Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From Defense Aerospace Op-Ed: Japan & F-22: Why Not Reward a Reliable Ally? (Source: Lexington Institute; issued June 9, 2009) If there's one concept that the Obama Administration's national-security team really likes, it's partnering. Obama stressed global partnering when he was running for President, the security agenda posted on the White House web-site cites it as a key goal, and it is one of five "strategic principles" underpinning the quadrennial defense review. There's even a deputy secretary in the Pentagon's reorganized policy shop assigned to "partnership strategy." Of course, the Obama team didn't discover partnering. The Bush Administration's …

From Flight Global DATE: 03/06/09 SOURCE: Flight International Malaysia to phase out troublesome MiG-29 fighters By Siva Govindasamy Malaysia has announced plans to phase out its RSK MiG-29N fighters over the next few years, with the fleet having been plagued by problems since it bought the type in the early 1990s. "I have decided that from next month, the aircraft will be phased out and we should find a way to sell them to certain companies or countries approved by the United Nations," Malaysia's new defence minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the official Bernama news agency. The minister did not say what would replace the MiG-29s, which are operated …

No need to link to a report on this- it's making many front pages. What were those short-range missiles they were testing?

I found this very interesting link while cruising around ConSimWorld. It's an open source analysis of Taiwan's SAM Networks with plenty of maps and other images. I though it might find a home in HG/Weblinks/Sources, but was not able to post it there. Either way, some interesting information. Taiwanese SAM's

From Jane's North Korea threatens to test an ICBM By Doug Richardson 06 May 2009 North Korea has threatened to test intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and to conduct further nuclear-weapon tests unless the UN Sanctions Committee apologises for decisions that Pyongyang sees as a violation of its sovereignty. On 24 April, the committee banned transactions with three North Korean organisations - the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, the Korea Ryonbong General Corporation and the Tanchon Commercial Bank - and called on UN member states to freeze the assets of the two companies. This move followed the launch by North Korea on 5 April of what …

Report: Chinese Develop Special "Kill Weapon" to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers Advanced missile poses substantial new threat for U.S. Navy U. S. Naval Institute March 31, 2009 Find USNI article here. With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned. After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a "kill weapon" developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers. First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by th…

From Jane's Oil and debt underpin Russian submarine sales to Vietnam By Jon Grevatt 29 April 2009 An expected deal between Vietnam and Russia over the former's procurement of six Kilo-class submarines - which was announced on 27 April by Russia's state news agency - is likely to be founded on debt, oil and a Moscow commitment to help modernise Vietnam's shipbuilding industries, Jane's understands. Carl Thayer, a specialist in the Vietnamese military and a professor of politics at the University of New South Wales' Australian Defence Force Academy, added that the deal - reportedly worth USD1.8 billion - had been under negotiation for many years. "Vietnam …

Roughead says Chinese carrier would be concern By Ken The - The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Apr 21, 2009 12:56:10 EDT QINGDAO, China — A future Chinese aircraft carrier may worry neighboring navies because Beijing has not specified what role the warship would play in the region, the U.S. chief of Naval Operations said Tuesday. China, meanwhile, said a more powerful navy would not pose a threat as it mulls adding its first aircraft carrier to an increasingly sophisticated fleet. The comments by Adm. Gary Roughead came amid growing signs that China plans to build a carrier as the country puts on a major display of naval weaponry this week in the north…

From China Daily China's nuke submarines up for maiden parade (Xinhua) Updated: 2009-04-21 09:12 QINGDAO -- China will display its nuclear-powered submarines for the first time in history during a fleet parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy, a senior navy officer said in Qingdao Monday. Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the PLA Navy, made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua, but did not disclose any further details about the submarines. In addition to the fleet parade, there will also be seminars and a sampan race that will be held off the coast of the eastern city of Qingdao during the four-day celebra…

From DNA India French 'Rafale' aircraft out of India's MMRCA race PTI Thursday, April 16, 2009 19:14 IST New Delhi: French fighter aircraft 'Rafale' has been knocked out of India's biggest-ever military tender to purchase 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) estimated to be worth over 10 billion dollar. Defence Ministry sources said it rejected the 'Rafale' bid from the French manufacturer D'assault after careful and cumbersome technical evaluation process that began in May last and ended in February this year. With this, the race for the mother-of-all-deals, as the MMRCA tender is described here, was reduced to fi…

Excellent and informative article on China's missile forces: http://geimint.blogspot.com/2009/04/dragon...lery-corps.html

From Aviation Week China adds precision strike to capabilities Apr 8, 2009 By Richard D. Fisher, Jr. China has been developing and purchasing weapons for precision-strike warfare. This is the hard edge of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) doctrinal drive toward using increasingly sophisticated information technologies such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) to improve the capabilities of weapon systems (DTI March, p. 39). The PLA’s near-term goals appear to be greater asymmetric capabilities to target U.S. naval assets in the western Pacific and in space as part of an anti-access strategy. Lon…

From Foreign Affairs Pyongbang! Washington’s Korea Conundrum Victor D. Cha April 7, 2009 Summary -- What North Korea hoped to gain from its failed missile launch -- and how Washington can avoid falling into its negotiating trap. VICTOR D. CHA is Associate Professor, Director of Asian Studies, and D. S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in Asian Studies and Government at Georgetown University. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Director of Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council and Deputy Head of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks. On Sunday, North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that went farthe…

Watching BBC at this time, they are reporting that the North Koreans launched their rocket at 0230 UTC Sunday. First stage fell into the Sea of Japan, second stage fell into the Pacific ocean east of Japan. Nations in the region are lodging the usual protests. Apparently there was no effort by Japanese air defence to shoot the weapon down Depending on the apogee of the flight path, I'd guess we're looking at an IRBM class weapon. While the news calls this 'signifigant' I would say that it is somewhat less so. They need to perfect an RV and I don't see any nation allowing that kind of test near their borders. Remember that this is based on Scud technology. …

From Flight International DATE: 03/04/09 SOURCE: Air Transport Intelligence news Japanese carriers change flightpaths to avoid North Korea missile By Leithen Francis Japanese carriers are changing flightpaths to Europe and Hawaii in response to North Korea's planned missile launch later this month. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) have announced that all flights to Europe and Hawaii will operate on a different flightpath for the period 4-8 April. This is in response to the planned launch by North Korea, the carriers say. ANA operates to London, Paris and Frankfurt; while JAL operates to Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Milan and London. Nor…

From Defense Aerospace China’s Military Capabilities Continue to Grow, Report Says (Source: U.S Department of Defense; issued March 25, 2009) WASHINGTON --- Transformation of the Chinese military has gained speed, but U.S. officials would like to see China become more transparent about military and security affairs, according to a report to Congress released today. The report, called “Military Power of the People’s Republic of China,” provides some new details, “but there are no new, major strategic insights revealed or capabilities revealed,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. In the report, officials said that Chinese transparency has im…

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…

BBC News The underwear thing is grossly unprofessional behaviour.

From ARES RAAF Goes for Growlers Posted by Robert Wall at 2/27/2009 1:32 AM CST The Royal Australian Air Force could be the first non-U.S. military service to operate EA-18 Growler electronic attack aircraft under a deal announced in Australia today. The deal is also noteworthy for the fact that it indicates the U.S. is willing to share some of its most advanced technology with close allies -- neither the EA-6B nor EF-111 jammers were exported. The EA-18G deal comes not long after the Pentagon agreed to let the U.K. buy RC-135 Rivet Joints, the highly sensitive signals intelligence system. Australia is not buying new Growlers; instead it would modify 12 o…

From ARES Another North Korea Alert Drill for GMD? Posted by Michael Bruno at 2/24/2009 4:38 AM CST There doesn't seem to be any official word from U.S. defense officials online yet, but if North Korea is preparing for another missile launch, then the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System of ballistic interceptors based in Alaska and California probably is on alert. The New York Times is reporting that North Korea said today it was preparing to send a satellite into orbit in what U.S. and South Korean officials believe will be a provocative test of a long-range missile capable of reaching parts of North America. CNN is reporting it too. A statement from P…