VOLUME 24/ISSUE 2 MARCH 2016 US$15 ASIA PAcific’s LARGEST CIRCULATED DEFENCE MAGAZINE COAST GUARDS SUBMARINES ANTI-SHIP MISSILES NIGHT VISION INDIAN ARMED FORCES LIGHT ATTACK AIRCRAFT AIR COMMAND AND CONTROL www.asianmilitaryreview.com new CAC0235 Beech Defense AT-6_Wolverine_Asian Military Review_8.25x11.25.pdf 1 3/1/16 3:13 PM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Contents MARCH 2016 VOLUME 24 / ISSUE 2 THE TIGER’S 10 TALONS SHARPEN Rahul Bedi takes the temperature of several leading Indian army and air force programmes, and details new procurement plans. Front Cover Photo: The Royal Australian Navy’s ‘Collins’ class conventional hunter-killer submarines are to be replaced, as discussed in Dr. Alix Valenti’s The Silent Service article in this issue © RAN 16 34 40 46 Guarding the Dragon’s Den Train As Vision Thing! Moat Peter Donaldson casts his You Fight The international community’s eyes over some of the latest RAP-pers Delight Thomas Newdick profiles definition of a coast guard’s technological enhancements Thomas Withington examines some of the light combat duties and those of the to infantry night vision recent developments to aircraft in service around People’s Republic of China systems, and possible future improve Integrated Air Defence the Asia-Pacific for training differ significantly,Andrew developments. Systems throughout the and light ground attack Drwiega explains. Asia-Pacific area. missions. 22 28 06 When Neptune The Silent Gets Angry Asia-Pacific navies have an Service impressive range of anti-ship Renewed interest in submarines missiles and torpedoes with in the Asia-Pacific region is which to arm their aircraft, resulting in some major ships and submarines, Gerrard Thomas Withington’s regular column providing all of the latest news procurement initiatives and Cowan explains. and analysis regarding events in the defence radio frequency domain. aspirations, Dr. Alix Valenti reports. | MARCH 2016 | 03 Index of Advertisers AMR DIGITAL 21 AUVSI XPONENTIAL 39 Editorial DIMDEX 51 ELBIT SYSTEMS 37 EURONAVAL 45 EUROSATORY 57 FLIR COVER 4 HEY IAI 31 IDEAS PAKISTAN 53 INDO DEFENCE 55 BIG SPENDER! RAFAEL 13 rosoboronexport 27 SAGEM 25 Concern and dissatisfaction,” was the response of SOFEX 49 the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Foreign SOLDIER MODERNISATION COVER 3 SUBSCRIPTION 43 Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, to the TEXTRON AVIATION COVER 2 publication of Australia’s long-awaited Defence White Paper on 25 February. TRIJICON 19 UKROBORONPROM ‘SKIF’ 5 “ The PRC’s response was no great surprise, given that the white paper had earmarked Chinese maritime and territorial claims in the East and South China Seas as “points of friction” regarding Advertising Offices the current and anticipated future strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific. The PRC’s oft-repeated Australia defence that its activities in these regions are nothing but peaceful is reminiscent of a dentist Darayus Patva, Publisher’s Internationale Tel: +61 2 8298 9330, Fax: +61 2 9252 2022 telling you that the treatment will not hurt. Unsurprisingly many nations around the Asia-Pacific, Email: [email protected] including Australia, are not entirely trustful of Beijing’s claims. For example, on 23 November France/Spain 2013, the establishment of an Air Defence Identification Zone by the PRC over the East China Stephane de Remusat, REM International Tel: (33) 5 3427 0130 Sea encompassing the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands under Japanese sovereignty, but claimed by the E-Mail: [email protected] PRC and Taiwan, was met with alarm throughout much of the region. Germany/Austria/Switzerland/Benelux Sam Baird, Whitehill Media Tel: (44-1883) 715 697 Mobile: (44-7770) 237 646 Canberra may be prepared to give Beijing the benefit of the doubt by not militarily challenging E-Mail: [email protected] the PRC’s strategic posture in these areas, but as the publication of the white paper illustrates, it East-Central Europe/Greece/Turkey/UK Zena Coupé is prepared to spend big to ensure that its military is a deterrent to any further Chinese strategic Tel: +44 1923 852537, [email protected] expansion. Regarding facts and figures, the white paper pledges the Australian defence budget Nordic Countries/Italy Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg to increase by $26 billion over the next decade. This will take defence spending to circa two Tel: (46) 31 799 9028 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product annually. This is a highly symbolic figure as it E-Mail: [email protected] Russia is also the non-binding stipulation regarding defence expenditure levels for the North Atlantic Alla Butova, NOVO-Media Ltd, Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) membership. Although Australia lies far away from NATO’s core Tel/Fax: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile : (7 960) 783 6653 Email :[email protected] membership, it enjoys close strategic relations with NATO, and particularly with the United Victoria Startseva, Media Transasia Limited States and United Kingdom, both leading members of the Alliance. Tel: +7 905 585 2956 E-Mail: [email protected] Perhaps the most graphic example of the white paper’s focus on the potential threat posed by South Korea Young Seoh Chinn, Jes Media Inc. the PRC is the plans it stipulates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The document formally Tel: (82-2) 481 3411 E-Mail: [email protected] committed the RAN to purchasing up to twelve new conventional hunter-killer submarines USA (East/South East)/Canada (East) (SSKs) to replace the service’s existing ‘Collins’ class SSKs; a programme discussed in more Margie Brown, Blessall Media, LLC. Tel : (+1 540) 341 7581 detail in Dr. Alix Valenti’s The Silent Service article in this issue. Such vessels will provide a Email: [email protected] strong means of deterring People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) sea power at range. Other USA (West/South West)/Brazil/Canada (West) additions for the navy include twelve new frigates to replace the existing ‘ANZAC’ class, the Diane Obright, Blackrock Media Inc Tel : (+1 858) 759 3557 same number of Offshore Patrol Vessels and the procurement of eight Boeing P-8A Poseidon Email: [email protected] maritime patrol aircraft (already on order). These naval procurements are particularly important All Other Countries Vishal Mehta, Media Transasia Limited as the PLAN’s sea power is central to its strategic posture in the East and South China Seas. Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile +66 9 8252 6243 E-Mail: [email protected] Providing that current and future Australian governments fulfil all the commitments outlined in Jakhongir Djalmetov, Media Transasia Limited Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile: +66 81 6455654 the white paper, the RAN will arguably have the most modern navy in the Asia-Pacific, alongside Email: [email protected] the United States Navy, over the next decade. Despite Beijing’s repeated reassurances, Canberra is clearly risk-averse as regards the PRC’s strategic intentions. Thomas Withington, Editor Editor: Thomas Withington Tel: (33) 562 271 697, E-mail: [email protected] Publishing Office: Audit Bureau Of Circulations Chairman: J.S. 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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 | Untitled-1 1 2/15/16 10:29 AM by Thomas Withington Saab announces a new incarnation of its Erieye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, with Turkey revealing important acquisitions of new electronic warfare equipment, while Elbit Systems disclose some significant enhancements for their tactical radio waveforms. Saab’s Erieye AEW aircraft has been enhanced with the development of the firm’s GlobalEye offering, which also includes ground and maritime surveillance radars, as well as an air surveillance system © Saab Radar contracts with Saab in November 2015 for two of these aircraft, Saab took advantage of the Singapore Air Show, held in the city with deliveries expected in circa late 2018/early 2019. state in mid-February, to launch its latest AEW product. Dubbed In other AEW news sources close to Israel Aerospace Indus- the GlobalEye, the firm’s offering joins its legacy Erieye AEW tries (IAI) have revealed to AMR that the company expects to platform. At the heart of the GlobalEye is the firm’s extended- deliver its first AEW aircraft to Italy by the end of this year. The range variant of the Erieye known as the Erieye-ER. This S-band country signed a deal with IAI in July 2012 for the supply of (2.3-2.5/2.7-3.7 Gigahertz/GHz) radar includes Ground Moving two Gulfstream G550 aircraft, equipped with IAI ELTA Systems Target Indicator and Synthetic Aperture Radar modes to allow it divisions’ EL/W-2085 radar worth $750 million. The EL/W-2085 to perform over-ground surveillance. In turn, this radar has been uses conformal longitudinal fuselage, and nose- and tail-mount- teamed with a Selex Seaspray-7500E X-band (8.5-10.68GHz) ra- ed arrays to provide 360 degree coverage around the aircraft.