Thursday, 3 November 2016
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Tuesday, 1 November 2016
On Duterte's heels, Malaysia is the next Asian country to embrace China
Image - xinhuanet.com
BEIJING — Malaysia’s prime minister
arrived in China on Monday with warm words for his hosts, a thirst for Chinese
money and, for the first time, a promise of significantly closer defense ties
with the purchase of Chinese naval coastal patrol ships.
Najib Razak called
himself a “true friend” of China, determined to take their relationship
to “new heights” — echoing the pro-China outreach by
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte two weeks ago when he proclaimed a
“separation” from his country’s longtime U.S.-oriented policies.
The twin nods toward China reinforce the
regional narrative of American decline and China’s inexorable rise. They also
showcase Beijing’s apparent ability to buy off rivals for disputed territory in
the South China Sea, which China claims as its own despite strong objections
from the Pentagon and U.S. allies in the region.
“Malaysia being a South China Sea claimant,
and hot on the heels of Duterte, there is an obvious symbolism there,” said
Euan Graham, director of the international security program at the Lowy
Institute for International Policy in Sydney. “In the maritime geopolitical
aspect, it’s almost back to dominoes. The Philippines has caved, and Malaysia
looks wobbly.”
Malaysia is China’s
closest trading partner in Southeast Asia. The naval dealwill add a significant security element to that
relationship, experts said.
Part of the reason is
domestic politics. Najib was once so close to President Obama that they spent a
day playing golf
together in Hawaii in 2014. But ties to the United States were
strained in July after the Justice Department opened an investigation
into alleged money laundering at a state investment fund linked
to the Malaysian leader. That scandal has made Najib unwelcome in Western
capitals and depressed Western investment in his country.
Najib will be discussing a high-speed rail
project as well as real estate and energy deals with China, but it is his
promise to sign “the first significant defense deal” between the two
nations that comes as something of a surprise.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” said James Chin,
director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, noting that Najib
faces elections next year. “It looks very good for domestic purposes if a
world power like China is willing to see him and give him five-star treatment,
a red-carpet welcome.”
But there are also geopolitical calculations
and recalibrations underway around the region, some experts say.
Obama’s strategic rebalance, or “pivot,” to
Asia has proved a disappointment in many capitals, with the ambitious 12-nation
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement in deep trouble. China, by
contrast, can offer piles of cash and promises of investment without tortuous
negotiations or exacting conditions.
The U.S. military has been unable to prevent
China’s island reclamation program in the South China Sea, while Duterte’s
pledge to throw out U.S. troops has been another blow — even if many experts
predict a less dramatic shift in Philippine foreign policy than its erratic
president might threaten.
“The pivot hasn’t had the impact it ought to
have had,” said Michael Montesano, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak
Institute in Singapore. “It has failed to reduce the doubts that were already
there about U.S. staying power and commitment to the region.”
Yet the narrative of U.S. “decline” and Asia’s
tilt toward China is only one side of the coin, Montesano and others argue.
China may have power, money and influence, but
its aggressive assertion of its South China Sea claims has alienated other nations
and pushed them toward Washington, said Yang Razali Kassim, a senior fellow at
the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore.
An international tribunal ruled in July that
Beijing’s expansive claims to the South China Sea lacked historical basis. “If
China pushes its weight to press the claims that it has lost,” he said,
“Beijing will only carve for itself the image of a menacing emerging giant.”
In fact, few Asian nations want to be in
Beijing’s pocket any more than they want to be in Washington’s and would prefer
strategic balance between the two powers.
Even for Malaysia, it is too early to say if
the latest step is a solid move into China’s camp, said Yin Shao Loong,
executive director of Malaysia’s Institut Rakyat.
Malaysia’s military held joint training with
Chinese armed forces in 2015, but it has deeper and longer-standing links with
the United States and other Western nations.
It has also allowed the U.S. Navy to fly P-8A
Poseidon long-range surveillance aircraft from its territory in recent years,
to Beijing’s discomfort.
Strategic balance is even more of a priority
in Vietnam, which has moved significantly closer to Washington in recent years
while being careful not to antagonize Beijing.
In September, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen
Xuan Phuc visited Beijing in a bid to boost trade and attract investment.
“Up to that point we were very hesitant,” said
a Vietnamese official who was not authorized to be named, explaining that his nation
did not want to become economically overdependent on China or a dumping ground
for inferior products and polluting heavy industries. “But we are recalibrating,
accepting more of the Chinese economy in Vietnam’s economy — the Chinese are
the ones who have money to spend.”
But Vietnam, with domestic public opinion
strongly nationalistic, is equally determined not to give way in its dispute
with China in the South China Sea.
It is a similarly mixed picture elsewhere.
Thailand’s
military-led government is buying three submarines from China, but Indonesia —
furious about incursions by Chinese fishing boats into its waters this year —
is now considering joint patrols with Australia in the South China Sea,
officials said this week, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Original
post: washingtonpost.com
Related
post:
Chinese
Warships Came Within 12 Miles Of U.S. Coast – Zero hedge
China
must ready for military conflict in South China Sea – defencetalk.com
Indonesia still in talks to buy "9 or 10" Sukhoi Su-35 jets - official
RPT-UPDATE 1-Indonesia
still in talks to buy "9 or 10" Sukhoi Su-35 jets - official
* Hundreds of firms to be at Jakarta defence
show this week
* Western suppliers trying to wrestle deal
from Sukhoi - sources
* Indonesian defence spending jumped 77 pct to
$8.3 bln in 4 yrs
* Indonesia to increasingly diversify arms
suppliers - IHS
By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Eveline
Danubrata
JAKARTA, Nov 1 Indonesia is in talks to buy
"nine or 10" Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, an Indonesian
defence ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday, without giving a timeline
for any deal.
"We are still negotiating,"
Leonardi, head of the defence facilities at Indonesia's defence ministry who
goes by one name, said by telephone.
"We are still bargaining, 'how much do
you want to sell them for?'."
Indonesian defence minister Ryamizard Ryacudu
said in May the Southeast Asian country would buy eight Russian Sukhoi Su-35
jets this year, but the planned purchase has not materialised.
Rival Western companies are still trying to
wrest the deal to supply Indonesia with fighter jets away from Russia's Sukhoi,
two people familiar with the talks said, asking not to be named because of the
sensitivity of the matter.
The award has not been finalised and it is
seen as a test for efforts by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to enforce more
transparency in big-ticket deals, they said.
Hundreds of companies including Lockheed
Martin of the United States, Sweden's Saab and Indonesian state weapons maker
PT Pindad will be represented at an Indo Defence exhibition, which will be held
in Jakarta from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5.
The country's biggest annual defence show will
come weeks after Indonesian warplanes staged large-scale exercises on the edge
of a South China Sea area claimed by Beijing.
While Indonesia is not part of the dispute
over the South China Sea, it objects to China's inclusion of waters around the
Natuna Islands within its 'nine-dash line', a demarcation line used by China to
show its claims there.
Indonesia's total defence spending has risen
77 percent over the last four years to 108.7 trillion rupiah ($8.3 billion),
though it is expected to dip to 108.0 trillion rupiah next year, according to
official data.
Indonesia had signed a contract with Lockheed
Martin for 24 F-16 jets, of which 14 had been delivered and 10 more expected by
early 2018, the defence ministry's Leonardi said. He declined to disclose the
value of the deal.
Research firm IHS Markit predicts that
Indonesia will spend more than $20 billion on procurement between 2016 and 2025
-- the fifth fastest-growing defence budget in the world -- and it will
increasingly seek to diversify its suppliers.
South Korea, Russia and France are expected to
hold a combined market share of 53 percent between 2009 and 2018, while the
other half will be shared by about 30 countries, many with less than one
percent, IHS said.
"This reflects Indonesia's wariness about
dependency of a supplier or a set of suppliers, as well as the intention to
'shop around' for the best defence deals, spurring competition," said IHS
analyst Jon Grevatt. ($1 = 13,040.00 rupiah) (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da
Costa in JAKARTA and Tim Hepher in ZHUHAI; Additional reporting by Gayatri
Suroyo and Kanupriya Kapoor in JAKARTA; Writing by Eveline Danubrata; Editing
by Robert Birsel and Louise Heavens)
Original
post: reuters.com
I
assume Indonesia will go for Su-35 I think part due to politics, infrastructure
cost and familiarization with the platform.
Related
post:
COMAC Wins 56 C919 Orders from Two Chinese Lessors
Airshow - COMAC Wins 56 C919 Orders from Two
Chinese Lessors
By Lena Ge, China Aviation Daily | Nov. 01, 2016
Chinese state-owned plane maker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China
(COMAC) said on Tuesday it had won 23 firm orders for its C919 passenger jet
from two Chinese leasing firms, who also signed letter of intents for 33 more.
CITIC Financial Leasing signed with the Chinese airframer for 18
C919s, with a letter of intent for 18 more of the type.
COMAC said SPDB Financial Leasing also ordered five C919s with
options for an additional 15.
Financial terms of the orders weren't disclosed.
The new orders, sealed on the first day of Airshow China, bring
COMAC's order book for the C919 to 570 aircraft from 23 customers, mostly from
Chinese airlines and leasing companies including Air China, China Eastern
Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, China's
Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co., China Development Bank Leasing
Co., ICBC Financial Leasing Co., China Aircraft Leasing Co., ABC Financial
Leasing Co., GE Capital Aviation Services, BOC Aviation and etc.
The home-made aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight at
the end of this year or early 2017.
Still in development, the C919 will be the first Chinese-built jet
of its type, targeted at eventually competing with Boeing Co and Airbus Group.
Original post: chinaaviationdaily.com
Cancel F-35 Deal with Turkey / Turkey to Order New F-35 Lightning II Jets
In 1972, Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger visited Tehran and promised the
Shah “a blank check” for military arms. Iran soon became the only
country besides the United States to fly the F-14, which was, at the time, the
top U.S. fighter jet.
Within just a couple
years, however, Iran was in the throes of revolution and Islamist dictatorship.
Whereas once Iranian officials chatted with their American counterparts at
embassy functions and even state dinners, now Iranian officials held American
diplomats hostage and sponsored terrorism abroad. Iran may have become an
implacable foe of the United States but, for the first few years of the Islamic
Republic’s existence, it nevertheless had America’s top aircraft technology at
its disposal.
Fast-forward to the
present day. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the U.S. military’s
next-generation platform. For diplomatic reasons more than necessity, the
manufacture of many of its parts was outsourced to NATO members. On the plus
side, this became a jobs program for many NATO members and encouraged them to
place orders that, in theory, lessened the price for manufacture. On the
negative side, however, there is the sharing of the technology.
Historically, that
would not have been a problem with NATO members, all of whom from a defense
perspective at least read from the same page. Today, however, there is the
problem of Turkey, which participated in the construction of some less
sensitive parts and seeks to buy the entire platform. It has just announced that
it will take delivery of the first batch of F-35As in 2018 with
another order to follow.
The United States
should cancel Turkey’s order, even if that means a financial loss for the
planes’ manufacturers. Turkey is in a crisis, which threatens its fundamental
orientation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has purged 41 NATO officers out of
the 50 which Turkey had assigned to the defense alliance before the coup.
In recent months, Erdoğan has also tilting increasingly toward Russia. Rumors
abound in Turkish military and diplomatic circles that on the agenda in
Erdoğan’s most recent talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a
more permanent military relationship, including perhaps a leased Russian
presence in Mersin. At the very least, Turkey’s recent dealings with China, Russia,
and Iran,
as well as the more fundamental tilt in its foreign policy away from the West
and toward a more rejectionist and Islamist camp, are cause for concern. So,
too, is Turkey’s emphasis on its
own indigenous arms industry, its ability to reverse engineer
weapons systems, and its willingness to leak
intelligence out of spite.
Providing F-35s to
Turkey has greater strategic consequence than allowing the Islamic Republic of
Iran to purchase Boeings, and will have potentially far longer repercussions.
It should have been
stopped six years ago, but Congress did not act. It’s time for
Congress to rectify that mistake, step up and throw a wrench in the provision
of any F-35s to Turkey. To go ahead with delivery would risk the technology
leaking to China, Russia, and Iran and, perhaps, being used against Americans.
Original
post: commentarymagazine.com
Turkey
to Order New F-35 Lightning II Jets
By: Burak
Ege Bekdil, October 31, 2016
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s top defense procurement panel has agreed to
officially order a second batch of F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation multirole
fighter aircraft under the multinational Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.
Friday's meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSIK in its Turkish acronym) brought together Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Defence Minister Fikri Isik and Army Gen. Hulusi Akar, chief of the General Staff. SSIK is Turkey’s top authority in procurement matters.
Under the JSF program, Turkey has committed to procure a total of 116 aircraft. Turkey placed its first JSF order in 2014 under its low-rate initial production 10 program.
Turkey’s procurement and military officials are hoping to build a new-generation, dual-fighter jet fleet by their country’s centennial, 2023, comprising of the F-35 and an indigenous aircraft, known as TFX, that Ankara has been designing. Turkey hopes to receive its first F-35 in 2018.
SSIK said in a news release after the meeting that panel members discussed a total of 12 different programs, including JSF.
One program discussed at the meeting is a plan for the procurement of two command and control aircraft. Earlier this year, Turkey’s procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM in its Turkish acronym) launched an international competition for the program. SSM said the planned aircraft should accommodate 12 passengers.
Aerospace industry sources expect the price tag with the contract to be anywhere between $50 million and $100 million, depending on the Turkish military's configuration requirement. The planned aircraft will be used as VIP business jets for the Turkish military, with command and control capabilities for the top military brass.
In 2006, the Turkish military selected Gulfstream G550 for the same mission. In 2008, it decided to buy two G550 aircraft.
Friday's meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSIK in its Turkish acronym) brought together Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Defence Minister Fikri Isik and Army Gen. Hulusi Akar, chief of the General Staff. SSIK is Turkey’s top authority in procurement matters.
Under the JSF program, Turkey has committed to procure a total of 116 aircraft. Turkey placed its first JSF order in 2014 under its low-rate initial production 10 program.
Turkey’s procurement and military officials are hoping to build a new-generation, dual-fighter jet fleet by their country’s centennial, 2023, comprising of the F-35 and an indigenous aircraft, known as TFX, that Ankara has been designing. Turkey hopes to receive its first F-35 in 2018.
SSIK said in a news release after the meeting that panel members discussed a total of 12 different programs, including JSF.
One program discussed at the meeting is a plan for the procurement of two command and control aircraft. Earlier this year, Turkey’s procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM in its Turkish acronym) launched an international competition for the program. SSM said the planned aircraft should accommodate 12 passengers.
Aerospace industry sources expect the price tag with the contract to be anywhere between $50 million and $100 million, depending on the Turkish military's configuration requirement. The planned aircraft will be used as VIP business jets for the Turkish military, with command and control capabilities for the top military brass.
In 2006, the Turkish military selected Gulfstream G550 for the same mission. In 2008, it decided to buy two G550 aircraft.
At the Friday meeting, SSIK decided to task THY Teknik, the repair and
maintenance subsidiary of Turkey’s national carrier, Turkish Airlines, with
administering the command and control aircraft program.
SSIK also said it decided to procure more vessels for the Turkish navy, although it did not detail the number or type of ships on its shopping list.
The panel said it authorized SSM to launch a contest for the modernization of a batch of 25 Seahawk helicopters in the Navy’s inventory. In November 2006, Turkey ordered its last package of S-70B Seahawk helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft. The S-70B helicopter is an international derivative of the US Navy's SH-60B Seahawk, but includes a fully integrated glass (digital) cockpit and a mission management system.
SSIK said some of the other programs its members discussed on Friday include the Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (IMSS) program; the foundation of a cybersecurity and defense center; electronic warfare command, control and coordination efforts; a national joint electronic warfare data bank; new-generation light-armored vehicles; procurement of portable jammers; and electronic support systems.
One procurement official said the meeting marked the first serious effort to give pace to Turkey’s modernization and acquisition programs after a putsch on July 15 brought the procurement and military bureaucracy to a near standstill.
“Finally the shock is over and things are picking up,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “SSIK convened with a heavy agenda and both the government and military leaders look determined to get things done without further delays.”
One Defence Ministry official said: “The first [post-coup attempt] meeting was important. Preceding meetings will discuss other major programs, including TFX.”
SSIK also said it decided to procure more vessels for the Turkish navy, although it did not detail the number or type of ships on its shopping list.
The panel said it authorized SSM to launch a contest for the modernization of a batch of 25 Seahawk helicopters in the Navy’s inventory. In November 2006, Turkey ordered its last package of S-70B Seahawk helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft. The S-70B helicopter is an international derivative of the US Navy's SH-60B Seahawk, but includes a fully integrated glass (digital) cockpit and a mission management system.
SSIK said some of the other programs its members discussed on Friday include the Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (IMSS) program; the foundation of a cybersecurity and defense center; electronic warfare command, control and coordination efforts; a national joint electronic warfare data bank; new-generation light-armored vehicles; procurement of portable jammers; and electronic support systems.
One procurement official said the meeting marked the first serious effort to give pace to Turkey’s modernization and acquisition programs after a putsch on July 15 brought the procurement and military bureaucracy to a near standstill.
“Finally the shock is over and things are picking up,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “SSIK convened with a heavy agenda and both the government and military leaders look determined to get things done without further delays.”
One Defence Ministry official said: “The first [post-coup attempt] meeting was important. Preceding meetings will discuss other major programs, including TFX.”
Original post: defensenews.com
Keel laid for new Russian corvette PROJECT 20386 - Video
Published
on Oct 28, 2016
На
Северной верфи в Петербурге заложили новейший многоцелевой корабль «Дерзкий». В
торжественной церемонии приняли участие представители военно-морского флота,
конструкторы и судостроители.
Google
translated
On the Northern Shipyard in St. Petersburg, laid a new multi-purpose ship "Defiant". The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Navy, designers and shipbuilders.
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