory basic military training.

The previous six headquarters (Army, Navy, Air Force, Combined Logistics, Reserve and Military Police) are merging into just three (Army, Navy and Air Force) as the country seeks a “Hard ROC” defence capability with seven policy objectives: 1. Building credible capabilities; 2. Demonstrating defence resolution; 3. Safeguarding regional stability; 4. Strengthening intangible combat capabilities; 5. Enhancing disaster prevention

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and preparedness; 6. Promoting voluntarism; and 7. Improving welfare for personnel.

Chinese threat

China has the ability to defeat Taiwan, but the question is at what cost? An amphibious invasion would be bloody, plus China is hampered by inadequate sealift.

Nevertheless, Taiwan takes this threat seriously and annual exercises practise counterattacking simulated landings. Taiwan’s fighters and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs, including Raytheon MIM-23B IHawk, Raytheon Patriot PAC-2+ and PAC3, CSIST Tien Kung II and III) would pose a major risk to People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) airstrikes. A naval blockade would be a lengthy undertaking and produce mounting global pressure against China.

Thus, a missile decapitation strike offers the lowest risk to China, and this is why the Second Artillery Force has 1,500 Short- and Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM, MRBM) aimed at Taiwan. While such a strike would draw severe international criticism, China would have severely degraded Taiwan’s military response. For this reason, a credible missile defence capability must be a priority for the island. In February 2012, medium- and long-range SAM units

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were consolidated within a new Missile Command subordinated to the General Staff Headquarters.

To counter overwhelming Chinese missile barrages, Taiwan has invested in making its forces mobile, strengthening commandand-control infrastructure, and hardening underground facilities. Another threat is cyber-warfare, with the head of the National Security Bureau (NSB) earlier this year assessing the China threat as “very severe”.

In the first half of 2012, hackers launched more than one million attacks on the NSB.

Missiles

Taiwan would need to intercept a significant percentage of Chinese missiles to pose a major deterrence. Taiwan is presently acquiring four MIM-104F Patriot PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) batteries (one already delivered ahead of schedule) and upgrading three older batteries to PAC2/Guidance Enhance Missile (GEM) and PAC-3 configuration. A 2010 request to the USA asked for another two PAC-3 batteries.

Taiwan’s Quadrennial Defence Review (QDR), released in March 2013, prioritised the integration of short-, medium- and long-

The Kuang Hua VI is a new missile boat built by the CSBC Corporation. The 30 171-tonne boats carry HF-II anti-ship missiles © Ho Ji Yi via Gordon Arthur

range air defence systems and building a multi-layered interdiction network based on the principle of “first near then far, first low then high, first protect vulnerable points then comprehensive protection”. The vertically launched Tien Keng III (Skybow) SAM has entered mass production as part of the air defence network.

A missile defence shield must be tied to early-warning and tracking capacities, which underscores the importance of the Surveillance Radar Programme (SRP). The induction of a lone radar atop a Loshan mountain suffered delays but it became operational on 11th December 2012 when it tracked North Korea’s Unha-3 ‘satellite’ launch. Taiwan has just one phased-array radar because political wrangling withheld funding for a second that would have provided 360º coverage and some redundancy.

The solitary SRP radar is vulnerable as it would be a priority target in any Chinese attack. Work is still required to fully integrate the SRP with the Patriot and Po Sheng command and control networks.

Taiwan has active missile development programmes, and the latest news concerns the Yun Feng (Cloud Peak), a land-based supersonic Anti-Ship Missile (AShM) Wearing distinctive markings, this Sikorsky S-70C Blue Hawk is operated by the ROCAF in the search-and-rescue role © Gordon Arthur

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A series of Chrysler M60A3 TTS (Tank Thermal Sight) tanks, the most capable in the army inventory, participates in Exercise Han Kuang in April 2013 © Ho Ji Yi via Gordon Arthur

come to Taiwan’s aid, plus US arms sales are an irritant to Sino-US ties as the two become economically interlocked.

designed to target Chinese invasion fleets.

Based on the Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind) AShM, the Cloud Peak is apparently separate to a programme developing an offensive MRBM with expected 647 nautical mile (1,200 kilometre) range, sufficient to reach targets in central China. The Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) will reportedly begin production of this high-altitude missile next year. The 324nm (600km) range HF-IIE land-attack cruise missile is deployed in three squadrons on mobile ground launchers in northern Taiwan. The existence of such missiles complicates Chinese strategic calculations and makes potential military action more uncertain.

Air force

As Taiwan pursues an offshore engagement strategy, the Navy (ROCN) and Air Force (ROCAF) are pivotal in keeping Chinese forces as far as possible from Taiwanese shores. Investment is needed though as ageing F-5E/F fighters will retire within five years, and expensive-to-maintain Mirage 2000-5s will be mothballed in five-to-ten years. In September 2011, the US Congress was notified of the possible modernisation of 145 F-16A/B fighters, with a critical element being the retrofit of either Raytheon or Northrop Grumman Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. Taiwan signed a $3.7 billion letter of offer and acceptance in July 2012. As launch customer for the AESA radar, the expensive upgrade will push back other programmes.

Incidentally, the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to explore offset opportunities, including a local maintenance centre so F-16s can be refurbished in-country.

For some time Taiwan was requesting 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighters. The USA acknowledged a “legitimate need” for them but President Barack Obama’s government

USA

Taiwan acts as a strategic bulwark for the USA against Chinese expansion as it “rebalances” to the Asia-Pacific. Meanwhile, the USA is a key component in Taiwan’s dynamic-deterrence equation and, as it struggles with military preparedness, Taiwan may seek closer ties with Washington. In any war, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) aims to survive a two-to-four-week onslaught, long enough for the USA to intervene. President George Bush stated in 2001 that the USA would do “whatever it took” to defend Taiwan. However, many Taiwan officials are beginning to doubt the USA’s willingness to

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stalled on the issue, and finally Taiwan seems to have decided it cannot afford them.

Taiwan hinted at a possible Lockheed Martin F-35A/B/C Lightning-II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) request, and because runways would be targeted by China, a Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) fighter such as the F-35B is ideal. However, the USA insists the JSF will not be made available to Taiwan for at least a decade. The air force is also seeking new trainer jets from overseas.

The MND announced the first stage of the Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) MidLife Upgrade (MLU) would conclude by the end of 2013. The ROCAF is upgrading 71 AIDC F-CK-1 fighters with new radars, head-up displays and digital flight control systems, and the MLU should offer the IDF another 20 years of life. Series production of the CSIST’s Wan Chien standoff air-tosurface missile will commence next year. To be carried by upgraded IDFs, the missiles contain 100+ individual warheads.

Four Northrop Grumman E-2T Hawkeye aircraft were shipped to the USA to undergo upgrade to E-2K (Hawkeye 2000) standard with an upgraded Raytheon mission computer, new navigation suite and Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), for example. All have returned, joining two other E-2Ks, to give Taiwan a modern Airborne Early Warning (AEW) fleet. In a rare European military sale, the ROCAF commissioned three Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma search-and-rescue helicopters in July 2012, with an option for 17 more.

Navy

Tensions are rising in the South China Sea and, interestingly, Taiwan controls the largest island in the Spratly Island chain, Taiping. The Coast Guard Administration is in charge of Taiping’s defences. In August 2012, 40 millimetre (1.5-inch) antiaircraft cannons, 120mm (4.7-in) mortars and AT-4 rocket launchers were deployed there, plus a tactical air navigation facility is being built to help C-130 aircraft land on the islet’s 1,200 metre (3,937 feet) airstrip.

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ROCS Wu Chang (FFG-1207) is one of six ‘Kang Ding’ class frigates based on the French ‘Lafayette’ class design © Ho Ji Yi via Gordon Arthur

China’s expanding submarine fleet is of enormous concern, so the arrival of the first of twelve refurbished Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion aircraft on Taiwanese shores later this year will be welcome. The Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon-carrying Orions will replace Grumman S-2T aircraft and they will be housed at new facilities in Pingtung.

A key problem for Taiwan is its own submarines, with only two serviceable boats.

Taiwan wants eight new submarines but no European country is willing to raise China’s ire by selling such equipment. Because the USA no longer manufactures diesel-electric boats, Taiwan is in a quandary. In desperation it has proposed building them itself, a route fraught with risk, but one which may yet prove the only alternative.

Two reactivated ex-US Navy ‘Osprey’ class minehunters reached the ROCN in July 2012, whilst Taiwan is contemplating local construction of six minehunters over a twelve-year period. Minehunters are vital in deterring a potential Chinese blockade.

The last 20 ‘Hai Ou‘ class fast attack craft retired in July 2012 after being progressively replaced by 30 indigenously developed Kuang Hua VI missile boats armed with HF-II AShMs. Last November, the MND announced Lung Teh Shipbuilding had begun producing a 500-ton missile corvette prototype under the Hsun Hai programme. Up to eleven stealthy catamarans are to be manufactured, with the first expected in late 2014.

It is the private shipbuilder’s first military

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contract, which makes some observers nervous. The corvette will carry up to eight HFIII and HF-II AShMs, a 76mm (2.9-in) gun and Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.

The navy has been fitting ramjet-powered HF-III supersonic AShMs to the 580-ton ‘Jin Chiang’class patrol boats. Seven of twelve vessels are being upgraded with these 70nmrange (130km) missiles dubbed “carrier killers”. The same missile is being installed aboard the first five of eight ‘Oliver Hazard Perry’ class frigates. Taiwan plans to acquire 120 missiles and they could eventually be fitted to ‘Lafayette’ and ‘Knox’ class frigates too.

The MND is considering buying two more exUS Navy ‘Perry’ class frigates fitted with Lockheed Martin SQR-19 towed array sonars.

Army Because of a lack of strategic depth, the ROC Army (ROCA) is the final line of defence against Chinese invasion. The army has restructured into more mobile brigades (three mechanised-infantry and four armoured) able to quickly counter-strike an invasion. Taiwan took the domestic path with its CM32 “Cloud Leopard” 8x8 armoured vehicle built by the Ordnance Readiness Development Center (ORDC) to replace its tracked BAE Systems M113-based vehicles. Induction was persistently delayed, but low-rate production is ongoing. An initial order for 368 vehicles is due for completion by 2018, and a requirement for 550 CM32s in a range of variants is envisaged.

Taiwan has some 1,100 tanks but these

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are mostly older-generation Chrysler M48H and M60A3 TTS (Tank Thermal Sight) designs. The USA earlier rejected a request for General Dynamics M1A2 Abrams tanks, so Taiwan is instead likely to pursue 200 refurbished M1A1s. Series production of the indigenous RT-2000 multiple-rocket launcher commenced last year. Capable of firing 117mm (4.6-in), 180mm (7-in) and 230mm (9-in) rockets, 43 RT-2000s will be procured.

The type participated in live-fire exercises on Penghu Island during Exercise Han Kuang in April 2013.

Taiwan was the first foreign customer to order the Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopter in June 2011. The Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 30 aircraft gives the ROCA a considerable step up in capabilities compared to the current Bell AH-1W fleet. The first Apache should arrive in the third quarter of 2013.

Staying with helicopters, Sikorsky is building the first four of 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for Taiwan in a $3.1 billion deal.

These will replace the Bell UH-1H and first deliveries are expected in March 2014.

Perhaps, after all, China does not need to attack Taiwan. The QDR warned of China’s “three-front war” of legal opinion, public opinion and psychological warfare. China is “using propaganda and cross-Strait exchange activities to confuse the public’s awareness of friend/foe and disunite the people,” it reported. Many believe China can more ‘cheaply’ conquer Taiwan through economic investment! Conversely, Taiwan’s best defence may be trade as China cements its place in the global economy. Would China risk international isolation and its prosperity by militarily invading Taiwan?

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CONNECTING THE DOTS

A fully functional and network-linked C4I system requires access and interoperability with all the three domains across the land and sea based command and control structures, land, air and sea based communication systems, and tactical and operational command on the ground ŠTRS

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The expansive Asia-Pacific region has hitherto enjoyed sustained stability, but increasing competitive interests are leading the nations in the littoral to bolster their defences.

According a vital impetus to these initiatives towards securing their interests and their assets are C4I systems that are evolving as a credible force multiplier.

by Sarosh Bana

he return of Asia-Pacific to the centre of world affairs is the great power shift of the 21st century. The region has hitherto enjoyed general peace and prosperity for almost 70 years since the Second World War. But it is now being unsettled by the emergence of contesting territorial claims from China and the sporadic belligerence of North Korea.

Thus while the countries in the littoral find worth in commercial and diplomatic engagement, they see merit also in securing their interests and their assets. And as they bolster their defences against external aggression as well as against terrorism and cyber assaults, accordingly a vital impetus to these initiatives are Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) systems that are evolving as credible force multipliers.

With the battlespace becoming more complex, dealing with information from multiple environments like land, sea, air, space, sensors, networks and data sources is complicating combat planning and decision-making.

C4I systems, either by themselves or built into platforms, form a powerful augmented

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capability to be used by the commander to conduct operations by helping integrate the chain of command and control, information management, data fusion and dissemination.

Market Size

In its ‘C4I Forecast’ released in May, Connecticut-based Forecast International projects that the combined market value of this domain being worth $51 billion over the next ten years. However, it foresees less than half the programmes being completed within this period, bringing annual sales down 47 per cent, from $7 billion in 2013 to $3.7 billion in 2022. The forecast also expects upcoming defence budgets to be very tight on account of the global economic downturn. According to the analysis, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Harris, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin will be the top five C4I defence companies over the next decade, in terms of sales volume and market share.

Multilateral information sharing in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was institutionalized in July last

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In May 2013, the Indian Navy received the first of the eight P-8Is maritime patrol aircraft from a $2.1 billion order placed with Boeing in 2009. They will be outfitted with the Data Link II internet-based digital transmission system developed by state-owned Bharat Electricals Ltd © Boeing

year with the ten-member grouping’s navies collectively developing the ASEAN Information Portal, or AIP. The portal allows for the swift dissemination and sharing of information amongst operational commanders and centres to enable effective and efficient responses to maritime threats. Four months after its launch, AIP helped regional maritime agencies exchange information on an incident of a hijacked tanker, which led Vietnamese authorities to arrest the culprits.

Amber Dubey, partner and head, aerospace and defence at global consultancy KPMG, maintains that C4I interoperability has always been a topic of discussion. A common C4I network platform specific to the Asia-Pacific may have many practical hurdles considering the geo-political challenges in the region, he says. “C4I networks

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S Y S T E M S rating real time data links, optical fiber links, encrypted radio and satellite communicationsnetworks.

“All defence funding in India is done through the Ministry of Defence,” mentions Mr. Dubey. “The cost of BMS alone would be in billions of dollars, and the project costs of most of these programmes that are yet to be implemented are not known in the public domain.” Rod Hodson, director US operations, ThalesRaytheonSystems Air C2, also mentions: “We can’t comment on the timeline for any specific country or project.

Generally speaking, national sovereignty is a fundamental asset for any nation and having systems in place to monitor and protect sovereignty is a high priority.”

are based on sensitive and classified technology and algorithms,” Mr. Dubey remarks. “Countries develop these indigenously and sharing between countries is very limited in this area; unlike NATO or the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), there is no framework for common defence practices in the Asia-Pacific region.”

India

Acknowledging the need for a Cyber Warfare Infrastructure (CWI), India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has predicated it on the creation of a C4ISR backbone, where I2SR is intelligence, information, surveillance and reconnaissance. The development of an indigenous capability has been gathering momentum with participation from both the public as well as the private sectors.

Bharat Electricals Ltd (BEL) and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) have been chosen for developing the Artillery Combat, Command and Control System (ACCCS). BEL, Tata, Electronic Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) and CMC Ltd are setting up the Tactical Command, Control, Communications and Information (TAC-C3I) system for field formations. Ground-based Electronic Warfare projects are being produced by BEL, CMC and Tata Power Strategic Electronics Division. And while the Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) will be set up by Tata Infotech and Wipro Technologies, BEL will be developing the Air Defence Control and Reporting System (ADCRS).

DRDO laboratory, Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), has developed F-INSAS (Futuristic Infantry Soldier as a System) that is designed to turn India’s infantry into fully-networked, digitised, self-contained 21st century warriors. FINSAS will be rolled out in stages by 2020 and is said to be similar in scope and objectives to infantry modernisation projects such as the US Army’s Future Force Warrior initiative.

Franco-American ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) has provided C4I platforms and subsystems to the Indian defence establishment, but the development and integration of the network and its systems have been executed

by Indian defence labs or entities like BEL, ECIL and CAIR. In May 2013, the Navy received the first of

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Indonesia and Singapore are among 15 nations where the Lockheed Martin FPS-117 radar is in operation. The company says these systems have accumulated over 1,000 system-years of operating experience and are adding one more year every four days, with more FPS-117 systems in operation today than all other competitive radars combined © Lockheed Martin

the eight Boeing P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The P-8Is will be outfitted with the Data Link II internet-based digital transmission system developed by BEL. This Indian-made technology will enable exchange of tactical data and messages between aircraft, ships and shore installations.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched the Air Force Net (AFNET), a dedicated secure communications infrastructure for network-centric operations. AFNET integrates information sharing between Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), space-based assets, combat fighters operating in air defence role, air defence sensors, air defence weapons, and command and control authorities incorpo-

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Australasia

Lockheed Martin Australia Pty Ltd announced in June 2013 that it is teaming up with four Air Traffic Management (ATM) technology providers to offer its Skyline Enterprise solution for Airservices Australia and Australian Department of Defence (DoD) ‘oneSky Australia’ procurement. The four partners are Australiabased Adacel Technologies Ltd, Daronmont Technologies, Frequentis Australasia Pty Ltd and Airbus ProSky, with subsidiary Metron Aviation. Skyline Enterprise will harmonise civil-military operations ensuring defence readiness and more secure skies. In its Defence Capability Plan issued in September 2011, New Zealand is acquiring the Defence Command and Control System (DC2s) system, a high-level decision support and intelligence system for joint operations. It is expected to be completed by 2016. The majority of the country’s tactical C4I capability will be delivered under its NetworkEnabled Army programme.

Thailand

Saab was awarded two contracts by the Royal Thai Navy in June 2011 for the upgrade of combat management and fire control systems on two Naresuan Class frigates. Dan Enstedt, president and chief executive officer, Saab Asia Pacific, says that under the contract, his company will supply the 9LV Mk4 combat management system (CMS), CEROS200 fire control system and

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data-link equipment, the deliveries expected to be completed by 2014.

The 9LV Mk4 CMS consists of MultiFunction Consoles (MFC) providing input and display facilities to control the system and integrated sensors and weapons. The CMS is integrated with the EOS-500 smart sensor system, navigation radar, surveillance radar, small or medium calibre gun, Data Link Processor (DLP), transponder, global positioning system and wind sensor.

The system will perform command and control, identification and tracking, as well as weapons engagement. Shipboard data links will allow communication between the frigates, JAS-39 Gripen warplanes and Saab 340 Erieye Airborne Early Warning aircraft of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF).

In 2008, C4i Pty. Ltd delivered the existing Air Defence System that provides RTAF with a complete nationwide end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP)-based solution. The system consists of over 20 operational sites across the country, linked together via an advanced IP network to provide a true “system of systems” solution.

Malaysia

TRS’s Mr. Hodson says the Malaysian Air

Defence Ground Environment Sector Operations Centre III (MADGE) has completed full system acceptance by Malaysia’s Ministry of Defence. The system operates in real-time and features multi-radar tracking and a flexible human-machine interface.

Sapura Technologies Sdn Bhd, a Malaysianowned technology-based organisation, and its technology partner Thales have also been developing ‘Sakti’, Malaysia’s future soldier programme, which is part of the country’s push towards Network Centric Operations (NCO) that will integrate existing C4I systems. With the establishment of this unit, Malaysia will become the second ASEAN country, after Singapore, to formally induct a future soldier programme into its army units.

Specialising in Electronic Warfare (EW), test and evaluation equipment, engineering, and engineering services, ITT Exelis C4i undertakes systems checks and quality control of its advanced products before delivery. The company says that its history testifies to the delivery of high quality technology products © ITT Exelis

Three Phalcon AWACS mounted on Ilyushin-76 aircraft are already operational in the Indian Air Force under India’s $1.1 billion tripartite agreement with Israel and Russia, and there is a proposal for the purchase of two additional such platforms © Michael Sender

South Korea

Mr. Dubey points out that the Republic of Korea’s Tactical C4I is being built on a $3.8 billion Tactical Information Communication Network (TICN) being codeveloped by Samsung-Thales, and other Korean companies Huneed Technologies and LIG Nex1. Due to begin in 2014, this project will be an integrated C4I system linking the army, air force and marines.

According to Mr. Hodson, TRS has provided software systems to Korea’s Master Control Reporting Centres. Known as the Book Kuk Sung (BKS) programme, the centres provide situational awareness and asset control capability for the country’s national air defence system.

Japan

Lockheed Martin and its trading partner Itochu Corporation have supplied Japan’s Ministry of Defence 19 AbleSentry systems for detection and early warning of a possible chemical, biological or radiological attack.

Designed for the tactical battlefield, AbleSentry’s array of networked, remote sensors uses a sophisticated detection algorithm for threat detection, while minimising the potential for false alarms. Networked sensors eliminate the possibility of a single sensor causing a system-wide alarm.

South East Asia

Lockheed Martin has a teaming agreement with Indonesian technology firm PT CMI Teknologi to improve airspace surveillance,

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Pakistan’s signing of a $1.13 billion contract with Saab for its Saab 2000 aircraft equipped with the Erieye radar revived the platform’s production.

Erieye is an active phased-array pulse-doppler multi-mode radar that combines air and sea surveillance with an effective surveillance area of 500,000 sq km (193,051 sq miles) © Saab

safety, and management over the Indonesian archipelago in support of Jakarta’s defence revitalisation initiative. The partnership will jointly pursue the National Airspace Surveillance–Republic of Indonesia (NASRI) programme with the intent to produce more than 40 TPS-77 and FPS-117 long-range surveillance radars. Integration of these sensors with Indonesia’s command and control system will assist the NASRI network in greatly enhancing air sovereignty and surveillance over the country’s circa 17,000 islands.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has supplied Singapore with PSTAR and FPS-117 radars that bolster the country’s integrated air defence environment through long and short range detection.

On 6 August 2013, Filipino President Benigno Aquino announced a $1.8 billion military upgrade to help defend his country’s maritime territory against “bullies”, in the wake of another face-off with China at the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The upgrade will extensively cover the Philippines’ surveillance capabilities. The announcement came on the day Manila protested to Beijing over the “illegal and provocative” presence of a Chinese warship and two other vessels at the disputed shoal. “We will also improve our communications, intelligence and surveillance systems,” the President added.

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Pakistan

Pakistan’s signing of a $1.13 billion contract with Saab for its Saab 2000 aircraft equipped with the Erieye radar revived the platform’s production. While the number to be procured has varied between six and eight, the fourth Saab 2000 Erieye was delivered in September 2011. This induction is perceived as a response to India’s $1.1 billion tripartite agreement with Israel and Russia for the purchase of Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) mounted on Ilyushin-76 aircraft. Pakistan also has on

The development and operation of potent, effective and modern C4I capabilities are at the core of China’s military modernisation programme

order four Chinese ZDK-03 AWACS from China, which itself is said to have around 20 AWACS in a mix of new and old systems.

Taiwan

Apart from providing radars ranging from the GE-592 solid-state 3D radar to the TPS117, Lockheed Martin is helping Taiwan upgrade its command and control capabilities and providing C4ISR solutions that will help the country support its programmes such as the Automated Air Defence System.

China

Lieutenant General (retd) Davinder Kumar, an army veteran who specialises in

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Network Design Implementation, having conceptualised, designed and fielded a variety of communication and computer networks for the Indian Army, says that the development and operation of potent C4I capabilities are at the core of China’s military modernisation programme.

Northrop Grumman, in its report to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission after having been recently awarded two important contracts in the domain of cyber security, suggests that Beijing is adamant in creating diverse and technically advanced cyberspace abilities. It observes that the Chinese military’s close relationships with large Chinese telecommunications firms have created a path for China to penetrate supply networks for commodities used by the US government, military and the private sector.

China’s cyber capabilities appear advanced enough to disrupt US military operations in case of a conflict, the report notes, adding, “A few weeks before a potential conflict over Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army of China may mount a computer network attack on systems operated by the U.S. Pacific Command and Transportation Command to confuse the U.S. command and control picture.”

Such probabilities are driving research in evolving ever more secure C4I systems.

After all, success is about staying one step ahead of an adversary through every phase of a mission. To remain in this advantageous position, information superiority is key. Once obtained, information can be turned into the most lethal resource.

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ASIA PACIFIC PROCUREMENT UPDATE

by Pierre Delrieu

On 25th July, Sri Lanka’s military announced it would be demilitarising 13 army camps in the Jaffna peninsula, the island’s former northern civil war zone.

All military troops are planned to be removed from the camps and the sites, “for which the army paid rent, will be handed over to the original owners,” said military officials.

Sri Lanka has faced growing international criticism for failing to demilitarize the area since the 25-year long civil war ended in 2009, and the decisions may mark a defining change in the government’s stance. Just last year, Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa had rejected international calls to demilitarise the region,

refusing to undermine national security because fears of remaining active Tamil rebels in the region. The move is seen as politically-motivated, coming after the government called for provincial council elections in the Tamil-majority Northern Province, once the theatre of several battles between rebels and government troops. The government, however, said the decision and the elections were not related, adding the military has gradually been reducing the presence of troops in the Jaffna peninsula region where, at the height of the war, some 30,000 troops were stationed.

Although the date for the vote has not yet been fixed, the first council elections in the province since the end of the war are likely to be held in September.

Astrophysics in Bangalore, who were asked to determine what exactly the Chinese army had been witnessing. The astronomers identified the UFOs by analyzing the planets’ movements across the sky.

China claims about 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) of land in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, while India says the Chinese army is illegally occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000

square miles) of the western Himalayan territory on the Aksai Chin plateau.

China is also a long-time ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India’s historical rival. Beijing on the other hand does not look favourably on the presence of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India and is also growing suspicious of New Delhi's ties with the United States.

SRI LANKA TO DEMILITARIZE FORMER CIVIL WAR ZONE

INDIA DEVELOPS TIES WITH BURMA TO COUNTER CHINA

India is developing its diplomatic and military relations with its neighbour Burma, a strategy to counter the growing influence of China in the region.

India announced it will help Burma build Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and train its troops at Indian military facilities. The decision to build OPVs was reached during talks between Indian Navy chief Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi and Burmese Navy chief Vice Admiral Thura Thet Swe, during a visit

THE INDIAN ARMY’S CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

The Indian military spent the past six months investigating “Chinese spy drones” that were violating its air space, only to discover that the drones were in fact Venus and Jupiter.

The two planets were reportedly mistaken for unidentified flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) after being repeatedly sighted over the eastern Himalayan region

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of the latter official in India.

The Indian Defence Ministry refused to give details on the agreement, including on the type, the number or design of the OPVs. The Indian Defence Ministry is also considering a demand by Burma for helicopter pilot training for its soldiers, including on attack helicopters. Burma has already received four Islander maritime patrol aircraft and naval gun boats from India. Beyond this, the two countries are also discussing a border management project, a decision that some analysts see as an attempt to supervise China’s activities in the Indian Ocean region. of Ladakh, near the disputed border area between India and China. Between April 2012 and February 2013, the Indian military documented some 155 air violations by UFOs over the Indian-Chinese border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

As tensions increase between the two countries, India believed China was launching UAVs across the border. But two astronomers from the Indian Institute of

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SINGAPORE NAVY CONDUCTS SUCCESSFUL HARPOON LIVE FIRING TEST

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) conducted a livefiring of a Harpoon missile in the South China Sea earlier as a part of CARAT exercise which Singapore held with the US.

PHILIPPINES TO SEND WARSHIPS TO EX-US NAVAL BASE

The Philippines’ government announced on 29th July that it may shift some of its key air and naval assets to Subic Bay base, a former US naval base in the South China Sea, in order to boost its response time to waters contested by The People’s Republic of China.

Subic Bay, which is a natural

The missile, fired by an RSN Maritime Patrol Aircraft against a surface target, successfully hit the target.

The exercise was witnessed

by Senior Minister of State for Defence Chan Chun Sing, who noted the value of the CARAT series of maritime exercises, which the SAF and the United

States Navy (USN) have conducted annually since 1995.

“Not only has the exercise strengthened the overall defence relationship between Singapore and the US, it has also significantly enhanced the level of interoperability between both navies,” said Mr Chan.

deep sea port capable of accommodating warships, was an important US naval facility until 1992, when the Philippine government converted it into a busy sea port.

The plan would include the transfer of two key warships acquired from the US, announced the country’s Ministry of Defense, as well as the expansion of an airport near Subic, currently

used by the air force.

Considered one of the weakest armed forces in the Asian region, the Philippine military has been relying mostly on excess US military vehicles and equipment to boost its capability. In 2011, it acquired a decommissioned US coastguard cutter and transformed it into its naval flagship: the Gregorio del Pilar.

The Philippine fleet is mainly used to patrol sea borders and detect and counter any Chinese military build-up in the region.

Earlier in June, the Philippine government had announced it was drafting a plan allowing shared use of its bases with the United States and Japan, also locked in a sea dispute with China. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters that are close to its neighbouring countries, a dispute that has long been considered a potential flashpoint of conflict in the region.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Fleet Commander Rear-Admiral (RADM) Timothy Lo and the United States Navy (USN) Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific RADM Thomas F. Carney officiated at the opening ceremony of the 19th Singapore-US Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise at Changi Naval Base.

RADM Lo highlighted that Exercise CARAT has come a long way since its inception and noted the commitment of both navies to push the boundaries of the exercise. He also recognised the professional value the exercise has provided to the RSN and the USN and noted its importance in bilateral relations. “CARAT Singapore is a vital component of the growing range of RSN-USN interactions and plays a part in enhancing defence relations between countries,” he added.

Russian Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters. The RCAF announced it only intends to use the helicopters for humanitarian purposes, although the helicopters can potentially be fitted with air-toground weapons.

Beijing is Cambodia’s single biggest military patron and the helicopter purchase deal is one of a growing number of trade deals, grants and loans signed between Cambodia and China over the past few years, a relationship which also increases China’s political and economic leverage in the country, one of its allies in the region.

CAMBODIA ACQUIRES NEW MILITARY HELICOPTERS FROM CHINA

The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces is acquiring 12 new Harbin Z-9 military helicopters from China as part of a $195 million deal made in August 2011. The Harbin Z-9, also known as “Haitun”, is a Chinese military utility helicopter. It is modelled on the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin and manufactured by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. The new model will be replacing an aging Cambodian fleet of

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SINGAPORE AND US NAVIES CONDUCTS MARITIME EXERCISE CARAT

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A Japanese defence paper, released on 21st July by the country’s newly elected government, says the country's military needs to strengthen its capabilities and adopt a more assertive role in the region’s security, due to increased threats from North Korea and China.

Some of the changes outlined by the interim Defence Ministry’s paper, if implemented, would be a major shift in policy for the Japanese military

activity as threats to the regional peace and stability, and urged that Japan steps up its capabilities. According to the report, China's military has become a security concern to the region, including Japan, increasingly aggravating national security concerns. The paper urges Japan to increase its surveillance capabilities, consider the use of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of long-range, high-altitude monitoring around the clock and constitute a marine force with amphibious capabilities to defend disputed islands in the East China Sea.

as it is currently limited to selfdefence under a pacifist constitution dating back to the post World War Two years.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who recently returned to power, wants the previous defence policy, established by the more moderate Democratic Party government, revised to give Japan's military more strength and freedom.

The report repeatedly cites China’s military and maritime

“This report will guide the focus of the direction that the Self Defence Forces should be taking”, said the Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera. Although the JapanUS security alliance remains "the cornerstone" of the Japanese defence policy, added Onodera, Japan must improve its ability to respond to ballistic missile attacks as concerns grow regarding North Korea's missile and nuclear development.

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT TO STEP UP COUNTRY’S DEFENCE CAPABILITIES

SOUTH KOREA RE-OPENS BID FOR NEW FIGHTER JETS

During a meeting chaired

by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin on 25th July, the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced it would be reopening bids on a $7.4 billion fighter jet deal in August, after initial bidding procedures were temporarily suspended.

The country is aiming to replace its aging McDonnell Douglas F-4 and Northrop Grumman F-5 jets which were introduced decades ago, and to buy 60 new planes.

Discussion over the acquisition had however been delayed for months because South Korea would not bid over the $7.4 billion approved by the country’s parliament. DAPA spokesman Baek Yoon-Hyeong told reporters that the bidding will resume mid-August under the same conditions as previously cited.

The American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin and EADS, the European aerospace consortium, were in competition over the military contract, as South Korea was to decide between Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

To encourage South Korea

Chelyabinsk, in Russia’s Ural Mountains region. The drills will be held in three phases, including troop deployment, war planning and campaign drills, said the Chinese Ministry of Defence.

They are meant to enhance pragmatic cooperation and mutual trust between the Chinese and Russian armed forces, explained the Chinese command headquarters and improve their capability to combat terrorism.

CHINA AND RUSSIA’S PEACE MISSION 2013

China announced on 27th July that it would be sending military personnel and equipment to Russia, where they will participate in joint anti-terrorism drills held by both countries over a period of 20 days The exercises, named “Peace Mission 2013”, is scheduled to run from 27th July 27 to 15th August, will be carried out in

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to choose the Typhoon, the Eurofighter consortium had offered a $2 billion investment in a separate project to help the country develop its own advanced fighter jets. Lockheed Martin, on the other hand, had offered to support South Korea’s effort to develop and launch military communications satellites, while Boeing promised to buy billions of dollars worth of parts from Korean companies.

As a reflection of the close US-South Korea military alliance, the country’s military procurement needs have overwhelmingly been met by US suppliers in the past, especially where its air force is concerned.

In January the Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland outbid the American defence giant Sikorsky for a $567 million contract to supply six helicopters to the South Korean Navy, which had fueled EADS’ hopes of obtaining the fighter jets contract.

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AUSTRALIA SELLS FOUR RECONDITIONED MILITARY AIRCRAFT TO INDONESIA

On 19th July, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty and Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro signed a $56 million agreement granting four reconditioned Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft to Indonesia.

One of the aircraft is reportedly ready to be delivered, while the three other aircraft still need to be renovated before being delivered to Indonesia sometime between

AUSTRALIA’S FIRST MH-60R SEAHAWK ROMEO

The first Australian Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk Romeo naval helicopter successfully completed its first test flight on 26th June 2013.

Destined for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the first of 24 MH-60R anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopters successfully passed a range of tests conducted during an 80 minute long flight, including controllability, vibration analysis, engine perform-

BAE AWARDED CONTRACT BY AUSTRALIA FOR MK127 HAWK FLEET UPGRADE

The Minister for Defence Materiel for the Commonwealth of Australia has awarded a £90m contract for the upgrade of their Mk127 Hawk fleet.

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next October and December 2014, reported Indonesian officials. By signing the agreement with Indonesia, the Australian

government hopes to strengthen the pre-existing bilateral relations between the two countries.

ance, and navigation.

A further three Australian helicopters are said to be currently in various stages of assembly with the first two planned to be handed over to the RAN by December 2013.

This first flight comes just two years after the $3 billion deal was signed between Sikorsky and the Australian Government, and some six months ahead of the original schedule approved in 2011.

The 24 helicopters will replace 16 Sikorsky MH-60B Seahawk helicopters currently

in service, expanding naval surface strike capability with will additional air-to-surface strike capability. On 24th July, the RAN’s first MH-60R arrived at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Owego, New York, for the second phase of aircraft completion, namely the installation of the digital cockpit and integrated mission systems and sensors.

The MH-60R aircraft is to become a significant contributor to Australian maritime security in the Pacific region, and will provide the RAN with the most capable antisurface and anti-submarine helicopter available today, officials say. Australia is expected to take delivery of all 24 completed MH-60R aircraft by the end of 2016 via the US Government’s Foreign Military Sales program.

Known as Project AIR 5438, the upgrade to the Australian Hawk fleet will deliver an enhanced training capability and also encompass the supply of three Full Mission Simulators, RAAF aircrew/groundcrew training and support.

The upgrade of the

Australian Hawk fleet will ensure its effectiveness into the next decade and provides a solid foundation for the progression of aircrew onto the F/A-18 Classic and Super Hornets and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) when it is introduced into service.

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The maintenance contractor appointed by the Australian government, Qantas Defence Services (QDS) has vast experience in handling C-130 type Hercules aircraft and is the only company appointed by Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) to carry out maintenance on these aircraft.

Indonesia is also looking to acquire several C-130 Hercules’s from other sources and, while discussions are under way, the Defence Ministry announced it would be sending pilots to Australia, to undergo training on operating the aircraft.

US, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY COMPLETE TALISMAN SABER 2013 TORPEDO EXERCISE

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) and a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) submarine participated in a torpedo exercise in the Coral Sea, July 19, in support of exercise Talisman Saber 2013 (TS 13).

TS 13 is a biennial training event aimed at improving Australian Defense Force (ADF) and U.S. combat readiness and interoperability as a Combined Joint Task Force.

“This has been a great opportunity for our Sailors to participate in realistic and relevant training for the forwarddeployed region,” said Master Chief Jason Haka, command master chief aboard Lassen.

The exercise gave more than 400 U.S. Navy and ADF crewmembers the opportunity to hone their skills and demonstrate their operating ability.

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