News Story: Qantas Defence nears completion of last A330 MRTT conversion

KC-30A (Full size Pic at JetPhotos)

By GREG WALDRON

Qantas Defence Services is close to completing the conversion of Australia's fifth, and final, Airbus Military A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).

The aircraft will be handed over to Airbus Military next week, with the European company to install the aerial refuelling boom, says Qantas Aviation Services head Glenn Brown. Qantas Defence Services is a unit of Qantas Aviation Services.

Industry sources in Australia suggest the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will not obtain a sixth A330 MRTT, which is designated the KC-30A in RAAF service.

Brown says that it would be very difficult for Qantas Defence Services to re-start the A330 MRTT conversion programme. Some contractors who worked on the programme have already moved on to other work within the Qantas Group or at other companies.

Such staff changes will cause a degree of institutional knowledge related to A330 MRTT conversions to be lost.

Read the full story at FlightGlobal

Editorial: Iran Surprises on Uranium

By Jason Miks

Iran may have enriched uranium to higher level than expected, according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which I received a copy of at the weekend.

Is this further sign that Iran isn’t negotiating in good faith? That remains to be see, and Iran for its part indicated to the IAEA that the production of such particles “above the target value” may “happen for technical reasons beyond the operator’s control.”

“The Agency is assessing Iran’s explanation and has requested further details,” the report says. “On 5 May 2012, the Agency took further environmental samples from the same location where the particles in question had been found. These samples are currently being analyzed.”

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: The Folly of UNCLOS

By Paul S. Giarra

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea is as much as anything else about fundamental disagreements between the U.S. and China. The U.S. shouldn’t sign up.

UNCLOS is deeply flawed. The U.S. Senate should be deeply skeptical of claims that, because it’s an international agreement, we should therefore accede as a matter of course. One can be all for the rule of law, yet conclude that United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas has complicated rather than simplified maritime law and security.

UNCLOS enshrined customary maritime law, but it also contradicted it by extending national claims far to sea, well beyond traditional claims, in the form of sui generis Exclusive Economic Zones. By fiat, this creation of EEZs established new claims and conflicts that never before existed.  This strikes me not as smart lawyering, but rather as quite a bad idea.

Somewhere along the line, proponents of UNCLOS have adopted the argument that accession itself is the standard of behavior, and that having a seat at the table is of paramount importance.  This becomes particularly problematic where the United Nations is concerned.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

AUS: Australian Navy joins the Republic of Korea for inaugural maritime exercise

ANZAC class Frigate (AUS DoD Image)

The ANZAC-class Guided Missile Frigate, HMAS Ballarat, continues its North East Asian deployment after completing a successful exercise with the Chinese Navy it will conduct a port visit and exercise with the Republic of Korea.

After a short port visit to the city of Busan, HMAS Ballarat will participate in the inaugural bilateral maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Republic of Korean Navy (ROKN) Exercise HAIDOLI WALLABY (EHW) between 28 and 29 May 12.

The exercise is aimed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding between the ADF and ROKN in selected facets of maritime operations through the conduct of training activities including communications and Anti Submarine Warfare.

The ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander Jonathan Earley, said this is an exciting time for his crew to interact on a professional and cultural level with a highly valued regional neighbour.

“The HAIDOLI-WALLABY Exercise represents an excellent opportunity for HMAS Ballarat to further hone our high-end warfare skills with the ROKN and deepen our defence relationship with a Navy who shares maritime interests similar to ours,” Commander Earley said.

HMAS Ballarat is now over half way through a four month deployment through South and North East Asia. Further exercises are planned with Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the United States Navy off Japan before HMAS Ballarat returns to Sydney in June.

AUS DoD

AUS: RAAF Orion provided crucial assistance in rescue of MV Solfish 001 passengers and crew

AP-3C Orion (Wiki Info)

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion passing low overhead offered a new wave of hope for 49 Solomon Islanders stranded in life rafts with no sight of land last Saturday afternoon.

The Orion and its crew had been tasked to support a search and rescue mission in the area on Friday after the 27-metre, island trader MV Solfish 001 failed to arrive at its designated port of Lata earlier in the week.

Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Ash Power said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s, Rescue Coordination Centre – Australia, sought Australian Defence Force assistance in searching a 6,000 square kilometre area to the East South –East of Honiara on Friday.

“With a search area that large, the AP-3C’s unique capabilities, particularly the data captured from sonobuoys, allowed specialists at the Rescue Coordination Centre – Australia to refine the zone, ultimately leading to the successful recovery,” Lieutenant General Power said.

“The aircrew spent hours patiently working through the search zone and coordinating with other aircraft and vessels to firstly find the debris field and then confirm a possible sighting of life rafts – it was a great effort by all involved.”

The crew of the AP3-C identified a debris field on the second day of the effort which allowed further refinement of the search area.

“About two hours after finding the debris, a civilian aircraft reported possible life rafts that were quickly confirmed through a low pass by the RAAF aircrew.

“The confirmation allowed surface vessels to be directed to the five life rafts and recover the 49 Solomon Islanders.”

The RAAF AP-3C returned to the search area on the evening of 26 May, 2012 to coordinate the rescue effort and advise the ship’s master of the life rafts exact location.

Recovery efforts were complete early in the morning of Sunday 27 May, 2012.

The efforts of the RAAF aircrew, personnel at the respective Australian and Solomon Islands Rescue Coordination Centres and aircrew and masters of other aircraft and vessels involved resulted in the safe recovery of 49 people including 10 women and six children.

The Australian Defence Force regularly responds to request for assistance from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AUS DoD

Brunei: ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM DEFENCE OFFICIALS' DIALOGUE & ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM SECURITY POLICY CONFERENCE MEETING

By Dk Khairil Bahriah Ali

CAMBODIA, Thursday 24 May 2012 - The second ASEAN Regional Forum Defence Officials’ Dialogue (ARF DoD) Meeting for the year 2011-2012 took place in Phnom Penh on 24 May 2012 and was chaired by Major General Lay Chenda, Director of ASEAN Affairs Department, General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defence, Cambodia. This meeting is a follow-up from the first meeting which took place in Wellington, New Zealand.  Three main agendas have been tabled in the meeting which included:

Enhancing Military Practical Cooperation on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR); Cooperation on Peacekeeping Operations; and Implication of Regional Security Architectures.

The ARF DoD was proceeded with the ARF Security Policy Conference (ASPC) Meeting on 25 May 2012 which was headed by Mohd Sahrip bin Othman, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Defence Policy and Development) of the Ministry of Defence.  The Agendas discussed in the meeting included:

Exchange of views on International and Regional Security Issues; Enhancing Cooperation on Maritime Security; Consideration on Safety Nuclear Energy; and Briefing on the Outcomes of the 3rd ADSOM Plus.

At the sideline, China hosted Breakfast Meeting with ASEAN Head of Delegation to the ASPC.  China reiterated its strong commitment in fostering bilateral relations with ASEAN member nations.  

Cambodia is currently the Chair of ASEAN and hosted all meetings under the purview of ASEAN.  Cambodia will be hosting the 6th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) on the 29 May 2012.

Brunei MoD

Editorial: China's nine-dashed line in South China Sea

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Alongside an armada of paramilitary patrol vessels and fishing boats, China has fired off a barrage of historical records to reinforce its claim over a disputed shoal near the Philippines in the South China Sea.

While this propaganda broadside makes it clear Beijing will take a tough line with Manila as a standoff over Scarborough Shoal continues into a seventh week, the exact legal justification for China's claim and the full extent of the territory affected remain uncertain, according to experts in maritime law.

Like most of its claims to vast expanses of the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea, Beijing prefers to remain ambiguous about the details, they say.

Read the full story at CNBC

Editorial: US Pivots To Maritime Southeast Asia – Analysis

LCS-2 USS Independence

By Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto

The United States decision to deploy littoral combat ships in Singapore signals a maritime focus in its pivot to the Asia-Pacific. It reaffirms U.S. commitment to support Southeast Asian allies and partners amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness in the region.

THE UNITED STATES’ pivot to Asia comes with a maritime focus. The announcement made by then U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, in June 2011 was to deploy the U.S. Navy’s newest warship, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to Singapore. While Singapore is not the only place for LCS deployment (the others being Bahrain and Japan), it still signifies the prime importance accorded to Southeast Asia in the American geopolitical calculus. It conveys a specific political message of U.S. commitment to support Southeast Asian allies and partners, who are increasingly wary over Beijing’s growing maritime and military assertiveness. But to what extent is this view shared in the region?

Read the full story at Eurasiare View

Editorial: China's 'Expanding Core' squeezes

Beijing's muscle flexing and territorial claims in the South China Sea, along with its mushrooming military budget and gloomy human rights record, are ringing alarm bells in the region

China is now engaged in bitter disputes with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, both located far beyond China's 320km-wide territorial waters in the South China Sea. Indeed, so expansive are China's claims nowadays that many Asians are wondering what will satisfy China's desire to secure its ''core interests''. Are there no limits, or does today's China conceive of itself as a restored Middle Kingdom, to whom the entire world must kowtow?

So far, China has formally referred to Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang province as ''core interests'', a phrase that connotes an assertion of national sovereignty and territorial integrity that will brook no compromise. Now China is attempting to apply the same term to the Senkaku Islands in its dispute with Japan, and is perilously close to making the same claim for the entire South China Sea; indeed, some Chinese military officers already have.

Read the full story at Bangkok Post

News Story: (Thailand) Navy gives up on subs plan

The navy has given up on its plan to buy six second-hand submarines and will opt for a high-capacity frigate instead.

A committee, chaired by navy chief Surasak Roonroengrom, recently met to discuss the navy's strategic defence plan and its budget.

It resolved to scrap the plan to buy six second-hand submarines for a total of 7.5 billion baht from Germany, a navy source said yesterday.

The navy's hopes for the submarines were dashed due to political intervention and heavy criticism from opponents.

The project hit several stumbling blocks after it was proposed by former navy chief Adm Kamthorn Pumhiran, said the source. There was also an internal rift among navy officers.

Read the full story at Bangkok Post