Thailand's Armed Forces Satcom On-The-Move Soldier
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VOLUME 25/ISSUE 7 NOVEMBER 2017 US$15 ASIA PAcific’s LARGEST CIRCULATED DEFENCE MAGAZINE TRAINER AIRCRAFT AMPHIBIOUS AND LOGISTICAL VESSELS HELICOPTER UPGRADES STRATEGIC ANALYSIS THAILAND’S ARMED FORCES SATCOM ON-THE-MOVE SOLDIER MODERNISATION www.asianmilitaryreview.com 02 | ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW | Contents NOVEMBER 2017 VOLUME 25 / ISSUE 7 The military government in Thailand is running a robust equipment procurement programme, from tanks to 06 submarines, but is it coordinated? Front Cover Photo: The Thai Air Force has several fast-jet types including Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs, Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs and Saab THAILAND’S Gripen JAS 39C/Ds (pictured here). SPENDING SPREE 16 30 38 50 AMPHIBIOUS SATCOM ON SUSTAINED KEEPING THEM FACE-OFF, THE MOVE REACH FLYING AND STEP BACK Andrew White looks into Dr Lee Willett examines EFFECTIVE Beth Stevenson analyses evidence of SATCOMs disruption, the strategic signifi cance of Andrew Drwiega takes a look the latest stand-off between and what alternatives such as amphibious and logistical at a selection of recent China and India over Bhutan’s MANET might offer. platforms. rotorcraft upgrades. Doklam Plateau. 24 34 44 MITTENS OR COMBAT SYSTEMS MASTERS, BLUE FOR FUTURE MAGPIES OR SOLDIERS GOLDEN EAGLES? Andrew White profi les how soldier David Oliver takes a look at system development is set to the regional preferences when change not only the look but also it comes to selecting a fl ight Catch up on all the latest defence radio frequency news and the individual performance of training aircraft. analysis in Andrew Drwiega’s regular Pulse column. troops on the battlefi eld. | NOVEMBER 2017 | 03 Index of Advertisers ADAS 45 AIRBUS 9 Editorial ALMAZ ANTEY COVER 3 ASELSAN 29 BELL HELICOPTER 11 BOEING V22 COVER 4 A QUESTION DB CONTROL 23 DIMDEX 43 EUROSATORY 49 OF LEADERSHIP IDEAS 37, 41 IMI 5 INDO DEFENCE 47 im Jong-un, the supreme leader of the JEHAN MOREL 33 MAN DIESEL TURBO 7 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea NEXTER 15 (DPRK), has revealed a worrying weakness in NORTHROP GRUMMAN COVER 2 the established understanding of global state-on-state deterrence. He has shown that ROSOBORONEXPORT 27 SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 51 Kthe leaders of the world’s great economic and military powers have all failed to defl ect him to any SOFEX 53 degree away from his stated aim - becoming a nuclear power armed with intercontinental ballistic SUBSCRIPTION 39 missiles (ICBMs). TAI 21 TELEPHONICS 35 President Trump’s fondness for rhetoric and tweeting has achieved nothing but to embolden Mr. TEXTRON 19 TYRON RUNFLAT 31 Kim to push rapidly ahead with his missile testing programme, to fi re missiles over Japan and on 3 UAC 17 September to conduct the biggest underground nuclear test to date. UTC AERO (ISR) 13 Mr. Trump, who was so critical of ex-President Obama’s statement that the use of chemical weapons Advertising Offi ces by Syria was a “red line” for the United States, followed by no immediate military action, has himself France/Spain been guilty of hollow threats. His tweet that Mr. Kim and his foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho “won’t be Stephane de Remusat, REM International Tel: (33) 5 3427 0130 around much longer,” and statements that the US was “locked and loaded’ and that North Korea would E-Mail: [email protected] be met with “fi re and fury” were not only dangerous, but hugely infl ammatory to a regime that is Germany hallmarked by paranoia, unpredictability and a legendary lack of care for its own people. Sam Baird, Whitehill Media Tel: (44-1883) 715 697 Mobile: (44-7770) 237 646 E-Mail: [email protected] Now, Mr. Trump is threatening to ‘decertify’ the current agreement with Iran brokered by ex- India President Obama’s administration to restrict that country’s nuclear ambitions. Should that happen, Madhavi Gargesh will it send a message to Mr. Kim that a deal with the US can no longer be relied upon either? Tel: +91 9898 000266 Email: [email protected] The leader of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, has equally been shown to have less Turkey / Eastern Europe / UK Zena Coupé infl uence on Mr. Kim than that country would have the world believe. China wants to keep this Tel: +44 1923 852537, [email protected] buffer state intact as it fears the future prospect of a unifi ed Korea, friendly to the US, on its border. Nordic Countries/Italy/ Switzerland Will Mr. Xi use the 19th National Congress during October (as this issue goes to press) to initiate a Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg Tel: (46) 31 799 9028 new strategy towards its crisis centric ally? E-Mail: [email protected] Russia Russian president Vladimir Putin seems content to see both of his strategic advisories continue to Alla Butova, NOVO-Media Ltd, Tel/Fax: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile : (7 960) 783 6653 show their impotence at fi nding a workable solution. Putin’s stance that sanctions do not work and Email :[email protected] that dialogue will lead to a de-escalation ignores the fact that there is no evidence that such a tactic USA (East/South East)/Canada (East) has worked in the past, or would work in the future. Margie Brown, Blessall Media, LLC. Tel : (+1 540) 341 7581 Email: [email protected] On 7 October, Mr. Trump tweeted that “Presidents and their administrations have been talking to USA (West/South West)/Brazil/Canada (West) North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid…Hasn’t worked, Diane Obright, Blackrock Media Inc agreements violated before the ink was dry, making fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one Tel : (+1 858) 759 3557 Email: [email protected] thing will work!” All Other Countries Jakhongir Djalmetov, Media Transasia Limited Strategic brinkmanship is never good. With existing US policy now being challenged by an Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile: +66 81 6455654 unpredictable president, can China and Russia afford to let a ‘hot’ crisis drift unpredictably towards Email: [email protected] Roman Durksen, Media Transasia Limited a barely imaginable confl ict? If that does happen, there will be no winners. Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile +66 9 8252 6243 E-Mail: [email protected] Andrew Drwiega, Editor Editor: Andrew Drwiega Tel: +44 1494 765245, E-mail: [email protected] Publishing Offi ce: Chairman: J.S. Uberoi Audit Bureau Of Circulations Media Transasia Limited,1603, 16/F, Island Place Tower, 510 King’s Road, Hong Kong Controlled circulation: 21,271 (average per issue) certifi ed by ABC Hong Kong, Operations Offi ce: for the period 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2015. 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Tel: 66 (0)-2204 2370, Fax: 66 (0)-2204 2387 Tel: 66 (0)-2204 2370, Fax: 66 (0)-2204 2390 -1 Email: [email protected] 04 | ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW | Photo: Courtesy IDF See us at DEFENSE & SECURITY BANGKOK 2017 Israel Pavilion, Booth F-25 REGIONAL MILITARIES THAILAND’S SPENDING SPREE With the Thai government being controlled he 22 May 2014 coup by the by the National Council for Peace and Order Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, (NCPO), in other words the military, spending Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), not only gave the on a range of hardware across all services Tmilitary authority over the whole country, has increased, a trend that looks set to it also gave them full contol over their own budget. continue. Since 2016, the new military government has placed additional focus on the procurement of armoured vehicles, by Andrew Drwiega and Dr Lee Willet helicopters and frigates to counter southern insurgency and strengthen its current military units. 06 | ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW | Fast Response Naval power solutions by MAN Diesel & Turbo Complete Propulsion Packages Dual Fuel Engines & LNG Fuel Gas Supply Systems Hybrid Power Systems Emission Reduction Technologies MAN PrimeServ Modern naval vessels face extremely complex tasks. As the world’s leading producer of two- and four- stroke engines we serve 59 navies with the whole spectrum of maritime defense applications. Our extensive portfolio includes high-speed engines such as the MAN 175D and MAN 28/33D STC. We offer you eco- friendly and cost-effective package solutions based on state-of-the-art design and robust components. So you can rely on top performance in all conditions. Find out more at www.marine.man.eu Typ 60 - SEM 6 Navy - Fast Response - 213x286.indd 1 2017-09-29 14:24:34 REGIONAL MILITARIES SHAUN C CONNORS SHAUN The modernisation of a Royal Thai Navy Cadillac Gage V-150 by Panus Assembly may lead to the company receiving a contract to transform the entire fleet of 24 vehicles to the new HMV-150 standard. On 27 February this year, Thailand’s Financially, the Modernisation Plan sets piercing fin-stabilised discarding-sabot Ministry of Defence launched its 10- out to increase existing defence spending (APFSDS), high explosive anti tank year military development programme which is around 1.4 percent of Gross (HEAT) and gun mount (GM) rounds.