Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Useful scenario fodder to be found here ... From Jane's Atomic revelation - Defector reveals Myanmar's nuclear programme By Robert Kelley and Allison Puccioni 22 July 2010 Processing facility at Thabeikkyin: 11 May 2010. The area on the right appears dishevelled in appearance but has been expertly cleared and reinforced within the last 18 months. It is heavily secured with a perimeter fence and a road access point. There is a straight line stemming from a concrete-lined open water tank (red arrow, bottom left) through to a processing area into several buildings. These components indicate ore processing takes place. (2010 DigitalGlobe) That Myanmar has a …

JH-XX, looking in some respects like a two-seat F-35 ... Secret Projects DEW Line blog RIA Novosti

CV32: You've heard of the ice trucks, perhaps, but how about the ice bombers? From Flight Global [excerpt]

dont know if this is the greatest idea in the world, why pull on the tigers tail. http://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-hails-missile...-084816584.html

Source: http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/ai...ns100013663.php

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…

Hard on the heels of the story about the Song diesel sub getting the better of the Kitty Hawk CSG (which, although inflated in importance, does serve to remind us of the growing capability of the PRC to project power), comes more rumours of an impending sale by Russia to China of up to 48 Su-33 Flanker carrier based fighters. More here.

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…

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…

For all of you scenario writers contemplating a South China Sea scenario, this one is already available in the HCDB. From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Watching this images, I was thinking if Ady Gil/Earthrace is a trimaran, and LCS-2 is a trimaran, is the bigger pretended weapon of LCS-2 the ram ? (if not, why is the anchor in LCS-2 placed in front of the bow ?) http://www.ussindependenceship.org/overview_ship.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrace (incidentally, Sagunto is very near my home town). At least, I hope LCS-2 must be stronger than Ady Gil ...

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

F/A-18s intercept Russian bombers near carrier By Lolita C. Baldor - The Associated Press Posted : Monday Feb 11, 2008 17:08:47 EST WASHINGTO — U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned. A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret. The Saturday incident, w…

Korea Herald article

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From Navy Times Report: Chinese ships confronted Kitty Hawk Kyodo News Service Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 16:08:22 EST TAIPEI — A Chinese attack submarine and destroyer shadowed U.S. warships in November in the Taiwan Strait, sparking a 28-hour standoff that brought the group to a battle-ready halt in the tense waters, a report in a Taiwan daily said Tuesday. The confrontation occurred as the Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and other ships in its battle group were heading back to Japan following China’s sudden cancellation of a long-scheduled holiday port call in Hong Kong, the China Times said, citing U.S. military sources. The carrier strike group …

From Jane's Intelligence Digest China-US hotline could stay cool 01 May 2008 On 10 April, Chinese General Liang Guanglie and United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates conducted their first phone conversation using the new "hotline" linking the Chinese and US defence establishments. During the call, Liang berated Gates for selling arms to Taiwan and for maintaining ties with the Taiwanese defence community. Gates in turn warned Liang that Washington would resist attempts by either Beijing or Taipei to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The exchange epitomises why the Sino-American military hotline is unlikely to overcome the misunderstandings, …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Thursday, February 19 09:31 am Reuters China called on Russia on Thursday to explain how a Chinese cargo ship sank in Russian waters after reports it was fired on by the Russian military. Skip related content Seven Chinese sailors were missing after the "New Star" sank on Saturday in stormy seas off Vladivostok and after a Russian warship shot at least 500 rounds into it, the official China Daily newspaper said, quoting a Chinese-language paper which in turned quoted a Russian newspaper. The "New Star" was held at the Russian port of Nakhodka earlier this month, suspected of involvement in smuggling, before it left without permission last week, the China D…

BBC news report Apparently it won't sail to other countries' territorial waters... which no sensible carrier admiral would do anyway...