News Story: Nuclear sub fuel, spy satellites likely on S. Korea's arms shopping list

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- As U.S. President Donald Trump promised support for South Korea's pursuit of cutting-edge weapon systems, its so-called three-axis defense program is expected to receive a boost, government officials and experts said Friday.

In talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in held in New York on Thursday (local time), Trump agreed to reinforce the allies' combined defense posture against North Korea through South Korea's "acquisition and development of state-of-the-art defense assets."

They also agreed to expand the deployment of the U.S. military's high-profile "strategic" assets to Korea.

It remains unclear whether Trump is trying to help the ally in need or he's more interested in selling arms.

"I am allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States," the former business tycoon tweeted on Sept. 5 following the North's claim of a hydrogen bomb test.

Regardless of Trump's intention, his approach provides South Korea with a good opportunity to upgrade its weaponry, defense officials here pointed out.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Nicholson Refuses Private Offer to Boost Afghan Air Force

Erik Prince, the former CEO of the private military company, Blackwater, has offered to step up the Afghan air war with a private air force capable of intelligence collection and close-air support, the Military Times reported.

According to a recent proposal submitted to the Afghan government, a senior Afghan military official said that Prince has submitted a business proposal offering a “turn-key composite air wing” to help the fledgling Afghan air force in its fight against the Taliban and other militant groups. 

The development comes as the White House is considering a plan to draw down the US involvement in Afghanistan and replace the ensuing power vacuum with contractors.

But the Pentagon officials are sceptical of that plan.

The Afghan official said that Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, has refused to meet with Prince regarding the contractor plan.

Military Times has reached out to US military officials in Afghanistan for a comment on Nicholson’s meeting or lack thereof with Prince and have yet to receive a reply.

The proposal submitted to the Afghan government in March boasts an impressive array of combat aircraft for a private company.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: India looks for intelligence-gathering aircraft

A Gulfstream G550 ISTAR (Click Image to Enlarge)

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

Electronic intel capabilities would help Air Force ’get her act together’

NEW DELHI — Aimed at countering a perceived threat from China, India is seeking to acquire seven aircraft with signals intelligence and communication-jamming capabilities with a budget of about $570 million.

“The requirement is for aircraft to carry out a unique list of missions centered around a two-front threat from China and Pakistan,” said Daljit Sigh, a defense analyst and retired Indian Air Force air marshal.

India’s global hunt is for twin-engine jets, and preference will be given to overseas companies able to provide custom, Indian-built electronic warfare equipment, a senior Indian Air Force official said.

”We need more airborne electronic intelligence (ELINT) assets, particularly to meet the Chinese threat as they are likely to extensively use electronic warfare and spoofing during any hostilities, and the IAF needs to get her act together,” said Vijainder K. Thakur, a defense analyst and retired Air force squadron leader.

The seven sigint aircraft will be operated by the Indian Air Force.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Chinese intel-gathering ship spotted near US-Australia exercise

By: Mike Yeo

ROCKHAMPTON, Australia — The high-end warfare being practiced by U.S. and Australian forces at a major exercise in Australia has attracted an unwanted visitor in the form of a Chinese intelligence-gathering ship.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that a People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, Type 815 (Dongdiao-class electronic surveillance ship) was sighted in waters off the Australian state of Queensland where Exercise Talisman Saber is being held. Australia’s Department of Defence subsequently confirmed that the ship, which it calls an auxiliary general intelligence vessel, “has remained outside Australia’s territorial waters but inside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone in the Coral Sea.”

The agency added that “the vessel’s presence has not detracted from the Exercise objectives,” with senior officers at the exercise remaining equally sanguine about the vessel’s presence. The maritime component commander at the exercise, Royal Australian Navy Commodore Mal Wise, observed that “we subscribe as the U.S. does to the freedom of the global commons and rules-based global order, and as long as they’re operating within that construct,” Australia has no objections.

Talisman Saber is a biennial U.S. and Australian exercise designed to improve combat readiness and interoperability between both forces in planning and conducting combined task force operations. This year’s exercise saw 33,000 personnel participate, and included smaller contingents from New Zealand, Japan and Canada, with the bulk of activity taking place on and in the vicinity of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in central Queensland.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Report: US Intelligence Chiefs Push for Permanent OK to Eavesdrop on Foreign Communications

Jeff Seldin

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence chiefs are making a strong push, backed by the White House, to reauthorize a controversial law that allows U.S. spy agencies to eavesdrop on foreign electronic communications.

During a Senate hearing that was largely concerned with the government’s ongoing investigations into Russia and possible collusion with members of President Donald Trump’s campaign, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats called permanent reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) his top legislative priority.

The law, set to expire at the end of the year, has been criticized repeatedly by privacy advocates who say it allows for the data of millions of U.S. citizens to be swept up in government surveillance.

AUS: $75m upgrade to national security facilities

Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan and Senator for the ACT Zed Seselja today announced the Government would invest $75 million upgrading infrastructure at the Australian Signals Directorate buildings in Canberra.

The Australian Signals Directorate is a 24-hours a day, seven day a week operation providing signals intelligence and information security to the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force.

The $75 million upgrade to critical infrastructure at the Russell Offices Buildings R5 and R6 will improve performance while lowering running costs.

Mr Tehan said the $75 million upgrade had been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works today and would be funded under the Defence Integrated Investment Program.

Think Tank: Triton to herald sea-change in RAAF surveillance

Matt Rainbow

The arrival in November of the first of Australia’s new P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft is a reminder that the days of the RAAF’s AP-3C Orions are numbered. For three decades the Orions of 10 and 11 Squadrons performed roles, including anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and overland intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

The Poseidon can fly faster and stay on station longer than the Orion, can be refuelled in-flight and its radar, Electro Optic and Electronic Support Measure systems are a generation ahead of the latest AP-3C upgrades. The RAAF intends to have its 15 Poseidons in service by the late 2020s, on the same missions as the Orion.

But Australia will soon be acquiring a very different aircraft which is much less of a like-for-like replacement. The MQ-4C Triton, to be in service by 2019, will also be filled with sensors, but without a single crew member on-board. The remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) will conduct maritime surveillance for the RAAF alongside the Poseidon.

The RAAF operates Israeli Herons in Afghanistan but the Triton is a strategic-level asset which will likely be tasked at the highest levels of Defence. The RAAF plans to buy only seven for $2–3 billion. To operate the Triton effectively, the ADF will need to deal with several issues.

News Report: Chinese Military Commissions New Intelligence Gathering Ship

Chinese media is reporting that the North Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned another intelligence-gathering ship on Tuesday at a ceremony in Qingdao.

The 6,000-ton vessel, named Kaiyangxing, is the fourth of the Dongdiao class to be commissioned in the last two years, and was built at Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard.

Six Dongdiao ships are currently in service with PLAN, the first commissioned in 1999. They are classified as Type 815A, though each subsequent vessel had adjustments made for mass and structure. 

News Story: Mixed Prospects for Boeing Military Aircraft

by Chris Pocock

The future sales prospects for Boeing’s military aircraft are mixed at present. The F-15 and F-18 production lines now seem more likely to extend into the next decade with more sales to the Middle East, now that political objections in Tel Aviv and Washington appear to be subsiding. A sale of fourKC-46 tankers to Japan has now been formally notified, but some U.S. Air Force (USAF) leadership has suggested that the service will buy no more than the 179 aircraft to which it is already committed. Meanwhile, Boeing faces stiff competition for the USAF JSTARS replacement, while arguing that the 737-800 airframe that it has proposed for that near-term requirement is also suitable as an AWACS and Rivet Joint SIGINT platform further in the next decade. All three missions are currently flown by Boeing 707 derivatives.

Kuwait is reportedly seeking 28 F-18s and Qatar 36 F-15s, with options for 36 more. The potential sales are yet to be formally approved and notified by the U.S. government. But the recent U..S 10-year, $38billion arms supply agreement with Israel might help clear the way. That agreement might even result in Boeing supplying more F-15I Strike Eagles to Israel, which received 25 of them in the mid-1990s. Boeing is still offering various avionics upgrades to the F-15, some of which are found on the 84 F-15SAs for Saudi Arabia that are now in production. But the company has dropped the full set of “Silent Eagle” stealth airframe modifications that it first proposed in 2009. As for the F/A-18, Boeing is still proposing the Advanced Super Hornet upgrades, some of which flew in mid-2013.

Read the full story at AINonline

Think Tank: Cyber wrap special - two heads are better than one

Andrew Davies

There’s a debate going on in the US at the moment that isn’t attracting much commentary here. While it’s a touch arcane, it’s worthy of public discussion. The question is the organisational arrangement for America’s cyber security, cyber offence and signals intelligence capabilities.

The Pentagon and the US intelligence community are in the blue corner, urging President Obama to split military Cyber Command functions away from the intelligence gathering National Security Agency. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is in the red corner, pledging to thwart any attempt to split the two bodies.

Not unusually, Senator McCain has a strong view. His opening statement at a hearing on national security encryption and cyber matters didn’t mince words:

‘Here we go again: another major policy matter has apparently been decided with no consultation whatsoever between the White House or the Department of Defense with this committee. I urge Secretary Carter to provide this committee and the Congress the details of this plan and his reasoning for supporting it. And I hope he will explain what has changed since the last time the administration rejected this idea in 2013…I would remind them that this committee does not take well to being stonewalled while their colleagues in the administration leak information to the press.’

News Story: Spying law set to renew debate over New Zealand intelligence agencies

WELLINGTON, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government on Monday tabled legislation that would give the country's intelligence agencies a mandate to spy on New Zealanders in order to protect "national security."

Prime Minister John Key said the New Zealand Intelligence and Security Bill 2016 was the most significant reform of the intelligence and security agencies in history and would improve transparency.

"We have an obligation to ensure New Zealanders are safe at home and abroad," Key said in a statement.

"Therefore it is vital our agencies operate under legislation which enables them to be effective in an increasingly complex security environment, where we are confronted by growing numbers of cyber threats and the rise of terrorist groups such as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant)."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Electronic snooping 'small price to pay' against terror - expert

Terrorism will cast a continuing shadow over future generations and government electronic surveillance is a small price to pay to combat it, a leading historian said Wednesday, a day after the carnage in Brussels.

British author and journalist Sir Max Hastings gave a robust defence of electronic intelligence-gathering in what he called a new world that would never know absolute security.

"Our tolerance of electronic surveillance, subject to legal and parliamentary oversight, seems a small price to pay for some measure of security against threats that nobody -- today of all days -- can doubt are real," Hastings told Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Twin attacks by Islamic State jihadists killed around 35 people in the Belgian capital Tuesday.

Hastings, a former war correspondent and newspaper editor, is author of 26 books mostly on military history.

His latest, "The Secret War", tells the story of behind-the-scenes intelligence operations in World War II.

Future wars "will almost certainly" be fought on similar turf.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: Asian Procurement Takes Cue From Chinese Modernization

F-35 Lightning Stealth Fighter

By Wendell Minnick

TAIWAN — China's military modernization effort continues to drive defense procurement in Asia as Beijing develops fifth-generation fighter aircraft, procures Russian Su-35 aircraft, builds aircraft carriers, extends the range and punch of its ballistic missile force, pushes to dominate the South China Sea, and threatens to invade Taiwan and occupy the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

“China’s increased militarization of the South China Sea, and its growing animosities with Japan, are driving many in the region to think about procuring additional firepower as a hedge against a more powerful and aggressive China,” said Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow and coordinator of the Military Transformations Program at Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

China’s traditional numerical superiority is increasingly complemented by at least near technical equivalence with its main regional rivals, said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

“The Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11 and the Russian Su-35 will provide the basis of a capable fighter combat inventory in the 2020s,” he said. “Top tier air forces will face challenges and choices in balancing investing in platforms able to be operated in highly contested airspace or increasingly relying on standoff weapons and systems."

Regional responses to China’s bellicose behavior and North Korea’s erratic threats to develop missiles and nuclear weapons include midlife upgrades to F-16 fighter aircraft in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, the development of new indigenous fighter aircraft, such as Korea’s KF-X program and Japan’s stealth X-2 Shinshin fighter, and upgrades of indigenous fighters, such as Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

PacificSentinel Note: Unless things have changed in a major way since I last looked, Australia, Japan and South Korea were all buying the F-35A conventional take-off fighter, NOT the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing version.

Think Tank: The Gulfstream G550 and the ADF—plugging the ISR gap

Malcolm Davis

The Australian Defence Force will soon acquire an important new platform that will enhance its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, focusing on electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering.

The US Defense Department recently revealed that several Gulfstream G550 executive jets will be modified by L-3 Communications Mission Integration in Texas under a under a US$93.6 million USAF foreign military sales (FMS) contract, with the capability being introduced into operational service by the end of next year.

The G550 performance envelope boasts a long range of 6,750nm (12,501km), a high subsonic cruise of Mach 0.885, and a short take-off and landing distance. That makes it a truly strategic platform, able to range far and wide across the Indo-Pacific region to perform vital intelligence gathering and other specialised tasks. It is by definition a high value asset for the ADF.

Although the Australian government is yet to officially comment on the acquisition, it seems highly likely that Australia will follow the lead set by other countries which operate the platform and emphasise the ISR role for the aircraft. A total of 37 states operate nearly 200 aircraft in support of a variety of government and military service special missions ranging from the more mundane executive transport through to more esoteric roles such as strategic reconnaissance, SIGINT and ELINT, and to assist with the development of radar and electronic systems.

News Story: (Australian) Defence confirms $133m project to convert luxury corporate jets into military spy planes

By defence reporter Andrew Greene

Defence has confirmed a $133 million project to convert two luxury corporate jets into state-of-the-art spy planes for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Shortly after Christmas, the United States entered into a "Foreign Military Sales arrangement" with Australia to modify two Gulfstream G550 business jets, into high-tech surveillance aircraft.

In a statement to the ABC, Defence said: "The aircraft will be modified to provide an airborne intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare capability to support ADF operations.

"Further details on the capability will be provided in the Integrated Investment Program due for release this year with the Defence White Paper."

The ABC has learnt the modified aircraft are due to come into service at the end of next year.

Read the full story at ABC

News Story: L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal

BY: GREG WALDRON

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) could be due to receive a new electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft, following a recent US Air Force contract award to L-3 Communications.

In a deal announced on 28 December 2015, the USAF granted a $92.6 contract for an “undefinitized contract action task order for Australia government G550 aircraft procurement and maintenance”.

The work – which is understood to involve two aircraft – will be performed at L-3's Greenville site in Texas, and should be completed by 30 November 2017.

Read the full story at Flight Global

Editorial: US Approves Sale of 3 Global Hawk Drones to Japan

By Franz-Stefan Gady

The U.S. State Department approved a $1.2 billion arms deal with Japan.

Last week, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. Department of State approved the possible sale of three RQ-4 Block 30 (I) Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and associated equipment to Japan.

U.S. Congress has to approve the sale within the next 15 days in order for the United States and Japan to begin negotiating the actual $1.2 billion arms deal. In detail, according to the DSCA, the Japanese government has requested the sale of:

• Three (3) RQ-4 Block 30 (I) Global Hawk Remotely Piloted Aircraft with Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS)
• Eight (8) Kearfott Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS) units (2 per aircraft with 2 spares)
• Eight (8) LN-251 INS/GPS units (2 per aircraft with 2 spares)

The primary U.S. defense contractor on the deal would be Northrop Grumman Corporation in Rancho Bernardo, California.

“The proposed sale of the RQ-4 will significantly enhance Japan’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and help ensure that Japan is able to continue to monitor and deter regional threats. The Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) will have no difficulty absorbing these systems into its armed forces,” DSCA emphasized.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: DPP plans command for electronic, information warfare

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will set up a military command responsible for communication, electronic and information warfare if it is returned to power next year, a local newspaper said Friday.

During the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference held Oct. 4-6 in the United States, a DPP delegation, led by party Secretary-General Joseph Wu, revealed the party's plan to establish a command for communication, electronic and information warfare in 2019 if it wins the January presidential election, the Chinese-language United Evening News reported, quoting an unnamed source.

To bolster Taiwan's electronic warfare capabilities, the DPP plans to integrate the military's existing electronic and information warfare capabilities with an additional civilian aspect to form the new command, in an effort to prevent organized attacks by hackers and terrorists, the report said.

Read the full story at Want China Times

Editorial: Time for the US to Punish China in Cyberspace?

By Prashanth Parameswaran

A closer look at the debate on how Washington should respond.

Over the past few weeks, attention has been focused on the Obama administration’s response to China for the hack on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which compromised the personal information of more than 20 million Americans. In a July 31 article in The New York Times, David Sanger reported that while the administration has determined that it ought to retaliate against Beijing, officials have struggled to determine exactly what options to pursue.

The question of how the United States should respond to the attack – still not officially attributed to China by the Obama administration – took center stage at an August 19 panel discussion on the issue at the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The event took place just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to the United States.

Catherine Lotrionte, a former intelligence official under the Bush administration, argued that the OPM hack constituted a serious attack on U.S. national security. Beyond compromising the security information of a large number of individuals, it also provided a list of people with clearances for China to potentially recruit as well as insights into which foreign nationals may have been speaking to U.S. intelligence officials.

Despite this, Lotrionte, now a professor at Georgetown University, noted that the Obama administration had remained silent on the issue, refusing to even state a clear position. Without at least lodging a formal protest, she said it was very difficult to expect a change of behavior from China, particularly since attacks according to some U.S. officials have continued to happen.

“I feel pretty comfortable saying we haven’t really deterred anyone,” she said.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: To Fight Terror, Japan Must Fix Its Intelligence Apparatus

By Yuki Tatsumi

New counter-terror measures are a start, but Japan needs a more holistic approach in its fight against terrorism.

On May 29, the Japanese government decided on a number of measures that aim to enhance its counter-terrorism efforts. A special task force on counter-terrorism headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshhide Suga laid out the wide-ranging efforts (PDF) that Japanese government will undertake.

The hallmark of these efforts is the establishment of the International Terrorism Intelligence-Gathering Unit. This special unit, to be established within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), will cooperate with foreign intelligence agencies and oversee the collection and analysis of terrorism-related intelligence. Although the unit will be placed in the MOFA, its staff will consist of detailed officials from the National Police Agency (NPA) and Cabinet Intelligence Research Office (CIRO). This special unit will also assign its own staff to be posted to Japanese embassies and consulates in the areas of focus.

This decision by the Japanese government is driven by the tragic killing of two Japanese hostages by ISIS in February 2015. The incident exposed the Japanese government’s lack of capacities to collect and analyze intelligence relating to terrorist activities that can threaten Japan and its people. Other new measures include tightening immigration control, enhancing the emergency alert system for the Japanese citizens in foreign countries, strengthening the security of critical infrastructure in Japan, and pursuing international cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts.

Read the full story at The Diplomat