Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From DefenseNews Kyrgyzstan Moves To Shut Key U.S. Base By TOLKUN NAMATBAYEVA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 4 Feb 07:40 EST (12:40 GMT) BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan's government on Feb. 4 approved the closure of a U.S. airbase on its territory used as a vital supply route for Western military operations in Afghanistan. The decision by the Central Asian state came as a snub to the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, who has singled out Afghanistan as the main front in U.S. military operations overseas and plans to deploy 30,000 more troops there over the next 18 months. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the closure a day earlier in Moscow…

China’s Big Three Near Completion (AMTI) ... with imagery.

From DefenseNews Posted 08/14/07 20:17 U.S. Sees Looming China Threat to Satellites By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE China may be just three years away from being able to disrupt U.S. military satellites in a regional conflict, a senior U.S. military leader said Aug. 14, citing a recent antisatellite test and other advances. The warning came amid calls at a conference in Alabama for intensified efforts to ensure U.S. “space superiority” in the wake of China’s shootdown Jan. 11 of one of its own satellites with a ballistic missile. “It is not inconceivable that within about three years we can be challenged at a near peer level in a region,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell,…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Navy Reacts To Missile Threats Posted by Bill Sweetman at 8/14/2008 7:00 AM CDT Tests this summer of Raytheon Standard Missile 2 weapons from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie were intended to demonstrate technology for a quick-reaction defense against ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. In the dry terminology of missile defense, this may not sound critical, but it indicates that the Navy is very worried about a new threat: the anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). Indications are that China, in particular, is developing an ASBM - an intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a guided warhead. The weapon outranges any…

DefenseNews Taiwan Successfully Test Fires First Cruise Missile By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TAIPEI, TAIWAN Taiwan has successfully test fired its first cruise missile, which would allow the island to hit major military targets in southeast China, a newspaper here reported June 5. The Hsiung Feng cruise missile, developed by the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, has a range of 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) and could be used to attack military bases in southeast China, the China Times said. “Once deployed, it would mark the first time that Taiwan is able to put ‘strategic weapons’ into use. Its political and military impact would be fa…

From DefenseNews Posted 07/04/07 11:12 Indonesian Minister Says Singapore Trying To Scuttle Defense Pact By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS, JAKARTA Indonesia’s defense minister has accused Singapore of trying to scuttle a bilateral defense pact so it will not have to sign an extradition treaty as part of the deal, reports said Wednesday. The defense pact and landmark extradition treaty were signed in April between the two nations, but still need to be ratified by their parliaments to be put into effect. A scheduled signing of three implementing agreements (IAs), detailing specific areas of cooperation, was delayed at the last minute because Indonesia requested changes, S…

From American Enterprise Institute China's Defense White Paper What It Does (and Doesn't) Tell Us By Dan Blumenthal, Christopher Griffin Posted: Thursday, January 25, 2007 China Brief (vol. 7, no. 2) Publication Date: January 24, 2007 Credit should be given where it is due, and if one reads between the lines, the four Chinese defense white papers released every even year since 2000 have provided clearer insight into Beijing’s strategic aims and defense planning than ever intimated by Zhongnanhai through the 1990s. While the China’s National Defense in 2006 white paper should be primarily read as a piece of propaganda--part of China’s public campaign to assur…

Taiwan To Mass Produce Supersonic Anti-Ship Missiles By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TAIPEI Originally posted to DefenceNews Taiwan plans to mass produce supersonic anti-ship missiles to beef up the island’s defense capabilities against China following successful test firings of the weaponry, a report said April 11. The defense ministry next year would set aside a budget for mass production of the Hsiung Feng III missile, which is expected to make its debut during the 2006 “Han Kuang 22” exercise, the Chinese-language China Times said. Given its speed and capability of flying at low altitude, the missile would be difficult to intercept, it said. The Hs…

The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan (CSIS, 9 January)

Upgrades toughen 'floating targets' Gregor Ferguson The Australian May 21, 2005 THE Navy's Anzac class frigates, famously dismissed as "floating targets" by former defence science and personnel minister Bronwyn Bishop, are being toughened up. Under a swag of overlapping upgrade projects worth over $600 million, the eight Anzacs are being re-armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, new Evolved Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles, and new anti-submarine torpedoes and sonars. Defence has pioneered a new business model for these upgrades. It has created an Anzac Alliance with the ships' builders, Tenix Defence, and the designer of their combat sy…

What Next for North Korea’s ICBM? (38 North)

CV32: Or, is it that Okinawa is needed to defend Taiwan? From DefenseNews U.S. Says Okinawa Base Needed To Defend Japan By SHAUN TANDON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 17 Mar 2010 21:37 WASHINGTON - The United States said March 17 that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan. Senior U.S. officials told Congress that while they respected the decisions of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's six-month-old government, they hoped to go ahead with a plan to move the Futenma air base within Okinawa. Michael Schiffer, a senior Pentagon official, told a…

Diesel-electric subs can pressurize China: official (updated AM 00:15) 2005/3/25 The China Post staff In a bid to drum up further support for a controversial billion dollar U.S. arms deal, a defense ministry official yesterday said eight diesel-electric submarines in the U.S. weapons package would be able to attack crucial Chinese supply lines if a war broke out. The official's comments came as the Legislature prepares to deliberate a special NT$480 billion budget for purchasing the diesel electric submarines along with anti-submarine aircraft and patriot anti-missile systems from America. U.S. officials say the purchase is vital for Taiwan's friendship with…

From DefenseNews Posted 11/24/06 13:25 Pakistan, China Agree To Jointly Develop AWACS By REUTERS, ISLAMABAD Pakistan and China on Nov. 24 signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term collaboration in defense production including development of an airborne early warning surveillance system. The announcement came during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Pakistan. China has been the main supplier of military hardware to Pakistan for decades. A statement from Pakistan’s air force said the two countries agreed on collaboration and co-development of aircraft manufacturing and related fields. Pakistan, concerned over rival India’s growing defense c…

From Jane's Indian BMD shield could be in service by 2011 By Rahul Bedi 17 March 2009 A third successful test-firing of India's new ballistic missile defence (BMD) system in early March has given Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials the confidence to claim that the system will offer an initial operating capability by 2011. They told Jane's that the BMD system would be declared operational after six more test-firings, including an integrated trial in which two interceptors will be launched at an incoming ballistic missile: one to destroy it at an altitude of 40 km and the other to annihilate falling debris at a height of 15 km. Integ…

From DefenseNews Australia May Sue After Grounding U.S. Helicopters By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SYDNEY The Australian navy has grounded a one-billion dollar ($750 million U.S.) fleet of U.S.-built helicopters over safety concerns and may sue the contractors, the defense minister said May 15. The navy ordered 11 of the anti-submarine and anti-ship Super Seasprite helicopters but none of the 10 delivered since 2001 have been in full operational service due to technical problems. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said he had banned the Seasprites from flying and that the government was considering scrapping the fleet altogether. ”I have asked the department of defense…

From Jane's North Korea - going ballistic again? 04 July 07 Several recent reports emanating from East Asia have suggested that North Korea is preparing for a ballistic missile test exercise. These reports further speculate that the upcoming test may occur on 4 July, the anniversary of its wide-ranging July 2006 missile test. However, these reports have not been confirmed by sources within Japan, South Korea or the US. The most significant ballistic missile development since the 1998 launch of the Paektusan space launch vehicle has been the July 2006 test. On 5 July (4 July and Independence Day in the US), North Korea conducted its largest and most comprehens…

Researching data for Harpoon, I've finded Vikrant preserved as museum in Mumbai, in this interesting site, Warbirdsofindia.com : http://www.warbirdsofindia.com/maharashtra/ins-vikrant.html But not without problems of continuity, I see ... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mu...how/5798936.cms

From Aviation Week Indian Navy Pursues Fixed-Wing Carrier AEW Jun 16, 2010 By Asia-Pacific Staff New Delhi The Indian navy is trying to move ahead with an effort to buy four carrier-based fixed airborne early warning and control aircraft, and a request for information is now on the streets. The request for information (RFI) calls for aircraft capable of providing “airborne surveillance, detection and tracking of airborne and surface contacts and control.” The navy presently operates a fleet of nine Kamov Ka-31 airborne early warning (AEW) helicopters. The comparatively limited range and time-on-station of an AEW helicopter, however, continues to drive t…

From DefenseNews Germany Stands Firm on Lifting China Arms Embargo By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BERLIN German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview released March 30 that he has no plans to drop his support for the lifting of a European Union arms embargo on China. “I have no intention of changing” my position, he said, as quoted in Die Zeit weekly. Schroeder’s ruling Social Democrats and their junior coalition partners, the Greens, disagree over whether the ban should be lifted on China, which is one of Germany’s major trading partners. Most of parliament opposes his stance and the conservative opposition has also urged him to change tack. …