VOLUME 27/ISSUE 3 MAY 2019 US$15 ASIA PAcific’s LARGEST CIRCULATED DEFENCE MAGAZINE CHINESE COAST GUARD MULTI-MISSION COUNTERING IEDS MARITIME HELICOPTERS SINGAPORE COUNTRY FOCUS FRIGATES/CORVETTES INFANTRY SUPPORT WEAPONS ANTI ACCESS/AREA DENIAL www.asianmilitaryreview.com ELECTRONICS & DEFENSE OBSERVE, DECIDE, GUIDE INTELLIGENCE ONBOARD PEMA 2M © Safran - ESO / L.Calçada / Daniel Linares - © Safran - ESO / L.Calçada Daniel Linares SAFRAN ELECTRONICS & DEFENSE, INTELLIGENCE ONBOARD Day after day, you face critical challenges. The products and services developed by Safran Electronics & Defense, whether civil or military, deliver the technological superiority, effectiveness, reliability and competitiveness you expect. We’re with you every step of the way, building in the intelligence that gives you a critical advantage in observation, decision-making and guidance. You can count on Safran Electronics & Defense, your strategic safran-electronics-defense.com partner on land, at sea, in the air and in space. : @SafranElecDef safran_IntelEmbarque213x286_VA.indd 1 09/04/2019 16:57 Contents MAY 2019 VOLUME 27 / ISSUE 3 Stephen W Miller examines the latest 06 machine guns for infantry squads. HMAS Ballarat’s embarked Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopter conducts a forward passenger transfer with HMAS Rankin inside Cockburn Sound, Western Australia during early 2018. (RAN) RAINING LEAD 12 20 24 FRIGATES FILL SUB HUNTERS ARE THE MARITIME GAP IN DEMAND THE NEED FOR SEAD Budgets in Asian Pacifi c can be more Andrew Drwiega reviews multi-mission Anti access / area denial (A2/AD) has justifi ed for ‘workhorse’ frigates and maritime helicopter developments and become a hot topic in the Asia Pacifi c corvettes, says Tim Fish. requirements in Asia Pacifi c. region as Dr Tom Withington explains. 28 32 36 42 SINGAPORE’S ROADMAP FOR BLAST COAST GUARD NEXT GENERATION ANALYSTS WITH MUSCLES PROTECTION FORCE Countering IEDs is a skill that COLUMN The Chinese Coast Guard is a has been hard won and JR Ng reports on plans to Columnist Ben Ho takes a look force to bew reckoned with and should not be forgotten as modernise Singapore’s tri-service at Malaysia’s Light Combat has not stopped growing as Grant Turnbull discovers. capability to 2030 and beyond. Aircraft requirement. JR Ng reports. | MAY 2019 | 03 Index of Advertisers ASELSAN 15 Editorial COLLINS AEROSPACE 17 CONTROP 29 DSEI 39, COVER 4 D&S THAILAND COVER 3 GENERAL ATOMICS COVER 4 IAI 13, 19 HEEDING LEONARDO 5 LIMA 41 THE WARNINGS NEXTER 25 PBS VELKA 27 he Easter Sunday multiple suicide bombing attacks against civilians at prayer in churches and SAFRAN COVER 2 others beginning their day at tourist hotels mainly around Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, SRC 11 claimed the lives of at least 310 people and injured over 500 at time of writing. The attack represented not just an atrocity in that country but ranks as one of the worst attacks in the TAR IDEAL 23 Tannals of modern day terrorism. UTC AEROSPACE 9 Unfortunately Sri Lanka is no stranger to mass slaying. In 1990 the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) massacred *ENTIRES HIGHLIGHTED WITH RED NUMBER IS between 600 and 774 unarmed police offi cers on 11 June 1990 during their separatist war with the Sri FOUND IN SUPPLEMENT Lankan government. While the 1990 attack was carried out by a known terrorist organisation, the LTTE again demonstrated Advertising Offi ces surprise and determination by attacking Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo’s international France/Spain airport, on 24 July 2001. The attack destroyed or damaged nearly half of Sri Lankan airlines fl eet of Stephane de Remusat, REM International intercontinental aircraft and had a deep effect on not only the Sri Lankan government and people, but Tel: (33) 5 3427 0130 also commerce. Tourism plunged by around 15 percent by the year’s end. E-Mail: [email protected] Germany In contrast, the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by an almost unknown terrorist organisation, Sam Baird, Whitehill Media National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), a splinter group of the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ), which Tel: (44-1883) 715 697 Mobile: (44-7770) 237 646 was reportedly not considered to be a highly ranked terrorist threat. Daesh has claimed responsibility E-Mail: [email protected] which would account for the coordinate nature of the attack and the planning behind it. They have Turkey / Eastern Europe / UK prosecuted suicide attacks internationally for many years. Zena Coupé Tel: +44 1923 852537, [email protected] However, although the series of attacks is now being analysed by the Sri Lankan security services and Nordic Countries/Italy/ Switzerland arrests have been made as this issue goes to print, it is emerging that foreign intelligence sources were Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg warning of impending attacks on multiple occasions in the weeks leading up to the event. Tel: (46) 31 799 9028 E-Mail: [email protected] A BBC online report on Tuesday 23 April stated: “Addressing reports that offi cials had had prior Russia intelligence of forthcoming attacks, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said: ‘We must look into Alla Butova, NOVO-Media Ltd, why adequate precautions were not taken. Neither I nor the ministers were kept informed.’” Tel/Fax: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile : (7 960) 783 6653 Email :[email protected] Political turmoil is partly being blamed on why intelligence warnings, particularly from Indian USA (East/South East)/Canada (East) sources, were not properly followed up and orders given for security to be increased, particularly when Margie Brown, Blessall Media, LLC. ‘churches’ appear to have been highlighted by the intelligence agencies as likely targets. Tel : (+1 540) 341 7581 Email: [email protected] As was reported in this column in the June/July 2018 issue of Asian Military Review, the defence USA (West/South West)/Brazil/Canada (West) ministers of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, meeting during the Defence Services Asia exposition in Diane Obright, Blackrock Media Inc Kuala Lumpur in April 2018, warned of a growing regional threat to peace once Daesh had been defeated Tel : (+1 858) 759 3557 in Syria and Iraq. Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein warned delegates: “Given that Email: [email protected] SE Asia is in Daesh’ crosshairs - from returning fi ghters, local groups or lone wolves - they will seek All Other Countries to exploit the vulnerable hotspots in our region.” He cited the fi ve month long siege of Marawi in the Jakhongir Djalmetov, Media Transasia Limited Philippines as an example of growing organisation within the Asia Pacifi c’s extremist groups. Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile: +66 81 6455654 Email: [email protected] Intelligence is a precious and time sensitive commodity that requires rapid dissemination to those Roman Durksen, Media Transasia Limited tasked with defeating the threat and protecting those who may be in harm’s way. Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile +66 83 6037989 E-Mail: [email protected] Andrew Drwiega, Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief: Andrew Drwiega Tel: +44 1494 765245, E-mail: [email protected] Publishing Offi ce: Chairman: J.S. 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Inspired by the vision, curiosity and creativity of the great master inventor - Leonardo is designing the technology of tomorrow. leonardocompany.com Helicopters | Aeronautics | Electronics, Defence & Security Systems | Space Untitled-2 1 4/23/19 2:49 PM LAND WARFARE USAF The light machine gun offers effective suppressive fires for the infantry squad. Typically these, like the US M249 SAW from FN (shown), use the same ammunition as the squad’s riflemen. RAINING LEAD Still master of the battlefield for well over a century, no infantry formation today would wish go into a conflict without the latest machine guns and squad automatic weapons. by Stephen W. Miller kilful employment of the Although well aimed shots by individual of the company or may be attached to machine gun and the squad riflemen offer a valuable contribution a platoon where terrain dictates or a automatic rifle are keys to by themselves they cannot replace the mission requires. LMGs/ARs are organic a successful defence and destructive power and physiological to the squad/small unit and are integral attack. Their positioning impact of the machine gun. to its tactics. andS direction is a primary concern of These weapons fall into two groups small unit leaders at squad, platoon, the medium or support machine guns Crew Served Machine Guns and company level. Their accurate and light machine guns (LMG) or squad Medium machine guns (MMG) are belt and sustained fires suppress enemy automatic rifles (AR).