Asian Military Review - September/October 2018

Volume 26/issue 6

september/october 2018 US$15

A s i a P a c i f i c ’ s L a r g e s t C i r c u la t e d D e f e n c e M a g a Z i n e

AUSTRALIAN ARMED FORCES NAVAL SYNTHETIC TRAINING PRECISION GUIDED C5I AND TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS MUNITIONS MILITARY ROTORCRAFT RUSSIAN HELICOPTER UPGRADES ANTI-SURFACE MISSILES NAVAL CLOSEAND TORPEDOES IN WEAPONS SYSTEMS www.asianmilitaryreview.com

Contents

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 VOLUME 26 / ISSUE 6

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The MQ-4C Triton is finally coming to Australia following an acquisition confirmation this summer.

Dr Lee Willett finds out how shore based training in the Royal Australian Navy means more mission days on the ocean.

SHORE-BASED TRAINING GIVES BACK DAYS AT SEA

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GUNNING FOR TROUBLE Andrew Drwiega finds that the ‘big stick’ attack helicopter is still an asset prized by nations in Asia Pacific.

30 AUSTRALIA RECAPITALISES DEFENCE FORCE Australia is following the blueprint of its 2016 Defence White paper to make acquisitions that will reshape the Australian Defence Force.

Andrew Drwiega reviews.

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ANTI-SHIP ATTACK ABOVE AND BELOW THE WAVES Tim Fish takes a look at the impact of the anti-ship missile (ASM) revolution.

MODERN C5ISR DEMANDS GREATER BREADTH AND DEPTH The challenges of wider than ever communications requirements, and the arrival of C5I, is examined

by Peter Donaldson.

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ASM THREAT TO SHIPS COUNTERED

BY FAST DRAW CWIS Stephen W Miller takes a look at the range and effectiveness of Close-In Weapons Systems.

HIND, HAVOC AND HALO JUST GOT BETTER

Russian Helicopters invited AMR’s editor Andrew Drwiega to Russia to witness its recently modernised range of military rotorcraft.

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ANALYSTS COLUMN New columnist Anthony Davis gives a sharp analysis of the Myanmar Army.

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ADEX

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CODAN

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DATRON

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COVER 3

EXCALIBUR

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HENSHOLDT

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IDEX

39

ISDEF

45

LEONARDO

7, 15

MADEX

43

NAVDEX

37

NEXTER

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OTOKAR

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27 23, COVER 4

UTC SIS

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Editorial AUSTRALIA BUILDS C5I CAPABILITIES In the past year alone, we’ve seen rapid economic and military growth across Asia, improvement in the prospect for peace on the Korean peninsula and a terrorism threat that has evolved in unexpected ways,” said Australia’s newly appointed Minister for Defence, Christopher Pyne during his speed on the opening day of the Land Forces 2018 exposition (4-6 September) in Adelaide, Australia.

The Australian government sees the role of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) not only in terms of defending the country, but very much as a significant contributor to Indo-Pacific and wider world security.

Regionally, China continues to develop its maritime naval capability matched with a likely ever increasing expansion into a variety of sea areas, particularly the South China Sea which it now considers as its territorial ‘backwater.’

At time of writing (6 September), the BBC reported that the Chinese had warned a British warship, HMS Albion, over ‘provocative actions’ because it had been conducting ‘freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) close to the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea. Considering the investment that China has spent developing bases in the Paracels, Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal in direct contravention of established international agreements regarding ownership of the islands, the continuation and pressure to increase multinational FONOPS by the US Navy (USN), Royal Navy (RN) and others including the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is likely to intensify.

In his speech on 4 September, Pyne highlighted his government’s belief that its Defence Cooperation Programme should be seen as a regional confidence builder, particularly through “the amount of training that Australia provides for international military students in Australia; the number of exercises that the Australian Defence Force participates in across our region, and the number of Australian Defence Force personnel located overseas to conduct international engagement with partner nations.”

The threat of terrorism is certainly something that is concerning governments across Asia, particularly those with large muslim populations that may be exposed to the radical views of extremists returning from Iraq/Syria. At the Defence Services Asia (DSA) meeting earlier this year the Ministers of Defence from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand all expressed their concerns and agreed that mutual cooperation and support was essential. Australia’s Special Forces have been deployed against Daesh and insurgent groups alongside their North American and western European counterparts, and have skills that they can share regionally.

Monitoring the security situation in the region, both overtly and covertly, is something in which the Australian government is investing. There are a number of official documents that more deeply illustrate how the ADF will have its capabilities modernised and broadened. In particular, the Defence Integrated Investment Programme underlines the need to enhance “intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, space and cyber capabilities”. Geospatial data collection and analysis, improved cyber defence will also feed into enhancing the capability to conduct electronic warfare across a broad spectrum.

This will be achieved through a number of means which will lead to the improved collation and assessment of intelligence from various sources. Traditional methods focus on airborne assets and there will be no shortage of these due to the acquisition of Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon, unmanned systems including Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, the data collation capability of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightening II, the Boeing E/A - 18G Growler and further data feeds from warships including the Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyer, BAE Systems T-26 Global Combat Ship and more.

If these promising capabilities can be fully networked into providing a real-time comprehensive picture through all levels of potential user, from the Prime Minister down to troops and units deployed on operations, Australia will have an integrated capability of which it can be truly proud.

Andrew Drwiega, Editor

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HMAS Watson hosts several synthetic training facilities, including a guided-missile frigate simulator. Here, personnel train in the simulator during Exercise Shield Maiden in March 2018.

SHORE-BASED TRAINING GIVES BACK DAYS AT SEA Synthetic training is helping the Royal Australian Navy to refocus on core warfighting as well as maximising.

by Dr Lee Willett

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he Royal Australian Navy (RAN), in common with many of its peers, is looking to introduce new approaches and technologies but while also addressing returning traditional challenges such as the reemergence of state-based threats. For the RAN, this balance is evident in how it uses synthetic training in preparing its personnel and forces for higher-end, including task group, operations.

At the centre of the RAN’s operational requirements is a return to what the service terms ‘core warfighting’. This ‘return to high-end warfighting’ is somewhat of a vogue concept in current Western naval debates.

However, according to Commodore Justin Jones, the RAN’s Commodore Training, the service

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is “trying to move away from using the term ‘high-end warfighting’ and bring it back to ‘core warfighting’, because that actually is our business”. This includes anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and air warfare predominantly, within the wider context of maritime warfare.

Like many other Western navies again, in recent times the RAN has been focused on lower-end, constabularybased taskings personified by maritime security operations. For the RAN, this has included a prominent presence in the Middle East and the northwest Indian Ocean in support of Australia’s Operation Manitou – a national tasking designed to support international efforts to build maritime security, stability, and prosperity those regions.

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The shift from maritime security to maritime warfare as the core focus has also occurred in tandem with the arrival of several new capability elements very much focused on the higher end of the operational spectrum. Together, these elements will make up the core of the RAN’s new task group construct.

The elements include two Canberraclass landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships and three Hobart-class guided-missile destroyers (DDGs). The two LHDs are both in service, and lead Hobart-class DDG HMAS Hobart commissioned in September 2017. In the medium term, the position of these two platform types at the centre of the RAN’s emerging task group will be reinforced with the arrival of 12 new diesel-electric

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submarines (SSKs), under the Sea 1000 Future Submarine programme, and nine new frigates under the Sea 5000 Future Frigate programme – recently announced as the Hunter class, and based on BAE Systems’ Type 26 Global Combat Ship.

As regards training to support this emerging task group concept, Cdre Jones said: “Where we can, we are bringing ships together to train [and deploy] together in task groups.” “We still put ships through their individual training for the unit-level training, but actually where we can we ensure that we are doing that in company with other ships, so that it becomes a routine, a ritual,” he continued. “People understand that they’re not operating as an independent ship.” Training, coaching, and ultimately certification is completed using habitual exercises and activities, but the RAN is now “coming at it through the lens of a task group”, the commodore added: in other words, “how the ship is complementing the sum of the capability that is offered by the task group, where each individual ship is a capability brick, if you like, within a larger formation”.

Such training “has benefits of scale”, he added. Scale in task group training increases capacity across the spectrum of operations, from international engagement at the lowest level up to training with allies and partners in core

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Personnel training onboard the RAN’s full-mission bridge simulator, situated within the Navy Synthetic Warfare Centre at the HMAS Watson shore facility, Sydney.

warfighting, the commodore added. “So that’s the core of our philosophy.”

This expanding scale is also evident in the RAN’s philosophy relating to the synthetic elements of training. “I’d say that our navy’s use of synthetic training is vibrant, it’s increasing in scale,” Cdre Jones argued. While he noted that smallto medium-sized navies’ training often

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is limited by resource constraints such as staffing, time, and money, “[the RAN’s] approach is to use synthetic training wherever we can to complement the sea training,” he said.

Synthesising training and operations Cdre Jones is responsible for the spectrum of training, for both officer and sailor

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The RAN’s Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) vessel HMAS Adelaide (centre), the auxiliary ship HMAS Success (third right), the FFG 7 frigate HMAS Mel-bourne (second right), and the ANZAC-class frigate HMAS Toowoomba (second left) sail in formation with the Royal New Zealand Navy ANZAC frigate HMNZS Te Mana (right), and the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver while transiting to Hawaii to participate in the US Navy-led ‘RIMPAC 18’ exercise.

The RAN’s two LHDs sit at the centre of the navy’s returning focus on task group operations and core warfighting.

recruits, across the career continuum, and also for ‘collective training’ – the RAN’s term for the training of ships at sea. Within the ‘collective training’ construct, synthetic training is becoming an increasingly important element of preparing ships for operations.

The RAN has a full-mission bridge simulator, situated within the Navy Synthetic Warfare Centre at the HMAS Watson shore training facility in Sydney.

Several smaller bridge simulators also are sited there, alongside operations room models for various ship classes including the Adelaide-class FFG 7 guided-missile frigates, the DDGs, and the ANZAC-class frigates. At the Navy Training Systems Centre at Randwick, Sydney and at the HMAS Cerberus shore facility just south of Melbourne, the RAN also has platform management system and machinery control simulators. Training Authority Submarines in Western Australia is home to the navy’s submarine control room simulator, and located nearby is a second ANZAC frigate operations room model that is used for both operator and maintainer training.

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Royal Australian Navy (RAN) senior officers, including Commodore Justin Jones (Commodore Training, second left), observe work-up training onboard an ANZAC-class guided-missile frigate, alongside at Fleet Base East, Garden Island, Sydney.

air/surface search system fitted to the Cdre Jones highlighted three examples ANZAC-class frigates) and the Lockheed of why the use of synthetic training is becoming more important. First, he said, Martin Aegis combat system (installed in the three Hobart-class DDGs), Cdre Jones “over the last two years, we have modified argued that “access to assets is certainly our sea training model … to reduce the [a benefit provided by synthetic training] amount of time that we’re consuming at in the warfare domain.” “The reality is sea and replace it with simulation.” Such we cannot adequately test those combat simulation work – especially for unit systems at sea with the limited assets,” readiness or mission readiness work-up – is done with the ship alongside. Here, he continued. “You cannot muster enough assets, both surface and air, to the training focuses on the ship’s combat appropriately test those systems and the system and also on its onboard training people that operate the systems. So, really, systems. Moreover, while originally the only place you can do that is the focused largely on the operations room synthetic environment.” and warfare capabilities, “what was “You can create situations in synthetic learned over time is (the) approach to training alongside can encompass whole- training that you can’t in live training, of-ship activities”, the commodore noted. in the real world,” the commodore continued.

Synthetic training, he When coupled with the time benefits for argued, offers “consistency of scenario, activity debriefing and lessons-learned digestion offered by being alongside, consistency of product, the ability to control an environment to suit desired Cdre Jones said the RAN is now seeing training outcomes, (and) the ability to “exponential increases in the quality actually take people safely to their limits of training delivery and the follow-on without endangering platforms and performance of the ship’s company”. people”. Overall, “synthetic training is a “So, in summary, we’re reducing very important adjunct to the real world the amount of time we’re spending at simply because we get cost-effective and sea but the quality of the training is safe means to test people to their limits intact, or in some cases is enhanced, by complementing with simulation-based … that you cannot necessarily create with the same safety considerations training.” and controlled environment in the real Second, given the high-end world.” “We’ve seen very positive results technological nature of contemporary from that training continuum now,” Cdre naval capabilities, for example phased Jones added. array radars (such as the CEAFAR

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Moreover, he explained, “If you can reduce the amount of time you are consuming sea days that have a cost attached to them in material sustainment, maintenance, fuel, so that you can concentrate those (days) on actual operations and missions, then that is of benefit to the organisation.”

Third, he continued, the use of synthetic training means that the RAN also has “significantly changed the way we train, coach, assess, and ultimately certify our officers of the watch.” Bridge warfare qualifications are gained in the simulator, with qualification awarded by a shore-based training authority. “Our aim,” said Cdre Jones, “is to … qualify people ashore, and accredit and/or endorse them at sea for their particular platform …. That’s our aspiration.” This intended approach applies across the spectrum of skills, from officers of the watch, to warfare specialists, and to marine engineers and other technicians.

With this philosophy applied across the board, Cdre Jones argued that the RAN’s approach “is actually leading edge in navies in the world … at the moment”.

Synthetics and scaling up at sea In many areas, the leading edge and largest scale in Western naval capabilities and operations is usually delivered by the US Navy (USN). From the RAN’s perspective, its own growing use of synthetic training

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is having a particular benefit in terms of its operational – and wider strategic – relationship with the USN. In terms of how synthetic training can maximise impact on live operations, Cdre Jones pointed to the fleet synthetic training activities the RAN conducts with the USN. Here, the RAN participates in activities within the USN’s Fleet Synthetic Training programme, particularly those activities emanating out of Yokosuka in Japan (home of US 7th Fleet) or San Diego (US 3rd Fleet headquarters). In such activities, said Cdre Jones, the RAN “can man the ops room of simulators out at HMAS Watson … but also plug in ships alongside using onboard training systems, and likewise for those [USN] ships alongside in port in Yokosuka and San Diego”.

“For those (RAN) ships with the capability to do so, we might participate in those sorts of activities from sea as well,” the commodore continued. “It might be that it’s a synthetic picture generated and uploaded to the common operating picture via Link.”

construct. “We’re increasingly using our “On average, we’re doing two major own synthetic capabilities out of HMAS activities a year now, synthetically, with Watson and, where we can, involving the the US – so, usually, one in the first half US, when we’re training up Commander of the year and one in the second half of Task Group staff and then task group the year.” In addition, the commodore commanding officers and task group continued, there are likely also to be personnel,” Cdre Jones noted. synthetic elements to major exercises such As regards the broader benefits for the as the biennial Australia/US bilateral RAN in such training activities with the ‘Talisman Sabre’ exercise and the USN’s USN, at the tactical end “scale is always own ‘RIMPAC’ multinational series. an important consideration, and what Synthetic training in such exercises can you get … is just that increase in scale,” include Live, Virtual, and Constructive Cdre Jones stated. In strategic terms, (LVC) training activities. Live training larger exercises such as ‘RIMPAC’ and involves real ships and real people. “The Talisman Sabre, but also the more discreet ‘virtual’,” said Cdre Jones, involves units synthetic training activities, provide “participating either in their ships being alongside or out in operations room “strategic-level exposure to positions as models in shore establishments”. “Thus, Deputy Commander, Combined Force real people operating simulated systems,” Maritime Component Commander, and Surface Combatant Commander that the commodore added. “Constructive can’t necessarily be replicated to the same training generally refers to simulated scale and complexity within Australia.” people operating simulated systems: Overall, the benefits for the RAN of in this case, real people make inputs to this routine engagement with the USN the simulations but are not involved in encompass not only the opportunity to determining the outcomes.” work regularly with its major ally but The increasing levels of synthetic also “scale, complexity, and access to core interaction with the USN are also warfighting”, Cdre Jones added. AMR helping to develop the RAN’s task group

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GUNNING FOR TROUBLE Asian countries are looking to upgrade their attack helicopters, with not only peer-to-peer warfighting but also with internal security in mind.

by Andrew Drwiega

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ttack helicopters still have a large profile as a ‘good to have’ weapon of choice among militaries in Asia Pacific. Pakistan’s journey toward buying a modern capability has been long with interest in Bell’s AH-1Z and China’s Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAIC) Z-10. However, on Friday 13 July the Pakistan government signed a deal reputed to be worth $1.5 billion with Turkish Aerospace

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International to buy 30 T129 ATAK attack helicopters.

However, at time of writing (early September) a potential block to this deal had arisen due to the export of parts made in the United States which, due to a growing strain on the relationship between the US and Pakistan, could now be subject to export restrictions.

The TAI T129 is manufactured in Turkey under license from Leonardo, the original designer of the A129 Mangusta

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(Mongoose). Leonardo is moving on from the A129 Mangusta, currently in service with the Italian Army and is looking to develop a new attack helicopter labelled the AW249, potentially with a joint development partner such as TAI. The TAI T129 was part of a large defence contract announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistan and Turkey recently agreed on terms on the largest ever defence contract signed between the two countries. Turkey

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has already delivered 35 T129s to the Turkish Army and Gendarmerie.

The Pakistan Army has evaluated a number of helicopters over the last few years including Bell’s AH-1Z, the CAIC Z-10, Russian Helicopters Mi-35 as well as the T129. It currently operates around 32 ageing Bell AH-1 Cobras Although Pakistan had placed an order for 15 AH-1Z Vipers with Bell, the delivery of all of these new attack helicopters to the Pakistan Army is now under threat following the decsion by the US State Department that it would reallocate $323.6 million in funds that were scheduled to go to Pakistan to help in the fight against terrorists. The decision was made due to “a lack of Pakistani decisive actions,” according to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Kone Faulkner. It

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The Indian Army has ordered six additional AH-64E Apaches, adding to the 22 it bought in 2015 from a Foreign Military Sales deal with the United States.

is understood that the Pakistan Army already has three AH-1Zs. Contracts to equip the Pakistan Army AH-1Zs under Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreements included a $9 million order received by General Dynamics-OTS on 7 December 2017 from US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), based at Patuxent River in Maryland, USA, for the procurement of 41 A/A49E-7 (V4) gun turrets for AH-1Z helicopters in support of the Marine Corps and the government of Pakistan. The completion date was set as August 2021. Pakistan’s share of the cost was set at just over $3 million.

Previously on 22 December 2016, Locheed Martin Missile and Fire Control also received a contract for $150 million for its AN/AAQ-30 Target Sight System (TSS) used by the AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter. The TSS is a large-aperture mid wave forward-looking infrared sensor with a laser designator/rangefinder turret. The TSS provides the capability to identify and laser-designate targets at maximum weapon range, significantly enhancing platform survivability and lethality. Pakistan’s share of this contract was stated at around 12 percent.

Other weapons and equipment include Lockheed Martin AGM-114R Hellfire II anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), spare General Electric T700GE-401C turboshaft engines,BAE AN/ ALE-47 countermeasures, maintenance support and training. The Pakistan Army will have a similar version of the Viper to the USMC, in that they will be equipped with Thales TopOwl helmet-mounted display (HMD) systems, Lockheed Martin Target Sight System (TSS) electro-optical

Will the Pakistan Army finally take delivery of a replacement attack helicopter in the form of 30 Turkish Aerospace T-129s

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A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper conducts a training sortie during Rim of the Pacific exercise over the Hawaiian islands, July, 2018.

Both Pakistan and Australia have been linked with acquiring Bell’s newest Cobra version.

and infrared (EO/IR) pods.

Pakistan’s regional rival India has just exercised an option and ordered six additional Boeing AH-64E Guardian Apache attack helicopters. In 2015 the Indian Ministry of Defence placed an FMS order with the US government for 22 AH-64Es together with an order for 15 CH-47Fs (with further options for 11 and seven of each type respectively). The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) estimated the value of the order at $930 million.

In the DSCA’s description of the order it listed the following requirements for the six Apaches as stipulated by the Indian customer: 14 T700-GE-701D engines; four AN/APG-78 Fire Control Radars; four Radar Electronic Units (REU) Block III; four AN/APR-48B Modernised Radar Frequency Interferometers (M-RFI’s); 180 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles; 90 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire II

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missiles; 200 Stinger Block I-92H missiles; seven Modernised Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensors (MTADS-PNVS); and 14 Embedded GPS Inertial Navigation Systems (EGI).

There are also reports that the Bangladesh Air Force is looking to acquire an attack helicopter to replace its Russian Helicopters Mi-171SH which have been operated in a combat support role. Both of the Russian Helicopter M-28NE Night Hunter and Mi-35M attack platforms have been discussed, with current unconfirmed reports now suggesting the Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Light Combat Helicopter is under consideration.

Thailand’s Keeps Options Open Casing a very wide net, Thailand’s Army announced at a press conference on 12 June that it was seeking to acquire new

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attack helicopters - although only six as an initial purchase. The list revealed was very extensive and included most types of modern attack helicopter including a couple from Russian Helicopters - the Mil Mi-28 and Kamov Ka-52; Boeing’s AH64E Guardian Apache, China’s Harbin Aircraft Industry Z-19, the Leonardo A129 Mangusta and the Airbus Tiger (which is also being operated in the region by the Australian Army).

However, with an initial requirement of only six attack helicopters, this will mean that the purchase price and through life operating costs will be relatively high, particularly if the Thai Army is eying one of the more digitally complex systems rather than just a ‘big stick’ weapons platform.

Airbus will be keen to promote its upgraded Tiger following on from an agreement signed earlier this year between Airbus Helicopters and

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ST Engineering is developing the Stinger, a company-level unmanned rotary gun platform that could supply localised elevated fire support out to 800 metres.

Thai Aviation Industries (TAI) that confirms a two year support arrangement for all Airbus' military and law enforcement helicopters in Thailand. This confidence building support package devised by Airbus Helicopters goes some way to negating negative press that it received over its long-term support of Australia’s Tiger helicopters. Whether Australia will keep its Tiger fleet beyond the middle of the next decade is still not certain.

The service agreement provides that “TAI will become the main Airbus Helicopters’ service provider in Thailand for the Royal Thai Armed Forces and Royal Thai Police” following the Airbus HCare product.

Announcing the deal, the statement read: “The Royal Thai Armed Forces and Royal Thai Police currently operate a strong fleet of about 40 helicopters, which includes the light single engine H125M, twin engine H145, H145M, UH72, medium twin engine AS365, H155, H175 and heavy tactical H225M. These helicopters are deployed for various missions within the Royal Thai Air Force, Army, Navy, Police and the Survey Department.”

Air Chief Marshal Nitat Sirimas underlined that the agreement between Airbus and Thai Aviation would “bring Thailand’s technical competency in helicopter maintenance to greater heights.”

Philippe Monteux, head of Southeast Asia and Pacific of Airbus Helicopters added that the “HCare agreement spans everything from material management,

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helicopter maintenance and upgrades, technical support, training and flight operations.”

Unmanned but dangerous One dynamic idea being developed by ST Engineering is an armed unmanned rotary weapons platform; almost an attack helicopter ‘lite’. The company’s description of the Stinger positions it as a company-level reconnaissance and fire-support platform. It would weigh around 60kg and be portable enough to be transported and assembled by ground troops.

When assembled, it could be fitted with EO/IR sensors or the company’s newly developed 5.56mm Ultimax 100 Mk8 light machine gun (LMG) with an range of up to 800m when using NATO SS109 ammunition. The company points to its practicality for this type of roll thanks to a stabilised mount combined with the weapon’s ‘patented constant recoil capability, which slows the recoil force over the entire period between two rounds firing on cyclic rate, resulting in a lower, steadier recoil impulse.’ The ammunition would be contained in a 100 round magazine.

Australian Rotary Update Since the publication of the Australian Defence White paper in 2016 and the announcement within that “the Government will replace the 22 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) with a new armed reconnaissance

| Asian Military Review |

capability from the mid-2020s”, progress has been made and confidence in the aircraft has grown. Replacement contenders such as Boeing and Bell, following the excitement and perceived potential for new sales to a modern military, have both been circumspect in their approach to the issue over the last year.

However, there are time concerns. If the Australian government does adhere to the White Paper timetable it should be mindful that the final deliveries of the AH-1Z Viper to the USMC will be made in 2022 (deliveries of the modernised UH-1Y will be completed by the end of 2018). Bell, for the sake of its own business will be pushing the US Department of Defense (DoD) to make a decision on the requirement for Future Vertical Lift (Capability sets 1 and 3), now apparently divided into the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) followed by the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

This brings Lockheed Martin/ Sikorsky’s latest development, the S-97 Raider, into play although the Australian government would likely stay clear of considering a newly developed platform that has still got to go through further development, never mind certification.

Just as the Land Forces 2018 exhibition (4-6 September) was opening in Adelaide, Australia, Leonardo announced that it was proposing its AW109 Trekker as the solution for the Australian Defence Force’s Land 2097, Phase 4 Special Operations Rotary Wing Capability requirement. The ADF is looking for a military or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) design in the four ton range. It hopes to tender for the helicopter at the end of 2019 with deliveries to begin in 2022.

Leonardo states that its militarised AW109 can be deployed by the Royal Australian Air Force”s (RAAF) Boeing C-17 aircraft. In terms of taking a small special forces team, its cabin space is the same as the civilian Grand/Grand New which Leonardo assets would give a range of options from taking six soldiers, one stretcher and up to four medics or other combinations.

The AW109 Trekker is powered by twin-FADEC equipped Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207C turbine engines, has a crash resistant fuel systems and features a 30-minute ‘run-dry’ gear box. It would also feature a Genesys Aerosystems digital glass cockpit. AMR

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Boeing claims its latest Harpoon Block II+ ER has greater range and all-weather operation.

ANTI-SHIP ATTACK ABOVE AND BELOW THE WAVES A revolution is taking place in anti-ship missiles (ASM) which is very likely to significantly impact the Asia-Pacific region. The development of torpedoes is growing to match an expanding market too.

by Tim Fish

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o penetrate more sophisticated ship naval air defence systems faster and smarter ASMs are being developed. In the Asian region, China’s anti-access area denial (A2AD) strategy involves the use of numerous long-range missiles to overwhelm naval defences and deny the use of the seas to a potential adversary such as the US Navy (USN).

New supersonic ASMs could present a challenge and some Asian countries are developing their own sub-sonic missiles to compete with the standard Western models being exported to the region.

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The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has developed the Ying-Ji 62 (YJ-62) shiplaunched sub-sonic missile that can reach over 200km which is mounted on the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 052C destroyers. CASIC has also developed the C-802 anti-ship cruise missile that is available in ship-launched, air-launched or submarine-launched variants. The air-launched variant is fitted to the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) Xian JH-7 fighter-bomber and H-6G bomber and has a range of 135km.

The ship-launched C-803 is a further

| Asian Military Review |

development of this with a range of 160km and is also fitted to the Type 052C destroyers. The newest supersonic missile is the vertical launched YJ-18 that has an estimated range of 290km and is fitted to the PLAN’s Type 052D destroyers.

China is also supplementing its own production with imports from Russia that includes the Kh41 Moskit, which is one of the fastest supersonic ASMs on the market. The reason speed is important is that it reduces the time that a defending ship can respond from over two minutes to just 30 seconds or less. This means less time to deploy countermeasures

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or electronic jamming systems, greatly increasing the danger to the ship.

This upgrade in China’s capability has not gone without a response.

Recent media reports from Japan have highlighted its new Mitsubishi Heavy Industries XASM-3 supersonic ASM. Test firings were completed in 2017 and it is due to begin production in 2019. It is an air-launched missile, two of which can be carried by each of the Japan Air SelfDefense Force’s (JASDF) F-2 multirole fighter jets. It has a range of 150km and is designed to replace the older Type 80 and Type 93 ASMs air-launched ASMs currently in service.

But despite its speed, supersonic missiles have weaknesses. Kyrre Lohne, vice president of strategic communications at Norwegian defence company Kongsberg told AMR: “Many believe to go in fast, but when you go fast you go straight and when you go straight you are an easier target. When you go fast you also have to be active… which we believe increases the ability to be stopped.” His preference is for more maneuverable sub-sonic ‘smarter’ ASMs that use passive sensors and an IR seeker.

XASM-3 is part of an overall upgrade in ASM capability that also includes the acquisition of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) that will fit the JASDF’s new F-35A aircraft when they come into service. The JSM is being developed by Kongsberg alongside US missile manufacturer Raytheon. The companies plan to have an initial operating capability (IoC) in 2021 and full operational capability (FoC) in 2025. It is slated to have a range of 500km.

JSM is a development of Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM) that was originally designed to exploit the fjords and mountainous terrain of Norway.

Lohne said littoral missions were in mind from the start and it uses a passive radar and infra-red (IR) seeker instead of an active radar seeker. “One interesting aspect for the old missiles with radar seekers; they will always be operating in a difficult electronic counter-measure (ECM) environment both with jamming and decoys. An Intelligent IR Missile is immune. All new missiles (developed after 2000) have IR seekers. It is only the venerable Harpoon, Exocet and RBS15 that still use radar seekers,” he said.

He added that these other missiles “were all designed in the 1970s and 80s and don’t have the stealthy design as we have.

The NSM and JSM is built with composite structures, to a stealthy design with a jet

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The US Navy's next generation Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) was successfully fired from a US Air Force B1-B Lancer and hit multiple targets during a test over the Sea Range at Point Mugu, California.

THE MARTE ER missile is integrated on Eurofighter Typhoon - seen here on an Italian Air Force aircraft, and other fast jets.

engine and in surface-to-surface mode a range of 200km and on the F-35 a different range, maybe hundreds more kilometres.”

Lohne explained that active missiles emit signals long before getting close to the target to locate and identify it, and this early detection requirement of the missile means the ship’s defences can be activated and ready and “have multiple chances to stop (the attack)”.

With passive and IR imaging and a stealthy design he insists that NSM will “only be detected late in the end game” and can conduct “random evasive maneuvers” avoid close in weapon systems and target a specific aim point on a ship. Lohne added: “our solution is good enough for USN worldwide operations”.

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 |

The USN selected NSM for its littoral combat ships and future frigates on 4 June 1918 under a contract worth $14.8 million with options that could increase the value of the contract to $847.6 million. NSM was also successful in Malaysia where Kongsberg secured a $144.6 million (€124m) contract to supply the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with the missiles for its six new Littoral Combat Ships.

The USN is also acquiring other new ASMs. There is due to be a competition for a project called the Offensive AntiSurface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 2 that will decide on a new ASM to replace the ageing Harpoon ASM from Boeing.

In addition to the JSM, it is expected that the Long Range ASM (LRASM) from

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The MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 weapon system is the latest generation ship-borne version of the Exocet family.

Lockheed Martin will be entered as a bid.

Developed from the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER) cruise missile programme, LRASM is designated AGM-158C. The company told AMR it is “executing testing and production contracts” and “are delivering initial LRASM production missiles to support an early operational capability for the USAF B-1B and USN F/A-18E/F in 2018 and 2019 respectively.”

The company added: “An internal research and development program has successfully launched four surface launch missiles, most recently from the topside canister at WSMR Test Facility in 2017. Previously, LRASM proved successful in firing from the US Navy Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS) at Pt Mugu Sea Range, California.” Lockheed Martin also said it has invested into reducing risk of a surface-launch variant that can be employed from vertical launch system and top-side launchers and can deliver an EOC capability on surface platforms by 2020.

Most navies possess older ASMs that will need replacing over the coming years if they are to maintain an effective longrange anti-surface capability. The main ASM in use is the Harpoon, variants of which are deployed by Pakistan on its frigates and P-3 maritime patrol aircraft; Taiwan on its Knox- and Kidd-class ships, submarines and P-3s; and on Indian Navy submarines and Canadian Navy Halifaxclass frigates. Other operators include Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Jim Bryan, director of cruise missile systems at Boeing told AMR that it is developing its Block II+ latest version of

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Harpoon that is going operational with the USN. The main new key component of II+ is a tactical data link (TDL) from Rockwell Collins for better guidance and inflight target updates and provide information back to the launching platform. “Target selectivity would be the key enabler,” he said because as operations move into the littorals with increased sea congestions it needs the ability “to discriminate warships from non-warships or hostile from non-hostile warships”.

Bryan added that this “increases your options to open up your rules of engagements. If I have a weapon that is unable to discriminate or select between targets you are not going to fire necessarily, as opposed to a weapon with competence of target selectivity.” The other element in II+ is an improved GPS with better anti-jam capability that is aided by the improved position information offered by the TDL.

Like NSM, Harpoon is a sea skimming missile that hides in the wave scatter to avoid detection. “It is hard to make a missile much more survivable than the sea skimming feature than it has,” Bryan said and defended the use of an active RF seeker as something that is required for targeting in all-weather conditions. “In rain or fog without the RF seeker performance is significantly degraded,” he explained.

“While one can debate the exploitability of active radar sensors versus passive sensors, we know our customers value the fact that they don’t need to wait for it to stop raining before they fire a Boeing Harpoon missile,” he added.

The Thai Air Force uses the RBS15 ASM from Saab as part of its purchase of the Gripen NG fighter. Miguel Svensson, RBS15 product specialist at the company told AMR that its latest Mk3 missile is optimized for littoral and all-weather operations with an altimeter for sea skimming and an active seeker. He agreed with Bryan that the company did not want to “spend millions” on stealthy technology “then two years later a new radar comes out that sees everything that you have done.” His solution is to increase modularity and functionality in the software “so we can update easily and handle changing circumstances.”

Saab is developing the Mk4 variant with an anti-jam GPS system fitted as it is expected that the weapon will have to work in a contested environment and with steered antennas it will be harder to jam. He added that there is added value of high readiness and a long range to collaborate with units over a wide area in the littorals. RBS15 is different to other missile because it has two radial boosters that keeps the missile short enough to fit on smaller ships but carries a lot more fuel. “We still have the same class of

An F/A-18 launches a Harpoon Block II+ missile during a test flight over Point Mugu Sea Test Range in California ealier this year.

| Asian Military Review |

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Saab's has developed a new lightweight torpedo (NLT).

missile as Harpoon or Exocet in terms of capability, but we outrange them quite a bit.” The company expects to use the Thai contract to push further into the region and market the RBS15 Mk3 capabilities.

MBDA’s Exocet was made famous in Argentine service by sinking UK Royal Navy vessels during the Falklands War in 1982. Operators in the Asia-Pacific include Pakistan on its Agosta-class submarines, Vietnam on its SIGMA-class corvettes, India’s Kalvari-class submarines, Indonesia’s Fathillah-class ships and Malaysia’s Scorpene submarines and SIGMA-class ships.

A spokesperson from MBDA said that to address the Asia-Pacific market it has “developed the 200km-range MM40 Exocet Block 3 and the 100km-range Marte ER missiles”, both of which include active radar seekers and the advanced navigation and guidance packages.

“For very complex littoral waters, against smaller threats, including multiple fast attack craft and corvettes, it is vital that positive target identification is conducted, and accordingly only missiles equipped with advanced electro-optical seekers and datalinks can be used safely in such conditions,” the spokesperson added.

MBDA also produces the Otomat ASM, which is used by the Bangladesh and Malaysian navies. The company is developing this system further too: “The Italian MoD has approved and allocated funding for the development of an

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evolved version of in-service MBDA Italia's Otomat Mk 2 Block IV/Teseo Mk 2/A long-range anti-ship missile. The new version will feature increased range, precision, lethality and survivability with a new mission control system.”

Torpedoes New torpedo models and upgrades to older weapons are being developed to improve anti-ship and anti-submarine capabilities that meet requirements to operate in shallower waters and littoral regions. This is important for south east Asia, where the average depth of the East China Sea is less than 200m.

Japan is developing the G-RXG heavyweight torpedo (HWT) with a new sensor, guidance section and warhead that will give it the ability to engage in shallow or deep water against a wider range of targets and with Torpedo Counter Counter-Measure (TCCM) capability to penetrate decoy or jamming systems. The torpedo will be fitted to the 29SS Soryuclass submarine that is expected to enter service in FY2021. G-RX6 will eventually replace the existing Type 89 G-RX2 also built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry that entered service in 1989.

In India, the navy cancelled the acquisition of the Blackshark torpedo for its six Scorpene-class submarines from WASS, a subsidiary of Italian company Leonardo. An RFI followed in 2017 requesting 150 torpedoes for

| Asian Military Review |

$30 million and the competition is heating up. An SUT torpedo from Atlas Elektronik was already tested on INS Kalvari last year meaning the company’s DM2A3/4 torpedo has a chance. But French shipbuilder Naval Group wants to provide its new F21 HWT to meet the requirement alongside other competitive international offerings, alternatively the Indian Navy could also select its homemade Varanastra torpedo developed by the DRDO. Meanwhile Australia and the US use the Mk48 CBASS torpedo. The production line has been re-started to build new torpedoes but an RFP was released in June that will initiate a programme to upgrade the torpedo, which is now lagging behind its rivals that are being modernized. China uses the YU-6 largely reverse engineered from US and ex-Soviet torpedoes using Otto II fuel and an Intel processor for guidance but is probably below the capability of the Mk48 and the YU-9 in-service since 2012 is similar but uses battery power.

At MADEX 2017 in South Korea, LigNex1 displayed its new Tiger Shark HWT that will replace the RoKN’s existing White Shark weapon. It is based on the company’s Blue Shark Lightweight Torpedo (LWT) that has secured its first sale to the Philippines. UK-based LWT torpedo launcher manufacturer SEA, told AMR the market is growing in this sector.

SEA has secured LWT launcher contracts in the region for two new Philippines frigates, Malaysia’s six LCS and a new Thai ship. Paul Parsons, international business development director at the company, told AMR that navies have quite wide inventories of different LWTs depending on the class of ship. “It is a growing area. We are seeing a whole resurgence of ASW. In the region navies didn’t have a capability or are building it to carry out ASW. Navies seem content with NATO-standard torpedoes given the pedigree and number of players offering choice,” he said.

NATO standard means those with a diameter of about 324mm, LWTs in the region include the Mk54 used by India, Australia and the US on the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Australia also uses the MU90 on its ASW helicopters and the A244/S is popular with Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India as operators. Outside of the NATO standard there is the Russian APR-3E, Saab’s New Lightweight Torpedo (NLT) and China’s YU-7. AMR

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Harris

W A R F A R E

Components of the Harris hC2 Software Suite include hC2TM Comman for operational staff, Patrol for commanders managing the frontline, and Dismount for commanders on the ground with troops.

MODERN C5ISR DEMANDS GREATER BREADTH AND DEPTH Communications are at the heart of military capabilities, and the wide range and growing complexity of the challenges facing armed forces are driving the adoption of new, highly integrated systems.

by Peter Donaldson

A

rmed forces in the Asia Pacific region are at different stages of migration from legacy systems that they have had for 20 years or more to replacements based on new voice- and broadband-data-capable Software Defined Radios (SDR) as they build state-ofthe-art networked Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat

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systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems. Further drivers include the need to support weapon and sensor integration in major platform procurements, and the need for high speed data and robust voice communications in diverse operations.

Statements by technology company Harris indicate that operational commanders in the region continue to see

| Asian Military Review |

the value of wideband radio systems in providing pervasive communications in their areas of operation, and in digitising battlefield management through advanced command and control software.

Senior manager Tim White told AMR that all United States’ allies in the region use one or more types of Harris’ Falcon II or Falcon III tactical radios, while some have adopted its hC2 battle management

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Saab

system and interest in command and control technology in general is growing.

Falcon and hC2 In late March, Harris announced that it would supply hC2 with integral Falcon III radios to an unnamed Asian nation, acting as prime systems integrator for a system that is intended to provide situational awareness across multiple domains. This comes after the Australian Defence Force (ADF) selected the system under its Land 2072 Phase III programme in 2016.

The hC2 suite is designed to improve command and control by, among other things, creating a common operating picture across different command levels and between land-based, airborne and maritime services.

Falcon III radios include an embedded GPS receiver, the prime purpose of which, Tim White said, is to support C2 software in determining positional information, which hC2 uses to locate friendly forces in the area of operations. The hC2 system creates situational awareness reports, orders, map overlays, and messages, which are transferred using the highspeed data services provided by the radios.

A modular software suite, hC2 is made up of a command segment that supports operational staff in collaborative mission planning and execution, a patrol segment that acts as a battle management system for front-line commanders, and a dismount segment that brings a realtime shared operational picture for dismounted commanders. According to Harris, while these models are designed to work together as an integrated whole they can also be used separately. This is a result of the system's structure, in which the Patrol and Dismount versions are effectively subsets of hC2 Command.

Known as hC2 Command, the command segment enables division, brigade and battalion headquarters to view, update and share critical tactical updates, furthering collaborative planning of multiple missions and deployment of units, including with coalition partners.

This collaborative mission planning integrates coalition data through Multilateral Interoperability Programme (MIP) replication, which translates among many different data formats. The system also tracks the movement of friendly and hostile forces and also collects data from sensors and geospatial assets to support decision making.

The company emphasises the locationindependent nature of the software,

Saab’s 9LV Mk3E Combat Management Systems installed on HMAS Perth as part of the Anti Ship Missile Defence upgrade.

which authorised personnel can access through standard web browsers. It also touts the system's in-built redundancies that are designed to prevent downtime and loss of data, and the tiered nature of the capabilities it provides, from the top level picture, via current operations down to a C4I view. The software provides commanders with with mapping, picture overlay and order-of-battle graphic sketching and text tools to help them communicate the Common Operational Picture (COP) more effectively.

The full set of hC2 features includes the Geospatial Information System (GIS) that provides the base map, information layer management, friendly force tracking and own position reporting, situational awareness reporting, drawing and exchanging of sketches, radio integration, terrain analysis, and short text messaging and structured messages (Tac Chat). The simplest version – hC2 Dismount – stops there.

Adding collaborative planning and order dissemination, route planning, and logistics and holdings management brings it up to hC2 Patrol specification.

The rest of the feature list is exclusive to the full-up hC2 Command suite and includes ORBAT/task organisation management functionality, track history storage and display, coalition interoperability functions, site-to-site communication, a synchronisation matrix

| september/october 2018 |

(see below), summaries of current operations, bookmarks and briefings, and smart filters with highlighting and alerts.

The synchronisation matrix is a decision support tool for tactical planning and C2 that makes connections between time, space, forces, functions, actions and effects that most people would have difficulty making and remembering unaided.

Add on modules can make hC2 Command work with MIP 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1, plus the NATO Friendly Force Information (NFFI), Link 16 and Overthe-Horizon Gold messaging formats, while the Patrol and Dismount versions can achieve this through connection to hC2 Command.

Search and rescue communications Search And Rescue (SAR) has always presented its own peculiar communications challenges, putting a premium on global reach, complete reliability, accurate location and, in the realm of Combat SAR (CSAR) and Personnel Recovery (PR) from hostile territory, covertness and security.

Another unnamed nation in the AsiaPacific region awarded Elbit Systems a $65 million contract for what was described as a comprehensive SAR solution, the company announced in mid-March. Under the contract, Elbit is to install its ARS 7000 Airborne Locator Systems (ALS) to help

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SWave Airborne Software Defined Radio SRT-800 is the latest in Leonardo’s SDR family, which includes man-portable, vehicle mounted and naval radios.

find survivors, as well as Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) for use in case aboard a variety of fixed-wing special mission aircraft as well as helicopters in service with the nation's armed forces.

Personal Survival Radio (PSR) sets and also included as part of the package.

The company has not talked about specific radio sets in connection with this order, but has been offering systems including the PRC-434/CS PSR and the PRC-648 Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) in the region, along with other tactical communication systems.

Claimed to weigh less than 850g, the PRC-434/CS is described as an all-inone PSR designed to provide a complete solution for military and paramilitary applications in both peacetime and combat environments.

The radio covers the 225-299.975 MHz UHF frequency range in which it provides 10 programmable channels and a guard channel for emergency use. For global reach, it also transmits the COSPASSARSAT protocol on 406MHz. Highlights include an embedded GPS receiver and a large LCD display, which are intended to ensure precise positioning and navigation, with 40 programmable waypoints, along with extensive and interrogatable two-way messaging. Developed and built by Elbit's SAR and Datalinks division, it is designed to work with the company's

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own airborne personnel locator systems and to be compatible with equivalent NATO systems.

It provides the user's GPS location in response to interrogation either from an airborne system or another PSR on the ground. Interrogations and responses are coded for security, and there are a million possible codes, according to company documentation. Its lithium manganese dioxide (LiMnO2) battery provides enough energy to run it for 30 hours at a transmit/receive ratio of 1:10 or more than 96 hours in sleep mode.

The radio can be activated manually by the survivor, or automatically by a g-switch, a magnetic lanyard or a water sensor. It can also be activated remotely, by an airborne locator system for example, to provide the survivor's position, range and direction, and to extract other pertinent data.

Other tactical communications systems Elbit has been pushing in the region include the MCTR-7200 family of SDRs aimed at mounted and dismounted soldiers, and the PNR-1000 lightweight personal network radio, a member of the E-Lynx family with automatic voice and data relay capabilities.

Wideband radios enable NEC Leonardo is offering airborne communications capabilities to the Asia Pacific market, choosing to highlight

| Asian Military Review |

the SRT-800, which is a member of the SWave family of SDRs. Aimed at both military and civil agencies who need to communicate across the entire battlespace, it can be integrated into fixedand rotary-wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned, the company emphasises.

As with the rest of the SWave family, which includes man-portable, vehicular and naval radios, the SRT-800 is designed to support Network Enabled Capability (NEC) by handling information from many cooperating elements thanks to broadband RF coverage and the ability to run multiple software waveforms securely, underpinned by compliance with the Software Communications Architecture (SCA) that emerged from the US Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) programme.

A multi-purpose aircraft radio, it is intended to replace several traditional pieces of equipment including VHF/ UHF sets, satcom radios and even cryptographic computers by running appropriate waveforms and applications.

Covering frequencies from 30 to 2,000MHz enables use in a variety of mission types and functions, such as close air support (30 to 88MHz), navigation (108 to 118MHz, and air traffic control (118 to 137MHz), says the company.

Other bands catered for include land mobile (137 to 156MHz), maritime (156 to 174MHz), military UHF (225 to 512MHz) and from 512 to 2,000MHz for future growth in UHF, which is what will enable future voice and data communications, known as Wide Band Services (WBS), to satisfy the emerging NEC requirements.

As well as VHF line-of-sight (VLOS) waveforms serving AM/FM voice and data and meeting performance requirements for ATC laid down by the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) for ATC use, says Leonardo, the SRT-800 also runs many tactical waveforms.

Tactical waveforms These include HaveQuick and HaveQuick II frequency hopping unencrypted waveforms used to protect military and airborne UHF traffic from jamming and interception. It will also run the Secondgeneration Antijam Tactical UHF Radio for NATO (SATURN), a more advanced frequency hopping airborne waveform, and the almost ubiquitous Single Channel Air-to-Ground Radio System (SINCGARS).

The SRT-800 will also run the

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Elbit’s recently won a $65 million SAR solution within Asia, featuring its ARS 7000 Airborne Locator Systems (ALS) and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs).

European Secure SOftware-defined Radio (ESSOR) High-Data-Rate Waveform (HDRW), which is is a new, secure coalition networking waveform intended for deployment at brigade level and below.

Connecting units on the move, it forms a multi-hop mobile ad-hoc network that is self-organizing and self-healing. Using external modems it will also support Link 11 datalink functionality and even sonobuoy receivers for anti-submarine operations.

SRT-800 also runs a couple of Leonardo's proprietary SelfNet waveforms, namely the Soldier Broadband Waveform (SBW), and EASY II. The SBW is a mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) waveform operating in the 225MHz-512MHz portion of the UHF band designed to meet the operational needs of squads and platoons. It can automatically establish a network of up to 50 nodes, with a depth of up to five hops, and adapt its topology dynamically as the nodes move. It can provide voice and data services, including video streaming, simultaneously.

SWave EASY II is a fast frequencyhopping voice and data waveform that can operate in both VHF (30MHz-88 MHz) and UHF (225MHz-512 MHz) bands, and

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also supports IP data communication by using the MIL-STD-188-220C waveform.

To adapt it to different nations' needs, it can also host sovereign waveforms that meet SCA requirements, the company emphasises.

For security beyond frequency hopping, it accepts a programmable cryptographic appliqué that can run KY58, KY-100 and KG84A/C algorithms, is also compatible with external cryptographic modules, and can host indigenous sovereign algorithms.

In terms of satcom, the SRT-800 supports multiple military standards including the dedicated MIL-STD-188181B, those with 5kHz and 25kHz channel spacing, namely MIL-STD-188-182A and -183A respectively, along with the -184 data standard.

HF alternative While the higher data rates of V/UHF and satcom systems may capture the limelight, modern HF systems have been enjoying a renaissance for a while thanks to features such as Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) that makes them easier to use and their inherent long range capabilities that don't rely on satellite availability.

This makes them attractive to island and

| ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW |

archipelagic nations in particular who need to connect cooperating units who may be separated by large distances, or who need to fulfil their commitments to UN operations overseas.

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), for example, recently took delivery of ten reconditioned Thales Bushmaster MRAP-style armoured troop carriers fitted with Barrett PRC-2090 HF radios in addition to PRC-2080+ VHF sets from the same company. Barrett Communications worked with Thales to install the radios and to integrate them with the latter's SOTAS intercom system, Barrett announced at the end of last year.

This gave the command vehicle both long distance HF and line-ofsight VHF communication through the same operator headset, intra-vehicle communications among crew members of individual and inter-vehicle comms.

Naval combat management In the maritime domain, as BAE Systems celebrated the selection of its new Type 26 platform for the Royal Australian Navy's future frigate programme Saab congratulated them in the knowledge that its own 9LV Combat Management System (CMS) had previously been

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selected as the basis of the nine new ships' C4I capabilities.

As a modular and scalable CMS with full C4I facilities, 9LV gathers, processes and presents information from all the ship' sensors and systems, including communication systems such radios and multiple tactical datalinks, to enable crews to make the right tactical decisions as quickly as possible and facilitates the allocation of weapons to targets.

Its computing power enables 9LV to generate highly-automated tactical responses to simultaneous threats on, above and below the surface to speed up response in critical situations, but by establishing and maintaining a coherent maritime picture, says the company, it supports operators in making the own assessments and tactical judgements.

That situational picture is created from fused data presented on charts and maps with tactical overlays.

While operators interact with the system principally through selecting modes, they can intervene directly with override commands, perhaps to prevent the launch of a weapon if necessary.

The system is also smart enough to pick out anomalies in the behaviour of contacts, for example, and draw them to operators' attention, enabling them to focus on tactical decisions.

For communications in particular, it is worth highlighting a feature known as Squadron Link, which is an IP based system for locally exchanging tactical information, including voice and video, between multiple participating units within line-of-sight range. According to Saab, all units, manned and unmanned, participate in the creation of a synchronised and and continually updated situational picture. The company adds that a larger ship can merge the information and relay it to other squadrons or headquarters.

Even small vessels beyond line-of-sight range can be kept in the picture with lowbandwidth radios and by short range relaying of higher bandwidth information via several other platforms.

Managing multiple radios The Royal New Zealand Navy also turned to Saab to equip an important new vessel when they chose the TactiCall system for

the logistics ship – or maritime capability sustainment vessel – HMNZS Aotearoa, in October of last year. TactiCall is a software based integrated communication system that connects multiple communication technologies regardless of radio band, frequency or hardware. It provides operators with a single intuitive interface for all of these different communication systems, meaning that they are less likely to make errors and can solve problems and complete tasks more quickly and effectively, even in complex and stressful situations, Saab emphasises.

The ship is under construction by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and is scheduled to be delivered in 2020, and will be fitted with the multilevel secure version of TactiCall.

Leading military communications providers increasingly implement Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) as a means of ensuring that cooperating entities with different security clearances and levels of trust can communicate effectively without information leaking from higher levels to lower ones. AMR

BE HEARD ON THE FRONT LINE

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AUSTRALIA RECAPITALISES DEFENCE FORCE

Australia’s defensive posture for the next 20 years is being guided by the perceptions of its 2016 White Paper

by Andrew Drwiega

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ustralia’s rich mineral deposits has allowed it to spend 1.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the defence budget, a figure which is set to rise to 2 percent (GDP) by 2020-21. The total budget for 2018/19 is $26.2 billion (AUD $36.4 billion).

The 2016 Defence White Paper set a course for the Australian government’s

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investment in defence equipment that would shape the nation’s defensive posture until the mid-2030s. It identified six key strategic issues shaped the defence posture that the country would take.

Firstly, it continued to see the United States as the pre-eminent military power, despite growing challenges by China.

This view also underpins the acquisition of US manufactured equipment which

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would lead to knowledge sharing and operational familiarity.

Secondly, the White Paper declares that “Australia’s security and prosperity relies on a stable, rules-based global order that supports the resolution of disputes through peaceful means, facilitates free and open trade, and enables unfettered access to the global commons to support economic development.” This concept is challenged by China’s push into the South China Sea personified by its ‘island building’ strategy, and also by President Trump’s prolific use of trade tariffs (particularly against China) as he attempts to rebalance international trade in favour of the US. Thirdly, there is an real threat of the growth of terrorism in the region which has been experienced by several countries including Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and elsewhere.

The return of members of Daesh has been highlighted by many governments in recent months.

Fourthly, there is a concern regarding the inability of some nation states to protect their own borders, and even territory within their own countries (as has been witnessed in Africa). Supporting international resilience to such threats is a role in which the Australian Defence Force can participate.

Fifth is the rate of modernisation among countries within Asia Pacific that have been experiencing positive economic growth. As nation’s develop their own defence industries, such as the Made in India drive, so home-grown capabilities will increase. According to the White Paper: “While military modernisation will not be directed against Australia, it will mean that the defence capability edge we have enjoyed in the wider region will diminish. In the next 20 years, half of the world’s submarines and at least half the world’s advanced combat aircraft will be operating in our region.”

Finally, the White Paper recognises the increase in threats generated in cyberspace and space. As is being experienced internationally, the cyber threat has grown quickly and shows no signs of slowing.

The major areas of focus in the White Paper include: maritime operations and anti-submarine warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) together with space, electronic warfare and cyber; air and sea lift; strike and combat air; land combat and amphibious warfare; and base development.

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(L-R) Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, MP; Minister for Defence, Senator the Honourable Marise Payne; the Minister for Defence Industry, the Honourable Christopher Pyne, MP; and Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Leo Davies, AO, CSC, announce a $1.4 billion investment for the Australian Defence Force that will see the acquisition of six MQ-4C Triton

MQ-4C Triton The momentous news in terms of maritime operations is the recent and long-awaited announcement that came on 26 June when the Australian Department of Defence confirmed its acquisition of six Northrop Grumman Corporation MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in a cooperative programme with the US Navy (USN). The USN’s programme of record is for 68 MQ-4C Triton’s.

An initial investment of $1.4bn will be made to acquire the MQ-4C, including $364 million in new facilities at RAAF Base Edinburgh and RAAF Base Tindal, together with ground control systems, support, and training. The MQ-4C Triton is a further development of Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk, with a reinforced airframe and wing. For long range maritime missions where it may be necessary to descend through cloud layers in order to obtain better images it incorporates deicing and lightning protection systems.

The Triton is classified as a high altitude long endurance (HALE) platform

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Lockheed Martin is partnering with Deakin University to further develop its FORTIS exoskeleton.

has been under development by the United States Navy since 2008. The RAAF UAS will work alongside Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft conducting maritime surveillance. With both of these assets operating together the RAAF will discontinue using the AP-3C Orions in this roll. Triton mission length is up to 24 hours allowing it to range further than manned aircraft and to stay on patrol for longer. They will be flown by RAAF pilots and co-pilots at altitudes up to 55,000 feet.

MQ-8C Specifications Manufacturer Role

Airframe Wingspan Weight Speed Ceiling Range

Northrop Grumman Real-time Maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance Length:14.5 m, height: 4.6 m 39.9 m 14, 628 kg 331 knots (max) 50,000 feet 24 hrs+

“Triton provides unprecedented endurance and 360-degree coverage through its unique sensor suite,” said Doug Shaffer, vice president of Triton programmes, Northrop Grumman.

“Australia has one of the largest sea zones in the world over which it has rights to use marine resources, also known as an Economic Exclusion Zone. As a flexible platform, Triton can serve in missions as varied as maritime domain awareness, target acquisition, fisheries protection, oil field monitoring and humanitarian relief.”

The first of the Triton aircraft is expected to be introduced into service in mid-2023 with all six aircraft planned to be delivered and in operation by late 2025.

Type 26 Future Frigate Other key capabilities in maritime acquisition include 12 new regionally superior submarines; nine new

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BAE Systems was announced as the successful bidder to design the Hunter Class Future Frigate for SEA 5000 Phase 1.

anti-submarine warfare frigates; 12 new offshore patrol vessels; seven additional P-8A Poseidon aircraft bringing the total to 15 P-8As by 2020.

The winner of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) anti-submarine warfare Future Frigate competition was announced in June. BAE Systems beat its rivals to supply the RAN with nine Future Frigates to replace the Anzac-class frigates from the mid-2020s, Construction work on the ships will begin in 2020 at the still under construction new federal government-owned shipyard, ASC Shipbuilding, in Osborne, South Australia. For the duration of the build the yard will become a subsidiary of BAE Systems, but after that is will return to Commonwealth ownership to continue naval shipbuilding into the future.

To fulfil its role as an anti-submarine warfare platform the hull of the Hunter class is being designed to produce a low acoustic signature, and will incorporate an Ultra S2150 hull mounted sonar new sonar, Thales S2087 towed array and variable depth sonar. It will operate a Sikorsky MH-60R helicopter with hanger room for an additional UAS system.

Main weapons and sensors include Australian CEAFAR2 Phased Array Radar, Aegis Combat Management System with a Saab developed Australian interface, as well as a range of anti-air missiles, closein weapons systems, guns, decoys and other countermeasures.

Land Capabilities There is a significant investment, up to 18 percent of capability expenditure, on land systems up to 2025-26. These will address

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a wide range of requirements, from those that support deployed infantry both in terms of personal equipment, and mobility, firepower and situational awareness.

On 17 August one of the most significant investments in the Australian Army was made when the Australian government announced a $2.3 billion (AUD$3.3bn) contract for Rheinmetall’s Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), of which a total of 211 will be acquired under Project Land 400 Phase 2.

Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, stated that the contract represented “the largest single acquisition for the Australian Army and it is part of our AUD $200 billion [US$142 bn] re-equipment of the Australian Defence Force. These vehicles will be built in Queensland and we are creating for the first time a sovereign national defence enterprise which is our commitment.”

Over 40 Australian companies will participate in the programme.

This will also ensure that Rheinmetall will plays a major roll in supporting the combat mobility of the Australian Army.

The Boxer is already in service in the German, Netherlands and Lithuanian armed forces, will be delivered in several variants, the largest of which will be the reconnaissance version at 133 vehicles.

This version has the Lance turret system which features a 30mm MK30-2 / ABM automatic cannon, developed by Rheinmetall. The turret can house 200 rounds of two different types. it also incorporates a digital fire-control systems with two electro-optical sights - a highresolution camera, a thermal imaging camera and a laser rangefinder.

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Head of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems Division Ben Hudson stated: “The Boxer CRV is highly protected against both asymmetric threats that have been faced by Australian soldiers in recent operations, while also being highly protected against conventional battlefield threats that our soldiers may face one day in a conventional war-fighting scenario”.

Deliveries of the 8x8 CRV will begin from a dedicated new facility in Queensland in 2019 and run through to 2026.

Rheinmetall has also been the successful winner in another competition to supply the Army with over 1,000 trucks through Australia’s Land 121 Phase 5B project. The contract is worth $497 million (nearly AUD$700 million) and is an addition to a previous contract for 2,500 medium and heavyweight military trucks worth nearly $1.4bn (AUD$1.9 bn).

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall stated: “This follow-up order is of great strategic significance to us…It reflects Australia’s satisfaction with our performance and the quality of our vehicles” and that it proved that Rheinmetall was “fully capable of carrying

out sophisticated large-scale projects.”

Exoskeletons and cyber At the close of the biennial Land Forces exhibition 2018, which ran from 4-6 September, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr summarised ADF’s need for modernisation and flexibility of operation: “The operating environment is increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex. We must embrace and understand technological opportunities to prepare our Army for the challenges of the future.”

During the event, on 5 September Lockheed Martin Australia announced that it would be partnering with Deakin University’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research (IISRI) to examine how to extend the capability of Lockheed Martin’s FORTIS Exoskeleton.

A 12-month research partnership between Lockheed Martin Australia and has extended the capability of Lockheed Martin’s FORTIS Exoskeleton.

According to the company, the FORTIS is an “unpowered, lightweight exoskeleton designed by Lockheed Martin that makes tools weighing up to 36lbs feel weightless

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- reducing user fatigue and improving worker safety.” The Deakin IISRO researchers have already discovered how new attachments can expand the load carrying capability of the FORTIS Exoskeleton “ James Heading, business development senior manager, Lockheed Martin Australia, said that research into exoskeletons would ultimately result in “assisting soldiers to carry heavy equipment over long distances.”

The ADF is to benefit from cyber training from Elbit Systems of Australia subsidiary Cyberbit following an announcement by Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne. Elbit will deliver training and teaching materials to allow the ADF to develop their own ‘Cyber Warriors’ who “will learn to identify, track, investigate, respond to and remediate a cyber-attack.”

Cyber training facilities will be collocated with the ADF in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra. The fully self-contained Cyber Security training network will be capable of training 50 students concurrently. AMR

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The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter fires its Phalanx close-in weapons system during a live-fire gunnery exercise, April 5, 2018.

ASM THREAT TO SHIPS COUNTERED BY FAST DRAW CWIS Close In Weapons System (CIWS) may turn to lasers rather than throwing a wall of steel at the incoming missile threat.

by Stephen W. Miller

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ne of the most serious threats to the conduct of naval operations is the anti-ship missile (ASM). Although first used in small number in World War II the level of the challenge that they presented to surface ships really garnered attention in the 1970s when an early ASM, the Russian designed SS-N-2 Styx, sank an Israeli destroyer on 21 October 1967.

ASMs includes a range of ship, air and land launched guided missiles that can be fired at stand-off distances and will acquire and attack a targeted ship using on-board guidance systems. Often ASMs approach their targets using either sea skimming flight a few metres above water or high altitude at high speed to avoid detection until the final phase of

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the attack. ASM guidance technologies include radar, GPS, inertial guidance, infrared (thermal signature detection) with several guidance forms sometimes combined. Defence against the ASM is complicated, firstly through the difficulty in detecting and classifying an incoming missile as a threat, and secondly by the attack approach itself which makes engaging and destroying the missile difficult. The Close In Weapon System (CIWS) is specifically designed to cope with the ASM threat.

ASM Designs Anti-ship missile design relies on reducing delectability. This means achieving a low radar cross-section and masking aspects of the missile that might increase its signature for shipboard surveillance

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systems. The objective is simply to reduce the distance, and thereby reaction time, at which these defence systems can positively identify the incoming missile.

This window to detect, identify, acquire, track, engage and destroy the ASM is measured in seconds. Compounding the self-defence problem, multiple ASMs may be launched to attack the same target, requiring the ships defences to engage multiple incoming ASMs. In addition, some of the latest ASMs initial approach is very low (only five metres above the sea) and relatively slow to minimise detection, but as the missile nears the target it accelerates to high, or even super-sonic speed, to further reduce the ship’s ability to engage it.

Although Navys attempt to utilise a layered defence that seeks to counter

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Rheinmetall’s 35 mm Oerlikon Millennium Naval Gun fires short burst salvos at 1000 rounds pr minute using special AHEAD ammunition. As the rounds leave the barrel, the time delay fuse in each projectile is programmed to eject its lethal payload of spin-stabilized tungsten cylinders at the optimum moment for maximum target effect.

threats as far from the fleet as possible, there are many situations where the ASM has significant advantage. This is especially true in littoral operations, in restricted waters, and when a mass attack is launced to overwhelming the defences.

In the final analysis, an effective ASM defence relies on early detection of the missile and then the rapid and precise engagement and destruction of it. As Bridgitte Tapia, senior director, Close-In Defense Solutions at Raytheon reflected: “CIWS are often the last line of defense for our warfighters”.

Gun CIWS The use of guns for close in missile defence is based on the concept of placing a massive number of projectiles into the path of an incoming missile thereby destroying it or damaging it sufficiently to fall into the sea. Given the extremely short response time available to slew to, acquire and engage the missile this entire process is automatic without a man in the loop. When in an area or situation which has a high potential for encountering ASMs, the CIWS is placed in automatic target-acquisition mode. In this mode it will automatically engage a target that fits its preset target criteria. Typically the gun CWIS uses radars to detect, acquire and engage the target.

The General Dynamics and Raytheon Missile Systems Phalanx is one of the earliest and most widely fielded CIWS. According to the US Navy (USN) sources the ‘Phalanx provides ships with a terminal defence against anti-ship missiles that have penetrated other fleet defences.’ It is a self-contained system that requires minimal deck space and wiring. As such it combines search, detection, threat evaluation, acquisition, track, firing, and kill assessment into a

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single mounting. The latest version uses a 20mm multi-barrel Gatling cannon, that is electrically driven giving a selectable rate of fire of 3,000 or 4,500 rounds per minute (rpm). It fires special Armoured Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition which has a velocity of 3,650fps (1,113mps). The system fires for only a few seconds to destroy the target.

It stores 1550 rounds in the magazine, sufficient ammunition for a number of engagements. A Ku-band radar provides search, acquisition and the firing data to the computer that controls the weapon.

Since it is self-contained, Phalanx can be used to providing an anti-ship missile defence capability to a wide range of ships including large and small combatants, support ships, auxillaries, merchant marine and even expeditionary sea bases. Since its 1978 production and initial fielding, Phalanx has undergone a number of ‘Block’ improvements which have added capability as in the addition of a FLIR thermal sighting system that allows surface target engagement, as well as improving performance against antiship cruise missiles. A new the Enhanced Lethality Cartridge ammunition with a tungsten penetrator is also being offered with tighter dispersion and increased first-hit’ range (the effective range of Phalanx is inside 3,600m). A more recent improvement by Raytheon is the electric powered gun that is able to both achieve full firing rate immediately Phalanx is used by 20 navies.

Another gun CIWS is the Thales Goalkeeper. It is similar in concept to the Phalanx but uses a seven barrel 30mm Gatling gun with X-band search, and I-band and Ku- band acquisition and fire control radars. The 30mm was selected to provide both greater engagement range and a more destructive projectile.

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As ASMs have become more stealthy and faster the engagement window has become shorter prompting efforts to better assure the incoming missiles destruction. The Thales Goalkeeper which though using a similar concept to the US Phalanx also employed a larger 30mm seven barrel Gatling gun.

An added benefit is that the 30mm also had other ammunitions like the High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) more suitable for other targets like surface craft. A primary driver for the 30mm selection was the concern over the supersonic ASM which, due to the momentum of thier high speed, will continue on course and impact the ship even when damaged by smaller calibre projectiles. By using a larger penetrator the catastrophic destruction of the missile could be better assured. Goalkeeper is in service with the navies of the Netherlands, Peru, Chile, Belgium, Qatar, Portugal and the Republic of Korea.

Leonardo takes a somewhat different tack to the ASM engagement in its DARDO system which utilises twin 40mm Bofors L70 or ‘Fast Forty’ guns in an unmanned turret. It is offered in two versions. Type A has a 440-round internal plus a 292-round under-deck magazine.

The Type B requires no deck penetration as it has only the 440-round internal magazine. The Fast-Forty, an improved version of the Bofors 40mm, has higher accuracy (less round dispersion) and a higher rate of fire. The guns are dual feed.

This increases engagement effectiveness in that it can initiate firing at an ASM at maximum 3000m using special proximityfused prefragmented high explosive

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rounds.

This warhead maximises a fragmentation pattern. It is then possible to automatically switch to APDS tungsten penetrator rounds should the target not be destroyed before reaching 1000m.

DARDO’s rates of fire are 60 or 90rps.

DARDO utilises the ship’s surveillance radar for target detection. This data is passed to a RTN-30X target acquisition radar that cues a Selenia Orion RTN-20X J-Band fire control radar with integrated TV camera and Elsag fire control computer that can manage 10 targets concurrently.

These execute and control the engagement which can be totally automatic or manually operated. A benefit of DARDO is that the guns can also be used for other targets including fast attack craft, aircraft, and various surface targets. This is largely a function of the DARDO’s greater 3000m+ range and the ammunition types available. DARDO is used by ten of the world’s navies including those of Italy, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Republic of Korea.

Russian CWIS Russia has fielded a number of CIWS systems including the KBP Instrument Design Bureau AK-630 and improved AK-630M which use GSh-630 30mm Gatling guns in an enclosed automatic turret. Typically the systems are mounted

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in pairs with larger ships often mounting between four to eight systems. The gun is gas operated and has a rate of fire of between 4,000-5,000rpm which requires the barrels to be water cooled using a surrounding jacket. Interestingly its only service ammunition is high explosive incendiary. The AK-630 requires external target detection and gun fire direction.

Typically these are provided by the MR-123-02 Fire Control Radar and a SP-521 Electrical-Optical Tracker. The later includes a laser rangefinder and TV optical sight. There is also a derivative of the AS-630, the AS-306 that is electrically driven and air cooled. It looks similar but has a lower rate of fire, is only optically directed and is intended for surface engagements. The Peoples Republic of China Navy’s H/PJ-13 is based on the AS630 but in a lower profile turret and using their Type 347 radar and ZGJ-1B optical tracker. China also has introduced an APDS round.

The newest pure gun CIWS is the Oerlikon Millennium Naval Gun offered

by Rheinmetall Air Defense (RAD). Its 35mm Revolver Cannon is the heart of the system. Craig McLoughlin, head of sales Naval Systems explained, “It uses a unique air-bursting ammunition called Ahead (Advanced Hit Efficiency and Destruction) which maximises hit probability by distributing a lethal cone of tungsten sub-projectiles in the path of the oncoming threat. The system has a rate of fire 1000rpm and is capable of defeating up to ten anti-ship missiles before requiring reloading.” It fires salvos of 36 round short bursts against ASMs allowing multiple engagements and rapid target switching. Currently it uses off-mount detection and tracking but an autonomous version is being developed.

Missile CIWS The USN has introduced the RIM-116 RAM (Rolling Air Frame Missile) for many of its combatant ships. It is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-toair missile using a 21 missile deck mounted Mk49 launcher. It links into and utilises the ship’s surveillance and direction combat systems. The missile has had three Block improvements, each directed at expanding its target attack capability.

The latest Block 2 allows both infrared only and passive radio frequency seeker homing and improved manoeuvring target engagement capability. Eleven navies employ the RAM including those of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Germany,

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The US Navy views the high energy laser as a strong potential candidate technology for the next generation of close in weapons. Technology demonstrations like this laser weapon prototype on the USS Dewey have shown that lasers have the ability to counter some small craft and UAVs. However, destroying ASMs could require 5 to 10 times greater power than achieved so far.

Japan and Republic of Korea.

The SeaRAM is a fully self contained CIWS. Raytheon states that theSeaRAM combines key attributes of the Phalanx close-in weapon system and an 11 missile pod with the RAM guided weapon system. It offers the accuracy, extended range and high manoeuvrability of the RAM missile with the high resolution search-and-track sensor and reliable, quick-response capability of the Phalanx Block 1B system.” SeaRAM uses the same space and power as Phalanx allowing almost any ships to be fitted with improved defence against both subsonic and supersonic ASM threats. SeaRAM is being fit to the US Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) where it was first deployed in 2009.

Hybrid CIWS Russia has also tended toward hybrid gun-missile air defence system such as the Kashtan designed by KBP Instrument Design Bureau. It has two pods with four 9M311 Semi-active Command Line of Sight (SACLOS) missiles plus two lower mounted GSh-30K (AO-18K) six-barrel 30mm rotary cannons using link-less feeding. The missile is the same as used on the 9K22 Tunguska ground air defence system. It is a two stage rocket with a proximity fused designed to form a 10m fragmentation cone.

Threat detection and system control is off mount using a command module with 3-D radar and electro-optic identification/tracking.

The Kashtan-M is an improved variant with two higher velocity AO-18KD

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cannons, improved 10km range and 6km engagement altitude missiles and faster 5.7 second reaction time.

An upgrade to Kashtan, Pantsir-M CIWS began testing in 2017. It uses a new missile and phased array radar drawn from the Pantier-S1 ground air defence system. Like Kashtan it includes rotating magazines below deck that can reload each side automatically providing a total load of 32 missiles. Uniquely for a CIWS Pantsir, it can also fire the Hermes-K, a semi-active laser guided surface-to-surface missile. Thus, Pantsir has both an air defence and surface target engagement capability. Since Pantsir uses the control and detection system of the Kashtan ships with the later can be upgraded to the new system.

Future Direction of CIWS Close-in ship defence remains a critical concern while also expanding to include not just the sea-skimming missile but also supersonic guided missiles, drones, as well as both small boats and swarming fast attack surface craft. In addition, with the expectation of detached independent missions, the need to provide effective self-protection is more pressing given the proliferation of ASMs and even antitank guided missiles. This self defence requirement is also equally urgent for amphibious, support and auxiliary vessels which will also face the danger of attack in an asymmetric warfare environment. Self contained, stand-alone CIWS systems with the capability to

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provide defence against a range of threats are, therefore, a trend that is likely to gain even greater interest. As an example, one of the early Block 1 improvements to SeaRAM was software modification to adapt it to engage helicopters, aircraft and surface targets (HAS). The addition of a thermal camera and electro-optic tracking to Phalanx was similarly driven.

Pantsir’s capability to not only launch surface-to-air but also surface-to-surface missiles and undertake gun engagements is another indicator of this consensus across navies.

It is possible that the next generation CIWS may well be using an entirely different technology. The USN has been looking into the use of shipborne high energy laser weapons (LaWS) in ship defence. As early as 2011 the Office of Naval Research had conducted evaluations that successfully demonstrated the feasibility of lasers in tracking small boats. The following year it did the same and even downed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Under its Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) programme the Navy has been looking at laser weapon prototypes by various industry teams from Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Raytheon. In March 2018, it awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to deliver two High Energy Laser and Integrated Opticaldazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) which will be integrated into a ship combat system for trials in 2020. It is intended to be a 60 to 150 kilowatt (kW) high-energy laser powerful enough to disable or destroy small boats or hostile UAVs. However, reliably and effectively tackling the ASM, especially the supersonic versions, will require significant advances. According to a US Congressional Research Service report increasing laser power to up to 300kW is considered necessary by USN researchers to counter even the low-end ASMs. It stated: “Even stronger beam powers – on the order of at several hundred kilowatts, if not one megawatt [MW] or more – could improve a laser’s effectiveness against ASCMs and perhaps enable it to counter anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMS).”

Meanwhile, efforts continue to further enhance current CIWS capabilities focused on achieving more reliable missile engagement and destruction more quickly. This is understandable since detection of incoming ASMs remains still largely a last minute thing. It also needs be successful every time as there are no second changes. AMR

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS

REPORT

HIND, HAVOC AND HALO JUST GOT BETTER Russian Helicopters invited AMR to travel to the Moscow Army show for an update on its Mil Mi-24/35, Mi-28 and Mi-26 helicopters.

by Andrew Drwiega

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he modernisation of attack helicopters always causes eyebrows to be lifted in military circles around the world. What are the new capabilities and how will they improve on what has gone before? Russian Helicopters builds rugged helicopters, none with a better reputation than the utility Mi-8/17 which is used the world over.

The Russian Air Force operates around 320 Mi-24/35 (NATO reporting name Hind) attack helicopters, some dating back to the 1970s, and around 82 of the more modern Mi-28 (Havoc) helicopters

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which began entering service around 2006. The Mi-35 is the export version of the Mi-24.

Russian Helicopters, part of state owned Rostec, has recently completed the modernisation of both its classic, world reknown Mil Mi-24 ‘Flying Tank’ as well as its much newer Mi-28 ‘Night Hunter.’

The Mi-24 is know for its small squad carrying as well as close air support of ground troops in contact. This dual function gives flexibitily to battlefield commanders who may have limited assets to call upon.

The two modernised versions of its

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Mi-35, shown for the first time at the international military forum ARMY 2018 (21-26 August) just outside Moscow, were the Mi-35M and Mi-35P. The Mi-35M now has multifunction LCD displays for both pilot and co-pilot as well as modern navigation and targetting systems. The cockpit is Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible. The main armament is a 23mm cannon while under wing pods allow it to carry unguided S-13 and S-8 missiles. Other missile options include the Igla-S air-toair guided missile.

The President-S onboard defense

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS

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The modernised cockpit and crew stations of the Mil Mi-26T2V showing the integrated NPK90-2V avionics suite.

The latest version of the Mil Mi-35M at the Russian Army 2018 show outside Moscow.

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aide system is featured, with part of the defensive aides suite including a laser station for the suppression of infrared (IR) missiles from man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS).

Additional equipment available includes VHF Omni Ranging/Instrument Landing System (VOR/ILS) and a radio rangeďŹ nder to calculate the distance to beacons on the ground.

Andrey Boginsky, CEO, Russian Helicopters, summarised the appeal of the Mi-35 to international customers by recalling that the helicopter has been used in combat in over 30 wars over the past few decades. “With such wide experience, we have managed to perfect this platform, and now we are consistently equipping it with state-of-the-art armaments and avionics. Serial production of the upgraded machines will commence when

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The latest Mil Mi-28NE Night Hunter on display with

all the modifications have been tested," he revealled in a statement prior to Army 2018.

“We expect that the demand for new versions of the helicopter with increased combat capability will be high in many countries," concluded Anatoly Serdyukov, industrial director, Aviation Cluster of Rostec State Corporation.

Mi-35P The other version OF THE MI-35 on show at Army 2018 was the modernised Mi-35P helicopter. Ground testing of new equipment will be followed by air tests and then serial production. The Mi-35P now features an upgraded OPS24N-1L observation-sight system with a third generation matrix long wavelength thermal imager, a TV camera and a laser rangefinder.

A new digital flight system has been based on the PKV-8 autopilot to increase stability and ease the pilot’s workload. A new targetting system based around the PrVK-24 should also improve combat accuracy.

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Mi-28NE The Mi-28NE Night Hunter is the export version of the Mi-28N. It can carry the Khrizantema-M anti-tank missile with a dual guidance system, increasing the helicopter’s engagement range out to 10km. it can also use the modernised Ataka guided missiles with dual laser or radar guidance.

The version at the show was still being tested and was returning to testing after the show. The twin VK-2500-01 turboshaft engines now provide increased power with each producing 2400hp with increased torque. It has a hover ceiling of 3,600m OGE and a service ceiling of 5,600m. Its combat range is around 450km.

New curved blade made out of composite materials, together with a larger tailplane, have resulted in better control and a new maximum speed of 305km/h. The modernisation has also improved the overall aircraft performance in hot and high conditions as well as the survivability if the aircraft receives hits from gound fire. The fuel system has

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The end of stub-wing defensive aide system.

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Serial production of the Mil Mi-35P is planned to begin following the end of testing this year.

also been redesigned according to the company, so that the fuel will neither explode nor burn.

The Mi-28NE has enhanced armour and greater combat survivability.There are two feed boxes that store 230 rounds between them for the 2A42-2 30mm gun. The missile load can include up to 16 ATAKA-VM laser guided missiles or Khrizantema-M, both with either a hollow charge warhead or high explosive warhead. Unguided rockets comprise either S-8 or S-13 in up to four rocket pods that hold 20 S-8 rockets or four pods with five S-13 rockets. If required, it can alternatively carry a mix of four bombs between 50-500kg.

The targetting system can mark four targets at a time and launch two missiles simultaneously at different targets. The defensive aide suite can identify up to eight sources of threat.

In terms of maintenance, an online interactive maintenance tool has been

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developed that includes the flight manual as well as service schedules and vendor part details.

Mi-26T2V The latest modernisation of the world’s largets helicopter, the Mi-26T2V (Halo) was on show at a military airfield used for displays but close to the Army 2018 showground. The Mi-26T2 now features an integrated NPK90-2V digital avionics suite which incorporatesweather radar, navigation and landing systems with radio rangefinder, early ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), and digital Doppler velocity and drinft angle gauge.

The defensive aides suite incorporates radar warning receivers, UV direction finders, and electro-optical suppression laser station and flare distribution system.

Gurgen Karapetyan, Mil Design Bureau test pilot stated in Russian Helicopters’ own magazine that the automatic pilot was partiularly useful

| Asian Military Review |

over featureless terrain. He added that it was no possible to perform an automatic approach from 50m down to 30m where the aircraft could hover, before descending to 1.5m above the ground.”

CEO Anatoly Serdyukov stated that: “The State Armament Program for 20182027 envisages providing the armed forces with this version of heavy-lift helicopters. I am convinced that the Mi26T2 helicopter will be a sought-after machine both in Russia and abroad.”

Following the conclusion of Army 2018, the actual helicopter on display would undertake further flight tests with Mil Moscow Helicoper plant engineers before being handed to the military for further customer test.

The modernised Mi-26T2V retains a crew of five and can carry up to 20 tons helicopter which can be used at any time of the day and has modern avionics is a heavylift wide-body transport helicopter which can carry up to 20 tons of cargo. AMR

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ince the explosion of the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August last year, the Myanmar Army has become an international byword for some of the most savage atrocities inflicted on civilians in recent decades. A series of meticulously researched reports from international human rights organisations and most recently a United Nations (UN) Fact Finding Mission have chronicled mass killings of Muslim Rohingyas, systematic gang rape and the torching of hundreds of villages that drove over 700,000 refugees across the border into neighboring Bangladesh.

This is hardly the first time the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, has faced international condemnation for rights abuses. It is though the first time a UN body has recommended the referral of top commanders including commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to the Holland-based International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity and ‘genocidal intent’.

Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and diplomatic top-cover extended

by China and Russia in the UN Security Council which make it unlikely the officers named will be appearing any time soon in the Hague. But the Rakhine bloodbath does raise fundamental questions the ICC would need to address: how is it that the Tatmadaw – a well-organised and relatively modern state actor with a strong tradition of discipline and claims to military professionalism - has dragged its own reputation and that of Myanmar itself so low? Three central factors arguably account for a history of persistent abuse and periodic massacre which has culminated in the latest atrocities. Often overlooked by outsiders, the broadest of these is the manner in which Myanmar’s military has been exhausted and brutalised by war without end over seven decades since Independence in 1948. No other country’s army has been committed to unremitting combat operations for so long.

In the case of Myanmar those operations have almost entirely been against domestic enemies where the line between combatant and civilian is perennially blurred.

The origins of the Tatmadaw date back to World War II and training from the Imperial Japanese Army, a force not noted for human rights. Its early post-Independence counter-insurgency campaigns were fought mostly in the ethnic Bamar heartlands of central Myanmar against communist and ethnic Karen rebels. From the 1970s the focus shifted to the mountains and jungles around the nation’s rugged borderlands where an array of ethnic minority pocket-armies - fought for autonomy from central military rule.

These were ‘small wars’ conducted by ill-equipped light infantry battalions operating in remote regions

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with only occasional artillery support, and at the end of ‘shoe-string’ logistics lines reliant mainly on humans and pack animals. Casualty evacuation was rare and the strain on morale a constant challenge.

Despite modernisation of equipment and increasing air support, sharply escalating fighting in northern Myanmar since 2014 has only exacerbated front-line problems of high casualties, extended rotations and low morale.

The Tatmadaw’s reputational crisis has also been driven by a deep-rooted ethnic chauvinism. The army is overwhelming recruited from among the country’s majority Buddhist Bamar community (68 percent of a population of 52 million) and is led by an almost exclusively Bamar officer corps. Essentially, colonial pacification campaigns targeted on minority insurgents and their civilian support bases have been infused with a powerful sense of Bamar cultural, linguistic and ethnic superiority which predictably has bred contempt and abuse.

Operations against Karen, Shan and Kachin insurgents have involved well-documented recourse to the burning of villages, rape of women and the forced recruitment of men as porters and human mine-sweepers. But the worst of the army’s racist animus has undoubtedly been reserved for the Rohingya – systematically dehumanised both as Muslims and ‘Bengali’ interlopers with no claim on citizenship rights.

Finally, the Tatmadaw has developed an unwavering sense of its own indispensability as the custodian of Myanmar’s territorial integrity and national destiny.

Since the coup of 1962 when it first seized control of government, the military has existed as a caste apart, contemptuous of politicians, dismissive of minorities and jealous of its own economic and social prerogatives.

Behind a fig-leaf of elections and quasi-civilian rule, the military-scripted constitution of 2008 ensures it an indefinite lock-grip on real power in Myanmar.

Predictably political power and social privilege have fostered a pervasive culture of impunity on the battlefield and beyond. As demonstrated during the ruthless crushing of pro-democracy protests in 1988 and 2007, the army has not hesitated to turn its guns on ethnic Bamar civilians. The violence visited on the Rohingya has been unprecedented in its scale and savagery but it emerges from institutional reflexes ingrained over decades.

Note: Anthony Davis is security analyst and consultant specialising in insurgency, terrorism and military affairs in the Asia-Pacific region.

| ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW |

China News Agency

by Anthony Davis