Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From ARES Canadian Def. Minister Slams NATO Posted by Paul McLeary at 2/17/2009 10:54 AM CST It looks like the United States isn’t the only NATO member getting frustrated with the way its allies are conducting themselves in Afghanistan. Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay—whose troops are in the thick of the fight in Kandahar, having lost 108 troops in the war thus far—recently called out the rest of the alliance, giving voice to his frustrations in a speech in London: "Afghanistan tests the ability of the alliance to execute its most basic mission in the 21st century and in a global context…If NATO cannot deter or defeat the real physical threat facin…

From Defence Talk India hopes to test ICBM in 2010: official Agence France-Presse | Feb 16, 2009 Bangalore, India: India hopes to test-fire a home-built inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of next year, a senior defence official said Friday. "Efforts are on to test the next longer range Agni-V missile before December 2010," M. Natarajan, the scientific adviser to India's defence minister told reporters on the sidelines of the Aero India international air show here. The Agni-V will have an ICBM range in excess of 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles). The shorter range Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are currently being introduced …

N. Korea ditches nonaggression pact with S. Korea By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 30, 4:02 am ET SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said Friday it is ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace agreements with South Korea, in an apparent attempt to use the threat of an armed clash to press Seoul to give up its "confrontational" stance. The communist nation also said it will no longer respect a disputed sea border with the South, raising the prospect for an armed clash along the Yellow Sea boundary — the scene of deadly skirmishes between the two navies in 1999 and 2002. South Korea said it regretted…

I found this episode of Wide Angle in the Notes of a wiki page linked from the HULL mailing list. There apparently is a Public Broadcasting System program called Wide Angle. Around July 2008, this episode aired, I viewed it in ints entirety this morning. Here is a link - Japan's About Face. It looks at the ongoing Japanese constitutional debate over the role of its Self Defense Forces. At the heart of the debate is Article 9 of their constitution - their "Constitutional Problem". It looks at cadets and instructors at their military academy, members of the powerful Japanese pacifist-peace movement, general citizens (many have no idea that they even have a self …

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…

From Defence Talk China to begin projecting military around the world: analysts Agence France-Presse | Jan 28, 2009 London: China is likely to begin deploying its military increasingly further from its borders, analysts at a top thinktank said on Tuesday. The Asian power was also unlikely to constrain its defence budget because of an economic downturn that has left the World Bank forecasting the slowest pace of growth in China since 1990, the analysts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said. Noting that China began using a naval convoy in the Gulf of Aden to protect the country's shipping from Somali pirates, IISS director of transnation…

From ARES Malaysia Takes Delivery of Its First Ever Submarine Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 1/27/2009 9:39 AM CST Malaysia took delivery today of its first ever submarine: a Scorpene built by French military shipyard DCNS in partnership with Spanish shipyard Navantia. The submarine, named the Tunku Abdul Rahman (after Malaysia's first Prime Minister following independence in 1957), completed its sea tests at the end of December and was handed over to Admiral Dato'Sri Aziz Hj Jaafar, chief of staff of the Royal Malaysian Navy at a ceremony in the Mediterranean port of Toulon. The vessel will sail to Malaysia in the summer and meantime the crew will comp…

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…

PACAF’s “Vision” Thing By Richard Halloran Find the air force Magazine article here. A new wargame tells airmen what it will take to hold the line in the Far East. Pacific Air Forces has begun to forge a doctrine of AirSea Battle with the intent of deterring any Chinese, North Korean, or Russian military aggression in Asia and the Pacific. The doctrine is in its early stages of development, and initial findings are being drawn from a two-phase wargame called Pacific Vision, held in October. Pacific Vision’s first phase looked out to 2016, and was centered on Air Force operations. This wargame focused on the weapons, bases, and combat forces that PACAF alre…

From Jane's Japanese MoD maintains plan to pursue F-22 By Jon Grevatt and Craig Caffrey 07 January 2009 The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) has dismissed reports that it is prepared to drop plans to evaluate the F-22 Raptor fifth-generation air superiority fighter as part of its programme to procure next-generation (FX) fighters for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). Media reports from Japan have quoted government sources as saying that the MoD will abandon efforts to seek access to the aircraft's technologies and performance data in light of increasing budgetary pressures on the F-22 programme in the United States and the continuing ban on its exp…

From Aviation Week India Orders Eight Boeing P-8Is Jan 5, 2009 Neelam Mathews The Indian Navy ordered eight Boeing P-8I multimission aircraft on Jan. 2 to replace its eight aging TU-142s, making for the first direct military sales by Boeing to India. "Clearly, we are pleased that the government of India has selected the P-8Is. India has become the first international customer for P-8s. It is significant for us to partner with this market," said Vivek Lall, vice president and country head, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. There are 30 percent offsets that have been committed by Boeing on the deal. Boeing declined to comment on delivery schedules. "T…

From NYT News Service, printed in the SD Union Tribune on 24 December BEIJING - In the clearest indication yet that China could soon begin building its first aircraft carrier, a Defense Ministry spokesman said yesterday that the country was seriously considering "relevant issues" in making its decision about whether to move ahead with the project, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. If China decides to build the carrier, it will no doubt increase tensions with the United States, Taiwan and Japan, among other governments. Buddha

From Defense Aerospace Russia Likely to Lease 'Shchuka-B' Class Nuke Subs to India (Source: ddi Indian Government news; issued Dec. 15, 2008) Russia could lease 'several' 'Shchuka-B' class nuclear attack submarines to India in coming years though the delivery of the first of the two nuke subs reportedly contracted by India is far behind schedule. The Russian offer comes as Indian Navy has formulated a 20 year plan to produce indigenously 24 conventional submarines. At the same time, the official had ruled out any plans by Moscow to strike similar deals with China. "Yes, there is a real possibility of leasing for ten years several of our nuclear powered mu…

From Aviation Week Australian Air Force Campaigns For 100 F-35s Dec 3, 2008 By Bradley Perrett The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is stepping up its lobbying efforts for a full order of 100 F-35 Lightning IIs, a number that has been officially endorsed but could easily be trimmed in a defense white paper due next year. The chief of the air force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, strongly defends the choice of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as its next fighter, arguing that it will be part of an integrated airpower system and the country could not hope to find better. He also endorses the Boeing 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control Wedgetail and Airbus A330 tanke…

From ARES Blog On The Nose - Making Missiles go Faster Posted by Graham Warwick at 11/10/2008 9:38 AM CST Indian researchers say they have tested a novel and simple way to reduce the drag and increase the range of high-speed missiles. In hypersonic shock-tunnel tests reported in the journal Physics of Fluids, the technique resulted in a 47% reduction of drag on a blunt cone representing the nosecone of a missile or space vehicle. Blunt noses are used to reduce the aerothermal loads on missiles at high speed, but they increase wave drag. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore tested various ways of reducing drag, including mounting …

From AFP More than 20 killed in Russian nuclear sub accident: spokesman 2 hours ago MOSCOW (AFP) — More than 20 people were killed and another 20 injured when a fire extinguishing system was inadvertently activated aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the Russian navy said Sunday. "During sea trials of a nuclear-powered submarine of the Pacific Fleet the firefighting system went off unsanctioned, killing over 20 people, including servicemen and workers," said Captain Igor Dygalo, the navy's spokesman. The accident did not apparently affect the submarine's nuclear reactor. "The submarine is not damaged, its reactor works as normal, a…

From Flight International DATE: 06/11/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com PICTURE: J-10 debuts at Airshow China 2008 By Barbara Cockburn China's J-10 strike fighter aircraft, made its debut during an aerial display on 4 November in front of a crowd of spectators at the 7th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, known as Airshow China, held in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province.

From Defense Aerospace Boeing Rolls Out First F-15SG to Singapore (Source: Boeing; issued November 3, 2008) Boeing has rolled out the first of 24 F-15SG fighters ordered by Singapore. Deliveries are scheduled for mid-2009 to 2012. (Boeing Co. photo) ST. LOUIS --- The Boeing Company today rolled out the first F-15SG jet fighter to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). The F-15SG is a variant of the highly capable, combat-proven F-15E. "The rollout of F-15SG1, on schedule, demonstrates that we're off to a great start as the RSAF builds to a procurement of 24 F-15SG aircraft," said Mark Bass, Boeing F-15 Program vice president. "The F-15SG has sig…

From Air Force Times Japan fires AF head for World War II essay By Shino Yuasa - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Oct 31, 2008 14:46:14 EDT TOKYO — Japan’s defense minister dismissed his air force chief on Friday for writing an essay that claimed the country was not an “aggressor” in World War II and was trapped into getting involved in the conflict by the United States. Toshio Tamogami’s essay will likely upset relations with China and South Korea, who remain bitter about Japan’s wartime occupation and say Tokyo has failed to properly atone for its invasion of the Korean peninsula, Taiwan and parts of China. “His views are different from the governm…

From DefenseNews RAND Study Suggests U.S. Loses War With China By wendell minnick Published: 16 Oct 11:45 EDT (15:45 GMT) TAIPEI - A new RAND study suggests U.S. air power in the Pacific would be inadequate to thwart a Chinese attack on Taiwan in 2020. The study, entitled "Air Combat Past, Present and Future," by John Stillion and Scott Perdue, says China's anti-access arms and strategy could deny the U.S. the "ability to operate efficiently from nearby bases or seas." According to the study, U.S. aircraft carriers and air bases would be threatened by Chinese development of anti-ship ballistic missiles, the fielding of diesel and nuclear submarines equipped …