Current Events in Asia-Pacific

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…

Nice set of photos ... From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Eurotorp's MU90 Finally Fired From Australian Warship Posted by Joris Janssen Lok at 6/23/2008 1:29 AM CDT Australia's Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) successfully test fired the new Franco-Italian Eurotorp MU90 lightweight anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedo late last week, the country's defense minister Joel Fitzgibbon says. “While the MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been successfully tested in Europe, this Acceptance Test and Evaluation exercise represents the first time an MU90 Lightweight Torpedo has been fired from an Australian warship,” Fitzgibbon says. The test firing happened from the A…

My abbreviated version ... 330x PAC-3 missiles, 4x MPQ-65 radars, etc 30x AH-64D Apache Longbow helos, 17 APG-78 Longbow radars, 173x Stinger Block I air to air missiles, 1,000x AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles 32x UGM-84L Sub Harpoon missiles Spares for F-5E/F, C-130H, F-16A/B, and Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) Retrofit of four E-2T Hawkeye AEW&C aircraft to the Hawkeye 2000 standard *** From Defense Aerospace Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States – PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Guided Missiles (Source: U.S Defence Security Cooperation Agency; issued October 3, 2008) WASHINGTON --- Today the Defense Secu…

China hikes defense budget, to spend more on internal security (Reuters)

China Commissions New Guided-Missile Destroyer (The Diplomat, Flashpoints) PLAN commissions first Type 052D DDG, puts second on sea trials (Jane's)

Admiral stresses more talk between navies By Rod McGuirk - The Associated Press Posted : Thursday May 3, 2007 8:05:12 EDT CANBERRA, Australia — China will likely expand its navy and send its ships further out on the high seas to take a more active role in securing global sea lanes vital to its burgeoning economy, the U.S. naval commander in Japan said Thursday. Rear Adm. James Kelly said the strategic shift heightened the need for operational transparency between the world’s navies “so we don’t have a misinterpretation of something out on the high seas.” “As their economy continues to grow ... I suspect that China is thinking that they need to have a blue…

From Navy Times 3 Virginia-class subs to be based at Pearl By Jaymes Song - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Aug 10, 2007 8:11:44 EDT HONOLULU — Two of the newest attack submarines will join the USS Hawaii in being home-ported at Pearl Harbor as the Navy shifts its focus to the Pacific, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said Thursday. Inouye said the relocation of the USS North Carolina and the USS Texas from the East Coast was a policy decision made several months ago in recognition of the “strategic nature of the Pacific as compared to the Atlantic.” “I think it’s obvious the next area of concern is the Pacific region,” he said. The vessels are now…

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 …

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

Philippines To Buy 12 S. Korean Fighter Jets (DefenseNews)

War with China: Thinking through the Unthinkable (RAND, pdf)

Confirmed: India’s Next Aircraft Carrier Will Be Nuclear (The Diplomat)

From Australian ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-20/chinese-fighter-jet-released-flares-close-to-australian-aircraft/105913308?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Taiwan Mulling New Generation of Jet Fighters By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TAIPEI Originally from DefenceNews. Taiwan said April 12 it is considering buying a new generation of jet fighters in order to prevent the balance of power shifting in rival China’s favor in the event of an EU arms embargo being lifted. Taiwan Defense Minister Lee Jye said he had ordered a study on obtaining the new fighters after reports that French company Dassault Aviation, which had sold the island Mirage jets, may provide its latest line of fighters to the mainland. In reply to questions raised in parliament, Lee said the ministry was alarmed by the reports that Dassault may sell …

From Defense Aerospace India Ready to Fire BrahMos from Submarine (Source: ddi Indian Government news; issued Jan. 29, 2007) India is almost ready with its undersea launch version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile and wants the Navy to help in preliminary test trials by the end of the year. The Navy's help is being sought as the DRDO lacks a platform to undertake tests of the submarine launch Brahmos missile which will put India among the few countries who have the capability to launch underwater supersonic missiles. The Indian Navy's present fleet of just upgraded Kilo class submarines do not have the capability to test fire such missiles, Bra…

Air force faces strike fighter gap (Sydney Morning Herald)

From DefenseNews Guessing Game: How Large Is China’s Defense Budget? By PETER HARMSEN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING While everyone knows China is a rising power, one can only guess at how strong its armed forces are, or how much it is spending to build its military might. The issue of the size of China’s defense budget re-emerged this week as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Beijing. He used every opportunity to voice concern over his host nation’s military expansion, which he said was sending “mixed signals” about China’s intentions. “Many countries … have questions about the pace and the scope of China’s military expansion,” he said a…

From Defence Talk US, China set for stand-off on NKorea AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE October 13th, 2006, 05:00 China and the United States looked set for a stand-off over North Korea after Beijing signalled it would take a softer line on sanctions against the North for testing an atom bomb. Just hours before more UN Security Council talks on a US draft resolution to tighten the screws on Pyongyang for its nuclear test, China said it wanted to resolve the crisis peacefully rather than aim for exacting revenge. "Punishment is not the goal," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "As to what measures to take, I think the measures themselves are not punitive …

I am thinking that Avatar must have been filmed in Indonesia, because apparently the defense ministry there has struck upon a large deposit of unobtainium. Indonesia plans to buy 180 Flankers

From Aviation Week [excerpt] CV32: Already in the HCDB, btw.