VOLUME 24/ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 2016 US$15 ASIA PAcific’s LARGEST CIRCULATED DEFENCE MAGAZINE SINGAPORE MODERNISES COASTGUARDS AIR DEFENCE MILITMILITARYARY HELICOPTER MARKETS SOLDIER MODERNISATIONS AIR FORCES DIRECTORY INTERNAL SECURITY VEHICLES www.asianmilitaryreview.com 292mm in. Bleed 292mm in. 286mm Trim 286mm 260mm Live 292mm in. Bleed 292mm in. 286mm Trim 286mm 260mm Live FOR SPECIAL OPS. A SPECIAL EDGE. COMBAT · HUMANITARIAN ·FOR LOGISTICS SPECIAL · RESCUE · OPS.SPECIAL OPS · REFUELING Around the globe, V-22 Ospreys are makingA aSPECIAL critical difference for Special EDGE. Operations Forces—executing long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions unachievable with conventional rotorcraft. The tiltrotor’s unique blend of high speed, long range, survivability and helicopter flexibility has made it the platform of choice, providing a special edge for SOF operators. COMBAT · HUMANITARIAN · LOGISTICS · RESCUE · SPECIAL OPS · REFUELING Around the globe, V-22 Ospreys are making a critical difference for Special Operations Forces—executing long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions unachievable with conventional rotorcraft. The tiltrotor’s unique blend of high speed, long range, survivability and helicopter flexibility has made it the platform of choice, providing a special edge for SOF operators. 184mm Live 213mm Trim 219mm Bleed Job Number: BOEG_BDS_V22_3162M_A Approved Client: Boeing Product: Boeing Defense Space & Security Date/Initials Date: 12/5/14 GCD: P. Serchuk File Name: BOEG_BDS_V22_3162M_A Creative Director: P. Serchuk Output Printed at: 100% Art Director: J. Alexander Fonts: Helvetica Neue 65 184mm Copy Live Writer: P. Serchuk Media: Asian Military Review Print Producer: 213mmAccount Trim Executive: D. 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Frontline Communications Partners 1880 Century Park East, Suite 1011, Los Angeles, CA 90067 &OLHQW)URQWOLQH-RE9HU$' &\DQ 0DJHQWD <HOORZ %ODFN Contents FEBRUARY 2016 VOLUME 24 / ISSUE 1 10 SURVIVAL INSTINCT Despite its small territorial size, Singapore has one of the most technologically-advanced militaries in the Asia-Pacific region. Alex Calvo examines the latest developments in the country’s armed forces. Front Cover Photo: Singaporean and US Air Force fighter pilots after a training sortie: The modernisation of Singapore’s armed forces falls under the spotlight of Alex Calvo’s Survival Instinct article © USAF 16 38 42 46 292mm in. Bleed 292mm in. 286mm Trim 286mm 260mm Live Sensors Working Guarding Bolt to the Blue Overtime Security Guards the Coasts Surface-to-Air Missiles Reducing a soldier’s workload The market for Internal Security Dr. Alix Valenti takes the are in high demand in and fatigue is integral to Vehicles is growing in the temperature of the Offshore the Asia-Pacific,Thomas assisting their mission, and Asia-Pacific, as nations seek Patrol Vessel market in the Newdick explains, with several soldier modernisation vehicles capable of supporting Asia-Pacific and finds these several important ongoing initiatives worldwide are both military and paramilitary craft in high demand from FOR SPECIAL OPS. programmes to this end. assisting in this respect, Andrew operations, Stephen W. Miller navies and coastguards finds out. A SPECIAL EDGE. White investigates. around the region. 28 22 06 COMBAT · HUMANITARIAN · LOGISTICS · RESCUE · SPECIAL OPS · REFUELING Around the globe, V-22 Ospreys are making a critical difference for Special Operations Forces—executing long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions unachievable with conventional rotorcraft. The tiltrotor’s unique blend of high speed, Taking a Air Forces Helicopter View long range, survivability and helicopter flexibility has made it the platform of choice, providing a special edge for SOF operators. Directory Defence budgets in some AMR’s ever-popular Air Forces parts of the Asia-Pacific are Directory returns, compiled experiencing tough times, by Thomas Newdick, giving impacting the market for Thomas Withington’s the low-down on air power military rotorcraft, Andrew regular column providing all of the latest news and analysis regarding developments across the Asia- Drwiega explains. events in the defence radio frequency domain. Pacific. | FEBRUARY 2016 | 03 184mm Live 213mm Trim 219mm Bleed Job Number: BOEG_BDS_V22_3162M_A Approved Client: Boeing Product: Boeing Defense Space & Security Date/Initials Date: 12/5/14 GCD: P. Serchuk File Name: BOEG_BDS_V22_3162M_A Creative Director: P. Serchuk Output Printed at: 100% Art Director: J. Alexander Fonts: Helvetica Neue 65 Copy Writer: P. Serchuk Media: Asian Military Review Print Producer: Account Executive: D. McAuliffe 3C Space/Color: Page — 4 Color — Bleed 50K Client: Boeing 50C Live: 184mm x 260mm 4C 41M Proof Reader: 41Y Trim: 213mm x 286mm Legal: Bleed: 219mm x 292mm Traffic Manager: Patty Lee Gutter: 0 25 50 75 100 Digital Artist: Production Artist: S. Bowman Art Buyer: Retoucher: Vendor: Garvey Group PUBLICATION NOTE: Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order. Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt. If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: Print Production at 310-601-1493. Frontline Communications Partners 1880 Century Park East, Suite 1011, Los Angeles, CA 90067 &OLHQW)URQWOLQH-RE9HU$' &\DQ 0DJHQWD <HOORZ %ODFN Index of Advertisers AERONAUTICS 41 ADAS 57 AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE 21 Editorial BOEING P-8 33 BOEING V22 COVER 2 DSA MALAYSIA COVER 3 ELBIT SYSTEMS 25 EURONAVAL 35 TEMPER EUROSATORY 55 GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL 31 IAI 19 IDEAS PAKISTAN 49 TANTRUMS INDO DEFENCE 51 KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES 9 MBDA 5 erhaps Kim Jong-un was feeling bored? NavY LEAGUE 45 PLATH 7 Perhaps he was feeling unloved? Perhaps he RAFAEL 13 was feeling neglected? Or perhaps all of the RAYTHEON COVER 4 ROSOBORONEXPORT 27 above? The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear showmanship is THALES 15 often blamed on such factors. UMEX 53 P A ‘back of envelope’ theory in the strategic politics of the Asia-Pacific states that whenever Advertising Offices the DPRK’s leadership feels that the interest of the international community in its eccentric Australia Darayus Patva, Publisher’s Internationale behaviour is waning, it metaphorically throws its toys out of its cot. The ‘toy’ in question on 6 Tel: +61 2 8298 9330, Fax: +61 2 9252 2022 January was an alleged thermonuclear weapon, more commonly known as a ‘hydrogen bomb’. Email: [email protected] France/Spain This was not the first time that the DPRK had tested weapons of mass destruction: Its most recent Stephane de Remusat, REM International Tel: (33) 5 3427 0130 foray, before the early January escapades, occurred on 12 February 2013 when a nuclear device, E-Mail: [email protected] with a recorded explosive blast of seven kilotons (equivalent to 70000 tonnes of conventional Germany/Austria/Switzerland/Benelux explosives), was detonated underground at the Punggye-ri Test Site in the northeast of the Sam Baird, Whitehill Media Tel: (44-1883) 715 697 Mobile: (44-7770) 237 646 country. Two other similar tests, but with lower explosive yields, were recorded in May 2009 E-Mail: [email protected] and October 2006. East-Central Europe/Greece/Turkey/UK Zena Coupé Yet the 6 January test represents an ‘upping of the ante’ by Pyongyang. Attempts by the DPRK Tel: +44 1923 852537, [email protected] to master a hydrogen bomb signal the regime’s determination not only to enhance the size of its Nordic Countries/Italy Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg nuclear arsenal, but also the explosive power it can unleash. Without delving too much into the Tel: (46) 31 799 9028 complex physics of a thermonuclear bomb’s modus operandi (admittedly beyond your editor’s E-Mail: [email protected] intellect to comprehend), such weapons are vastly more powerful than ‘vanilla’ nuclear bombs Russia Alla Butova, NOVO-Media