CV32

Qian Kong Kuai: a new scenario for the Westpac theater "The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands comprise small volcanic islands and three rocky outcrops at the eastern edge of the East China Sea. The dispute between China and Japan over their sovereignty goes back 500 years, and with the potential of huge offshore oil and gas reserves in the region, shows no sign of resolution. Now China has begun to exploit the resource, and Japan has responded in kind. Now that the Taiwan and Korea questions have been answered, China feels daring enough to enforce its claim on the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Once again, competing economic interests in dangerous proximity result in military action." Get it at HarpGamer via the HC Scen/AAR button. Have fun.

A new version of the Harpoon Commander's Edition Database (HCDB-050819) is available. Get it at HarpGamer via the DB Share button. New additions include: A330-200 MRTT - INTL AH-64D-I Sharaf - Israel CH-148 Cyclone - Canada Su-30MKI Flanker C - India Su-30MKK Flanker C - China Su-30MK2 Flanker C - China Su-30MKM Flanker C - Malaysia W-3WA Sokol - Poland PB Armidale - Australia PTM Barzan (Vita) - Qatar PG Mirage (Project 14310) - Russia PTM Roussen (Super Vita) - Greece PG Trinkat - India SS S-80 - Spain (Note that some of these additions were added to HCDB-050818 release, which never made it to public release before I was finished with HCDB-050819). Also, check out my new scenario, Qian Kong Kuai, which uses this latest version of the HCDB. Enjoy.

Sorry, you're right. I must have forgotten to export after completing that entry. In any event, there should be another release by the weekend, so look for it there. My apologies.

From Navy Times San Francisco heads to yard By Christopher Munsey Times staff writer The attack submarine San Francisco, damaged during a collision with an undersea mountain earlier this year, departed Guam Aug. 17 for a surface transit across the Pacific for permanent repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington. San Francisco will make a stop in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii during its voyage back to Washington, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, spokesman for Commander, Submarine Force Pacific. Including the time spent in Hawaii, the transit is expected to take “a few weeks”, Davis said. San Francisco will not submerge during the transit, but will make the trip under its own power, he said. One of three attack submarines forward-deployed in Guam, San Francisco crushed its bow during a collision with an undersea mountain in the Pacific near the Caroline Islands Jan. 8. The collision fatally injured a crew member, Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley. San Francisco underwent temporary repairs at a drydock in Guam at an estimated cost of $19 million, then started two months of training. The submarine completed a round of sea trials July 25-26, to prove it could safely make it back to Puget Sound under its own power. The current plan for a permanent repair at the Puget Sound shipyard calls for removing a bow section from a decommissioned Los Angeles-class submarine, removing San Francisco’s repaired bow, and fitting the replacement on, Navy officials have said. The cost estimate for the permanent repair is $79 million, said Patricia Dolan, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command. Navy officials have said they want to send a replacement submarine to Guam to make up for San Francisco’s absence during the repair process. The name of the replacement submarine has not been announced.

Well, after a summer hiatus, some of it welcome and some of it not (that's life, huh), the CPX is moving forward. The basic scenario has been constructed, and the players will now be asked to make decisions about aircraft loadouts, formation patrols, etc.

From Defense Aerospace Preferred Designer Chosen for AWD Contract (Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued Aug. 16, 2005) The Federal Government has chosen Gibbs & Cox as the preferred designer for Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) - one of Australia’s largest and most complex Defence projects worth up to $6 billion. Defence Minister Robert Hill said Gibbs & Cox now joins a team made up of ASC Shipbuilder Pty Ltd, who has been selected to build the AWDs, and Raytheon Australia, selected as the Combat System-System Engineer. Senator Hill said Gibbs & Cox, a United States based company, was chosen through a competitive tender evaluation process that also included German company Blohm + Voss and Spanish company Navantia. (Editor’s Note: the selected Gibbs & Cox proposal is based on the US Navy’s DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class destroyer.)c "The selection of Gibbs and Cox as platform designer now completes the team whose responsibility it is to deliver the project," Senator Hill said. "The Government made the decision after accepting the recommendation of the Source Selection Board on the basis that Gibbs & Cox offered a superior bid in terms of value for money. "All three companies presented competitive bids and showed themselves to be very competent naval ship designers. Bids were evaluated against a wide range of criteria. "The Gibbs & Cox evolved design will now compete with an Australianised version of Spain’s existing F100 ship design, and will be further considered by the Government as part of the next phase of the project. "The construction of the Air Warfare Destroyers will be one of the most significant shipbuilding projects undertaken in Australia to date, and will provide enormous opportunities for Australian industry," Senator Hill said. The Government has provided $455 million towards the current phase of the project which includes further design work, workforce skilling, initial infrastructure investment and facilities construction. Senator Hill said the Defence program office would now advise on a location to establish a state of the art AWD System Centre which will house up to 200 personnel working on the development and through life support of the vessels. The conduct of the evaluation and selection of Gibbs & Cox was reviewed by AWD Program Probity Advisers KPMG and also independently by Sir Laurence Street, both of whom have confirmed that the process was fair and equitable. "The AWDs represent a quantum leap in the air warfare capabilities of the Navy," Senator Hill said. "The vessels, which are to be introduced into service from 2013, will be equipped with the world-class AEGIS Combat System capable of detecting hostile aircraft and missiles at ranges in excess of 150 kilometres." They will provide significantly increased protection from air attack for troops being transported and deployed on ADF Operations overseas and can provide long-range air warfare defence for a Naval task group. The AWDs will also have an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability, as well as the ability to embark a helicopter at sea. The ship will also be interoperable with the United States and other Coalition partners.

Yeah, it's there, in the HCDB-050812 release. You're probably looking at the HCDB-050810.

The JDAM as presented in the DB cannot attack ships. (The ability to hit moving targets with GPS/INS guided bombs is still being perfected in real life). That said, the full range of planned weaponry for the JSF is not yet implemented in the HCDB (current loadouts reflect internally carried weapons), but in due course, I will be adding weapons like LGBs and JASSM which will add a degree of anti-ship capability. Done. See the HCDB-050812 release. The Mi-8 Hip helicopter is already in the HCDB. Look for the "Mi-8MT/-17 Hip H" under INTL entries. Whether the Chinese will ever build and deploy an aircraft carrier remains in question. Just recently the PRC denied that it was already building a carrier, and gave indications that such a project was on the "backburner" due to cost. But then, only today, I saw a report that China was refurbishing the Varyag (Kuznetsov's unfinished sister ship), repainting her in Chinese naval colours, and performing other unspecified work. So, suffice to say, any Chinese aircraft carrier that went into the HCDB at this point would be completely hypothetical. Its something I'll have to think about. Thanks for your continued interest (and scenarios !), Mark.

A new version of the Harpoon Classic Gold (now Harpoon Commander's Edition, to be technically accurate, I guess) Database (HCDB-050812) is available. Get it at HarpGamer via the DB share button. New additions include: An overhaul of the Rafale versions and loadouts: Rafale M (F3) - France Rafale M (F4) - France Rafale C (F3) - France Rafale C (F4) - France MiG-27ML Bahadur - India X-45C J-UCAS - USA Hatf I TEL - Pakistan Hatf II TEL - Pakistan Hatf III TEL - Pakistan Hatf IV (Shaheen I) TEL - Pakistan Hatf V (Ghauri I) TEL - Pakistan Hatf VI (Shaheen II) TEL - Pakistan Agni 2 TEL - India Prithvi 1 TEL - India Prithvi 2 TEL - India SS S-80 - Spain Have fun.

From Defense Aerospace Northrop Grumman Celebrates Ceremonial Steel Cut and Facilities Grand Opening for CVN 21 Aircraft Carrier Program (Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued Aug. 11, 2005) NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation has reached its first construction milestone in the life of the new-generation aircraft carrier, CVN 21. The company cut one of the first pieces of steel, a 15-ton plate for a side shell unit of CVN 78, the first ship of the CVN 21 program. Design work on the CVN 21 is underway at Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector, with the full construction contract anticipated in 2007. Advance construction began in 2005 to allow shipbuilders to test the design-build strategy before overall construction begins in 2007. Each ship of the class is valued at approximately $8 billion. The ceremony also served as the grand opening for the shipyard's new heavy-plate bay facility, one of several new facilities built for CVN 21 construction. This facility houses some of the most technologically advanced machines in the shipbuilding industry, including the ESAB Avenger 3-Telerex burning machine used in the steel-cut ceremony. Other new CVN 21 facilities include the covered modular-assembly facility, covered modular-outfitting facility and unit-assembly facility. These facilities will allow employees to work uninterrupted by the weather, and will house additional cranes to build pre-outfitting units to a higher degree of completion than on all previous carriers. Ceremony participants included Mike Petters, president, Northrop Grumman Newport News; Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.-1st District); Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.-3rd District); U.S. Navy Rear Adm. David Architzel, program executive officer for aircraft carriers; Navy Rear Adm. H. Denby Starling II, commander, Naval air force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; Navy Capt. Michael E. McMahon, commanding officer, supervisor of shipbuilding, conversion and repair, Newport News; Joe S. Frank, mayor, Newport News, Va; and employees from the CVN 21 program. “CVN 78 will have improved capabilities over the Nimitz-class, a class of ships that has proven very capable,'' said Petters. “CVN 21 is designed for efficiency over the 50-year lifecycle while providing America with the kind of forward presence unique to aircraft carriers and so critical in today's uncertain world.'' Innovations for the CVN 21 program include an enhanced flight deck capable of increased sortie rates, improved weapons movement, a redesigned island, a new nuclear power plant, reduced manning and allowance for future technologies. These and many other evolutionary features are being developed to maximize efficiency and reduce acquisition costs, manning and weight while enhancing the ship's operational capabilities. Design and technology insertion costs are approximately $5.6 billion spread over the class of ships. “Today celebrates a significant investment in the future of Newport News,'' said Architzel. “I can tell you there are no better warfighting platforms in the world than those that are built at Newport News.'' Northrop Grumman Newport News, headquartered in Newport News, Va., is the nation's sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of only two companies capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines. Newport News also provides after-market services for a wide array of naval and commercial vessels. The Newport News sector employs about 19,000 people.

From DefenseNews Pakistan Test-Fires First Cruise Missile By DANNY KEMP, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ISLAMABAD Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on Thursday, joining a select club of nations which have developed the ground-hugging projectiles, the military said. Military ruler President Pervez Musharraf hailed the launch of the Hatf VII Babur, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as a “major milestone” in the country’s defense program, an army statement said. Pakistan did not give advance warning to rival India, despite a deal made at the weekend between the two countries to notify each other before missile tests and to set up a hotline to prevent an accidental atomic exchange. The agreement only refers to ballistic missiles and not to cruise missiles, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan told AFP. The military said the launch of the missile, which has a range of 310 miles, meant that Pakistan had “joined a select group of countries which have the capability to design and develop cruise missiles”. The scientists and technicians involved had “again done the nation proud by mastering a rare technology”, General Musharraf added in the statement, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also sent his congratulations. “It is a gift of the scientists on the birthday of President Musharraf and the Independence Day,” state media quoted Information Minister Sheikh Rashid as saying about the test. Musharraf marked his 62nd birthday on Thursday, while Pakistan celebrates the 58th anniversary of the end of British colonial rule on Sunday. The missile could avoid radar detection to penetrate hostile defensive systems “with pinpoint accuracy”, the statement added, and could also be launched from ships, submarines and aircraft. According to the Federation of American Scientists, there are at least 12 countries who export cruise missiles: Britain, the United States, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Taiwan. India unveiled its first cruise missile, a supersonic joint venture with Russia named the BrahMos, in 2001. There was no immediate reaction from New Delhi. Pakistan and India conducted tit-for-tat test nuclear detonations in 1998 and came to the brink of war in 2002. The historical rivals, who have already fought three wars, routinely carry out tests of nuclear-capable missiles. On Saturday they signed the long-awaited deal for the nuclear hotline and formalized the pre-notification of missile tests. The telephone link is to be set up by September. Ishtiaq Ahmad, professor of international relations at Islamabad’s Quaid-e-Azam University, said the test was a “major achievement”. “So far Pakistan has been able to match India’s ballistic missile capability and this was the only area in which they were lagging behind,” the analyst told AFP. The agreement was part of a year-and-a-half long peace process that has brought India and Pakistan to their closest relationship for decades and seen the revival of severed sporting and transport links. Pakistan is at the centre of investigations into a nuclear black market run by its disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who confessed in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

From Defense Aerospace Government Approves First Stage of Amphib Ships Project (Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued Aug. 11, 2005) The Federal Government has approved the first stage of the $2 billion Amphibious Ships project which will provide Navy with a world class capability to deploy land forces on operations. Defence Minister Robert Hill said the project will provide Navy with two new amphibious ships to be used on operations such as combat operations, regional disaster relief, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping and peace monitoring, and assistance to policing or military operations. Australian shipbuilders will be invited to tender for either or both of two designs: -- the Spanish Navantia ship at approximately 27,000 tonne; -- the French Armaris Mistral ship with additional troop carrying capability at approximately 22,000 tonne. "Each ship will preferably have the ability to transport up to 1000 personnel, have six helicopter landing spots and provision for a mix of troop lift and armed reconnaissance helicopters. It will also be able to transport up to 150 vehicles including the new M1A1 Abrams tanks and armored vehicles," Senator Hill said. "Each ship will also be equipped with medical facilities, including two operating theatres and a hospital ward." A Request for Tender will be released to the Australian shipbuilding industry in the second quarter of 2006. Senator Hill said the ship builder would be determined once a thorough financial and technical comparison was made between Australian bids and overseas build options. "The Government's preference is to see the ships built in Australia, however Australian industry will need to demonstrate it can deliver the project at a competitive price," Senator Hill said. The Government has given first pass approval to the project and committed $29.8 million towards the Design Development Phase of the project. This will enable Navantia and Armaris to now work on defining the requirements for the ships incorporating necessary Australian environmental, safety and technical requirements. The tender documentation will allow bidders to: -- Form teaming arrangements; -- Submit fixed price bids; -- Provide innovative solutions to improve price and schedule, and; -- Bid through life support solutions. "A lot of work has been done on assessing the two ships and also the capability of ship builders. Both ships are very capable and will be a quantum leap over our current capability," Senator Hill said. "The Spanish ship would have a greater carrying capacity but construction of the first Spanish ship has only just started. In comparison, the French ship has slightly less carrying capacity but has been constructed and is undertaking its final tests with the French Navy." For an Australian build, the contract would be awarded in early 2007 with the in-service date for the first ship being 2012.

A new version of the Harpoon Classic Gold Database (HCDB-050810) is available. Get it at HarpGamer via the DB Share button. New additions include: EF-18A/B+ Hornet - Spain JF-17 Thunder - Pakistan P-8A MMA - USA CV Queen Elizabeth (CVF) - UK Plus new installations in Yemen where (strangely) none existed before. Enjoy.

This wouldn't be a terribly difficult exercise, especially for the Cold War era. Mind you a lot of the information is readily available on the Web, but we'll look into putting it together in a useful format for Harpoon scenario designers. That's true, and it makes it more difficult to present a "standardized" composition of a task force or carrier strike group. They tend to be shaped by the necessities of the situation. Duly noted.

From DefenseNews Iran Says It Will Drop Nuclear Pledges if Attacked By AMIR PAIVAR, REUTERS, TEHRAN Iran, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), would drop all its international nuclear pledges if its atomic facilities were attacked, the outgoing Defense Minister said on Aug. 9. His comments came a day after Iran resumed uranium conversion work, fanning Western fears it may be seeking atomic weapons and defying European Union warnings that Tehran could be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are limited to peaceful electricity generation. “The day our facilities are attacked, we will put aside all our nuclear commitments,” Ali Shamkhani told reporters. He did not specify which commitments Iran would drop. Leading conservatives have called for Iran to follow North Korea’s example and pull out of the NPT, a treaty aimed at halting the spread of nuclear arms. Shamkhani said he thought it was unlikely the United States would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying Washington must have learned its lesson from the bloody invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials have played down media speculation they may be planning military action against Iran. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, which also accuses Iran of developing atomic weapons, has said his country would prefer a diplomatic rather than military offensive against Iran at this stage. “Whatever is destroyed … will be rebuilt elsewhere,” Shamkhani said. “Our nuclear capability cannot be destroyed by any bomb, because it lies in our universities.” The U.N. atomic watchdog confirmed on Aug. 8 that Iran had resumed nuclear fuel work mothballed under a deal with Britain, France and Germany. Iran also formally rejected a package of political and economic incentives offered by the three on behalf of the EU and aimed at persuading it to scrap nuclear fuel work for good. Shamkhani said Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles “are now accurate to within one meter of their target.” Iran began upgrading the Shahab-3 in May. Tehran said last year it had begun mass production of the medium-range missiles, thought by military experts to have a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles) — enough to reach Israel. With speculation mounting about new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominees for cabinet, Shamkhani asked for the defense candidate to be an insider. Iranian media have named the chief of the joint staff of the hardline Revolutionary Guards Ali Akbar Ahmadian as a possible candidate. But Shamkhani said Ahmadinejad had also spoken to Hossein Alaee, head of Iran’s Defence Aircraft Industries Organisation. Alaee declined to comment.

From DefenseNews Pentagon OKs Continued Design Work on U.S Navy Warship By REUTERS, WASHINGTON The Defense Department has authorized Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. to continue design work on the new U.S. Navy DD(X) destroyer while Congress and Defense Department officials decide the fate of the program, a spokeswoman said Aug. 8. Pentagon acquisitions chief Kenneth Krieg signed a memorandum late on Aug. 5 authorizing the Navy to continue giving the two companies contracts for preliminary design work on the ships, said spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin. She noted that detailed design work would begin after a so-called “Milestone B” decision that would move the new program into the new phase of development. “This just allows the program to continue until the Department of Defense leadership and Congress decide about the future of the program,” said a Navy spokeswoman. Analysts for the Congressional Budget Office told U.S. lawmakers last month the cost of building the first new DD(X) destroyer could be up to $4.7 billion, above an upper limit of $4 billion to $4.5 billion set by the Pentagon. But Krieg told the same hearing that the new ship was needed to deal with future military threats and would cost less to operate in the long run than the older DDG destroyers. Northrop Grumman, with a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, had a leading role in designing the DD(X). The Navy wants to acquire eight to 12 DD(X) ships, with Northrop and General Dynamics and its shipyard in Bath, Maine, initially set to split the production work. Given rising costs, the Navy suggested a competition between the two shipyards for production work, although that proposal raised concerns in Congress over whether it would maintain sufficient U.S. shipyard capacity.

There's an interesting article about the role of airpower during the Cuban missile crisis in the latest issue (August 2005) of Air Force Magazine, found here.

Yup. Very open ended indeed. However, I was thinking of a scenario that would reply to the request in a very general sense, i.e. create the units and bases stateside and arrange them so that the player must form them up and forward deploy. I'm not terribly concerned about the date, unless someone expresses a specific preference.

From Jane's Defence Weekly Aiming for the high ground By Rob Hewson Editor Jane's Air-Launched Weapons London In the global market (excluding Russia and China) the US dominates the industrial and operational landscape in two ways. With the largest deployed air force it obviously has the largest weapons requirement. US manufacturers will always be supported by this single, fiercely protected market that guarantees sales. For example, the US Air Force (USAF) plans to replace its AIM-9M Sidewinder stocks (about 4,400 missiles) on an almost one-for-one basis with the AIM-9X (4,000 missiles) by 2012. No other customer has this kind of buying power. Europe's missile industry watches the air-to-air weapons market with increasing frustration. The easy availability of integrated and affordable US missiles continues to eat up market share. Europe's air-to-air missile (AAM) developers hold impeccable high-tech credentials and have produced advanced and effective weapons. However, they have failed to develop sufficient critical mass while always struggling with delays and high costs. France has had a reliable market for its missiles but these weapons have been tied to French-built platforms. That route is now a dead end for future volume sales. The UK is arguably in a worse position, with no national aircraft industry to fall back on and exports to the US or Europe unlikely. Other projects, like the German-led IRIS-T, survive at the margins but the European missile industry is failing to effectively compete by not having a unified product line, or even a unified process. A 'must have' package One of the few instances where this is not true - and the only example in the AAM field - is MBDA Missile Systems' Meteor Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) programme. The Meteor should be a benchmark future weapon, one that pulls together all of Europe's skills into a 'must have' package. The threat to this rosy future is twofold. Meteor may yet arrive into a 'no need' world, where there is no effective air threat to warrant such a high-performance (and highly priced) missile. The second, greater, danger is a 'no room' scenario where Meteor is quietly but effectively shut out from any US platform - specifically the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) - and thereby excluded from what could be the lion's share of the post-2020 combat aircraft market.

For those who may have been wondering, there should be a new version of the HCDB available within the week. I have been doing the summer/holiday thing lately, as most of the Harpoon community does this time of year, but its time to put out another release. Other than some units we will be needing for the CPX, and some specific units I am interested in adding myself, such as the planned British CVF aircraft carrier, I am open to your requests. As usual. Brad

Saw this request on the AGSI website: " ... can we get a basic scenario that has all the bases with the peacetime deployments? It would be really awesome to have the abilty to create scenarios based on making forward deployments as part of the vitory conditions. IE CVBG on east coast, with components having to form up and deploy whie engaging individual sub units. Or a Air wing being moved forward to a base being challenged, or a convoy being formed up. Its just so tough sometimes to know the natural progressions of a unit forming up, that if we had a base scenario with all units in place, we could just then remove those bases, ships, subs and planes not considered essential to the scenario being made." Anyone have any ideas for such a scenario ?

From Defense Aerospace HMS Invincible Retires Early (Source: Thales UK. Issued Aug. 4, 2005) The Royal Navy's flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, has been retired from service in Portsmouth six months early. She had been in service since 1977, and was deployed in the Falklands war. She was honoured on her final trip by a fly-past involving Sea Harriers, Sea King helicopters, the Lynx Pairs Display Team and RAF Chinook helicopters. With the Ark Royal currently undergoing a major refit and due to re-enter service late next year, Invincible's retirement leaves the Illustrious as the only aircraft carrier in operational service. In 2012 the MoD plans to replace all of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers with Thales-designed future aircraft carriers (CVF). CVF will see the development and construction of two 60,000-tonne aircraft carriers that will ultimately replace the 22,000 tonne Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal warships. The programme is the biggest of its kind to take place within the British defence industry and both ships, the largest and most powerful to be built in the UK, are due to be completed at an estimated total cost of £3 billion. Also decommissioned this summer was the Royal Navy's longest serving warship, the HMS Cardiff. Having served in both the Gulf war and the Falklands, her final tour was in the Mediterranean as part of a NATO force patrolling the sea-lanes to curtail terrorist movements. Her decommissioning comes as part of defence cuts announced last year, which include the removal from service of three Type 42 destroyers by March 2006. As yet, there are no plans for the future of the ship and she will remain anchored in Portsmouth until a decision is made. HMS Cardiff will be replaced by a Type 45 Daring-class anti-air warfare destroyer for which Thales UK is providing the radar band electronic support measures (RESM) system. The RESM has been developed from Outfit UAT with an improved signal process and emitter identification technology and the system is also being used to upgrade the radar on all other Royal Navy warships to bring them up to the Type 45's cutting-edge standard. Thales UK is also involved in the development and supply of the Fully Integrated Communications System and the Principal Anti-Air Missile System.

From DefenseNews New Succession Structure to Emerge in Saudi Arabia By RIAD KAHWAJI, DUBAI The death of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz on Aug. 1 has set in motion a succession process believed to be in place ever since the late monarch’s health started deteriorating following his 1995 stroke. Crown Prince Abdullah was immediately named as the new monarch while his half-brother, Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, was named as the new crown prince. “King Fahd’s death, and Crown Prince Abdullah’s accession to the throne, is unlikely to have any negative impact on Saudi stability and may well help the kingdom move forward in dealing with a number of major issues,” said Anthony Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington. In the past decade, Abdullah consolidated his control as the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom and introduced many reforms, although not as many or as fast as he might have wished. Abdullah, Cordesman said, “has been seen as both a supporter of reform, and traditional in values — free of corruption and deeply Islamic. He has encouraged the next generation of princes to support reform, pushed for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement and supported dialogue with the West to counter Islamic extremism. King Fahd’s death will now give him full power, and he may well be able to move forward in several areas of reform, exploiting the ties he has already developed to ‘reform’ factions in the family, technocrats and elite.” As defense minister, Prince Sultan invested much of his country’s vast oil wealth in establishing a modern military through a series of huge arms deals with the West in the late 1970s and ‘80s. He also managed the kingdom’s defense policy through the difficult relations with Washington that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Observers in the Saudi capital of Riyadh said the Aug. 1 succession of power went smoothly as expected. But one problem remains: the new king and crown prince are believed to be 81 years old each. It will be some time before the political map is clear in Saudi Arabia as to who will be next in line after Prince Sultan. While Sultan’s son, Prince Khaled, has emerged as a powerful figure in the Defense Ministry, he would face tough competition from two of the new king’s half brothers: Prince Naif, the conservative interior minister, and Prince Salman, the governor of Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has not signed a major multibillion-dollar defense contract for some time despite its need for new fighter jets and other defense systems. The slowdown in defense spending was attributed to a lack of funds caused by drops in oil prices. However, some analysts have said they believe the vast revenues generated by higher oil prices in the last couple of years would revive Saudi defense procurement.

From DefenseNews Japan Plans First Spy Plane to Watch North Korea By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TOKYO Japan plans to introduce unmanned spy aircraft to watch military bases in North Korea or other countries, letting Tokyo gather such intelligence on its own for the first time, a report said July 26. The Defense Agency will tighten its watch on North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan in 1998, regardless of the outcome of multilateral talks that began July 26 in China to end Pyongyang’s nuclear drive, the Tokyo Shimbun said. The agency will seek funds on the project for the fiscal year beginning in April 2006, the newspaper said, without citing sources. The agency would not confirm the report. A spokesman said only that the agency was “considering” plans for the next fiscal year. The report said the agency wanted to have surveillance aircraft that would endure a long flight at an altitude of 20 kilometers (12 miles), a height unreachable by ground-to-air missiles. The aircraft could watch missile bases in inland North Korea and alert Japanese troops if it sees any sign of a missile launch with its infra-red sensors, it said. The plane, to be domestically developed or imported from the United States, would also be able to take pictures of military facilities in other countries and chase spy ships, it said. Japan would thus have its own “eyes” to watch other nations’ military activity for the first time since the end of World War II when the nation became officially pacifist, the newspaper said. Tokyo can already eavesdrop on military communications, but the lack of a greater espionage network has led to concern that Japanese policymakers are too dependent on U.S. intelligence. A weekend report by the Yomiuri Shimbun said Japan wants to put a missile shield it is developing with the United States in place in early 2006, one year earlier than planned, due to perceived threats from North Korea and China. The agency spokesman said the official policy was still to start deploying the system in March 2007.

From Defense Aerospace U.S. Argues Against EU Lifting Arms Embargo Against China (Source: US Department of Defense; issued July 21, 2005) WASHINGTON --- The European Union lifting its arms embargo against China would bring "serious and numerous" consequences, according to a Defense Department report released this week. The European Union has embargoed arms sales to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. In the past year China has run an intense lobbying effort to have the ban lifted, a move strongly opposed by U.S. officials. "We think the Chinese would be able to obtain in Europe a lot of military or dual-use technologies that would be of great qualitative benefit to them," a senior DoD official said July 19 on background. DoD's annual report to Congress on Chinese military power explains in detail that U.S. officials oppose EU arms sales to China because such sales would have the potential to greatly improve China's military capabilities. "Ending the embargo could also remove implicit limits on Chinese military interaction with European militaries, giving China's armed forces broad access to critical military 'software' such modern military management practices, operational doctrine and training, and logistics expertise," the report states. It goes on to say that if the embargo were to be lifted, China would likely focus on establishing "joint ventures" with EU companies to develop technological advances. The report states that such partnerships wouldn't likely produce advances in the short term because it takes time to integrate technologies and processes. But in the medium to long term, integrations with EU companies could "significantly improve" capabilities of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The increased competition brought about by EU arms sales to China could also lead Russia and Israel -- currently the largest suppliers of arms and military technology to China -- to relax their existing limits on such sales. "Potential competition from EU countries already may have prompted Russia to expand the range of systems it is willing to market (to) China," the report states. In 2004, Russia provided China a new version of the Su-30MK2 "Flanker" aircraft, with an enhanced radar system and long-range R-77 and R-27 missiles, "enhancing the capability of China's air forces to conduct over-the-horizon and beyond-visual-range attacks." Accelerating Chinese military modernization "would have direct implications for stability in the Taiwan Strait and the safety of U.S. personnel," according to the report. The final major concern with lifting the EU arms embargo to China is that such a move would allow China to expand its own proliferation activities. Increasing third-party sales to China could lead to improvements in systems China markets to others, "including to countries of concern such as Iran." Major recipients of Chinese military assistance include Burma, Sudan and Zimbabwe -- all countries subject to EU arms embargoes in their own right, the report states. The EU has stated lifting the embargo would "produce no qualitative or quantitative increases" in China's military capabilities. However, the report states, "the EU's tools to enforce such a commitment remain inadequate." "Lifting the embargo could allow China access to military and dual-use technologies that would help China to improve current weapon systems and to improve indigenous industrial capabilities for production of future advanced weapons systems," the report states.