Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Employing Land-Based Anti-Ship Missiles in the Western Pacific (RAND, pdf)

Source: Engineers unveil long range, fuel cell-powered UAV | Korea.net News Note:

Essex amphibious group arrives in Pacific as USN reiterates rights to South China Sea access (Jane's)

From DefenseNews EU Keeping China Weapons Embargo: U.S. Officials By STEPHANIE GRIFFITH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE The European Union, at the urging of the United States, apparently will keep a 16-year-old arms embargo against China, U.S. officials said April 14, adding that talks next week will seek to sway holdout countries. “We do not now believe that the EU is close to a decision to lifting the embargo itself. But we realize that we must keep this issue at the forefront of our agenda with the EU in Brussels and with all the EU governments — and we intend to do just that,” Nicholas Burns, the U.S. State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs, told a c…

From Flight International DATE: 06/10/08 SOURCE: Flight International Eurofighter gets serious about Japan's F-X contest By Siva Govindasamy The Eurofighter Typhoon is becoming a serious contender in Japan's forthcoming F-X fighter competition, with industry sources saying that Tokyo is taking the European fighter more seriously in the much-anticipated tender. "If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said that the Typhoon did not have a chance due to the close US-Japan ties. I am no longer sure of that," says a Tokyo-based industry source close to the Japanese defence ministry. "Washington's continued refusal to release information on the [Lockheed …

Whether under her own power or under tow, Varyag left the Port of Dalian according to Xinhua News. A quick search of the various Chinese forums shows an empty bearth where Varyag was supposedly tied up. Visibility was quite poor at the time which assists in a quiet/covert departure. Xinhua reports that the initial trial won't be long and that the vessel will return to complete her 'refit' soon. Hopefully we'll be seeing some periscope photos in the near future, hopefully they'll include the tug. Later D

Kopp and the gang continue to be unhappy about the impending demise of the RAAF F-111 force: F-111: Deadly strike fighter to be trashed

From Air Force Times January 08, 2007 Holloman squadron bound for Korea The Associated Press ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — About 300 airmen with Holloman Air Force Base’s 49th Fighter Wing and a squadron of F-117A Stealth fighters will begin a four-month deployment to Korea on Monday, base officials said. The regularly scheduled deployment is not related to a particular threat or event but part of ongoing measures to maintain a credible deterrent and presence in the Western Pacific, said base spokesman Tom Fuller. The deployment will keep the “pilots and crews on their toes” and practice moving men and equipment over a long distance and operate in a forward area, F…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog There's Life In The Old Girl Yet Posted by Bill Sweetman at 3/23/2008 11:24 AM CDT Via the invaluable Secret Projects site comes a brochure on Lockheed Martin's F-16IN proposal to India. The options list is a mixture of features from the United Arab Emirates' F-16E/F and the Advanced Block 50 that is standard for other export customers. The active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is the Northrop Grumman APG-80 from the F-16E/F; the company's newly announced Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) is optimized for retrofits, and unlike the APG-80 does not need added power and cooling. Also from the E/F are the big-screen gl…

From Aviation Week [Hot on the heels of the report of a request by Israel for export of the F-22 ... ] F-22 attractive to Japan as missile threats grow David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Japanese military officials are eyeing the F-22 Raptor as an antidote to growing regional missile threats, Aviation Week & Space Technology will report on April 23. The Lockheed Martin-built fighter is expected to become a key element in missile defense because it can detect and destroy small cruise missiles and also evade sophisticated air defenses to bomb ballistic missile launch sites. Whether Japanese law might be interpreted to allow the countr…

From Aviation Week 24 F-22s Deployed To Guam and Okinawa Jan 26, 2009 By David A. Fulghum In the fourth and largest F-22 deployment so far, a squadron of the U.S. stealth fighters has shifted from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, to Andersen AFB, Guam. Another 12 fighters from Langley AFB, Va., flew to Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan, earlier this month. The first F-22 deployment was from Langley to Elmendorf, the second was from Langley to Okinawa and the third was from Elmendorf to Guam. All were temporary single squadron moves to test the new aircraft’s logistics and reliability and — in the last two moves — to participate in the rotation of units to th…

From Air Force Times F-22 fighters headed home from Okinawa By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 9, 2007 8:24:25 EDT TOKYO — A dozen F-22 stealth fighters are heading back to the U.S. after completing their first overseas mission, a four-month deployment to Okinawa aimed at showcasing the fighter’s capabilities and giving pilots a chance to train in a new setting. The fighters, which arrived on the southern Japan island of Okinawa in February, will fly out of Kadena Air Base early Thursday, the Air Force and Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in separate statements. The fighters are based at Langley Air Force Base, Va. The deployment…

From DOD Buzz [excerpt]

F/A-18s intercept Russian bombers near carrier By Lolita C. Baldor - The Associated Press Posted : Monday Feb 11, 2008 17:08:47 EST WASHINGTO — U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned. A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret. The Saturday incident, w…

Just come across this article from yesterday. Did something go seriously wrong with the carrier groups procedures? 2 x Tu-142 Bears got within 1 nautical mile of the US Ronald Reagan. One mile!?!?! That sounds pretty close to me? I thought they would have been escorted or directed away well before they got within one mile? http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/29/politics/us-aircraft-carrier-russian-plane-encounter/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-01/us-navy-interest-in-nt-darwin-ship-lift/106736536?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Its that time of year again ... for air shows and sourcing DB relevant info. Sino-Pakistani FC-1/JF-17 Thunder showcased at Le Bourget (Jane's)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

From Defence Aerospace First B-2s Deploy to Andersen Source: US Air Force; issued March 4, 2005 ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --- B-2 Spirit bombers have deployed here for the first time to support Pacific Command’s security efforts in the Western Pacific. More than 270 Airmen of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., currently the only B-2 unit in the Air Force. They replaced the 93rd EBS from Barksdale AFB, La. The 393rd EBS is the first B-2 squadron to deploy here supporting Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The bombers enhance regional security…