News Report: Russia Pitches Aggresively For MiG-29K $12 Bn Indian Deal

A MiG-29K on the deck of INS Vikramaditya

Indian Navy had issued a detailed request for information in January this year for 57 multi-role fighter aircraft to which Russian, French, Swedish and American companies had replied with their intent.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — With an eye on a big ticket deal involving supply of 57 naval multi-role fighter jet for Indian Navy's aircraft carriers, Russian manufacturer MiG has offered to jointly develop the MiG 29 K fighter jets with an Indian counterpart under the 'Make in India' program with complete transfer of technology. MiG is planning to submit a detailed proposal to the Indian government in this regard soon.

The procurement plan currently is in request for information stage. MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko has claimed MiG-29K aircraft have serious tactical and technical advantages compared to Boeing’s F/A-18.

“We are considering various options for long-term and perspective cooperation, including those within the framework of the Make in India program. The Indian side has sent an RFI to companies that produce aircraft, which is one of the procedures preceding the official tender. MiG corp. has received such a request, now we are preparing our proposal,” Ilya Tarasenko, MiG CEO told to PTI in a written interview.

News Report: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi to Give National Address on Rakhine Crisis

Aung San Suu Kyi

Margaret Besheer

UNITED NATIONS — Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to give a highly anticipated national speech Tuesday addressing her country's crisis in Rakhine state, where ongoing violence has led about 400,000 ethnic Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh in recent weeks.

Rohingya militants attacked security forces in Myanmar — also known as Burma — in late August. Since then, analysts and rights workers say the Burmese military has carried out a brutal crackdown that has burned entire villages and killed fleeing women and children. 

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has come under strong international criticism for not speaking out more forcefully on the situation. She canceled her appearance at the United Nations General Assembly this week in part to address the ongoing crisis at home.

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday, diplomats from the United States, Britain and other countries concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine called for an end to the violence and for measures to relieve Rohingya refugees' suffering. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said it was a "productive meeting about the dire situation," but that no improvement has been seen on the ground in the area where displaced Rohingyas have been fleeing into Bangladesh.

News Story: Taiwan struggles to acquire 5 types of submarine tech for local program

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — Taiwan is short five critical pieces of submarine technology that it needs to achieve its aim of building a new class of indigenous submarines, according to a Taiwanese defense analyst. 

Speaking to Defense News, Liao Yen-fan, a Taipei-based analyst for the cybersecurity research firm Team T5 that also focuses on air power and the Taiwanese military, said the local defense industry still needs to import the technology for these five items, which include modern torpedo tubes and periscopes. 

Liao was citing representatives from Taiwan’s Ching Fu Shipbuilding, the company in charge of designing the combat system and the largest subcontractor for Taiwan’s domestic submarine program. The program currently is in the design phase and is led by the state-run National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, or NCSIST. CSBC Corporation is the main contractor.  

It's unclear what other critical submarine technology Taiwan requires, although it likely includes air-independent propulsion technology or an equivalent to allow the submarine to be practically silent when operating in a submerged environment.   

Liao told Defense News that Taiwanese delegations have recently been dispatched around the world to try and secure the needed technology transfer, including to the United States and Japan. However, it is understood that Japan has refused Taiwan’s request for assistance, almost certainly out of fear of antagonizing China, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to reunify the island with the mainland. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (7-Mar-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

Last week’s US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) report, Iranian Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies, says Iran’s developing a new Besat-class submarine with anti-ship cruise missile capability. It’s believed the development aims to better enable Iran to target the US Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts caution however, that the Iranians tend to overstate their abilities and reports that they’re already “building” should be ‘take[n] with a grain of salt’. ONI also reports Iran’s likely to ‘go on an international shopping spree’ for naval capabilities come 2020 when the UN’s conventional weapons acquisition ban is due to expire.

US defence budget increases in 2018 apparently won’t extend to the Coast Guard, which is facing a US$1.3 billion cut. Already reported to be under-resourced and overstretched, the Coast Guard protects 95,000 miles of coastline with a force of just 56,000. Proposed cutbacks would eliminate the counterterrorism unit and all regional Maritime Safety and Security teams—some of which provide security for President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago visits.

News Report: India Announces New Fighter Jets to Be Produced Domestically

GCI of the F-16IN put forward for the MMRCA

Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a news conference Tuesday that New Delhi is inviting global bids for a foreign-designed single-engine fighter that would be assembled in India. According to Parrikar, a western partner for the fighter will be chosen based on pricing and terms for the transfer of the technology.

He added that the Indian Air Force will receive another line of fighters to be produced under the Strategic Partnership model. Even though the Ministry of Defence’s Aatre Committee mooted the SP model in April 2016, an MoD official said that a private company in India will be chosen to manufacture the fighters in India by the end of 2017. 

Global bids are set to be solicited in 2018, at which point a private company will be chosen as a production agency for the SP, kicking off an evaluation period to conduct trials and assess technical and financial bids. Officials say this process could take two years or longer, with the final deal slated to be signed in 2021.

News Story: Indonesia, Sweden sign deal on defense cooperation

JAKARTA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia and Sweden inked an agreement Tuesday on defense cooperation, a move aimed at deepening bilateral ties, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said.

The memorandum of understanding included cooperation in manufacturing weaponry, exchanging intelligence information and join military exercise, he said.

"Cooperation on developing defense industry includes transfer of technology and join production," Minister Ryamizard said after singing the deal with his Swedish counterpart Carl Anders Peter Hultqvist.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Restricted India Tenders for AESA Radars for Home Grown Combat Jet

Currently, Indian Air Force does not have any fighters that have new age AESA radar. However, Jaguar’s DARIN III version are being equipped with AESA radar by Israel’s ELTA.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India has issued a global tender for the purchase of about 100 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars for its 83 home-assembled light combat aircraft Tejas MK 1. The tender was issued on Wednesday to limited global firms from Russia, France, Israel and the USA.

"[A] limited tender was floated by the Aviation Research and Design Centre on Wednesday to five global aviation technology firms and a sixth one is being considered. These firms are from Russia, France, Israel and the US," a highly placed source of Hindustan Aeronautics ltd (HAL) told Sputnik. 

News Report: US, Swedish Aviation Majors Offer Technology Transfer to Bag Indian Jet Tender

Lockheed Martin F-16IN originally offered for the MMRCA Program

Two of world's major military aviation companies have sweetened the terms for making combat jets in India. The Government expects response from Russian companies too.

New Delhi (Sputnik): India has received proposals from two foreign companies within two months of asking countries like the US, Sweden and Russia to locally build a fighter under a generous technology transfer (ToT) arrangement. 

The winner will bag the right to sell the fighters to India for several decades as the Indian Air Force seeks to build 42 active squadrons. 

News Story: ‘Make in India’ Fighter Choice May Be Limited To Single-engine Jets

Artist’s impression of an Indian Air Force F-16 from 2011,
for the MMRCA contest. (Image: Lockheed Martin)

by Neelam Mathews

After confirming the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters off-the-shelf from France, India has invited proposals from the U.S., Sweden and Russia to transfer technology and produce a single-engine fighter in-country. The latest move seems to preclude any “Make in India” offers from Dassault for the twin-engine Rafale, as well as Eurofighter (for the Typhoon) or Boeing (for the F/A-18). India has a requirement for approximately 100 more fighters.

The invitation was in the form of letters handed to the ambassadors of the three countries. Lockheed Martin has already responded, offering an upgraded “F-16 Block 70.” It is believed that Saab will follow, with an offer for the Gripen E. It is unclear what Russia might offer, since both the MiG-29/35 and Sukhoi Su-30/35 series are twin-engine designs.

“What we have offered, we believe is unprecedented,” said Randy Howard, head of F-16 business development for Lockheed Martin. The company has committed to transfer F-16 production from Fort Worth to India in phases. The proposal would make India the world's largest supply base for F-16s. Lockheed Martin has sold 4,588 F-16s to 29 customers, and many of those aircraft have a 30-year life that requires the continuing supply of spares and support.

“Bringing the production to India will have a positive impact on affordability for India and the global fleet,” said Howard.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: Sweden to send biggest business delegation to PH

Led by Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s biggest-ever business delegation will be in the Philippines after few weeks, the visit will coincide with the reopening of the Swedish Embassy in Taguig, reports exclusively by The Manila Times.

One of the Swedish businesses about to move in is the defense contractor Saab Group, which is scheduled to inaugurate its office at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City on November 9.

It is reportedly in pole position to secure a deal to sell its JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft to the Philippine Air Force.

“The concern [about the Philippines]is there but more specifically on the human rights situation, and I haven’t heard from the business sector that this translates into [loss of interest in]doing business,” said Harald Fries, Sweden’s ambassador-designate.

Read the full story at Tankler

News Story: DND statement on possible military equipment aquisition from China

A defense official said Wednesday looking towards other countries, such as China and Russia as possible sources of equipment for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is mandated by the law.

Department of National Defense (DND) public affairs director Arsenio Andolong told PNA in an interview that Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, dictates that “we must not limit possible sources of our materiel to only a few countries as this will rob us of the opportunity to acquire what could be the best equipment”.

Andolong said technical working groups of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have been conducting market research on new hardware and technologies from many countries, including Russia and China.

Read the full story at Tankler

News Story: Thailand mulls buying four more Swedish jet fighters

Saab JAS 39 Gripen (File Photo)

BANGKOK, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Thailand might probably buy four more Swedish jet fighters to add to a current squadron of 12 fighters of the same type, said Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong on Thursday.

Prajin, a former Thai air force chief, said that he viewed Saab JAS 39 Gripen multirole combat aircraft as "technologically advanced" and suggested that his successor buy an additional four Swedish jet fighters.

The Thai air force currently deploys the 12 Swedish fighters at Air Wing 7 in the southern province of Surat Thani. The Gripen fighter squadron was procured in 2008 to replace the United States' ageing F-5 Tiger fighters.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Think Tank: Australia’s future submarine—problems of politics

Australian Collins class Submarine

Kim Beazley

While I was Ambassador to the US, I visited Electric Boat’s yard in Groton, Connecticut, where the US Navy’s latest Virginia class nuclear submarines are under construction. This wasn’t an indulgence. Part of my job was to seek constant reassurance from the relevant officials of our ally that strong US support would be forthcoming when we finally decided on a process and partner(s) for the replacement for the Collins-class submarines. That reassurance was constantly but, lately, impatiently given. They came to wonder when we would get on with it. The US regards the Australian submarine as a potent addition to allied underwater strength in the Pacific.

I was taken aboard the then-latest Virginia-class submarine, the USS Missouri. The captain showed us the control room and asked me if I recognised anything. I said ‘yes’ and told him that I appeared to be standing in a Collins-class submarine. He responded, ‘Exactly’. The US had benefitted greatly from the structures we had put in place in the Collins. He had served as an exchange officer on one of them. ‘Best submarine I have served on’. It was polite hyperbole, but the USN has great respect for the class nonetheless. It has been a handful in joint exercises—so troubling, in fact, that a couple of years ago they hired the Swedes to practice on, as they tried to get to grips with finding modern conventional submarines. On my bookshelf sits a photo of the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln taken on exercise through the periscope of a Collins. The submarine, undetected, had just put three “torpedos” into the carrier.

Think Tank: Sea, air and land updates (3-May-2016)

F-22 Raptor's (Image: Wiki Commons)

Dione Hodgson, Ashleigh Sharp and Lachlan Wilson

Sea State

A US Navy flotilla was refused entry by the Chinese government to the port of Hong Kong last week. Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said the US Navy had asked the Chinese to let aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and several other vessels to visit the port this week but had been denied access. This wasn’t without precedent—the PRC similarly denied a US aircraft carrier entry to Hong Kong in August 2014. In response, Randy Forbes, chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee has suggested the US should allow its aircraft carriers to visit Taiwan.

As we’ve discussed in previous weeks, Chinese fishermen are becoming increasingly bold in their attempts to expand the country’s maritime presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Their actions have come under increased scrutiny in the past few months, due to run-ins with maritime authorities in Malaysian, Vietnamese and Indonesian waters. Last week, Reuters took a look at the strategic implications of China’s ‘fishing militia’, and The Washington Post has an in-depth analysis at the role Chinese fishermen are playing on the frontline of the dispute.

Flashback: Former US Navy research vessel Melville, which appeared in the 1976 monster thriller King Kong, has been donated to the Philippine Navy. The 46-year-old ship was turned over last Wednesday during a christening and commissioning ceremony in San Diego, and will arrive in the Philippines in June, where it will be used for hydrographic surveys and marine scientific research.

Think Tank: Sea, air and land updates (19-APR-2016)

Su-27 (Image: Wiki Commons)

Dione Hodgson, Ashleigh Sharp and Lachlan Wilson

Sea State

Navigating the dangerous iced-covered waters of the Antarctic just got easier for the British Royal Navy, with the entry into service of its new, low-cost 3D-printed drone. The SULSA unmanned aerial vehicle, which was launched from naval patrol vessel HMS Protector, is designed to utilise real-time imagery to scout a safe route for vessels. The £7,000 drone can cruise at speeds up to 97km per hour, and its four nylon-based parts can be snapped together by hand. Gizmodo has footage of the plane’s test flight off the coast of Dorset.

Adelaide will remain a hub for the shipbuilding industry, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Defence Minister Marise Payne announcing on Monday that 12 offshore patrol vessels will be built in the city from 2018. Minister Payne confirmed construction of the vessels will begin in Adelaide, before moving to Henderson in Western Australia, and coupled with plans to build up to 21 Pacific patrol boats in Henderson, will directly secure more than 2,500 jobs in coming decades.

It’s official. RRS Boaty McBoatface emerged as the overwhelming winner of a public poll for naming rights of Britain’s new £200 million polar research vessel. Voting closed on 16 April with the memorable winning name collecting more than 124,000 votes. Regrettably, Britain’s science minister told the Daily Telegraph that ministers were unlikely to endorse the result.

Think Tank: Twelve Future Submarines: a long, circuitous journey

David Feeney

After two prime ministers, three defence ministers, three assistant defence ministers and two parliamentary secretaries—and a 12 month delay—we welcome today’s release of the Defence White Paper.

We also support the Government’s decision to deliver on its promise of Defence funding to 2% of GDP. This keeps faith with Labor’s commitment for 2%, and Bill Shorten’s commitment to support any realistic and practical proposal to achieve that target.

The Turnbull Government is now telling Australians that it intends to support the acquisition of twelve Future Submarines.

It’s been a tortured road. In 2013, then-Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, pledged to support Labor’s resolve to build an expanded submarine fleet, and to build it in Adelaide. If the Liberal Government had stopped there, they would have saved all of us a lot of pain and unnecessary costs.

Instead, in early 2014 the Liberal Government began exploring ‘Option J’, the acquisition of our Future Submarines from Japan. Tony Abbott’s ‘Captain’s Call’, suspected to be a result of discussions between him and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meant breaking another election commitment, and abandoning the Australian submarine enterprise, which has been centred in Adelaide since the 1980s.

News Story: Sweden Pitches Sale of Saab's Gripen-NG Fighter Jet to India

By Gerard O'Dwyer

HELSINKI — Sweden is pursuing an ambitious "government-to-government" multibillion dollar (US) project to sell Saab’s Gripen-NG fighter to India.

The Gripen-NG was tentatively offered to India during meetings between senior Swedish and Indian government officials in Mumbai on Feb. 14-15. Saab was a participant in at least one of the meetings.

Saab was part of a Swedish government-sponsored, high-powered trade group that comprised many of Sweden’s leading industrial corporations, including Ericsson, Volvo, ABB, Scania and BAE Systems Hägglunds AB.

The intergovernmental talks culminated with a joint commitment signed by Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "enhance dialogue" on defense in key areas such as aviation, air-defense, maritime security, combat training and simulation in the army domain.

"There is a general consensus that India wants to strengthen its defense capability. While the country will need to purchase, there is a strong confidence here in the capability of Sweden’s defense industry. We did not conduct any concrete discussions on business deals, but we do see a great opportunity here for Sweden’s defense industry in its entirety and Gripen is a very strong project. We naturally intend to continue talks," said Löfven.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Editorial: Public Diplomacy - A Way Forward for South Asia

By Shah Meer

An initiative by the Swedish Institute is having a profound impact on its participants.

Regional integrity seems a distant dream for South-Asian nations, at least when it involves what is known as Track 1 or “official” diplomacy. Three decades have passed since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the aspiration of bridging the gaps between South Asian countries, while providing them with a platform to discuss regional issues and come up with practical solutions. Unfortunately, SAARC has proven to be a lethargic platform that has been able to bring close neighbors together, let alone more distant ones. Political grudges, blame games, and a deficit of trust have consistently proven to be stumbling blocks to regional integration. Rivalries among states instill negative thoughts in the minds of naïve citizens as well. Conflicts among the states are rarely limited to the government level; they sow the seeds of hate in the hearts and minds of citizens as well.

South Asian countries have been pushed many times by external powers to set aside their political grudges and strive for peace and prosperity in the region. All such nudges have been in vain. But rarely have external powers been motivated to try initiating people-to-people contact as an alternative path to regional unity and connectivity. People-to-people contact or “public diplomacy” remains the unfulfilled agenda of SAARC.

In 2013, the Swedish Institute – a public agency of Sweden – began an interesting initiative, creating the Young Connectors of the Future (YCF) program, a fellowship for young leaders of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The program has already proven productive, with participants continuing to advocate for lasting peace in the region while doing their utmost to eliminate preconceived prejudices that people have about their neighbors.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Think Tank: Sea, air and land updates (27-Oct-2015)

Alice Slevison and James Mugg

Sea State

Sino–US relations remain tense as Washington has reportedly sent a warship within 12 nautical miles of two artificial built islands in the South China Sea. A US defence official told Reuters that the patrol was carried out by the USS Lassen Destroyers near Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago. For more information on the US–China dispute in the South China Sea, read Mercedes Page’s recent post here on The Strategist.

The US voyage to the Spratly Islands comes a week after China hosted a visit by 27 senior US Navy officers to its sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. Chinese officials said the US Navy officers were visiting as part of an annual bilateral exchange and they held discussions on ‘exercise management, personnel training, medical protection and strategies in carrier development’.

In London, Britain’s nuclear submarine industry has been warned by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon not to repeat the delays and cost overruns of the Astute hunter-killer program when it builds the Royal Navy’s new Trident missile submarines to replace the Vanguard-class submarine currently in service. The Vanguards are armed with Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles and form part of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent.

And finally, We are the Mighty has listed its ‘6 best weapons designed to kill submarines’. Check them out here.

AUS: International mine warfare exercise in Hobart

Leading Diver Ashley Mansell from the Royal Navy Fleet Diving Team 2 checks his dive gear on the wharf at Huon Quays, Tasmania, during Exercise Dugong 2015 (Image) >>

A mine countermeasures exercise, involving seven Navies is drawing to a close in Hobart.

Exercise DUGONG 15 brought mine warfare and dive teams from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and United States together for two weeks to practice contemporary mine warfare and dive salvage techniques and procedures.  New Zealand also took part, deploying headquarters personnel.  Two Swedish officers and one Indian officer attended as observers.

Commander Australian Mine Warfare Clearance Diving Task Group, Commander Max Muller, said maintaining freedom of navigation and movement through sea lanes for legitimate maritime trade was of vital importance to Australia and our allies.