Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Revealed: China's Nuclear-Capable Air-Launched Ballistic Missile (The Diplomat)

From DefenseNews Japanese Fighter Scrambles Jump in Past Year By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TOKYO Japan scrambled its military fighters 13 times due to China in the past year, compared with once or twice in each of the previous five years, showing the deteriorating ties between the neighbors, official figures showed April 20. The rise in scrambles caused by China was in sharp contrast to an overall 11-percent decline in such aircraft moves to 141 times in the year to March 2005, the Defense Agency said. “We cannot tell what was behind the gain, but we can at least tell the gain was remarkable,” an agency spokesman said. Jiji Press said the sharp increa…

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 Jane's Ma's victory eases tension across Taiwan Strait 01 April 2008 When Ma Ying-jeou is asked how his China-friendly attitude will play out in practice, he flinches. Although Ma just won Taiwan's presidential election in a landslide on an agenda of closer links with the island's economically attractive but politically hostile neighbour, he is very cautious. Welcome to political reality in Taiwan. While Ma has pledged not to move towards independence during his term in office, he has also committed himself not to negotiate unification. This sets a tight framework for what Ma can achieve. He has made clear that he will not try to resolve the conflict onc…

From the recent copy of Undersea Wafare: Taiwan's Project Diving Dragon Resurfaces TAIPEI - Recurring reports that countries other than the United States are helping Taiwan build diesel-electric submarines domestically go back a decade. According to various articles, it's either the Western Europeans, Russians or Indians who are clandestinely concocting a submarine plan with the Taiwanese. While the notion that any country able to build subs would choose to so profoundly snub China appears unlikely, the question arises as to why these rumors persist. An island and its mythical being Then-United States president George W Bush in 2001 approved the sale of eight c…

Carrier-capable version of LCA

Alarm as China issues rules for disputed sea (New York Times)

Chinese attack helicopter's secret Russian roots (Aviation Week, Ares blog)

Lots of chatter lately about whether the Rafale "deal" is going to be tossed in favour of more Su-30MKI Indian defence minister hints at MMRCA cancellation (Jane's)

Leader Vows To Modernize Military Cites global ‘trends’ in need for able army By Scott McDonald, Associated Press BEIJING — China’s sprawling military will speed up its modernization during the next five years, increasingly adopting high-tech battle systems and upgrading training, President Hu Jintao said yesterday. In his keynote speech at the opening of the Communist Party Congress, held every five years, Mr. Hu said he was committed to making China’s military more modern. “In keeping with the new trends in world military affairs and the new requirements of China’s development, we must promote innovation in military theory, technology, organization a…

Chinese Missiles and the Wal-Mart Factor

Submarines in Southeast Asia: Proliferation, Not a Race (The Diplomat)

From DefenseNews Posted 05/10/07 10:15 Russia Throws Wrench in S. Korea’s Global Hawk Plan AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SEOUL South Korea’s plan to buy a U.S.-made unmanned spy plane to keep watch over North Korea has hit a snag because Russia opposes the easing of a global arms control pact, a news report said May 10. Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, quoting a diplomatic source, said any U.S. sale of the $50 million Global Hawk would need a revision to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). "The U.S. is trying to persuade MTCR member states to revise the MTCR regulations but Russia is opposed to revising it or making any exceptions," the source said. "South Korea’s pl…

From Navy Times Report: Pirate attacks up 14 percent The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Oct 16, 2007 10:52:50 EDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Maritime pirate attacks worldwide shot up 14 percent in the first nine months of 2007 from a year earlier, with Somalia and Nigeria showing the biggest increases, an international watchdog said Tuesday. While Africa remains problematic, Southeast Asia’s Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest waterways, has been relatively quiet, the International Maritime Bureau said in its report. A total of 198 attacks on ships were reported between January and September this year, up from 174 in the same period in 2006, the …

From DefenseNews Indian Party Wants To End Military Ties With U.S. By vivek raghuvanshi Published: 1 Apr 12:58 EDT (08:58 GMT) NEW DELHI -Increasing defense cooperation with the United States is likely to shorten the life of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government here as its main supporter on the left, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), has resolved to end India's military relationship with the United States. Without the support of India's Communist parties, the alliance government will find it difficult to remain in power until its term ends in mid-2009. Meeting March 29, the CPM's 19th Congress called for ending the Indo-U.S. …

From Jane's Defence Weekly Eurofighter Typhoon takes a nosedive in Singapore By ROBERT HEWSON Editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons London A shock decision by Singapore to drop the Eurofighter Typhoon from a shortlist of contenders vying to be the Republic's next-generation fighter has thrown the aircraft's manufacturing consortium, comprising BAE Systems, EADS and Alenia, into disarray. JDW understands that Singapore¹s Defence Science and Technology Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Defence (MinDef), has delivered a letter to the Eurofighter team formally discounting the Typhoon from the NFRP competition. While no official statement has been made by Sin…

China's navy not yet a threat to Japan and US Taipei Times A former Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Fleet Air Wing commander, retired Rear Admiral Sumihiko Kawamura, spoke to 'Taipei Times' Staff Reporter Rich Chang on the Chinese navy's abilities - especially its submarine fleet - as well as the potential for military cooperation between the US, Japan and Taiwan Monday, Oct 31, 2005,Page 3 Taipei Times: It is widely believed that China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been making substantial progress, particularly with their submarine force. What is your evaluation of PLAN? Rear Admiral Sumihiko Kawamura: I see PLAN's capability as still bei…

'Arms race' leaving our subs all at sea The Age

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…

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