asian military review - sept/oct 2011 issue

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VOLUME 19/ISSUE 6 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 US$15

ASIA-PACIFICAIR POWER

LIGHT ARMOURED VEHICLES

FRIGATES& DESTROYERS

REGIONAL UAV DIRECTORY

NAVAL WEAPONSYSTEMS

TACTICAL ISR

SOUTH KOREAN DEFENCE

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011VOLUME 19 / ISSUE 6

Contents

Front Cover Photo:France stood up its secondDassault Rafale-M squadron thisSummer and the first to operatethe multi-role F3 variant, whichwill operate from the Charlesde Gaulle. In the Asia-Pacificthe Rafale is competing forIndia’s Medium Multi-RoleCombat Aircraft competition,Koreas next-generation fighteror FX programme as well asMalaysia’s multi-role combataircraft requirement © Dassault

Contents

01

Future Air Powerin the Asia-Pacific Naval Weapon

Systems: Asia-PacificRequirements andSolutionsTed HootonNaval gunnery, missiles, mines andtorpedoes are each contributingto the capabilities of naval vesselsdemonstrating yet again theversatility of warships and thevariety of weapons they can deploy

Frigate andDestroyers: TheAsia-Pacific’sPrincipal SurfaceCombatantsTom WithingtonFrigates and destroyers representself-contained fighting units thatcan play an important part inenhancing the maritime power ofa nation with the lines whichclassify both vessels becomingincreasingly blurred

AMRRegional UAVDirectory

Light ArmouredVehicles: A DominantForce in the RegionAdam BaddeleyMost if not all armed forces intendto or have already added LightArmoured Vehicles to theirinventories, willing to accept forthe most part, lower levels ofarmoured protection and firepowercompared to the tracked vehiclesthey replace or supplement

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Gordon ArthurIn recent months North Korea has repeatedly performed the unthinkable, underscoring

its unpredictability. As Kim Jong-un prepares to succeed his despotic father,South Korea has little choice but to increase defence

spending and expand its military capabilities

28 South Korea: Capability Expansion

l SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 l

John MulberryThe coming decade will seegreat changes taking shape inthe combat aircraft fleetsfielded by armed forces withinthe Asia-Pacific region. There isa distinct shift toward platformswith multi-role capabilitiesas governments seek the bestpossible value

Asian-Pacific:Tactical Airborne ISRMartin StreetlyMany of the region’s nationshave pressing overlandIntelligence, Surveillance andReconnaissance requirementsthat are as important as theirmaritime reconnaissanceneeds and in view of the localterrain, frequently best metby airborne capabilities

Adam BaddeleyThe Asia-Pacific’s UAVranks are swellingthanks to a combinationof internationalacquisitions are well asan increasing vigorousand innovative domesticproduction anddevelopment base

Editorialere we go again. North Korea has saidthat it is eager to recommence six-partytalks on its nuclear programme, “at anearly date” and “without preconditions”.These talks, which were intended to

exchange energy and economic aid for an end tothe country’s nuclear programme, originallycollapsed after Pyongyang stormed out in 2009. Just to reinforce the strangeworld that Pyongyang inhabits, when the talks ended, North Korea decided thatwas the time to carry out a second nuclear test. Bizarrely or perhaps asexpected for North Korea, in a recent statement it ambiguously stated that itsdesire for the talks to restart remains, “unchanged”.

To be fair it has been wooing key members of the talks, meeting US officialsin New York and taking the opportunity of a security summit in Indonesia tomeet with South Korean counterparts. Just to reinforce how committedNorth Korea is to peace, let us review the past few months. In March lastyear the Cheonan was sunk with the loss of 46 lives, in November of thatyear the North announced that it had a functioning facility to provideweapons grade enriched uranium and in January, in a move no doubtdesigned to further open the way for rapprochement, it bombardedYeonpyeong Island inflicting another four dead.

North Korea’s openness to talks has been described as a new “go phase” –but going where exactly? Seoul had said that things can’t progress until allactivities at North Korea’s nuclear complexes are ended and this is verifiedby on site UN inspections. Doesn’t sound likely does it? Would Pyongyangreally give up its nuclear card simply in return for economic aid anddiplomatic normality? How much room for economic and security concessionsto a communist regime does Barack Obama have with an election nextyear against an unusually hawkish Republican opponent? Does China reallywant to change the status quo?

It is with some irony that the news came out on the same day as North Korea’sArirang show took place. This extravaganza consists of hundreds of youngNorth Koreans in displays of synchronised dance and acrobatics taking placeover extended periods of time. Pyongyang is resuming its often deft, oftenmurderously violent dance with the outside world and despite past experienceit seems to have no lack of partners for this latest soiree.

Adam Baddeley, Editor

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MILITARIES are takingadvantage of the greaterstrategic mobility andreduced operating and sup-port costs these vehicles

provide, while willing to accept for the mostpart, lower levels of armoured protection andfirepower compared to the tracked vehiclesthey replace or supplement.

Despite any differences between wheeledand tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicles(IFVs), the core capability the two offerremains very similar, each carrying a sectionof infantry to the forward edge of the battleand protecting them from blast, shell splin-ters, small arms and cannon fire as well asengaging and destroying the sources of

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Armoured

A new offering this year has been theMbombe 6x6 vehicle developed jointlybetween the Paramount Group and theInternational Golden Group © Paramount

Most if not all armed forces intend to or havealready added wheeled armoured fightingvehicles (AFVs) or Light Armoured Vehicles(LAV) to their inventories. They are also takingup an ever larger proportion of countries’ totalAFV holdings, the Netherlands for examplemothballed its two remaining Leopard 2battalions in May, a total of eighty tanks, infavour of freeing up funds for rapidlydeployable forces.

bbyy Adam Baddeley

Light

Vehicles

many of those threats with their main arma-ment, continuing to support their infantryafter they debus.

As well as providing kinetic and mobilitysupport, the vehicles will also access key bat-tlefield information via a force wide battlemanagement system and host and provideaccess to more powerful communicationsequipment than can be carried by theirinfantry section as well as operating power-ful ISR devices and capabilities whichenhance battlefield effectiveness.

Recent DevelopmentsSweden is the latest country to announce theselection of the Patria Armoured ModularVehicle (AMV) for its military, in this case

for the Armoured Wheeled Vehicles (AWV)programme covering 113 vehicles due to bedelivered by 2014 in a $360m contract. Onerecent issue has been the 135 AMVs orderedby Slovenia in 2006 for $395 million, theorder for which was cancelled by the gov-ernment in March of this year followinginvestigations over improprieties in the bid-

ding process. The AMV is also being bid forSpain’s Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle(AIFV) contract with Patria teamed withLockheed Martin.

Germany’s 292 Jagerbattalion was inMarch the first unit to receive its ARTECBoxer AFVs ready for deployment toAfghanistan in August. The Boxer is equippedwith a Remote Weapon Station and able tocarry seven fully equipped infantry. TheNetherlands is the second operator of thevehicle.

The first 26 BTR4s from the KharkivMorozov Design Bureau to reach Iraq beganarriving in April following an award for 420vehicles made in 2009. The first order com-prised 20 armored personnel carriers, four

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F I G H T I N G V E H I C L E S


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Armoured

The US recently fieldedthe newly designed StrykerDouble-V Hull vehicleto Afghanistan, designedto provide MRAPequivalent protection

The Spike LR is integrated on thePandur IFVs operted by theCzech Republic Army © Rafael

command and two medical evacuation vehi-cles. A further 62 vehicles will be sent by theend of the year. Utilising a ‘Western’ configu-ration, the driver and commander are in acompartment at the front of the hull with theengine and transmission compartment in themiddle with the troop compartment at therear. The design is seen as being more recon-figurable for mission packages with variantsof the vehicle including a 30mm cannonequipped turret up to the MOP-4K fire sup-port vehicle armed with a 120mm gun.

In April, Textron Systems also announceda $64m order for 37 M1117 Armored SecurityVehicles (ASV) and 51 M1200 ArmoredKnight vehicles to be delivered to the US. Inthe past five and a half years, Textron hasdelivered a total of 2,777 ASVs and 314

Armored Knight vehicles to the US Army.One of the biggest international orders in 2011has been the June announcement thatAfghanistan is to acquire 440 vehicles fromTextron Marine & Land Systems’ MediumArmored Security Vehicles family across ninevariants. The first 240 vehicles are planned toarrive by June 2012. The value of the contractis $543 million.

Iveco’s Guarani 6x6 APC, known as theViatura Blindada de Transporte de Tropas -Média sobre Rodas (VBTP-MR) or WheeledMedium APC (Basic Platform), developed

for the Brazilian Armed forces to replace theEE-9 Cascavel and EE-11 Urutu was publiclyunveiled at LAAD 2011. The first sixteenvehicles of the $3.3 billion contract for 2,044which was signed in 2010, are now beingbuilt with the prototype undergoing testingat the Army’s centre at Marambaia. Like theVBCI, the VBTP-MR will operate as theArmy’s primary IFV working with theLeopard 1A5 MBT. Elbit is providing theirUT30 BR 30mm Unmanned Turrets for thevehicle under a $260m deal announced inJanuary 2010.

Brazil’s Marine Corps is also a customerfor the General Dynamics European LandSystems Piranha IIIC 8x8 vehicles with 18ordered, comprising 14 personnel carriers,two command post vehicles, one recoveryvehicle and one ambulance variant.Additional orders are being discussed.

The latest Piranha version is the Piranha V,an 8x8 design with an internal volume of 14.5

l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l06

Sweden has ordered 113 Patria AMVs for itsArmoured Wheeled Vehicles programme to bedelivered by 2014 in a $360m contract © AMV

The existing mainstayof France’s wheeled fleet isthe VAB which willcontinue to be used underthe French Army’s Scorpionprogramme until 2025

AARRMMOOUURREEDDF I G H T I N G V E H I C L E S

m3 (by example the VBCI’s internal volume of13m3 and that of the Boxer is 14m3 ) protectedby all-welded steel armour with appliquécomposite armour and hydro pneumatic sus-pension with subsystems interconnectedwithin the vehicle via an advanced electronicarchitecture. An amphibious version of the

Piranha V is currently being trialed.The most numerous Piranha is the US

Army’s Stryker variant with the baseline,Piranha III derived M1126 Stryker ICVbeing the most fielded version. The USrecently fielded the newly designed StrykerDouble-V Hull (SDVH) vehicle toAfghanistan, designed to provide MRAP

equivalent protection and which adds over2000Kg to the design. The vehicles will beused to assess the utility of the designagainst IED threats and understand theimplications of the added weight to feedinto plans to improve the Stryker fleet.

New LAVs are being acquired by theUSMC with in August last year contracts for24 8x8 Light Armored Vehicles (LAV-A2) foruse in mixture of roles and configurationswere let with General Dynamics LandSystems-Canada and will be delivered inApril next year. The order took total LAV-A2vehicles ordered by the Corps since 2007 to207. The Marines are continuing to improvethe survivability of the original LAVs with 403vehicles reviewing new and protected self-sealing fuel tanks and to be delivered earlynext year by General Dynamics Land Systems.

In May, BAE Systems announced thelaunch of their new 4x4 Patrol Vehicle theRG-35 reconnaissance, patrol and utility(RPU) vehicle which is being used as thebasis for the company’s bid for the CanadianTactical Armored Patrol Vehicle programme.

Afghanistan is acquiring440 vehicles from Textron’sMedium Armored SecurityVehicles family, similar to theUS Army’s M1117 in a $543million contract © DoD


Malaysia has opted to workwith the BAE Systems Land& Armaments / Nurol jointventure FNSS for the design,development & manufactureof the DEFTECH AV-8

The platforms can also be fitted with lightand medium turrets.

Another new offering this year has beenthe Mbombe 6x6 vehicle developed jointlybetween the Paramount Group and theInternational Golden Group which combinesNATO STANAG protection Level 4a/b ver-sus mines and Level 4 versus kinetic roundsto the side. The prototype was equipped witha one man 30mm turret developed in SouthAfrica by Comenious.

France ordered 630 of the all-welded alu-minium VBCI to accompany their LeclercMBTs on the battlefield and replacing thetracked AMX-10P in a €2.86 billion deal. Ofthe total, 520 will be IFVs, equipped with25mm cannon, the reminder being theCommand Post Vehicle. All the vehicleswhich are produced by Nexter Systems inassociation with Renault Trucks Defensewhich are due to be delivered by 2015. The35th Régiment d’infanterie was the first com-bat unit equipped with this new armouredvehicle and they deployed two battlegroupsof VBCIs to Afghanistan in 2010 where they

F I G H T I N G V E H I C L E S AARRMMOOUURREEDD

10 ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

were equipped with QinetiQ’s RPGnet.The existing mainstay of France wheeled

fleet is the VAB which will continue to beused under the French Army’s Scorpion pro-gramme until 2025. In March, Renault Trucksannounced that they are supplying theFrench Army with 80 VAB TOP vehicles withthe PILARw Gun Shot Detection System foruse in Afghanistan. Producedby the 01Db-MetravibCompany, the PILARw will besynchronized with theKongsberg Protector remoteweapon system and deliveredby the end of the year.

For those countries consider-ing a domestic solution butdeterred by the cost and risk ofdeveloping a complete system,Mercedes-Benz launched theirFGA-27 chassis at IDEX inFebruary a 6x6 design with aGVW of 27 tonnes and poweredby a 428 HP engine.

Romania is one of a numberof countries to launch and

indigenous wheeled IFV programme the 8x8Transportor Blindat Pentru Trupe. It has a22-tonne gross weight and protected toSTANAG 4569 Level 3 ballistic and Level3a/3b mine protection protected with workcontracted to local manufacturer UzinaAutomecanica.

Tracked vehicles need not necessarily beheavy. Brazil is currently seeking an updatefor roughly 150 vehicles with the improve-ment to its new engines, upgraded transmis-

sion, new electronic architecture, betterarmor protection, the solution required beingequivalent to the US’ M113 A2 Mk1 which iswhat one competitor, the original manufac-turer BAE Systems are offering via the USForeign Military Sales programme.Germany’s KMW are working with fellowcountrymen Flensburger FahrzeugbauGesellschaft (FFG) are offering their ownupgrade with the latter company providingthe benefit of significant expertise in other

M113 upgrade work.

Regional developmentsand solutionsMalaysia has opted to work with theBAE Systems Land &Armaments/Nurol joint ventureFNSS for the design, developmentand manufacture of the DEFTECHAV-8 8x8 wheeled armoured vehiclein a $559 million deal. The design isbased on the in-service PARS 8x8armoured vehicle, operated byTurkey. Malaysia has initiallyordered 257 vehicles in 12 variants.The principle two vehicle variantswill be equipped with a FNSSSharpshooter turret with an ATK

France deployed two VBCI equipped battlegroupsto Afghanistan in 2010 © Nexter

AARRMMOOUURREEDDF I G H T I N G V E H I C L E S

Iveco’s Guarani 6x6 APC developed for Brazil’s VBTP-MR programme willbe equipped with Elbit’s UT30 BR 30mm Unmanned Turret © Elbit Systems

F I G H T I N G V E H I C L E S AARRMMOOUURREEDD

M242 25 mm dual-feed cannon and turretedstabilised 30 mm GI-30 cannon respectively.FNSS are also supplying Malaysia’s trackedrequirements too with 267 ADNANArmoured Combat Vehicles.

Taiwan’s 8x8 CM-32 Cloud Leopard,

developed by the Ordnance ReadinessDevelopment Centre to replace the replaceageing M113 and V-150 armoured vehicles inmechanised and other brigades has beendelayed multiple times although productionbegan earlier this year with as many as 450

vehicles required.In May, Singapore Technologies Kinetics’

Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV),equipped the country’s first motorisedinfantry battalion, which has also been usedin an urban operations exercise by the unitat the Murai Urban Training Facility. Thebattalion had taken delivery of the Terrex in

July 2010 with 135 ICVs required under theinitial contract.

Brunei operates a single mechanised bat-talion acquiring 26 VABs for the purpose,with mid-term plans for their replacement.

The long serving Australian LightArmoured Vehicle (ASLAV) will continue tosee service following a June 2010 announce-

In May, Singapore Technologies Kinetics’ Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle , equipped the country’s firstmotorised infantry battalion © Singapore MinDef

Australia’s Land 400 willreplace the Army’s current350 M113AS3/4s, 257ASLAVs and around 300Bushmasters


ment of an upgrade to the fleet under Land112 Phase 4 to address higher protection andimproved armament. The last batch of vehi-cles was an order for 144 ASLAVs made in2000 taking total numbers to 257.

Australia’s Land 400 will replace theArmy’s current 350 M113AS3/4s, 257 ASLAVs

and around 300 Bushmasters under Phases 2and 3 of the programme when they are due toleave service in roughly 2020, replacing bothcombat, combat support and some combatservice support platforms with a value of asmuch as A$1.5b. BAE Systems Australia haslinked its CV90 MkIII Armadillo and

wheeled RG41 vehicles to the requirement.

Is ‘Light Armoured’ enough?Though designed for the tracked Warriorvehicles, the recent fielding of the 70 WarriorTheatre Entry Standard (Herrick) (TES (H))for the British Army in Afghanistan illustratesthe requirements of these and any vehicles inthe theatre, light or otherwise. The$64mUrgent Operational Requirement (UOR)covered thirty changes including a flexiblemodular armour system, enhanced seatingdesign and cushioning to further improvemine protection and comfort, improved driv-er vision system adding two periscopes for awider field of vision and a night vision capa-bility. Other features include increased low-speed mobility and climbing performanceenabling the vehicle to overcome difficult ter-rain, carbon-fibre brakes, reducing therequired stopping distance, improved air con-ditioning and wire cutters to protect the driv-er, commander and equipment.

Wheeled LAVs have many of the answers,but not all. Tracked AFVs are also here tostay, the US for example opting for a trackedrequirement for Ground Combat Vehicle andfielded from 2018. Balance is everything.

The US recently fielded the newlydesigned Stryker Double-V Hull(SDVH) vehicle to Afghanistan,designed to provide MRAPequivalent protection © DoD


While the missiles are able to defeat the relatively modest protection on this class of vehi-cle, the same missile, this time integrated on the LAVs themselves, are able to defeat eventhe heaviest MBTs with advanced warheads also capable of engaging additional threatssuch as dismounted tank killer groups.

The Israel Defence Force has recently disclosed that the Rafael Advanced DefenseSystems Spike Non Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) electro-optical (EO) missile, known as theTamuz has been used operationally since 2006, operated by the elite Meitar unit fromM113A2 armoured personnel carriers. The missile has a range of 25km and can beoperated in either direct attack mode or mid-course navigation based on target coordi-nates only using PBF, PBF/F, HEAT and fragmentation warheads. The Spike NLOS madeits first public showing of the missile at Singapore Airshow in 2010. Other typically vehi-cle mounted Spike variants include the Spike-LR with a range of 4,000m and the 10kmrange Spike-ER.

Germany has opted to use a two-missile Spike LR pod on its Puma IFV turrets. The LRhas also been selected for the Italian Army’s Freccia and Dardo IFVs, Poland is integrat-ing the LR on its Rosomak and future Anders vehicles. Other Spike LR users includingCzech Pandurs and the Romanian MLI-84.

ATGWs are both boon and bane to LAVs

IN NO particular order, the borderbetween North and South Korea hasremained a flash point ever since the 27July 1953 armistice that ended theKorean War. In the face of ongoing

North Korean belligerence, both the UnitedStates (US) and the Republic of Korea (RoK)have maintained constant surveillance of theborder with the Democratic People’s Republic.A key part of such surveillance is the use of air-borne platforms, with (most recently) theSouth Koreans attempting to bolster their owncapability in the knowledge that the US mili-tary presence on the peninsula will not be inperpetuity. Accordingly, the RoK Air Force(RoKAF) operates a quartet of HawkerBeechcraft ‘Peace Krypton’ Hawker 800RAradar surveillance aircraft with which to mon-itor activity on the northern side of the border.Believed to be assigned to the RoKAF’s

39th Tactical Reconnaissance Group atSeongnam Air Base, the Hawker 800RA(known locally as the RC-800) entered servicecirca 2003/4 and is equipped with a variant ofthe Lockheed Martin Advanced Imaging

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In an area dominated by two of the world’sgreat oceans, it is easy to forget that theAsia-Pacific region is home to areas of densejungle, inhospitable mountain ranges and flashpoints such as the border between the twoKoreas, Islamic insurgency, the ongoing instabilitybetween India and Pakistan and disputed sovereignty over areas suchas the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. As such, many ofthe region’s nations have pressing overland Intelligence, Surveillanceand Reconnaissance (ISR) requirements that are as important as theirmaritime reconnaissance needs and in view of the local terrain,frequently best met by airborne capabilities.

bbyy Martin Streetly

Asian-Pacific: Tactical

AirborneISR

The RTA has procured a singleexample of the Aeros 40D SkyDragon airship for internalISR duties © Aeros

Radar System (LAIRS). Here, LAIRS is quot-ed as offering swath (<19 to 185 km slantrange), fixed/moving target indication sur-veillance (<37 to 185 km slant range) and nav-igation (<19 to 185 km slant range) modes anda real-time imagery display processing capa-bility. Elsewhere, June 2011 sawAnglo-Italiancontractor Selex Galileo announce that it wassupplying the RoK Army with its X-band (8to 12.5 GHz) Seaspray 7500E ActiveElectronically Scanned Array (AESA) radarfor use in a tethered ground surveillanceaerostat system. In an accompanying release,Selex noted that the particular applicationwould provide a long-range, ground movingtarget indicator, border surveillance capabili-ty, with the radar's AESA technology allow-ing it to remain potentially deployed, “formany weeks at a time”. For its part, the RoKArmy aerostat architecture has been suppliedby US contractor the Worldwide AerosCorporation whose product range includesthe 21 m long Aeros 21M, the 38 m long Aeros100 and the 25 m long Aeros 1170 aerostats.Of these, both the Aeros 100 and Aeros 1170

are capable of carrying surveillance radars,with the two being capable of continuousseven to eight day operation in wind speedsof up to 25 m/s and 20 m/s respectively.Looking to the future, the RoK is also report-ed to be interested in acquiring the GlobalHawk High-Altitude Long-Endurance(HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV); apotential procurement that may run into

problems with US export restrictions.Surveillance aerostats also form part of

India’s and the People’s Republic of China’s(PRC) ISR armouries. In the first instance,India is reported to have acquired two 71 mlong Model 71M aerostats for border surveil-lance during the period 2004-5. Here (and byOctober 2009), these platforms had beenequipped with Israeli contractor Elta Systems’EL/M-2083 Aerostat Programmable Radar(APR) which is derived from the company’sL-band (1 to 2 GHz) EL/L-2080 ‘Green Pine’ground-based radar. For its part, ‘Green Pine’is billed as being capable of detecting cruisemissiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and micro-lights being used by special forces or terror-ists. According to TCOM, the Model 71Maerostat has an operating altitude with maxi-mum payload of 4,600m and can stay aloft forup to 30 days at a time. Again as of October2009, TCOM was expecting India to exerciseoptions on a further four Model 71Ms, “atsome point in the future”, with Indian sourcessuggesting that the country has a total require-ment of up to 13 such aerostats with which to

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SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE


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A close-up of the EO and communicationsintelligence payload installed aboard theprototype Akashdeep ISR aerostat © DRDO

Rafael's 'Litening' combat-proven multi-spectral airborne targeting and navigationpod, presents pilots with real-time, Forward Looking Infra-Red and Charge CoupledDevice tactical imagery at all times of the day and in all weathers. Users can swapbetween this and the company's RecceLite multi-sensor tactical reconnaissancesystem, developed with Zeiss, which comprises a pod and ground exploitationstation. The system allows the aircraft to manoeuvre as required while continuouslycollecting hi-resolution undistorted imagery © Rafael

monitor activity along its borders withPakistan and (possibly) China.

Alongside this bought-in capability, theAerial Delivery Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (ADRDE) element of India’sDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) has developed theindigenous Akashdeep surveillance aerostatfor use by the country’s military and civilauthorities. The Akashdeep Air Vehicle (AV)takes the form of a 9.8 m long envelope thatis capable of lifting a multi-sensor payload toan altitude of 1,000 m (3,281 ft). Proposedpayloads include Electro-Optical (EO) andcommunications and electronic intelligencesensors together with a surveillance radar. Interms of programmatics, the Akashdeep sys-tem is known to have been flight trialled dur-ing December 2010 at which time, delivery ofan operational application was said to beimminent. Looking to the future, ADRDE isunderstood to be planning to field a follow-on system that will be capable of operating atan altitude of 5,000m and delivering a sensorrange of up to 250 km.

For its part, the PRC is understood to have

acquired at least one Augur/RosAeroSystemsAu-21 Puma aerostat with which to monitoractivity along the coast of Fujian province insouth-eastern China. Here, it has been sug-gested that the capability was installed during2003 and that the architecture comprises theAu-21 aerostat, a mooring platform, a groundstation and an X-band NIIS/Leninets searchradar that is capable of air and surface search,target tracking and Synthetic Aperture andInverse Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR/ISAR) imaging. As applied to the Au-21AV, this radar is installed in a pressurisedhousing beneath the aerostat’s main envelopethat also accommodates stabilisation systemand communications relay equipment. TheAu-21 is billed as being able to operate at alti-tudes of between 2,000 and 5,000 m (6,562 to16,404 ft) for up to 25 days at a time.

Elsewhere within the lighter-than-airdomain, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) isknown to have acquired an ISR airship in asomewhat fraught deal with US providerAria International. Based on the 46.6 m longAeros 40D Sky Dragon AV, this capability isreported to have been equipped with a mis-

sion suite that incorporates “cameras, record-ing equipment, communications equipmentand long-range data transmission systems”,with specific sub-systems being identified asincluding the Axsys Technologies V14 MSIImulti-sensor imaging system and a downlinkcommunications package based on TrollSystems SkyLink technology. Alongside theairship and its equipment, Aria has also sup-plied the RTA with an associated groundmobile command and control vehicle that isbased on the Grizzly armoured vehicle chas-sis and is reputedly improvised explosivedevice proof. Thailand’s Aeros 40D pro-gramme (which also includes four sensors forhelicopter applications, infrastructure con-struction and the updating of existing Thaicommunications links) was launched duringApril 2009, with the airship being “demon-strated” to the RTA during March 2010.Thereafter, September 2010 saw the Thaipress reporting that the airship had beenreturned to its manufacturer for repair orreplacement following the discovery of “sig-nificant” leaks in its envelope. At this time,the RTA airship is understood to have com-


India’s ADRDE undertook flight trials of its Akashdeep ISR aerostat during December 2010 © DRDO

The Japanese Air Self-Defence Force’s501 Squadron is equipped with a mixtureof RF-4E (shown) and RF-4EJ fast-jettactical reconnaissance aircraft © JASDF


pleted its third round of flight trials with theRTA’s 15th Infantry Division in the NongChik district of Thailand’s Pattani Provinceduring which, it had been found to be vul-nerable to ground fire at its operational alti-tude of 945 m (3,100 ft). Accordingly, the

vehicle’s gondola had been armoured to pro-tect its four-man crew and at the time of thereports, the Thai Parliament was said to beinvestigating the programme’s cost whichwas being estimated at between $1.66 millionto $10.8 million.

Turning back to Asian-Pacific heavier-than-air tactical ISR provision, Japan, Malayasia,Pakistan and the PRC all operate single- or two-seat fast jet aerial reconnaissance assets. In order,the Japanese capability is vested in a fleet of 12RF-4EJ and 14 RF-4EJ Kai aircraft, with the latterbeing a conversion of the F-4EJ multi-role fight-er. Both types are operated by the Japanese AirSelf-Defence Force’s 501 Squadron based atHyakuri. For its part, the Royal Malaysian AirForce’s No 12 Squadron at Butterworth isreported to incorporate the service’s pair ofRF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance jets, while thePakistan Air Force’s No 5 Squadron at Rafiqueis believed to operate a mixed inventory of 10Mirage IIIRP and two Mirage 5DR aircraft inthe tactical reconnaissance role. Last but notleast, the People’s Liberation Army AirForce’s 2nd and 3rd Reconnaissance AirRegiments (RAR) are understood to flyapproximately 10 JZ-8 and up to 30 JZ-6reconnaissance aircraft respectively. Of thetwo, the 2nd RAR is based at Taihe, with the3rd RAR being stationed at Suzhou.Alongside the described platforms, the

The Republic of Singapore Air Force’s No 128Squadron is equipped with the Searcherunmanned aerial vehicle © Singapore MoD

SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCEII NN TT EE LL LL II GG EE NN CC EE

Asia-Pacific nations are showing considerableinterest in ISR UAVs, with India, Malaysia,Pakistan, the PRC, Singapore, Sri Lanka andThailand all currently operating such AVs. Inorder, India’s Army and Navy are understoodto have acquired possibly as many as 70 IsraelAerospace Industries (IAI) Searcher I and IIUAVs, with the latter service also operatingIAI’s Heron UAV in two mixed units along-side its Searcher AVs. Both types can beequipped with multiple sensors (with therange including EO imagers (such as Tamam’sMOSP system), SIGnal INTelligence (SIGINT)equipment (such as Elta Systems’ EL/K-7071and EL/L-8385 equipments) and searchradars such as Elta’s EL/M-2022U and EL/M-2055 sensors) and India has embarked on anumber of indigenous ISR UAV programmesincluding the Aeronautical DevelopmentEstablishment’s Nishant and Ruston designs.Of these, the Nishant is a short-range tacticalsystem that is equipped with an Israeli EOimager and is in the process of being deliveredto the Indian Army. For its part, the RustonMedium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE)AV is designed for tri-service and civil appli-cations and is able to carry a multiple sensorpayload including EO imagers, radars andSIGINT sensors.The Malaysian ISR UAV capability is based

on three leased CTRM Alliance UnmannedDevelopmental Research Aircraft (ALDURA)

Mk 1 systems. Locally developed, the ALDU-RA Mk 1 is designed for battlefield surveil-lance and reconnaissance, can be programmedfor autonomous flight, is capable of transmit-ting real-time video imagery and is controlledfrom a ground-based tactical control station. InMalay service, the ALDURA Mk 1 is operatedas a border surveillance asset from (it isassumed) the naval base at Semporna on theeast coast of Sabah in Borneo. Pakistan’s UAVinventory is made up of four or five SelexGalileo Falco systems, with the AVs beingequippedwith at least an EO imager and oper-ated by the Pakistan Air Force. Looking east(and like India), the PRC is developing a widerange of ISR UAVs with the Beijing Universityof Aeronautics and Astronautics’ BZK-005,Chengdu Aircraft Industry’s Yilong and theNanjing Research Institute on SimulationTechnique’s W-30/W-50 series being exam-ples. Thought to have been in limited servicesince 2009, the BZK-005 MALE AV features an

EO imager and real-time data transmission,while the Yilong MALE UAV is thought tohave either completed its development orentered initial production during 2010. As wellas being equipped with an EO imager andlaser designator, Yilong may be capable ofweaponisation in the same was as the USPredator and Reaper designs have been. For itspart, the camera-equipped W-30/W-50 seriesis understood to have entered service with thePeople’s Liberation Army during 2005.Moving on, both Singapore and Sri Lanka

fly the IAI Searcher UAV, with the formeroperating the Mk I configuration and the lat-ter, the Mks II and III variants. Singapore’scapability is vested in the Republic ofSingapore Air Force’s No 128 Squadron whofly Searcher AVs from Tengah. Elsewhere,Singapore is also understood to have orderedan unquantified number of Elbit Hermes 450surveillance UAVs during 2007, while SriLanka’s Searcher inventory is vested in theSri Lankan Air Forces No 111 AirSurveillance Squadron based at Anura-dhapura. Last but not least, Thailand isreported to have acquired a Searcher Mk Iand a Searcher Mk II system, with a ‘system’comprising four AVs, a ground-control sta-tion, launch and recovery equipment, aground data terminal and a remote video ter-minal. According to IAI, both systems werein service as of November 2010.

Asia-Pacific nationsare showing considerableinterest in ISR UAVs, withIndia, Malaysia, Pakistan, thePRC, Singapore, Sri Lankaand Thailand all currentlyoperating such UAVs


India’s Navy operates the multi-Sensor Heron unmanned aerialvehicle, a US-operated example ofwhich is shown here © SOUTHCOM


SSUURRFFAACCEE W A R S H I P S


BOTH TYPES of vessel offer aplatform by which a multitudeof missions can be performed.These include anti-submarinewarfare (ASW), facilitated by

advanced sonar and torpedoes; air defence,enabled by three-dimensional radar and sur-face-to-air (SAM) missiles; plus surface andland attack which can be performed by gunarmament and Surface-to-Surface Missiles(SSMs). In short, frigates and destroyers rep-resent self-contained fighting units that canplay an important part in enhancing the mar-itime power of a nation.The utility of such vessels has not been

lost on Australia. The Royal Australian Navy(RAN) will replace its Adelaide class frigatesfrom 2013. On 29th June, the SydneyMorning Herald announced that the remain-ing Adelaide class frigates (HMAS Darwin,HMAS Melbourne, HMAS Newcastle andHMAS Sydney) would be sold. HMASCanberra and HMAS Adelaide were bothscuttled in 2009 and 2011 respectively. TheAdelaide ships will now be replaced by the

three Hobart class destroyers being acquiredby the force. These vessels, which are basedon the F100 destroyer design from Spain’sNavantia shipbuilders, will carry LockheedMartin’s AN/SPY-1D(V) phased array radarand the company’s AEGIS combat system.The first example, HMAS Hobart, is expectedto be delivered in late 2014, to be followed byHMAS Brisbane in 2016 and the final exam-ple, HMAS Sydney, towards the end of 2017.There is the possibility that a fourth examplemay be ordered although, as yet, there is noformal acquisition programme to this end. In addition, the RAN also operates eight

ANZAC class frigates. Commissionedbetween 1996 and 2006, these ships are beingupgraded via the Anti-Ship Missile Defenceinitiative. This adds CEA Technologies CEA-FAR and CEAMOUNT phased array radar;plus new an infrared search and track system;updated navigation radar, Boeing RGM-84Harpoon SSMs; and Raytheon RIM-162Evolved Sea Sparrow SAMs. Eventually, theseships will be replaced by eight new ASWfrigates that the force plans to acquire. In addi-

tion to Australia, the Royal New ZealandNavy also operates two ANZAC class frigates;HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana.Australia is not the only nation around the

Asia-Pacific region in the market for newfrigates. Bangladesh’s navy has a require-ment for new ships to replace three of its ves-sels procured form the Royal Navy, notablythe BNS Umar Farooq, BNS Abu Bakar andBNS Ali Haider. The replacement of theseships had been mooted as being via a pro-curement of the same number of Chinese-designed Zulfiquar class frigates which arealso being acquired by the Pakistan Navy(see below). However, the current status ofthis acquisition remains unclear.China itself maintains a large fleet of

destroyers in the People’s Liberation ArmyNavy (PLAN) spread across the Taizhoi,Hangzhou, Shenyang, Lanzhou, Guangzhou,Shenzen, Harbin and Zuhai classes; compris-ing a total of circa 30 vessels. This collectionof ships was reinforced with a new destroyerwhich was launched in December 2010. It isnot clear what type of vessel this is, although

Frigate & Destroyers:

The JDS Kurama is one of the members ofthe Japan Maritime Self Defence Force(JMSDF) Shirane class of destroyers, andwill succeed the country’s Haruna class ofdestroyers. The Shirane vessels were thefirst ships in the JMSDF to receive three-dimensional surveillance radar © US Navy

The Asia-Pacific’s PrincipalSurface Combatants

W A R S H I P SSSUURRFFAACCEE

21

Frigate & Destroyers:The Asia-Pacific’s PrincipalSurface Combatants

Robust definitions of surfacevessels are difficult to find at thebest of times. The United StatesDepartment of Defense Dictionaryof Military Terms defines a frigate

as, “A warship designed tooperate independently, or with

strike, anti-submarine warfare, oramphibious forces against

submarine, air, and surfacethreats.” A destroyer, meanwhile,is; “a high-speed warship designedto operate offensively with strikeforces, with hunter-killer groups

and in support of amphibiousassault operations.” The

publication adds that, “Destroyersalso operate defensively to screen

support forces and convoysagainst submarine, air and surface

threats.” Later entries for theguided missile-equipped variants ofthese ships state that they can,

in terms of armament, includemissiles, guns, and torpedoes;

and can embark helicopters andadvanced sensors such as sonar.Thus, according to the dictionary,there are no firm classificationsfor either ship type in terms ofdisplacement, and it seems that

the lines of what classifies adestroyer and frigate are

becoming increasingly blurred.

bbyy Tom Withington


it is thought that it could be either a ‘vanilla’,or a modified, Lanzhou class ship. ThePLAN’s frigate fleet is similarly large, includ-ing circa six Zhousan, two Maanshan, twelveJiangwei-I/-II and around 15 Jianghu-I/-II/-III class ships. The Zhousan class is expectedto expand, and may eventually comprise upto 26 examples. New frigates are also in the offing for the

Indian Navy. Three Talwar class vessels arebeing constructed at the Yantar shipyard in theRussian enclave of Kaliningrad on the Balticcoast. Deliveries of these ships are expected tocommence by the end of 2012. Along with the

Talwar class, the Indian Navy is due to acquirea pair of Shivalik class frigates which are cur-rently under construction. However, theforce’s Nilgiri class frigates suffered a blow on15th February this year when the INSVindhyagiri hit the MV Nord Lake merchantvessel in Mumbai Harbour, and subsequentlysank after a fire. Fortunately, there were nocasualties, and the vessel is being re-floated. Interms of destroyers, the Indian Navy is gainingthree Kolkata class examples, which are modi-fied versions of the force’s Delhi class destroy-ers, with the eponymous lead ship in the classexpected to be commissioned in 2012. The

Kolkata class’s equipment fit includes IAI/EltaEL/M-2248 active electronically-scanned arrayradar, along with Indo-Russian BrahMos SSMsand Barak-II SAMs; the latter of which havebeen jointly developed by Israel AerospaceIndustries, the Indian Navy and the country’sDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO). These ships will be sup-plemented by four ‘Project 15B’ destroyerswhich will use the same hull as the Kolkataclass, but will be outfitted with stealth andlow-observation modifications. In addition,the Project 15B ships will accommodate theDRDO’s Nirbhay 1,000km range subsonic

SSMs, which will provide a longer reach com-pared to the 300km BrahMos.Like India, Japan is pouring investment

into its destroyer assets. The country’s mar-itime self defence force is a notably ‘destroyerheavy’ service operating the Kongo,Hatakaze, Tachikaze, Shirane, Haruna,Takanami, Murasame, Asagiri and Hatsuyukiclass of destroyers which comprises a total of42 ships. This number could rise further as


China itself maintains a largefleet of destroyers in thePeople’s Liberation ArmyNavy (PLAN) spread acrossthe Taizhoi, Hangzhou,Shenyang, Lanzhou,Guangzhou, Shenzen, Harbinand Zuhai classes


The Republic of Korea is performing awide-ranging modernisation of itsfrigate and destroyer fleet. Includedin this effort is the introduction of theSejong the Great destroyers. The leadship in this class, the ROKS Sejong theGreat, is seen here © US Navy

The INS Brahmaputra is the lead ship in theIndian Navy’s Brahamputra class of frigates.These ships are modified versions of the IndianNavy’s Godavari class of frigate © US Navy

Japan’s National Defence Policy Guidelines,published in December 2004, calls for the forceto retain a total of 48 destroyers. The destroy-er fleet is currently in a state of transition. Thetwo Haruna class helicopter destroyers (DDH)are being replaced by the same number ofHyuga-class helicopter carriers. Moreover, anew ship, referred to as the ‘19,000t’ classdestroyer will replace the two Shirane classDDHs. These vessels will support fourteenhelicopters, 50 trucks and accommodate 4,000troops. Traditionally, the design of these ves-sels would seem closer to that of flat-topamphibious support ships such as the RoyalNavy’s HMS Ocean, or the Mistral-class plat-forms of France and Russia, although theDDHs remain classified as destroyers byJapan. Other new destroyer acquisitions forthe maritime self defence force include a pairof 19DD class ships to commence the replace-ment of the force’s eleven Hatsuyuki class ves-sels. Currently, two 19DD class ships arebeing built, with construction of another pairto follow. The first replacement vessel isexpected to enter service next year.South Korea is slightly ahead of Japan in

terms of its destroyer revitalisation initia-tives. In 2012, the country’s navy expects toreceive its last Sejong the Great (KDX-3) classdestroyer. Two ships, the ROKS Sejong theGreat and the ROKS Yulgok Vi I, havealready been commissioned into theRepublic of Korea Navy. They will be fol-lowed by this third and final vessel, theROKS Seoae Yu Seong-ryong, next year. TheNavy had expected to acquire a further threevessels in the KDX-3 class, however theseplans have been abandoned. Instead the forcewill receive six upgraded KDX-2A class shipsequipped with the AEGIS combat system.

These are expected to enter service by 2026. Alongside the eleven destroyers that the

Republic of Korea Navy operates across theSejong the Great, Choongmugong Yi SunShin and King Kwang-Gaeto classes, theforce also has nine Ulsan class frigates. Theseships are now being replaced by six 2,500-tonne displacement frigates as part of theFFX programme, which is inducting theROKS Inchon class frigate into Korean serv-ice. To date one ship, ROKS Inchon, has beenlaunched as of 29th April this year. Up to 30examples may follow, as the Inchon class also

replaces the navy’s 23 Pohang class corvettes.These new ships carry Thales Smart-S Mk.2surveillance radar, plus SSM-700K Hae Sung-1 domestically-developed anti-ship missilesand Hyunmoo-3 SSMs. Pakistan’s navy has a similar sized fleet, as

regards frigates, operating ten ships spreadacross the Tariq class (six ships), Alamgirclass (one example) and the Zulfiquar class(three vessels). A fourth example of this latterclass, the PNS Saif, is currently under con-struction in Karachi on Pakistan’s IndianOcean coast and scheduled for delivery in2013. The Zulfiquar class design is based onthe Jiangwei-II class frigates operated by thePLAN (see above). Meanwhile, the force tookdelivery of a single Alamgir class ship in 2010(formerly the USS McInerney Oliver HazardPerry class frigate of the US Navy).Additional frigates may follow by the end of


Pakistan’s flotilla of frigatesrepresents its only large-scale surface combatants,as the force does notoperate any destroyers


The Pakistan Navy operates a total ofsix Tariq class frigates. One example,the PNS Khaibar, is seen here to theright of this picture. The Tariq classare ex-Royal Navy Amazon classType-21 frigates © US Navy

France’s DCNS shipbuilderis optimistic regarding thehealth of the Asia-Pacificfrigate and destroyermarket. The company istouting its FREMM designof multi-mission frigate asa possible answer to therequirements for newvessels which exist in theregion © DCNS

2012, with the Pakistan Navy expected toacquire a further three vessels. The potentialorigin of these vessels remains unknown,although further acquisitions of OliverHazard Perry class ships have been mooted,alongside the possible acquisition of ChineseJianghai class, or German MEKO class,

frigates. Pakistan’s flotilla of frigates repre-sents its only large-scale surface combatants,as the force does not operate any destroyers. In a similar fashion to Pakistan, Taiwan

operates frigates and destroyers acquiredfrom US Navy stocks. For example, the coun-try’s maritime forces comprises four Chi Teh

(ex-US Navy Kidd class) destroyers, pluseight Cheng Kung class ex-Oliver HazardPerry ships, and the same number of ex-USNavy Knox class frigates. These are rein-forced by the six Kang Ting class frigates,based on France’s La Fayette design. Thissurface combatant fleet may yet benefit from

W A R S H I P SSSUURRFFAACCEE

Some of the Republic of Korea Navy’s legacyfrigates remain in service. These include theROKS Ulsan which was commissioned into thefleet in 1981, and eight of her sisters in theUlsan class. These ships are being replacedby the Inchon class vessels © US Navy


a modest increase in size, with the acquisitionof a further two Oliver Hazard Perry shipsexpected from the US Navy.Although it has a similarly small frigate

force to Taiwan, the Vietnamese Navy is per-forming some modernisation in this regard.The force currently operates a pair of Gepard3.9 class and five Petya-II class frigates; bothof which were constructed in Russian ship-yards. The first two Gepard 3.9 vessels weredelivered in 2010. An acquisition of addition-al Gepard units is expected although, as yet,there is no news on when these ships may bedelivered, or how many vessels may beincluded in the order.Clearly, a strong market remains in the

Asia-Pacific region for new frigates anddestroyers. Vietnam joins Australia,Bangladesh and Pakistan as countries strong-

ly expected to acquire such surface combat-ants both in the short and long term. GilesLanglois, Business Development Director atDCNS Naval Surface Systems, says that, asfar as the Asia-Pacific market for frigates anddestroyers is concerned, “The figures showthe Asian market as one of the most dynamicin terms of growth, and we are very confidentwith this market.” One of the reasons for thisconfidence, he believes, is the need to protectSea Lines of Communications (SLOCs). Asdiscussed above, both frigates and destroyersare true ‘multipurpose’ vessels as they canperform a number of missions; one of whichis securing SLOCs. It is no secret that severaleconomies around the Asia-Pacific region;including those of India, China and SouthKorea; are growing at an impressive rate. Yetthese economies have a vociferous appetitefor oil and raw materials. It is thereforearguably no coincidence that, in recent years,all three nations have poured investment intotheir frigate and destroyer fleets. Mr. Langlois believes that another factor

may be stimulating this market, namely the

ever-present, and growing, submarine threat,“Within the next ten years, more than a hun-dred submarines will be built. When youwant to defend your national waters, andyour SLOCs, you need a platform for anti-submarine warfare.” He also cites concernsregarding the proliferation of ballistic mis-siles and several of the new frigate anddestroyer designs on the market, includingthose of DCNS, have the wherewithal tointercept and destroy such weapons. Thusboth the frigate and destroyer, in today’sincarnation, offers a platform which can safe-guard SLOCs, defend against submarinesand counter the ballistic missile threat; allusing a single vessel. Hein Van Ameijden, Managing Director of

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in TheNetherlands also sees demand for frigates anddestroyers in the Asia-Pacific region, althoughhe cautions that the export market for surfacecombatants from European shipyards to non-shipbuilding customers in the Asia-Pacificregion will tend to focus on; “corvettes andlight frigates.” He does not believe that theexport market for larger destroyers andfrigates from Europe to the region will neces-sarily be that strong. This is because increas-ingly the demand for such vessels in this partof the world is being satisfied by local yards.Notably India, Japan, China and South Koreacan all indigenously design and build destroy-er-and frigate-sized vessels.Moreover, many of the programmes dis-

cussed in the article above have been focusedon acquisitions to replace existing vessels,rather than countries deciding to purchasefrigates and destroyers to afford them a capa-bility not previously used by their navies. Thequestion must be asked as to whether the tra-ditional definitions of frigates and destroyerswill continue to be relevant in the future, orwhether instead naval design will movetowards a multipurpose vessel concept with asingle hull which can perform the functions ofboth the destroyer and the frigate?

The Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Adelaidecomprises part of the country’s Adelaide class offrigates. Two of the examples in this six-shipstrong class of vessels have left service and theywill be replaced by the force’s new Hobart classdestroyers © US DoD


The Republic of Singapore Navyoperates some of the most modernfrigates in the Asia-Pacific region, inthe form of its Formidable class ships.Singapore operates six of thesevessels which were commissionedbetween 2007 and 2009 © US Navy

Military reformsThese DPRK actions stunned the Republic ofKorea (ROK) military hierarchy and exposedweaknesses in tri-service coordination. Inaddition to sacking the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS)chairman in June 2010, the president initiated aradical military-wide shake-up culminating inthe “Defence Reformation Plan 307” releasedin March 2011. Essentially this plan willrestructure a unified military command under

RREEGGIIOONNAALL P R O F I L E


South Korea:

The F-15K is the most capable combat aircraftin the ROKAF fleet. It has already been acquiredunder the KF Phase I and II programmes© Gordon Arthur

In recent months North Korea has repeatedlyperformed the unthinkable. A South Koreancorvette was torpedoed on 26 March 2010with the loss of 46 lives. In November 2010the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) revealed a modern uranium enrichmentplant capable of supplying nuclear-bombmaterial. Still not finished, North Korea thenunleashed an artillery barrage on YeonpyeongIsland in the Yellow Sea near the NorthernLimit Line (NLL), an extension of the MilitaryDemarcation Line that bisects the peninsular.This 27 January attack that killed four, markedthe worst case of warmongering since a shakytruce was called on 27 July 1953. The chainof events again underscored North Korea’sunpredictability. As Kim Jong-un prepares tosucceed his despotic father, South Korea haslittle choice but to increase defence spendingand expand its military capabilities.

bbyy Gordon Arthur

ExpansionCapability

the JCS and add sophisticated weaponry.The Yeonpyeong attack precipitated the

defence minister’s resignation, but it alsohardened resolve. The ROK governmentissued new rules of engagement, and incom-ing Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin prom-ised his country would retaliate withairstrikes if necessary, a significant departurefrom the existing policy of proportionateresponse. He told troops, “Don’t ask yourcommanders whether to fire back or not.Take actions first and then report after-wards.” However, the military was furtherembarrassed when jittery Marines fired at anAsiana airliner near the NLL on 17 June.

South Korea embarked some time ago onan armed forces modernisation programme,and the government pledged to spend $150billion over a twelve-year period, with specialattention paid to warships, fighters,armoured vehicles and C4I systems. The“Defence Reform 2020” document wasreleased in 2005, but weaknesses appeared asearly as 2008 when the government wasunable to sustain funding under austere eco-nomic conditions. The plan was revised in2009 with a reduced budget, and major acqui-sitions such as submarines, next-generationfighters and attack helicopters were delayed.Fuelled by these DPRK attacks, South

Korea’s FY2011 defence budget ofKRW31.403 trillion ($27.3 billion) surged 6.2percent. It dwarfs the 2 percent increase ayear earlier (the smallest increase in the pastdecade), and represents 2.53 percent of GDP.Of this amount, 30.9 percent will be spent onnew equipment. In the wake of cyber-attacks,the nation’s cyber-warfare centre is beingbolstered too.The ROK Armed Forces currently total

655,000 personnel plus 719,000 reserves.Numbers will drop to 517,000 by 2020, and thestandard 24-month national service term willdecrease by six months from 2014. Despiteconscription having adverse effects on overall

l SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 l 29

P R O F I L ERREEGGIIOONNAALL

The K1A1 MBT such asthat shown here is acapable tank, but it willbe supplemented bythe newer K2 in comingyears © Gordon Arthur

Expansion

professionalism, the armed forces are depend-ent upon it for manpower. The military hasmany contingencies to contend with - forexample, a nuclear-device detonating in Seoulwould result in an estimated 200,000 deaths. Itmust also consider a political collapse in theDPRK, where, according to a US Council onForeign Relations study, 460,000 troops wouldbe required to stabilise the North.

Air force takes offThe 65,000-man ROK Air Force (ROKAF) isseeking 40-60 fighters for its FX Phase III pro-

gramme to replace elderly F-4s and F-5s. TheDefence Acquisition ProgrammeAdministration (DAPA) will select a plat-form by October 2012, and the first fightersare to be inducted by 2016 with the most like-ly contender being the F-15 Silent Eagle. Inanticipation, Boeing has obtained an exportlicense to sell the F-15SE. The ROKAF hadalready ordered 61 F-15K Slam Eagles underPhases I and II. F-15Ks armed with newlyordered GBU-31 Joint Direct AttackMunitions (JDAM) could target DPRKnuclear installations, and KF-16C/D aircraft

are also to be armed with JDAMs accordingto a February announcement.The Ministry of National Defence (MND)

has announced plans to purchase stealthynext-generation KF-X fighters in response tothe North’s growing military capability. Itwill not prove cost effective to develop sucha twin-engine aircraft indigenously, so mili-tary off-the-shelf solutions include the F-35Joint Strike Fighter, F-15SE and EurofighterTyphoon, with the preferred option believedto be the F-35.The T-50 Golden Eagle manufactured by

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is in serv-ice, with 50 T-50 and 22 AT-50 lead-in traineraircraft on order. Flight tests of the F/A-50light combat variant, fitted with EL/M-2032radar and Link 16 MIDS Low-VolumeTerminal (LVT), began in mid-2011. Thereare also requirements for electronic attack(EA-50) and reconnaissance (RA-50) variants.Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin

announced on 8 March plans to acquire RQ-4Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance(HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) toprovide better intelligence-gathering capabil-ities. The procurement of four Boeing E-737

The T-50 Golden Eagle won its first exportcontract to Indonesia. These T-50B examplesbelong to the Black Eagles aerobatic team© Gordon Arthur



ROKS Munmu the Great (DDH-976)is a destroyer displacing 4,500tonnes. Six vessels in this KD-II classhave been commissioned © GordonArthur/Andrei Chang

Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)aircraft will contribute to improved C4ISRcapabilities too. One E-737 is already in serv-ice, and all are to be delivered by 2012 underthe Peace Eye programme. The extensivelocally developed Tactical InformationCommunication Network (TICN) is expectedto begin operating in 2013.The ROKAF also selected the C-130J Super

Hercules to augment older in-service C-130s.Four aircraft have been ordered thus far fordelivery in 2014, though the procurement ofdedicated aerial-refuelling aircraft will bedeferred until 2014.

Navy pride scuttledUnder “Defence Reform 2020”, the 68,000-man ROK Navy (ROKN) has been gaining anenhanced blue-water capability thanks to thecommissioning of new vessels to safeguardmaritime interests as distant as the IndianOcean. The Navy’s most advanced warship,ROKS Sejong the Great, tested its combat sys-tem “flawlessly” in recent trials near Hawaii,which included firing SM-2 missiles. Two ofthese 8,500-ton, Aegis-equipped KD-IIIdestroyers with SPY-1D(v) radar are alreadyin service, and the third vessel was launchedby Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) on 24March. These destroyers will play a pivotalballistic-missile defence (BMD) role, with anoption held for three more vessels.There are plans to introduce six 5,600-ton

KDX-IIA destroyers also fitted with the Aegiscombat system from 2019 onwards. Thesewill strengthen six serving 4,500-ton KD-IIdestroyers. Eight MH-60S ship-borne heli-copters are on order to supplement the cur-rent fleet of Lynx Mk99s, and further ordersare expected. Eight P-3C Orion maritimepatrol aircraft are being joined by eight ex-UScraft upgraded to P-3CK configuration.The ROKN was left smarting by the sink-

ing of the ROKS Cheonan, but it will be rein-forced by up to 24 Inchon-class frigates builtto replace older Ulsan-class and Pohang-classvessels. The first 2,300-ton stealth frigate waslaunched in March 2011, and in late 2010 HHIwas selected to construct the second andthird ships. Induction of the first frigates willoccur in 2014, and six will be finished by2015. The Navy’s power projection capabilitycomes in the shape of the 14,000-ton Dokdo-class LPH commissioned in 2007. Three fur-ther vessels will be built, with the second cur-rently under construction. Hanjin HeavyIndustries is also manufacturing four 4,500-

ton LSTs for commissioning in 2014-17.In other naval news, a third 1,860-ton

Type 214 submarine (KSS-II) was commis-sioned on 1 December 2009. DAPA subse-quently ordered six Type 214 submarines fit-ted with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP),and the first will be assembled by Daewoo

Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering(DSME). The Siemens PEM fuel cells providea two-week underwater endurance.Simultaneously, South Korea is pursuing anext-generation KSS-III submarine in the3,500-ton class, though development hasbeen pushed back with the first of nine deliv-eries now not expected until 2020.

Army up-armouredThe ROK Army (ROKA) defends the mostheavily fortified border in the world, ready torepel an invasion by North Korea’s 1.1 mil-lion active-duty and 4.7 million reservist sol-diers. In many respects the Army’s functiondiffers little from that in 1953, but the

South Korea embarked sometime ago on an armed forcesmodernisation programme,and the government pledgedto spend $150 billion over atwelve-year period



armoured vehicle inventory is being beefedup. The requirement for artillery pieces androcket launchers has grown, but this is at thecost of procuring more 55-ton K2 main battletanks (MBT) from Rotem Hyundai. Seriesproduction of the state-of-the-art K2 is sched-uled to commence this year. So far, 532 K9155mm self-propelled howitzers (SPH) havebeen acquired, and a further order hasalready been lodged. Fielding of K21 infantryfighting vehicles (IFV) commenced inNovember 2009, and 466 are being procuredfrom Doosan DST under an initial order.Doosan DST is also developing an

improved version of the K30 Biho twin 30mmself-propelled antiaircraft vehicle under a con-tract signed in July 2010. The updated vehiclewill incorporate Shingung surface-to-air mis-siles (SAM) manufactured by LIG Nex1, with142 additional vehicles to be acquired. LIGNex1 is also responsible for developing theMedium-Range Infantry Missile (MRIM), asystem that will reportedly rival the Javelin

and Spike. The new S&T Daewoo K11 person-al weapon, which combines a 5.56mm carbinewith a 20mm airburst grenade launcher,entered service in mid-2010.South Korea is making advances in other

missile technologies too. The turbofan-pow-ered Hyunmu-3A cruise missile has a 500kmrange and the Hyunmu-3B a range of1,000km. These strategic assets are controlledby the Army’s new Missile Command. It isbelieved the MND has commenced fielding aHyunmu-3C cruise missile with 1,500kmrange, meaning all of North Korea, plus partsof China and Russia, come within range. TheHyunmu-3C, similar in capability to theTomahawk, allows the ROK to accuratelytarget North Korean facilities with its 450kgwarhead. The Hyunmu-3C will eventuallyarm KD-III destroyers and KSS-III sub-marines too. The ROKAF also has 48 PatriotPAC-2 GEM/T fire units purchased fromGermany, and these are integral to a nationalBMD system.There is a requirement for 245 Korean

Utility Helicopters (KUH) to replace geriatricUH-1Hs, with deliveries expected to begin

next year. The 8-tonne Surion had its maidenflight in March 2010, and the manufacturer isalso targeting export sales. Since 2007, DAPAhas been considering a requirement for 270locally built attack helicopters to replace 30-year-old 500MD and AH-1S craft. KAI hadbeen working on an attack version of theKUH, but the new government decided thisavenue was not economically feasible. Thearmy wants the Korea Attack Helicopter(KAH) to be a lighter 5-tonne platform devel-oped in conjunction with a foreign partner toreduce costs, and DAPA will reissue opera-tional requirements. If a lighter KAH designis selected, the MND will consider acquiring35 heavy attack helicopters to fortify the fleetfrom 2013 onwards, with the AH-64DApache being the logical candidate.

Industrial expansionSouth Korea’s defence sector continues toexpand as the country pursues self-reliance,with the market forecast to grow from $22.4 bil-lion to $32.5 billion from 2011-15. DAPA isexamining methods to encourage greater for-eign direct investment (FDI), after an updated2009 policy allowed overseas prime contractorsto fulfil 40 percent offset obligations by invest-ing in Korean defence companies. To improvetransparency and reduce procurement costs,DAPA introduced rules last year preventingdefence industry agents from taking more than5 percent commission. Such steps are impor-tant because President Lee recently admittedcorruption was “rampant” in society, and thatthe military was not immune.South Korea has invested heavily in export

sales, and it is now reaping rewards. A seriesof collaboration agreements were drafted withIndonesia in mid-2010, but the biggest news isIndonesia’s decision in May to procure 16 T-50advanced jet trainers (AJT), this being theproduct’s first export success. KAI alsobelieves the T-50 is a strong candidate for theUS Air Force’s 350-craft AJT requirement,despite earlier losing out to the AleniaAermacchi M-346 in both Singapore and theUAE. Also in May, KAI was given approvalfor an initial public offer (IPO) on the stockexchange. South Korea built Indonesia’s firsttwo Makassar-class LPDs, and is assistinglocal shipbuilders to construct another two.Indonesia also ordered 22 Black Fox 6x6 IFVs.South Korea has inked defence industrial

partnerships with countries as diverse asColombia, India, Kazakhstan, thePhilippines, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.Samsung Techwin hopes to sell K9 SPHs toboth Malaysia and Australia. DSME hastalked to the Brazilian Navy about meetingits frigate, offshore patrol vessel and logistic-support ship requirements. Turkey is anoth-

The Surion KUH will deliver a new helicopter to anarmy that still relies heavily on the elderly UH-1Hfor battlefield transport functions © Gordon Arthur

The 65,000-man ROKAir Force (ROKAF) is seeking40-60 fighters for its FXPhase III programme toreplace elderly F-4s and F-5s


The K21 IFV, armed with a 40mm cannon, is anindigenously designed and built armouredvehicle from Doosan DST © Gordon Arthur

er key export market, with K9 SPHs andAltay MBTs being cooperative ventures.

Home and awayDespite the enormous threat on its owndoorstep, South Korea has still been able toconsider regional and global issues too.Naval ships have been stationed in the Gulfof Aden with the international counter-pira-cy task force since 2009, and in January 2011commandos stormed a hijacked chemicaltanker and rescued the crew. A destroyer

was also diverted to Libyan waters to rescuenationals in March. South Korea redeployed250 troops to Afghanistan to serve with ISAFin late 2010, plus personnel are serving in UNmissions in Lebanon and Haiti.For a long time the ROK military was a

largely static force dependent on the US. Whileit has made impressive strides militarily, it stillderives comfort from the 1953 Mutual DefenceTreaty with the US. Another serious impact inthe wake of the Cheonan sinking was a delayin the transfer of wartime operational control

(OPCON) of forces from US to ROK hands.President Obama agreed to a Korean requestto delay OPCON transfer from the CombinedForces Command (CFC) till at least December2015. Originally the transfer was to occur inApril 2012. The USA maintains 28,500 troopsin South Korea, although they are graduallyconsolidating within two hubs further south ofSeoul. While the US will be happy to take on areduced role in South Korea, the delay allowsthe US to maintain a presence in an area con-fronted by rising Chinese ambition.

33l SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 l


Conscription remainsthe bedrock of SouthKorean defensivestrategy. It is conscriptssuch as these thatwould have to wardoff DPRK attacks ©Gordon Arthur

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The coming decade will see great changes taking shape in thecombat aircraft fleets fielded by armed forces within the Asia-Pacificregion. As many nations seek to upgrade and enhance their airpower assets, there is also a distinct shift toward platforms withmulti-rolecapabilities as governments seek air defence solutions thatcan serve multiple services and bring the best possible value.

bbyy John Mulberry

FutureAirAsia-Pacific

in thePower

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As defence budgets feel thestrain of the global financialcrises, governments will belooking beyond the obviouswhen it comes to developing

their aerial defence capabilities, focusingmuch more strongly on assets that are capa-ble of performing within a highly networkedand digitised battlefield against increasinglyasymmetrical warfare threats. The opera-tional envelope of combat jet operations willalso widen significantly as single platformsare developed to perform missions acrossthe spectrum, and technology will drive for-ward current trends towards stealth andelectronic warfare that are beginning tobecome more prominent in the current late-

generation fighters in development today.

Defence solution packagesAir power dominance is no longer simply amatter of brute strength. As well as fieldingfleets capable of performing deep strike, inter-ception and defence, fighter jet squadronsmust be plugged into a wider intelligence net-work that draws from and disseminates dataaround the battlespace. This growing require-ment for the upper hand in intelligence is driv-ing a healthy market for total package solu-tions; one that Saab is meeting with their airdefence system. In a government to govern-ment contract between Thailand and Sweden,Saab has delivered a Saab 340B ERIEYEAirborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, aSaab 340 transport aircraft, the Saab Commandand Control System and the Communicationsystem in 2010, along with six multi-roleGripen fighter aircraft and logistics support,training and spare parts in early 2011.

Of the six Gripen aircraft, four were two-seater and two were single-seater. The air-craft will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s(RTAF’s) F-5 aircraft which are nearing theend of their service life, and fulfil an interceptrole with true multi-role/swing-role capabil-ity, new generation flight control systems,communications systems, avionics systemsand a weapons system. Thailand has sinceplaced a follow-on order for six single-seaterGripens in November 2010 along with anadditional Saab 340 ERIEYE AEW aircraft.Together, the Saab package provides the

RTAF with a complete surveillance, com-mand and control (C2) and communicationssolution. Being capable of joint operationsand tactical data-linking with allied ground,

maritime and air forces, the Gripen aircraftare the first step in the RTAF’s developmentof network centric technologies. By encom-passing combat platforms, sensors, C2 andcommunications the system will bringThailand a highly capable and sophisticatedair defence unit from the RTAF Wing 7 inSurat Thani that will be the first intercept jetsquadron in southern Thailand. The systemhas the ability to integrate current as well asfuture platforms and infrastructures with

exceptional growth potential to meet theevolving challenges of supporting nationalsecurity from the air.

Multiple service solutionsAs well as demanding a more complete pic-ture of the battlespace, customers are alsolooking for the most capable fighter jet avail-able to fulfil their requirements. The RoyalAustralian Air Force (RAAF) is to receive theF-35 Lightning II as part of the Joint StrikeFighter (JSF) programme being led by the USDepartment of Defence (DOD) and LockheedMartin. The JSF programme will currentlysee the F-35 delivered to a total of nine US-allied nations, with the aim to bring a newlevel of lethality to its users at an affordable

price. Although the programme has sufferedextensive budget expansions, the US remainsconfident that the aircraft will be highly sur-vivable and supportable from austere envi-ronments while meeting the needs of multi-ple services.The single-seat, single-engine aircraft is

being developed in three variants, includinga conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL)variant for the US Air Force (USAF) alsoknown as the F-35A; a short-takeoff/verticallanding (STOVL) version for the US Marine

Australia is the only country in the region tohave signed on for the JSF F-35 Lightning II ©Lockheed Martin

Corps (USMC) and until recently the UKRoyal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN)also known as the F-35B; and an aircraft-car-rier version (CV) for the US Navy (USN) alsoknown as the F-35C which the UK will nowalso acquire.

As a 5th generation fighter, the F-35 willbe one of the most capable and deadly assetsin the sky if the programme is able to deliveron its objectives. As a multirole, supersonicstealth fighter with superior 9-g manoeuvra-bility, acceleration and agility the aircraft isdesigned to be a vital net-enabling nodewithin a wider system of systems that is ableto gather and transmit information with veryhigh processing power, open architecture,powerful sensors and flexible communica-tion links, all of which are vital when consid-ering the challenges of joint/coalition combatoperations. Also key to the design is that theF-35A aircraft is reconfigurable, with aninternal weapons bay for air-to-ground orair-to-air ordnance, or a blend of both. Whenstealth is not required during missions theaircraft’s external pylons can be loaded withordnance, giving the aircraft a total weaponspayload of more than 18,000 pounds.

Moving on upThe RAAF will replace their ageing F/A-18fleet with 100 F-35As when deliveries beginin 2014. The RAAF is currently taking deliv-ery of Boeing’s F/A-18F Super Hornet inorder to fill a capability gap caused by theretirement of the F-111 last year. The firstSuper Hornet squadron achieved initial oper-ating capability (IOC) in early 2011 with thedelivery of fifteen aircraft ahead of schedule.In total the RAAF will receive 24 of the BlockII versions of the Super Hornet, all equippedwith the Raytheon APG-79 ActiveElectronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar;twelve of which will be pre-wired duringproduction for potential conversion to elec-tronic attack capability, bringing greaterdepth of capability to the fleet once the F-35fleet is fully operational.

As a multi-role aircraft the Super Hornetis able to perform virtually every mission


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The Super Hornet will fill a capability gap for theRAAF © Boeing

The first five Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)Super Hornets fly over their new home at RAAFBase Amberley on March 26, 2010 © Boeing

across the operational spectrum, includingair superiority, day/night strike with preci-sion-guided weapons, fighter escort, close airsupport, suppression of enemy air defences,maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward aircontrol and tanker missions. The aircraft isfitted with 11 weapon stations, able to sup-port a full complement of smart weaponsincluding laser-guided bombs, and carries

the full spectrum mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance. Powered by two GeneralElectric F414-GE-400 engines, the SuperHornet remains highly departure resistantthrough its operational flight envelope, withunlimited angle of attack and a reconfig-urable digital flight-control system fordetecting and correcting battle damage.

Australia has requested an Advanced

Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles(AMRAAM) package and associated equip-ment from the US government for their F/A-18F aircraft under the foreign military sales(FMS) route. If it goes ahead the agreementwill see the RAAF equip their fleet with theAIM-120C-7 which will give the aircraft astandoff weapon capability required forBridge Air Combat Capability, and will alsostrengthen interoperability with the USArmed Forces. The weapon is also currentlybeing integrated into the JSF which is anadded incentive for add the system to theSuper Hornet at this stage.

AffordabilityJSF is proving to be a very expensive pro-gramme, and for nations that cannot committo the budgetary demands there are somegood alternatives at lower price points. Onesuch aircraft is Boeing’s upgrade of the F-15E, the F-15SE Silent Eagle. This 5th genera-tion fighter is specifically designed to meetthe future needs of international customersfor cost-effective stealth technologies andlarge, diverse weapons payloads.

The Silent Eagle features improvementsin stealth technologies on the F-15 includingcoatings and treatments that reduce signa-ture from forward aspects, and is also fittedwith redesigned conformal fuel tanks

The Silent Eagle featuresimprovements in stealthtechnologies on the F-15including coatings and treat-ments that reduce signaturefrom forward aspects

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The F-15SE is equipped withtwo internal bays with one oneach side © Boeing


(CFTs) that can be used for optimal fuelcapacity in concert with external weaponscarriage, or can be used for internalweapons carriage. Boeing has revealed thatthe standard F-15 weapons load will be usedwhen the traditional CFTs are installed;alternatively internal weapons carriage caninclude air-to-air missiles such as the JointDirect Attack Munition (JDAM) and SmallDiameter Bomb (SDB).

Boeing has also improved the aircraft’saerodynamic efficiency with the addition ofcanted vertical tails that provide lift andreduce airframe weight, and a digital flightcontrol system will improve reliability andalso reduce airframe weight. Survivabilityenhancements include the BAE SystemsDigital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS)working in concert with the RaytheonAdvanced Electronic Scanning Array (AESA)radar. The introduction of the new DEWS

hardware onto the F-15 weapon system willprovide world-class performance and capa-bility while improving reliability, maintain-ability and operational availability byincreasing crew situational awareness, self-protections and electronic countermeasurecapabilities, and comes with reduced logis-tics requirements and life-cycle cost savingsfor the customer.

The aircraft’s conformal weapons bay(CWB) is also designed to minimize the F-15SE's radar signature and significantlyincrease its tactical options. The F-15SE is

equipped with two internal bays with one oneach side, which are designed for multiplecarriage configurations, including advancedair-to-air and air-to-surface munitions. As anoptional extra for potential customers theCWB can be installed on new or retrofittedinto existing F-15 aircraft, and in November2010 Boeing signed an agreement withKorean Airspace Industries (KAI) for thedesign, development and manufacture of theCWB for the F-15 Silent Eagle.

The Boeing-KAI agreement is believed tobe a nod to Boeing’s hopes that the Republicof Korea Air Force (ROKAF) will be thelaunch customer for the F-15 Silent Eagle.The Republic of Korea (ROK) is set to official-ly kick off the search for its new stealth fight-er jet in 2012 and the F-15 Silent Eagle couldbe a good match for the country’s aerialdefence requirements, having high common-ality with the ROKAF’s existing F-15 fleet. As

The implications of thePLAAF becoming the firstnation in the Asia-Pacificregion to field a stealthfighter are considerable

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The Royal Thai Air Force hasordered the Saab Gripen to replaceits ageing F-5 aircraft © Saab

well as promising lower operating and logis-tical costs that bringing in a new aircraft suchas the F-35, Boeing also believes the stealthcapabilities of the aircraft are a good matchfor the ROK’s operational requirements inthe face of their increasingly aggressivenorthern neighbour.

Indigenous stealthChinese stealth jet fighter development isalso understood to be continuing followingthe emergence of an aircraft believed to bedesignated the J-20 in January this year. Theresults of a secret development programme,the J-20 was photographed during highspeed taxi testing at the Chengdu AircraftDesign Institute airfield. It is a single-seat,twin-engine aircraft that outsizes both theSukhoi T-50 and the F-22 and local newssources in 2009 reported that the aircraftwould be operational between 2017 and

2019 with the People’s Liberation Army AirForce (PLAAF).

With a delta airframe shape and two cant-ed vertical stabilisers and smaller ventral finsthe aircraft bears resemblance to the F-22 inits stealth body shaping and framelesscanopy, and is understood to have an overalllength of around 75 ft and wingspan ofaround 45 ft. Takeoff weight is believed to bein the region of around 75,000 lbs.

The implications of the PLAAF becomingthe first nation in the Asia-Pacific region tofield a stealth fighter are considerable.Although Australia will already be operatingthe F-35 Strike Fighter by then – all thingsgoing to plan – China is already posing thebiggest threat to regional stability with itsongoing military build-up and a stealth fight-er would be a significant game-changer interms of the country’s perceived threat to itsnearest neighbours.

China’s apparent rapid progress on thisprogramme is also an indicator of thePLAAF’s plans for its future aerial combatfleet, that is likely to have a focus on aggres-sive rather than defensive platforms. How farChina has already moved down the develop-ment process is also a matter of significancefor those with an interest in the region’s polit-ical stability, in particular for countries feel-ing the effects of the US technology exportrestrictions that still create a market vacuumfor this type of aerial combat asset. For thesereasons the J-20 could have far reachingrepercussions for not just the capabilities offuture combat aerial platforms, but for thelandscape of technology imports into andwithin the Asia-Pacific region.

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The F-15SE has been designed to appeal tocustomers looking for advanced capabilities at alower price point © Boeing

NAVAL FIRE Support and shorebombardment have been a tra-ditional feature of naval opera-tions since the 17th Century butthe demands are changing and

are driving a new generation of tools. Navieshave always been able to influence operationsnear the coast but have not been able to strikemuch deeper than some 35km, the ultimaterange of the 16 inch (406mm) guns used by thelast battleships in Kuwait in 1990.But navies in the post Cold War era have

been given a littoral role requiring them tosupport land forces often operating close toshore although carriers in the Indian Oceansupport Afghanistan operations. Gunfire sup-port means firing shells much deeper inland,indeed since 1994 the US requirement is forguns with a range of between 76-117km.Sadly, naval gunnery has fallen behind

that of the ground forces, which have largelyfocused upon 155mm calibre weapons withmunitions displaying improved range andprecision. By contrast navies are largely con-fined to 76mm (3 inch) and 127mm (5 inch)

weapons firing ‘dumb’ rounds, the formerwith a range of 16-20km and the latter with23-37kmwith the greatest ranges achieved byextended range ammunition. The largermounting, notably the BAE Systems’ Mk 45but also the Oto Melara one, is used by sixAsian navies while the latter, including theRussian AK-176, is used by a dozen.To improve the performance of 5 inch guns

OtoMelara are working on an extended-rangemunition called Vulcanowhich uses a sub-cal-ibre projectile, either unguided or terminallyguided in Phase I, to achieve ranges of 70km.The more ambitious Phase II seeks a projectilewith inertial navigation/Global PositioningSystem guidance and imaging infra-red seek-er and would have a range of 120km. TheUnited States has attempted to produce aneven longer-ranged shell in the same calibre,the Extended Range Guided Munition(ERGM) with a range of 76 km. This pro-gramme failed but attempts continue to pro-duce an Extended Range Munition (ERM),although this will be suitable only for theimproved US 62 calibre gun rather than the

more common 54 calibre tube.The medium-calibre gun in most war-

ships, and one which is almost obligatory forfast attack craft as well as larger surface com-batants, is the 76mm weapon especially theubiquitous Oto Melara Compact mountingused by nine Asian navies. The popularity ofthis mounting reflects the fact it is a relativelylight weight (7.5 tonnes), compromiseweapon system capable of a wide variety ofroles although at relatively limited range(20km); it can be used for shore bombard-ment, for anti-ship operations (includingpolicing) and even for air defence with a fir-ing rate of 85-120 rds/min enhanced by thenewDavide/Strales guidedmunition system.Worthy of mention is the BAE Systems’

Bofors 57mm mounting used by Indonesia,Malaysia and Thailand, usually in fast attackcraft as well as being selected for the USNavy’s Littoral Combat Ship. Like the 76mmthis is a compromise gun mounting whichattempts to compensate for its lack of sizeand range through a high rate-of-fire (200-220 rounds/minute) and sophisticated High

NN AA VV AA LLWEAPON SYSTEMS


Naval Gunfire Support engagements and the use of the Tomahawkland attack missiles have characterised recent operations offLibya in support of United Nations Resolution 1973, demonstratingyet again the versatility of warships and the variety ofweapons they can deploy.

bbyy Ted Hooton

Naval Weapon Systems:

Asia-PacificRequirements and

Solutions

Capacity munitions. The naval gun is now mostly used for self-

protection, especially against the muchfeared, and probably grossly over-rated, fastinshore attack craft (FIAC) with manuallyand remotely operated 20-40mm weaponsalso used in smaller surface combatants suchas mine counter-measure vessels and patrolboats, as the prime weapon. Originally man-ually-operated, such weapons form theprime armament of patrol boats, but increas-ingly are remotely-operated with electro-

optical sighting and often a stabilised mount-ing ensuring greater accuracy, especially inrough weather. Many of these weapons, especially of

20mm and 40mm calibre date from the 1950sbut new mountings do appear such as theIndian Navy’s CRN-91 Sarath, a 30mm

weapon based upon a tank-mounted system.The Typhoon G/Mk 98 system, used byAustralia, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka andthe United States features a 25mmBushmaster gun while twin 30mm weaponsare extensively used by Japan’s MaritimeSafety Agency (Oto Melara), Sri Lanka (BAESystems) and South Korea (SEI).The electrically-operated Gatling gun,

with its prodigious rates of fire of up to 4,500rounds/minute is also found in many Asiannavies. Both Japan and South Korea make

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One of the most common anti-ship missiles isthe Boeing Harpoon which may be launchedfrom surface ships (as here), submarines oraircraft © Boeing


extensive use of Sea Vulcan mountings, witha 20mm gun the Korean mountings beingproduced by Daewoo. They are also exten-sively employed as close-in weapon systemssupported by radar or electro-optical sensorsto defeat in-coming anti-ship missiles in mostmajor warships and auxiliaries. The mostcommon is the Phalanx, with 20mm Gatlingand integral radar/electro-optic sensor, whileRussian-built or designed ships used byChina, India and Vietnam feature similar AK630s with 30mm guns and off-mount sensorswhile South Korean ships sometimes have the

30mm gun of the Thales Goalkeeper system.Since the mid 1950s the missile has

replaced the gun. Initially this was in the airdefence role with surface-to-air missilesallowing ships to engage high speed fixed-wing targets at ranges which reduced thethreat from air-launched air-to-surface mis-siles. With the Raytheon Standard Missile 2(SM 2) this can be 170-240km and these areadefence weapons can engage not onlymanned launch platforms but also the missileitself. The ultimate in this capability,deployed in US Navy and Japanese MaritimeSelf Defence Forces’ Kongou class destroyers

is the SM 3 which has been proven to engageballistic missiles at ranges of 1,200km, whilethe US Navy’s SM 2 Block IV air defence mis-sile also has a limited ballistic missile engage-ment capability. The local area defence missile, such as

the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) orthe MBDA Aster 15, provides a similaralthough inevitably more restricted airdefence capability to 18-30km. Their rela-tively small size makes them suitable forsmaller surface combatants, although theESSM is the prime anti-air warfare weaponsystem of the Australian and New ZealandAnzac class frigates and Japan’s Takanamiclass destroyers while Aster is used bySingapore’s Formidable class frigates. Thesekinds of missiles are extremely agile, mak-ing them valuable weapons against evensupersonic anti-ship missiles.At the bottom of the spectrum are the

point-defence missiles such as the MBDAMistral, usually derived from man-portablesystems and often in remotely-operatedmountings although occasionally man-portable. The Mistral is used by Indonesia,Singapore and Thailand mostly in smallersurface combatants, such as fast attack craftand mine counter-measures vessels as wellas major amphibious warfare ships. Theyare primarily to prevent stand-off attacks byfixed- and rotary-wing aircraft at ranges upto six kilometres and while MBDA haveclaimed that Mistral has the ability toengage anti-ship missiles its short rangedoes not really give it the reaction timeneeded for this role.

The missile is the prime surface-to-surfaceweapon, although this was not really appre-ciated until October 21 1967 when Egyptian‘Styx’ sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat. Theshock of that event led Western navies to re-assess the threat and rush to seek similar sys-tems of which the most common are the sub-sonic Boeing Harpoon and MBDA Exocet,both using radar seekers to establish thelargest radar cross-section point of their tar-get. Both approach the target at medium alti-tude adopting a sea-skimming approach forthe terminal phase.

The Barak surface-to-air missile is used by Indiawhich is developing a longer-ranged versionwith Israel © Rafael

Aster 15 is a modern, agile, surface-to-airmissile used by Singapore © MBDA


The naval gun is now mostlyused for self-protection,especially against the muchfeared, and probably grosslyover-rated, fast inshoreattack craft

One of the most common naval point defence surface-to-air missiles is the MBDA Mistral © MBDA


Harpoon is used by eight Asian naviesand is a turbo-jet powered weapon with arange of about 125 km which permits the pre-programming of indirect approaches andgives a re-attack capability if radar lock-on islost. The original Exocet, used by six Asiannavies, was a rocket-powered weapon with arange of 75 Km which limited capabilities butthe latest, Block III, version also has turbo-jetpropulsion extending the range to 180 Km.Similar systems have been developed byChina, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea fortheir own navies. Supersonic missiles have also been devel-

oped, the Russian SS-N-22 ‘Sunburn’ (3M80Moskit) is used by China, Russia has co-developed the BrahMos with India whileTaiwan has developed the Hsiung Feng III.Supersonic missiles have the advantage ofhalving defensive system reaction times andmaking interception extremely difficult buttheir very speed means they have a very lim-ited re-attack capability leaving their sen-sor/processing systems less time to react to‘soft’ counter-measures. The role of anti-ship

missiles is more to disable rather than sinktargets and there is a growing body of evi-dence which suggests that even this limitedobjective may not be feasible in the face ofimproved ship design.Both Exocet and Harpoon may be

launched from aircraft, surface combatants oreven submarines (being launched in capsulesfrom torpedo tubes) with Sub Exocet current-ly used only by Pakistan and Malaysia whileSub-Harpoon is used by Australia, Japan and

South Korea. This is especially importantbecause anti-ship missiles are receiving anadded capability, to attack land targets andsubmarine deployment provides covertapproach to targets. This is a spin-off of soft-ware and processing improvements in thepost Cold War world designed to enhance lit-toral performance by allowing theseweapons to attack ships close to coasts oractually in harbours and it has been extendedto the ability to strike targets in proximity to

One of the most common naval gun mounts is the Oto Melara 76 Compact. This version has theshaped turret to reduce radar cross section © Oto Melara

WEAPON SYSTEMSNN AA VV AA LL


the coast. It is worth noting that SouthKorea’s ‘150 kilometre’ Haesong (SSM-700K)missile is also reported to have a dual role.Compared with the famed Tomahawk

which can also be launched from surface com-batants and submarines to strike targets atranges of up to 2,500 Km, this is a very limitedcapability. Tomahawk was also originally adual-role weapon but has reverted to land-attack being programmed to navigate througha combination of Global Positioning Systemand a terrain matching sensors. It is currentlydeployed only in US warships, althoughAustralia is reported interested in buying theweapon for its Hobart class destroyers. Thatthe trend is such that now South Korea hasdeveloped its Cheon Ryong missile for theland-attack role with a reported range of1,500km and is reportedly deploying them inSejong Daewang (KDX 3) class destroyers.It should never be forgotten that the first

naval missile, developed 145 years ago, wasthe torpedo and two types are marketed; theheavyweight and light weight. The former isthe descendent of the original weapon usuallybeing about 53 centimetres (21 inches) in diam-eter and fired by a submarine, indeed it was aNorth Korean weapon which reportedly sankthe Korean corvette Chon An in March 2010.However, some Russian major surface com-batants such as the Sovremenny class destroy-ers used by China, also carry these weapons. Typical of modern weapons are the

DCN/Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei(WASS) Black Shark and the AtlasDM2A4/Sea Hake 4 both driven by sea-waterbatteries and with permanent magnet motors.These weapons are semi-autonomous with arange of up to 50km guided to the vicinity oftheir targets through copper or glass-fibrewires by the submarine combat systemexploiting the boat’s sensors. They are capableof speeds up to 55 knots, which may be variedduring the run in some weapons, and when it

is in the target’s vicinity it severs direct contactwith the submarine using on-board sensors toattack or even re-acquire and attack the target.The traditional role of the heavyweight

torpedo has been to sink surface vessels, andindeed this role helped to shape modern Asiaby annihilating Japan’s merchant fleet, butnowadays they are regarded more as an anti-submarine weapon. Yet they remain formi-dable against surface vessels, being designedto use influence (magnetic, acoustic or combi-nations) fuzes rather than contact ones to det-onate under a ship’s keel breaking its back.Some Russian weapons are designed to homein on a ship’s wake then zig-zag and homingon the propeller system to cripple the target.China, India, South Korea and Japan have

all developed, or attempted to develop,heavyweight torpedoes with the Chinese Yu(Fish) family believed to be based uponRussian technology. The Indian weapon doesnot appear to have entered service while lit-

tle reliable information is available aboutJapanese torpedo programmes, although theType 89 is in service, while South Korea hasdeveloped the White Shark which is nowbelieved to have entered service.Lightweight torpedoes are usually 324mm

in diameter and electrically powered to givespeeds up to 50 knots and ranges up to 25 km.They are used only for anti-submarine opera-tions, usually deployed by surface combat-ants, their associate helicopters and maritimepatrol aircraft. The most common, used byeight Asian navies, is Raytheon’s Mk 46 withmono-propellant fuel although the EurotorpMU 90 Impact is used by Australia and NewZealand while BAE Systems’ Sting Ray isused by Thailand. There are also 40cm diam-eter weapons which have been produced byRussia as the Type 40 and by Sweden as theTp 43. The former are used in small numbersby North Korea and Indonesia while the latterare used by Singapore’s submarines andsome of Pakistan’s Amazon class frigates usethe Swedish Tp 43. Few of these weapons have been devel-

oped locally. China is believed to have pro-duced a version of the Whitehead A244 andalso the Mk 46, the latter as the Yu 2, whileSouth Korea is reported to have produced theCheong Sangeo (Blue Shark) for its SejongDaewang (KDX-3) class destroyers, havingproduced the obsolete US Mark 44 underlicence as the KT-44.The last, and most secret, naval weapon is

the mine, which was first developed by theChinese during the 14th Century and used bythem in the 16th Century. The mine usuallyconsists of an explosive charge (up to onetonne) with a fuze, which may be influenceor contact, and it can be used for both offen-sive and defensive missions. They may bedeployed overtly or covertly and are sophis-ticated enough to select specific sized targetsor to wait until a specified number of shipshave passed before becoming active.

Although VEMS is a training device, it hasall the characteristics of the modern groundmine © BAE Systems

A Exocet SM 39 emerges from the sea. Withanti-ship missiles increasingly used for landattack this demonstrates the growing threatfrom the depths © MBDA

The MU90 Impact lightweight torpedo has beenselected by Australia, New Zealand andSingapore © Eurotorp


Prepared by Adam Baddeley

AMR UAVDIRECTORY

2011


With Asia-Pacific’s UnmannedAerial Vehicle (UAV) ranksswelling, thanks to a combi-nation of international acqui-

sitions as well as an increasingly vigorousand innovative domestic production anddevelopment base, it is the right time tobegin AMR’s first annual Directory of UAVactivity in the region. It addresses both inservice systems, ongoing procurement pro-grammes and research and developmentefforts. Some countries have not yet begunto deploy UAVs whereas others, notablyChina is sponsoring the development of amyriad of different and competing designsalthough few are yet to see large scale serv-ice while other still notably Singapore haveplans developed over time that are beingsteadily and coherently implemented.

The UAV Directory has been researchedusing a range of resources notably AMR cor-respondents, industry experts and servingmilitary personnel throughout the region aswell as open sources.

AUSTRALIA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDHHeerroonn,, IAI; Project Nankeen lease viaMacDonald Dettwiler extended to end 2012,supporting Army and RAAF units fromKandahar which began in Jan 2010 SSccaann EEaaggllee,, Isitu/Boeing; Interim Tier 2 typerequirement until Shadow 200 fielded. Deployed Iraq 2006-8 and in Afghanistansince 2007 where it has logged over 25,000operational flight hours by July 2011. SSkkyyllaarrkk II,, Elbit Systems; Eight systemsordered in Nov 2005 onwards with 20 STAReg. deployed to E Timor and Iraq, furtherorders subsequentlyAAeerroossoonnddee IIIIII,, AAI; Four Aerosondes sentto the Solomon Islands on Operation Anodewith Army’s 131 STA BatteryAAvvaattaarr,, Condarra; 18 UAVs acquired since2001 deployed to E. Timor with ADF SF in2003, status unknown

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTII--VViieeww 225500,, IAI; Original JP129 Phase 2A$145m contract in 2006 awarded to BoeingAustralia as prime with IAI I-View 250 UAVcancelled in Sept 2008MMaarriittiimmee RRaannggeess SSeennssoorr DDeelliivveerryy SSyysstteemm,,Mincham Aviation; Able to deploysonobuoys 15nm in trials with RAN as oflate 2010

HHeerroonn 11,, IAI; Six week, A$5.5m trial withBorder Protection Command May-June2008 with 80 hours flying in maritimesurveillance trial equipped with ELTA 2022multimode radar AAqquuaa PPuummaa,, AeroVironment; Naval trials inearly 2007RRQQ--77BB SShhaaddooww 220000,, AAI; TUAV in US serv-ice selected under JP129 Phase 2 andrequested from US DCSA in May 2011, withAustralian decision in second half of 2011RRQQ--88AA FFiirree SSccoouutt,, Northrop Grumman;Company believes it has interestRRQQ--44 GGlloobbaall HHaawwkk,, Northrop Grumman;Flew non-stop to Australia in 2001 and tookpast in joint exercise Tandem Thrust.Planned to acquire the UAV as part of itsparticipation in BAMS project but droppedout in 2009 although options remain formaritime and littoral surveillance from 2016

�� NNOOTTEESS:: TUAV requirement in JP129 Phase4 with IOC in 2013-15. Unmanned aspect ofAir 7000, known as 1B for a HALE maritime

UAV deferred and involvement in US BAMSprogramme cancelled in March 2009 and willreceive government consideration again in2016. In June, Northrop Grumman andAustralia’s DoD signed a Global SupplyChain agreement to aid Australian compa-nies becoming supply partners.

CHINA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDBBZZKK--000055,, Beijing University of Aeronauticsand Astronautics; MALE UAV thought tohave been in limited service since 2009PPtteerrooddaaccttyyll 11//YYiilloonngg,, AVIC; Predator-likeMALE with 400km range first seen in 2008with initial development completed in 2009and production beginning during 2010 andcan be equipped with AR-1 missilesWW--3300//WW--5500 sseerriieess,, NRIST; Sometimescalled PW-1 and entered service with thePeople’s Liberation Army during 2005,radius of 100km. Later PW-2 version haslonger rangeAASSNN220066//77,, Xian ASN Technology; In serv-

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AAI’s RQ-7B/Shadow 200 hasbeen selected for Australia’sJP129 Phase 2 UAV programmeand is an increasingly unlikelyoption for Pakistan despite beingoffered by the US under its mili-tary aid programme © AJB

ice with PLARRMMAAXX,, Yamaha Motor Company; Nine sys-tems procured in 2001 for paramilitary useAASSNN--1155,, Xian ASN Technology; Handlaunched UAV in 2000 largely used for testand proof of conceptAASSNN--110044//55BB,, Xian ASN Technology; Inservice with PLAAASSNN--220066//220077,, Xian ASN Technology;Developed from mid 1990s, range of 150km,ASN-207 first seen publicly in 2002, in limited serviceAASSNN--220099,, Xian ASN Technologies; Twin-boom pusher design called Silver Eagle inPLAN service, reported to be tested by PLAas comms relay in June 2011II--ZZ,, ZZ--33,, ZZ--22,, NRIST; Rotary wing designsome military and paramilitary use fromearly 2000sHHaarrppyy,, IAI; Sold to China in 1994, WhenChina returned the Harpy for maintenance,US concerns over possibility of upgradeto Harop standard, saw Israel returnthe UAV in 2005

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTCCHH--33,, CASIC; MALE 12 hour endurance,canard design 108nm radius in advanceddevelopment, first seen in public in 2008,reported to be fitted with FT-5 small PGMs.Links to requirements in Brunei andCambodiaWWJJ--660000,, CASIC; Global Hawk-like designfor maritime surveillance, turbo-jet pow-ered, options for air to surface engagement,in early developmentLLoonngg HHaauull EEaaggllee,, AVIC; Another GlobalHawk like design, status unknownAASSNN--222299AA,, Xian ASN Technology; 20hrendurance, armed UAV, in testing phasecould enter service in 2011AASSNN--221133,, Xian ASN Technology; 5Kgdesign with in-flight morphing design firstseen in 2008NNiigghhtt EEaaggllee,, AVIC; Hand launched, similarto AerosondeWWhhiirrllwwiinndd SSccoouutt,, AVIC; Compact VTOLducted fan designUU88EE,, AVIC; Lightweight VTOL designshown at Singapore Airshow 2010SSLL--220000,, CASC; Armed HALE, described as astealthy designCCHH--880022,, CASIC; Hand launched similar toPointerVV775500,, Qingdao Haili Helicopter Manufac -turing Co; Rotary wing UAVTTiiaann YYii--33,, LOEC; High speed HALEWWaarrrriioorr EEaaggllee,, AVIC; Only sketchesseen publicly and may utilise a morphing

wing designSSooaarrhhaawwkk,, Sunward; Described as similarto piston engined ADCOM SAT-400, statusunknownDDUUFF--22,, BUAA; Hand launched SUAVWWiinngg LLoonngg,, AVIC; Completed flight testingin Oct 2008, 20 hour enduranceAAnnjjiiaann//DDaarrkksswwoorrdd,, Shenyang Aircraft Co.;UCAV in early development

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Images of Global-Hawk typedesign seen a runway in Google Earth picsat Chendghu Aircraft Corporation No.132factory. Chinese Naval UAV, possiblyASN209 Silver Eagle filmed by JapaneseMaritime Self-Defense Force aircraft sur-veilling a 11 ship strong PLAN fleet in east-ern Philippine Sea while it was returningfrom a gunnery exercise in June 2011

INDIA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDSSeeaarrcchheerr II && IIII,, IAI; India’s Army and Navyare understood to have acquired 18 andpossibly as many as 50-70 UAVs LLaakksshhyyaa,, DRDO/ADE & HAL; High speedreusable drone with 100 now in service.Israel pulled out of Lakshya buy in 2005HHeerroonn II//IIII,, IAI; IAF order in 2002 for fourUAVs. Navy ordered 12 in 2005 and oper-ates the UAVs in two mixed units alongsideits Searcher UAVs. Potential requirementfor 50 UAVsHHaarrppyy,, IAI; 30 in service delivered from 2005

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The Nishant TUAV has been developed by the DRDOand ARDE since 1990 with 12 of the UAVs beingordered in 2005. Four have been delivered so farwith two of them crashing in April 2010 © AJB

HHaarroopp//HHaarrppyy IIII,, IAI; 10 UAV/LoiteringMunition ordered by IAF in 2009 in $100mdeal with video datalink system. Deliveriesstart in 2011

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTRRuussttoomm 11,, DRDO/ARDE; First successfultest flight in Oct. 2010 after prototypecrashed in November 2009, 12-15hourendurance, airframe built by ZephyrAerospace. Due to begin series productionin 2012-13RRuussttoomm HHAALLEE,, DRDO/ARDE; MALE UAVin development for tri-service customers,also precursor for UCAV development pro-totype in 2014-15, 12-15 hour endurance and45kg payloadNNiisshhaanntt,, DRDO/ARDE; Developmentbegan in 1990 trial completed in Feb. 2011.12 Nishants ordered in 2005 with four deliv-ered so far and two crashing in April 2010.The balance due in 2013-14KKaappootthhaakkaa,, DRDO/ARDE; Mini-UAV totest ISR as well as launch and recoveryconceptsPPaawwaann,, DRDO/ARDE; SUAV in develop-mentGGaaggaann,, DRDO/ARDE; TUAV in developmentGGlloobbaall HHaawwkk,, Northrop Grumman; ListedIndia as a potential customer at Paris Airshow 2011 in maritime and overland roleUUCCAAVV,, N/A; IAF issued RFI in mid 2010RRQQ--1166BB TT--HHaawwkk,, Honeywell Aerospace;Demonstrated at the Counter Terrorism andJungle Warfare College at Kanker inChattisgarh in 2010‘‘HHAALLEE’’ UUAAVV,, N/A; IN HALE RFI issuedOctober 2010. NG reported to have respond-ed with its MQ-4C BAMS which could oper-ate with P-8I Poseidon

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Focus expanded in past two yearsto explore procurement of Mini- and SmallUAVS with an Army global RFI issued inearly 2011 with 80-100 required. Army has arequirement for 1500-1800 UAVs of all types

from various sources. AAI reported to haverecently demonstrated T-Hawk UAV toMinistry of Homeland Affairs at IGI airport.Four Searcher Mk II UAVs deployed toTezpur and Chabua. Army Aviation basesin Assam.

INDONESIA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDIIFFooxx AATT11,, CAC/EADS; Four UAVs with afixed wing design fielded with ArmedForces Strategic Intelligence Agency and AirForce in Bandung in early 2000s. Contractvalued at $10m and issues over non-deliv-ery of rotary wing UAVs. UAVs withdrawnfrom service in 2006SSSS--55,, PT Wesco Aerospace; one or more sys-tems reported to be deployed to Aceh in2005AAeerroossoonnddee,, AAI; Deployed with paramili-tary and Police forces

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTSSrriittii,, Agency for the Assessment and

Application of Technology; 10km range tac-tical UAV using a flying wing design AALLAAPP,, Agency for the Assessment andApplication of Technology; 25kg, 50kmrange UAV‘‘TTUUAAVV’’,, Agency for the Assessment andApplication of Technology; 120kg UAVwith a range of 120km. Three design shapeprototypes; the BPPT-01A “Wulung” withHi rectangular-wing, Low Boom T-tail, theBPPT-01B “Gagak” with Lo rectangular-wing, Low Boom V-Tail and the BPPT-02A“Wulung” with a Hi rectangular-wing, HiBoom Inverted V-Tail design

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Pesawat Udara Nir-Awak orPUNA is the Bahasa Indonesia acronym forUAV. Indonesia has been carrying out aprogramme headed by the government'sAgency for the Assessment and Applicationof Technology to develop indigenous UAVssince March 2007. Military announcedTUAV programme last October to beacquired “from 2011” with the UAVs them-



Honeywell’s RQ-16B isin service in Asia inAfghanistan with US andBritish forces and hasbeen used to monitorradiation levels atFukushima in Japan andhas been demonstratedto Indian counter-terror-ism units © US DoD

Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C BAMS UAVwas reported to have been submitted inresponse to an Indian Navy RFI for amaritime HALE UAV issued in October2010 © Northrop Grumman



selves to be manufactured locally by PTDirgantara. Reported to be seeking UAVsfrom Israel but these efforts now ended inrecent years.

JAPAN�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDFFoorrwwaarrdd FFllyyiinngg OObbsseerrvvaattiioonn SSyysstteemm,, FujiHeavy Industries; Development of rotarywing design began in 1991 with three sys-tems equipping Army artillery units from

2004. Civil version is the RPH-2RRMMAAXX,, Yamaha Motor Company; Deployedwith Japan’s Iraq contingent in 2005TTAAyyoouuttooKK((CC))OOggaattaa MMuujjiinnkkii ((TTAACCOOMM)),, FujiHeavy Industries; Trans. ‘Multi-role smallUAV’. Japan’s Technical Research andDevelopment Institute have been workingon the concept since 1995. Evaluation flighttest in 2001. In 2011 Japan released film oftwo turbo jet powered drones carried by anF-15J. TACOM launched while aloft and

returns to base using a retractable undercar-riage. A prototype launched from aMitsubishi/Lockheed Martin F-2 was lost atsea in 2010JJ//AAQQMM--11,, Fuji Heavy Industries; Air forcetarget drone, entered services 1987, indige-nous designBBQQMM--3344AAJJ,, Fuji Heavy Industries; Navy tar-get drone, licensed development of Firebee

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTRRQQ--88AA FFiirree SSccoouutt,, Northrop Grumman;Company believes it has interest from themilitaryBB TTyyppee MMaacchhiinnee IIII,, Fuji IMVAC, Used tomonitor FukushimaBBaallll SShhaappeedd UUAAVV;; Development or SUAVfor Urban ops for ArmyRRQQ--1166BB TT--HHaawwkk,, Honeywell Aerospace;Used to monitor FukushimaGGlloobbaall HHaawwkk,, Northrop Grumman; listedJapan as a potential customer at ParisAirshow 2011 in maritime and overlandrole. Thought to be as part of 2011-2015 Mid-Term Defence Programme with three of theUAVs potentially required probably work-ing in conjunction with P-3C Orion.Japanese interests first noted in 2004.Improved Satellite surveillance the mainalternative

�� NNOOTTEESS:: There are a large number ofUAV companies in Japan including FujiHeavy Industries, Yamaha Motor, YanmarAgricultural Equipment, Kawasaki HeavyIndustries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,Sky Remote, Hirobo, Mitsubishi ElectricCorporation, Hitachi, NEC Corporation, GHCraft, Fuji Imvac and Nippi Corporation.

NORTH KOREA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDPPcchheellaa,, Yakovlev OKB; Unconfirmedreports that North Korea acquired theRussian UAV in 1995�� NNOOTTEESS:: Also reports that it operatesTupolev DR-3/M-141 jet-powered tacticalreconnaissance UAVs.

SOUTH KOREA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDHHaarrppyy,, IAI; 100 systems valued at $45mfielded from 1999NNiigghhtt IInnttrruuddeerr 330000,, KAI; Began develop-ment in 1991 with MND funding with theArmy receiving five systems 2001-2004,

Australia has deployedElbit’s Skylark since thefirst order in 2005, deploy-ing to E Timor, Iraq andAfghanistan. Other usersin the region include SouthKorea who ordered theSkylark II in late 2007 ©Elbit Systems

Navy also acquired the systemSShhaaddooww 440000,, AAI; One system in servicewith Navy for evaluation from 2006SSkkyyllaarrkk IIII,, Elbit Systems; Announced selection in Dec 2007, equipped with theMicro-CoMPASS E/O payload with firstdelivery in 2008

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTNNiigghhtt IInnttrruuddeerr NNII--1111NN,, KAI; Developmentbegan in 2006 with focus on maritime sur-veillanceKKoorreeaann -- CCoommbbaatt UUnnmmaannnneedd VVeehhiiccllee,, KAI;K-CUAV shown only in sketch formUUrrbbaann SSttaarr,, Kyung An Cable Company;VTOL UAV in developmentRReemmooeeyyee 000022,, Ucon Systems; In develop-ment hand launched UAVRReemmooeeyyee 000066,, Ucon Systems; SUAV devel-opment complete in June 2005RReemmooeeyyee 001155,, Ucon Systems; Developmentcomplete in June 2005, 15Kg TUAVendurance 4hrs plusRReemmoo HH--112200,, Ucon Systems; In developmentrotary wing design endurance of two hoursRRQQ--88AA FFiirree SSccoouutt,, Northrop Grumman;Company believes it has interestGGlloobbaall HHaawwkk,, Northrop Grumman; ListedSouth Korea as a potential customer at ParisAirshow 2011 in maritime and overland rolewith Korea allocating $40m for partial pay-

ment in 2011 budgetSSmmaarrtt UUAAVV,, KARI; Tilt rotor designlaunched in 2002 with significant govern-ment funding, unveiled in 2005 was to beginflight testing in 2011

�� NNOOTTEESS:: South Korea’s MALE require-ment which could go to Israel AerospaceIndustries Heron and Elbit Systems Hermes450 UAS is being reported as dependent onwhether Israel selects the T-50 jet for itstraining requirement.

MALAYSIA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDEEaaggllee 115500BB,, CTRM; Conversion of CTRM’sEagle 150 trainer aircraft into an aircraftwhich could function either as manned air-craft or a UAV, three aircraft and a GCSentered service in 2002 and withdrawn inFeb 2006AAlluuddrraa MMkk11,, CTRM; Trials from October2008 to late 2010, Mk2 version in develop-ment

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTT‘‘TTUUAAVV’’,, N/A; Requirement for six UAVsannounced at DSA 2010, expected to go toAludra MK2 with improved payload andgreater enduranceCCyybbeerr EEyyee,, Sapura; demonstrated to

Malaysian MilitaryCCyybbeerr SShhaarrkk,, Sapura; demonstrated toMalaysian Military

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Malaysia still has limited interestin UAVs.

NEW ZEALAND�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTKKaahhuu//HHaawwkk,, SKYCAM UAV NZ; NewZealand is exploring SUAV concepts

�� NNOOTTEESS:: New Zealand troops benefitingfrom UAV coverage in Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDUUqqaabb--IIII,, ACES; First squadron inducted intoPakistan Navy in July 2011 and tasked withMaritime Interdiction Operation. The timingcoincided with the crash of an Uqab-II NavyUAV near an oil refinery. Developed fromEagle Eye systemUUqqaabb,, Integrated Dynamics; Flight testscompleted in March 2008, developed withTurkish help similar to the US Army RQ-7BShadow 200BBuurrrraaqq,, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex;Based on Falco-Selex Galileo technologyand is believed to be intended as Pakistan'smain equivalent to the American Predator


RREEGG II OONNAALLU A V D I R E C T O R Y

Malaysia's Sapura continuesto market its CyberEye UAV,pictured here is the latestCyberEye II UAV. The com-pany successfully sold threesystems to Thailand in 2009© Dzirhan Mahadzir



to be equipped with NESCom designedlaser designator and laser-guided missiles.FFaallccoo,, Selex Galileo; Pakistan bought 4-5unarmed reconnaissance drones from Italy.First Italian produced aircraft operational inearly 2009 after delivery 2006-8. Some pro-duced locally by Pakistan AeronauticalComplex with local production beginning inAugust 2009 BBrraavvoo++//JJaassooooss IIII,, AWC; In use of thePakistan Air Force since 2004 and supportsOperations and Training ProgrammeCCHH--33,, CASC; 20 UAVs reported to be onorder from China for delivery in 2011 andequipped with FT-5 PGMLLuunnaa,, EMT; Acquired for Pakistani Armyin 2006

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTSS--110000CC,, Scheibel; VTOL UAV tested onPN Type 21 frigate in March 2008 in a four

hour missionRRQQ--77 SShhaaddooww 220000,, AAI; 12 UAVs in threesystems requested, confirmed in Jan 2010by Sec Def. Gates. Now in limbo withan estimated cost of $150m from thePakistan Counterinsurgency CapabilityFund budget‘‘UUQQAABB IIIIII’’,, ACES; presumed designationfor HALE/’Strategic’ version with radius ofoperation of over 300kmKK11,, AWC; Trial by Army in 1997

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Pakistan aviation firms involvedin UAV development include IntegratedDynamics Surveillance & Target UnmannedAircraft, East West Infiniti, Air WeaponsComplex National Development Complex(NDC) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.Tusas Aerospace Industries signed an MoUin May 2007 with local firm Air WeaponsComplex working on a MALE solution.

PHILIPPINES�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDPPrreeddaattoorr AA,, General Atomics; Two ofthe UAVs were reported to be registeredwith the Office of the National SecurityAdvisor HHuunntteerr RRQQ--55,, Northrop Grumman/IAI;Reported to be from the US Army and oper-ated by the Philippines Air Force.

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTBBlluuee HHoorriizzoonn,, UVision Air; Reportedlyobtained for trails and operational testingin 2001

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Some domestic work on TUAVsbut considerable access to US UAV ISR data.The $934m five year modernisation andsecurity plan did not include UAVs.

SINGAPORE�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDSSeeaarrcchheerr II,, IAI; Fielded with No. 119 andNo. 128 Sqns RSAF operates at least ten sys-temsHHeerrmmeess HH--445500,, Elbit Systems; No. 116 Sqnoperates the UAV with 12 platforms fieldedsince 2007SSkkyybbllaaddee IIIIII,, ST Aerospace; Planned to befielded late 2011, equipping size units atbattalion and brigade level developed bySingapore Armed Forces (SAF), the DSONational Laboratories, ST Aerospaceand the Defence Science and TechnologyAgencySSkkyybbllaaddee IIII,, ST Aerospace; delivered to SAFin mid 2005, 5kg range of 8kmSSkkyyllaarrkk,, Elbit Systems; Fielded by RSAFfrom 2006

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTBBlluuee HHoorriizzoonn,, Singapore TechnologiesDynamics, MALE ordered in 1998 acquiredin 1999SSccaann EEaaggllee,, Boeing/Insitu; Republic ofSingapore Navy successfully trialed theScan Eagle in March 2009, the trials involv-ing the successful operation of the ScanEagle from a RSN frigate and LSTSSTT SSkkyybbllaaddee IIVV,, ST Aerospace, 54nm range

The Falco is in service with Pakistani forcesoperating platforms manufactured in Italyand produced domestically by The PakistanAeronautical Complex © Selex Galileo

Schiebel Camcopter’s S-100 rotary wingdesign has been widely tested in the region fornaval applications including by Pakistan on aType 21 frigate in March 2008 in a four hourmission. It is shown here equipped with twoThales Lightweight Multi-role Missiles © AJB

UAV unveiled 2006GGlloobbaall HHaawwkk;; Northrop Grumman; ListedSingapore as a potential customer at ParisAirshow 2011, possibly to meet Singapore’srequirements dating from early 2000sFFaannTTaaiill,, ST Aerospace, VTOL SUAVMMAAVV--11,, ST Aerospace; Low-observabledevelopmental UAVRRQQ--88AA FFiirree SSccoouutt,, Northrop Grumman;Company believes it has interest from themilitary

�� NNOOTTEESS:: In May 2007, responsibility forUAV development, training and operationswere placed under the RSAF’s UAVCommand. Local company Stratech Systems& Aeronautics formed UAV focused StratechAeronautics at Singapore Airshow in 2010.

SRI LANKA�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDSSeeaarrcchheerr,, IAI; Mks II and III variants equipNo 111 Air Surveillance Squadron basedat Anuradhapura with one or two systemsin service

�� NNOOTTEESS:: No public plans for new UAVs.

TAIWAN�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDCChhuunngg SShhyyaanngg IIII,, CSIST; Initiated pro-gramme in 2002 unveiled in 2005““ZZhhoonnggxxiiaanngg IIIIII UUAAVV””,, CSIST; Prototypecrashed and found by fishermen in June2010, reported counter-radar role

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTAAII RRiiddeerr,, Gang Yu Corp; Indigenous six-rotor 1.5Kg design launched at Secutech, inTaipei in April used by Taiwan’s militaryand academic institutions for surveillanceand geographic surveyingKKeessttrreell IIII,, CSIST; Early development non-operationalCCaarrddiinnaall,, CSIST; Hand launched Mini-UAV,1.5 hour endurance military interest reportedBBlluuee MMaaggppiiee,, CSIST; Hand launched Mini-UAV, no military interest reportedAALL--44,, Aeroland UAV Inc; Hand launchedUAV ordered by non-Military customer inTaiwan‘‘GGrraayy--ffaacceedd BBuuzzzzaarrdd’’,, National Cheng KungUniversity; Fuel-cell/lithium battery pow-ered 22kg UAV first flew in 2010SSppoooonnbbiillll,, National Cheng Kung University;

Flew 92km in 52 minutes over water in 2009

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Air Force reported to be interestedin a HALE UAV but not Global Hawk in 2010.

THAILAND�� FFIIEELLDDEEDDCCyybbeerr EEyyee,, Sapura; Three systems acquiredfrom Malaysia in 2009AAeerroossttaarr;; Aeronautics Defence Systemsdesign; One system, ordered in early 2011RRaavveenn,, AeroVironment; Successive con-tracts since 2008SSeeaarrcchheerr II&&IIII,, IAI; One system comprisingfour UAVs, GCS and RVT, since retired

�� TTRRIIAALLSS AANNDD DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTFFiirreessccoouutt RRQQ--88,, Northrop Grumman;Company believes there is interest

�� NNOOTTEESS:: Thai Air Force is leading effortson UAV strategy with plans outlined in2009 to equip a squadron and calling for athree systems with 15km, 30km and 100kmranges aimed at acquiring capability andbuilding a domestic research and produc-tion base. Burma denounced unidentifiedUAV flights on Thai-Burma border inJanuary 2011.

ST Aero’s Skyblade III is planned to be fieldedlate 2011, equipping units at the battalion andbrigade level © AJB


AUSTRALIAAustralia orders Thales trainersThe Australian government has signed a con-tract with Thales Australia for the delivery ofnine vehicle training simulators for theAustralian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV).

The simulators will be used to trainAustralian Army crews operating theASLAV across a range of environments torefine procedures before they deploy onoperations, helping to mitigate risk and keepcrew training costs as low as possible.

The use of heavy vehicle simulators alsoensures crews are fully prepared beforedeployment for the full range of high-risk sit-uations they may encounter. The use of realis-tic synthetic environments that recreate allkinds of road andmission conditions deliver acomplete sensory experience; during trainingthe driving actions are linked electronically tothe visual images and vehicle instruments andthe interactivity is real-time, with simulatedbraking and acceleration movement, includ-ing cornering motion, all with relevant syn-

thesized sound effects, such as engine andgear-change noise and airbrake hiss.

The nine simulators will bring the totalnumber ordered by the Australian DefenceForce (ADF) to 18. Following assembly atThales Australia’s Rydalmere facilities, deliv-ery is expected to take place throughout 2013.

New Super Hornets deliveredto RAAFThree new F/A-18F Super Hornets havebeen delivered to the Royal Australian AirForce (RAAF) base Amberley in Queensland,bringing the total number of Super Hornetsdelivered to eighteen aircraft.

The F/A-18F Super Hornets are beingacquired by the Australian government tofulfil an advanced strike capability role in theRAAF, and fill an air combat capability gapbetween the retirement of the F-111 fleet inlate 2010 and the introduction of the JointStrike Fighter later in the decade.

The Australian government announced inMarch 2007 that it would acquire 24 of theadvanced Block II versions of the Super

Hornet, all of which are equipped with theRaytheon-built APG-79 Active ElectronicallyScanned Array (AESA) radar.

Fifteen aircraft have already become oper-ational in the RAAF after their induction toservice in December last year. The SuperHornet will give the RAAF the capability toprovide air-to-air combat, land and seastrike, as well as reconnaissance and enemyair defence suppression. With a suite of fullyintegrated and networked systems the air-craft provides enhanced interoperability,total force support for the combatant com-mander and for the troops on the ground.

Boeing has developed the 5th generationfighter to be capable of virtually every mis-sion in the tactical spectrum, includingday/night strike with precision guidedweapons, anti-air warfare, fighter escort,close air support, maritime strike, and for-ward air control among other capabilities;and has eleven weapon stations that supporta full complement of smart weapons includ-ing laser-guided bombs, and a full spectrumof air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance.

Twelve of the RAAF Super Hornets havealso been pre-wired for potential electronicattack capability conversion during produc-tion to ensure that electronic attack optionscan be pursued if the decision is taken to doso. This will reduce the cost of upgrading toelectronic attack capability as opposed to theexpensive retrofit route at a later date.

Deliveries of the aircraft are due for com-pletion by the end of 2011.

BAE Continues RAAFHawk supportThe Australian government has extended thecontract of BAE Systems Australia for theprovision of support to the Royal AustralianAir Force’s (RAAF’s) Lead-In-Fighter Hawkaircraft at RAAF Base Williamtown in NSWand Base Pearce in Western Australia.

BAE Systems Australia has been support-ing the RAAF’s Hawk aircraft since theycame into service in 2000, in a training capac-ity for the RAAF’s future Hornet and JointStrike Fighter pilots. The contract extension isworth A$150 million.

The new contract extension will see BAESystems Australia continue their support forthe next two years. The contract includesmaintenance, engineering and logistic sup-port services to the Lead-In-Fighter Hawkaircraft, two training simulators as well as acomputer-based instruction system.


Australia has operated theBAE Systems Hawk aircraftsince 2000 with the RAAFrecently extending its sup-port contract with thecompany for a further twoyears in a A$150 milliondeal © BAE Systems

Asia-PacificProcurement Update

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



According to the Minister for DefenceMateriel, Jason Clare, by working together,BAE Systems Australia and the AustralianDefence Force (ADF) have delivered savingsin excess of ten percent over the two yearextension period through the StrategicReform Program, by revising maintenancestrategy and improving the overhaul aircraftprogramme.

Australia operates 33 Lead-In-FighterHawk Mk 127 aircraft from BasesWilliamtown and Pearce. The aircraft pro-vides support and advanced fast jet trainingand prepares aircrew for operational conver-sion to the F/A-18 Hornet fighter. The HawkLead-In Fighter is the latest variant of thehighly successful Hawk family, and theRAAF aircraft have been specifically adaptedto deliver advanced flying and weapons sys-tems training and support roles for the ADF.

ADF extends MDA UAV contractThe Australian Defence Force (ADF) hassigned a extension contract with MacDonald,Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) for the pro-vision of its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)services in Afghanistan.

MDA has been supporting Australian forcesin Afghanistan as part of the NATO-ledInternational Security Assistance Force since2010 when the initial one year contract wassigned. The new deal will see MDA provide theHeron UAV service for the third year running.

The Heron medium altitude longendurance (MALE) UAV forms a centralaspect of the Australian Army’s intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance capabilitiesin Afghanistan, with operations taking placefrom the Kandahar Airfield. The UAV mis-sions provide crucially important data direct-ly to ground commanders in real time,increasing battlefield situational awarenessand shortening decision making cycles.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)utilises a number of modular radar, sensor andelectronic packages on the Heron, includingthe Sentient Kestrel Moving Target Indicator(MTI) software, that enables changes withinareas of interest to be automatically detectedwithout the need for operator input, reducingthe chance of human error from fatigue anddistraction as well as when the changes are toosmall to be seen by the human eye.

The latest MDA contract extension will seethe provision of ADF Herons in Afghanistanthrough to the end of December 2012.

INDIA India’s Mirage2000 fleetto be upgradedThe Indian Air Force’s(IAF’s) Mirage 2000fleet is to get a $2.4 billion upgrade following the signingof a contract byFrench companies;Thales and DassaultAviation.

The upgrade willintegrate a number oflatest generationequipment and sys-tems in order to enhance the technical-operational capabilities of the fleet. It willbring a significant step up in capabilitiesto the Mirage 2000 fleet.

The contract marks 50 years of coopera-tion between India and French militaryaviation, and consolidates a further periodof long-term strategic partnership betweenthe two countries.

The IAF has operated the DassaultMirage 2000 since the 1980s when itacquired the fighter from Dassault, andhas since purchased an additional batch ofMirage 2000H aircraft with improvedavionics and upgraded RDM 7 radar.

The Thales-Dassault upgrade is expect-ed to bring the IAF Mirage 2000 fleet up tothe Dassault 2000-5 Mk2 standard, includ-ing increased fuel capacity and fire power.Advanced operational capabilities in theupgrade include high-altitude intercep-tion, and additional external load configu-ration with air-to-air missiles fitted on theside fuselage hardpoints.

When complete the aircraft will fulfilan advanced multi-role requirement forthe IAF, and the fleet will be an importantenhancement to the country’s self-defencecapabilities.

India to modernise Airfieldswith help from NorthropGrummanIndia has awarded contracts to NorthropGrumman’s Europe-based air traffic man-agement subsidiary, Northrop GrummanPark Air Systems, under the Modernisationof Air Field Infrastructure (MAFI) Indiaproject. The project will see air fields operat-ed by the Indian Armed Forces modernisedand upgraded to ensure they are capable ofhandling all types of aircraft operated by the

Indian Air Force (IAF) at all times.The IAF’s modernisation programme

has seen a number of new advanced air-craft acquired and developed, includingfighter jet and military transport aircraftthat require modern air traffic manage-ment, navigation and landing systems aswell as meteorological and communica-tions facilities at air fields.

Under the new contract, issued by theTata Power Company Limited, StrategicElectronics Division (Tata Power SED) aspart of phase one of the MAFI project,Northrop Grumman will provide naviga-tional equipment, including 30 NOR-MARC 7000 Instrument Landing Systems(ILS) and 31 NORMARC Doppler VHFOmni-directional Range (DVOR) systems.

Northrop Grumman’s NORMARC ILScomprises Localiser, Glidepath andMarker Beacon systems, Far Field Monitorsystems and portable Field Test Sets.NORMARC 7000 ILS systems are availablein a wide range of configurations, all meet-ing the most stringent ICAO Level 4requirements and designed to be cost-effective, easy to install and operate, anddependable. NOMARC DVOR is a state-of-the-art flight safety product featuringcolour touch panel for local control andextensive built-in test equipment technolo-gy for fault isolation. The equipment alsoutilises the latest digital design forincreased stability and accuracy of opera-tions and performs to the highest stan-dards under automatic continuous moni-tor integrity testing.

Further options exist in the contract foranother 30 Indian Armed Force airfieldsthat also require modernisation. Deliveriesby Northrop Grumman are due for com-pletion in 42 months.

The $2.4 billion upgrade will see aircraft equivalent to the DassaultMirage 2000-5 Mk2 standard operate over India, similar to theUAE Mirage 2000-9 shown here © DoD



BANGLADESH Bangladesh Navy purchasesDo 228NG aircraftThe Bangladesh Navy has acquired twomodern Do 228 New Generation (Do228NG) turboprop aircraft from RUAGAviation. The aircraft will be used in a maritime patrol capacity, and the purchaseis the first fixed wing aircraft forthe Bangladesh Navy to be used forthis purpose.

The Do 228NGs are both equipped withspecial equipment for maritime air patrol

operations including radio and navigationaid and other selected systems and rescueequipment.

RUAG Aviation has seen success withthe Do 228NG due to its flexibility and cost-effectiveness compared to other aircraft inits class. The aircraft combines advancedtechnology and versatility with long-ragemission and high payload capabilities.

As a maritime patrol aircraft the Do228NG has a wide manoeuvring speed of67 to 234 knots, and the high wing modelallows unobstructed views to the ground.Advanced systems include four HD dis-

plays on all new glass cockpits, and a flightmanagement system with 200 missionsstored. Sensor information can be dis-played in the cockpit on each of the multifunction displays, and all aircraft data isdigital enabling the use of data buses tolink sensors with the aircraft systems.

The contract with RUAG Aviation alsoincludes pilot and aircraft maintenancetraining for the Navy’s ground crew on loca-tion. Delivery of both aircraft is scheduledfor summer 2013 following final assemblyand integration of customer-specific equip-ment in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

PAKISTANPakistan to receiveL-3 Communications ATSThe Pakistan Air Force is to receive an aircrewtraining system (ATS) from L-3 Communi -cations, Link Simulation and Training tosupport air force pilot training. The acquisitionis taking place under a contract betweenPakistan and the US government as a firm-fixed-price contract worth $20,563,657.

The ATS consists of two F-16 Block 52aircrew training devices, and a missionsupport system with 18 panel ‘SimuSphere’,which gives pilots a high-definition 300°horizontal x 130° vertical field-of-view visualdisplay for both out-the-window and cockpitsensor display imagery that immerses pilots ina virtual training environment equivalent toreal-world flying missions.

The ATS also includes a new F-16A Block15/52 ATS and F-16C Block 52 ATS; commonATS Block 15 and Block 52 software load; highfidelity cockpit; 360 horizontal X250; versionMMC 7000 hardware and software; geo-specificdatabase with high resolution inputs; full APG-68 version nine radar with digital radar landmass simulation; full weapons simulation;Maverick missile; targeting pod; joint helmetmounted cueing system; threat environment A-G and spot jamming; emergency proceduresand malfunctions; and an instructor-operatorstation. Also included in the package is a totalof 21 months contractor logistics support.

The purchase by Pakistan forms part of alarger programme to upgrade the F-16s thatcurrently fulfil a fighter aircraft role for thePakistan Air Force. Under the programme newF-16 block 50/52s are being acquired andweapon and engine upgrades and modificationsare being carried out on the existing fleet. Theprogramme is being undertaken via the ForeignMilitary Sales route with the US.

SOUTH KOREA Cassidian MILDS for KoreanSurion helicoptersCassidian is to supply the Republic ofKorea Army’s (ROKA’s) Surion utilityhelicopters with their Missile LaunchDetection System (MILDS) under a multi-million Euro deal between EADS and theKorean Aircraft Industries (KAI).

The Surion helicopter, jointly developedby KAI and Eurocopter will be equippedwith the MILDS system, with the first batchof 24 systems to be delivered by 2013.Cassidian has already been involved in thedevelopment of the helicopter’s electronicwarfare systems and delivered 36 of thesensors in the early development phase ofthe programme. One hundred sensors willbe delivered in total.

MILDS is a passive imaging sensorthat works by detecting the UV radiationsignature of approaching missiles. It is thestandard missile warning system in usewith helicopters and wide-body aircraft,with over 7,000 systems in service world-wide on aircraft ranging from Tiger,NH90, CH-53, CH-47, MI-17 to theLockheed Martin C-130. A specific fighterversion – MILDS F – is in service with theRoyal Danish Air Force and RoyalNorwegian Air Force F-16 fighters.

Rapid processing and the extremelyhigh resolution of MILDS enables veryreliable threat identification with a verylow false alarm rate. Optimised coverageand rapid reaction are provided with theuse of 4 to 5 sensors.

Around 250 Surion helicopters arebeing procured for the ROKA. The heli-copter was developed in order to replacethe existing utility helicopters in serviceincluding the UH-1H and MD500. Theywill carry out a troop assault, tactical lift,medical evacuation and search and rescue

missions within the ROKA. The firstdeliveries are expected in 2013, and theaircraft is also being marketed for theexport market as an alternative to theAW149 and UH-60M.

South Korea’s first E-737arrives in countryThe Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF)has taken delivery of its first E-737 AirborneEarly Warning and Control (AEW&C) air-craft at the ROKAF base in Gimhae.

Delivered by Boeing, the E-737 is basedon the Boeing 737 aircraft, a state-of-the-artsystem providing airborne surveillance,control and battle management. The aircraftfeatures a multi-role electronically scannedarray (MESA) radar system that can trackairborne and maritime targets simultane-ously, an integrated identification friend orfoe (IFF) function that shares the primaryradar arrays to reduce weight, improve reli-ability, and simplify target correlation; andan advanced open-system architecture withstandards-based design for cost-effectiveintegration and add-on flexibility.

Boeing has supplied the E-737 as part ofa package that will see a further three 737aircraft that will be modified by KoreaAerospace Industries (KAI) in Korea; aswell as ground support segments for mis-sion crew training, mission support andsystem maintenance. During the acquisi-tion and initial support phases Boeing willprovide support, as well as initial trainingof the ROKAF and KAI personnel whowill then take over in-service product sup-port activities. Boeing’s role in the pro-gramme will end in 2013.

Boeing Defence Australia has beensubcontracted by Boeing to design the E-737 support facility in Busan Korea wherethe ground support segments for the air-craft will be installed. The facility will beconstructed by the ROKAF.



TAIWANSikorsky to build Black Hawksfor TaiwanSikorsky Aircraft Corp has been awarded acontract by the US government to supplyfour ‘green’ Black Hawk UH-60 helicoptersand equipment for Taiwan. The contractwill help fulfil a Foreign Military Sales(FMS) agreement between the US andTaiwanese governments.

The US government is to provide 60Black Hawk UH-60 aircraft in total toTaiwan under the FMS announced inJanuary 2010 at a total estimated cost of US$3.1 billion. Also requested by Taiwan aspart of the package are 120 T-700-GE-701Dengines, 18 spare T-700-GE-701D engines,69 AN/APR-39A(V)2 Radar WarningReceivers, 69 AN/ALQ-144A(V)1 InfraredCountermeasure Sets, 69 AN/AAR-57Common Missile Warning Systems, 69AN/AVR-2B Laser Detecting Sets, 120GAU-19/A .50 cal Machine Gun Systems;310 AN/AVS-9 Aviator Night VisionGoggles; as well as communication anddata link systems, ammunition, spareparts, personnel training and equipment,contractor engineering and technicalsupport services.

Taiwan requested the FMS as part oftheir continuing efforts to modernise theirarmed forces, and in particular to enhancethe defensive capabilities in the face ofincreasing military unrest in the Asia-Pacific region caused by China’s ongoingmilitary build-up. The Black Hawk aircraft

will fulfil a personnel transport, cargo liftand aero-medical evacuation role, as wellas providing aerial defence of vitalinstallations and close air support forground troops.

Sikorsky was the only bidder in thecontract issued by the US ArmyContracting Command, which is worthUS$48,607,275 in total. The work isexpected to be completed by May 30, 2013.

THAILAND Thailand requests UH-60MBlack HawksThailand has requested the purchase of threeUH-60M Black Hawk Helicopters from theUS government as part of a potential ForeignMilitary Sale worth $235 million.

The Defense Security CooperationAgency (DSCA) notified US Congress of the

request that will also include associatedequipment, parts, training and logistical sup-port if it goes ahead. In full the package willinclude the three UH-60M helicopter aircraft,eight T700-GE-701D Engines (six installedand two spares), Dual MXF-4027VHF/UHF-AM/FM communication radios,AN/ARC-201E Export SINCGARS AirborneRadio, AN/AXP-117 CXP (Common DigitalIFF Transponder), government furnished

equipment, engineering change proposals,spare and repair parts, support equipment,publications and technical documentation,Aviation Mission Planning Station,Transportable Blackhawk OperationsSimulator (TBOS), US Government and con-tractor technical and logistics support servic-es, aircraft warranty, Air Worthiness ReleaseSupport, Repair and Return Support, andother related elements of logistics support.

The Royal Thai Army already operates theUH-60L, and the additional UH-60M unitswill bring an updated multi-role capability tothe fleet. The UH-60M is the latest version ofthe Black Hawk helicopter family, providingadditional payload and range, advanced dig-ital avionics, improved handling qualitiesand situational awareness, active vibrationcontrol, and improved survivability com-pared with the predecessor UH-60L model.

As well as updating the Royal ThaiArmy’s capability the potential sale willenable greater interoperability with theUS and other allies. The prime contractoron the deal will be the Sikorsky AircraftCompany and the General ElectricAircraft Company.

Taiwan’s new UH-60 Black Hawks will arriveby May 2013 © DoD

The bill for Thailand’s threeUH-60M Black Hawks is put at$235 million © DoD

asian military review - sept/oct 2011 issue

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