Defence`s Feeds

The Japanese government announced on 25 October that the deployment of Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) personnel to a United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan will be extended by five months. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the deployment, which was due to

To ensure they follow operational protocol, members of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) will be required to use helmet-mounted cameras when they deploy on missions, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on 22 October. Japanese troops are expected to be despatched as United Nations

Lithuania has agreed to buy the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from Norway, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced on 21 October. In total Lithuania is looking to purchase two batteries of the air-defence system for around EUR100 million (USD109

Americas

• In preparation for an imminent flight of the first production model of the Scorpion light attack plane, manufacturer Textron AirLand has accelerated research & development spending on the program. The move comes as the consortium, a self-funded effort between companies Textron and AirLand Enterprises, looks to demonstrate the jet’s capabilities as customer engagement increases. While the Scorpion had been floated as a potential candidate for the USAF’s T-X trainer competition, it remains to be formally offered due to the service’s changing requirements. They will instead focus on marketing the jet as a low-cost light attack and surveillance aircraft.

• Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls is thinking to diversify their portfolio by looking to purchase government services contractor Camber Corp. for $400 million. With larger contractors such as Lockheed Martin exiting or shrinking their services business, Huntington see an opportunity to invest in a potential growth engine. Company CEO Mike Peters alluded to such a move saying on the company’s August 4 earnings call that he wanted to “grow our services business in support of the Navy and the Department of Energy.”

• Following the butting of horns over who runs the show, Raytheon and Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s joint effort as part of the USAF T-X trainer competition is back on track. Both companies came together in February this year to offer the Italian firm’s T-100 jet trainer; however, Raytheon’s role as prime contractor has riled Leonardo since they designed and built the aircraft and had already sold the M-346, on which the T-100 is based, to Italy, Israel, Poland and Singapore. Other bones of contention include work share roles and assembly as well as the possibility by Raytheon to export the aircraft as an “American” plane to governments who prefer doing business through the US Foreign Military Sales program.

Middle East & North Africa

• A team of 40 UK military personnel will travel to Tunisia to provide training on Operational Planning, Intelligence and Surveillance and mobile patrolling. The Short Term Training Team is the third tranche of training delivered as part of the UK’s commitment to improving security in the region, following the previous installments in February, and before that in late 2015. Including both theoretical and practical exercises, the training will help Tunisian forces better defend their borders, especially with Libya, from threats by jihadist militants.

Europe

• Leonardo-Finmeccanica unveiled their Centauro II armored vehicle during an event at the Cecchignola Army range near Rome. Sporting a 120mm gun, the latest electro-optics and communication systems, the light tank was put through its paces in front of a crowd that included Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff Lt. Gen. Danilo Errico and Leonardo CEO Mauro Moretti. At present, Italian lawmakers are debating approval for a $582 million order for a first tranche of 11 pre-series Centauro II tanks and 39 production vehicles, along with 10 years of logistics service. The Italian Army hopes to acquire 150 units to operate alongside the new Freccia armored troop carrier.

• A French light reconnaissance aircraft crashed in Malta on Monday killing all five passengers on board. The incident occurred shortly after takeoff where the crew had been taking part in a five month-long customs operation, tracking human trafficking and drug smuggling in the Mediterranean. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed that three of the victims were ministry staff while the other two were contractors.

Asia Pacific

• For the first time since WW2, UK and Japanese fighters will duke it out in aerial combat drills at Japan’s northern Misawa Air Base. Four RAF Eurofighter Typhoons and a C-17 support plane touched down on Saturday and will face off against and fly with Japanese F-15s and domestically built Mitsubishi F-2s in an exercise dubbed Guardian North 16. The exercise is also being seen as an opportunity by Tokyo to see the Typhoon in action as it ponders the replacement of the F-2 and the choice of using a cheaper non-stealth superiority fighter based on an existing design or a much more expensive program to develop their own indigenous stealth fighter.

• Malaysia has announced a number of upgrades to both Navy frigates and their fleet of antiquated S-61 helicopters. Danish electronics firm Terma A/S will install their SCANTER 6000 radar systems on two Lekiu-class vessels as part of a mid-life modernization and service life extension program. The X-band 2D solid-state radar has been specifically designed as an affordable all-weather sensor solution to plug the gap between standard marine navigation radars and more expensive military surveillance radar systems. Meanwhile, Heli-One and Malaysian firm Airod will fit new displays, a new mission computer, and a new search radar on their 30 S-61 helicopters following the scaling back on orders of the Airbus Helicopters EC725s.

Today’s Video

RAF Eurofighters touch down in Japan:

The US Navy has commissioned its newest Freedom-class variant, the USS Detroit littoral combat ship (LCS 7), in Michigan.

The US Marine Corps' (USMC) CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter has successfully completed its initial operational testing at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center (DFC) in West Palm Beach, Florida, US.

The EU should tackle deteriorating security in and around Europe by helping its armed forces to work together better, as a first step in building a common defence policy, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in two resolutions voted on Monday. Ideas include establishing an EU operational headquarters to plan, command and manage crisis management operations, setting a defence spending target of 2% of GDP and launching Common Defence and Security Policy training operation in Iraq.
Subcommittee on Security and Defence
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Since 1980, Bisalloy Steels has proudly been Australia's only manufacturer of quenched and tempered steel plate used for armour, structural and wear-resistant steel applications and has established an outstanding international reputation for quality …

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and France's Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) have launched the next phase of their £117m joint maritime mine countermeasures (MMCM) programme.

DCNS and Airbus Helicopters have partnered to design a new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the French Navy.

A consortium consisting of Navantia and Indra has been contracted by Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL to jointly upgrade the Indonesian Navy's Fatahillah-class KRI-362 Malahayati corvette.

Poverty and socio-economic inequalities are inextricably linked with crime and conflict in Colombia. Unless they are addressed the current peace process will be unsuccessful and crime and insecurity will continue to afflict Colombia and its people, particularly the more vulnerable and marginalized.    Editor’s Note: This blog article features forthcoming research to be published in

M109 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

Americas

• A Grumman F9F-8 Cougar on the flight deck of USS Lexington Museum has been painted pink for the month October. The new paint job is in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. However, the retired Navy fighter won’t stay pink forever, as a special procedure — applying liquid dishwashing soap to the latex paint — keeps the pretty paint job from becoming permanent.

• $8.25 billion has been given as the price of the life-extension program for the B61-12 atomic bomb by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The new cost estimate was completed over the summer as the agency prepared to enter the production-engineering phase of the program. The baseline cost of the program is $7.605 billion, with an additional $648 million in “funds leveraged from other NNSA programs for technology and manufacturing readiness,” according to an agency statement – money that has common applications across multiple weapon systems.

Middle East & North Africa

• Claims have been made by the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) that Iran may have been involved in a rocket attack on the USS Mason. Gen. Joseph Votel made the allegations saying “I do think that Iran is playing a role in some of this. They have a relationship with the Houthis, so I do suspect there is a role in that.” Recent missile launches on US vessels have come from territory held by Houthi militants in Yemen. A US-supported coalition led by Saudi Arabia is currently conducting a military campaign against the Houthis.

Europe

• Anti-corruption agents will investigate the recently scrapped military helicopter deal between Poland and Airbus. Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz made the announcement while also criticizing Airbus for misleading the public on the amount of jobs that would have been created by the deal to buy 50 multi-purpose H225M Caracel helicopters. While Macierewicz failed to mention which particular aspect of the deal would come under the scrutiny of the anti-corruption team, he accused some opposition lawmakers of acting against the state in favoring an international corporation.

• Norwegian F-35s grounded last month for repairs will be back in the air by November, sooner than expected. 15 F-35A Lightning II aircraft had been grounded in September due to peeling and crumbling insulation in avionics cooling lines inside the fuel tanks. The Norwegian Defense Ministry said the insulation is now being removed and extra filters installed to intercept any potential remains, although it has not yet been decided whether this fix should be regarded as temporary or permanent.

• An IHS Markit report has revealed a planned tripling in defense spending by the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania amid fears of a Russian Crimea-style annexation of their territory. According to the report, it is expected that combined defense spending will reach $670 million by 2018 and $2.1 billion by 2020, more than double that when the countries entered NATO in 2004, and the fastest such growth in any region worldwide. After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Latvia and Lithuania agreed to raise military spending to reach NATO’s informal target of 2 percent of GDP by 2018, something that Estonia has already achieved.

Asia Pacific

• Rumors that talks are underway between Russia and Pakistan over the Su-35 fighter have been dismissed. Anatoly Punchuk, the deputy director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), said no such negotiations are being held despite earlier reports that Islamabad is keen to switch to Russian fighters by buying the Su-35. Other Russian-made items wanted by Pakistan include tanks and air-defense systems.

• A ground-breaking defense deal between Japan and India is back in motion after Japan agreed to a clear price concession for 12 US-2 amphibious aircraft for the Indian Navy. A ten percent drop in unit pricing from $133 million to $113 million has finally allowed the deal to move forward after a two year delay. The deal, the first of its kind between the two countries, shows a growing cooperation between New Delhi and Tokyo as part of India’s Look East Policy meant to counter China’s influence in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean regions.

Today’s Video

Harrier GR3 XZ130 For Sale:

UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced that the first of the UK Royal Navy’s new nuclear deterrent submarines is to be named Dreadnought.

Raytheon has received a $255m contract from the US Navy for the development and production readiness of its next-generation joint precision approach and landing system (JPALS).

US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded a $203.71m prime contract to ERAPSCO, a joint venture of Sparton Corporation and Ultra Electronics USSI, for the manufacture of sonobuoys.

Vector Hawk small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) was successfully launched by a Marlin MK2 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for the first time in September.

EDA National Armaments Directors (NADs) met on 19 October at the European Defence Agency for their biannual Steering Board meeting under the chairmanship of Czech Deputy Minister of Defence, Daniel Kostoval.

EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq updated NADs on progress made in key defence-related dossiers, including the EU Global Strategy Implementation Plan on European Security and Defence, the Policy Framework for Systematic and Long-Term Defence Cooperation, the Pilot Project on defence research, the Preparatory Action on CSDP-related research as well as the EDA strategic review process.

Lead nations also briefed participants on the status of the four key capability programmes: Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR), cyber defence, GovSatCom, and RPAS.

NADs then discussed a wide variety of topics, including industry involvement in defence cooperation, the Collaborative Database (CODABA), the ongoing work on the setting up of a Cooperative Financial Mechanism, energy and environmental implications for the defence sector and EDA-Nato cooperation.  

US officials appear less certain that missiles were launched at the destroyer USS Mason as it sailed in international waters off Yemen on 15 October than they were after two similar incidents prompted retaliation against Yemeni coastal radar sites. The incident was first revealed by Admiral John