Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Navy crew crisis hits warships Article from: Herald Sun Ian McPhedran August 23, 2007 12:00am THE navy's warships are under threat because of a chronic shortage of qualified engineers and warfare officers. Insiders say the situation is so dire the number of principal warfare officers on the navy's five guided missile frigates has been cut from four to just one or two. On the eight Anzac class frigates, PWO numbers have fallen in some cases from three to one. And on some ships the shortage of engineers is so acute they are under way for only 12 out of every 24 hours. Similar shortfalls are occurring with weapons electrical engineering officers.…

India's Indigenous Nuclear Submarine, Agni-V ICBM Set To Launch In 2015 (The Diplomat, Flashpoints)

China's Navy Makes Strides, Work Remains To Be Done (DefenseNews) Chris Carlson, of the Admiralty Trilogy Group (and Harpoon fame), gets a quote in there.

Looks like excellent scenario fodder for any Japanese "resurgence" backgrounds. :smoke: Japan Losing Military ‘Allergy’: Top Officer By ISABEL REYNOLDS, REUTERS, TOKYO DefenseNews Japanese are developing a new respect for their country’s armed forces, in stark contrast to the distrust that prevailed for decades after defeat in World War Two, the military’s new chief of staff said on May 12. Hajime Massaki, 62, was appointed to the newly created post in March in an attempt to draw together the air, sea and ground branches of what Japan calls its Self-Defense Forces and make them more effective. Massaki, a native of the southernmost main island of …

Guam hosts talks on military buildup The Associated Press Posted : Friday Aug 24, 2007 8:30:09 EDT HAGATNA, Guam — U.S. representatives and business leaders converged on Guam this week as preparations for a $15 billion military buildup of the U.S. island territory kick into high gear. About 1,200 businessmen and women from Australia to Japan and New York to San Francisco gathered in Guam hotels to learn how they could profit from the buildup. The U.S. and Japanese governments plan to spend a combined $10 billion moving 8,000 Marines to Guam from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa by 2012. The Navy and Air Force also plan infrastructure upgrades o…

From DefenseNews Posted 10/23/07 08:35 Malaysia’s First Submarine Launched in France AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, CHERBOURG, France The first of two Scorpene-class submarines sold to Malaysia was inaugurated Oct. 23 in the northern port city of Cherbourg during a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak. Designed by the French firm DCNS and Spain’s Navantia, the Tunku Abdul Rahman will be formally delivered to the Royal Malaysian Navy in early 2009 and the second submarine will follow at the end of that year. Malaysia signed the deal to establish its first fleet of subs in June 2002. With diesel-electric propulsion, the stealth Scorpene has a crew of 31 men c…

From Navy Times Group: Pirate attacks up 10 percent in 2007 The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jan 9, 2008 7:17:27 EST KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Global pirate attacks rose by 10 percent in 2007, marking the first increase in three years as sea robbers made a strong comeback in Nigeria and Somalia, an international maritime watchdog said Wednesday. Last year, there were 269 attacks on ships, up from 239 in 2006 and reversing a downtrend seen since 2003, the International Maritime Bureau said in its annual report released by its piracy reporting center in Malaysia. “The significant increase in the [2007] numbers can be directly attributed to the increa…

FORMIDABLE CLASS MULTI-MISSION FRIGATES, SINGAPORE Naval-Technology.com Six Formidable Class multi-mission frigates are being built for the Singapore Navy. The first of class, RSS Formidable, was launched on 7 January 2004 at the Lorient dockyard in Brittany, France. The Republic of Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) awarded the contract in March 2002 to DCN in France for the design and construction of the frigates. The contract includes a technology transfer program under which the construction of the first frigate is carried out in France and then five further frigates are built in Singapore by Singapore Technology Marine (STM) at the Benoi shipyard. The fri…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From DefenseNews China Seen Deploying New Missiles in 10 Years By REUTERS China is expected to deploy three new strategic missiles over the next decade as part of an aggressive military build-up seen threatening U.S. forces in the region, a U.S. intelligence official said May 3. David Gordon, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, told a commission charged with overseeing the consolidation of U.S. military bases that the arrival of new, more capable missiles coincided with China’s growing influence on the balance of power in the Taiwan Straits. “Strategic force modernization is a continuing priority, and China will likely field three new strategic mis…

As U.S. warships ply the waters, China rises on the horizon By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press writer Friday, May 12, 2006 StarTribune ABOARD THE USS GARY -- It has been a rough few days. Steaming up the eastern coast of Japan, Cmdr. Joseph Deleon's guided missile frigate has been tossed around on heavy seas and the younger sailors, back from five months ashore, are feeling seasick. Grounded by high winds, the helicopter pilots are watching movies in the ward room. The primary mission is hunting submarines. But the Gary, like the U.S. Seventh Fleet to which it belongs, is also a showcase of American power in a region fraught with crises -- North Korea, Taiwan…

Chinese Navy Modernization Could Lead To U.S. Countermoves, CRS Report Says As concerns over the modernization of Chinese naval forces grow, Congress needs to worry about how much it should weight China's growing power in its planning for U.S. Navy capabilities, says a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. "Several elements of China's military modernization have potential implications for future required U.S. Navy capabilities," says the report. "These include theater-range ballistic missiles (TBMs), land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), land-based aircraft, submarines, surface comb…

Source: US Delivers 30 Helicopters to Pakistan : Military Aviation : Defense News Air Force Army Navy News

India's New Aircraft Carrier May Face Further Delays (The Diplomat)

From Defense Aerospace [it's been (and I'm sure, will continue to be) interesting to watch Japan's shifting attitude towards its constitution, the concept of self-defence and the role of nuclear arms. See, for example, my post on Oct 31/06. Stay tuned ... ] Japan Can Hold Nuclear Arms for Self-Defence: Govt (Source: ddi Indian Government news; issued Nov. 14, 2006) Japan has said that its constitution allows it to possess nuclear weapons as long as they are kept to a minimum level necessary for self-defence. However, the country has no intention of holding such arms, the government said in a statement. The statement, written in response to a question fr…

From DefenseNews Posted 05/25/07 08:11 S. Korea Launches Aegis Destroyer AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SEOUL South Korea on May 25 launched its first Aegis destroyer equipped with advanced air and sea weaponry, on the same day that North Korea test-fired several missiles. President Roh Moo-Hyun, speaking at the launch of the billion-dollar 7,600-ton KDX-III destroyer, said South Korea must be mindful of what he called a regional arms race. "The ship, armed with [a] state-of-the-art defense system and combat capability, is one of the world’s best destroyers," Roh said at a ceremony at the Ulsan dockyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries, which built the ship. "We have to se…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Australia May Sue After Grounding U.S. Helicopters By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SYDNEY The Australian navy has grounded a one-billion dollar ($750 million U.S.) fleet of U.S.-built helicopters over safety concerns and may sue the contractors, the defense minister said May 15. The navy ordered 11 of the anti-submarine and anti-ship Super Seasprite helicopters but none of the 10 delivered since 2001 have been in full operational service due to technical problems. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said he had banned the Seasprites from flying and that the government was considering scrapping the fleet altogether. ”I have asked the department of defense…

From Navy Times Submarine Ohio underway in Pacific The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 11:14:52 EDT PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The first Navy submarine converted to fight terror instead of deter a Cold War adversary is en route to the western Pacific via Hawaii, the first time such a ship has ever deployed. The Ohio was originally equipped in the 1970s to hold 24 nuclear-tipped long-range ballistic missiles. But with the Cold War over, the Navy transformed the Ohio and three other similar subs to carry conventional Tomahawk cruise missiles and dozens of Navy SEALs instead. The ship, based in Bremerton, Wash., is expected to head toward Asia to…

From Flight Global [excerpt]