Asian Military Review - March/April 2013 issue

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URBAN WARFAREAIRBORNE KILL CHAINPRECISIONINDIRECT FIRE

URBAN WARFAREAIRBORNE KILL CHAINPRECISION INDIRECT FIRE

MALAYSIA DEFENCEURBAN WARFARE

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MARCH/APRIL 2013VOLUME 21 / ISSUE 2

ContentsContents

01

Precision IndirectEngagement:Regional Firesand Effects

TighteningThe Kill ChainAdam BaddeleyThe Airborne Kill Chain covers thegamut of military activities fromIntelligence Surveillance andReconnaissance assets detecting andidentifying targets, often sending thatinformation to command structuresto obtain a decision then orderingan attack on the target and thenpassing on the requisite targetinginformation to the right platform toachieve the destruction of the target

Adam BaddeleyMonitoring the complex interplayof fishing vessels, merchant marineand other craft undergoing theirlegal business must also becombined with the ability to detectillegal fishing, piracy and terroristsinfiltrating in skiffs

CBRNIn The Field

4.5 GenerationCombat AircraftThomas WithingtonModern Combat aircraftmust perform a range oftasks including traditionalAir Superiority missions, toClose Air Support, using asingle airframe and switch-ing between these missionswith the minimum of fuss

04 34

10

18

40

Dzirhan MahadzirDevelopments for the Malaysian Armed Forces has been fairly limited owing to the

country’s political situation. A General Election which must held by April 2013 leading to thegovernment giving little priority to military procurement under the 10th Malaysia Plan

which governs all Malaysian government spending until 2015

26

Malaysian Defence Modernisation

l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l

Adam BaddeleyPrecision indirect fires areboth costly and cost-efficient.Militaries have to considertrade-offs between the financialcost of deploying precisionindirect fire versus the strategiccost of collateral damage

Urban WarfareAdam BaddeleyUrban operations can't beavoided or ignored. Whether theforce structure and equipmentinventories being acquired are tosupport overseas peace supportoperations far from home orconventional warfighting onnational territory, the ability toconduct effective operations inthe complex terrain of townsand cities remains a challenge

Andy OppenheimerWeapons containing aChemical, Biological,Radiological, Nuclearcomponent are factored intomilitary planning for forceprotection as they continueto be a credible, if unpre-dictable and unquantifiable,threat to both troops andcivilians in several theatres

46

Front Cover Photo:Nexter’s CAmion Equipé d’unSystème d'ARtillerie (CAESAR)155 mm/52-calibre Self-pro-pelled howitzer has beendelivered to Thailand based on aUnimog U2450 chassis with sixsystems in service and deployedin the standoff against Cambodiaas well as being deployed withthe French army to Afghanistanand most recently to Male withthe 68e Régiment d’Artilleried’Afrique © Yves Debay/Nexter

Coastal and LittoralSurveillance

Editorialeace can break out even in apparentlyintractable conflicts with recent events inSouth East Asia providing ample proof of that.

Peace talks between the government andMindanao separatists in the Philippines in 2012culminated with both sides compromising on theestablishment of the Bangsamoro semi-autonomousstate and socio-economic development from 2016, with the deal brokered in part bythe Malaysian government. In support of this, on the penultimate day of February, thefirst of four annexes establishing the Bangsamoro region was signed in Kuala Lumpur.

This was achieved despite or perhaps because of decades of conflict with theMindanao Islamic Liberation Front with tens of thousands dead and missing andmany more displaced and injured. It's a model that could be transplanted to otherconflicts in the region and should be examined seriously, not least in Thailand andit appears that it has been. This was illustrated by Hassan Taib representing a moremoderate strand of the separatist movement and Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr,secretary general of Thailand's National Security Council signing an agreement inFebruary, establishing a framework for talks - to begin in March. This initiative wasalso facilitated by Malaysia.

It's difficult to think about peace when the separatists have entered schools andexecuted teachers in front of their pupils, one of the more egregious examples ofdeath and destruction wrought by the BRN-C and other Muslim separatists sincetheir terrorist-campaign began in 2004. It seems unlikely that all the extremistscould be brought into the fold but the ethnic Malay Muslim population in the foursouthern states that made up the former Sultanate of Pattani could feel lessmarginalised, both politically and culturally. In response, Thai government moneyis being ploughed into a Islamic schools and a university with a television channelin Malay but more substantive moves will have to be made.

Success in Mindanao bodes well for Thailand's south. Admittedly there is a block toreplicating the self-rule element to the Philippines strategy, namely the Thai militarywho are apparently set against any compromise on Thailand's traditional unitarystate. There are many lessons than can be taken from this but perhaps the two mostimportant are that meaningful security co-operation is possible within ASEAN nationsand secondly that Thailand needs further democratisation. Both aid peace.

Adam Baddeley, Editor

Editorial

P

02

Editor: Adam BaddeleyE-mail: [email protected]

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l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l

04 l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l

Today, these aircraft must perform awide panoply of tasks; from tradi-tional Air Superiority missions, toClose Air Support; theSuppression and Destruction of

Enemy Air Defences; and StrategicReconnaissance; to name just four. All ofwhich must be undertaken using a single air-frame which can interchange between thesemissions with the minimum of fuss.

Combat aircraft in production around theworld fall squarely within the MRCA catego-ry as these aircraft can ably perform an arrayof missions with little or no modification.Moreover, all these aircraft fall within the so-called ‘4.5 Generation’ MRCA category.What does this mean in practice? 4.5Generation aircraft are essentially a productof the post-Cold War era. While the end of

the tense East-West standoff between theSoviet Union- and United States-led politico-military blocs heralded a reduction ofdefence spending in the optimistic hope of amore peaceful world, the consequence of thiswas that several procurement programmesin the offing at the end of the 1980s and thebeginning of the 1990s were either post-poned, scaled back or cancelled outright.

Several combat aircraft programmes thatwere in existence at the latter stages of theCold War; notably the Eurofighter Typhoon,were radically altered. In the case of theTyphoon, this enabled the aircraft to performstrike missions in addition to its original airdefence remit. This added cost and delays tothe programme, but was arguably cheaperthan designing a separate strike aircraft fromscratch. Similarly, other airframes which

were already in production during the late-Cold War such as the United States’ GeneralDynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16 FightingFalcon and McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15Eagle families had their designs overhauledduring the 1990s, and the early part of thiscentury, to utilise their airframes as baselinedesigns for aircraft better suited to the mili-tary realities of the post-Cold War world.

Beyond the backdrop of the strategicchanges which heralded the arrival of the 4.5Generation combat aircraft, technological

The Eurofighter Typhoon has won export ordersfrom Austria, Saudi Arabia and, most recently,Oman. The aircraft is set for furthermodernization via the ‘Tranche-3’ initiativewhich will add, among other capabilities, anActive Electronically Scanned Array radar ontothe aircraft © Thomas Withington

4.5-Generation

CCOOMMBBAATTA I R C R A F T

Aircraft Combat

05l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l

advances had their role to play in characteriz-ing these platforms. Contrary to their prede-cessors, 4.5 Generation jets placed an increas-ing emphasis on technology, notably the use ofsoftware to control both aircraft and their sub-systems, while taking advantage of the minia-turization of electronics which resulted in anincreasing level of functionality but without ahuge increase in the physical size of circuitry.While it is difficult to neatly define a 4.5

Generation combat aircraft, several attributesare shared across airframes. They includedesign features and capabilities intended tominimize the aircraft’s radar signature;sophisticated data and voice communications;advanced optronic sensors,the employment ofActive Electronically Scanned Array (AESA)radars, highly maneuverable airframedesigns, state-of-the-art powerplants provid-ing the aircraft with high cruising speeds, andthe wherewithal to accommodate a large andvariedweapons load. This article will examineseveral European, American and Russian 4.5Generation combat aircraft, providing anoverview of their current status, and howthese designs may develop in the future.

Eurofighter TyphoonWith its first combat deployment under itsbelt, following the Royal Air Force’s (RAF)participation in NATO’s Operation UnifiedProtector over Libya in 2011 to protect thatcountry’s civilians against attacks by forcesloyal to its ousted leader Colonel Muammar

Gaddafi, the Eurofighter Typhoon is aggres-sively chasing export orders. At the sametime it is undergoing some important mod-ernization initiatives.Recent Typhoon orders have been forth-

coming from Oman, which has purchasedtwelve of the airframes with deliveries to com-mence in 2017. These aircraft are expected toinclude the Euroradar Captor-E AESA systemwhichwill be ready for use on the Typhoon bycirca 2015. Oman joins Saudi Arabia andAustria as export customers for the aircraft.BAE Systems, which builds the jet for the RAFand for the Royal Saudi Air Force, will buildthe airframes for Oman. The company is cur-rently in negotiations with the Saudi Arabiangovernment regarding the purchase of anadditional 72 airframes beyond the 24Tranche-2 configuration machines which ithas already sold to the Kingdom. Riyadh hasasked for the final 24 examples of this 72-air-craft order to be upgradable to the Tranche-3specification to be rolled onto new-build andlegacy Typhoons in the future. Tranche-3modifications will include the Captor-E radardiscussed above, new defensive aids subsys-tems and alsoMBDA’sMeteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.

JAS-39C/D GripenThe Meteor is also scheduled to equip Saab’sJAS-39C/D Gripen MRCA, along with theDassault Rafale-F3B/C/M (see below). InJanuary this year the Swedish government,

Switzerland is the newest customer for Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen family of multi-role combat aircraft.The country is acquiring the latest version of the plane, dubbed the JAS-39E/F, which will also equipthe Royal Swedish Air Force © Thomas Withington

The lexicon ofair power has moved

away from referring tofast jets as ‘fighter’,

‘ground attack’ or‘reconnaissance’

planes. Instead, it hasincreasingly adopted theterm Multi-Role Combat

Aircraft (MRCA) ashigh-performance

military planes on theproduction line, and atthe prototype stage,

are no longer expectedto perform such a finite

number of missions.

bbyy Thomas Withington

A I R C R A F TCCOOMMBBAATT

which is acquiring the aircraft for theFlygvapnet (RSAF/Royal Swedish Air Force),ordered 60 JAS-39E/F variants of the Gripen.Of all the European 4.5 Generation combat air-craft, the JAS-39 Gripen has arguably enjoyedthe healthiest order book in terms of the num-ber of countries it has been sold to. Deliveriesof the aircraft to the RSAF are expected to com-mence in 2027. The JAS-39E/F was formerlyknown as the JAS-39NG (Next Generation).

Among other improvements, this aircraftwill be outfitted with a Selex Galileo RavenES-05 AESA. Recent customers includeSwitzerland which is ordering 22 JAS-39E/Fvariants with deliveries expected to com-mence in 2018, and to conclude three yearslater, pending the signing of a contract to thisend by 2014. Other modifications for the JAS-39E/F include a long range and loiter time,

supercruise (the ability to sustain flight attransonic speeds), improved self-protectionand a larger weapons load-out. BeyondSweden and Switzerland, the Gripen is alsochasing prospective MRCA orders in Croatia,to which it has offered eight examples.

Rafale-F3B/C/MBoth the JAS-39C/D and the EurofighterTyphoon (see above) are the great rivals of

Dassault’s Rafale-F3B/C/M MRCA. Also aveteran of NATO’s Libya campaign, the air-craft is furnishing the Armée de l’Air(French Air Force), and the MarineNationale (French Navy). The Rafale spentmany years in the commercial wildernesstrying, and failing, to secure export orders.This hex was broken early in 2011 when theaircraft was selected by India as the pre-ferred candidate to fulfill the country’s 126-airframe Medium MRCA completion. At thetime of writing (late January 2013) negotia-tions were continuing between Dassault andthe Indian government regarding the draft-ing of a contract for the Rafale’s acquisition.Away from India, the Rafale is competingagainst the Typhoon (see above) for anacquisition contract in the United ArabEmirates. At home, modifications are



Away from India,the Rafale is competing

against the Typhoonfor an acquisition

contract in the UnitedArab Emirates

The venerable General Dynamics/LockheedMartin F-16 continues to remain a popularaircraft. Its manufacturer has recently toutedthe F-16V upgrade which would outfit new-build and legacy aircraft with severaladditional capabilities. © US DoD

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continuing for the aircraft which haveincluded the clearance of the Thales RBE-2AESA radar on the Rafale in October 2012.

F-15SE Silent EagleBoeing’s F-15SE Silent Eagle is a radicalreworking of McDonnell Douglas’s original F-15 Eagle combat aircraft. The F-15SE featuressubstantial levels of low-observable technolo-gy and is designed to perform sorties in harms’way during the first day of an air campaignwhen an adversary’s ground-based airdefences may still be a significant threat.Development work on the F-15SE is continu-ing, with the aircraft undergoing wind tunneltests of its Conformal Weapons Bay (CWB) in

June 2012. The CWB is a key part of the aircraftas it will enable weapons to be stored insidethe fuselage rather than on external hardpointsto help preserve stealth. Radar-absorbent coat-ings also help to reduce this signature, while adigital electronic warfare system improves air-craft self-protection. The cockpit is equippedwith touch screens, a helmet-mounted displayand fly-by-wire avionics.

F-16E/F Fighting FalconLike Boeing, LockheedMartin is also taking itslegacy designs forward,most notably touting asignificant upgrade package for the company’sF-16 Fighting Falcon family of aircraft via itsproposed F-16V configuration. Unveiled in

February 2012, the F-16V specification willinclude an AESA radar and a new missioncomputer. The so-called ‘Viper’ upgrade pack-age will be available to customers both as anupgrade package for existing aircraft, and forinstallation onboard legacy F-16s.

F/A-18E/F Super HornetQuestions remain regarding the prospec-tive evolutions of Boeing’s F/A-18E/FSuper Hornet. Several modifications aredue to be rolled out across the SuperHornets operated by the United StatesNavy. This includes the addition of a newdistributed targeting system which wouldallow the pilot to self-generate GlobalPositioning System satellite coordinates ofpotential targets. These coordinates can bederived from targets spotted by the air-craft’s radar and optronics. This capabilitywill be retrofitted onto the service’s SuperHornet and E/A-18G Growler electronicwarfare aircraft. New optronics, in theform of a pod-mounted NorthropGrumman Infra-Red Search and Trackpackage will be installed on the aircraft.Most importantly, a new multi-sensor inte-gration package will allow the aircraft tofuse together all of the disparate informa-tion gathered by the aircraft’s optronics,radar and electronic warfare systems to


The MiG-29, despite being a child of the Cold War, is still being offered in a number of modernconfigurations, some of which enable it to use Western-designed weaponry. Recent MiG-29customers include India, Russia and Burma © Thomas Withington

Like the F-16V upgrade initiative, a number ofimprovements are being touted for the UnitedStates Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet combataircraft which could include the additionsof capabilities to federate the informationcollected by the aircraft’s sensor systems© Thomas Withington


present a clear tactical picture to the pilot.

MiG-29Russian manufacturers continue to offer 4.5Generation combat aircraft such as the MiG-29. Despite its debut during the latter stagesof the Cold War, the aircraft remains indemand around the world. For example, itwas recently selected by India to equip itsNavy’s aircraft carriers. To this end, Delhi hasordered MiG-29K single-seat and MiG-29KUB two-seat MRCAs and trainers.Alongside India, the MiG-29K/KUB is equip-ping the Russian Navy which will receive 20single-seat and four two-seat examples withdeliveries expected to conclude in 2015.Furthermore, sales of the aircraft of the air-craft are ongoing to Burma. Beyond this carri-er-capable version of the aircraft, land-basedversions of the jet, in the form of the MiG-29M/M2 are being offered. This latter versionincludes open architecture avionics, anexpanded weapons load, fly-by-wire avion-ics, more powerful engines compared to lega-cy MiG-29 examples, and a new radar.Theoretically, this would enable cost-con-scious customers to purchase an aircraft witha price tag comparatively lower than itsWestern counterparts which could at thesame time accommodate Western weaponry.

MiG-35The MiG-29’s sister aircraft is the MiG-35.

This aircraft is essentially a significantlyupgraded version of the MiG-29M (seeabove) which is available in a single- andtwo-seat configuration. Many modificationshave are taken from this latter aircraftincluding its engines, AESA radar, optronicsand open architecture avionics. To datearound ten prototype airframes havebeen built which are currently undergoingflight testing.

Sukhoi Su-30In the international market both the MiG-29and the MiG-35 have competed directly withSukhoi’s Su-30 family of 4.5 GenerationMRCAs. In December 2012, the Russian AirForce took delivery of its first two Su-30SMvariant aircraft. The Russian governmentformerly pledged to order 30 of the aircraftin March 2012. Deliveries of these planes areexpected to conclude in 2015. The Su-30SM

is essentially a development of the Su-30MK,although the aircraft has a number of specif-ic Russian Air Force systems; chiefly its iden-tification friend or foe and communicationsequipment, and its ejection seats. In terms ofweaponry, the Su-30SM will be able todeploy the BrahMos cruise missile which hasbeen developed as a collaborative projectinvolving Indian and Russian companies.The Su-30SM has been acquired by theRussian Air Force to act as a bridge to coverthe gap between the obsolescence of a num-ber of existing Russian Air Force types andthe introduction of the new Sukhoi PAK-FAfifth-generation MRCA.

Future CompetitionsSeveral of these 4.5 Generation aircraft arecompeting in a number of procurement ini-tiatives around the world. South Korea is onecountry on the lookout for a new MRCA,intending to purchase 60 airframes to replaceits air force’s venerable McDonnellDouglas/Boeing F-4E Phantoms. The coun-try is expected to make a decision on the air-craft that it will acquire by the middle of thisyear. Candidate aircraft include theEurofighter Typhoon Tranche-3 variant,Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle, and LockheedMartin F-35A/B/C Lightning-II. The world’s4.5 Generation aircraft builders are also keen-ly watching Brazil. The country has a longrunning requirement for 36 new combat air-craft, although the country’s President DilmaRousseff announced December 2012 that thisacquisition has now been postponed indefi-nitely pending the improvement of Brazil’seconomic situation.

The Su-30SMwill be able to deploy

the BrahMos cruisemissile which has

been developed asa collaborative project

involving Indian andRussian companies

Dassault Rafale-F3B aircraft from the French Air Force are seen here on the flight linepreparing to perform combat missions in support of NATO operations over Libya. The aircraft hasbeen selected as the favourite platform to fulfill India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraftrequirement © Thomas Withington

A I R C R A F TCCOOMMBBAATT

09 l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l

UURR BBAANN O P E R A T I O N S

Almost every aspect of militaryequipment and operation canbe adapted for this environ-ment; adding additional capa-bilities specific to an urban

environment such as through-wall radars orchanging existing equipment to make it bet-ter suited to the role, such as the up-armour-ing of support vehicles.

SurveillanceThe desire for Intelligence, Surveillance andReconnaissance (ISR) is not reduced in urbanoperations. The ability to detect the directionand origin of small arms fire and how best toavoid it whether than be a dedicated sniper ora small band of insurgents with rocket-pro-pelled grenade launchers, remains a sine quanon of urban warfare. For urban terrain, arange of Hostile Fire Indicators are available,using differing technology exploiting lowinfrared (IR), optical and acoustic signatures.Whatever their technology path, the commonthread to all is their ability to accurately locatefires as well as distinguish shots fired fromthe myriad sources of noise in a busy street.Raytheon BBN Technologies’ wearable

Warrior-X configuration of its Boomerangfamily detects more than 95 per cent ofsupersonic projectiles with a range of over500m. Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) EL/L-8293 gunshot detection system uses a short-wave IR muzzle flash detection array as itstechnology of choice. QinetiQ NorthAmerica’s Ears or SWATS (Shoulder-WornAcoustic Targeting System) Gunshot loca-tion system weighs 450g with aural alert andfurther information presented to the usersvia a small wrist mounted screen. Ultra's

450g Rifle Mounted Gunfire Locator ismounted on a Picatinny M1913 rail and has anominal accuracy of plus or minus fivedegrees in azimuth. Metravib's PEARL orPersonal Equipment Add-on for ReactiveLocalisation is a gun mounted system with arange of 1,500m. The company's SoldierWearable Acoustic Gunfire Detection is ableto detect both subsonic and supersonicprojectiles from 5.45mm to 20mm. The US

Army have selected Cobham’s SWATS orSoldier Worn Acoustic Targeting Systemswhich weighs 183g. Cobham have recentlyadded the PinPoint Shot Detection systemto their product line. Rheinmetall DefenceElectronics’ Shoulder-mounted shooterlocating device has also been developed fordismounted users. The self evident ‘Sense Through The

Wall’ systems, present valuable but nonethe-less important information regarding theoccupants in a room or those on the otherside of a wall such as their range from thedevice and direction they are travelling, ofself evident benefit in house clearance andsimilar operations.Israel’s Camero-Tech produce the Xaver

through wall solution. The manportableXaver 400 can penetrate a full range of mate-

[UGVs] can be insertedcovertly and reconnoitre

throughout a building,cave or sewer, evenclimbing stairs and

rubble when required

Urban Warfare:Operations in Regional

Urban operations can't be avoided or ignored. Whether the force structureand equipment inventories being acquired are to support overseas peace

support operations far from home or conventional warfighting onnational territory, the ability to conduct effective operations in the

complex terrain of towns and cities remains a challenge.

bbyy Adam Baddeley

l ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW l10

Rotary wing designs lend themselves to the urban requirements for perch and stare UAVs © AJB


Regional

O P E R A T I O N SUURR BBAA NN

CitiesFixed wing SUAVscontinue to playtheir part in urbanoperations ©AeroVironment

rials including reinforced concrete with adetection range of up to 20m using a 3-10GHz radar with a resolution of less than 5cm.The systems can easily be carried by a soldier,weighing 3.2Kg and can operate withoutrecharge for 2.5 hours. The X400 doesn't haveto be placed against a wall to operate so canbe used in stand off scenarios, potentiallyoperating covertly from a passing patrol. Thecompany also offers the 1-D solution, a handheld version powered by two AA batteries.Remote investigation deeper within a

building requires additional technology.Increasing numbers of sensors are simply

thrown in to transmit what they see fromoutside. This has seen small 'ball' sensorsbeing thrown in such as that of ODFOptronics' EyeBall R1. These have in manyways been supplemented and replaced byultra-small Unmanned Ground Vehicles(UGV), often not much heavier but which canbe inserted covertly and reconnoitrethroughout a building, cave or sewer, evenclimbing stairs and rubble when required,constantly transmitting imagery and in somecases acoustic information - listening intowhat those inside are discussing. Perhaps thebest exemplar of this is ReconRobotics withnearly 5000 of their micro-UGVs either

deployed or under contract. The com-pany is currently delivering on a 1000UGV order in a $13.9 million contract

issued by the US Army’s Rapid EquippingForce. The latest offering is the Throwbot XT,carried in a soldier's pocket and which can bedeployed in less than five seconds, simply bypulling the UGV's pin and throwing it up to36m. When it lands it establishes a link to thecontrol unit and sends imagery in all condi-tions including total darkness via the use ofan infrared optical sensor. A novel but simplefeature of the design is the SearchStick - alightweight telescopic pole over 1.8m inlength on which the XT is placed to allow theoperator to look in windows and over walls.Novatiq's SCORP UGV is another design

that can be thrown or dropped into positionbut with more payload than some of thesmaller solutions and can operate for two tosix hours with an additional onboard batterypack. Moving at 8kmph, the SCORP can trav-el up to 500m from the operator and also hasthe ability to return to the operator if thecommunications link is lost. ST ElectronicsInfo-Com Systems are offering their twowheel Tactical Throwing Sensor (TTS) andthe four wheel Forward Sensor System (FSS),

initially linked to the Singapore ArmyAdvanced Combat Man System. Other UGVsin this category include the ODF EyedriveMacroUSA Armadillo V2 which has beenacquired by Singapore; the iRobot 110FirstLook which weighs just 2.4Kg and oper-ates for six hours on a single set of batteriesand the QinetiQ Dragon Runner 10 whichhas an operational range of 650m.Rather than simply circling or hovering

overhead, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)accompanying troops in urban terrain areevolving from aircraft into highly mobileunattended ground sensors, via a 'perch andstare mode' which, as its description sug-gests enables them to fly to high ground,land and then communicate what they seeback to the Ground Control Station (GCS).This requirement is pushing urban UAVrequirements toward rotary rather thanfixed wing designs.AeroVironment's Shrike Vertical Take Off

Landing design can fly for 45-50 minutes but


AeroVironment's ShrikeVertical Take Off

Landing design can flyfor 45-50 minutes but

once on the ground cantransmit hours of video

The SearchStick for the Recon XT offers a simplebut effective enhancement © ReconRobotics


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VERSATILE MOBILE ADAPTABLE AFFORDABLEAM General’s Right Hand Drive HMMWV is now engineered for the 70-plus countries that have this driving requirement. Developed by the company’s award-winning engineering and design team, this workhorse brings with it the same unsurpassed rugged performance,reliability and affordability that has made the AM General HMMWV the Light Tactical Vehicle of choice around the world.



once on the ground can transmit hours ofvideo before flying off and returning home.

BCB International's SQ-4 Recon weighsjust 290g within which four rotors and 10ultrasonic sensors can be fitted. The systemhas been optimised for penetrating andsearching buildings and similar narrowspaces, generating video and still imagery

from its on board sensors.The Lockheed Martin Procerus

Technologies’ Indago quad rotor UAVweighs 2.3Kg and has a flight endurance ofover 40 minutes. Its 180g gimballedPerceptor payload is a dual sensor 360degree, continuous rotation electronic pan-tilt-zoom solution with a 640x480 long wave

infrared and other sensors combined with a300 mW laser illuminator. The system alsooffers target geo-location and moving targetdetection linked to a full 3D Ground ControlStation hosting the Kestrel 3 autopilot via anIP datalink.

The IAI Malat Ghost UAV is as its namesuggests designed from the outset to bestealthy with a low acoustic signature andusing its two specially adopted electricallyrotors to hover close to an objective, feedinginformation to the ground control system.

CommsConnecting disparate forces spread across acityscape poses particular problems for ter-restrial line of sight communications withmultipath distortion created by urban geogra-phy. Achieving the range is also an issue withpersonal radios operating in the same geogra-phy also having limited range. The Selex ESPRR for example can communicate throughthree storeys in a block of flats. One way for-ward is the adoption of mobile ad hoc net-works (MANET) which, rather than link twotransceivers with a single Line of Sight (LoS)which if blocked by a wall or building or is

MANET networks created by radios such as theExelis SpearNet, enable many of the radiofrequency propagation challenges posed byurban geography to be overcome © AJB

Nexter's AZUR (Action en Zone URbaine) protection kits for the Leclerc MBT is designed to betterprotect the vehicles against urban threats © AJB

too far away it routes the transmissionsthrough multiple radios and around barriersit can’t get through to reach its destination.Thales new ST@RMille M simultaneous

voice and data waveform enables three tofour hops each of roughly 1km in urban ter-rain with the release expected by the end ofthe year. ITT Exelis' SpearNet radio has

demonstrated a range of 6 km with four hopswith the radio able to support a usable datarate of 1.5Mbps.

Mobility, Protectionand FirepowerAlmost since their inception, conventionalwisdom has held that tanks and armoured

vehicles cannot and should not operate inurban areas where they are both more sus-ceptible and vulnerable to successful attackat close range. Events such as the disastrousRussian armoured assault against Grozny in1994 only served to reinforce this view.Nonetheless, the successful use of MainBattle Tanks (MBT) in Iraq from 2003 has ledthis to be revaluated with manufacturersdesigning appliqué packages to furtherenhance these capabilities in this area focus-ing on improved mobility and protection.The US developed the Tank Urban

Survival Kit or TUSK for its GeneralDynamics Land Systems M1A1/M1A2Abrams MBTs with other designs having fea-tures such as high elevation Remote WeaponStations (RWS) to engage attackers in theupper storeys of buildings. The KraussMaffei Wegmann Leopard II Peace Support

O P E R A T I O N SUURR BBAA NN

ARAVIS®

®

ARAVIS®

NexterSystems

Jordan’s King Abdullah II Design andDevelopment Bureau developed the Temsahheavy armoured personnel carrier based on theCenturion MBT, in part for urban operations © AJB

16 ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW

Operations (PSO) demonstrator vehicle istypical of designs being put forward with theenhancement package includes a dozer bladefor mobility and road clearance, additionalrounds, a RWS and a situational awarenesssystems around the vehicle.

To date, the heavy support weapons car-ried by troops have typically focused on anti-tank capabilities with a requirement to beable to defeat MBTs but this is also changingas warheads optimised to defeat buildingand enemy troops within them have requirednew rounds and warheads. Saab’s 84mmCarl Gustav has been fielded with the MT756, a multi-target tandem charge warhead -a typical approach for urban operations, around which is able to punch through a wallbefore detonating its anti-personnel war-head. For a wider range capability the 84 mmHEDP 502 (High Explosive Dual Purpose) isavailable which offers anti-structure capabil-ities as well as the ability to defeat lightarmour, the ASM 509 is designed to simplydestroy buildings. In its disposable form, the9kg AT4 CS Anti-Structure Munition can befired from a confined space at targets as closeas 20m, up to 200m.

Holes are currently being punched inwalls and buildings by weapons designed byDynamit Nobel Defence, notably with itsRGW 90 Anti-Structure design which canblast through the adobe walls typically foundin Afghanistan, penetrating a distance of80cm before its tandem charge detonatesinside. The weapon has been adopted byGermany, Israel and the UK and is deployedin Afghanistan. The company’s RGW 90 1200variant can engage targets at 1.2km whichrequires an onboard fire control system toensure accuracy at these ranges. Rafael’sSpike ATGW has the accuracy to target win-

dows from stand off positions and while wel-come, such weapons can’t always be carriedinto complex terrain by infantry squads andplatoons. Accordingly, the company is com-pleting development of the Mini-Spike whichlike its larger sibling allows course correctionduring flight with a range of 1500m with itseffect achieved via a pressure blast fragmen-tation warhead, hitting at a high angle ofattack. This is achieved at roughly half thecost of a larger Spike missile. A second devel-

opment is the Spike Short Range which canbe fired from an enclosed space.

TrainingTraining can be overlooked in a simplereview of options open to militaries seekingto advance and hone their skills in urbanoperations. The more realistic and effectivethe training environment, the more effectivethe troops will be.

Rheinmetall Defence Electronics (RDE)has developed a number of urban warfaretraining centres for customers, based aroundits Tactical Simulation software, hardwareand technical support. The company is cur-rently developing a Military Operations inUrban Terrain (MOUT) training site at AlManama in the United Arab Emirates due tobe ready in 2014. Rheinmetall also upgradingthe Russian Army's main combat trainingcentre covering live, virtual and constructivesimulation at Mulino near Moscow whichincludes urban warfare training.

RUAG Electronics are currently upgrad-ing the urban warfare capabilities ofSwitzerland’s company level training centrewith features which includes simulating theeffects of direct and indirect fire on troopsinside buildings as well as changing theinstrumentation in order to accurately mapthe effects of troops shooting into buildingsfrom outside.

ITT Exelis’ SpearNetradio has demonstrated

a range of 6 km withfour hops

New training systems are enabling complexeffects such as the impact of fire on buildings tobe effectively modelled and instrumentedduring exercises © DoD

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MMAARRIITTIIMMEE S U R V E I L L A N C E

Coastal and Littoral

SurveillanceThe ability to monitor and understand the complex interplay offishing vessels, merchant marine and other craft undergoing theirday-to-day and legal business has never been more important forgovernments in the region. To do this, systems tasked with coastaland littoral surveillance have to address a multiplicity of threatsand concerns within that environment including illegal fishing, piracyand the ability to detect terrorists infiltrating in skiffs.

bbyy Adam Baddeley

DCNS’ Gowind class is illustrativeof the increasingly capable OPVdesigns being adopted forpatrolling EEZs © DCNS



This places an emphasis onflexibility, ease of use for systemsoften operated by police andparamilitary organisations andaffordability across a range of

platform and sensor types.

ShipsMaintaining a presence at sea has been thetraditional means of securing the littoralusing a range of Offshore Patrol Vessels(OPV) and smaller craft although thedemands of littoral surveillance and the dis-tances required to secure and patrol offshoreresources has seen the size and complexity ofvessels increase in recent years.

China’s maritime claims have becomevery expansive of late with the countryclaiming great swathes of the South ChinaSea with a building programme in place tosupport those efforts. The China MarineSurveillance (CMS) agency brought two new3000 ton patrol vessels into service in earlyNovember. The Haijian 137 is currently oper-ating in the East China Sea with its Haijian110 sister ship in the Yellow Sea. The largestship built for the CMS is the 128.6m 5,418-tonHaixun01 which has an unrefueled range of10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km). Until nowthe only large vessels in CMS service havebeen only retired Peoples Liberation ArmyNavy (PLAN) vessels have been transferredto the CMS. One of the most recent is thedemilitarised Luda Type 051 class destroyerthe Nanjing (131) which retired from PLANservice in September. The CMS have 36 oceangoing vessels currently under construction.

China is not the only country building upits littoral capabilities. The Indian CoastGuard (ICG) continues to balloon. Four oftwelve Griffon Hoverworks air cushion vehi-cles are in service at various locations aroundthe country including the Sunderbans tidalmangrove forest. Twenty new Fast PatrolVessels being built at Cochin Shipyard Ltdfor the ICG, are equipped with NorthropGrumman's Sperry Marine VisionMaster,Total Watch systems, reflecting the complex-ity of India's requirements. Another class ofCoast Guard vessels is the 50m, 300 tonneInshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) which has a

1500nm range and a maximum speed of34kts with a total of eight IPVs ordered fromGarden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers.

The Philippines Coast Guard currently hasnine operational ships. It is acquiring a single82m high endurance ship and four 24m patrolboats from France in a €90 million ($116 mil-lion) due to be delivered in 2014 with theshipyard thought to be CMN. The PhilippinesCoast Guard have indicated that they expectto also take delivery of ten 40m patrol boatsfrom Japan in the second half of 2013.

Vietnam is also building up its naval and

The China MarineSurveillance agency

brought two new3000 ton patrol vessels

into service inearly November

S U R V E I L L A N C EMMAARRIITTIIMMEE

The reason for inspecting avessel at sea can be variedbut relies to a large extentof ISR system’s ability totrack them © DoD

maritime forces with the Vietnam MarinePolice Force recently launching a 2400 tonne,90M Damen 9014 design Offshore PatrolVessel with the ship entering sea trials readyfor entry into service in early 2013.

Solutions developed out side the regionhave often found a role there. Littoralpatrol designs are regularly being developed,far more regularly than large ocean goingwarships.

Finland recently chose Marine Alutech todevelop the Watercat M18 for inshore rolesfor example landing troops to deal withpirates. Finland is taking delivery of twelvein a $41 million deal from 2014 to 2016.

The US Coast Guard has been the lead fora number of designs. Its latest is theOffshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) requirementdesigned to replace the ageing MediumEndurance Cutters with a requirement for11 OPCs with as many as 25 ultimatelyrequired with Bath Iron Works, Bollinger,Huntingdon Ingalls, Marinette Marine,

Nassco, Vigor Shipyards and VT HalterMarine competing for the contract.

France's Direction générale de l'armement(DGA) has recently begun the process toreplace its P400 Large Patrol Craft built byCMN in the 1980s. The new programme orBatiment Multi Mission (B2M) will initially

see three B2Ms deployed in around theCaribbean waters of French Guyana inaround 2014 and tasked with protecting thespace centre at Korou and oil fields recentlydiscovered in the area. Next, larger B2Ms willbe deployed at French territory in the Pacific

and Indian Oceans. Another French OPVwith a variety of roles is the DCNS Gowindclass, a design which can also support com-bat roles having been chosen for the six sec-ond-generation patrol vessels for the RoyalMalaysian Navy.

Sensors and networksA platform at sea is in many ways an optimalsolution but not one that provides persistentsurveillance, limited by the ship's enduranceand the range of its sensors that relativelysmall platforms can carry. Integrated coastaland littoral surveillance systems matched tocommand and control (C2) hubs in contrast,offer a persistent fixed presence however,these surveillance systems don't have it easywith the environment making target discrim-ination and detection difficult in heavy rain,high-sea state conditions and other clutterassociated with the region.

The biggest coastal surveillance pro-gramme in the region is India’s Coastal


The biggest coastalsurveillance programme

in the region is India'sCoastal Surveillance

Network, operated bythe Indian Coast Guard

Known as the HC-144A Ocean Sentry in USCoast Guard service, the fourteenth AirbusMilitary CN235 MPA aircraft was deliveredto them in November with a total of 36aircraft required © Airbus Military



Surveillance Network, operated by theIndian Coast Guard with 46 surveillance sta-tions; 36 locations on the mainland coast, sixlocations in the Lakshadweep and MinicoyIslands and four in the Andaman andNicobar Islands, all based on co-located light-houses. Each installation is designed to coveran area of 25 nautical miles around the siteusing radar and EO/IR sensors and focusedon the area of high sensitivity and traffic den-

sity. They are also able to interrogate class 'A'and 'B' Automatic Identification System(AIS) transponders sourced from Saab andElcome Marine Services in a $22 million dealsigned in November 2010. These were rolledout in the first stage by Bharat ElectronicsLtd in a Rs 601.75 crore programme which isdue to complete in March. The next stagewill see existing stations backfilled withadditional surveillance equipment and afurther 38 coastal surveillance radar pluseight Mobile Surveillance Systems added ina Rs 1,000 crore deal.In addition to terrestrial sensors, countries

can also enlist the support of space basedassets. Astrium launched its OceanWay solu-tion in October which combines satellite-based AIS and GO-3S for video from spacevia an Earth-observation satellite system gen-erating imagery at a rate of 25 images per sec-ond. Another Astrium effort has been thelaunch last year of the Astrium SurreySatellite Technology Limited exactView-1satellite which also covers AIS and wasdeveloped and launched for customers;COM DEV International Ltd and HISDESATServicios Estratégicos S.A.The Brunei National Coastal Surveillance

The Do 228 built by HAL is the mainstay ofthe Indian Coast Guard's coastal surveillancefleet © AJB

USVs such as Rafael'sProtector are playing agrowing role in securityroles in ports and closeto shore © Rafael


System (NCSS), first formed in February 2010is also undergoing a new initiative to boostcapabilities after an initial period of develop-ment which focused on integrating existingorganisations and capabilities.

Other AIS efforts include NorthropGrumman Information Systems who com-pleted delivery of the USCG led NationwideAIS contract worth $12 billion ensuring AIScoverage across the US mainland and itsoverseas territories.

ESRI UK has supplied the EuropeanUnion Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) OperationHeadquarters tasked with the EU NavalForce’s Mission Network in support ofCounter-Piracy operations around the Hornof Africa. The company have delivered theRecognised Maritime Picture based on itsgeographic information system softwareincluding ArcGIS for Server version 2.5 witha server on each ship and ArcGIS Viewer forFlex on board each ship with satcom basedupdates between ships.

Indra has delivered a coastal surveillance

system for use on Spain's coast and has alsobeen contracted to supply a solution forHong Kong and the islands under its admin-istration. It is also leading the EuropeanUnion's Perseus project to develop a singleintegrated system from multiple nationalsurveillance systems.

Kylmar's CT1600 Coastal SurveillanceSystem is in service with Egypt, which is thesystem’s largest customer. The CT1600 con-sists of a thermal and day system with a laserrange finder which can deliver an accurateposition of a ship within just 5m at a range of20km. Egypt has developed a network ofthese systems along its Red Sea coast. One ele-ment of the Indian coastal surveillance systemis the 46 ARGC-2400 cameras electro-opticcameras sourced from Canada's ObzervTechnologies which are used to classify andidentify targets.

Sweden has tasked ITT Exelis with sur-veillance of its coastline with its SABER 2020,integrated coastal based around the LCR-2020 radar with all-weather coverage of airtargets with a range of electronic counter-countermeasures. Indonesian firm Radar andCommunications Systems have developed anew shelter and vehicle mounted 96kmrange, S-band LPI Portable Coastal Radar.

Development is due to complete in 2013.Indonesia is already being protected byKelvin Hughes S-Band SharpEye solid stateradar sensors in Maluku province and Papuaprovince, working with local firms. GEMElettronica plan to release a new X-bandthree-dimensional naval surveillance radarin 2013, for navigation and general surveil-lance with a view for integration on offshorepatrol vessels of about 500 tonnes.

Raytheon have developed a number ofcoastal and maritime surveillance radars. Itworked with Canada on the Next GenerationHigh Frequency Surface Wave Radar(HFSWR) Technology DemonstrationProgrammes, designed to cover the country's200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone.The company's SeaVue eXpanded MissionCapability was ordered byMorocco in 2011 forcoastal surveillance and is deployed on aircraftwith users in the region including Australia,Japan, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand. TheSPEXER 2000 radar, one of Cassidian's latestdevelopment is an Active ElectronicallyScanning Array (AESA) design with an instru-mented range of 21.6 NM (40 km) coupledwith high Doppler and velocity resolution.

Elbit Security Systems is currently provid-ing the surveillance systems for the port of

Small inshore craft with an amphibious andan offensive capability are being employedin military, counter-terrorist and counter-piracyroles © Saab

S U R V E I L L A N C EMMAARRIITTIIMMEE



Haifa including typical maritime traffic aswell as the chemical terminal. The systemsfuses information from variety of perimeterand maritime sources in a central C2 hub. InAsia, the company has announced an Asiancontract for maritime surveillance for theusing Micro CoMPASS and DCoMPASS forfixed, airborne and seaborne platforms in a$20 million deal.Bulgaria tapped Atlas Elektronik in 2011

to provide an integrated coastal surveillancesystems covering the country's 350km ofcoastline and run by the Border Police. Thispackage comprised a surface radar, signalprocessing, multi-sensor tracking, includingAIS and CCTV, communications, systemmanagement and recording & replay basedusing SEATRACK. The system is comprisestwelve remote sites each with radar, AIStransponders, daylight and IR-Cameras andweather stations supplemented by twomobile ground units and twelve BorderPolice Boats each with its own ISR package.

Airborne platformsMaritime and land based surveillance andpatrol platforms are enhanced by airborne

platforms with the requirements eschewinglarge highly capable platforms such as the P-3 Orion and instead preferring smaller,lighter and more affordable platforms inwhich still highly capable sensor and missionsystems can still be integrated.The first of six Viking Air DHC-6 Twin

Otter Series 400 maritime surveillance aircraft

have been delivered to Vietnam for coastalsurveillance via Canada's Pacific Sky AviationIn Australia, Cobham is supplying

Customs and Border Protection Servicewith the Sentinel aerial maritime surveil-lance programme, which has been extendedto 2021. Beginning in 1995 the contract is aservice contract covering 15000 flight hours

per year which equates to roughly 2500mission using Bombardier Dash 8 maritimepatrol aircraft.Indra’s latest airborne coastal surveillance

systems is the Maritime Light SurveillanceSystem (MLSS) launched at Farnborough.based on the P2006T MRI, a high wing lighttwin-engined, aircraft it has been equippedwith the Selex Galileo Seaspray 5000E AESAsurveillance radar and Indra’s ISIS missionsystem and is designed for use at up to150nm from the coast.The HC-144A Ocean Sentry, based on the

Airbus Military CN235, is the US CoastGuard solution for airborne surveillance. Thefourteenth aircraft has recently been takendelivery of, with a final requirement for 36aircraft having been established.India’s Coast Guard operates the Do-228

maritime patrol aircraft with well over100 delivered to date. Produced by theTransport Aircraft Division of Hindustan.Aeronautics Limited, it is tasked with mar-itime surveillance as its primary role but canalso be re-roled to troop transport, air-drop,search-and-rescue, casualty evacuation andcargo missions.

The first of sixViking Air DHC-6 Twin

Otter Series 400maritime surveillance

aircraft have beendelivered to Vietnam

for coastal surveillance

Navies, Coast Guards andLaw Enforcement areacquiring large number ofRIBs for inshore roles © Zodiac


RREEGGIIOONNAALL M I L I T A R Y

Alooming general election whichmust be held by April 2013 hasgenerally led to the govern-ment giving little priority tomilitary procurement under

the 10th Malaysia Plan of 2011-2015 whichgoverns all Malaysian government spendingfor that timeframe. It should however benoted that the Malaysian government didinitiate two major procurement programmesin 2010; the development and order toDeftech of Malaysian for 257 indigenouslyproduced AV8 8x8 AFVs and the construc-tion of six Second Generation Patrol Vesselsto be built locally by Boustead NavalShipyards with the assistance of France’sDCNS. Since then no major procurementprogramme has been initiated save for thesigning in December 2011 of an MYR294 mil-lion ($97.3 million) contract for the construc-tion of two training ships for the RoyalMalaysian Navy (RMN) by Malaysia’s NGVTech which would be built with the assis-tance of South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding& Marine Engineering (DSME).Other than that no major procurement

has occurred since, despite an intense mar-keting effort by aviation companies for a

MalaysianDefenceModernisation

In contrast to the recent forcedevelopments and procurement programmes

of its neighbours, developments for theMalaysian Armed Forces has been

fairly limited owing to the country’spolitical situation.

bbyy Dzirhan Mahadzir


A Royal Malaysian Navy Fennechelicopter. The RMN is seeking 6-12 Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters to enhanceits capabilities © Dzirhan Mahadzir

M I L I T A R YRREEGGIIOONNAALL

requirement of 18 multi-role combat aircraftto replace the Royal Malaysian Navy's(RMAF’s) MiG-29 fleet, which is scheduledto be phased out by 2015. However, theMalaysian government has yet to indicatewhen a decision will be made on that pro-gramme save to only say that it will be madeafter the General Election. The issue ofMalaysian defence developments post-Election is a conundrum by itself, while theruling National Front coalition is expectedto win and remain in power, there doesexists the possibility that the oppositionPeople’s Alliance could win by a slim mar-gin. Should they do so, it is an open ques-tion as to how defence developments inMalaysia will proceed as the People’sAlliance has yet to issue any official state-ment as to their plans in regards to defence.Rhetorically, the People’s Alliance has madestatements stating that they considerdefence spending a wasteful expenditureand in one year, proposed that the existingannual defence budget be cut by 90 percent.How much they would actually do so inpractice should they gain power is open toquestion. Even with the ruling NationalFront retaining power, it is also open to

question as to whether any defence pro-gramme or requirement will proceed imme-diately given the Malaysian government’slack of emphasis on such. For example, theRoyal Malaysian Navy has had a require-ment for a multi-purpose support ship since2008 and even the loss to a ship fire in 2009of the RMN’s sole amphibious capabilityship, the Newport class LST KD SriInderapura, failed to spur any prioritytowards this requirement by the Malaysiangovernment. RMN Chief Admiral Tan SriAziz Jaafar said in December last year thathe expected acquisition of the MPSS to onlytake place in the 11th Malaysia Plan of 2016-2020. Still there remains open the possibilitythat the government may approve someprogrammes post elections though thiswould depend on the circumstances andfinances involved.

ArmyThe Army’s key current ongoing programmeis the indigenous AV-8 AFV to be built byMalaysia’s Deftech and based upon theTurkish FNSS PARS AFV. Deftech is part-nered with a number of foreign companies inthis programme including Britain’s BAE,

Turkey’s FNSS, France’s Thales and SouthAfrica’s Denel among others. 257 vehicles intwelve variants are to be produced with thebasic prototype currently under develop-ment and scheduled for a sixth month trial inMalaysia by March 2013 with full productionexpected to begin in 2013 and completed in2018. The 257 vehicles are expected to be aninitial batch with the Army expected to orderadditional vehicles down the line. Potentiallydown the line, the Army plans to upgrade itstactical 4x4s and its truck fleet. In the case oftactical 4x4s, though no formal tenders havebeen called, the Malaysian Army’s table oforganisation for the Standard InfantryBattalion calls for at least 15 vehicles per bat-talion to act as weapons platforms/carriersfor the battalion’s support weapons, with theMalaysian Army keen to have its over 30infantry battalions to be equipped as such, apotential order of over 500 vehicles couldemerge in the future should funding beapproved. In regard to military trucks, whilethe Malaysian Army uses the Deftech sup-plied Handalan series of three tonne generalservice trucks for much of its requirements,the Army is now planning to establish a sec-ond line fleet of trucks to supplement the

27 l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l

general service trucks. This fleet would becomprised of trucks capable of carrying morethan three tonnes of cargo in rear echelonareas. Again funding has yet to be approvedor formalised for this.

Other programmes also on the Army’sdevelopment plans but not formalised orbudget approved for include the requirement

for a medium range air defence capability, selfpropelled howitzers, a tactical transport heli-copter squadron and an attack helicoptersquadron. Both the attack helicopter squadronand the tactical transport helicopter squadronare part of the Army’s 2010 Plus 10 overalldevelopment plan which calls for the ArmyAir Corps to have a squadron each for the

light observation, tactical transport and attackrole. Currently only the light observation heli-copter squadron, equipped with elevenAgusta Westland A109s is in existence. Theattack helicopter squadron appears to be a pri-ority for the Army, as the lack of transport hel-icopters can be made up through co-operationwith the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

NavyThe Royal Malaysian Navy’s key programmeis the six ship Second Generation PatrolVessel – Littoral Combat Ship (SGPV-LCS).The SGPV-LCS are to be the follow-on to thesix Kedah class Next Generation PatrolVessels (NGPV) built by Boustead NavalShipyard (BNS) though the SGPV-LCS willbe bigger and more heavily armed comparedto the Kedah class. Despite the LCS name, theSGPV-LCS is a conventional design hullbased on DCNS’ Gowind design, DCNS beingselected as the foreign partner to work withBNS on the SGPV-LCS programme. The shipis to have an overall length of 107m, a full loadof 2750 tons, a 106 personnel crew, maximumspeed of 28 knots with a cruising speed of 16knots, range of the ship expected to be5000nm, with an endurance of 21 days. Theweapon systems of the SGPV-LCS have been a

The Royal Malaysian Navy’s newest training platform, the ship Gagah Samudera, during itslaunch ceremony in December. Two ships are being built by Malaysia’s NGV Tech in collaborationwith South Korea’s DSME © Dzirhan Mahadzir

Royal Malaysian Air Force MiG-29, seenhere painted in display colours, Malaysia iscurrently evaluating a replacement MRCA for it© Dzirhan Mahadzir



source of continuing disagreement betweenthe RMN and BNS with the RMN insistingthat the ships be outfitted with their exactchoice while BNS have pressed for systems oftheir choice in order to ensure that integrationof the ship systems go smoothly and that costsin building the ships be kept down. At thetime of writing, no decision has been madeyet as to the primary weapon systems for theship. The RMN is said to prefer the RaytheonESSM for the surface to air missile with theKongsberg Defence & Aerospace NavalStrike Missile for the surface to surface mis-sile while BNS have been said to have recom-mended the Mica system for the SGPV-LCS’SAM and the MBDA’s Exocet as its SSM. Themain gun is expected to be the BAE BoforsMk3 57mm, which BNS’s parent company,Boustead Heavy Industry Corporation hasan existing joint venture partnership knownas BHIC Bofors Asia. The first ship is sched-uled to be delivered in 2017 with subsequentships delivered every six months thereafter.

All will be built at the BNS facilities inLumut. However with this ship class only tobe delivered beginning from 2017, it is clearthat the RMN will face a capability gap tillthen and likely a situation of concern givingthe tensions surrounding the Spratly Islands,which Malaysia claims and where the RMNmaintains a presence on five islands andreefs. There has been moves by the US tooffer surplus Perry class frigates beingdecommissioned from the US Navy thoughlittle has emerged from this partly as anysuch acceptance would require fundingapproval from the Malaysian government,which has appeared to have put any defence

decision involving funding on hiatus untilafter the election.

The first of the two locally manufacturedtraining ships ordered in 2011 was launchedon 14th December and RMN Chief AdmiralTan Sri Aziz Jaafar has called additional twoships to be built and outfitted as combatships. In his speech during the launch of the75.9m training ship ‘Gagah Samudera’, theRMNChief urged the Malaysian governmentto consider the purchase of two additionalhulls during the timeframe of the 11thMalaysia Plan of 2016-2020 as replacementsfor the current eight aging Handalan andPerdana class Fast Attack Crafts whichentered service in the 1970s. The secondtraining ship is scheduled to be launched in


Despite the LCSname, the SGPV-LCS is

a conventional designhull based on DCNS’

Gowind design

A Malaysian Army VAMTAC 4 x 4, MalaysianArmy plans call for each infantry battalion to beequipped with 15 tactical 4 x4s 1 to act asweapons platforms/carriers for the battalion’ssupport weapons © Dzirhan Mahadzir


January 2013 with the Gagah Samuderascheduled to be commissioned and enteringservice in 2013 while the second ship willenter service in July 2014.As stated earlier, the purchase of the

Multi-Purpose Support Ship is unlikely tocommence until the 11th Malaysia Plan of2016-2020, possibly also likely to take place inthat timeframe, though the RMN would liketo have it commence as soon as possible, isthe purchase of at least 6-12 anti-submarinewarfare helicopters. The US has been heavilypromoting the MH-60R Seahawk for thisrequirement.

Royal Malaysian Air ForceThe much talked RMAF programme is theMulti-Role Combat Aircraft replacement forthe MiG-29 fleet, though the RMAF has indi-cated that it would like to have the aircraftdelivered by 2015 to coincide with the phas-ing out of the MiG-29 though such a datewould now be impossible to achieved giventhat the manufacturers of the aircraft in con-

tention have all stated a 28-36 month deliverydate after signing of contract. As such thiscalls into question the Malaysian govern-ment’s sense of urgency on the programme,given that the timeframe to sign the contractin order to meet the RMAF date of when theywould like the aircraft to be delivered has

slipped by and it is possible that contrary toexpectations, that a deal for up to 18 aircraftmay not be signed in 2013 following the elec-tions. The aircraft in contention are the BoeingSuperhornet, Dassault Rafale, EurofighterTyphoon (marketed for BAE) and SaabGripen. Long term plans for the RMAF callfor the RMAF to have a force posture of sixfront line MRCA squadrons. Currently theRMAF has two MRCA squadrons, No. 11


The Royal Malaysian Air Force’s C-130 fleet is to undergo a modernization of its avionics alongwith installation of self-protection systems © Dzirhan Mahadzir


A wall image at Malaysia’s Deftech's booth atthe Defence Services Asia 2012 exhibition showsthe AV-8 8x8 AFV that it will produce for theMalaysian Army © Dzirhan Mahadzir

with the Su-30MKMs and No. 18 with theF/A-18 Hornet though No 18 is only a halfsquadron with Malaysia only having eightHornets in its inventory. The RMAF also hasa number of other procurement and upgraderequirements amongst them the procurementof Airborne Early Warning and Command(AEW&C) aircraft, additional PC-7 Mk IItrainers, the construction of support facilitiesfor the A400M transports scheduled to enterservice in 2015, the upgrade of the BAEHawks currently in RMAF service, upgradesof the RMAF’s C-130 fleet and either theobtainment of additional Eurocopter EC-725helicopters or a service life extension pro-gramme for part of the RMAF’s S-61 ‘Nuri’helicopter fleet. However some of these pro-grammes, notably the AEW&C aircraft, addi-tional PC-7 trainers and upgrades to the BAEHawks are unlikely to proceed anytime soondue to the lack of funding, particularly for theAEW&C aircraft in which Saab has been mar-keting its Erieye system and NorthropGrumman the E-2D Hawkeye. The RMAF is

looking at an operational requirement foreight AEW&C aircraft though the costs ofsuch is likely to ensure that a lesser number, ifany, will be purchased. Both the C-130 fleetupgrade and the S-61 helicopters SLEP havebeen allocated for but the government has yetto give approval for the RMAF to proceed.Some 15 S-61 helicopters are to undergo theplanned SLEP while the C-130 upgradeswould involve the upgrading of its avionicsto meet international civil aviation standardsand the installation of self-protection systems.

Two of the twelve EC725s ordered by theRMAF were delivered on 3rd December.Originally only one EC725 was to be deliv-ered but the second one was completedahead of schedule. A third will be deliveredby March 2013 and the current deliveryschedule calls for delivery of all 12 helicop-ters to be completed by January 2014. TheRMAF would like to obtain another twelveEC725s and also obtain funding to fullyequip the current twelve with self protectionsystems and additional specialized equip-ment but no indication has been given by theMalaysian government as to these require-ments. The RMAF expects to take deliveriesof its four A400Ms in 2015-2016 and is expect-ed to soon issue a tender for the constructionof facilities at RMAF Subang to house theA400Ms which will be stationed there.

l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l 31

The RMAF is lookingat an operational

requirement for eightAEW&C aircraft though

the costs of such islikely to ensure that alesser number, if any,

will be purchased

The RMAF has begun taking deliveries of 12Eurocopter EC725s. Pictured is one of thefirst two helicopters delivered in December 2012© Dzirhan Mahadzir


Eachmaritime state faces a task ofproviding a securemaritime surveil-lance within its littoral area. It includes a

protection of sea borders, prevention of militarythreats, interdiction of illegal production ofbioresources in the exclusive economic zone,prevention of smuggling and illicit trafficking indrugs, combat-ing piracy.

Nowadays one of themost efficient and costeffective solution to provide a reliable coastalcontrol and surveillance is to develop andemploy integrated automated systems withsurveillance, communication and data handlingcapabili-ties. The development of suchsystems is based on a state-of-the-artphilosophy of integration and commonality.

To that end, the Russia’s main specialexporter of armaments ‘Rosoboron-export’offers to its would-be customers the state-of-the-art hardware integrated into a

comprehensive coastal surveillance, securityand defence system. Such hardwarecomprises the surveillancemeans of theintegrated radioelectronic posts whichmight bedeployed along the coast and interlinked by asingle network. Depending on the tasks, theposts are equipped with the specialized ormultipur-pose coastal radars. Suchmilitaryradars capable of operating under the adverseelectronic countermeasures include theMR-10M1E upgraded radar and its Mys-M1Emobile version, the Positive-ME three-dimensional radar, the Fregat-M2E and thePodberezovik-ET1 radars. These high-energyradars are capable to detect enemy ships atdistances of up to 250 km from the shore andenemy helicopters and aircraft at ranges of300-400 km. The radars can be integrated intoregional surveillance systems covering thewater areas of more than 500 nautical miles

wide andmore than 200miles from the coast.One of the key advantages of such posts is

their all-round surveillance capability providing afull maritime picturewithin the assigned area ofresponsibility 24 hours a day and in anyweatherand season conditions. The information about alldetected threatening objects, weather andmarine environment is transferred to a commondata base ofmaritime situation. This informationis then finally processed in real-timemode,added by the information received from theidentification and safety navigation systems,reports from theCoastGuardmotorboats andships. The informationmay be used by anyagency concerned –Navy,Air Defence,AirTraffic Control systems, bioresources protectionauthorities, quarantine, environmental and otherservices.Any customer not having its ownsurveillance systemmay enjoy this information.

The system’s capabilities to detect ships andaircraft can be significantly improved by usingthe Podsolnukh-E over-the-horizon surface-wave radar. The radar is capable of detectingships and aircraft at ranges of up to 450 km,fixing their positions and trackingmotionvariables within the water areas of more than25000 squaremiles. This radar proved not onlyits efficiency but also its cost-effectiveness. It

costs significantly less than twelve patrolmotorboats, two-three reconnaissance aircraftand several helicopters as well as 50-80 UAVscapable of performing the similar tasks withinthe same area.According to the experts, onlytwo Podsolnukh-E surface-wave radars cankeep under full control the Strait of Malacca, oneof the crucial navigation routes of the world. Tenradars can pro-vide a secure surveillance overthe wholeMalaysian coast stretched for morethan 4.500 km.

The Podsolnukh-E radar can be effectivelyemployed both to detect surface ships at longdistances, including over the horizon, and toserve as a target desig-nator for the coastalanti-ship missile systems. TheMonolit-Bmobile active-passive radioelectronic systemscan also be used for that purposes. Theirpassive channel serves to search for thecombat ship radars at ranges of up to 450 km;

COASTALSURVEILLANCEWITHOUT BLACKHOLES ANDBLANK SPOTS

Komor-1

Fregat

the active channel – to detect surface targets ata distance of up to 50 km.

If underwater threat exists, the coastalsurveillance, security and defence systemmaybeequippedwith such anti-submarinesurveillancemeans as theMGK-608Estaticsonar system, theAmga-MEpositioning active-passive radarswith radio buoys, theKomormagnetoelectric system.The combination ofthese assets provides for a secure detection ofeven low-noise submarines.

The counter underwater warfaresurveillance subsystem is crucial for thesecurity of the seaports, oil-and-gas productionfacilities (terminals, pipelines, etc). Itscentrepiece is the Komor-1 magnetic sonarsystemwhich provides for the all-rounddetection of fighting underwater swimmers.The system also includes theAtlanticamillimetre-wave radar and the Sphera day andnight CCTV system.

The automated collection, processing andcommunication of information to theNavy andCoastGuard aswell as the control over thesestructures at different levels are carried out fromthe 83t611-E and 83t170-E coastalmobileoperation centres. TheOntomap intelligent

geoinformation programme system serves as aninformation basis for the centres. This systemnot only processes the information receivedfrom the surveillance systems and displayssituation on the dynamic electronicmaps butalso allows for forecasting the actions of surfaceand under-water assets; timely determinesthreats and provides advice on rapid andaccurate targeting of the naval hunter groups.

The integrated systemoffered by‘Rosoboronexport’ boasts such advanta-ges as the openness of the system’sarchitecture, simplicity of software andhardware solutions, cost-effectiveness.The system’s capabilities and compositioncan be upgraded gradually bymeans ofinstalling newhardware,modernisation of theexisting equipment aswell as integrationwithother Russian orforeign as-sets thatare already in thecustomer’s inventory.Initially it is proposed toestab-lish local and regionalsituation surveillance

systems. Theymay be deployed in the areas ofresponsibility of naval bases, security areas ofthe oil-and-gas infra-structure facilities andalong other crucial sites.

Later these regional systems can bestructurally and technically integrated into anation-wide situation centre. The state-of-the-artmilitary and civilian in-formation technologiesused in the development and integration of thesystemsmake them cost-effective and provide asignificant tamper protection.

In recent years Russia has experiencedcompetition in the field of develop-ing theintegrated control systems. But the hardware ofsomemanufacturers evi-dently underperformsthe Russian equipment as well as the hardwareof the oth-ers with equal characteristics is muchmore expensive. This has already been notedbymany our target customers which on theirown initiative started active negotiationswith ‘Rosoboronexport’ desiring to developnational surveillance and control systems ontheir territories.

TheRussia’s experience of operating thecoastal integrated surveillance and controlsystems proves that a comprehensive approachto the information support of all maritimeactivities improves their effectiveness by 30 percent. The configuration of the integrated systemcan be adjusted in accordancewith the purpose,specific tasks and components as per thecustomer’s desire – be it a lo-cal security systemof an oil platform or a nation-wide jointmaritimesurveillance and control system.

Nowadays ‘Rosoboronexport’ pursues anactive marketing policy based on the analysisof interests and requirements of our potentialcustomers throughout the whole life cycle of

the delivered weaponry andequipment. We improve the qualityof after-sale service, level ofexpertise of the experts, expand

export of spare parts, and createmaintenance infrastructure as well aseducation and train-ing facilities on theterritory of our importers. We introducea flexible pricing policy well

considering a financialstanding of ourpartners and proposediverse methods ofpayment with dueaccount of financialand economiccapacities of theimporters.

AMR Marketing Promotion

Podberiozovik-ET1

Podsolnukh-E

Mys M1E

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


In contrast, while a single precisionround can engage a point target whilelimiting the risk of damage to nearbybuildings and killing or injuring non-combatants and friendly forces, the

same destructive effect against the targetwould require many more 'dumb' rounds,requiring a greater logistics trail andincreasing the chances of unintended dam-age to nearby structures and significantlyincreases the threat of civilian casualties. Inthis context, militaries have to considertrade-offs between the financial cost ofdeploying indirect fire versus the strategiccost of collateral damage.

Delivering precision is not just a functionof the round, new designs are improving theinherent accuracy of the gun itself withonboard navigation systems and other tech-nologies ensuring that systems can engage atthe quick halt, fire the minimum of roundsrequired and then rapidly move away.

PrecisionIndirectEngagement:RegionalFires and EffectsPrecision indirect fires are both costly andcost-efficient. The paradox lies in the fact thatthe unit cost of complex guidance systemswhether they be inertial, GPS based or laserguided for terminal phase engagement,embedded in each shell, have to survive thehigh G-environment of being fired from a barrelor other launch system, are high in comparisonto a standard 'dumb' round.

bbyy Adam Baddeley

U.S. Marines fire an M982 Excalibur round from an M777 155 mm howitzer during a fire supportmission at Fire Base Fiddlers Green, Helmand province, Afghanistan © DoD


MortarsThe mortar has traditionally been the domainof the infantry although here to, the advent ofprecision engagement has also affected bothdismounted systems as well as those inte-grated on mobile platforms.

A key system in the light mortar domainis the new US M224A1 mortar which wasdelivered to troops in 2012 which reduces theweight of the M224 by just over 4Kg by theutilisation of steel for new alloys with furthermeasures added to ensure improved accura-cy as well as a lighter weight.

The Israel Defence Force have acquiredthe 120mmmortar Cardom or Keshet 120mmmortar system, based on the M113 Zeldawith integrated artillery systems fire control,navigation, automatic aiming and propulsionsystems. US Army Stryker formations alsooperate the same system. The company's lat-est smooth bore Spear design can operate atup to 15 rounds per minute with the same

30m CEP as previous versions of Cardomand can be brought into action in under aminute after the vehicle stops and can moveagain after firing in the same time.

Spain has acquired the Cardom in its81mm variant in an $8.5 million deal for sixsystems which saw it integrated on 4x4 VAM-TAC via local supplier Urovesa. The mortarwas deployed with the country's I/3rdToldeo Light Infantry Battalion in Darr-e-bum in Afghanistan's Baghdis province. Aconventional mortar has to be aimed by handwhich can take up to threeminutes. However,

Spanish troops reported that with Cardom ittakes just fifteen seconds from the point atwhich the operator inputs the co-ordinates ofthe target, to the mortar automatically tra-versing to its target, aiming accurately andfiring. Up to 12 rounds are able to be fired aminute with a range of 6.9km.

ATK, working with General DynamicsOrdnance and Tactical Systems are supply-ing the rifled 120mm mortar based DeliverPrecision Extended Range Munition to theUS Marine Corps. ATK are currently devel-oping precision guidance fuze technologywhich has already been operational provenon other systems such as the PrecisionGuidance Kit for the US Army XM1156155mm artillery projectiles and XM395120mm mortar cartridges. The 120mm mor-tars are part of the Marine’s air mobile

Indonesia is acquiring37 of Nexter’s

CAESAR (CAmionEquipé d'un Systèmed'ARtillerie) 155 mm

self-propelled howitzers

The M224 60mm mortar has seen a reduction inweight of 4Kg to create the new M224A1 © DoD

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

Expeditionary Fire Support System whichhas range of 16-20km.Saab recently received further orders for

both its 81mm and MAPAM (Mortar AntiPersonnel Anti Material) 60mm ER (extendedrange) mortar rounds.

ArtilleryArtillery remain’s the dominant source ofindirect fire with little if any evidence to indi-cate that this will change, based on militaryprocurement priorities.To meet Indian requirements, Tata

Power's Strategic Electronics Division hasdeveloped the Mounted Gun System, a155/52 mm howitzer based on a Tata 8x8truck with a range of 40km and is able to firea six round burst in three minutes. India hasa requirement for 814 such weapons worthRs 8500 crore. This makes up the single

biggest acquisition of new long rangeartillery system in India's existing require-ments for over 2200 system across five differ-ent programmes.India has also opted to upgrade further

elements of its artillery notably the M-46130mm to 155 mm/45 calibre with Tata,Larsen & Toubro, and Bharat Forge all report-ed to be in the running to be the productionpartners, India has a requirement to upgrade400 of the type with Elbit Systems Soltamhaving undertaken a similar upgrade to 180of the guns at the start of last decade, workingwith the Ordnance Factory Board. The updat-ed FH-77B howitzers of which India acquired410 from AB Bofors in 1987 were delivered tothe test range to test its new 40km range. Thisis the final hurdle before delivering to theArmy for final testing at the Pokharan range.Another serial upgrader of artillery is the

US with its Paladin M109A6 with BAESystems contracted on the engineering andmanufacturing development of the PaladinIntegrated Management upgrade following a$313 million award last year and which isdue to complete in 2015. There are nochanges to the gun which remains a 155/39design but in terms of the chassis there is fargreater commonality between the Bradleyand the Paladin such as common CumminsV903 diesel engine. A Limited User Test ofthe PIM took place at the end of 2012.

36


BAE Systems is leading the Paladin IntegratedManagement upgrade following a $313 millionaward last year and which is due to complete in2015 © DoD

The Iveco 155/39 mm UltraLight Weight Self-PropelledWheeled Howitzer which isbased on the 120mm Centauro8x8 tank destroyer © AJB


Australia's plans for a new self propelledgun were ditched in May as part of aresponse to the Australian DefenceWhitepaper. Australia has already commit-ted to fielding four batteries of M777A2s with35 systems being acquired under a awardannounced in October 2009. The Australianresponse was to expand the acquisitionadding a further 19 howitzers with an orderfor $51 million.

Norinco has recently added the self pro-pelled PLZ52, to its indirect fire offering, a 52calibre solution to add to its PZL45 offering.

Indonesia is acquiring 37 of Nexter's CAE-SAR (CAmion Equipé d'un Systèmed'ARtillerie) 155 mm self-propelled how-itzers, equipping two regiments with localsupport from PT Pindad in a reported $240million deal. Thailand acquired six of the sys-tems in 2009. Elsewhere in the region, Nexteris offering its towed Trajan 155 mm/52 cali-bre towed artillery system. which canachieve a range of 52km with a rocket-assist-ed projectile and with rate of fire of sixrounds per minute. In India, the company isteamed with Larsen & Toubro.

Singapore Technologies Kinetics is cur-rently studying going ahead with the 8x8 155mm Advanced Mobile Gun System (AMGS)which is designed to be able to fire 30 sec-onds from when the vehicle halts with thecrew remaining in their armoured front cabuntil the gun has autonomously fired itsready to use ammunition with extended

range rounds able to reach 40km.A new self propelled systems due to enter

the market but now in the last stages ofdevelopment is the Iveco 155/39 mm UltraLight Weight Self-Propelled WheeledHowitzer which is based on the 120mmCentauro 8x8 tank destroyer and exploitsthat vehicle's tactical mobility. A concept ver-sion was shown in Eurosatory in June.

Precision RoundsIn October, Raytheon released details of thetesting of their new Excalibur Ib precisionmunition, in which the eight rounds fired haddemonstrated a CEP of under 5 metres. The Ibmakes a number of improvement over the Iawhich has seen successful services inAfghanistanwith Australia andUS forces withover 600 rounds having been fired in engage-

ments in that theatre. A decision on a LowRateInitial Production is expected in 2013.

Precision has also come to 81mm with theBAE-General Dynamics Ordnance andTactical Systems designed 81mm RollControl Guided Mortar which has a 7m CEPand an engagement from of one to four kilo-metres. The design takes a standard roundbut then adds a Roll-Controlled FixedCanard (RCFC) control system to the round.

The US Army plans on fielding ATK'sXM1156 Precision Guidance Kit in theSummer as part of an UrgentMaterial Release.The budget kit aims for an achievement of aCEP of 50m and will be able to be fired fromthe M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzerand the 155 mmM777A2 towed howitzer.

India is also progressing with its require-ment for BAE Systems M777 towed 155

The UAE's Agrab or Scorpion is integrates an STK 120mm Super Rapid Advanced Mortar System ona RG31 and is equipped with an advanced fire control system © AJB

Sagem’s ULISS 30XP Position And AzimuthDetermination System or PADS is competingfor an Indian Army requirement for 167systems © Sagem


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

mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers withthe Foreign Military Sales process expectedto begin delivering systems by 2014 oncefinal signature takes place in the Spring.Oto Melara states that its Vulcano Ballistic

Extended Range ammunition can be fired at amaximum range 100km to provide a precisionstrike capability from ships using a 127/54mmship mounted gun. The company is also work-ing with Germany’s Diehl on a 155mmVulcano round for land based artillery.Sagem’s Sigma 30 is a staple of both towed

and self propelled artillery systems, provid-ing precise laser based inertial positioning forartillery and is able to align in under fiveminutes with a far greater precision thanGPS. The systems can also align while on the

move and sustain uninterrupted inertial nav-igation while the weapon is firing.The system can also operate indirect fire

solutions; autonomy with towed systems,vibration on tracked vehicles, suspension onwheeled vehicles, corrosion associated withrocket fires and high levels of dampeningsupporting for mortars and light guns.The Sigma 30 has been integrated on a

number of systems either developed or usedin the region including the CAESAR, the FH77 B05 upgrade led by OFB and BEL for theIndian Army, Pegasus and FH2000, Norinco'sPLZ45 PLZ 52 and SH-1, India's Pinaka, GHN45 and 105 LG1. It is also on the ULISS 30XPPosition And Azimuth Determination Systemor PADS a high mobility artillery survey sys-tem which is competing for an Indian Armyrequirement for 167 systems.

RocketsRussia continues to be a big believer in rock-et artillery, recently ordering 36 Tornado-Gor Smerch multiple rocket launchers. Othernon-traditional users are also eagerly adopt-ing rocket based artillery for long rangeengagement which puts even greater empha-sis on precision. The current thrust of the USArmy has been to emphasise commonalityand new precision rounds rather than newsystems. Lockheed Martin is currentlyundertaking an upgrade of the M270A1 toincrease force protection measures in seven

vehicles which will act as prototypes for theprogramme. In addition the company willwork to ensure much greater commonalitybetween the High Mobility Artillery RocketSystem (HIMARS) launcher - ordered byThailand and in service with Singapore - andthe tracked M270A2. If successful, the Armyplans to upgrade all its 225 vehicles to thisstandard. Pakistan’s Hatf-9 Nasr surface-to-surface missile has range of 37km, seen as anuclear capable weapon can also be usedwith a significant conventional warhead.

Managed SupplyManaging the supply of ammunition, indi-rect or not has lead to partnering relation-ships being formed between industry andmilitary. One of the most recent is thatbetween the Dutch armed forces andRheinmetall who recently signed a contractextension for the long term supply for top-quality ammunition covering a wide varietyof ammunition types in many different cali-bres, including service and practice versionsas well as propelling technology.Australia has a similar arrangement with

Thales Australia for the Domestic MunitionsManufacturing Arrangements project thecompany being in place since the mid 1990s.This contract is currently in competition withThales working with General Dynamics-OTSandNAMMO seeking to be reselected, againstcompetition from teams of BAE Systems -EXPAL, Alliant Techsystems Inc; RaytheonAustralia joining with Chemring Australiaand Poonsang Corp of South Korea;Rheinmetall Waffe Munitions, Nitrochemieand Swiss company RUAG Ammotec.

38

The Trajan 155mm/52 calibreordnance originally developedby Nexter for CAESAR with themounting developed inconjunction with Larsen andToubro in India © Nexter


The US Armyplans on fielding ATK’s

XM1156 PrecisionGuidance Kit in the

Summer as part of anUrgent Material Release


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The targets themselves pose increas-ing challenges to both detection anddestruction, hiding in difficult natu-ral as well as urban terrain wherethe potential for non-combatant

casualties and collateral damage is high. Thisemphasises more than ever the need for bothprecision targeting and precision effects toexploit, not to mention a range of effectors cov-ering long range precision strike to low costsolutions on the lowest rung of the precisionladder, meeting a requirement somewherebetween an air launched Anti-Tank GuidedWeapon and an unguided rocket.

Airborne ISRPrecision ISR capabilities are becomingincreasingly affordable with assets once

The Airborne Kill Chain covers the gamutof military activities from Intelligence,Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)

assets detecting and identifying targets,often sending that information to command

structures to obtain a decision thenordering an attack on the target and then

passing on the requisite targetinginformation to the right platform to achieve

the destruction of the target.

bbyy Adam Baddeley


Airborne ISR,Communicationsand Weapon Systems:Tightening The Kill Chain

Rafael’s Litening pod is facing off againstThales’ Damocles for an Indian Air Forcerequirement © Rafael


limited to larger platforms such as theBoeing 707 based J-STAR SyntheticAperture Radar (SAR) Ground MovingTarget Indicator (GMTI) now able to beintegrated on smaller aircraft and UAVswith the same also true of other sensorsproviding high definition imagery.A key, almost iconic enabler in the air-

borne kill chain are targeting pods able tooperate from fast jet strike aircraft. In India, adecision in a competition between the ThalesDamocles and Rafael Litening targeting podsto equip the Mirage 2000 Vajra fleet is expect-ed later this year with over 100 systemsrequired. A team of Northrop Grumman andRafael have recently begun full rate produc-tion for the US Air Force with the newAN/AAQ-28(V)9 Litening SensorEnhancement version which incorporates thelatest generation of sensors. LockheedMartin's AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting podis another option being used other air forces

with the pod being selected to operate withIraq's F-16IQ fleet.A detection and designation capability for

lighter airborne platforms is being made pos-sible with sensors such as the L-3 WESCAMMX-15D which combines colour, IR, low-light and SWIR with a laser targeting capa-bility - the design can integrate up to ninesensors. The systems has most recently beendeployed on the Bell Helicopter 407GT andused with BAE Systems Advanced PrecisionKill Weapon System (APKWS) guided rock-ets at ranges of up to 5km.The non-ITAR Selex ES Gabbiano T-20

Radar offers high resolution ground map-ping in both Strip and Spot SAR modes andGMTI capabilities and in tests has detectedmoving targets at 40 nautical miles. It hasbeen adopted by users for a range of plat-forms including ATR42 MP, Embraer KC390,Beechcraft B350, AW-139 and AW-101 heli-copters together with the Hermes 450 andHermes 900 UAVs respectively.Cassidian’s SmartRadar or Scalable

Modular Aerospace Radar Technology is anew Active Electronically Scanned Array, air-borne ground surveillance radar being fund-ed and assessed by the German Federal Officeof Defense Technology and Procurementoffice and was successfully tested in June lastyear in Canada's Goose Bay in June.In the maritime and littoral environment,

The non-ITAR SelexES Gabbiano T-20

Radar... has detectedmoving targets

at 40 nautical miles

I S T A RAAIIRRBBOORRNNEE

UAVs such as the Hermes 900 are now able tocarry payload-types hitherto limited to largepassenger aircraft © Elbit Systems

Australia has opted for Raytheon's 24 AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting System forthe Royal Australian Navy's buy of 24Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters under ProjectAir 9000 Phase 8 to replace the S-70B-2Seahawk helicopters, which provides anEO/IR based solution incorporating targetacquisition, tracking, range-finding andlaser designation solution. Other onboardsensors include the Telephonics APS-147multimode radar.FLIR System’s Star SAFIRE II a 320x240,

gimballed thermal imager and has been inte-grated on the UH-60L Black Hawk helicopteras part of a surveillance and targeting packagefocused on engaging the FARC narco-insur-gents in mountainous and jungle terrain. Thecompany’s sensors have beenwidely suppliedto Columbia under the US “Plan Colombia”effort focused on drug interdiction.Terminal guidance is becoming increas-

ingly important with Australia and theUnited Arab Emirates both recently order-ing the Rockwell Collins’ FireStorm target-ing system. This incorporates a laser rangefinder, navigation package, GPS and com-munications via the StrikeHawk datalinkwith the rugged computer also hosting the

Rosetta software. At the dismounted level,the latest generation of Sagem’s JIM LR or(Jumelle Infrarouge Multifonction) LongRange. This thermal imaging binocular iscombined with an integrated Laser RangeFinder, laser pointer with a range of 2.5km,digital magnetic compass and GPS, all in alow weight package. This can also be

matched with the Vectronics STERNA preci-sion target location system or PTLS forenhanced precision in the field.

NetworksA chain is made of links, with the kill chainimpossible to achieve with communicationsystems able to glue and interconnect diverse

parts of the systems enabling information tobe brought together and fused to ensure theright target is engaged.Once a target is detected, that information

has to be shared either between airborne plat-forms in the air, or transferred to the groundto be routed to a headquarters for assessmentand a response. In a number of militaries whohave secure access to Satcom, a Beyond LineOf Sight solution is possible for high defini-tion imagery but for the majority of mannedplatform and UAV users, Line Of SightSolutions will continue to necessary.India's Airborne Software Defined radio

(SDR) programme is in the final stages ofselection with an assessment scheduled forMarch and will equip several aircraft includ-ing the Jaguar, one of India's most effectivestrike aircraft The requirement is for a twochannel radio in V/UHF with both narrowand high capacity wideband links, Fourteams are bidding; Bharat Electronics Ltdwith the DRDO, Alpha Design offering theIAI ARC-840, Rafael and HAL offering theNetcor/Globalink and Rockwell Collins andTata. By way of illustration, the Rockwell-Collins Tata team includes an airborne opti-mised version of the FlexNet waveform


When Rohde andSchwarz’s new SDARradio is delivered to

its launch customer in2015 it will be

equipped with the HighData Rate networking

waveform family

Rockwell Collin’s Firestorm systemsallows ground forces to providetargeting and terminal guidance forair launched and other effectors inthe kill chain © Rockwell Collins


which supports a 2 Mbps link that can beused by fast movers.When Rohde and Schwarz's new SDAR

radio is delivered to its launch customer in2015 it will be equipped with the High DataRate networking radio waveform. The highcapacity HDR Wideband capability allowsnon-frequency hopping HDR-WB with a1Mbps user data rate to be operated atspeeds of up to 700Kmph before thedoppler effect effectively ends communica-tions. For faster aircraft, the HDR-AJ-WBcan operates at up to Mach 2 and 1000 hopsper second jamming protection and a userdata rate of 128kbps. The HDR-AJ-WB willtake over from the narrow band SECOSwaveform which fulfils a similar role inthe R&S portfolio.In addition to strike and Close Air

Support Aircraft, attack helicopters areincreasingly being brought into regionalinventories. The first of 30 AH-64E Apachehelicopters are to be delivered to Taiwan inOctober as part of a $6.5 billion deal signedin 2008. India has also selected that aircraftin a $1.4 billion deal with Indonesia request-ing eight in a $1.3 billion deal. The US hasrecently begun its search for a new radio tosupport its helicopter fleets including theApache with its Small Airborne NetworkingRadio (SANR) and Small Airborne Link 16Terminal (SALT) programmes, both twochannel solutions, the former equippingApache Longbows with number of wave-forms including Link 16 while the SANR


The AH-64 Apache is beingacquired by a number of airforces in the regions and islikely to become a bearer forlow cost precision engagementweapon systems © DoD

The SDxR family supportsthe HDR-AJ-WB waveformallowing aircraft moving atMach 2 to transmit informationat rates of 128Kbps © R&S


will equip earlier Apaches Black Hawk,Chinook and KiowaWarrior helicopters andthe Gray Eagle UAV.

Once the information hits the ground,imagery or full motion video from a UAVor manned platforms will required a bigpipe to pass on its high bandwidth packagewith manufacturers providing that with aslew of new relays. Ultra Electronics newAN/GRC-245G(V) is due to be launched atthe end of the year with its links able tooperate across 1.4-6GHz, giving it the abili-ty to operate in a congested frequency spec-trum with both Point To Point Links (PTP)and Point To Multi-Point (PTMP) links at200-400Mps at ranges of over 30Km. Ultraexpressly see this as a key tool for ISRaggregation and cloud services with eachradio also having a WiFi link to create aLocal Area Network. The Harris RFCommunications RF-7800W OU470 andOU500 use the MIMO feature and GPS syn-chronisation to enable multiple radios totransmit and receive on the same frequencyeffective multiplying the throughput a net-work can send over the same frequencywhich was the case with the company's RF-7800W OU440 which supports throughputin PTP and PTMP of 108Mbps and 50Mbpsrespectively with the two new relaysboth supporting 216Mbps. Kongsberg'sRL542A will be released later this year aftercertification and offers full duplex linksof 100Mbps.

EffectorsDetecting a threat, generating targeting loca-tions and then sharing that informationacross the network can only go far, ultimate-ly the ability to destroy it is needed. The nextgeneration of precision engagement weaponsare accompanying the influx of advancedmulti-role combat aircraft and other newlight attack aircraft. But not every scenariorequires an advanced precision weapon asthe recent air strikes against the Royal SuluArmy in Sabah illustrates. Small fleeting tar-gets in civilian vehicles or individuals mov-ing on foot are arguably more relevant to anumber of militaries in the region with thekill chain also having to accommodate anaffordable means of achieving this.

India, still to sign the final contract onthe Rafael to meet its Medium Multi-Role

The Rafael SPICE 1000 has a range of 100kmwith a datalink allowing positive identificationof targets while in flight © Rafael



Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) requirement,also has to select the weapon package tosupport the aircraft. A number of weaponsare being discussed including MBDA'sDual Mode Brimstone Dual ModeBrimstone (DMB) part of UK MOD's SPEARCapability 2 programme. The DMB is aclose air support weapon able to engage adiverse range of threats from fast movingvehicles, bunkers, as well as fast in-shoreattack craft with the warhead also defeatingMain Battle Tanks. The guidance systemsallows the user to switch between a Fire andForget anti-armour mode; Semi-ActiveLaser (SAL) guidance against static targetsand SAL and Millimetric Wave guidancefor fast moving targets.Another candidate being discussed for the

MMRCA is Sagem's fire and forget doublecanard-guided Armement Air-Sol Modulaire(AASM)/HAMMER or Highly AgileManoeuvrable Munition Extended Range.Two versions of the weapon have been vali-

dated in combat in Afghanistan, Libya andMali; the SBU-38 and SBU-64 guidance kitswhich are operated with standard bombs andare able to engage targets at ranges of 50kmand can hit the target at angles of 90 degrees.The latest version of HAMMER is the SBU 54,now entering service with the French AirForce which uses hybrid GPS/INS and is thencombined with laser guidance for the termi-nal stage enabling it to engage mobile targetssuch as fast moving vehicles.The requirements of the Philippines are

more modest. A key requirement is for sixlight-attack turboprops with the usual con-tenders; Beechcraft AT-6B Texan II, EmbraerEMB 314 Super Tucano and KoreaAerospace Industries (KAI) KA-1 expectedto bid. It also requires twelve jet aircraft tofulfil its requirement for the flight trainerand light-attack roles with aircraft such asthe KAI T/A-50 Golden Eagle and AleniaAermacchi M-346, Yak-130 Mitten L-159BALCA BAE Hawk and the AMX all consid-ered with the South Korean aircraft beingselected in August 2012. An affordable pre-cision engagement capability will be inte-gral to both these capabilities.Indonesia, in the process of acquiring sur-

plus US F-16A/Bs upgraded to the Block 32standard, has also requested the RaytheonAGM-65K2 Maverick missile. RafaelAdvanced Defence System’s SPICE (SmartPrecise Impact and Cost Effective) family isan add-on kit which can be fitted to 2000lband 1000lb bombs and with the latter havingpop-out wings and a range of over 100kmwith a datalink allowing positive identifica-tion of targets while in flight. India andSingapore both operate the weapon. Anotherstrike missile in the region is the BoeingAGM-84H SLAM Expanded Response(SLAM-ER) which has been adopted bySouth Korea for use on the F-15K Slam Eaglewhich can engage targets with the missilefrom 280km.A low cost guided solution is Roketsan's

CIRIT laser guided rocket using semi-activelaser guidance in the terminal phase with arange of 6-8km. The NATO complaintweapon is currently in production forTurkey with the UAE signing a $196 milliondeal to acquire the weapon in February. Asimilar offering is provided via the BAESystems Advanced Precision Kill WeaponSystem (APKWS) II, deployed toAfghanistan with the US Marines in March2012, and qualified with the AH-1W andUH-1Y helicopters and most recently theBell 407GT. It covers a 70mm Hydra rocket,converted to add the WGU-59/B mid-bodyguidance unit and is able to defeat targetsup to light armoured vehicles. The systemsalso able to be operate from fixed wing air-craft in the light support role with tests withAV-8Bs and A-10s due this year.

l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l 45

Indonesia, in theprocess of acquiringsurplus US F-16A/Bs

upgraded to the Block32 standard has

also requested theRaytheon AGM-65K2

Maverick missiles

France is currently bringing into service thethird variant of the AASM/Hammer ground toair munition, adapted to more effective engagefleeting targets © Sagem


CC BB RR NNPROTECT ION


CBRN in the Field:Prepare for the WorstDuring the 11-year campaign in Afghanistan and in other conflicts, theweapon of choice for insurgents continues to be the IED (ImprovisedExplosive Device) in all its variants. However, weapons containing aCBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) component are alsofactored into military planning for force protection as they continue tobe a credible, if unpredictable and unquantifiable, threat to both troopsand civilians in several theatres.

bbyy Andy Oppenheimer

Reports from Afghanistan inFebruary 2012 indicated thatthe Taliban had poisoned foodwith chlorine bleach atTorkham Forward Operation

Base near the Pakistan border in Nangarharprovince, as retaliation for the earlier burning

of copies of the Koran by US personnel.NATO announced that fruit and coffee deliv-ered for consumption by military personnelhad shown traces of chlorine, and that theTaliban had claimed responsibility.

No soldiers were affected in this incident,but attacks on civilians – most notably girls’

schools in early 2010 - and on Afghan troopsand police have caused serious injuries andincluded the use of organophosphates, whichis a precursor to nerve agents and producessimilar symptoms. Serving military person-nel have told the author about IEDs incorpo-rating organophosphates and other widely

The Aero Sekur sniperponcho © Aero Sekur

l MARCH/APRIL 2013 l

available household chemicals such as insec-ticides and rat poison, and about food poi-soning attacks through insurgent infiltrationinto ISAF bases.The asymmetric nature of the AfPak con-

flict means that, while military-grade CBRNmay not currently be available to insurgents,they are inventive enough to incorporate pre-cursor and industrial chemicals into IEDs,civilian-use radioisotopes into RDDs (radio-logical dispersal devices), and also launchnon-explosive forms of attack using commonpoisons and pathogens.

From the Gulf Wars onOperation Desert Storm was the last majormilitary campaign where CBRN defence wasa prime factor in planning and reconnais-sance as - unlike the Second Gulf War - theIraqis actually possessed chemical and bio-logical weapons (CBW) in varying stages ofdevelopment. At the height of the Iraq

insurgency, attacks involving chlorine werecarried out from January to March 2007. Over200 Iraqi civilians were inflicted with chemi-cal injuries when tankers carrying chlorinewere hijacked and blown up. FollowingSaddam Hussein’s massacre of Kurds atHalabja in the 1980s with true CW, the Iraqiinsurgents could guarantee their attackswould cause maximum terror.Although successive UN inspection teams

and occupying US forces have cleared muchof Iraq of CW ordnance, the sheer number ofabandoned chemical shells may provide themeans for ICDs (improvised chemicaldevices) in a still very volatile country.

Aero Sekur NBC suit made from compositematerials, which has a lightweight gas alarmfitted to alert the wearer to a CBRN attack© Aero Sekur

Republic of South Korea CBRN Defense Commandare instructed by the US 22nd Chemical Battalionon CBRNE response team equipment during acapabilities exercise at Aberdeen ProvingGround's Warrior Training Center in December2011. The CAPEX was part of a weeklong visit by10 Korean soldiers to the 20th Support Command(CBRNE) ©US Army

PROTECT IONCC BB RR NN

47

Concerns also abound about possible use bygovernment forces – or insurgents - of Syria’ssubstantial arsenal of CBW. But Iran isuppermost as the main threat in the region,as it is suspected of developing CBW as wellas its nascent nuclear weapons and extensivemissile programmes. Added to this will bethe need to protect any forces operating fromthe air or on the ground following an attackon Iran, which it is feared could produceradioactive contamination on a potentiallywide scale.

Facing up North KoreaIn the Far East, the prime concern is NorthKorea’s growing chemical, biological andnuclear weapons capabilities and its prox-imity to the ROK’s capital Seoul, which iswithin range of an airborne CBW attack.South Korean defence authorities havebegun holding civil defence drills, and havedistributed guidebooks to all ROK militaryunits outlining countermeasures and symp-

toms of 13 bioweapons, including plague,anthrax, typhoid, and – the biggest killerhistorically – smallpox, suspected to be inthe DPRK’s BW arsenal.This year will therefore see a series of joint

US/ROK CBRN training exercises, beginningin January 2012 when the US Army AberdeenProving Ground held a capabilities exerciseon detection and protection equipment andprocedures for visiting soldiers from theSouth Korean CBRN Defence Command.

Detection – small is beautifulLeading companies such as Smiths Detectionand Bruker Daltonics have developed chiptechnology to enhance miniaturisation ofdetectors, with around 210,000 Smiths chem-ical agent detectors (CAD) in service withmilitary forces worldwide. The Smiths LCD(Lightweight Chemical Detector) is a new,small and lightweight CWA detector for sol-dier/squad protection in the 21st century.Weighing less than 0.45kg, the LCD servesas an unobtrusive compact detector, con-stantly sampling the air for traces of nerve,



The Remploy Cougarand Panther NBC

suits © Remploy

Operation Desert Stormwas the last major

military campaign whereCBRN defence was a

prime factor in planningand reconnaissance

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blister, TICs, or blood and choking agents.The unit can be deployed on fixed or mobileplatforms, including vehicles, ships, aircraftand fixed site installations and is in servicewith the UK and US armed forces and manyother countries.

Advanced systems are based on Ramanspectroscopy for rapid, accurate identifica-tion of unknown chemicals directly in thefield. Thermo Scientific’s FirstDefender RMuses chemometric algorithms to determineautomatically the presence of mixed and con-taminated chemicals, and can operate direct-ly through sealed glass or plastic containers.Its twin handheld, the TruDefender FT, usesfluorescence to identify unknown chemicalsdirectly in the hot zone and is suited to useby military personnel.

Radiation detection is well advanced andinstruments must be able to differentiate from

naturally occurring radiation from possibleterrorist threats, and to measure all threetypes of ionising radiation – gamma (the easyone), beta, and alpha. Bruker RadiationSentry detection systems can be carried onportable backpacks and vehicle-, aircraft- orhelicopter-mounted systems. The challengecontinues for readily available systems todetect alpha – which is short-range radiation– emitted by uranium oxides, plutonium,americium-241 and other radioisotopes.

Biosurveillance on military operationsincludes obtaining information on diseasepatterns in local populations and at militarybases, where food poisoning outbreaks, suchas the one described above in Nangarharprovince, are common. Intelligence gatheringis a vital adjunct to the advanced biodetec-tion suites installed on board recce vehicles,most notably the Bruker Daltonics biological

suite for continuous monitoring of the exter-nal air for aerosolised particles, which isinstalled on the widely deployed Fuchs NBCreconnaissance vehicle.

The NBC suite consists of an onboardmassspectrometer which analyses the particles anda totally sealed analysis chamber for process-ing and identification of samples using ELISA(Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) andPCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tech-niques. The US equivalent, the Long RangeBiological Stand-off Detection System (LR-


The Argon DS3 monitor detecting simulated contamination on a ‘casualty’ during NATO ExerciseClean Care, November 2011 © Argon Electronics (UK) Ltd


In the Far East, theprime concern is North

Korea’s growingchemical, biological

and nuclear weaponscapabilities and its

proximity to the ROK’scapital Seoul

BSDS), uses LIDAR technology to detect,track and map particles larger than 1 micronin large area aerosol clouds at a maximumrange of 30 km.

Diagnostic toolsOf prime importance is shortening the timebetween a bio-alarm and the response, somuch research is devoted to speedier sam-pling, analysis and diagnosis. Military opera-tions are frequently conducted in austereenvironments, where laboratory facilitiesmay be rudimentary or non-existent. To testblood samples, the microarray is anadvanced diagnostic tool which can providea picture, through gene expression or proteinproduction in white blood cells, of what thecells are doing in response to invasion. Thiswill thereby point to the nature of the invad-er. As microassays contain many thousandsof genes, however, a big challenge is for them

to indicate signs of bioterrorist-related ill-nesses in the pre-symptomatic stages. Andwith all CBRN systems for force protection,they must be portable and ruggedised.

Protective equipment against chemicalhazards includes the ChemTox point-of-carediagnostic test produced by ProQares andRapid Pathogen Screening, Inc. and is beingused in many European and Asia Pacificcountries. It is designed to detect humanexposure to Soman, Sarin, Tabun, and VX inthe blood, as well as low-level chemical nerveagent exposure, in 10 minutes with a finger-stick blood sample.

For military systems, advances in highlysensitive personal force protection devicesand integrated sensing technologies haveresulted in miniaturisation of testing sys-tems. In 2011 UK company, Magna Parvawith the University of Leicester launched atDSEi a man-portable ‘lab in a box’, Exolab, to

enable repeatable, rapid, low-cost prepara-tion of solid or liquid samples in militaryoperations. Exolab is designed to integrate allsample preparation processes necessary forcomplex measurement – such as for DNAanalysis or immunoassays that are state-of-the-art techniques used for disease and CBWdetection. Stages can be plugged in or outand samples re-routed through the systemfor re-agent addition, mixing, thermalcycling, centrifugation and incubation.

Suits, boots and masksAdvances in composite materials for militaryNBC protection have produced an integrated


Members of the US Army 4th CST (Civil SupportTeam) using a new CDC surface samplingmethod to collect environmental samples inorder to assess contamination after a simulatedBT event © US Army

PROTECT IONCC BB RR NN

52

range of respirators and NBC/combat suitsfor ground defence apparel. Aero Sekur hasdeveloped a lightweight, low-cost gas alarmincorporated into the suit to alert the wearerto an NBC attack. Another revolutionarydevelopment is technology to embed sensorsinto combat apparel materials.

Many companies make masks for themilitary, such as the Avon ST53 Mask,which combines the Avon FM53 with inno-vative modular breathing apparatus tech-nology to provide positive pressure SCBA(self-contained breathing apparatus) andPAPR (powered air-purifying) capability.The air cylinder is compact and portable onthe waist. A twin exhalation valve enablesthe wearer to use the respirator at negativeor positive pressure, which means troopscan enter different threat environmentswithout having to change equipment. TheST53 has interchangeable nose-cups formaximum comfort and fit – of considerableimportance for forces operating in hot cli-mates, as is usually the case – and it is inter-operable with all field communications sys-tems. From February 2012 Avon has sup-plied the Malay Police with the C50 config-urable mask for its civil riot upgrade pro-gramme.

For PPE (personal protection equip-ment), the Mark IV suit by Remploy, devel-oped in conjunction with the UK MoD, is inservice with the US Chemical Stockpile

Emergency Preparedness Program,Indonesian Special Forces, AustralianDefence Force, and Thailand’s CTOC. Thelatest Remploy suits designed specificallyfor the military, the Coumil and Panmil,build on the designs of the Cougar andPanther PPE and have a lighter-weight car-bon lining for greater comfort for a totalweight of 2.1 kg. They offer protection

against liquid chemical splash, vapour andbiological hazards and are fire retardant.

The abiding means of force protection iscollective. COLPRO is provided on vehiclesfor troops on the move entering areas whereCBRN reconnaissance is necessary, or wherethere is an ongoing threat. It is also installedas heavy-duty, high-performance ventilationand air filtration systems for inflatable fieldshelters and tents in military camps, and forship-based protected environments. A lead-

ing COLPRO system, by Utilis working withNATO, consists of three zones: access mod-ule (CCA); an isolation airlock, and a cleanzone (TFA), which can be set up as a camp,command post, hospital or as a storage enclo-sure for vehicles or equipment.

According to US Army Brigadier (retd)General Dean R. Ertwine, who became VicePresident for Army Science And Technologyat Battelle, CBRN preparedness in DesertStorm was not just due to physical force pro-tection, countermeasures, training, medicalmaterial and equipment, “National philoso-phy against the use of chemical weapons was‘You don’t ever want to use chemical weaponsagainst us because we’ll retaliate - not neces-sarily in kind, but in a worse way.” Coalitiontroops could operate effectively whether ornot they had to encounter chemical warfare.However, in Gulf War II, while CBW againdid not occur, troops endured exposure tochemicals from uncovering caches of legacyweapons in ammunition sites.

All-hazards approachPreparedness is also being geared as muchtowards small-scale attacks as for the long-predicted mass-casualty, high-tech CBRNincident associated more with Cold-Warweapons capabilities. A ‘pick-and-mix’deployment of conventional and unconven-tional weapons is more likely from insur-gents and terrorists. This opens up a new eraof force protection - against toxic industrialchemicals (and also particulates from deplet-ed uranium weapons) given the number oftroops suffering from ‘Gulf War Syndrome’and similar chronic illnesses and symptoms,many of them long term. Immediate decont-amination of affected areas, troops andequipment may not always be possible in thefog and heat of war.

Attention in biodefence is also turningincreasingly to protection against indigenousdiseases along with new, modified strainsfrom laboratories, and to dealing with civil-ian or troop exposure to misplaced radioac-tive materials. On top of this, the predictedepidemic of soldiers returning with PTSD(post-traumatic stress disorder) alone willtest resources and future capability – there-fore, preparedness against injurious sub-stances, whatever the source, is paramount.This also reflects the ‘all-hazards’ approachincreasingly applied to homeland CBRNdefence – which may be needed in militaryoperations as we enter a new and increasing-ly unstable period of conflicts.

The Utilis COLPRO system, which can be linked to a decontamination unit so that personnel can bedecontaminated before entering the tents © Utilis



For military systems,advances in highlysensitive personal

force protectiondevices and integrated

sensing technologieshave resulted in

miniaturisation oftesting systems

South AsiaCuts to India’s Defence Budget of `10,000crore will delay and cut several programmesincluding the MMRCA project with a finalcontract being delayed to at least April.Greatest concern is over the Army's 12th FiveYear Plan from 2012-17, focused on the estab-lishment of a new Mountain Strike Corpsbased in West Bengal with two divisionsdesigned to defend against China. Othercapabilities to be acquired include new nightvision gear, anti-tank missiles, helicoptersand artillery. India has begun initial work onestablishing underground ammunition stor-age facilities near its borders with China andPakistan in support of the Northern andEastern Army commands. Although a con-tract for the initial 126 Rafales under theMedium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft(MMRCA) programme has yet to be signed,India is reported to be considering an optionto increase numbers to 189, during a visit toParis by Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid.The INS Tarkash has arrived in Mumbai

where it joins the first in class INS Teg whicharrived in April. The Trikand is currently indock trials and will join the Indian Navy in2013. A RFP is expected in February for the sixProject 75-I submarines subject to defenceacquisition committee approval for the esti-mated $10 billion programme. It is not clear ifMazagon Dock Limited will produce some orall the boats. India has asked Russia to swiftlyprovide new components and parts for theINS Chakra submarine which was inducted in

April, following readiness issues. Formerly inRussian service the boat has been leased for adecade in a $900 million deal signed in 2004.INS Saryu, at 105m India's largest offshorepatrol vessel has been commissioned into theIndian Navy. The Goa Shipyard Limited builtship is the first of class of the four strongNaval Off Shore Patrol Vessel with all due tobe delivered by mid 2014. The ship will bebased on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.India’s Chief of the Air Staff NAK Browne

has visited Israel to discuss continued bilat-eral military cooperation, notably in the areaof UAVs and air defence missiles.Israel Aerospace Industries and Bharat

Electronics Limited (BEL) India have signed anMoU for the joint development of the Barak8/Long-Range Surface to Air Missile(LRSAM). India has declared the 700 km sub-marine-launched ballistic missile that willequip the INS Arihant ready for productionafter completing a pre-production test flight,its tenth flight off the coast of Visakhapatnam.The Indian Navy has conducted a sea-surfacelaunch of a newversion of the Brahmosmissile.The new design is designed to be moremanoeuvrable demonstratingwhat Indian offi-cials described as a, “double-manoeuvre in“S-form” before hitting the targets, 1m abovethe waterline. Additional features of this ver-sion include the integration of the same navi-gation Kh-555 (AS-15 Kent C) and Kh-101cruise missiles adding a GLONASS basedsatellite navigation capability to the existingdoppler-inertial system. The Indian Navy hasissued a request for information (RFI) for pro-

curement of medium range anti ship missilefor use on surface vessels the requirement hasa range of 120km. Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL)launched the first of 20 Fast Patrol Vessel(FPV), Aadesh built for the Indian CoastGuard in January with all boats due to bedelivered by 2017.The first of ten Boeing C-17 aircraft has

been received by the IAF in the US. The air-craft will now undergo flight testing in the USbefore being formally handed over in June.India has received the first 4 of 29 MiG-29K/KUB fighters ordered in 2010 to equip theINS Vikramaditya carrier on which the aircraftwith Russian pilots, completed flight testingon the ship over the Summer. Russia and Indiahave signed an agreement to acquire a further42 Su-30MKIworth $1.6 billion. An agreementbetween Rosoboronexport and India'sMinistry of Defence will see a further consign-ment of KazanMi-17V-5 helicopters for theIndian Air Force and delivered to India by2015 as part of a deal signed in 2008. At thesame time the IAF announced that a squadronfor 15 Mi-17 V5 helicopters inducted inJanuary will be based at Phalodi airbase nearthe Pakistan border. Telephonics has beenawarded a contract to supply its RDR-1600weather avoidance search and rescue radarsto Russia’s Kazan Helicopters for installationin Mi-17V-5 helicopters for delivery to theIndian Air Force.Sri Lanka’s Defence and Urban Develop-

ment Secretary has offer his country's help inoffering to accept Indianmilitary personnel onhis country’s counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism course as well as joint exercises.Pakistan's Army latest Doctrine 'Green

Book' which states its wartime and securitypriorities has cited internal threats andattacks across its western border as thebiggest threat to the country, supplantingIndia for the first time as part of chapter inthe book called ‘Sub-Conventional andWarfare’. Pakistan and US officials have metin Islamabad to review progress on the PAF'sF-16 upgrade programmes.Rear Admiral Farid Habib has been

appointed as the Bangladesh Navy's Chief ofthe Naval Staff. Bangladesh has received a $1billion loan from Russia to acquire a numberof weapon systems including BTR-80armoured vehicles, air defence systems andMi-171 helicopters.


ASIA PACIFIC PROCUREMENT UPDATE

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

A squadron for 15 Mi-17 V5helicopters will be based atPhalodi airbase near thePakistan border © AJB


South East AsiaThailand is to upgrade the Royal Thai AirForce Defence System with new radars aswell as integration using datalinks linking theAir Force's 12 Gripens and two Saab 340 AEWearly warning aircraft with HTMS Naresuanand HTMS Taksin and HTMS ChakriNaruebet. The Army will also be linked intothe system in 2014. The Royal Thai Navy hasordered nine Raytheon Evolved Sea SparrowMissile systems from US which will be inte-grated as part of the Naruesan upgrade beingprimed by Saab. They will be fired from anMK 41 eight-cell vertical launch systemusing a MK 25 Quad Pack canister.ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH havebeen awarded a Royal Thai Navy (RTN)contract to support class room and virtualreality training systems as part of submarinetechnology training courses.

Indonesian Defence Minister PurnomoYusgiantoro has announced that it is bringingforward modernisation goals set in 2010 byfive years from 2024 to 2019; achieving it overtwo rather than three five year military plansbased on more funds being made available bygovernment. The first plan has seen $16.7 bil-lion allocated which has been tied to fundsSukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, KT 1 Wongbee train-er/light attack planes, new submarines fromSouth Korea, 24 F-16 C/D fighter jets and AH

64 Apache helicopters for its Army. TheIndonesian Navy corvette Kri SultanHasanuddin visited Sri Lanka while returninghome from participation in the United NationsInterim Force in Lebanon. Indonesia andChina have met in Jakarta to discuss enhanceddefence co-operation, building on an originalagreement signed in 2005. China has offered tobuild a Mandarin language training centre forIndonesia's military. Indonesia has releasedplans to set up a UAV squadron in 2013. TheUAV will be of a local design from theNational Aeronautics and Space Institute andthe Agency for Assessment and Application ofTechnology. The aircraft will be tasked withnumber of non -military tasks including moni-toring illegal fishing and logging activities.

Singapore's second Archer class subma-rine has been delivered to the Changi navalbase from Sweden. ST Engineering has beenawarded a contract to maintain and mod-ernise three air Royal Air Force of Oman C-130 aircraft.

The Royal Malaysian Navy has orderedtwelve Rheinmetall TMX/EO Mk2 fire con-trol radars and six TMEOMk2 electro-opticalsystems for use with the Malaysian Navy’snew Second Generation Patrol VesselsLittoral Combat Ships. Delivery begins in2015. Takaso Resources Bhd has been award-ed a contract to supply 300 specialist trucksfor the Malaysian military including fire

fighting vehicles for the Royal Malaysian AirForce’s Gong Kedak Airbase.

The Philippines has announced that itwill take its territorial dispute with Chinaover the Scarborough Shoal to a UN tribunalunder the United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea to which both countries aresignatories. China has repeatedly said itprefers to resolve any issues through bi-later-al negotiation while asserting its claim.

An Avenger class mine countermeasuresvessel, the USS Guardian (MCM-5) ranaground on a reef in the Sulu Sea. The 7th Fleetship, based in Sasebo, Japan had recently leftSubic Bay where the ship had stopped for ashort rest and relaxation visit. The accident hasbeen attributed to faulty National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency charts. Navantia isreported to be offering to meet the PhilippinesNavy requirement for a patrol craft andamphibious capabilities with the 90m, 1900tonne Avante 1800 and the 8000 tone Athlas8000 LPD design. The US Marine Corps aredeploying three MV-22B Osprey aircraft to thePhilippines for bilateral training.

Burma’s Defence Minster Vice-SeniorGen. Min Aung Hlaing has visited Singaporeto meet with Singapore's Defence MinisterNg Eng Hen.

Italy's defence minister Adm. GiampaoloDi Paola has visited Vietnam for the first timeto discuss defence cooperation.

The Royal Thai Navy hasordered nine RaytheonEvolved Sea SparrowMissile systems © DoD



East AsiaChina has directed that senior military officerdo not take part in expensive and ostentatiousevents or stay at luxury hotels in new rulesissued by the Central Military Commission.China has provided aid to support the train-ing and equipping for Liberia's military engi-neers, beginning in 2014. China’s PeoplesLiberation Army Navy has transferred elevennaval vessels including two destroyers, sever-al tugs, an icebreaker and a survey ship theNanjing and Nanning to its maritime surveil-lance fleet. China is reported to be developinga carrier borne version of the Y-7 as a carrier-based AEW aircraft. The China’s People’sLiberation Army has recently conducted anexercise when it 'sank' a US carrier with theDF-21D anti-ship missile which had beenmocked up in the Gobi Desert. China has offi-cially acknowledged that it is developing theY-20 large military transport aircraft.Japan’s defence budget for the next finan-

cial year is set to increase by an additional$1.15 billion, paying for new Patriot PAC-3 aiddefence systems and themodernisation of fourF-15J aircraft. Japan has requested the upgradeof the Aegis systems with the Integrated AirMissile Defense system on its two Atago Class

Ships with an estimated cost of $412 million.Japan is looking at the acquisition of the V-22Osprey with studies expected to begin in 2013.One role being looked at is rapidly deployingforces to the Senkaku Islands. The US 3rdMarine Expeditionary Brigade, based in CampCourtney in Okinawa has been designated asthe command element 24 hour responseMarine Air-Ground Task Force in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan is considering options todeploy F-15s currently based in Okinawa tothe Sakishima islands cutting the current420km flight the JASDF must take to reach thedisputed Senkaku Islands.Taiwan is to go ahead with an upgrade of

60 Indigenous Defence Fighters which aredue to be completed by the end of 2013, Theremaining 67 aircraft in the fleet will beupgraded in 2017.Taiwan’s Navy has conducted a public

anti-submarine drill in which the two US-surplus mine hunters were used for the firsttime. Other ships included three frigates andS-2T anti-submarine aircraft. The first of 30AH-64E Apache helicopters are to be deliv-ered to Taiwan in October part of a $6.5 bil-lion deal signed in 2008.South Korea’s government has announced

its intention to set up a newOffice of National

Security under the incoming President ParkGeun-hye which will be tasked with rapid co-ordination of responses to security threats.Seoul has in its latest Defence White Paper,committed to its current western maritimeborder with the North, known as theNorthern Limit Line, a demarcation thatPyongyang doesn't recognise.Seoul has once again requested the RQ-4

Global Hawk from the US, proposing theacquisition of four of the UAVs in a $1.2 bil-lion deal and potentially entering service in2015. The country’s Defense AcquisitionProgram Administration said that Korea wasalso considering the Boeing’s Phantom Eyeand AeroVironment Global Observer. TheAgustaWestland AW159 has been selectedby South Korea's Defence AcquisitionProgram Administration (DAPA) to meet itsnaval helicopter requirement, edging out theMH-60R Seahawk. In the $560 million dealfor eight aircraft, delivery will take place in2015-2016. The first two of a planned ninestrong KSS-3 submarine class are to be builtby Daewoo Shipbuilding & MarineEngineering in a late 2012 contract award.The first boat is due to enter services in 2022having been knocked back five years fromthe original estimate of 2017.

Japan is seeking an upgrade toits two Atago-class destroyerwith the Integrated Air MissileDefense system © DoD



AustralasiaAustralia and China have agreed to holdinga joint military exercise, potentially includ-ing US forces. No timetable has been estab-lished although action is expected in theshort term. Australia and the UK havesigned a defence co-operation agreement inPerth Australia covering cyber security,defence reform, personnel exchange, equip-ment and science and technology althoughcentral amongst this is co-operation over thenew BAE Systems Type 26 Global CombatShip which could meet the requirements ofthe Royal Australian Navy for the ANZACclass replacement.Gen. David Hurley, Australia's Chief of

the Defence Force has stated in a speech to the

Australian Strategic Policy Institute thatdefence co-operation with its neighboursneeds to be increased. HMAS Anzac hasarrived in Sri Lanka on a good will visit,berthing in Colombo and visiting theWesternNaval Command Headquarters there.Austal has launched the first of eight Cape

Class Patrol Boats ordered for the AustralianCustoms and Border Protection Service in adesign, construct and in-service support con-tract worth A$330 million. Delivery of the boatis due in March 2013. All ships are due to bedelivered by August 2015. The first of threeNavantia built sonar hull blocks for the A$8billion Air Warfare Destroyer has arrived inAdelaide from Spain. A further two blockswillbe delivered later in 2013. TheHobart classwill

be equipped with an Ultra Electronics sonarsuite with a Type 2150 hull mounted sonar.Australia has established No. 35 Squadron

to receive the first C-27Js when they arrive in2015. The first C-27J of the ten ordered byAustralia began its final assembly in Januaryat the Alenia Aermacchi plant in Italy.Delivery is planned for 2014.Australia's Defence Science and

Technology Organisation has awardedTeleCommunication Systems a contract forVery Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satel-lite terminals. BAE Systems has won a con-tract to supply flight training services toPapua New Guinea. BAE Systems won aninitial contract in 2011 to supply basic flighttraining based in the UK.


Australia has established No.35 Squadron to receive thefirst C-27Js when they arrivein 2015 © Finmeccanica

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Documents

Asian Military Review - March/April 2013 issue