Briefings : 6 squadron, Anti-piracy, Talent

• The RAF has unveiled its newly reformed 6 Squadron which is equipped with Typhoons. 6 Squadron's job will be to provide quick reaction alert cover for the north of the UK from next year.
• 820 Naval Air Squadron has deployed to East Africa. The squadron's Merlin helicopters are embarked aboard RFA Fort Victoria and will carry out anti-piracy operations.
• Royal Navy submarine HMS Talent has returned home following an extended spell East of Suez.
• A rare German bomber from WW2 is to be restored by the RAF Museum after being recovered from the Goodwin Sands. The Dornier Do 17 had lain in the sands for 70 years after being shot down in 1940 and is said to be in good condition, the tyres are even still inflated!
• France is still confident it can sell helicopter carriers to Russia despite the Russians throwing the tender open.
• The Chinese media is calling for more anti-carrier weapons like the DF-21D though there are doubts being raised as to the effectiveness of weapons like these.
• Making sense of Anglo-French defence rumours.

Briefings : New DPRK tank, P-8A, PLA report

• North Korea has unveiled its latest tank the Pokpung-Ho on some video footage. South Korean analysts say it is based on the Soviet T-62 and has enhanced mobility, protection and firepower over older DPRK tanks (which wouldn't really be that hard to guess to be honest).
• The Boeing P-8A ASW aircraft has been cleared to begin ramping up to production as the plane enters the last 2 years of its testing and development programme. The US plans to buy 117 of them.
• The Pentagon has released its annual report on the Chinese military and notes the development of the "most active land-based ballistic cruise missile program [sic] in the world". The actual report is here. Meanwhile China are seeking closer military ties with Serbia.
• It has been suggested that the MOD should relocate to Portsmouth from London to save money.

Briefings : Pakistani F-16s, Illustrious, French MALE

• Pakistan has received the first of a latest batch of new F-16C/D fighters. Eventually 12 F-16Cs and 6 F-16Ds will be delivered.
• The Royal Navy flagship HMS Illustrious is currently in refit, this article takes a look at what is being done to the aircraft carrier.
• The French are seriously considering buying a US drone off-the-shelf for it's MALE UAV programme. Predator Bs would be in the frame for that procurement.
• The Chinese military have banned all of it's personnel from blogging or creating a website. PLA members are also banned from making friends on-line.

Briefings : Agamemnon, KC-X, K-8

Work has begun on the 5th Astute class submarine for the Royal Navy (to be named Agamemnon) though it will be part of the coalition's strategic defence review. But then again most things will be these days.

The KC-X next generation tanker deal for the USAF is expected to be announced in November. EADS and Boeing are both bidding in the long-running and troubled competition. The US Army is experimenting with fuel cell technology on an M1 Abrams tank. The tank's auxiliary power unit will convert diesel into hydrogen and then generate electricity using a fuel cell.

China's K-8 jet trainer / light attack plane is a popular buy at the moment. Myanmar have ordered 50 of the planes which will be supplied in part-form and then assembled in the country.

Briefings : J-6, US defence cuts, South America

The PLAAF has officially bid farewell to the J-6, it's version of the MiG-19 Farmer. The type remained in production long after the Soviet Farmer had ceased production and indeed up until the 1990s was the core type in China's air force. The J-6 was retired from combat duties in 2005 and now withdrawn from it's remaining duties too.

A committee in US Congress is looking into ways of dramatically cutting US military spending. The Sustainable Defense Task Force plans to cut over a trillion dollars in military spending over the next 10 years with all services in the firing line for possible deep cuts. One programme of course in the firing line will be the JSF with flight tests of the Block 1 aircraft now underway. Another big procurement programme in trouble is the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle for the US Marines who have been asked to justify it.

One place military spending is still ongoing is in South America. Venezuela wants to buy another 22 K-8Ws for the training and light strike roles while Chile wants to modernise it's Hercules transports with new cockpit displays.

The safety of ammunition used by the British Army has raised concerns with a watchdog worrying that the potential for a serious accident. The PM is to tell MPs that the winding down of the British presence in Afghanistan is to soon begin. The Chief of the Defence Staff was removed from his post earlier (or his early retirement announced rather) indicating the PM wants a new chief to oversee the withdrawal. However US government geologists have apparently found vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan so maybe they'll be wanting to stay after all.

Briefings : J-15, Dauntless, Bullets

The Russians are annoyed with the Chinese for "copying" it's Su-33 Flanker-D as the J-15 for it's own aircraft carriers which are yet to be completed. The Russians however say that the J-15 is inferior to the Su-33.

The second Type 45 destroyer has joined the Royal Navy as HMS Dauntless. It is of course great news though tempered by the fact 1/3 of the total T45 fleet is now in service.

The MOD has contracted BAE Systems to produce a better bullet. A "higher performance" 5.56mm bullet is being sought after worries the standard NATO rounds are no longer effective against such obstacles as ...er... car windscreens.

Briefings : UK defence policy, Nimrod, Choenan

The UK coalition government has published it's joint policy for the next parliamentary term. Defence policy holds no surprises from what has already been stated. The Tories are committed to Trident, the Lib Dems will agree to disagree, but both agree on better pay and conditions for troops on active service whilst cutting the running costs of the MOD. As for Trident the RUSI has said that cutting the number of patrols could extend the life of the existing Vanguard submarines and save billions of pounds. A risky idea to my mind considering how fast events can unfold these days.

The last Nimrod R1s are preparing for their final deployment ahead of it's retirement next year. The last 2 aircraft are to deploy to Afghanistan following a number of upgrades and are likely to remain there until retirement next March.

North Korea has been officially blamed for the destruction of the South's corvette. The Choenan was sunk by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine according to an international team who have investigated the incident. Staying in that area RAND have been looking at the Chinese Air Force and have some interesting things to say.

 

• Chinese Aircraft: China's Aviation Industry Since 1951 (Recommended, Amazon link)

Briefings : Election defence plans, Watchkeeper, J-10

The Tories say they will cut the MOD's costs by a quarter in their election manifesto. One area of savings could be to cut co-operational on EU defence initiatives. The Tories also plan to retain Trident, set up a National Security Council and a homeland defence command. Hang on i thought they wanted to reduce bureaucracy? Labour meanwhile will conduct a strategic review and are committed to the aircraft carriers, they will also give a free ID card to veterans and also cut MOD waste. The Liberals will not renew Trident and improve pay and conditions for troops. Sadly finding defence in the parties' manifestos takes some time, its well down the list of priorities.

The UK could extend it's stop-gap Hermes UAV operation in Afghanistan for another 6 months while it continues to get the Watchkeeper 450 ready for service. Hermes 450 have now logged over 30,000 hours in theatre providing the bulk of British ISTAR.

China has been showing off it's J-10B with some nice aerobatics (video in link well worth seeing).

Briefings : FSC, FRES SV, Lots of fighter news

The UK could move ahead with development of it's next frigate (FSC / Type 26) and select a contractor for FRES SV soon (General Dynamics are already rumoured to have won this) in the next few days.

China is said to be close to flight testing it's next generation fighter which will surprise the US Secretary of Defence who said China would not have a 5th generation fighter before 2020. Maybe he meant "into service" which apparently is the PLAAF's aim for it to enter service.

Japan is looking to replace it's ageing F-4s and the Super Hornet could be an option. Boeing is willing to outsource some production to Japan if they decide to buy the jet and could deliver the first 10 in 2015 if the order is placed this year. Denmark is also looking at buying the Super Hornet instead of the F-35 according to some reports, sceptical on that to be honest. Argentina is also looking to replace some fighters at the end of their lives (some Mirage IIIA/DAs) however in their case their target is a rather more modest second-hand purchase of ex-Jordanian Mirage F1CJs. Two Saab 340 Eyieye AEW planes will also be bought.

Briefings : British armour, Reaper, KC-X

The winner of the programmes to upgrade the Warrior and produce the FRES SV will be announced on March 26th according to the CEO of one of the companies involved.

The RAF has doubled the amount of operational activity over Afghanistan with it's MQ-9 Reaper UCAVs and hopes to double it again when they get extra aircraft (well you would hope so wouldn't you?)

The USAF will not modify it's KC-X tanker programme after one of the two bidders (Northrop/EADS) dropped out. Boeing have a clear run. France are not happy about Airbus (EADS) not being involved anymore. Defense Tech talk about Chinese digital camouflage, and very nice it is too.

Briefings : RAF fears, China, BMD Fail

The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, is pessimistic about how the RAF will fare in the next round of spending cuts.

China has threatened to sanction firms involved in a $6.4 billion arms deal between US companies and Taiwan which it opposes. This could include Boeing which is selling $37 million worth of missiles to Taiwan. An embargo could hit Boeing very badly as they currently dominate the fast growing Chinese airliner market.

Boeing's latest attempt to squeeze out some more life out of the Eagle, the F-15 Silent Eagle, will not have the vee-tail after all unless a customer wants it (and will pay for it).

The latest US ballistic missile test, testing the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Missile, has failed. The failure is being blamed on the sea-based X-Band radar.

UK drops to 4th in defence spending

The UK has dropped to 4th in the world defence spending league behind France spending a mere $65.3 billion. This drop has been attributed to recent defence cuts and the fall of the pound against the dollar and euro. Still a top 5 placing is still very good for jolly old Blighty but top of the hit parade is the US of course with $607 billion just shading China in second place with -er- $84.9 billion.

A tiny defence budget means the US can only afford cheapo weapons like the F-22

Chinese UAV developments

Some time ago i wrote an article on Chinese UAV development (the blog it was written on is now in archive mode i.e. no longer updated but you can still read the old article here).

Flight International has reported from the 2008 Zhuhai show where the latest Chinese UAV tech has been on display. The designs are very exotic (and some take... lets shall we say... plenty of inspiration from western designs) of course but then again UAV designs tend to be as you don't have to worry about it flopping spectacularly and killing someone (though of course those holding the purse strings might be less blase).