News Report: South Korea to Boost Military Arsenal With Nuclear Submarines, Spy Satellites

South Korea is considering boosting its three-axis defense program by building its own nuclear-powered submarines and acquiring spy satellites to counter the North Korea threat.

At their second bilateral meeting on Thursday, US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in committed to strengthen their combined defense posture against the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) through Seoul's acquisition and development of highly-advanced military assets, as well as through the deployment of US strategic assets in and around South Korea.

Following the meeting, Trump said it was "a great privilege" to talk to Moon and that the ongoing North Korean crisis was the most important issue he and his counterpart had to address.

"I am allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States," Trump tweeted on September 5, after Pyongyang successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

News Story: Iran tests new medium-range missile, defying US warnings

By Eric RANDOLPH

Iran said on Saturday that it had successfully tested a new medium-range missile in defiance of warnings from Washington that such activities were grounds for abandoning their landmark nuclear deal.

State television carried footage of the launch of the Khoramshahr missile, which was first displayed at a high-profile military parade in Tehran on Friday.

It also carried in-flight video from the nose cone of the missile, which has a range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and can carry multiple warheads.

"As long as some speak in the language of threats, the strengthening of the country's defence capabilities will continue and Iran will not seek permission from any country for producing various kinds of missile," Defence Minister Amir Hatami said in a staement.

The test comes at the end of a heated week of diplomacy at the UN General Assembly in New York, where US President Donald Trump again accused Iran of destabilising the Middle East, calling it a "rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos".

Previous Iranian missile launches have triggered US sanctions and accusations that they violate the spirit of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

Related Story:

• Iran's Rouhani vows to strengthen missiles despite US warnings

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 Report: Former CIA Chief Warns of N. Korea’s Other Nuclear Weapon

Former CIA Director James Woolsey
(Image: Wiki Commons)

Jenny Lee

WASHINGTON — Advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are pushing the international community to respond with increasingly strict sets of sanctions, with the latest round, passed this week, capping the country’s oil imports while banning its lucrative textile exports.

Despite the pressure, the Kim Jong Un regime continues to pursue the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could strike the continental United States, among other targets.

On Friday, for the second time in a month, the regime launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. It traveled about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) before falling into the Pacific Ocean, the farthest a North Korean missile has ever flown. Within hours, the U.N. Security Council condemned the “highly provocative” missile launch.

Why is the North continuing its launches? Jenny Lee of VOA Korean spoke with former CIA Director James Woolsey to discuss the latest developments.

News Story: North Korea's missile launch - Why Japan?

By Shingo ITO

When nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan this week, it sparked international condemnation. But it also raised the question: Why Japan?

Location, location, location

It might seem obvious, but geography is frequently a huge factor in geopolitical wrangling.

The Japanese archipelago forms a long string off the coast of mainland north Asia, so by definition, any regional player that wants to fire a medium- or long-range missile into the Pacific has to go over it.

Tuesday's projectile travelled around 2,700 kilometres (1,700 miles) from its launch site near Pyongyang before crashing into the ocean, around 1,200 kilometres off Japan's northern Hokkaido island.

Having threatened a few weeks ago to fire missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam -- around 3,500 kilometres away -- the range could have been selected to remind Washington that Pyongyang has the capacity to follow through.

But unlike cashing that cheque and risking conflict with the world's top military power, firing missiles over pacifist Japan was not likely to provoke an armed response.

So, Tuesday's launch let Pyongyang rattle a major US ally, which hosts American military bases and tens of thousands of US troops, while showing it has the ability to strike Guam if it wants to.

"It is also sending a message that Japan is well within its sights if a war breaks out," Professor Koh Yu-Hwan at Dongguk University told AFP.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: S. Korea's military seeks five indigenous spy satellites by 2023

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military said Friday it will soon begin a full-fledged project to put five indigenous reconnaissance satellites into operation by 2023.

The implementation of the ambitious program, worth about 1 trillion won (US$880 million), has been delayed for more than four years amid conflict among the defense ministry, the science ministry and the National Intelligence Service over the details of the development and operation.

Under the decision made at the defense program committee, chaired by Defense Minister Song Young-moo, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to pick a contractor for the initiative by the end of this year.

The scheme, code-named the "425 Project," is spearheaded by the national arms procurement agency and the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD).

It's aimed at establishing a military spy satellite system capable of collecting security-related information and intelligence on the Korean Peninsula and in nearby regions.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (9-Aug-2017)

Jack Viola, Eliza Chapman, Jacqueline Westermann and Harley Comrie

Sea state

Russia has laid down the hulls for two new diesel-electric submarines to be deployed in the Pacific. The Varshavyanka-class subs, due to be completed in November 2019, are ‘primarily designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare’. Submarines have become an increasingly important element of the Russian Navy since its rate of shipbuilding slipped behind that of other powers in the region, particularly China. Its existing surface ships are predominantly Cold War remnants.

China and ASEAN have adopted a framework for negotiation for a code of conduct in the South China Sea (SCS). The framework seeks to build on the 2002 Declaration of conduct for parties in the SCS and was hailed by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi as ‘really tangible progress’ in SCS negotiations. Many pundits do not share Mr Wang’s optimism and see the adoption as a time-buying measure from China. The adoption comes after Vietnam’s ‘kowtow to Beijing’ over drilling activities in the South China Sea last week.

The Chinese flotilla that conducted joint drills in the Baltic with the Russian Navy has now docked in Finland. The Finnish defence minister welcomed the arrival as a sign of Finland’s ‘friendly relations with China’.

News Story: Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle

US Army HiMARS Truck based missile launcher

By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.

WASHINGTON: The Navy wants the Army’s help win a future Multi-Domain Battle with China, a senior defense official told me last week, but to get it, the two services have to connect through a simple, robust network using small and rapidly-launched satellites.

We don’t need massive bandwidth to handle video teleconferences, full motion video from drones, PowerPoint briefings, and all the digital tools of “micromanagement,” the official believes. We just need a regional command-and-control network for voice commands and bare-bones-data – I’m here, the enemy’s there, shoot them not me – that can run off a single small satellite.

“It doesn’t have to be a big network,” he told me. “You could have one satellite…a temporary small satellite that you’ve popped up.”

This is in keeping with the early Concept of Operation developed for the Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space program (although the official didn’t mention ORS by name). ORS seeks to end the US military’s dependence on highly capable, highly complex and highly expensive satellites. These multi-billion-dollar masterpieces would take months or years to replace if an adversary shot them down— as China demonstrated it could in 2007.

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

News Report: Pyongyang Observed to Be Ramping Up Nuclear Weapons Fuel Processing

Pyongyang has stepped up its manufacture of nuclear weapons fuel, according to a US group’s interpretation of recent satellite surveillance data.

According to satellite imagery recorded between September 2106 and June 2017, North Korea has stepped up its production of weapons-grade plutonium at a faster rate than previously asserted by military experts.

Recorded over an eight-month period, the new surveillance data reveals increased thermal activity around the primary nuclear plant of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the radiochemical laboratory at the Yongbyon nuclear facility — an indicator, according to an American university center's project exclusively concerned with Pyongyang, of increased nuclear weapon production.

"The Radiochemical Laboratory operated intermittently and there have apparently been at least two unreported reprocessing campaigns to produce an undetermined amount of plutonium that can further increase North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile," according to a report by 38 North, cited by Deutsche Welle.

News Story: Northrop Grumman receives Australian satellite ground station contract

by Stephen Carlson

Northrop Grumman has received a $170 million contract from the Australian Defense Force for a ground station for it's military satellite communications program, the company announced on Monday.

The contract provides for the next phase of the Joint Project 2008 program to establish integrated wideband satellite communications across the Australian miltary.

Northrop Grumman will team with ViaSat and Optus to establish a ground countrol station and network management system in Wagga Wagga, Australia.

Austrailia has been a member of the Wideband Global SATCOM program since 2007. The new ground control station and network will allow integration with the WGS network of communications satellites.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (11-Jul-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea state

The US Coast Guard is still looking for a vendor to equip its Legend-class national security cutter with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Lacking the expertise to operate UAVs itself, the Coast Guard wants the full package, ‘including the people, the antennas, [and] the software’. But to reduce costs, it’ll just be getting the basic capabilities for now—like electro-optical and infrared camera systems—with the more whizz-bang intelligence tools to come later, in pace with emerging technology. Eventually, the aim is to have a completely autonomous drone fleet. (But, according to The Drive, the Coast Guard might already have something pretty cool!)

A new report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau revealed the extent of international piracy in the first half of 2017. Overall, there were 87 attacks—10 fewer than in 2016. That included 63 hostage-takings, 41 kidnappings and two deaths. The report warns that Somali pirates still have the capacity to attack far offshore, and remain a threat to merchant ships. Southeast Asia was also identified as still being a high-risk area. The Diplomat provides a compelling argument for Australia’s interests in this area by looking at the threat to trade and economic prosperity should piracy spread to the Melanesian ‘arc of instability’.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (27-Jun-2017)

An unpainted Chinese Y-8Q/GX-6 ASW Aircraft during testing

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

Just in time for President Modi’s visit to Washington, the Trump administration has agreed to sell 22 Guardian drones to India, in a deal that’s been described as a ‘game changer’ for US–India relations. The drones would be a ‘force multiplier’ for the Indian Navy, improving its maritime surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Though yet to be approved in India, New Delhi reportedly sees the deal as ‘a key test of defence ties’. Defense News speculates that the sale of the unarmed Guardians could be a precursor to the purchase of armed drones—something India has sought previously but which is currently prohibited by US export laws. Finalising the deal is likely to require a fine balance between Trump’s “America First” platform and Modi’s “Make in India” policy.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) successfully test-fired its Long-Range Artillery system (LORA) on 20 June. LORA’s strength is its portability: it launches from a container that can be trucked onto the deck of a cargo ship. According to The Drive, LORA’s relative low-cost and plug-and-play nature means that a range of auxiliary ships ‘could suddenly become impromptu combatants’. IAI says ‘several deals’ for LORA are underway, but it remains to be seen who’s in the market for the platform.

And for the final Sea State reads this week, here are two great pieces: one about how noisy herrings are creating (submarine) confusion; and another about marauding orcas fleecing fisherman.

News Story: Illegal Fishing Alert System Developed

Australia's national research organization CSIRO has developed a world first notification system that alerts authorities when vessels undertaking illegal fishing arrive in port.

The web-based reporting tool identifies and ranks vessels across the globe based on a list of behaviors associated with illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.

CSIRO senior scientist and co-designer of the platform Dr Chris Wilcox said the tool used data collected by satellites to monitor and report suspiciously behaving vessels.

"Almost all vessels are equipped with anti-collision devices that can be detected by satellites," Wilcox said. "Using data from these systems, we can shine a spotlight on vessels acting suspiciously based on factors including the vessel's history, movement and whether its transmitter has been intentionally disabled.

"Countries will be able to sign-up to receive notifications, or directly access the portal to search for vessels and then be provided with a report which highlights the suspicious behaviors involved."

The announcement follows the execution of the first international treaty aimed at eradicating IUU fishing, coordinated by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation and agreed to by 29 countries.

Read the full story at MarEx

News Story: Electric Eye - New Satellite Gives India the Edge Along the Border

With the ability to zoom in on areas less than 0.6 meters, India’s Cartosat-2 series satellite will allow the Indian Army to keep an eagle eye on hostile activities on the border, said experts on the feat accomplished by India with the launch of the PSLV rocket bearing the satellite on Friday.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The 712-kg Cartosat-2 series satellite has the highest ever resolution in panchromatic and multi-spectral cameras used for capturing targets on the ground at less than 0.6 meters.

"This (Cartosat-2 series) remote sensing satellite is similar in configuration to earlier satellites in the series with the objective of providing high-resolution scene specific spot imagery," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

"It will be capable of monitoring minute details, like the movement of persons, tanks etc if images are taken at quick intervals. It will also allow you to test on new bunkers being made at border. If Pakistan activated atom bomb testing site, this resolution will easily provide explicit details of the site to Indian authorities," Dr. Mayank N Vahiya, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, said.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (20-Jun-2017)

Boeing's Echo Voyager UUV (Click Image to Enlarge)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

An Iranian ship came within 730m of three US Navy vessels (an amphibious assault ship, a guided-missile destroyer and a dry cargo ship) in the Strait of Hormuz last week. The Iranian vessel shined a spotlight on the destroyer before training a laser on a CH-53E helicopter flying alongside it, prompting the USN to label the incident as an ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ encounter. While this encounter isn’t the first instance of harassment by Iran in this strategic waterway, what was unusual was that the ship involved formed part of the Iranian Navy, rather than the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy which normally carries out acts of that nature.

Last Sunday Iran and China completed a joint naval exercise in the Strait involving 700 Iranian personnel. For an analytical deep-dive into the Strait of Hormuz’s strategic significance and the viability of Iran’s asymmetric warfare, check out a two-part series from the Center for International Maritime Security (here and here).

The USN, Boeing and Huntington Ingalls have joined forces in an underwater endeavour to build the Echo Voyager, a would-be ‘massive unmanned, autonomous submarine’ able to fire missiles, drop mines and stay submerged for months. Boeing is currently testing the drone off the coast of California.

News Report: India to Make Native Navigation System Mandatory For All Aircraft

The Indian government will soon require all aircraft registered to fly in India to use Gagan, the country’s own navigation system.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The notification for this will be issued in the next few weeks and will be effective from January 2019.

The availability of Gagan signal in space will bridge the gap between European Union's EGNOS and Japan's MSAS coverage areas, thereby offering seamless navigation to the aviation industry. Sources in India's Ministry of Civil Aviation told Sputnik that Gagan or GPS aided geo augmented navigation has obtained (APV1/1.5) certification for approach and precision landing operations over the subcontinent. India is the fourth country to offer space-based satellite navigation services to the aviation sector.

"Any Gagan-enabled receiver will provide accurate positional information which can be relied upon. It is accurate to one meter," A. S. Kiran Kumar, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman, said.

News Story: India kick-starts military satellite programs

An Indian Space Rocket Launch (File Photo)

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — To meet military space requirements, India plans to launch a 550-kilogram homemade military satellite within the next fortnight to join the heaviest homemade rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, according a Ministry of Defence source. 

The GSLV Mk III rocket, fired earlier this month into space, has the capacity to carry the 4-ton class of satellites, prompting some analysts here to say this is a prerequisite for an anti-satellite weapon. 

"The capability to launch heavy rockets with heavier payloads is a prerequisite to put up anti-satellite weapons in the space," said a scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation, which developed the rocket.

India officially maintains that space is for peaceful use and, as such, does not have an anti-satellite, or ASAT, program. However, sources within the state-run Defence Research and Development Organization say such a program does exist. 

On the relevance of the heavy GSLV Mk III rocket to an ASAT program, Ajey Lele, a senior fellow with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, doesn't believe the GSLV Mk III is related to ASAT weaponry. "In fact, heavy satellites (more than 2 tons) are normally communication satellites, and they are in geostationary orbit. The concept of ASAT for satellites in that orbit is not possible with present level of technological expertise with any country in the world." 

But Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a senior fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, disagrees. "If you are aiming at satellites in low-Earth orbits, PSLV [Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle] would be sufficient to launch 'killer' ASAT satellites, but if you are aiming to destroy satellites in geostationary orbits, such as communication satellites, then of course GSLV Mk III would be useful." 

Pillai, however, said India doesn’t have any ASAT program. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

AUS: $500 million for enhanced satellite capability

Minister for Defence Industry & Minister for Defence - Joint Media Release

The Turnbull Government has announced a $500 million investment to improve Australia’s space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, to support ADF operations around the world and at home to secure our borders.

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP and Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne today committed $500 million to improve Defence’s access to commercial satellites to provide information to government agencies.

This information will be used to support Australia’s defence priorities including defence operations, border protection and humanitarian missions.

Minister Payne said that Defence Project 799 was introduced in the 2016 Defence White Paper to enhance Australia’s geospatial-intelligence capabilities.

Phase 1 of the project will provide Australia with direct and more timely access to commercial imaging satellites to support a wide range of Defence and national security activities.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (6-Jun-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

DARPA is looking for a way to improve US Navy capability by making it possible for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to communicate underwater. DARPA thinks the answer might be AMEBA (A Mechanically Based Antenna) which could enable wireless communication and data transfer, with antennae  small enough to be installed on UUVs or carried in troops’ packs.

While US Navy UUVs are used for intelligence operations and minesweeping, others have a somewhat different purpose—such as BIKI, the ‘world’s first bionic robot fish’. Though marketed as an underwater camera or monitoring device, BIKI is the real deal, carrying advanced bionics tech of the kind built for artic research.

In an interview with a Chinese State TV channel, a top Chinese naval engineer has revealed that PLAN’s newest nuclear attack submarines (the Type 095 SSN) will be fitted with a ‘revolutionary and silent propulsion system’—a ‘shaftless rim-driven pumpjet’. Analysis of the announcement is just beginning to roll in, but one commentator views the development as ‘an attempt to leap beyond current submarine technology’, which if successful could see the PLAN outpace the US and Britain, whose SSBNs carrying the option for rim-drive pumpjets won’t enter service until 2030.

News Story: DPRK slams Japan for launching spy satellite

Japanese Space Rocket

PYONGYANG, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday slammed Japan for launching a spy satellite, describing it as a revelation of its ambition for the revival of militarism.

The Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman of the DPRK Foreign Ministry as saying that Japan launched a rocket carrying a spy satellite at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan on Thursday morning "under the pretext of global positioning."

Read the full story at Xinhua