News Report: More War Games: US and Japan Practice for Urban Warfare in North Korea

US and Japanese soldiers have begun two weeks of urban combat training as part of a bilateral exercise in the foothills surrounding Mount Fuji in central Japan. The exercise was explicitly described as a preparation for combat with North Korea, as tensions between the DPRK and the American bloc show no signs of abating.

1,200 soldiers — half from the US Army's 25th Infantry Division's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team (stationed out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska) and half from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force 34th Infantry Regiment — kicked off the Orient Shield exercise in the East Fuji Maneuver Area. 

AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Combat Aviation Brigade also provided support in the exercise. The aviators will conduct live-fire training alongside the ground troops, as well as practice with Japanese aviators flying AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 Iroquois helicopters.

Maj. Gen. James Pasquarette, the commander of US Army Japan, said that the purpose of the exercise was to signal the fighting readiness of the US and Japan. "The strength of the US-Japan alliance is a part of that calculus in changing [North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's] behavior," he said in a statement.

News Report: Forty Indian Helicopters to Join Combat Fleet at Eastern Border With China

HAL ALH Rudra, armed version of the LCH Dhruv

The 40 ALH manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will join the fleet that includes the recently contracted 6 Apache AH-64 E heavy attack helicopters.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India's state-owned defense firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has bagged an order to supply 40 multi-role advanced light helicopters to the Indian Army and one to the Indian Navy. According to the $952 million contract, HAL would deliver the helicopters in a phased manner over the next five years.

"The latest order reflects the trust on HAL's capabilities and gives an impetus to make-in-India campaign. It reposes faith of Indian Defense forces in indigenous ALH which has been serving them with distinction for a long time", says Mr. T. Suvarna Raju, CMD-HAL.

News Story: India approves deals for Apache helicopters, maritime engines

AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI ― The Indian government this week cleared long-pending deals for six Boeing Apache attack helicopters and two Zorya marine engines from Ukraine.

The two projects were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council, which is headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. Formal contracts will be awarded in the next four to six months, a Ministry of Defence official said.

Under the deal, the Indian Army will acquire six Apache attack helicopters for about $650 million. They will be equipped with Hellfire and Stinger missiles.

The Army, which currently has no attack helicopters as part of its inventory, requires 39 Apache helicopters, but the Defence Acquisition Council only cleared six, the MoD official noted.

In 2012, Boeing was awarded a $1.3 billion order for 22 Apache AH-64D helicopters for the Indian Air Force. The deliveries will begin mid-2017 and will include 812 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles, 542 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire II missiles, 245 Stinger Block I-92H missiles and 12 AN/APG-78 fire-control radars.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: USFK commander - Kim Jong-un's goal is to break unity among regional powers

Gen. Vincent K. Brooks
(Image: Wiki Commons)

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is attempting to deter unity between South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan with a string of belligerent acts, the top American military commander here said Thursday.

Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who commands U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), pointed out that the communist regime's nearly weekly missile tests have become "the new normal."

The North test-fired 28 ballistic missiles in 2016 alone, followed by 10 others this year, including what is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

It's also reportedly preparing for another missile launch in the coming days, although there was no report of a launch on Thursday, the 64th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

"His actions intend to sow friction and fissures among the five in order to prevent them from coming together as a cohesive block," Brooks said, addressing a forum under way in Nebraska, a U.S. state, according to the USFK's website.

The two-day symposium on deterrence is being hosted by the U.S. Strategic Command.

"He's trying to prevent the creation of a closed fist against him," the commander said, showing the five fingers of his hand to refer to the five countries involved in the now-suspended denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

He described the North Korea issue as a "wicked problem" and called for a "creative" approach to resolve it by pooling the wisdom of various people.

He also stressed the importance of deterrence for the part of the U.S. and its allies.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

USA: U.S.-India Defense Relationship on Positive Trajectory, DoD Official Says

By Terri Moon Cronk 

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2017 — The defense relationship between the United States and India is positive and has come a long way in two decades, Cara Abercrombie, deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, said today.

Abercrombie discussed the defense and security relationship between the two nations during a panel at the 2017 Global Business Forum in New York City.

The topic comes two weeks after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi here to discuss the importance of the U.S.-India relationship, and the role of both nations in cooperating to foster democratic laws and principles. During the meeting, Mattis applauded India's long-term efforts to promote stability in the Indian Ocean region and the two leaders pledged to continue the strong defense partnership between both nations and broaden military-to-military engagements.

“Back in early 2000s, defense trade [between India and the U.S.] was zero dollars. We’re now at $15 billion in a relatively short period of time,” Abercrombie said. “We’ve made huge progress, but we’ve just scratched the surface of the potential of this relationship.”

News Story: U.S. commander says more combined drills with S. Korea needed

By Lee Chi-dong

UIJEONGBU, South Korea, June 20 (Yonhap) -- A top U.S. military commander in South Korea said he can't overemphasize the need for more combined exercises between the two countries, citing the seriousness of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction threats.

"I am never satisfied. I want to do more training." said Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, the commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division. "I want all training to be combined just like we got a saying, 'Train like you fight.' We want to get to very high-level live-fire exercises."

He was speaking in an exclusive interview at his office at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, about 50 kilometers south of inter-Korean border, on Monday.

His comments came amid renewed concern about the future of the South Korea-U.S. alliance forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Speaking at a forum in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on unification, security and foreign affairs, suggested that the allies scale down their joint defense drills and the presence of strategic U.S. military assets on the peninsula.

He set the freeze of North Korea's missile and nuclear programs as a precondition.

Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, played down his personal view that's not helpful to the Seoul-Washington alliance, with the presidents of the two sides slated to hold summit talks next week.

The upcoming meeting will be the first test of chemistry between the liberal South Korean leader and his conservative American counterpart Donald Trump.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Airbus proposes upgrade for Australian attack helicopters

By: Nigel Pittaway

LONDON — In the lead up to the 2017 Paris Air Show, European giant Airbus has revealed details of its two-stage proposal to upgrade the Australian Army’s Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter.

The managing director of Airbus Group Australia Pacific, Tony Fraser, said Airbus Helicopters is proposing an interim upgrade based on the Tiger Mark 2 development being mulled by European operators, including France. Beyond that, Fraser says a Mark 3 variant now on the drawing board will form the basis of a future armed reconnaissance helicopter, or ARH, replacement program flagged by the Australian government for the middle of the next decade. 

Australia has 22 Tigers and was to undertake an extensive capability assurance program, or CAP, to keep the fleet relevant in the coming years. However, the ARH program has been mired in controversy since the first helicopters were delivered at the end of 2004, suffering a lower-than-expected rate of effort and a higher-than-desired cost of ownership to the commonwealth.

Australia's 2016 Defence White Paper and the associated Integrated Investment Program singled the helicopter out from all Australian Defence Force platforms for criticism, describing the program as "troubled."

Most recently, a 2017 report by the Australian National Audit Office, or ANAO, into the ARH program was scathing of the helicopter, which only achieved final operational capability last year, despite being in operational service for more than a decade.  

The program is now seven years late, and although it hasn’t reached planned levels of availability and reliability, recent remediation efforts by the Australian Army; the Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group of Australia's Defence Department, or CASG; and industry continue to improve performance indicators to the point where the Tiger’s cost of ownership has dropped by almost a third since 2012.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Boeing’s eagle eyes scan Australia (Apache & ScanEagle)

AH-64 Apache (File Photo)

by Damian Kemp in Mesa

Boeing has begun to plan for the likely early retirement of the Australian Army’s Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter by considering such a requirement as a ‘prospect’. The company recently demonstrated its capabilities, including linking with UAVs.

In February this year the Australian Government in its Defence White Paper planned for the replacement of the troubled Tiger fleet from the mid-2020s.

The helicopter had a difficult birth and continues to struggle to achieve availability and datalink requirements and has not yet operated from the Royal Australian Navy’s new amphibious assault ships.

The possibility of a new requirement led Boeing to pull out almost all the stops at the Australian Air Show 2017, there was no public flight display, and demonstrate the AH-64E Apache to Australian personnel and to also demonstrate integration with a grounded Insitu ScanEagle UAV.

Read the full story at Shephard

News Report: US - Top Islamic State leader in Afghanistan Likely Dead

Jeff Seldin

The emir of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan is likely dead, targeted in a U.S.-Afghan raid on a cave-and-tunnel complex that left two U.S. special operations forces soldiers dead.

Pentagon officials said Friday that they suspected IS Khorasan province leader Abdul Hasib was killed in a brutal, three-hour firefight in the Mohmand Valley, in the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

Officials said another 35 IS fighters also had been killed, and that they were investigating the possibility the dead U.S. soldiers were victims of friendly fire.

"This was a dangerous mission and we knew this going in," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. "We knew he [Hasib] was going to be well-protected and that they were going to fight very hard to prevent from being captured or killed. And that is indeed what happened."

News Story: Two U.S. soldiers possibly killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan - Pentagon

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said on Friday that two U.S. servicemen killed on Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan may have been struck by friendly fire.

"We are investigating the circumstances of the combat deaths of the two Army Rangers in the beginning of what was an intense three-hour fire fight," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters here.

"It is possible these Rangers were struck by friendly fire," he said.

According to the Pentagon, the two U.S. soldiers were killed during an operation in southern Nangarhar, Afghanistan, during an operation against the Islamic State's (IS) Afghanistan affiliate ISIS Khorasan.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Japan’s Apaches to get improved vision

JGSDF AH-64D (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Jen Judson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Japan’s fleet of AH-64DJP Apache attack helicopters will soon have improved vision, having finalized a deal with Lockheed Martin to upgrade the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision (MTADS/PNVS) sensors known as “the eyes” of the aircraft.

Lockheed will provide 14 Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) kits through 2020 to upgrade Japan’s M-TADS systems, the company said Wednesday. The M-DSA  “improves laser reliability and the Apache’s ability to designate targets and establish accurate target range,” a company statement reads.

The contract also includes Performance Based Logistics support for three years. Lockheed will also upgrade JGSDF test equipment and train pilots in country.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: New Zealand military chief attempts to refute Afghanistan raid claims

WELLINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The commander of New Zealand's armed forces on Monday refuted claims that special forces killed civilians in a botched raid in Afghanistan but questions remained about the accusations.

Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Tim Keating told a live broadcast press conference that the claims made by two investigative journalists in the book "Hit and Run" appeared to have confused a raid led by New Zealand's Special Air Service (SAS) with an unrelated action 2 km away.

Keating conceded that civilians might have been killed in the SAS-led raid, dubbed Operation Burnham, on the village of Tirgiran in August 2010.

However, he said, the premise of the book was incorrect, and New Zealand troops had never operated in the two villages named in the book - Khak Khuday Dad and Naik.

The book, released last week claimed the Special Air Service led U.S. and Afghan forces in a raid that killed six civilians including a 3-year-old girl in the two villages in Afghanistan's Baghlan province.

Another 15 civilians were wounded in the villages where the SAS mistakenly believed they would find insurgents who had attacked a New Zealand patrol 19 days earlier, killing a New Zealand officer, in neighboring Bamiyan, the book claimed.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Australian Helicopter Needs Discussed at Avalon Show

Australian Tiger ARH

by Mike Yeo

Australia’s search for a new armed reconnaissance helicopter to replace the Army’s troubled Airbus Helicopters Tiger fleet was a major topic at the Avalon Airshow, held near Melbourne from February 28 to March 5. The show also featured—as expected—the first Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and Boeing EA-18G Growler. The RAAF’s Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and Leonardo C-27J battlefield airlifter also made their Avalon debuts.

The country’s 2016 Defence White Paper stated that the 22 Tigers should be replaced starting around 2025. Boeing brought a factory-fresh AH-64E Apache to the show, while Bell Helicopters had an AH-1Z Viper cockpit simulator at its stand in the exhibition hall. The Apache conducted demonstration flights throughout the week, and Boeing emphasized that AH-64 production will run until 2026 based on current orders. Bell disclosed that it had made an unsolicited offer of the AH-1Z as a Tiger replacement.

Bell’s is also offering the UH-1Y Venom for Australia’s Special Forces light helicopter program, which is expected to kick off in 2018 and cost A$2-3 billion (U.S.$1.5-2.3 billion). This machine is required to “insert, extract and provide fire support for small teams of Special Forces undertaking tasks ranging from tactical observation through to counter-terrorism missions, or hostage recovery.” It must be rapidly deployable by the RAAF’s C-17 airlifters three or four at a time. This could be a problem for Bell as it acknowledges only two Venoms can be carried in a single C-17. Other possible contenders for the program include the Boeing AH-6i Little Bird and the Airbus H145M.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: ‘Make In India’ Was the Key Focus of Aero India Show

Embraer EMB-145 AEW&C with DRDO Radar

by Chris Pocock

The 11th Aero India show at Bangalore last week was bigger than ever, as foreign manufacturers vied to offer attractive “Make In India” proposals to meet the country’s substantial defense needs. Meanwhile, the country’s own long-established aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) showed the Advanced Hawk jet trainer that has been co-developed with BAE Systems, and proposed an Indian multi-role helicopter (IMRH). Neither project has official backing in the form of a firm requirement or orders, but at the show HAL did sign a memorandum of understanding with the government for a large new helicopter testing and production facility in the state of Karnataka.

India’s fighter requirements were, as expected, high on the agenda. Saab made an aggressive pitch for the Gripen E, that included the proposed maritime version that could meet the Indian Navy’s requirement for 57 multi-role carrier-borne fighters. Kent-Ake Molin, commercial manager, said that Saab has “mobilized a robust global supply chain for India. We are not doing a copy and paste…the facility we will set up here will be new. Besides, we will bring in capabilities India has been wanting, such as superplastic forming and integration and use of software.” During the show, Saab Aeronautics head Ulf Nilsson told an Indian business daily that the Swedish company is talking about an Indian partnership to the Adani Group, which wants to build a 200-acre aerospace factory at Mundra. 

A Gripen took part in the flying display, and so did an F-16, another candidate for the Indian Air Force’s yet-to-be-fully-defined requirement for a new, possibly single-engine fighter to be produced in-country. But concerns about possible changes in U.S. technology transfer policy clouded Lockheed Martin’s pitch for Indian-based production of the F-16V version of the Fighting Falcon. The American company issued a statement noting that its current proposal “was supported by the Obama administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the government of India…we understand that the Trump administration will want to take a fresh look at some of these programs and we stand prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal of this importance is properly aligned with U.S. policy priorities.”

Read the full story at AINonline

News Report: India Announces Marginal Increase in Defense Budget for Next Fiscal

Inadequate defense budget for next one year has raised serious questions over Narendra Modi’s ambition to modernize military to counter assertive neighbors like Pakistan and China.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Presenting fourth consecutive annual budget for the nation, India's Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley has allocated an overall $40.31 Billion for the defense service, a marginal increase of 5.7% from previous year. "Marginal increase in defense budget is barely adequate to allow for domestic inflation. It is insufficient to cater for the increase in pay and allowances due to the implementation of the award of the Seventh Pay Commission," says Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), Senior Fellow at Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Despite raising high pitch for defense procurement over the years, once again government did not loosen the purse for defense purchases. Government has allocated only $13 Billion for new equipment, weapons, aircraft, naval warships, and Army vehicles. This is approximately 9.5% more in comparison to previous year's budget. Another worrisome factor is Defense Ministry's inability to consume the last allocation completely. According to the Ministry of Finance, close to one billion dollars allocated for defense purchase remain unutilized.

News Report: South Korea Finalizes Deployment of 36 Newest Apache Helicopters

AH-64 Apache Attack Helicpoter

South Korea has finished the deployment of 36 US-built Apache attack helicopters of the latest model, local media reported Friday citing a military source.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Defense Ministry has put into service all of AH-64Es helicopters under the $1.6-billion contract with the United States signed in 2013. Therefore, there are a total of 84 helicopters of that type in operation on the Korean Peninsula, including 48 US-held units.

The Apache is a helicopter constructed to survive heavy attack and is armed to inflict massive damage on ground forces. It is designed to operate day or night, including in unfavorable weather and poor visibility.

The political atmosphere on the Korean peninsula has become more tense over recent months, with the United States boosting its military presence in South Korea amid North Korea's nuclear and military threats.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: US Apache Attack Helicopters Enter Service on Korean Peninsula

AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter

South Korea’s Kiowa Warrior helicopters have conducted their final exercises before being replaced by US-built Apaches. On Wednesday the Vietnam War-era warcraft carried out maneuvers at the Rodriguez Live Fire Range military base. In a joint exercise with M1A2 Abrams tanks and AH-64 Apaches, the helicopters attacked stationary targets.

In January the US Forces Korea deployed the 24 AH-64D Apaches that replaced the OH-58D Kiowas. 

The 2nd Infantry Division’s public affairs office said, "During the exercise, OH-Kiowa helicopters performed a symbolic passing of the torch mid-air," according to Stripes.com.

News Report: Two Dozen Apache Choppers En Route To Seoul Over Growing Threats from Pyongyang

A US battalion of two dozen AH-64D Apache heavy attack choppers and 360 US troops will replace a division of 30 observation and light arms helicopters currently in service at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

"The rotational deployment of Apache helicopters is a demonstration of strong US will in implementing its security commitments," US Army Col. Rob Manning said recently. The move is expected to "significantly strengthen" military capabilities aimed at deterring North Korea’s leaders from maliciously launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, the colonel added.

The fleet of Apaches expands the capabilities of the United States Forces Korea to include eliminating ground vehicle targets, hovercraft, and special operations units in North Korea, according to Kim Sung-min, a South Korean defense ministry official. The Boeing-manufactured Apaches usually pack a mix of air-to-surface "fire and forget" Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods.

News Story: South Korea deploys AH-64E Apache helicopters for training

AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter (File Photo)

by Elizabeth Shim

South Korea's military deployed powerful AH-64E Apache helicopters for the first time during an exercise Thursday.

The AH-64E, which features digital cockpit avionics and powerful engines, would be used to target incoming North Korea military tanks, Yonhap reported.

The 30-millimeter chain gun located under the aircraft's forward fuselage, as well as mounted rockets, can hit targets within a 1.25-mile range, according to the report.

The Apache's rocket launcher can carry several 2.75-inch aerial rockets.

The exercise involving six Apache helicopters was held at a military range in Yangpyeong, in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province, an area near Seoul.

South Korea first brought in Apache helicopters in May (2016).

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

USA: Carter, Indian Counterpart Champion Growing Trade, Technology, Security Ties

By Amaani Lyle 

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2016 — Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi today as part of a worldwide trip to thank service members and discuss growing accord and priorities with allies.

Carter’s third official visit to India marks the two leaders’ seventh interaction, which the secretary said represents a strategic partnership with the vast nation, its rising military power, and a democracy that shares with the United States many common values and approaches.

“We're both multicultural societies, but nevertheless, hold together extremely well,” Carter said, adding that the defense relationship, in particular, has “grown by leaps and bounds” in the last few years. That growth, he said, is measured by the pace of joint activities between the two militaries, including participation in two trilateral exercises as well as bilateral exercises, which he said indicates “immense promise” for the future of India-U.S. security cooperation.