asian military review - may 2011 issue

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VOLUME 19/ISSUE 3 MAY 2011 US$15

SELFPROPELLEDARTILLERY

UAVS FOR COIN

NAVAL SONARAND RADAR

TRAINING AND SIMULATION

AMR’S REGIONALNAVIES DIRECTORY

CORVETTES AND OPVS

SPECIAL MISSIONAIRCRAFT

SELFPROPELLEDARTILLERY

UAVS FOR COIN

NAVAL SONARAND RADAR

TRAINING AND SIMULATION

AMR’S REGIONALNAVIES DIRECTORY

CORVETTES AND OPVS

SPECIAL MISSIONAIRCRAFT

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a proven partnership an even greater strategic asset.

MAY 2011VOLUME 19 / ISSUE 3

Contents

Front Cover Photo:BAE Systems was awarded thecontract for 48 Archer 155mm/52 calibre self-propelledartillery gun systems in March2010 which will equipNorwegian and Swedish Forces,with numbers split equally.The Archer will replace SwedishFH-77B and Norwegian 155mmM109 systems, with the firstsystems due to be deliveredlater this year © AJB

Contents

01

Naval Radarand SonarTom WithingtonIn the vast, seemingly endlessexpanses of ocean, and thecrowded littoral waters of theglobe in which the world’snavies operate, sensors are theindispensable adornment totheir ships which allow theirsailors to understand what ishappening in their locale

Training and Simulationin the Asia PacificGiles EbbuttUAVs bring several significantadvantages to counter insurgencyoperations over and abovealmost every other surveillancetechnology available for battlespacesituational awareness

AMR’s NavalDirectoryAdam BaddeleyNaval power has become anindispensable component inthe modernisation plans ofmilitaries across the AsiaPacific Region both in ensuringthe integrity of their littoralarea, protecting key ExclusiveEconomic Zones andprojecting power overseas

Asia-Pacific SpecialMission AircraftMartin StreetlyAlongside SIGnals INTelligenceaircraft, a growing number of Asia-Pacific countries are operating‘special mission’ platforms,with the range including radarsurveillance, multi-sensor oceansurveillance and AirborneEarly Warning types

UAVs in counterinsurgencyoperationsJohn MulberryUAVs bring severalsignificant advantages tocounter insurgencyoperations over and abovealmost every othersurveillance technologyavailable for battlespacesituational awareness

Self PropelledArtillery inthe Asia-PacificAdam BaddeleySelf propelled artillery providethe mobility and logistics to travelquickly to a fire point, carryingsufficient ammunition to conducta sustained fire mission andthen rapidly redeploy to avoidpotential counter battery fire

12 38

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44

Ted HootonThe most popular naval vessels

being ordered through-outthe world are the corvette and theoffshore patrol vessel and yet, asthe Asian market demonstrates,

they are terms which overlap

04

RegionalCorvettes & Offshore

Patrol Vessels

l MAY 2011 l

Editorialuring what is undoubtedly a lull before thelatest public crisis in relations between theUS and Pakistan, it seems the right time tolook at the alliance or perhaps moreproperly, the marriage of convenience

between the two countries.

Whether that be the strange case of the RaymondDavis’ carjacking, allegations of either collusion with or foot-dragging againstthe Taliban by the ISI, drone attacks gone wrong in the tribal areas of Pakistanor cross border incursions against militants based in its borderlands, there is aheavy strain on an alliance critical to winning the war in Afghanistan.

That’s not to say that public crises aren’t the only form of difficulty. Lt-Gen Pasha,head of the ISI recently toured Washington to privately rebuild the intelligencerelationship between the two countries’ which press reports have suggestedresulted in the halting of intelligence co-operation earlier this year.

Reflecting these problems the American Ambassador to Pakistan called for‘renewal’ of ties between the two countries in April.

The crux of the problem is Afghanistan.

The US wants to win the war in Afghanistan and ensure stability once it endsmajor combat operations. To do that it needs the support of its ally Pakistan.

Pakistan wants to retain influence in Afghanistan. While unwelcome to some itis hardly unexpected or unrealistic. The US is fighting a war after massivedomestic loss of life from attacks originating in Afghanistan, thousands of milesaway. For Pakistan to want to retain influence in that country with which it hasa shared border if only as a safety measure, is hardly unreasonable. Equally,neither is the US demand that the influence it seeks should not be exclusivelyvia the Taliban as was the case prior to 2001.

Pakistan is a weak, almost kleptocractic state and its government has onlydegrees of control over its institutions. It is not a mature liberal democracy.Pakistan either cannot or will not take marionette like direction from Washingtonand no country likes its citizens and soldiers being killed within its own bordersby an ally, even by accident. To expect otherwise is unrealistic although neitheris the expectation of greater effort on the part of Pakistan’s government either.

What the two allies want can be compatible, irrespective of any local difficultiesbetween the two countries. Furthermore the two are beholden to each other.The United States needs Pakistan to prosecute its current and future operationsin Afghanistan, it also has an interest in ensuring a country with perhaps 100nuclear warheads does not turn into a failed state and Pakistan needs the US toensure generous bi-lateral and multi-lateral aid amongst other things. The US-Pakistan alliance is here to stay but the ride will be bumpy.

Adam Baddeley, Editor

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02 l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l

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CCOORRVVEETTTTEESS A N D O P V


The most popular naval vessels being ordered through-out theworld are the corvette and the offshore patrol vessel and yet, as theAsian market demonstrates, they are terms which overlap.

bbyy Ted Hooton

RegionalCorvettes &

OffshorePatrol Vessels

A N D O P V

CCOORRVVEETTTTEESS

05l MAY 2011 l

CORVETTES AND offshorepatrol vessels within theAsian region tend to be ves-sels of between 60 and 100metres in length with dis-

placements ranging from 450 to 1,850tonnes. They will usually carry a 76mm gunand will usually have a helicopter landingdeck to embark a small (4 tonne take-offweight) helicopter but the great differencesare in their roles which define their sensorsand sub-systems.The offshore patrol vessel (OPV) has

essentially a policing and environmentalprotection role being designed to patrolnational waters protecting domesticexploitation of natural resources such asfishing and hydro-carbons. It must inter-cept and board vessels which may beinvolved in criminal actions and to this endit needs only a simple I-band (8-10 GHz)surface search/navigation radar as well asa system for the rapid deployment andrecovery of a rigid inflatable boat (RIB).OPVs are also designed to rescue peoplefrom danger at sea and also to help defeatenvironmental pollution by deployingitems such as oil-protection booms.Corvettes are small warships, usually

for escort roles, and with threats likely fromsurface ships and aircraft they require anavigation radar, an E/F-band (2-4 GHz)air/surface search radar which may be aug-mented by an I/J-band (8-20 GHz) radar. Itwill usually carry surface-to-surface anti-ship missiles, possibly augmented by short-range surface-to-air missiles, and mightalso have an anti-submarine capability witha hull-mounted sonar and light-weight (324

mm diameter) torpedoes. Given the sophis-tication of the roles the corvette is likely tohave a combat management system and/ora weapon control system.Interest in the corvette world wide has

risen steadily in the past 20 to 30 years andit arises from the relative demise of the fastattack craft, a fast patrol boat with surface-to-surface missiles. The majority of Asiannavies bought these vessels in the 1970sand 1980s seeing in them a relatively cheapmeans of countering maritime powers withlarger warships, in much the same way asthe Egyptian Navy sank the Israeli destroy-er Eilat from a fast attack craft inAlexandria Harbour in 1967. Many of thosewho purchased fast attack craft anticipateda form of guerrilla warfare with vesselsoperating in archipelagos, from concealedcoves or even from harbours.But it soon became obvious the concept

of the fast attack craft had major weakness-es. The relatively small size of the craftmeant they could be deployed only in limit-ed sea conditions while their search radarshad extremely restricted ranges because ofshort masts. The Iraqi Navy’s short, butbloody, raid in 1991 also demonstrated twooperational vulnerabilities; they were veryvulnerable to damage especially missilesand the missile-equipped helicopter couldconduct stand-off attacks because the craftlacked a self-defence capability.The corvette is essentially a fast attack

craft which has taken a body-buildingcourse. Its greater size permits greaterrobustness to battle damage and allows ahigher mast for greater radar coverage. Theincreased size also gives the possibility ofimproved air defences and a role as an anti-submarine platform, although the loss ofthe Korean corvette ROKS Chon An,allegedly to a heavyweight torpedolaunched from a midget submarine, mightbe interpreted as showing the vulnerabilityof such craft to underwater weapons.

The auxiliary ship BRP Dagupan City (LC 551),front, takes the lead followed by the corvetteBRP Apolinario Mabini (PS 35), the transportdock ship USS Denver (LPD 9), the frigate BRPRajah Humabon (PF 11), right, and theamphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2),during Exercise Balikatan 2010 © US DoD

The problem for any study on the corvettemarket in Asia is that the terms corvette andOPV are blurred. The best example isMalaysia’s Kedah class New GenerationPatrol Vessels (NGPV) based upon theBlohm & Voss MEKO 100 design with a dis-placement of 1,650 tonnes. These vessels, asbefits their official designation, are beingused for OPV duties but they feature shapedhulls to reduce their radar signature andother measures to reduce their infra-red sig-

nature. They have a Cassidian (formerlyEADS) TRS-3 air/surface search radar and anAtlas Cosys combat management system butapart from the 76mm and 30mm Oto Melaraguns they embark no other weapon systemsalthough they can be fitted with sonars, sur-

face-to-surface and surface-to-air missilesand an electronic warfare suite. These ships are clearly corvettes-in-wait-

ing which can be upgraded at relatively littlecost when funds become available. KualaLumpur is planning to order a batch ofSecond Generation Patrol Vessels (SGPV)with the first entering service by 2015 andthese will be larger than the Kedahs being 99metres-long with a displacement of 2,200tons and will be more heavily armed.

By contrast the Philippines operates 15‘corvettes’, most of Second World War vin-tage, but none carry missiles. All are effective-ly OPVs, indeed the three Jacintos were builtfor this role as the Royal Navy’s Peacockclass, and all operate in the policing role. Theimportance of the OPV has been demonstrat-ed early in this year with a series of incidentsoff East Asia triggered by fishing disputes.

l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l06

China, one of the fewAsian navies to retain faithin the fast attack craft andhas no corvettes, is steadilyexpanding its OPV fleet

A corvette famous for all the wrong reasons is theRepublic of Korea corvette Chon An (FSG 772),shown here recovered after a torpedo attackresulted in the death of 46 sailors © US DoD

Philippine navy corvette BRPArtemio Ricarte (PS-37) inthe South China Sea duringan exercise © US DoD

CCOORRVVEETTTTEESSA N D O P V

China, one of the few Asian navies toretain faith in the fast attack craft and has nocorvettes, is steadily expanding its OPV fleet.The Maritime Safety Administration (MSA)is expanding rapidly to safeguard thenation’s maritime interests and plans another36 vessels with the latest being the 1,290-tonHaijian (China Marine Surveillance) 75. Thefleet will receive seven 1,500-ton, 15 1,000-tonand 14 600-ton ships while the WuchangShipbuilding Industry Company hasreceived a contract for a 5,418-tonne ship tobe called Haixun 01.Japan’s Coast Guard operates more than

50 OPVs including two 5,200-ton Mizuhosand 10 4.037-ton Soyas and is adding the lastof 11 1,300-ton Hateruma class vessels. SouthKorea’s Coast Guard operates some 18 OPVsof various classes as well as a number ofdedicated salvage ships. Seoul intends toreplace the Po Hang class corvettes with theFuture Frigate (FFX) and has modernised itsfast attack craft force to meet potentialthreats in offshore islands. Taiwan received two OPVs last year and

has plans for what is officially described as aCoastal Patrol Vessel under the Hsun Haiprogramme. Actually these vessels will be a40-metres long catamaran corvette with a dis-placement of 900 tonnes. The vessels arebeing designed by the United Ship Designand Development Centre and may be sched-uled to replace some of the Hai Ou class fastattack craft but for unknown reasons theNavy is delaying plans to build them.Vietnam has built two BPS 500 (Russian-

designed Project 12418) class corvettes and isacquiring up to 10 Tarantul V (Project 1241.8)

class corvettes. Two of these 450-ton vesselshave been built in Russia and the remainderwill be built in Vietnam augmenting fourTarantul (Project 1241E) class ships acquiredin the 1990s. Hanoi is reported to be in dis-cussions with Damen Schelde NavalShipbuilding for license production of theirHolland class Offshore Patrol Vessels and ifagreement is reached the ships will be built atthe new joint venture yard Damen VinashinShipyard in Haiphong.Thailand operates a nominal nine

‘corvettes’, although the two Chinese-builtPattanis are actually OPVs while only thetwo Rattanakosins have surface-to-surfacemissiles. There appear to be no plans toexpand the fleet or add OPVs, possiblybecause attention is being focused uponacquiring submarines.Neighbouring Malaysia’s Maritime

Enforcement Agency operates two Lankawiclass OPVs and there are plans to expand thefleet. The Royal Malaysian Navy operates theKedahs and six corvettes including four for-mer Iraqi Assad class ships as the Laksamanaclass which are unusual in having long rangesurface-to-air missiles, the Alenia Albatros.Singapore operates six Victory class corvetteswhich are capable of Anti-Air, Anti-Surfaceand Anti-Submarine warfare operations,although a proposed update might delete theanti-submarine capability with this rolereplaced by the Formidable class frigates.Across the Straits of Malacca Indonesia

operates a fleet of 23 ‘corvettes’, although 16of them are former East German Parchim Iclass ships. These vessels, the KapitanPattimura class, have no surface-to-surfacemissiles, a point-defence surface-to-air capa-bility and would be regarded as OPVs butfor their hull and variable depth sonar sys-tems, light weight (400mm Russianweapons) and anti-submarine rocket launch-ers which make them useful anti-submarine

08 ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Singapore navy frigate RSS Steadfast(FFG 70), left, and corvette RSS Vigilance(90) stay in close formation duringexercises with the US Navy as part ofCooperation Afloat Readiness andTraining Singapore last year © US DoD

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson leading the Royal Malaysian Navy frigate KD Lekir (FF 26), thecorvette KD Kelantan (FFL 175) and the guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) during apassing exercise in the Strait of Malacca earlier this year © US DoD


platforms. More versatile are theDiponegoro class, four Sigma class corvettesbuilt by Damen Schelde which are muchmore capable multi-role vessels.They are the favourites for Jakarta’s

Nasional Korvet Plan (National CorvetteProgramme) whose objective is to build up to20 ships in local yards. Financial limitations(and probably problems with yard capacity)

suggest that no more than one ship a yearwill appear possibly from 2012/2013 butJakarta is seeking a foreign partner withDamen Shipbuilding the prime candidatealthough Fincantieri and Russian yards havenot been ruled out.The very sophistication of corvettes may

make smaller navies, in particular reconsideracquiring them. This is believed to have been

what happened in Brunei which acquiredthree 1,940-ton Brunei class multi-role shipswith local area defence Seawolf air defencemissiles. A legal dispute over their capabilityended in the yard’s favour and the ships arenow up for sale from a subsidiary ofFriedrich Lürssen Werft which has soldBrunei three Darussalam class ‘OPVs’ whichshould be with the Royal Brunei Navy by theend of summer. Bizarrely new ships, whichare 80-metres long, feature Exocet MM40 sur-face-to-surface missiles, a Bofors 57mm gunand Terma Scanter 4100 2D surface searchradar augmented by a Thales Sting Mk 2 elec-tro-optical director.The Australian Customs Service (ACS)

operates three OPVs which are convertedmerchant vessels of various sorts while NewZealand’s Project Protector included twoProtector class OPVs based upon a KvaernerMasa Marine design. They have, however,given some problems and in December, whenthey were due to deliver scientists and sup-plies to Campbell Island in the sub-Antarcticand HMNZS Otago was forced to return to

The very sophistication ofcorvettes may makesmaller navies, in particularreconsider acquiring them

A N D O P V

CCOORRVVEETTTTEESS


port after suffering an engine problem Theship has had previous problems with itsdiesels and gearbox. She had to return to baseon her maiden voyage in October because ofseawater contamination in the fuel.In western Asia, Bangladesh acquired two

Castle class OPVs from the United Kingdomlate last year. HMS Leeds Castle andDumbarton Castle were renamed BNS Bijoyand Dhaleshwari and were formally commis-sioned at the beginning of this year. Thesevessels are being acquired to secure the coun-try’s offshore Economic Exclusion Zone but

Dhaka is also seeking surface combatants.Several frigates are being sought from Asianyards and there was talk of acquiring acorvette but this now appears to be a reducedpriority in favour of submarines.India has requirements for both corvettes

and OPVs. The Indian Navy has some 24corvettes, mostly of Russian design althoughmost were built in Indian yards. GardenReach Shipbuilding and Engineering (GSRE)are currently building four multi-role vesselsto meet the Project 28 requirement. The firstship, INS Kamorta, was launched in Apriland it is reported she and her three sisterswill be equipped with the Russian 3M54 (SS-N-27A ‘Sizzler’) surface-to-surface missile

with 120 nautical mile (220 kilometres) rangeand Barak local area defence surface-to-airmissiles. Most of their electronics will comefrom domestic sources and all four shipsshould be in service between 2012 and 2015.The Indian Navy operates six Sukanya classOPVs and is acquiring four 2,215-ton Saryuclass of which the last should join the fleet bythe summer of this year.The Indian Coast Guard operates 14 OPVs

and is steadily expanding the fleet with athird 2,230-ton Sankalp and a third 1,840-tonVishwast scheduled to join the fleet from theGoa Shipyard this year. India is extremelyanxious about the shortage of OPVs andappears to regret giving Sri Lanka a Sukanya

class ship a decade ago and two Vikrams in2009. Colombo may well seek more OPVs inthe post civil war phase but currently theonly other vessels it has are the SLNSSamudura, a former US Coast GuardReliance class cutter and the domestically-built SLNS Jayasagara.The Asian demand for both corvettes

and OPVs is likely to grow over the nextdecade. Both offer cost-effective means ofprotecting national interests from variousthreats and there is the added advantagethat many nations can build these vesselsdomestically.

The Indonesian corvette theKRI Diponegoro © DamenSchelde Naval Shipbuilding

Exocet surface-to-surface missiles are commonin many corvettes © MBDA

In western Asia, Bangladeshacquired two Castleclass OPVs from the UnitedKingdom late last year


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THE M109 Paladin continues to bea popular and enduring choice forSP artillery units. None more sothan the US who have opted tocontinue with further develop-

ment of the system after the cancellation ofthe Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon, in 2009. Theresult has been the 155 mm 39-calibreM109A6 Paladin Integrated Management(PIM) platform and its associated M992A2Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicle.The PIM upgrade includes the use of thesame powerpack, suspension and tracks asthose on the Bradley. The US has recentlycut the number of platforms to receive theupgrade from 600 to 440 vehicles and post-poned Low Rate Initial Production from2011 to 2013, allowing the Army more timeto look at alternative or more likely supple-mentary solutions although in the post FCSprogramme there is no SP programme withPIM designated to provide that capabilityunder US plans. Rheinmetall Weapons andMunitions have developed a modularupgrade for the M109 called the M109L52,

which includes the complete 155 mm/52calibre ordnance of the PzH 2000. RuagLand Systems is also offering a M109upgrade based on surplus Swiss armyexamples while GDSBS is upgrading Spain’sfleet of M109A5Es to add a new DigitalNavigation Aiming and Pointing Systemrather than acquire a new platform. ElbitSystems have also introduced an upgrade tothe M109 which enhances precision which isnow in service.The French Army operates eight of

Nexter’s protected CAESARs (CAmionEquipé d'un Système d'ARtillerie) truckmounted 155mm/39 calibre guns inAfghanistan. Saudi Arabia took delivery of itsfirst CAESAR on a Mercedes-Benz UNIMOG6x6 chassis in 2009 part of an order made in2006 for 100 systems. Thailand received sixsystems in 2009 on a Renault Trucks DefenseSherpa 6x6 truck chassis. A total of 18 roundsare carried on each CAESAR with advancednew rounds allowing ranges of 42km to beachieved. One of the latest iterations of theCAESAR has seen further improvements to

SSEELLFF PPRROOPPEELLLLEEDD I N D I R E C T F I R E

Self Propelled

Self propelled artillery provide the mobility andlogistics to travel quickly to a fire point,carrying sufficient ammunition to conduct asustained fire mission and then rapidlyredeploy to avoid potential counter battery fire.

bbyy Adam Baddeley

Artillery


AsiaPacific

Artilleryin the

13

I N D I R E C T F I R E

SSEELLFF PPRROOPPEELLLLEEDD

l MAY 2011 l

The 155 mm 39-calibre M109A6Paladin Integrated Management (PIM)will see 440 vehicles converted to theimproved standard © BAE Systems

www.rheinmetall-defence.com

F o r c e p r o t e c t i o n i s o u r m i s s i o n

Protected vehicles

Air defence systems

Weapons and ammunition

Turret systems

Reconnaissance systems

Command and control

Simulation and training

SSEELLFF PPRROOPPEELLLLEEDD I N D I R E C T F I R E

its ballistic and mine protection. The platformhas also been installed with the ThalesMargot 5000 surveillance system which uses amast mounted Manon sensor. Soltam’s ATMOS 2000 (Autonomous Truck

MOunted howitzer System) provides a truckmounted 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelledsolution that is compliant with the NATO JointBallistic Memorandum of Understanding(JBMoU) with the company’s ammunition canhit targets at 41km as well as older standardrounds. Soltam have used a number of 6x6platforms with a four man crew. Deploymenttime is 1.5 minutes to a first shot with threerounds fired within 15 seconds. Soltam hasalso developed bespoke truck mounted solu-tions including a 155/39mm calibre solutionfor Uganda and one for Kazakhstan based onthe Russian D30 ordnance.The German Army’s Panzerhaubitze 2000

(PzH 2000) self-propelled howitzers have

been deployed to Afghanistan with ISAFsince the Summer with Dutch forces deploy-ing their systems from 2006.Another newcomer to the SP market is

Rheinmetall’s Rheinmetall Wheeled Gun 52(RWG-52) which has a strong G-6 155mm/45-heritage from South Africa, indeedthe chassis was designed by local companyIndustrial Automotive Design. In simpleterms the RWG52 uses the PZH2000 systemand implements it on a 6x6 chassis. Taking 30seconds to deploy and fire, rates of sixrounds per minute can be sustained with 40rounds carried on board and like thePzH2000, it is capable of ranges of 42km.with are controls systems necessary to sup-port Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact

engagements. Other platforms for theweapon include the T-72-90 or Arjun MBTs.Solutions using the PzH2000 are not limit-

ed to the RWG 52. An earlier solution was theKrauss-Maffei Wegmann developed 155mm/52 calibre Artillery Gun Module (AGM)which was installed on an adapted M270Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)tracked chassis. Further work has producedthe two man DONAR 155 mm/52 calibre SPartillery system with General DynamicsSanta Bárbara Sistemas. This has seen thesame ordnance in a new turret and new cus-tom chassis based on the Pizarro 2 infantryfighting vehicle and weighs 35 tonnes.BAE Systems was awarded the contract for

48 Archer 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelledartillery gun systems in March 2010 whichwill equip Norwegian and Swedish Forces,with numbers split equally. The Archer willreplace Swedish FH-77B and Norwegian155mm M109 systems, with the first systemsdue to be delivered later this year with com-pletion scheduled for 2013. Based on a Volvo6x6 all-terrain carrier chassis, the system

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F o r c e p r o t e c t i o n i s o u r m i s s i o n

Protected vehicles

Air defence systems

Weapons and ammunition

Turret systems

Reconnaissance systems

Command and control

Simulation and training

Nexter’s CAESAR has been installed on both aMercedes-Benz UNIMOG 6x6 and a RenaultTrucks Defense Sherpa 6x6 truck chassis © Nexter

I N D I R E C T F I R E

SSEELLFF PPRROOPPEELLLLEEDD

The German Army’s PzH2000 self-propelledhowitzers have beendeployed to Afghanistanwith ISAF since the Summer

deploys, fires and automatically reloads fromthe 21 rounds carried on board with the crewremaining entirely within the armoured com-partment during operations.China produces a range of self propelled

solution with 152 mm and 122 mm being thetubed solution of choice. Norinco’s PLZ45,M109 look alike has been acquired by Kuwaitand Saudi Arabia with range of 50km using anew FB base-bleed, rocket-assisted high-explosive extended-range full bore round hav-ing been claimed. A tracked 122mm solution,the SH3 is also offered with roughly half therange. More recently the PLZ52 with 155mm/52 calibre ordnance has been developed.In the wheeled domain, China offers the155mm SH1 6x6 solution and the 122mm SH1.

Regional ProcurementsIn response to North Korean attacks againstthe island of Yeonpyeong in November,South Korea is considering the procurementof further Samsung Techwin 155 mm/52 calK9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers underthe 2011 defence budget. Roughly 350 K9sare in service from a total of 500 ordered,with deliveries beginning in 2009 and due to

complete in 2012. Reports from Korea sug-gest that the K9, in the first stages of servicehas run into maintenance issues whichresulted in damage to the MTU MT 881 Ka-500 power packs of 38 of the RoK’s approxi-mately 500 K9s. The K9 is also manufacturedin Turkey as the Firtina. In October, SamsungThales announced an agreement to develop a2A65 152mm truck mounted self propelledsolution in conjunction with Kazakhstan’s

military. South Korea’s Defence AcquisitionProgramme Administration also began anew lightweight 105mm self propelled sys-tems in 2010 and is likely to include SamsungTechwin in the programme.It has been reported that Myanmar is the

first customer for the Yugoimport NORA B-52155mm/52 calibre self-propelled gun, basedon the KamAZ 63501 8x8 truck chassis. Thesystems carries 36 rounds on board withranges of 44km claimed. Versions on otherplatforms and other ordnance includingthe155/45 mm NORA B M96 are also offered.Burma recently acquired the first 14 of 44

North Korean-built truck mounted 240mmmultiple launchers which will supplementedChinese 107-mm Type 63 and 122-mm Type

90 designs. China’s MRL solutions continueto improve with solutions such as truckmounted Norinco Type 90B 122 mm 40-round MRL.India deploys the 12-round 300 mm BM

9A52 Smerch MRL. The Pinaka multiplelaunch rocket system and are being main-tained locally. Sagem’s Sigma 30 artillerynavigation and pointing systems has recentlybeen deployed with two Indian Army regi-

BAE Systems was awarded the contract for 48Archer 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelled artillerygun systems in March 2010 which will equipNorwegian and Swedish Forces © BAE Systems

The two man automated DONAR 155 mm/52 calibre SP artillery system uses the same ordnance as onthe PzH2 000 © General Dynamics European Land Systems

It has been reported thatMyanmar is the firstcustomer for the YugoimportNORA B-52 155mm/52calibre self-propelled gun


RREEGGIIOONNAALLM I L I T A R Y

ments. Russia has discussed the use of Sigma30 inertial navigation system for its ownSmerch and Grad multiple rocket launchers. Soltam’s turntable mounted, auto-lay

equipped system CARDOM (ComputerisedAutonomous Recoil Rapid DeployedOutrange Mortar) 120 mm smoothborerecoiling mortar system can engage targets atover 7km, rising to 9.5km with specialistammunition at rates of fire of up to 15 roundper minute. The systems is selected as stan-dard on US Army's M1129 Stryker 8x8 mor-tar carrier and uses the same ammunition asthe company’s M120 mortar. CARDOM isalso in service with Kazakhstan on boardMT-LB vehicles.Another mortar solution is ST Kinetics 120

mm smoothbore Super Rapid AdvancedMortar System (SRAMS). Integrated on arange of platforms down to the level of 4x4light strike vehicles. In Singaporean service itis carried on a version of the ST KineticsBronco articulated all-terrain tracked carrier.SRAMS weighs 1200Kg which includes therecoil mechanism and automatic muzzle

loader. Ammunition is provided by two 23round carousels on either side of the weaponwith addition rounds stored elsewhere.Ranges of 8.2km have been achieved in test-ing with high rates of fire.Singapore recently took delivery of the

first of eighteen FMTV Lockheed MartinMissiles and Fire Control 227 mm High

Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems(HIMARS) which will equip a single threebattery battalion. Singapore’s HIMARS areequipped with six GPS-guided MLRS rock-ets. HIMARS will supplement the recentlyintroduced Singapore Technologies Kinetics155 mm/39 calibre Primus self-propelledartillery system with automatic loaders with

M I L I T A R Y

RREEGGIIOONNAALL

ARAVIS®

®

ARAVIS®

NexterSystems

Elbit Systems ATMOS 2000 provides for a range of truck mounted indirect fire ordnance © Elbit Systems

a total of 54 production systems which eachcarry 26 rounds have been delivered to theSingapore Armed Forces. Across the border, Malaysia acquired 18

unguided AVIBRAS ASTROS II rocket sys-tems from 2001 from Brazil, Malaysia recent-ly awarded a contract for a further 18 AstrosIIs to equip a second regiment to be opera-tional at the end of 2010 or early 2011 andwill form a Army’s Rocket Brigade. A thirdregiment is also planned under the 10th Plan.Using the SS-80 rocket targets at ranges of 90km can be engaged. Avibras is now workingon an enhanced version of the Astros II,called Astros 2020, which will have a digi-tized command-and-control system and theability to fire the latest long-range,autonomously guided Tactical Missileswhich have a maximum range of 300 km.Malaysia has also acquired eight 2R2M

120mm Mortars for use with the Army’sACV-S 300 mortar carriers IFVs in a $18.7million deal. A maximum range of 13 km isachieved using a rocket-assisted projectile or8.1 km using a standard TDA HE projectile.

Precision ProcurementThe M982 Excalibur 155 mm guided artilleryround programme recently saw its unit costrise when the US scaled back its purchase forExcalibur Block I Increment Ia and Ib roundsconsiderably. In August, Raytheon wasawarded funding to continue developmentM982E1 Excalibur Block 1b, designed todevelop Excalibur to reduce costs, increasereliability with ranges rising to 40km.Raytheon will begin production of Excalibur1b shells in 2012. Canada and Australianhave both acquired Excalibur, initially for usein Afghanistan.Rather than introduce new rounds, exist-

ing dumb rounds are having an intelligentupgrade to enable precision engagement. TheUS Army selected ATK to produce such aweapon with its Precision Guidance Kit(PGK) for the 155mm rounds. This adds aGPS based navigation and fixed canard guid-

ance which simply screwsinto the existing rounds fuzewell with a an accuracy ofsub-50m, with the companydemonstrating a 21.1 meterCP at over 20km range usingconducted with eighteenM549A1 rounds in aCompetitive fly-off. IAI’sTopGun Course CorrectionFuze uses four canards toachieve a claimed CEP ofless than 20m. TopGun is atTRL8 and is being devel-oped by MAFAT and IAIwith a first shootingplanned for February. Bycomparison, the CEP of an

unguided 155mm rounds at 40km is 361mand 91m at 10KM, Elbit have introduced anupgrade to the M109 which enhances preci-sion which is now in service. IAI Tamam areresponsible for integrating the PLGR andAMANP INS unit for IDF M109s. IAI are nowparticipating in the Asian market with theirlatest TMAPS INS systems developed withthe IDF and has an accuracy of less than 1miland is also entirely ITAR free.Other precision rounds include the SMArt

155 mm developed by Diehl andRheinmetall acquired by Australia, Greece,Switzerland and the UK and the Bonus top-attack PGM developed by Nexter Systems(France) and BAE Systems Bofors which in

service with France and Sweden. The KBPInstrument Design Bureau’ 155mm laserguided round is in service with India withthe Bofors 155 mm FH-77B artillery systemsand has been used operationally in Kashmir.Elisra are currently developing version 13

of software for the Divisional ArtilleryCommand and Control System variantdeveloped for Switzerland under the coun-try’s INTAFF programme which was fieldedin 2001. The new software will be deliveredlater this year and provide a new MMI andNATO MIP interoperability. Switzerlandalso acquired the company’s V-STAR termi-nal in 2009 to support the integration of UAVimagery into INTAFF teams. The systems isalso in service with several African andAsian customers and the company are in theprocess of developing a 3D mappingimprovement to the system.


Elbit System’s turntable mounted, auto-lay equipped CARDOM(Computerised Autonomous Recoil Rapid Deployed OutrangeMortar) 120 mm smoothbore recoiless mortar system can engagetargets at over 7km - © Elbit Systems

RREEGGIIOONNAALL M I L I T A R Y

Singapore is fielding 18 HIMARS to complementthe Singapore Technologies Kinetics 155 mm/39calibre Primus self-propelled artillery system© US DoD

Malaysia recently awardeda contract for a further18 Astros IIs to equip asecond regiment

Prepared by Adam Baddeley

AMR NAVALDIRECTORY 2011

19l MAY 2011 l

Naval power has become anindispensable component inthe modernisation plans ofmilitaries across the AsiaPacific Region both in ensur-

ing the integrity of their littoral area, pro-tecting key Exclusive Economic Zones andin many cases projecting power independ-ently at great distances from home.As with all AMR Directories, this one

has also been compiled from a range ofopen sources from around the world,AMR’s correspondents and discussionswith industry and military personnelthroughout the year. AMR would like tothank those who have scratched theirheads and provided answers to our ques-tions. We would therefore like to encour-age readers over the next twelve monthswho can add information to either contactus in person at the year’s shows and exhibi-tions or by e-mail.

AUSTRALIARRooyyaall AAuussttrraalliiaann NNaavvyy�� DDeessttrrooyyeerrss3 Ordered Hobart Air Warfare

Destroyers; est. cost$8bil and due to enterservice 2014-17,problems with hullblock reported

�� FFrriiggaatteess8 ANZAC class (Meko);

Project Sea 1442 Phase 4will upgrade comms

4 Adelaide (FFG-7)

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess6 Collins class; 3 operational��MMiinneewwaarrffaarree6 Huon class (Gaeta)2 MSA2 CDT

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 Success AOR

(Durance class)1 Sirius tanker

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss2 Kanimbla class (Newport);

Training and helicoptersupport,Manooradecommissionsin February

6 Balikpapan LCH1 Tobruk LSH2 Ordered Canberra class; first hull

launched February 18th2011, 27,800 tonne shipsenter service 2014-16

1 ‘HMS Largs Bay’; arrivesin late 2011 ready foroperation in 2012 andal-lows early retirement ofHMAS Tobruk andKanimbla

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess14 Armidale PB

NNOOTTEESS:: Under the 2009 Defence WhitePaper, Australia will replace all patrolboats, minehunters and hydrographic ves-sels with 20 multi-role vessels (MRVs) with

the first scheduled to enter service around2019. with an est cost of $1.5bil underProject Sea 1180. Project Sea 1000 pro-gramme for 12 new Future Submarines /Evolved Collins subs under the 2009 Whitepaper and due to enter service from 2025under threat. Off the shelf buys ruled outearlier this year.HMS Largs Bay bought from RN earlier

this year for $105m, ready for operations in2012. Interest in partnering on RN Type26/Global Combat Ship due for 2024-2030 toreplace ANZAC frigates and est. cost of$10bil. The $1.5bil Project Air 9000 Phase 8competition for 24 naval helo decisionexpected soon on replacing 16 ageing S-70B-2 Seahawks by 2018.

BANGLADESHBBaannggllaaddeesshh NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess1 BNS Bangabandhu; two

AW109 helicopter beingpurchased, negotiationsfor three more freigatesunderway

1 Khalid Bin Walid (ROKDW2000H design)

2 Osman (PRCJianghu class)

1 Umar Farooq (UKSalisbury class) replacedby Castle class OPVs

2 Abu Bakr class (UKLeopard Class) replacedby Castle class OPVs

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess2 ex RN Castle class OPVs

sold 2010 commissionedin April 2011

5 Kapatakhaya OPV (UKIsland class)

1 Mahumnati PB (ROK SeaDragon class)

1 Nirbhoy PB (PRCHainan class)

2 Salam/Barkat (PRCHaizhui class)

2 Karnaphuli PB (Yugo.Krajievika class)

3 Durdharsha FAC(PRC Huangfen class)

5 Durbar Missile FAC(PRC Hegu class)

4 BN vessels (PRC

RREEGG IIOONNAALLN A V A L D I R E C T O R Y


HMAS Glenelg, the last of theArmidale patrol boats. Australia willreplace all patrol boats, minehuntersand hydrographic vessels with 20multi-role vessels © AJB

Huchuan class)4 Shaheed Daulat FAC

(PRC Shanghai II class)4 Titas FAC (ROK Sea

Dolphin class)

��MMCCMM4 Shapla Class (UK River

class)1 Sagar (PRC T43 class)

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss WWaarrffaarree2 Shah Poran LCU3 LCT (PRC Yuchin class)1 ex-RN survey ship HMS

Roebuck3 LCVP

NNOOTTEESS:: Dhaka aims to have a submarinewith fully equipped base by 2019/2020.Reported to be interested in three Po HangFrigates from South Korea and two F-22Pfrigates from China. Recent complaintsagainst Myanmar vessels enteringBangladesh’s EEZ.

BRUNEIRRooyyaall BBrruunneeii NNaavvyy�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess3 Darussalam OPV built at

Lürssen, first two shipsdue to arrive in Brunei inMay, third in August

3 Waspada Missile FAC, to bereplaced by Darussalams,with two transferred toIndonesia

3 Perwira PB 4 Ijhtihad PBs commissioned

in March and August 20104 LCU

NNOOTTEESS:: The three BAE Systems builtNakhoda Ragam corvettes remain for sale

CAMBODIARRooyyaall CCaammbbooddiiaann NNaavvyy�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess4 Stenka class, Soviet era

acquisition5 Schmel class

NNootteess:: Extremely modest forcessupplemented by a mixture of Soviet andChinese sourced patrol boats and amphibi-ous forces.

CHINAPPeeooppllee’’ss LLiibbeerraattiioonn AArrmmyy NNaavvyy�� AAiirrccrraafftt CCaarrrriieerrss1 Shi Lang; former RFS

Varyag being refurbishedat Dalian, operationalfor training in 2011-2012

2 ‘Indigenous Carriers’;reports of both being builtat Changxingdao yardin Shanghai

�� DDeessttrrooyyeerrss4 Taizhou/Hangzhou class

(Ru. Sovremenny class)2 Shenyak/Type 051C class2 Langzhou/052C class2 Guangzhou/Type052B1 Shenzen/Type 051B,

better known as Luhai2 Harbin, better known as

Luhu class13 Zuhai, better known as

Luda, class

�� FFrriiggaatteess8+4 Ordered Jiangkai II/Type 054A

class, up to 26 required2 Jiangkai I/Type 05414 Jiangwei I/Jiangwei II23 Jianghu I/II/III

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess2+2 Ordered Type 094 Jin class SSBN1 Type 092 Xia class SSBN2+2 Ordered Shang/Type 093-class

SSN5 Ordered Han/Type 091-class SSN,

troubled design beingreplaced by Shang

8+2 Ordered Song Type 039A, comple-tion of deliveries expectedby end 2010

5 Song-class5+5 Yuan Type 4110 Kilo Project 6362 Kilo Project 877EKM14 Ming-class8 Romeo-class, training and

reserve only

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess18 Houxin class missile FAC,

production ongoing5 Huijan class missile FAC,

production ongoing50 Houbei class missile FAC,

production ongoing95 Hainan PB90 Huchuan Hydrofoli FAC

��MMiinneewwaarrffaarree23 T43 mineweepers

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss ffoorrcceess2 Kunlunshan(Yzhao/Type

071-class LPD, second ves-sels launched Nov 2010

6 Planned Type 081 Helipcoptercarriersbuilt at Dalian andWuchang yards

RREEGG II OONNAALLN A V A L D I R E C T O R Y

The Chinese navy guided missiledestroyer Qingdao © DoD

21l MAY 2011 l

20 Yuting class LST,construction contnuing

28 Yudao/Yulin LSMs�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt vveesssseellss1 Nanyun clas AOR2 Dayun-class

INDIAIInnddiiaann NNaavvyy�� AAiirrccrraafftt CCaarrrriieerrss1 INS Viraart (UK Hermes)

due to leave service in 20181 Ordered INS Vikramaditya (Ru

Admrial Gorshkov) deliv-ery expected in early 2013

1 Ordered Indigenous AircraftCarrier, completion in2015, two more planned

�� DDeessttrrooyyeerrss 3 Delhi-class3 Ordered Im. Delhi/Project 15A5 Rajput-class (Ru

Kashin/Kashin II)4 Ordered Imp. Kolkata/Project

15B-class

�� FFrriiggaatteess3+3 Ordered Talwar class; deliveries to

begin in 2011, 3 new Imp.Talwar have been orderedwith increased costs from$1.2bil to 1.5bil. INSTarkash expected tobe in service later this year

3 Brahmaputra class/Project 16A

4 Godvari/Project 16 (UKLeander)

4 Nilgiri (UK Leander) INSVindhyagiri damaged incollision with MVNordlake in January

1+2 Ordered Shivalik/Project 17A

�� CCoorrvveetttteess6 Suyanka; Dhanush

short-range ballisticmissile fired from the INSSuvarna in March

4 Khukri/Type 254 Kora/Type 25A2 Durg/Nanuchka class12 Veer/Tarantul I class2 Prabal/Tarantul IV class4 Abhay/Pauk II class

4 Ordered Kamorta/Project 28stealth ASW frigates,Kockums building twosuperstructures, fourfurther ships planned

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess10 Sindhughosh/Kilo6 Ordered Scorpene, 1st due to enter

service in 2015 require-ment for a further 12SSK’s under in twofurther phases underProject 75 I, first phasevalued at $11billion

4 Shishumar/Type209/1500

1+5 Ordered Arihant SSBN, due toenter service in 2015

1 INS Chakra/Project 971Akula II, leased fromRu. in 2009 deliverydelayed until 2011

2 DSRV; RFI issuedearly 2011

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess5+10 Ordered T-80/Super Dvora II-class4 Trinkat/SDB Mk5 pb4 SDB Mk2/3M PB4 Sankalp NOPV, last vessel

completed in December

��MMCCMM12 Pondichery/Ru.

Natya/Project 266M classupgrading with Thalesequipment

6 Mahe-class (Yevgenya)2 Ordered Osprey class, ex-USN

vessels8 Planned Minesweepers in a $1.4bil

programmer launched inlate 2010

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss WWaarrffaarree1 Jalashwa/US Trenton

LPD5 Polnocny3 Shardul LST2 Magar-class LST6 LCU

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt2 Fleet carriers Jyoti and

Aditya

2 Ordered Deepak classFleet Tankers; $210morder, 1st vessel INSDeepak commissionedJan. 2011

NNOOTTEESS:: Project 17B Frigates being planned,last Foxtrot sub, INS Vagli decommissionedin December. Plans for second floating dockin Andamans RFI for $200m LPD issued inFebruary, deadline for proposal in March.

INDONESIAIInnddoonneessiiaann NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess5 Ahmad Yani (Ne. Van

Speijk)4 Fatahillah1 Ki Hajar Dewantara; train-

ing duties only

�� CCoorrvveetttteess4 Diponegoro/Sigma class16 Pattimura/Parchim class

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess2 Cakra/Type 209/1300;

Daewoo refurbishment inROK underway

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess4 Mandau-class Missile FAC

(PSMM Mk.5)4 Kakap clas PB (PB57)4 Singa FAC (FPB57)4 Todak class FPB57; being

Guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald andUSS McCampbell maneouvre with ChinesePeople's Liberation Army Navy destroyerGuangzhou (168) off the coast of NorthSulawesi, Indonesia © DoD



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coverted to carry C802ASMs

8 Siada class (Aus. Attackclass)

7 Type 35/36 Class

��MMCCMM2 Pulau Rengat (Tripartite)2 T439 Pulau Rote (GDR Kondor

class)

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss1 Tanjung Dalpele LSD3+1 Ordered Makassar LPD; third and

the first locally built vesselcommissioned Nov 2009,the last Banda Aceh hand-ed over in March 2011

6 Teluk Gelimanuk LST(GDR Frosch I class)

2 Teluk Sirebong (GDRFrosch II)

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 Arun oiler (UK Green

Rover)1 Tanjung Dalpele; trans-

port hospital ship

NNOOTTEESS:: Cancellation of order for two Amur950 and Kilo submarines but Navy havesaid they have a need for 39 submarines.Indonesia has a requirement for around 20frigates largely based on Damen’s SIGMA10514 design and built by PT Pal.

JAPANJJaappaann MMaarriittiimmee SSeellff--DDeeffeennssee FFoorrccee�� HHeelliiccoopptteerr CCaarrrriieerr

2 Hyuga class ‘DDH’, 2ndvessel fitting out in 2011

�� DDeessttrrooyyeerr2 Atago4 Kongo class; to receive

SM-3 for BMD2 Hatakaze class1 Tachikaze class2 Shirane, to be replaced by

‘22DDH’ 2 Haruna class; being

withdrawn to be replacedby Hyuga class

5 Takanami class6 Murasame class7 Asagiri class9 Hatsuyuki class2 Ordered ‘19DD’; to replace

Hatsuyuki3 Ordered ‘22DDH’; 1st vessel laid

down in 2010

�� FFrriiggaatteess2 Yubari6 Abukuma

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess3+4 Ordered Soryu class; next three

vessels scheduled from2011-13

11 Oyashio class; life to beextended by five years toboost sub numbers

2 Harushio class;training only

��MMCCMM2 Uraga, MCMC support

ships3 Yaeyama class

minesweepers7 Uwajima minsweepers3 Hirashima costal

minesweepers12 Sugashima coastal

minesweepers

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess6 Hayabusa PB

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss aanndd ssuuppppoorrtt3 Osumi class LST2 I-Go2 Yura class2 Mashu class AOE 3 Towada class AOE

NNOOTTEESS:: Tokyo plans to expand its subma-rine fleet from 16 to 20-22 boats and thenumber of destroyers from 47 to 48. The twoAtago and four Kongo class ships willreceive the Standard Missile-3 interceptor.

NORTH KOREAKKoorreeaann PPeeoopplleess NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess2 Najin class1 Soho

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess25 Romeo class4 Whiskey class20-25 Sang-O class costal subs4-8 Sang-O II coastal subs40-50 Yugo, midget subs

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess18 Soju Missile FAC

(Ru. I-Osa class)

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JSKurama and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missiledestroyers USS Gridley and USS Stockdale inJanuary 2011. The cornerstone of Japan’s defenceon land, sea and air is via US military might © DoD


The ROKS Dokdo (LPH 6111) is first oftwo new LPX class of amphibious landingships of the Republic of Korea Navy


12 Osa class Misile FAC10 Komar class Missile FA9 Sohung class24 P66 Hainan class18 An Ju class torpedo boat62 Chaho class52 Chong Jin class13 Shanghai II class18 Sinpo/Sinnam class12 Tae Chong class12 Iwon class37 Sin-Hung class88 Ku Song4 Sariwan class15 SO1 ex-Soviet

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss FFoorrcceess8 Hantae class LSMs16 Hungnam class LSMs100 Nampo class LCPs7 Hanchon class LCMs70 Songjong class hovercraft

NNOOTTEESS:: Declining serviceability acrossthe board.

SOUTH KOREARReeppuubblliicc ooff KKoorreeaa NNaavvyy�� DDeessttrrooyyeerrss2+1 Ordered Sejong Daewang (KDX-3);

3rd KDX-3 to be commis-sioned in 2012 after beinglaunched in March, plansfor three more shipspostponed

6 Chungmugong Yi SunShin (KDX-2); 6 moreAegis equipped KDX-2A

vessels planned for 2019-263 King Kwanggaeto (KDX-1)�� FFrriiggaatteess8 Ulsan class; to be replaced

by FFX programme

3 + 3 Ordered Ulsan-I FFX 3; being pro-duced by Hyundai HeavyIndustries, 13 furtherfrigates in two batchesplanned

�� CCoorrvveetttteess22 Po Hang; Cho-An lost in

2010, to be replaced bylater Ulsan–Is FFX

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess2+12/16 Ordered Yoon Young Ha-Ham

missile FAC80 Chamsuri/’Sea Dolphin’

PB; to be replaced byYoon Young Ha-Ham

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess3+6 Ordered Son Won Il KSS-2 (Type

214); Batch 1 productionby HHI complete, two ofsix in next batch beingbuilt by Daewoo

6 Chang Bogo Type 209;3 vessels withdrawn,remaining vessels tobe replaced

3 Tolograe midget subs7 Cosmos midget subs��MMCCMM3+4 Ordered Yangyang-AM (I-Kang

Keong) MCMV

6 Ganggyeong MCMV8 MSC being withdrawn

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss 1+1 Ordered Dokdo LHD; third vessel

planned4 Alligator4 Go Jun Bong LST1 LSMR

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 Chung Jess 1 Submarine support vessel2 T-AGOR ships

MALAYSIARRooyyaall MMaallaayyssiiaann NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess2 Lekiu class2 Kasturi class (FS1500)1 Hang Tuah (Uk Type 41);

training only

�� CCoorrvveetttteess4 Laksamana class

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess6 Kedah class (Meko

A100M); last Kedah com-missioned on Nov 28th

6 SGPV, 99m long 2200tonnes more heavilyarmed than Kedahs

4 Handalan MissileFAC

4 Perdana Missile FAC6 Jerong Gun FAC2 Sri Tiga FAC15 Kris class PB

25l MAY 2011 l


12 CB90�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess2 Perdanan Menteri Class

(Scorpene)

��MMCCMM4 Mahamiru (Lerici)

Minehunters

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 TLDM Bunga Mas Lima

Auxiliary1 Gunga Mas Lima; helicop-

ter capable support ship2 Sri Indera Sakti Class;

Combat Support Ship

NNOOTTEESS:: Plans for Multi-Role SupportShip (MRSS) postponed in December infavour of securing six 99-metre-long SecondGeneration Patrol Vessels

MYANMARMMyyaannmmaarr NNaavvyy�� CCoorrvveetttteess8 Anawratha class8 Aung Zeya

�� LLiigghhtt VVeesssseellss6 Houxin Missile FAC

14 ‘5 Series’ LocalGun/Missile FAC

1 Indaw class10 Hainan class12 PGM PB3 PB90

NEW ZEALANDRRooyyaall NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess2 ANZAC class; Platform

Systems Upgrade onHMNZS Te Manacompleted in late 2010

�� LLiigghhtt VVeesssseellss2 Protector OPV; HMNZS

Otago suffered enginefailure in Antarctic visit inDecember

4 Inshore Patrol Vessels2 Rotoiti PB

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 Canterbury; part of Project

Protector1 Endeavour Fleet Tanker;

due to be replaced by 2016confirmed in NovemberWhite Paper

1 Manawanui Dive SupportVessel

PAKISTANPPaakkiissttaann NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess3+1 Ordered Zulfiquar (F-22P); third

vessel PNS Saif enteredservice in November, lastvessel due to be handedover in June

6 Tariq (UK Type 21)1 Almgir (FFG-7); transferred

to Pakistan

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess3 Khalid (Agosta 90B);

all vessels to receiveMESMA AIP

2 Hashmat (Agosta 70)3 SX 404 Midget-sub

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess1 Larkana class2 Quwwat class2 Jalalat II class

��MMCCMM3 Mujahid (Tripartite)

�� RReepplleenniisshhmmeenntt aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt1 Moawin (Ne. Poolster)1 Nasr (PRC Fuqing)

NNOOTTEESS:: In Feb 2011 PNS Alamgir was dam-aged after ramming pier. Plans to acquire fourJiangkai I (Type 054) ASW frigates and sixChinese Type 041/Yuan class submarines.

PHILIPPINESPPhhiilliippppiinneess NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess1 BRP Rajah Humabon (US

Cannon); to be replacedby USCG Hamilton

�� CCoorrvveetttteess2 Rizal (US Auk)6 Miguel Malvar (US PCE)

�� LLiigghhtt VVeesssseellss1 Mariano Alvarez (US

Cyclone)3 Emilio Jacinto (UK

Peacock)2 Gen. Emilio

Aguinaldo Class


The Pakistan Navy is movingfrom acquiring second handWestern designs such as thePNS Khaibar an ex- RN Type21 frigate to new buildChinese ships © AJB


22 Jose Andrada Class2 PC 394 (USCG Cutter) 3 Conrado Yap Class8 Tomas Batillo Class

(ROKN Chamsuri PKMClass)

2 Kagitingan Class

NNOOTTEESS:: The Philippine Navy is acquiringacquire a Hamilton class US Coastguard cut-ter. New patrol vessels and other navalequipment needed for Spratlys with $180mallocated in next five years.

SINGAPORERReeppuubblliicc ooff SSiinnggaappoorree NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess6 Formidable class (Fr. mod.

La Fayette)

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess4 Conqueror

(Ne. Sjoor-men class)2 Archer (Swe. Vastergot-

land class)

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess6 Victory class11 Fearless class

��MMCCMM4 Bedok (Landsort)12 FB31-42 PB

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss4 Endurance LPDs1 Perseverance LSL

NNOOTTEESS:: Work on replacement design forFearless class patrol Vessels underway.

SRI LANKASSrrii LLaannkkaann NNaavvyy�� LLiigghhtt VVeesssseellss1 P621 (USCG PB)4 OPV various sources2 Nandimithra Class (Saar 4)3 Rana PB

2 Prathapa (PRC LushunClass)

3 Weeraya (Shanghai II)FAC7 Ranasir (Haizhui)1 Parakramabahu

class PB3 P430 (ROK ‘Killer’) FAC6 P463 (Super Dvora Mk II)6 Super Dvora Mk. III10 Colombo FAC

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss2 Yunnan LSM1 Yuhai LCT1 M10 Hovercraft

TAIWANRReeppuubblliicc ooff CChhiinnaa NNaavvyy�� DDeessttrrooyyeerrss4 Kee Lung (US Kidd-class)

�� FFrriiggaatteess8 Cheng Kung (Mod. US

Perry)


6 Kang Ding (Mod.Fr. La Fayette)

8 Chi Yang (US Knox)

�� LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess12 Ching Chinag OPV35 Hai Ou (Dvora) Missile

FAC2 Lung Chiang Missile FAC2 Sui Kiang Missile FAC9 PCL coastal PB 19+10 Imp.

Hai Ou/ Kunh Hua VI

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess2 Hai Lung/Sea Dragon

(Mod. Ne. Zwaardvis)2 Hai Shih (US Guppy II)

training

��MMCCMM2 Osprey Minehunters5 Yung Feng (MWV-50)

minehunters4 Yung Yang (US

Aggressive)4 Adjutant minesweepers

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt2 Chung Ho LST (US

Newport News)1 Shui Hai (US Anchorage

class) LSD1 Yuen Feng transport1 Wu Yi AOE-530 oiler

NNOOTTEESS:: Guppy class subs becoming dan-gerous to operate and Hai Lungs almostcontantly on patrol. Coastal patrol Vesselscorvettes class have been delayed due todesign issues. Still seeking eight deisel elec-tric subs but official denials that they haveapproached Russia.

THAILANDRRooyyaall TThhaaii NNaavvyy�� AAiirrccrraafftt CCaarrrriieerr1 Chakri Nareubet

�� FFrriiggaatteess2 Phutthayofta US Knox

class2 Naresuan(PRC Jianghu

Type 25T); class, upgradeinc. Sea Giraffe and 9LvCMS planned to begin in2012

4 Chao Praya (PRC

Jianghu 053)1 Makut Rajakumarn;

training vessel

�� CCoorrvveetttteess2 Rattanakosin-class2 Tapi (US PF103 class)3 Khamronsin class

corvettes

�� LLiigghhtt VVeesssseellss2 Pattani class OPV3 Hua Hin PM3 Khamrosin-class3 Chonburi Gun FAC2 Rajcharit Missile FACM3 Prabbrorapak Missile FAC6 Sattahip PB3+3 T-991

��MMCCMM2 Lat Ya (Gaeta)2 Bangrachan (M48)2 Bangkaew (Bluebird)1 Thalang

�� AAmmpphhiibbiioouuss aanndd SSuuppppoorrtt FFoorrccee1 Ordered Endurance class LPD1 Similian

(PRC Fusu AOR)2 Sichang LST3 Griffon 100TD Hovercraft

NNOOTTEESS:: Feb The RTN plans to acquire asmany as six ex-German Navy Type 206Aboats in a $257m deal.

VIETNAMVViieettnnaammeessee PPeeooppllee’’ss NNaavvyy�� FFrriiggaatteess5 Petya II Class1 +1 Ordered Dinh Tien Hoang; Project

11660 KBO-200 Gepardcommissioned 2011

�� CCoorrvveetttteess aanndd LLiigghhtt FFoorrcceess6 Tarantul I 1241-RE3 Tarantul Project 1241.24+4 Ordered Tarantul/Project 1241.8

Missile FAC2 Svetlak PB 1041.28 OSA II FAC5 Turya FAC4 SO1 PB14 Zhuk PB2 Poluchat PB

�� SSuubbmmaarriinneess6 Ordered Kilo Project 636M;

Ordered in Decemberworth around $2.8billion

2 Midget subs

��MMiinnee WWaarrffaarree2 Yurka minesweeper2 Yevgenya minesweeper4 Sonya Minesweepers5 K8 Minesweepers

NNOOTTEESS:: Report that Vietnam may beinterested in Damen Schelde Holland classOPVs Plans to invite Russia back toCam Ranh.


RSS Forimdable is the first in asix strong class of stealthfrigates based on the FrenchNavy’s La Fayette design © AJB


Asia-Pacific

AAIIRRBBOORRNNEEE A R L Y W A R N I N G


spec

ial

MissionAircraft

Alongside SIGnals INTelligence aircraft, agrowing number of Asia-Pacific countries are

operating ‘special mission’ platforms, withthe range including radar surveillance,

multi-sensor ocean surveillance and AirborneEarly Warning (AEW) types. Taking these

categories in order, the Republic of Korea iscurrently operating a quartet of ‘Peace

Krypton’ Hawker 800RA radar surveillanceaircraft as part of its indigenous intelligence

capability in its stand-off with its northernneighbour, the Democratic People’s Republic

of Korea. As such, these four aircraft areequipped with a Lockheed Martin-sourcedsynthetic aperture radar and have been in

service with the Han-Guk Kong Goon(Republic of Korea Air Force) since

2001 monitoring the border betweenthe two Koreas.

bbyy Martin Streetly

E A R L Y W A R N I N G

AAIIRRBBOORRNNEE

31l MAY 2011 l

JAPAN’S OP-3C Orion weapon sys-tem exemplifies the region’s special-ist multi-sensor ocean surveillanceplatforms and takes the form of fiveKawasaki-built P-3C Update II.5

maritime patrol aircraft that have been mod-ified for surface ship ‘imaging’ duties. Rolemodifications include the installation of for-ward and side-looking radars, a BAESystems AN/ALQ-78A electronic supportsystem (now likely to have been supersededby newer equipment), a Goodrich DB-110electro-optic/Infra-Red (IR) camera system,an IR search and track system, a GlobalPositioning System navigation capability andsatellite communications. Operated by theNihon Kaijyo Jietai’s (Japanese MaritimeSelf-Defence Force) 81 Kokutai (81 AirSquadron) based at Iwakuni, the OP-3Centered service during the early part of 2002and are believed to operate in concert withthe service’s Kawasaki EP-3 SIGINT aircraft.

Turning to AEW provision in the region,

the Republic of China, the People’s Republicof China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Singaporeand Thailand are all known to operate, to beacquiring and/or to be developing such acapability. In order, the Republic of China(Taiwan) has acquired a fleet of six NorthropGrumman E-2T Hawkeye AEW and Control(AEW & C) aircraft that are operated by thecountry’s 2nd Electronic Warfare Squadronbased at Pingtung-South. Built around theUltra High Frequency (UHF – 300 MHz to 3GHz) band Lockheed Martin AN/APS-145radar, the type entered Taiwanese serviceduring November 1995 and the country’sfour original E-2Ts are understood to havebeen progressively brought up to the latestE-2C Hawkeye 2000E standard.

Staying with Asian-Pacific Hawkeyes,Japan’s Nihon Koku Jietai (Japanese Air Self-Defence Force -JASDF) and the Republic ofSingapore Air Force (RSAF) continue tooperate (or have in the recent past operated)E-2Cs in the AEW&C role. In the firstinstance, the JASDF flies a total of 13 E-2CGroup O AEW&C aircraft that are assigned

The JASDF operates afleet of 13 E-2C Hawkeyeaircraft in the AEW & Crole © US DoD

Japan’s Nihon KokuJietai — and the Republic ofSingapore Air Force (RSAF)continue to operate or have inthe recent past operatedE-2Cs in the AEW&C role

to its Hiko Keikai Kanshitai (Air WarningSurveillance Unit) at Misawa, while theRSAF’s No 111 Squadron (based at Tengah)is transitioning from the E-2C Group O to theIsraeli Aerospace Industries’ (IAI)Gulfstream G550-AEW Conformal AEW(CAEW) aircraft. Here, the transition wasoriginally scheduled to have been completed

by the end of 2011, while the JASDF’s E-2fleet has been progressively updated withvarious packages that are known to haveincluded the AN/APS-145 radar (in place ofthe Group O’s AN/APS-138 sensor); the E-2C Hawkeye 2000’s Mission ComputerUpgrade (MCU), Advanced ControlIndicator Set (ACIS) and IdentificationFriend-or-Foe (IFF) interrogator; a 15-toncooling system; an upgraded AutomaticFlight Control System (AFCS) and the

Northrop Grumman AN/ASN-139 CAINS IIinertial navigation system. Elsewhere in theregion, Northrop Grumman is also known tobe offering a variant of its latest Hawkeyeconfiguration (the AN/APY-9 radarequipped E-2D) to meet an Indian Navyrequirement for a fixed-wing AEW & C plat-form with which to augment its existing Ka-31 radar picket helicopters (see following).

Returning to the original alphabeticschemata, the People’s Republic of China hasundertaken an indigenous AEW&C aircraftprogramme that has resulted in the Il-76based KJ-2000 (allocated the NATOReporting Name ‘Mainring’) and a trio of Y-8 based capabilities that have entered servicewith the People’s Liberation Army AirForce/Navy (PLAAF/PLAN) and have beensold to Pakistan. Of these, the KJ-2000 isreported to be flown by an aircrew of five, tohave accommodation for a mission crew of atleast 10 and to be equipped with a surveil-lance radar that has been developed by theNanjing Research Institute of Electronic


Alongside its E-2Cs, the JASDF operates aquartet of E-767 AWACS aircraft © US DoD


Pakistan is procuring four, rotodome-equipped,Y-8 AEW & C aircraft under the ZDK-03designation © Chinese Internet

FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.SPECIALMISSION.BOMBARDIER.COMBOMBARDIER, LEARJET, CHALLENGER, GLOBAL, GLOBAL EXPRESS, DASH 8, Q-SERIES AND OTHER BOMBARDIER AIRCRAFT MODEL NAMES ARE REGISTERED AND/OR UNREGISTERED TRADEMARK (S) OF BOMBARDIER INC. OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES.

GLOBAL EXPRESS PICTURE: COPYRIGHT © 2006 RAYTHEON COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. RAYTHEON COMPANY IS THE MISSION SYSTEMS INTEGRATOR FOR ASTOR.

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MISSION-CRITICAL ADVANTAGES WHATEVER THE MISSION

Technology (NRIET). While undoubtedly ofChinese origin, very little of substance hasemerged concerning the KJ-2000’s radar.Unconfirmed reports suggest that a proto-type sensor began flight testing during 2003;that its development programme waslaunched circa 2001/2002; that it enteredservice with the PLAAF during 2007; thatNRIET made use of its experience with theshipboard H/LJG-346 active phased arrayradar in the development of theairborne sensor and that Israeliknow-how in the areas of trans-ceiver module technology andcomposite material produc-tion process specificationwas of value to theChinese AEW&C radar developmenteffort (at one time, China was closeto receiving an Il-76 AEW & C platformthat was equipped with an Israeli electroni-cally steered radar). If correct, these varioussuggestions point to the KJ-2000’s trio of

fixed, electronically-steered antenna arraysbeing made up of active transceiver modules,although this is by no means certain.

The enigmatically titled ‘38th Institute’has been reported as the source of a phased-array radar that has been applied to a Y-8transport aircraft based AEW&C capabilitythat is possibly designated as the KJ-200. Theputative KJ-200 has almost certainly enteredoperational testing (if not service) with the

PLAAF and is characterised by a plank-shaped antenna housing that is mountednose-down above its host’s centre fuselage.Similar in design to the antenna housingused with Saab’s S-band (3.1 to 3.3 GHz sub-band) Erieye AEW radar, it is tempting toconclude that the KJ-200 makes use of thesame sort of active technology.

Elsewhere in the Y-8 AEW&C communi-ty, China has developed a second such air-craft which features a conventional rotatingrotodome to house its radar antenna andwhich (under the ZDK-03 designation) isbeing exported to Pakistan. Here, the capabil-ity was demonstrated to the Pakistani AirForce during 2006, an event that was fol-lowed by a $278 million contract for four

‘improved’ ZDK-03 aircraft that wasplaced during 2008, with deliveryto take place during the period2011 to 2014. The remaining

AEW orientated Y-8 (the Y-8J) isflown by the PLAN and is equipped

with Thales UK (formerly Racal) 10 GHzSkymaster multi-mode maritime surveillanceand AEW radar. Reported to have been first



The PLAAF’s KJ2000 AEW & C weapon system isbased on the Il-76 airframe © Chinese Internet

flown during November 1999, the nosegeometry of the Y-8J is such as to suggestAEW coming a poor second to front hemi-sphere maritime surveillance as the plat-form’s primary role. Altogether, China pro-cured at least six Skymaster radars duringthe mid-1990s and the JASDF has interceptedaircraft of this type over the Sea of Japan asrecently as the spring of 2011.

Elsewhere within its inventory, the PLANhas received its first three Kamov Ka-31 radarpicket helicopters which unconfirmed sourcessuggest are operated by the service’s 4thIndependent Aviation Regiment that is home-ported at Changzhi Wangcun (Wangzun) air-base in China’s Shanxi Province. Equippedwith the L-band (1 to 2 GHz) NizhniyNovgorod Electrical Equipment Institute(NNIIRT) E-801 Oko (Eye) radar, the PLAN isexpected to have received a further six Ka-31sby the end of 2011, with the Indian Navyacquire a second tranche of five such helicop-ters to add to the nine Ka-31s that are alreadyassigned to the service’s Naval Air Squadron339 home-based at Indian Naval Air StationKunjali-II. In Indian service, the Ka-31s are

flown from the aircraft carrier Viraat andTalwar class frigates.

For its part, the Indian Air Force has pro-cured the Russo-Israeli A-50EkhI AEW&Cplatform and is expecting to receive anindigenous capability based on the EMB-145airframe circa 2013/14. In order, the A-50EkhI is based on the Beriev A-50 AEW & C

airframe (using the Il-76TD transport as itsbasis) and is equipped with the Elta SystemsEL/W-2090 AEW & C mission suite. Here,the EL/W-2090 forms part of Elta’s family ofCAEW architectures and incorporates an L-band, Active Electronically Scanned Array(AESA) 3-D radar together with IFF, com-munications and electronic intelligence, self

protection and communications sub-sys-tems. As of this writing, India has procuredthree A-50EkhIs (with options on two more)and appears to wish to acquire additionalCAEW-equipped aircraft. Whether or notthese would be A-50s or CAEW G550sremains to be seen.

Perhaps of more interest is India’s EMB-145 AEW&C programme which mates alocally produced S-band (2 to 4 GHz) activeelectronically steered radar with the airframeof Embraer’s ERJ-145 regional airliner. Otheronboard systems include an IFF interrogator,radar and communications band electronicsupport capabilities, a self-protection suite, amission system control architecture, a datahandling and display system, datalink andin-flight refuelling provision and a communi-cations sub-system. Looking specifically atthe radar, the sensor’s transceiver elementtakes the form of Astra Microwave Products’Transmit-Receive Multi-Modules (TRMM)that each incorporate eight 3.2 kg, 243 x 242 x

35l MAY 2011 l

Pakistan’s Saab 2000 AEW & C aircraft willwork with the country’s F-16 fighters © Saab

E A R L Y W A R N I N G

AAIIRRBBOORRNNEE

The Indian Air Force hasprocured the Russo-IsraeliA-50EkhI AEW&C platformand is expecting to receivean indigenous capabilitybased on the EMB-145



40 mm S-band transceiver units that drive theS-band portion of combined 9.9 kg, 704 x 900mm L- (IFF) and S-band (radar) IntegratedAntenna Array (IAA) tiles. In turn, the IAAsform the side panels of an 8.24 m long, plank-shaped Active Array Antenna Unit (AAAU)that is mounted on pylons above the host air-craft’s rear fuselage. Cooling appears to relyon air passing through an AAAU long ductand the radar’s operating modes are said toinclude search, track-while-scan, prioritytracking and high performance tracking.Again, the radar is thought to offer 240° cov-erage in azimuth and a target detection rangeof between 250 and 370 km. As might beexpected, this ambitious effort has run intodevelopmental problems which could delaythe programme by up to three years. None-the-less, India is keeping faith with the pro-gramme and is set to receive the prototypeairframe for fitting out with its mission sys-tem by the end of 2011.

Returning to the article’s alphabetic cover-age, Japan’s E-2Cs are supported by a quartetof Boeing E-767 AEW & C aircraft that arebased on a militarised Boeing 767-200ER air-liner airframe and are equipped withNorthrop Grumman’s AN/APY-2 surveil-lance radar. Effectively the AmericanAirborne Warning And Control System(AWACS) architecture mounted in a Boeing767 rather than a Boeing E-3, the JASDF’sfour E-767s are assigned to the service’s HikoKeikai Kanseita (Air Warning ControlSquadron) at Hamamatsu and have mostrecently received the Radar SystemImprovement Program (RISP) upgrade for

their radars. RISP improves the AN/APY-2’seffectiveness against aircraft and cruise mis-siles and includes new pulse compressedwaveforms, an improved man-machineinterface, new adaptive signal processors,enhanced data sampling and range/velocityresolution, better electronic counter-counter-measures provision and improved systemmaintainability/reliability.

Alongside the ZDK-03, Pakistan has pro-cured as many as five Saab 2000 AEW&C air-craft that are equipped with the Erieye activephased array pulse Doppler radar, Saab’sHES-21 self-protection and electronic sup-port system, an IFF capability and five Saab-sourced operator stations. In terms of pro-grammatics, Pakistan signed a ‘provisionalcontract’ for an ‘airborne surveillance sys-tem’ with Saab during October 2005.Initially, six aircraft were ordered, with thenumber being thought to have dropped tofive following contract re-negotiations dur-

ing 2007. The first Pakistani Saab 2000 AEW& C aircraft was handed over on 8 December2009, at which time the Pakistan Air Forcewas understood to be intending to assign thetype to its No 3 Squadron at Islamabad.Elsewhere in the region, the Erieye radaralso forms the primary sensor aboard theSaab 340 AEW & C platforms that Thailandhas procured/is procuring. Forming part ofa wider deal that includes a ground-basedair defence network and the JAS-39 Gripenmulti-role combat aircraft, the first of twoSaab 340 AEW & Cs (the second aircraft

being ordered on 23 November 2010) washanded over to the Royal Thai Air Force on13 November 2010.

As noted earlier, the RSAF is receivingfour IAI Gulfstream G550-AEW CAEW air-craft to replace its existing E-2C Group OAEW&C platforms. As its designation sug-gests, the G550-AEW is based on theGulfstream G550 long-range business jet andis equipped with the Elta Systems EL/W-2085 mission suite that includes a dual-band(L-/S-band) AESA AEW radar, an integratedIFF sub-system, communications and elec-tronic intelligence/electronic support provi-sion and six operator stations. The first indi-cation of a Singaporean G550-AEW procure-ment came in a speech given by Singapore’sthen Minister of Defence Teo Chee Hean dur-ing April 2007. The first such aircraft washanded over on 19 February 2009 at whichtime, the type’s assignment to the RSAF’s No111 Squadron was confirmed.

The RSAF is receiving fourIAI Gulfstream G550-AEWCAEW aircraft toreplace its existing E-2CGroup O AEW&C platforms

The RSAF is replacing its E-2C GroupO AEW & Caircraft with four G550-AEW CAEW platforms© Michael J Gething

The Royal Thai Air Force has ordered two Saab340 AEW aircraft © Saab/Peter Liander

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Detection

NN AA VV AA LLSONAR AND RADAR


In the vast, seemingly endlessexpanses of ocean, and thecrowded littoral waters of theglobe in which the world’s naviesoperate, sensors are theindispensable adornment to theirships which allow their sailors tounderstand what is happening intheir locale. Just over a centuryago, the only two sensors availableon a warship were the eyes andears of her crew. Today, theycarry a formidable array ofsensors including radar, sonarand electro-optics.

bbyy Tom Withington

Waterline

NavalRadar &Sonar:

Above & Below theAbove & Below theDetection

SONAR AND RADAR

NN AA VV AA LL

39

SEVERAL naval surveillanceradar remain in productionaround the world, includingSaab’s Sea Giraffe family whichbegan development in 1970.

The Sea Giraffe family currently comprisesthe AMB and LT variants; the former ofwhich can equip vessels of all sizes fromfrigates to patrol boats. The Sea Giraffe LT isthe two-dimensional version of the AMB,although it has the option of being upgradedinto a fully-fledged Sea Giraffe AMB system.Saab has designed the Sea Giraffe to operateas a true multi-mission radar to perform lit-toral, as well as blue water operationsaccording to Bo Wallander of the company’sElectronic Defense Systems business area. Hesays that, compared to rival systems, the SeaGiraffe offers a, “very high target updaterate, excellent performance in clutter; detec-tion and tracking of very small targets on, orjust above; the water surface, a low radar topweight and a very affordable solution interms of low cost ownership.” Saab is notScandinavia’s only naval radar specialist.Denmark’s Terma produce the Scanterradar family which comprises the X-band

Scanter-4100 and Scanter-6000products. X-band provides a goodtrade-off between antenna size and

radar weight. This provides smallervessels with radar that they can com-

fortably accommodate, butwhich can still provide

detection ranges of up to 185 km.Although geographically a world away

from the Nordic regions, Israel is home to EltaSystems which also produces an X-band radarin the form of the EL/M-2228 medium-rangesurveillance system. Like Terma’s Scanterfamily, this radar is designed for small- andmoderate-sized vessels. The EL-2228 is beingreplaced by the firm’s EL/M-2258 S-bandAdvanced Lightweight Phased Array productwhich is equipping the Israeli Navy.

In terms of sonar products, Italy’s SelexGalileo offers a selection of products includ-ing the OTS-90 Low Frequency Long RangeSonar which can be integrated with asonobuoy system using a single acousticprocessor. Production of the OTS-90 com-menced in 2003, and is deployed on the NHIndustries NH-90 NATO Frigate Helicopter(NFH) of the Koninklijke Marine (DutchNavy) and the Marina Militare (Italian Navy).

It is also worth mentioning that, althoughnot ship-based radar, Selex Galileo isresponsible for the Seaspray family ofairborne maritime surveillance products.Operating in the X-band with syntheticaperture and inverse synthetic aperturemodes; Seaspray boasts a low probability

of intercept. It comes in three different con-figurations; Seaspray 5000E, which weighsunder 45 kg and is optimised for light navalhelicopters and fixed-wing aircraft; Seaspray7000E which weighs under 80 kg and canequip heavier platforms. Finally, theSeaspray 7500E which is designed for largenaval helicopters such as theAgustaWestland AW101 and large fixed-wing aircraft such as the US Coast Guard’sHC-130H surveillance platform.

Thales, meanwhile, is one of the world’sleading naval radar and sonar houses. Thecompany’s product line includes the I-Mast,which integrates a ship’s disparate radar andcommunications antennae into a single struc-ture; helping to reduce the vessels’ visual andradar signature, and easing maintenance andconstruction. The I-Mast’s sensor packageincludes the SeaMaster-400 E/F-band 250 kmrange non-rotating four-face phased arrayvolume search radar, which is in turn derivedfrom the firm’s SMART-L, SMART-S Mk.2and APAR radar products. The I-Mast alsoincludes a SeaWatcher-100 X-band 40 kmrange active phased-array radar for surfacethreat detection, and Thales’s Gatekeeperelectro-optical system.

Thales’s SMART-L L-band radar prod-uct line provides up to 400-km

of surveillance and 70 º ele-vation. Full Dopplerprocessing allows forclutter suppression, and

Waterline

Terma of Denmark produce a range of navalsurveillance radars in their Scanter family whichare optimised for small-sized vessels. One of thetypes to be outfitted with the Scanter system isthe Royal Danish Navy’s Flyvefisken class patrolvessels © Thomas Withington

l MAY 2011 l


instant velocity measurement. Moreover, theradar’s signal processing capabilities gives itgood performance against stealth targets,particularly in littoral areas. SMART-L isjoined by the firm’s SMART-S S-band radarwhich has a range of around 250 km and 70ºelevation. Furthermore, the radar includestwo operating modes; one for surface firecontrol and a second which can be used forthe guidance of helicopters and unmannedaerial vehicles.

Thales is joined by Cassidian which main-tains three naval surveillance radars in pro-duction with its TRS-3D C-band radar fami-ly. The TRS-3D entered production in 1994,and this three-dimensional radar design canbe used for tracking air and sea targets, firecontrol and helicopter guidance. Cassidianhas sold the radar to the Danish, Finnish,German, Malaysian and Spanish navies. It isalso supplying the TRS-3D as part of the USCoast Guard’s Deepwater programme, andfor the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship ini-tiative. Meanwhile, the Deutsche Marine(German Navy) is receiving the TRS-4D vari-ant to equip their F-125 class of frigates. TheTRS-4D employs Gallium Arsenide semicon-ductors and electronic beam scanning, allow-ing for the installation of four fixed panelsonto the vessel. That said, the firm notes thatthe TRS-4D is also available with a rotating

antenna. Joining the TRS-4D, which com-menced production in 2010, Cassidian’s newTRSS X-band radar is the latest addition tothe TRS-3D family for medium-range sea andair surveillance. Like the TRS-4D, the TRSS isavailable with a rotating antenna or with fourfixed antenna faces.

Away from continental Europe, the UK’sBAE Systems enjoys a healthy performance onboth side of the Atlantic. The company main-tains a robust portfolio of naval surveillanceradar products. Leading the pack is its’Advanced Radar Target Indication SituationalAwareness and Navigation (ARTISAN) three-dimensional radar which will be installed onthe Royal Navy’s forthcoming QueenElizabeth class aircraft carriers, and retrofitted

onto the force’s Type-23 frigates and amphibi-ous support ships. The ARTISAN familyincludes the ARTISAN-3D Compact E/F-band radar with an instrumented range ofaround 200 km, a maximum elevation of 70ºand the ability to track around 800 targets.Similar performance characteristics are foundin the ‘vanilla’ ARTISAN radar which has aslightly heavier antenna weight of 1000 kgwhen including an Identification Friend orFoe (IFF) antenna. Other versions of the ARTI-SAN include the mechanically-rotated variantweighing 1150 kg (including the IFF antenna).BAE Systems also produces the S-bandSAMPSON next-generation multifunctionradar optimised for the Royal Navy’s Type-45destroyers. This radar boasts robust resistanceto electronic countermeasures, and gooddetection of stealth targets.

Along with radar, the firm is in the sonarbusiness. On 21st December, BAE Systemswon a $14 million contract to supply fourAN/SQQ-32(V)4 high-frequency, widebandmine-hunting sonar systems to the US Navy.This product has been developed to replacethe existing AN/SQQ-32(V)3 sonar used onthe US Navy’s Avenger class mine counter-measures ships which will notably improvethe US Navy’s ability to detect stealthy minesin littoral areas.

Looking towards North America, ITTCorporation has an impressive pedigree asone of the United States’ leading naval radarsuppliers. The company provides the 470 kmrange AN/SPS-48 three-dimensional S-bandradar. A number of US Navy vessels use theAN/SPS 48 including the Wasp and San

Thales’ SMART-S product offers an S-bandsurveillance radar with a 250 km and 70ºelevation. The radar’s two operating modesallow it to be used for fire control and also forair traffic control functions such as helicopterguidance © Thales

Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-1 surveillance radar has sold widely around the world to customers inNorway, Spain, Japan and South Korea, along with the US Navy itself. The company is nowmodernising the system via the AN/SPY-1K programme © US DoD


Antonio class landing helicopter docks, andthe Nimitz class aircraft carriers. Despite thelong life of the AN/SPS-48; entering servicein the 1960s; it is receiving an added lease oflife via the Radar Obsolescence AvailabilityRecovery programme which should extendits service life beyond 2050 through the addi-tion of a solid state transmitter and openarchitecture processing.

Like ITT’s AN/SPS-48 radar, LockheedMartin’s AN/SPY-1 S-band phased arrayequips several US Navy combatants. The com-pany is presently developing the AN/SPY-1Kvariant optimised for small corvette-sizedfrigates. In addition, the AN/SPY-1 is in serv-ice around the world in various guises includ-ing the AN/SPY-1F used on the RoyalNorwegian Navy’s Fridtjof Namsen classfrigates. The AN/SPY-1F has a smaller anten-na compared to the AN/SPY-1D (upgraded toAN/SPY-1D status – see below) radardeployed on the Armada Española (SpanishNavy) Alvaro de Bazan class multi-purposefrigates; the Arleigh-Burke class guided mis-sile destroyers (DDGs) of the US Navy, plusSouth Korea’s King Sejong the Great andJapan’s Atago class DDGs. These latter twovessels, plus those of Spain, use the AN/SPY-1D variant optimised for littoral operations.

Lockheed Martin is also responsible for theAN/BQQ-10 submarine sonar systeminstalled on the US Navy’s Virginia class sub-marines. The company won an $84 millioncontract on 11th January this year to install thesystem on these boats, although additionalorders, if exercised, could take the value ofthis contract to $2.1 billion.

Raytheon is responsible for, among otherproducts, the Dual Band Radar. According tothe firm, this combines the attributes of itsAN/SPY-3 multi-function X-band radar withits’ S-band Volume Search Radar; the latter ofwhich equips the US Navy’s Zumwalt classdestroyers and also the USS Gerald Ford air-craft carrier expected to join the fleet in circa2015. Moreover, the firm is involved in the US

Navy Air and Missile Defence Radar (AMDR)to equip the Arleigh Burke class DDGs with anew S-band radar. In September 2010, thefirm was awarded a $112.3 million contract,under Phase-II of the programme, to developan S-band radar, and radar suite controllertechnology demonstrator.

Along with surveillance radar, Raytheonis involved with sonar products, chiefly theAN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonarwhich is deployed onboard the US Navy’sSikorsky MH-60R helicopters. The companyclaims that; “the AN/AQS-22 is the only in-service dipping sonar with multi-frequencyoperation,” adding that this; “enables theAN/AQS-22 to adapt its performance tovarying environmental conditions.” Enteringproduction in 2006, the AN/AQS-22; “per-mits a longer detection range over a widerarea, reducing the number of helicoptersrequired to perform active anti-submarinewarfare screening.”

In terms of additional airborne systems,Raytheon builds the AN/AQS-20A mine-hunting sonar, which the company says is;“the only system in service with proven sin-gle pass detection of volume and bottommines.” Both the Sikorsky MH-53E and theMH-60S are able to deploy the AN/AQS-32A, and this product has been integratedwith the AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting

Saab has designed the SeaGiraffe to operate as atrue multi-mission radar toperform littoral, as wellas blue water operations

Selex Galileo’s OTS-90 dipping sonar is in use on the NH Industies NH-90 NATO Frigate Helicopter.The system is seen here during a demonstration in Sydney with the famous opera house andharbour bridge in the background © Selex

Although it is one of the oldest radar in USNavy service, ITT’s AN/SPS-48 surveillancesystem is receiving a new lease of life via anupgrade which will radically modernise theradar and provide it with many more years ofservice © US DoD

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System for the US Navy. Low rate initial pro-duction commenced in 1999, and since 2001,30 systems have been produced. TheAN/AQS-20A is teamed with the AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization System(AMNS) which outfits the MH-53E to destroymines once they have been detected by theaircraft’s sonar. Integral to the AN/ASQ-235are four BAE Systems Archerfish unmannedmine neutralisation vehicles which aremanoeuvred towards the mine from the heli-copter to ensure its destruction.

Back on the surface, Raytheon also manu-facturers the ship-mounted AN/SQS-60 mid-frequency sonar, which forms part of the USNavy’s Zumwalt class’s AN/SQQ-90advanced undersea warfare capability. The

full AN/SQQ-90 suite includes the AN/SQS-60 hull-mounted sonar and also the AN/SQS-61 hull-mounted high frequency sonar, plusthe AN/SQR-20 multi-function towed arraysonar and handling system.

All of the companies discussed aboveare looking hard at how they willdevelop and improve their products inthe future. Cassidian believes that, asfar as radar is concerned; “the trend isclear: smaller, lighter systems whichare more powerful in terms of reso-lution; and more versatile in theareas of air defence, sea surveil-lance and detection of asym-metric threats.” Raytheon, inparticular, is exploring thepossibilities that GalliumNitride could offer totomorrow’s surveillanceradar. This material,which can be used as asemiconductor, oper-

ates at higher temperatures and voltagescompared to the Gallium Arsenide used inexisting radar. Raytheon notes that the latterproduct has: “unique properties that canenhance the capabilities of existing radar

systems to allow them to maintainthe same level of capability, butwith a smaller footprint, whichreduces costs.”As regards the future develop-

ment of sonar systems, SelexGalileo believes that improve-ments in sonar data sharingwill be an important. Astatement released to theauthor by the companynoted that the technologi-cal emphasis is likely tobe placed on; “greaterintegration and shar-ing, and the exchang-ing of tactical dataamong all the dif-ferent platformspresent in themaritime warfare

scenario.”

Raytheon’s AN/AQS-22 is deployed on boardthe Sikorsky MH-60R naval helicopters and itsmanufacturer claims that this sonar is the onlydipping sonar available capable of performingmulti frequency operation © Lockheed Martin

Thales’s I-Mast design takes the innovative step of consolidating a ship’scommunications systems and radar and integrating them into a single mastto reduce the topside footprint of a ship’s disparate antennae © Thales


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Training & Simulation

AUSTRALIA HAS long had aconsiderable flight simulationcapability, which it continuesto develop as new platformsare acquired or upgraded. In

early 2011 a major upgrade to the AustralianArmy's S-70A Black Hawk full-flight andmission simulator (FFMS) was completedand entered service with the AustralianArmy. CAE Australia, prime contractorunder the Management and Support of theAustralian Defence Force's (ADF) AerospaceSimulators contract, upgraded the BlackHawk FFMS with electronic warfare (EW)capabilities. The EW upgrade included theaddition of a new missile warning system,countermeasures dispensing system, andmissile warning sensors.

CAE also recently completed a visualupgrade of the simulator by adding itsMedallion (TM)-6000 image generator,the company’s latest generation of imagegenerator.

Simulators for a number of aircraft inservice with the ADF are provided by Thales.Among these is the Royal Australian AirForce’s (RAAF) AP-3C Orion AdvancedFlight Simulator, which has Level 5 statusand provides full flight performance, flight

deck and tactical training capabilities. Thales is also providing the FFMS capabil-

ity for the Australian Army’s EurocopterTiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter(ARH) together with two Cockpit ProcedureTrainers (CPT) under a A$150 million con-tract. Delivered in 2007 and based at theArmy Aviation Training Centre at Oakley,Queensland, the FFMS platform uses twomodules to replicate the aircraft’s front and

rear cockpits which are mounted on separate,synchronized 6-degrees-of-freedom (DOF)motion platforms.

The simulators are equipped withThales’s Computer Generated Forces soft-ware, SETHI, which simulates a realistic tac-tical environment for the aircrew. Nine chan-nels feed a 240°view together with channelsfor generating sensor images. These infrared,TV and image intensified sighting systems

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in the

AsiaPacific

There are live, constructive andvirtual military simulationcapabilities and facilities available tomost militaries across the AsiaPacific region, produced both byexternal and local firms which, assimulation becomes increasinglysophisticated and an intrinsic partof the training process, theprovision of new simulators tomatch new equipment and upgradesto existing facilities is a constantand ongoing process.

bbyy Giles Ebbutt

The Australian Army's S-70ABlack Hawk full-flight andmission simulator (FFMS) wasrecently upgraded by CAEAustralia © CAE

(Facing Page) An MRH-90 full mission simulatorunder construction at the Thales factory inParis, prior to its being transported to Australia© Mario Guerra/Thales

Training & Simulation

are displayed by the ThalesVIEW visualimage software, which draws on a visualdatabase also developed by the company.

The CPT has the same cockpit and missionsystems simulation as the FMSS, but with areduced field of view visual system and nomotion platform.

Thales is also supplying FFMS for theAustralian MRH-90 helicopter, in conjunc-tion with CAE Australia which is the primecontractor. Two of these have been orderedfor delivery in 2012, one to be installed atOakey and the other with 5th AviationRegiment at Townsville, Queensland,

The Australian Army uses both live andvirtual simulation to support its training.Project Land 134 CTC- Live Simulation (LIS)is a transportable Combat Training Centre

Range Instrumentation and InformationSystem provided by Cubic. This includesdirect and indirect fire simulation, plus med-ical modelling, via wireless medical tagsworn by the players and is based on Cubic’sMILES laser technology together with its PC-Range Instrumentation System which pro-vides exercise control capabilities andstreamlines the development of After ActionReviews (AAR) on personal or laptop com-puters. It is installed at the CTC inTownsville, but also supports exercises atvarious training locations elsewhere inAustralia. It has a mobile Exercise Controlwith analyst stations, an expandable AARtrailer and portable ground relay stations.

To train personnel on the AustralianArmy Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) theADF awarded an A$15 million contract toThales in 2001 to supply Crew Procedure

Trainers (CPT). The CPT is housed in an ISOstandard transportable container and pro-vides realistic training for ASLAV com-manders and gunners in a fully immersiveenvironment with a complete suite of simu-lated sights, periscopes and out-of-turretvisuals, plus a driver position which pro-vides full interaction with intercom, radio,steering wheel and pedals. There is nomotion platform.

The CPT is PC-based with a COTS com-puting architecture. 13 image generators pro-vide 18 different views, including all weaponsights, 360° periscope and 180° out-of- turretvision plus night vision simulation. The sim-ulator turret includes feed chutes and ammu-nition boxes for the ASLAV's M242Bushmaster 25mm chain gun and the coaxialMAG 58 7.62mm machine gun.

The instructor station can create scenar-ios as required and the tactical environmentmodel provides simulation of large, com-plex environments. The visual databaseenables rural and urban training usingThalesView and SETHI.

The CPTs can be linked to permit collec-tive training for platoons.

The first CPT was delivered in 2006 with a


The out-of-turret view in the ASLAV CPT © Thales


The CAE India ASTT in use with the Indian Navyat Mumbai © CAE India

further eight by late 2008, spread across theSchool of Armour, and cavalry regiments atDarwin and Brisbane. By the end of that yearthey had had over 10,000 hours of operationaluse with over 1.2 million simulated rounds ofammunition fired across the three sites.

Finally, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)has recently acquired a new bridge simulatorat HMAS Watson, the RAN principal mar-itime warfare training establishment. Thebridge simulator facility was originally

acquired from Atlas Electronik in 1987 andsubsequently upgraded by Kongsberg in1996. The 2010-2011 upgrade, also byKongsberg, has provided a considerableincrease in capability.

The existing main bridge full missionsimulator has been upgraded and a secondone added; both of these have a 240° view.Four part mission simulators with 180-210°view have been added, together with 10 PCdesktop simulator trainers for the navigation

faculty. The simulators replicate the fullrange of maritime operations likely to beexperienced while on the bridge of a warshipand can be reconfigured to match most class-es of ship in the RAN’s current fleet. Newfunctionality includes boat operations, inter-diction and docking and beaching evolu-tions pertinent to the new LandingHelicopter Dock ships, the first of which isdue to enter service in 2014.

The Indian Navy (IN) has been using anAction Speed Tactical Trainer at its warfaretraining establishment at Mumbai since 2002.This was originally developed by Macmet,now part of CAE India, and is used for tacti-cal and continuation training, for the devel-opment of tactics and doctrine and to sup-port procurement, particularly during proj-ect definition.

A PC-based system operating on a LAN ituses almost entirely COTS hardware andconsists of 16 cubicles, 12 with fourWindows-based Multi-Functional Consoles,

two with five and two with six. All currentIN combat systems can be simulated. Eachcubicle also contains a tactical communica-tion post, a plotting table, an LED display, anintercom, a public address system, a net-work printer, an LCD projector, an air plotscreen, a fleet disposition board andEMCON/EEP state boards.

Up to 250 entities can be tracked at anytime and up to five games can be playedsimultaneously in one environment, which is2048 nm square. Originally provided as ageneric geographic database, the IN hasadded further classified material.

A second ASTT with the same capabilityis being installed at the IN base at Kochi, witha third elsewhere in the pipeline, and thesewill be networked together.

The Scenario Toolkit And GenerationEnvironment (STAGE) from CAE sub-sidiary Presagis, a simulation and trainingenvironment development tool, allows theASTT to be linked to other simulators orships and aircraft.

The Indian Army is acquiring nearly 1000locally produced T-90 “Bhishma” main battle

The Indian Navy (IN) hasbeen using an Action SpeedTactical Trainer at its warfaretraining establishment atMumbai since 2002


The Arjun MBT turret trainer produced by CAEIndia © CAE India

tanks (MBT) over the next decade to add tothe more than 600 T-90 it has alreadyacquired from Russia as well as its current T-72 and locally developed Arjun MBT fleet. Tosupport the training on the both the Arjunand Bhishma the Indian Army will procure anew suite of simulators.

CAE India has developed Arjun and,twinned with Tata Advanced Systems, T-90Bhishma training systems for the competi-tion. These both include three simulators: adriver trainer, a gunner trainer and a gunnerycrew trainer which can be housed in a con-tainer and deployed to different locations.The simulators support individual initial andcontinuation skills training, crew trainingand, by networking crew trainers, low-levelcollective tactical training. The synthetic envi-ronment is created with Medallion-6000image generation and CAE’s STRIVE com-puter generated forces software which isinjected into all optics; the Arjun simulatoralso includes a 220°x 40° open hatch visualdisplay. The simulators are mounted on 6-

DOF motion platforms and have a compre-hensive sound simulation system.

Neither system has yet been accepted bythe Indian Army, although prototypes ofboth have been delivered for trials and test-ing. Zen Technologies, who have supplied anumber of different simulators to the IndianArmy including a BMP-II Integrated MissileSimulator with replica turret, are also under-stood to be competing.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will benefitfrom CAE’s recently-inaugurated aerospaceand defence complex in Bangalore, whichprovides training for both military and com-mercial pilots on a range of aircraft in threefull-mission simulators.

Also in Bangalore is India’s firstadvanced helicopter training centre, theHelicopter Academy to Train by Simulationof Flying (HATSOFF), jointly owned byCAE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL). This contains a roll-on/roll-off cock-pit full mission simulator, which enablescockpits simulating various mission typesto be used. The “mothership” simulatorplatform encompasses a common 6-DoFmotion system, vibration platform andvisual display system. The visual system is

five-channels with a 220°horizontal by 60°vertical field of view. Liquid Crystal onSilicon (LCoS) projectors relay the out-the-window scenes from a CAE Medallion-6000image generator.

There is also a Level 5-equivalent FlightTraining Device (FTD) which is a “dockingstation” to which any of the RORO cockpitmodules can be attached, effectively convert-ing the cockpits not being used in the full-mission simulator into an FTD. The dockingstation has its own three-channel, 150 x 40degree visual system and independent com-puter complex. This will enable training on asecond helicopter type when the full-missionsimulator is in use.

In early 2011 the cockpit simulator for thecivil variant of the HAL Dhruv helicopter wasdelivered to add to the existing Bell 412, andthis will be followed later in the year by themilitary version to support IAF/Indian Armytraining and by the Eurocopter Dauphin.

Much of the simulation capability for theSingapore Armed Forces is supplied by theTraining and Simulation division of STElectronics. The Armoured Gunnery andTactical Simulator (AGTS) is roll-in/roll-outsystem with changeable modules representing



Interior of the T-90 Bhishma MBT turret trainerdeveloped by the CAE India/Tata Technologiesconsortium © CAE India

the turrets, interiors and armaments of a num-ber of different armoured vehicles, includingthe AMX-13 SM1 light tank and the BionixIFV. The simulator consists of a suite of spaceswith projection screens, into which the train-ing modules are placed, with the screens pro-viding up to 360°out-of-hatch views.

The simulator provides individual andcrew training, and individual modules can benetworked together to provide tactical train-ing, with a mix of vehicle types if required.When withdrawn from the simulator themodules can be used for basic crew stationfamiliarisation.

ST Electronics has also supplied the FullMission Ship Handling Simulator at RSSPanglima - Changi Naval Training Base(CNTB), the principal training establishmentof the Republic of Singapore Navy. The sim-ulator, which has a 270° field of view and canbe adapted to replicate a number of differentplatforms, provides training in ship han-dling, seamanship, navigation, basic radaroperation techniques and team level trainingfor watch keepers.

For the RSAF ST Electronics developed theAir Distributed Mission Trainer, delivered in2006. This system allows fighter-controllerinteraction as part of a simulated networkwithin a synthetic environment, enabling anumber of aircraft to conduct simultaneousmissions. It consists of six “mini-domes” intowhich replica cockpits from different aircraft

types can be rolled in and out. In order to aug-ment the number of pilots in the same syn-thetic environment, six fly-boxes are avail-able. These are lower fidelity stations wherepilots can participate in the same virtual bat-tle. These fly-boxes can also be configured toGround / Air Controlled Intercept(GCI/ACI) Stations. The CGF within the syn-

thetic environment are programmed with arule-based artificial intelligence and can be“taught” air combat tactics.

In Thailand local firm Amornmas hasdeveloped its Small Arms Laser TrainingSystem (SALTS), which is a small scale lasertraining system for indoor use in use by theThai armed forces. A laser transmitter isattached to the weapon and fired at the tar-get board. A sensor at the target detects thelaser shots, calculates and reports results onthe shooter's screen. Depending on theweapon, both sound and recoil effects canbe included.

Amornmas has also developed the Focuss-2 simulator for forward observer training.This is a simple large-screen projection sys-tem for indoor use on which either real ter-rain or computer generated imagery can bedisplayed. The system can simulate the firingof up to 20 artillery or mortar units simultane-ously with appropriate visual and soundeffects. Each fire mission can be recorded andthen played back for AAR. Focuss-2 is in serv-ice with the Thai Army.

Much of the simulationcapability for the SingaporeArmed Forces is supplied bythe Training and Simulationdivision of ST Electronics


The Australian Heron Remotely PilotedVehicle (RPV) detachment arrived inAfghanistan in July 2009 to provide a highresolution ISR in support of operations ©ADF Commonwealth of Australia

UUNNMMAANNNNEEDDA E R I A L V E H I C L E S

CounterInsurgency

UAVs in

Operations


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AMAJOR part of this challengehas been to enhance the intel-ligence gathering capabilitiesof engaged forces. The abilityfor deployed troops to under-

stand their surrounding, and for battle com-manders to have advanced situationalawareness is fundamental to successfuloperations in theatre. One way that armedforces have been tackling this issue isthrough the use of unmanned aerial vehi-cles (UAVs), the use of which has beengrowing throughout the past decade as

forces seek more intelligent and covertways to gather data on the battlespace.

Eyes in the skyUAVs bring several significant advantages tocounter insurgency operations over and abovealmost every other surveillance technologyavailable for battlespace situational aware-ness. As the industry has advanced UAVshave gone from being able to provide a short

amount of surveillance at short range, to beingable to carry out 24 hour persistent surveil-lance, providing not simply information onwhat is happening in the battlespace, but thetechnology to build up patterns of behaviourand activity within the area. In other words,rather than just being able to see where IEDsare deployed, the technology is available tosee who planted that IED and where theywent afterwards, as well as to pick up anom-

Imagery Analyst, Leading Seaman Neil Richards, monitors Heron's flight imagery from the intelligencecontrol room at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan © ADF Commonwealth of Australia

The road to protect deployed forces during counter insurgency opera-tions within Afghanistan and Iraq has been a long one. The challenge isnot over yet. The greatest threat to ground troops is without doubt theimprovised explosive device (IED). As weapons of choice go, this one isable to not only cause serious injury and casualties, but to impedealmost every aspect of Coalition operations within the field. Overcomingthis threat – a bloody symbol of the asymmetrical and adaptable natureof insurgent warfare – will prove to be one of the greatest challengesfaced by armed forces involved in the Middle East.

bbyy John Mulberry

alies in the overage area that pose a threat tooperations occurring within that space.One of the most advanced systems in use

with the Coalition to date is the IAI HeronUAV. Both the governments of Canada andAustralia have deployed the system in sup-port of military operations, with theAustralian Defence Force (ADF) and thePublic Works and Government ServicesCanada (PWGSC) extending their contractsduring 2010. Both countries operate theHeron UAV under a lease agreement withMcDonald Dettweiler and Associates

(MDA), with Canada exercising their firstoption to extend their agreement in May 2010for the timeframe January through June 2011;and Australia extending in July 2010 for thetimeframe January through December 2011.The IAI Heron UAV family consists of the

Heron 1, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance(MALE) UAS for strategic and tactical mis-sions; and the Heron TP, an advanced, multi-purpose MALE UAS with an extended per-formance envelope and a variety of payloadscapability. The Heron 1 is 8.5 m in length and16.6m in wingspan, with a maximum take-offweight of 1,250 kg. It accommodates payloadsof up to 250 kg, and has demonstrated 52hours of continuous flight. It can collect datasimultaneously via its four sensors, and fea-

tures extended range satellite communica-tions (SATCOM), fully redundant avionics,and automatic takeoff and landing (ATOL)systems with retractable landing gear. The Heron TP, as a multi-purpose and

multi-system UAV, is able to perform longrange operations (36 hours) with multipleoperational configurations and a large inter-nal volume for a variety of payloads ofaround 1,000kg, including EO/IR/LRF, SAR,MPR, ELINT, COMINT and ESM. It is a muchlarger vehicle, with a length of 14 m,wingspan of 26m, and maximum take-offweight of 4,650 kg; and is capable of carryingout missions in all weather conditions.Powered by a 1,200 hp Turbo Prop engine, itflies above commercial traffic at 45,000 ft,allowing for highly covert operations. It fea-tures line-of-sight data links, triple, fullyredundant, state-of-the-art avionics and SAT-COM for extended beyond line of sight range.

Smarter dataIn November 2010 the Royal Australian AirForce (RAAF) began operation of the KestrelGround Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) inAfghanistan on its Heron UAVs. Produced bySentient Vision, the Kestrel software providescommanders with real-time Intelligence,Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)imagery processing for the detection andtracking of small moving targets within theobservation area, such as dismounts and cam-ouflaged vehicles. The system automaticallyprocesses EO and IR full motion video (FMV)

in order to detect items within the battlespacethat can be easily missed by the human eye –greatly reducing the effects of human errorand fatigue on collected data. It works byautomatically highlighting movement withinthe field-of-view in difficult ground environ-ments, such as shadowy, mountainous orurban terrain, that might otherwise be unob-vious to ISR analysts, greatly enhancing theISR capabilities of the UAV in operation. Thesystem is plug-and-play, able to detect targetsmoving as slowly as 2 km/hr, and as small as2x2 pixels, and sub-pixel target detectionunder optimal conditions. It provides real-time after action for forensic analysis and cantrack target Geolocation.The RAAF is operating the Heron-


The RAAF is operating theHeron-equipped GMTI fromKandahar Air Field

The ScanEagle UAS is also being used by USforces in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom andthe Global War on Terror © US Marine Corps


equipped GMTI from Kandahar Air Field,where it is being used for ISR missionsincluding counter-IED, battle damage assess-ment and mission overwatch. By automatical-ly detecting moving targets too small or slowfor human eyes to spot – which becomesespecially important during long observationperiods - software such as the Kestrel GMTIgive a much clearer picture of the ground tobattlespace commanders. Live imagery is ableto be analysed live in both the TacticalOperations Centre (TOC) and with RemoteVideo Terminals (RVTs), effectively multiply-ing the capabilities of the UAV itself byenabling the coverage of wider areas withoutdetriment of value of the data, quickly trans-forming that data into actionable intelligence. Not only are systems such as the Kestrel

GMTI enhancing the abilities of the UAVs theyare carried by, they are also acting as a force

multiplier for the forces deploying them. Byreducing the reliance on human operators toscan through collected data in order to pro-duce intelligence, the system reduces theamount of personnel required to operate UAVsystems effectively, reducing pressure onresources and increasing productivity. TheKestrel MTI is also able to carry out convoy

route reconnaissance, with the potential tocounter one of the biggest challenges faced bydeployed forces, that of the safe transport ofsupplies, troops and equipments. By helpingto increase the safety of these convoys – amajor insurgent target for IEDs – the system ishelping to keep more personnel out of harm’sway, while keeping costs low. Being able tointerface with the UAV in the field withoutneeding to change Ground Control Stationhardware or support equipment is also a majorbenefit for armed forces that need greatercapabilities without hitting defence budgets.

Operational flexibilityIn August 2010 it was announced that

Sentient Vision had also demonstrated anddeployed the Kestrel MTGI on the ScanEagleUAV, which has been on tactical aerial recon-naissance deployment in Iraq andAfghanistan for the Australian land forcessince 2006. The ScanEagle is a long-endurance autonomous UAV that was devel-oped by Insitu and Boeing. As well as beingused by the US Navy in support of OperationIraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terror,the system is used by the ADF in longendurance ISR missions. Capable of flyingabove 16,000 feet, the UAV has also demon-

In August 2010 it wasannounced that SentientVision had also demonstratedand deployed the KestrelMTGI on the ScanEagle UAV


Watchkeeper will bring UK forcesengaged in Afghanistan increasednetwork-centric capabilities © Thales

Kestrel software provides commanders withreal-time ISR imagery processing © Sentient


strated the ability to provide persistent low-altitude reconnaissance, which enables theUAV is required to loiter individually or ingroups over trouble spots and provide dataor communications relay. For a vehicle of the ScanEagle’s size (4 ft

long with a 10 ft wingspan), the payload andendurance combination of the system islargely unmatched by any other unmannedsystem. It features advanced stealth charac-teristics at very low altitudes with lowacoustic, visual, and infrared range signa-ture, an advanced muffler, a modular design,low personnel requirements and 24-hourendurance. As a standard payload the sys-tems carries either an inertial stabilized EO orIR camera, gimballed to allow the operator totrack both stationary and moving targets. Earlier this month it was announced by

Insitu Pacific and Selex Galileo that theywould be collaborating on rapid integrationof Selex Galileo’s high-resolution synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) PicoSAR into theIntegrator UAV in order to meet the needs ofthe ADF. The Integrator UAV, also known as

the Small Tactical Unmanned AircraftSystem (STUAS), builds on the design of theScanEagle, which it is expected to supple-ment persistent maritime and land-basedreconnaissance, surveillance and targetacquisition (RSTA) missions. The US Navysigned a two-year deal with Insitu in mid-2010 for the design, development and inte-gration of the system, and it is highly likely

that existing ScanEagle users will be interest-ed in the enhanced capabilities offered bythe new system.Integrator features multi-function ball tur-

ret enabling sensors to be selected andchanged during the mission, while cross-

Project Watchkeeper will be delivered to theBritish Army by Thales UK © Thales

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queued data keeps track of data; and thecommon ground support equipment sup-ports mixed-fleet operations. Equipped withPicoSAR’s active electronically scanned array(AESA) and GMTI technology, Integratorwill deliver among the highest-resolutionSAR imagery available on any tactical UAScurrently in service. Most importantly, thesystem is rapid-deploy for close-range tar-gets, and with a focus on rapid payload inte-gration, the UAV will bring significant flexi-bility to the operational capabilities towarfighters, enabling them to meet shiftingrequirements in unstable environments.

Network centric warfareAs the UAV market available advances, manyarmed forces are keen to field increasinglymore capable UAV technology. Last year itwas revealed that the ADF was to purchase 18RQ-7B Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned AerialSystems (TUASs) and supporting systems forAustralian troops operating in Afghanistan.When the system comes into operation it willbring latest-generation combat-proven (by theUS Army and Marine Corps) capabilities tothe ADF, including advanced avionics tech-nology, the ability to see targets up to 125 kmaway from the brigade tactical operations cen-tre, and recognise tactical vehicles up to 8,000

feet above the ground at more than 3.5 kmslant range, day or night, keeping more troopsprotected against threats. One of the biggest current upgrade pro-

grammes is the British Armed Force’s han-dover of Programme Lydian to ProgrammeWatchkeeper, which is due to be complete bythe end of 2011. Programme Lydian has seenthe Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450 UAVs deliveraerial Intelligence, Surveillance, TargetAcquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) forforces engaged in Afghanistan under a leas-ing agreement with the Thales UK and ElbitSystems’ joint venture UAS Tactical System(U-TacS). For the past three years the servicehas been operated on a fly-by-the-hour basisand is scheduled to run until the draw downof the Hermes 450 and handover to ProjectWatchkeeper is complete.Project Watchkeeper will be delivered to

the British Army by Thales UK, and will pro-vide enhanced capabilities over the Hermes450 system, including EO/IR imaging andsynthetic aperture radar/ground moving tar-get indicator (SAR/GMTI). The Watchkeeper

UAV has been flight tested in the UK atParcAberporth and Salisbury Plains, and hascarried out extensive trials for the UKMinistry of Defence (MoD). One of the mostimportant features the Watchkeeper willbring to UK forces engaged in Afghanistan isthe increased network-centric capabilities ofthe system. Rather than simply having aUAV payload collecting data with its sensorsand feeding them to the GCS for analysis, theWatchkeeper is a wholly networked systemthat brings together the UAVs themselves,sensor-suites and ground-based exploitationsegments to deliver a clearer picture of thebattlespace to commanders, faster. The GMTIcan persistently monitor activity with thefield of view and build up patterns of activi-ty to enhance the safety of deployed troopswithin the area, and to help analysts under-stand what is happening during that spaceover greater periods of time.While programme such as Project

Watchkeeper and RQ-7B Shadow TUAS arebuilding on lessons already learnt byCoalition forces involved in the Middle East,perhaps the most vital feature of these sys-tems is their ability to help warfighters carryout smarter counter insurgency operations.By enabling sophisticated aerial ISR to be car-ried out at lower risk to personnel and deliv-ering intelligence rather than data these UAVsystems are making operations more effi-cient, and are ultimately saving lives.

One of the biggest currentupgrade programmes is theBritish Armed Force’s han-dover of Programme Lydianto Programme Watchkeeper

Canada and Australia operate the Heron UAVunder a lease agreement with MDA © MDA


AUSTRALIACAE completes Australian Armyhelicopter simulator upgradeCAE Australia has completed major upgradework on the Australian Army’s S-70A BlackHawk full-flight and mission simulator(FFMS) that will enhance training capabilitiesand ensure concurrency with the Army’sfleet of Black Hawk helicopters.The work, completed on-schedule, is part

of the Management and Support of theAustralian Defence Force's AerospaceSimulators (MSAAS) contract, of which CAEAustralia is the prime contractor. The FFMShas now entered service with the Army.The upgrade work performed by CAE

Australia has enhanced the system’s electron-ic warfare capabilities, including the additionof a newmissile warning system, countermea-sures dispensing system, and missile warningsensors. The work follows a recently complet-ed upgrade of the simulator by adding theCAE Medallian-6000 image generator forvisual training. The Medallion-6000 is basedon commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) graphicsprocessors from NVIDIA Corporation anddelivers a range of new features and capabili-ties for the military simulation market includ-ing increased sustained polygon capacity ofmore than 100,000 polygons, meaning morerealistic three-dimensional (3D) content andterrain detail; use of next-generation shadersto improve realism, such as dynamic shad-ows; and 3D volumetric cloud layers for

enhanced training cues in adverse weather.The Army’s S-70A Black Hawk FFMS

upgrade will better will enhance the Army’sability to carry out comprehensive helicop-ter training for its pilots, including trainingfor landing, takeoff, weapons delivery,night flight, formation flight and cockpitfamiliarization in normal, adverse andemergency situations.

RAN’s first Landing HelicopterDock launchedThe Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) firstCanberra class Landing Helicopter Dock(LHD) has reached an important milestonewith the launch of the hull in Spain by ship-building company Navantia at a ceremonyattended by RAN Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral Russ Crane, Agent-General forVictoria Sally Capp and other Australian andSpanish dignitaries.Under contract to BAE Systems, Navantia

has constructed the hull up to the flight deckat the Ferrol Dockyard, Spain. The hull willnow undertake a 23,150 kilometre journey tothe Williamstown Dockyard, Victoria, inAugust 2012 where BAE Systems will consoli-date the ship and integrate the combat system.When complete, Ship 1 of the Canberra

class LHDs will be the RAN’s biggest everwarship at 27,000 tonne. Under the contractwith the Defence Materiel Office, BAESystems Australia is to deliver two LHDsbetween 2014 and 2015 as part of JP2048Phase 4A/4B of the Australian Defence

Amphibious Ships project.The warships will greatly enhance the

RAN’s ability to deploy land forces for com-bat operations and amphibious disasterrelief; as well as for humanitarian, disasterrelief and peacekeeping operations. The ves-sels will carry up to 1,000 personnel each,150 armoured vehicles, and will each havesix helicopter landing spots with provisionsfor a mix of troop lift and armed reconnais-sance helicopters.

Australia requests fifth C-17The Australian Government has requestedthe possible sale of a C-17 Globemaster IIIaircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force(RAAF) from the US government, in a bid todischarge its unspent defence budget by theend of the 2010/2011 budget year.The RAAF already flies four C-17

Globemaster III aircraft, and a fifth is beingconsidered at an estimated cost of $300 mil-lion. Also requested as part of a potentialpurchase package is up to four Pratt &Whitney F117-PW-100 engines, oneAN/AAQ-24V(13) Large Aircraft InfraredCountermeasures (LAIRCM) System, spareand repair parts, supply and test equip-ment, personnel training and trainingequipment, publications and technical doc-umentation, United States Government andcontractor engineering, logistics, and tech-


The total package for the RAAF’s fifth C-17 isestimated at $300 million © DoD

RREEGGIIOONNAALL NNEEWWSSA N D D E V E L O P M E N T S

Asia PacificProcurement Update

Asia PacificProcurement Update



nical support services, and other relatedelements of logistics support.A number of defence programmes,

including the Airborne Early WarningAircraft, the Air Warfare Destroyer pro-gramme, the Multi-Role Helicopter projectand the Air-to-Air Refuelling Capability pro-gramme have experienced problems over thepast year, which has led to a $528 million sur-plus in the current budget. Australia’s C-17 fleet is based at RAAF

Base Amberley. A fifth aircraft would signif-icantly increase the RAAF’s ability torespond to humanitarian and disaster reliefemergencies in the Asia-Pacific region, aswell as enhance the country’s ability to rapid-ly deploy troops and equipment in supportof coalition operations.US Congress has been notified of the pos-

sible sale by the Defense SecurityCooperation Agency, which would takeplace under the Foreign Military Sale route.

Australia orders Falcon III tacticalradios for armyThe Australian Department of Defence (DoD)has placed an order with Harris Corporationfor Falcon III tactical radios as part of a net-worked battlefield communications system inAustralian Army vehicles, bringing their net-worked Adaptive Army goals a step closer.In a contract worth AUD $11 million,

Harris is to supply the DoD with Falcon IIIPRC-152 handheld radios as well as the RF-300M Trimline Vehicular Adapters for instal-lation into a number of ground vehicles,including the Army Bushmaster protectedmobility vehicles. The radio systems — one of the most

widely deployed systems in the world — willprovide the framework for the integratedbattlespace communications systems soughtby the Australian Army. They provide inter-operable tactical voice and data communica-tions for both ground-to-ground andground-to-air applications, linking vehicles,soldiers and commanders into a seamlesscommunications network.With a single channel power amplifier, the

low-profile Falcon III RF-300M-TV TrimlineVehicular Amplifier is specifically designed tobe fitted into vehicles where space is at a pre-mium, with a single AN/PRC-152(C) servingas the dismountable handheld transceiver.The TVA supplies 50 watts from 30 to 90

MHz, 20 watts from 90 to 512 MHz, and 50watts for satellite communications, giving

increased communications reliability in long-range applications. Users are able to switchbetween ground, ground-to-air, or SATCOMcommunications by selecting the requirednetwork on the radio, with separate VHF,UHF, and SATCOM ports with automaticport switching.

Boeing, Thales to pursueHelicopter Aircrew TrainingSystem for ADFBoeing Defence Australia and ThalesAustralia have signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) to submit a bid for theAustralian Defence Force’s (ADF’s) ProjectAir 9000 Phase 7 – Helicopter AircrewTraining System (HATS).Phase 7 of the programme will provide a

rotary wing training capability for Navy andArmy, to meet the future rotary wing trainingneeds of the ADF. It will see the delivery of asystem that encompasses elements of live,synthetic and classroom aviation instruction,to overcome the broadening gap between thecurrent rotary training systems and theadvanced operational helicopters in the cur-rent and planned future ADF inventories. Boeing and Thales signed the MoU at the

2011 Australian International Airshow. Thecompanies already have a long history ofpartnerships, including working together ofF-111 programme, the Boeing 737 AirborneEarly Warning & Control WedgetailOperational Flight Trainer, and the C-17Globemaster III aircrew training simulators. The ADF is expected to issue the HATS

request for proposal (RFP) later this year, anda number of other teaming agreements havealready been made public, includingAgustaWestland, CAE and BAE Systems, whowill offer a light twin helicopter type and asso-ciated aircraft support services; and LockheedMartin and Bristow Helicopters, whoannounced their intention to provide a com-prehensive student-centred training designwith a demonstrated cost-effective helicoptersupport capability earlier this month. The contract will also include through-life

support for the HATS including ongoingoperation, maintenance and support of theHATS aircraft, potentially an AviationTraining Vessel, simulation and training sys-tems and devices, and all associated facili-ties; all of which are intended to be conduct-ed in Australia.The contract is expected to be awarded

during 2012.

INDIAFirst C-130J inducted intoIndian Air ForceThe Indian Air Force (IAF) has induct-ed the first of six C-130 J Super Herculesinto service at a ceremony at HindonAir Force Station, India, attended bysenior representatives from the Indianand US governments on February 5.The induction marks the first time

India has fielded a Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft, and the first time in overtwo decades that the IAF has flown aUS aircraft, since the Lockheed SuperConstellation was retired. The contractfor six units was placed in late 2008under the Foreign Military Sale (FMS)route between the Indian and US gov-ernments. A further five aircraft aredue for delivery by the end of 2011.The contract includes six aircraft,

training of aircrew and maintenancetechnicians, spares, ground supportand test equipment, servicing carts,forklifts, loading vehicles, cargo palletsand a team of technical specialists whowill be based in-country for an initialthree year support period. Equipmentto meet India’s specific operatingrequirements is also included in thepackage, in order to increase the SpecialOperations capabilities of the aircraft.The aircraft are equipped with an

Infrared Detection Set (IDS) to allowlow level precision flying, airdrops andlanding in blackout conditions. Self-protection and other systems have alsobeen included to ensure aircraft surviv-ability in hostile air defence environ-ments; and air-to-air receiver refuellingcapability for extended range opera-tions have also been included.Designed to operate out of austere,

high elevation airstrips in hot condi-tions the C-130J is well suited to India’soperational needs and will significant-ly enhance the IAF’s troop, cargo andequipment transport capabilities.

Textron to supply India withSensor Fuzed WeaponsTextron Defense Systems is to providethe Indian Air Force (IAF) with CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) under


MALAYSIA HeiTech Padu Berhad andThales Nederland sign MoUThe Malaysian defence industry hasreceived a significant boon with thesigning of a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) between HeiTechPedu Berhad and Thales Nederlandfor the development of a MalaysianNaval Combat Management System.Under the agreement, HeiTech

Padu will be involved in ThalesNederland’s Tacticos CombatManagement System that is currentlybeing built for the modernisation ofthe modernisation of the RoyalMalaysian Navy (RMN). The systemof the same name being offered for theRMN’s Second Generation PatrolVessel will also be developed and pro-duced in Malaysia by both companiesunder a transfer of technologyarrangement and a sophisticated jointsoftware development environment. The Thales Tacticos Combat

Management System integrates theship’s sensors and information ofother parties for real time situationalawareness, and is known for its relia-bility and ability to integrate with vir-tually anything. It has become one ofthe world’s most widely used combatmanagement system in service withwell over 50 navies (both NATO andnon-NATO) on more than 130 plat-forms of all types. The system performs surveillance

and picture compilation using the on-board sensors and tactical data links.Anti Air warfare, anti submarinewarfare and electronic warfare aresupported by threat evaluation, man-ual and automatic sensor andweapon assignment and kill assess-ment. Further support servicesinclude decision making support,planning tools, built-in training andmaintenance support.Malaysia’s fledgling defence

industry is expected to benefit fromthe MoU, with the companiesannouncing that an in-country sup-port facility for the system will beestablished immediately.


a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) between thegovernments of the US and India. The con-tract is worth USD $257 million, with $126million funded immediately.Designed with redundant technolo-

gies to meet current clean battlefield stan-dards and eliminate risk to civilians andnon-combatants, the Textron DefenseSystems’ SFW is the only air-deliveredweapon that meets the strict unexplodedordnance (OXO) criteria for cluster muni-tions, and is the first combat-proven cleanweapon in the US Air Force’s (USAF’s)inventory. This requires less than one percent UXO in intended operational envi-ronments as set by the US Secretary ofDefense in June 2008.The SFW contains Textron Defense

Systems’ BLU-108 submition and smartSkeet warheads equipped with dual-modepassive infrared and active laser sensors.The weapon is designed to ensure safetymode activation if the warhead does notdetect a valid target over its lofted trajecto-ry. The weapon has three safety modes,the first two modes together deliver morethan 99 per cent reliability, and work byenabling the Skeet to self-destruct aftereight seconds from launch or within a 15metre altitude above the ground. The thirdmode automatically renders the Skeetinoperable via self-deactivation withinminutes of hitting the ground.

Embraer unveils India’s 145AEW&C platformsEmbraer has unveiled the first EMB 145Airborne Early Warning and Control(AEW&C) aircraft it is building for the

Indian government at a ceremony heldat its headquarters in São José dosCampos, Brazil.The aircraft is the first of three

AEW&C platforms being built for India.The aircraft will now undertake intensiveground and flight tests ahead of trans-port to India where it will receive equip-ment being developed by India’sDefence Research & DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO).The EMB 145 AEW&C platform is

based on the Embraer ERJ 145 regionaljet, and features an in-flight refuellingsystem, SATCOM capability, a signifi-cant increase in electrical and coolingcapacities, and a comprehensive set ofaerodynamic and structural changes. TheDRDO is currently developing advancedelectronic systems for the jet in coordina-tion with the Centre for AirborneSystems (CABS).The EMB 145 AEW&C will bring

advanced intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to theIndian defence forces, with its ability todetect, track and identify targets in itspatrol area and forward these data so asto give friendly forces an accurate andcomprehensive operational picture. Itfeatures high-performance, multi-modeactive phased-array AEW radar, a power-ful command and control system and acomprehensive set of support systemslike ESM, self-protection and communi-cations, including data-links; and is capa-ble of detecting and tracking both sea andairborne targets, over land and water, allwith an impressive instrumented range.

The IAF’s CBU-105 Sensor FuzedWeapon acquisition is expected toequip Jaguar squadrons © DoD


SOUTH KOREASouth Korea outlines stealthbomber plansThe South Korean Defence Ministry hasannounced plans to purchase stealth bombersin an effort to bolster the country’s selfdefence capabilities in the face of NorthKorea’s military growing military capabilities.As part of the ongoing F-X fighter pro-

gramme, the Defence Ministry is already pur-chasing 60 high performance fighters fromthe US in an as-yet to begin third phase of theprogramme. Current timelines have the pro-gramme beginning during 2011 with pur-chasing to take place during 2015.

A number of factors, includ-ing that the Republic of KoreaAir Force (ROKAF) current fight-er jet fleet, which includes the F-4Phantom and F-5, are nearing theend of their service life, is forcingthe government to overcome cur-rent delays on the acquisitionprogramme. Many of SouthKorea’s nearest neighbours havealready unveiled plans toenhance their aerial defencecapabilities in light of NorthKorea’s growing unpredictabili-ty, including Japan’s plans to buyLockheed Martin’s F-35 fighterjets, and China’s J-20 stealthfighter development programme.Possible options for the South

Korean government are the US F-22, which is currently unavailable for for-eign purchase; the Boeing F-15SE SilentEagle, and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Thepreferred option is believed to be theLockheed Martin F-35.Also known as the Joint Strike Fighter

(JSF), the F-35 integrates advanced very lowobservable stealth into a supersonic, highlyagile 5th generation fighter. The capabilitiesbuilt into the F-35 provide the pilot withunprecedented situational awareness andunmatched lethality and survivability; andthe aircraft features network-enabled mis-sion systems, sensor fusion, supportabilityand maintainability.


THAILAND Thailand receives Gripenfighter jetsThe Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has takendelivery of six Gripen fighter jets fromSweden, following the flight from Sweden totheir new home at Wing 7 in Surat Thani inSouthern Thailand on 22 February.The delivery brings the initial order

between Thailand and Sweden to a close. In2008 Thailand ordered a complete air defencesystem, consisting of six Gripen aircraft (fourJas 39D and two Jas 39C) with associatedequipment and services, a Saab 340 aircraftwith airborne radar surveillance system, aSaab 340 for transport and education and anintegrated Command and Control systemwith data links. The first part of the systemwas delivered in late 2010 by the FMV, andSwedish pilots and technicians will now help

the RTAF introduce the system into service.The agreement also includes logistical

support and training for RTAF pilots, as wellas simulators. The contract also includestechnology transfer, and Sweden will trans-fer the latest technology in advanced mili-tary aircraft to Thailand.The Gripen fighter aircraft is capable of

performing an extensive range of air-to-air,air-to-surface and reconnaissance missionsemploying the latest weapons. The aircraft isthe world’s most agile fighter for close com-bat, with a highly developed secure andmulti-frequency data link, providing totalsituational awareness for the pilot in all roles. Under an additional agreement initiated

in 2010, the FMV will deliver an additionalsix Gripen fighters of the latest C version, aswell as a Saab 340 with Erieye radar and theSwedish missile RB 15F, during the period2012 – 2-13.

TAIWAN CAE to provide P-3Ctraining devices fromUS NavyThe United States Navy hasissued a contract to CAE for thedesign and manufacture of a suiteof P-3C Orion training devices forthe Taiwan Navy. The Taiwanesegovernment has ordered theequipment for the fleet of 12 P-3Caircraft obtained under the USgovernment in 2007.The contract with CAE was

awarded under the ForeignMilitary Sales (FMS) route, andwill see CAE design and manufac-ture a P-3C operational flighttrainer (OFT) and a P-3C opera-tional tactics trainer (OTT). The P-3C OFT will be a Level D equiva-lent flight simulator and used totrain the pilots and co-pilots ofTaiwan’s P-3C Orion maritimepatrol aircraft. The P-3C OTT willbe used to train the sensor opera-tors in the P-3C aircraft.The Taiwan Navy ordered the

P-3C Orion fleet in order toenhance their ability to carry outmaritime patrol and reconnais-sance, search and rescue, druginterdiction, economic zonepatrol, airborne early warning andelectronic warfare. In 2007Lockheed Martin was awarded acontract to upgrade the fleet withnew mission system avionics andservice life extension kits to extendthe aircrafts’ service life for anadditional 15,000 flight hours. The system upgrades include

installation of electronic supportmeasures, acoustics, communica-tions, electro-optic and infraredsystems, and new data manage-ment software and hardware, con-trols, displays and mission com-puters. The service life extensionkits include new outer wings, cen-tre wing lower surfaces, horizontalstabilizers, horizontal stabilizerleading edges and nacelle compo-nents. In January 2011 LockheedMartin was further awarded a con-tract for new avionics components. The CAE training devices are

scheduled for delivery to Taiwanin 2014.

The preferred option for SouthKorea’s ‘stealth bomber’ require-ment is expected to be theLockheed Martin F-35 © DoD

asian military review - may 2011 issue

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