U.S. Army Soldiers conduct static line paradrop training with members of the Bulgarian Special Forces August 20, 2019, at Plovidiv, Bulgaria. Members of the 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment facilitated the jumps and flew the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that were used during the exercise.
PLOVDIV, BULGARIA
08.19.2019
Video by Pvt. Michael Ybarra
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
By Pierre Tran
Paris – Dassault Aviation played the host for an Oct. 8 ceremony for hand over of the first Rafale fighter jet to India, signaling a close military and industrial tie France seeks to deepen amidst stiff competition from Israel, Russia and the U.S.
The presence of Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart, Florence Parly, pointed up the political significance of the deal, worth some €7.9 billion ($8.7 billion). The two ministers were due to hold in the evening a bilateral meeting and working dinner at Brienne House, the ministerial office in the capital.
India was one of France’s “principle strategic partners ,” as could be seen by Singh’s attending the delivery, the French armed forces ministry said in an Oct. 8 statement. The French and Indian defense ministers would discuss bilateral cooperation and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
The first Rafale was delivered last month, but the ministers flying down to Dassault’s plant at Merignac, near Bordeaux, point up the political capital invested in the Rafale deal.
That formal event will be held just 10 days ahead of Diwali, a five-day Hindu festival, when lamps, lanterns and candles are lit to mark victory of light over darkness, good over evil. India will be guest nation when France holds its book festival next March.
“This is very important,” said Tara Varma, policy fellow and head of the Paris office of European Council for Foreign Relations, a think-tank. The hand over is the “concrete realization” of a deal which took years to seal, after India switched in 2016 to a direct order for 36 Rafale and dropping acquisition of 126 fighters after holding a tender for medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
There have been allegations of corruption on the Rafale deal, which India and Dassault have denied.
France is in talks to sell more Rafales to India, looking to an announcement to be made in January when French president Emmanuel Macron visits India, business website La Tribune reported Oct. 7.
Macron’s visit will be his second trip to India in three years, pointing up the significance of ties to New Delhi, Varma said.
That presidential visit may reflect French hopes but it is not clear the Indian air force will meet that expectation, she said. India added last year a further €5.6 billion to the defense budget, reflecting the need for anti-submarine warfare and combat helicopters, as well as more fighter jets,
The Indian navy seeks to acquire 57 carrier-based fighters, while the air force seeks a further 110 fighters.
France wants to be close to India, while New Delhi hedges its bets by buying arms from Israel, Russia and the U.S.
Israel is active in India and will supply equipment, including missiles, Varma said. The Indian air force will be armed with other weapons besides the Scalp cruise and Meteor long-range missile, she said.
Russia has supplied MiG and Sukhoi fighters to India, and has signed a deal for its S-400 surface-to-air missile.
The U.S. has shipped P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and Apache attack and Chinook transport helicopters to equip the India services.
The Rafale will be fitted for flying nuclear weapons, Indian business daily Economic Times has reported.
The delivery of the Rafale comes after Pakistan shooting down in February an Indian F-16 and capturing the pilot. The release and hand over of the Indian pilot helped calm some of the tension between the two nations long locked in regional dispute.
That armed clash raised Pakistan to the same high level of threat to India previously held by China, Varma said.
India and France foster close relations, including cultural ties. Macron met Modi in August at prestige-laden Chantilly castle for bilateral talks just ahead of the G-7 summit, to which the French president had invited the Indian political leader.
Those moves signal a “strategic partnership” of 21 years, an Indian official said.
Dassault has given “significant support” to India’s education and science policy by setting up an engineering center, a Dassault skill academy, and a vocational training program dubbed Aeronautical Structure and Equipment Fitter, the company said in a statement.
Dassault has also set up an assembly plant at Nagpur, central India, with its Indian joint venture partner Reliance. That site will build parts for the Dassault Falcon business jet and could allow final assembly for the Rafale, if a deal were struck.
Those investments are part of the offset deals required by the Make in India and Skill India programs set by New Delhi, seeking to boost the domestic economy.
India is a major market for weapons from the west and Russia.
The Indian naval market continues to grow, as the re-election of Modi in May led to early steps of a competition for six more diesel-electric boats, with challenging requirements.
French shipbuilder Naval Group has replied to India’s expression of interest in selecting a Strategic Partner to build six more submarines under the Project-75 (I) project.
Naval Group sold six Scorpene submarines in 2005 in a deal reported to be worth $3.5 billion.
The French company filed a “fully compliant and adapted response,” Soumyajyoti Basu, Naval Group’s country sales director for India, said Oct. 2. Indian shipyards have also submitted response to the expression of interest to be a local Strategic Partner.
India has set requirements for a stealthy submarine larger than the Scorpene, capable of land attack missiles, and extensive technology transfer for local assembly, he said.
The Indian government said in a June 20 statement the navy would have an option for six more submarines under the P-75 (I) project.
India will likely attract bids from Germany, South Korea, Spain and Russia, along with the French offer. The Indian defense ministry and navy will review the submissions, draw up a short list and send out a Request for Proposal.
Naval Group will pitch its F-21 weapon in an Indian tender for 98 heavy torpedoes, with a competition expected to be launched by the end of the year.
The shipbuilder is also offering extensive service packages.
The Indian Navy commissioned Sept. 28 its second Scorpene class submarine, the Khanderi, which follows the first of class Kalveri, commissioned in December 2017.
The Kalveri was delivered late, reflecting the need to regain expertise after a decade-long gap in building submarines. There was also tardy supply of subsystems and steel.
Delivery of the remaining four Scorpene boats is expected to be every nine to 12 months as from last month. The Indian navy will set the date for formal delivery and commissioning, as much depends on the monsoon, which hits the gulf off Mumbai on the Arabian sea.
India flies eight Poseidon P-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and ordered in 2016 four more units. An acquisition of a further 10 units has been approved.
European missile maker MBDA will supply missiles for the Indian Rafale and Mirage 2000H fighter jets, in a deal worth €710 million.
The Rafale will be armed with Mica air-to-air, Scalp cruise and Meteor long-range, air-to-air missiles. The Mica will also arm the upgraded Mirage.
The Indian joint venture between MBDA and Larsen & Toubro will build those missiles.
“The MBDA missile warning system is based on an infrared detector from Lynred,” said David Billon-Lanfrey, strategy director at the specialist in infrared technology.
In the Indian drive for local offset, the European missile builder signed Sept. 12 a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Dynamics Ltd, with the Indian partner taking up final assembly, integration and test of the Mistral and an advanced short-range, air-to-air missile. The latter, dubbed new generation close combat missile, will arm the Jaguar fighter.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will integrate the Mistral on the Dhruv helicopter and the light combat helicopter.
In land weapons, an Israeli company, Elbit, and its local partner Bharat won a contract estimated to be worth more than $1 billion in the Trajan project for towed artillery, beating a rival offer from Nexter, a French firm.
Nexter awaits launch of a competition for India’s mounted gun system, a requirement set in 2010. The French state-owned company has teamed with Ashok Leyland to pitch its Caesar truck-mounted 155mm/52 caliber artillery for that prospective tender.
India’s military acquisition is part of its drive to foster domestic industry.
“The overall aim would be to progressively build indigenous capabilities in the private sector to design, develop and manufacture complex weapon systems for the future needs of the Armed Forces,” the Indian government said June 20.
“This will be an important step towards meeting broader national objectives, encouraging self reliance and aligning the defense sector with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.”
The featured photos highlight the Rafale solo display which performed during the celebration of French strategic Forces 55th birthday, Saint Dizier FAF base, October 4th, 2019,
Photo credit: M. Delaporte
Second Line of Defense is attending the Chief of Navy’s Seapower Conference 2019 being held in Sydney, Australia from October 8-10 2019,
We will have a number of stories generated from our participation.
A key aspect being highlighted by both the new Australian government and the Royal Australian Navy is the need to ramp up their presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The demand side is going up while the Navy is working to recapitalize its force with the largest ramp up of Australian shipbuilding since the end of World War II.
In a story published by the Royal Australian Navy on October 8, 2019, Commander Feen Kemp highlighted the focus of the Chief of Navy at the Conference.
Australia’s enduring ties with the Pacific have dominated the agenda ahead of Navy’s Sea Power Conference, with a gathering of regional maritime leaders in Sydney.
The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mike Noonan, joined delegates from almost a dozen Pacific nations yesterday to discuss a number of shared regional issues relating to maritime security.
Vice Admiral Noonan saidthe Pacific Maritime Security Program represents a long-term commitment by Australia to the Pacific.
“Navy has long enjoyed a deep and respectful relationship with our Pacific neighbours,” Vice Admiral Noonan said.
“Today’s meeting has focused us all on the importance of a strong, independent and secure region.”
Vice Admiral Noonan joined the Defence Minister Linda Reynolds to host the roundtable, which sought input from visiting delegates on how to further strengthen regional maritime security.
Australia’s rollout of Guardian-class Patrol Boats remains on schedule, with the vessels set to play an increasingly important role in maintaining security in the Pacific region.
The Pacific Maritime Security Program is just one of a number of initiatives contributing to Pacific security.
“Australia’s engagement in the Pacific is one of our highest priorities because the Pacific is our home,” Vice Admiral Noonan said.
“This meeting, and the discussions we will have at Sea Power 2019 this week, will help all sides work together to maintain a prosperous region,” he said.
The highlighted photo shows delegates, including the Minister for Defence, Senator Linda Reynolds, and the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mike Noonan, at the Pacific Maritime Security Partnership event at the 2019 Sea Power Conference. Photo: Able Seaman Ryan McKenzie
U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, a part of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), conduct live-fire during Exercise Southern Reach at Bradshaw Field Training Area, Australia, August 15, 2019. Southern Reach is the first time HIMARS have participated in the robust MRF-D training schedule.
BRADSHAW FIELD TRAINING AREA, NT, AUSTRALIA
08.15.2019
Video by Cpl. Kallahan Morris
Marine Rotational Force Darwin
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Salvato, a section leader with the Ground Combat Element, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, participates in an interview during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) in Indonesia, July 31 to August 5, 2019. CARAT is designed to promote regional security, maintain and strengthen maritime partnerships, and enhance interoperability among participating forces.
INDONESIA
08.19.2019
Video by Cpl. Destiny Dempsey
Marine Rotational Force Darwin
A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules receives cargo on the ramp at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, Aug 4, 2019. C-130s operate around the clock to transport equipment, supplies and passengers around the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
KUWAIT
08.04.2019
Video by Tech. Sgt. Michael Mason
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
By Lieutenant Ryan Zerbe
The Royal Australian Navy has begun its biggest deployment of the year, with more than a thousand sailors and officers bound for engagements across North- and South-East Asia.
Departing today from Sydney, the lead element of a nine-ship task group will participate in bilateral and multi-national activities over the next few months.
The deployment is focused on strengthening Australia’s regional defence engagement through practical cooperation activities with key partners.
It will include high-end warfare exercises, port visits, as well as cultural engagements that show Australia’s long-standing commitment to its partners and to regional security.
The Commander of the Task Group, Captain Andrew Quinn, said the deployment demonstrated Navy’s ability to send concurrent task groups across throughout the region.
“Practical training with regional partners not only up-skills our own officers and sailors but also builds our ability to work with other navies, underpinning stability in the region,” he said.
“We have been operating in task groups for some time, refining the concept towards being able to conduct sustained operations like this over next several years.”
It marks the first overseas deployment for the new Aegis Destroyer, HMAS Hobart, which will lead the first task group element to Japan for an international fleet review.
Hobart will be accompanied in Japan by Anzac frigates HMA Ships Parramatta and Stuart as well as a Navy submarine.
Stuart will later join the Armidale-class patrol boat HMAS Ararat, the replenishment ship HMAS Sirius, and the hydrographic survey ship HMAS Leeuwin during their deployment to South-East Asia.
The Anzac frigate HMAS Arunta will then join Sirius in exercises with a range of regional partners, including Malaysia and Indonesia.
Navy mine hunters HMA Ships Gascoyne and Diamantina will participate in international exercises for the final element of the Task Group.
Captain Quinn said the units involved were ready having been thoroughly tested.
“HMAS Hobart has proven her readiness as the first of her class and she is an outstanding platform to function as a centrepiece for this maritime task group,” Captain Quinn said.
“Meanwhile smaller ships like Leeuwin, Diamantina and Gascoyne have deployed further from the Australian station than ever before over the past year and we know they are up to the task ahead.”
Ships in the task group will return home in December.
According to a story published on the Finnish Ministry of Defence website on September 19, 2019. the Finns are to build a new class of surface warfare corvettes to replace their legacy vessels.
At its plenary session on 19 September 2019, the Government authorised the Defence Forces Logistics Command to make a contract on the procurement of Pohjanmaa-class vessels and a combat system for the Navy.
Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC Oy and RMC Defence Oy) based in Rauma will construct the vessels for the Squadron 2020 project. Following the invitation to tender, the Swedish Saab AB was selected as the supplier of the vessel’s combat system. In addition to concluding an industrial cooperation contract with Saab AB, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen decided on the procurement of ship-class propellers and propeller shafts from the Finnish company Aker Arctic Technology Oy.
The agreements on the construction of vessels, the supply and integration of the combat system and the supply of propellers and propeller shafts will be signed in Turku on 26 September 2019.
The Navy will decommission seven vessels and these will be replaced by four multi-role corvettes, capable of engaging in warfare with surface combatants and submarines, taking anti-aircraft measures and commanding maritime operations. The Navy’s new vessels will play an important role in Finland’s defence system with core tasks until the end of the 2050s.
While the starting point has been that Pohjanmaa-class vessels will be built in Finland for reasons of security of supply the contracts will, for their part, ensure the preservation of Finnish shipbuilding expertise, particularly in terms of surface combatants and state vessels. The domestic employment effect of the contract will be about 3600 person-years. The domestic employment effect of industrial cooperation is about 75 person-years.
Since 2016, the Defence Forces have negotiated with Rauma Marine Constructions Oy (RMC) on the construction of Pohjanmaa-class vessels at RMC shipyard in Rauma. Before the construction contract, a letter of intent and a design contract were concluded with RMC.
The contract to construct surface combatants will include the final design and construction of four seaworthy vessels. According to the contract, RMC and its subsidiary RMC Defence Oy will build hulls of four Pohjanmaa-class vessels and integrate systems in them in cooperation with the system suppliers.
The vessels will be designed and constructed in Rauma, and Finnish and foreign companies will be subsystem suppliers and subcontractors. While the actual construction phase will be staggered over 2022-2025 the class will be fully operational by 2028.
A prerequisite for concluding the construction contract was comprehensive risk mapping and risk management work as well as cooperation at the Government level when the contract package was prepared. The stability of the yard’s ownership base will be ensured and risk factors related to the ownership of the company will be managed through an agreement with the yard’s owners. The completion of the ship class will be closely followed from the perspective of military performance and the yard’s operational capacity.
Saab was selected as the supplier of the combat systems for Pohjanmaa-class vessels. The contract includes four integrated combat systems installed on board ships, consisting of sensors, weapons and command systems. The combat system supplier also undertakes to integrate the systems which will be supplied by the Defence Forces.
At the end of 2016, the Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command sent requests to 12 companies to participate in the tender procedure to deliver a combat system for the Squadron 2020 vessels. Eight companies sent a request for participation; of these, Atlas Elektronik from Germany, Lockheed Martin Canada and the Swedish Saab were selected for the next stage. The Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command sent to these three companies a preliminary invitation to tender in 2017. Saab performed best in the comparison of the tenders.
In addition to the package to be procured from Saab, Pohjanmaa-class vessels will be equipped with a surface-to-air missile system, surface-to-surface missile system and a torpedo weapon system. Naval guns and decoy launchers will be removed from Hamina-class fast attack missile crafts and installed on the new vessels.
Minister of Defence Kaikkonen authorised the Defence Forces Logistics Command to make a contract with the Finnish company Aker Arctic Technology Oy on the design, supply and integration of propellers and propeller shafts for Pohjanmaa-class vessels. Aker Arctic Technology Oy has been developing propellers under the Defence Forces’ leadership since 2015.
A total of EUR 1 232 million was allocated to the Squadron 2020 project in the 2018 budget. The share of the construction contract to be concluded with Rauma Marine Constructions Oy is EUR 647.6 million and the share of the propeller shaft contract with Aker Arctic Technology Oy is EUR 27 million. Price of the Saab combat system is EUR 412 million.
The total cost of the Squadron 2020 project is EUR 1 325.48 million, which includes the EUR 22 million risk reserve for joint acquisitions and the EUR 83 million for the ITO20 anti-aircraft missile system already purchased for the ship class. The total costs are influenced by the increased price of the construction contract, the additional costs caused by the preparation and prolongation of the contract, the narrowing content of the contract, and the price reduction already taken into account but not achieved in the budget. In order to provide sufficient resources for product support and spare parts necessary for implementing the project, alterations during construction, ammunition, and project costs, the procurement authorisation needs to be increased by EUR 93.48 million in the third supplementary budget for 2019 to ensure the implementation of the Squadron 2020 Project.
The life cycle costs of Pohjanmaa-class vessels are similar to those of the vessels scheduled for decommissioning. They will be covered by the annual operating cost funding of the Defence Forces.
Minister of Defence Kaikkonen has decided to conclude an industrial cooperation agreement with Saab. The obligation of industrial cooperation for the Squadron 2020 combat system was imposed in June 2017, corresponding to at least 30 per cent of the combat system’s procurement value. Establishing service and maintenance capabilities for vessels and their systems in Finland, industrial cooperation involves six domestic companies and the Defence Forces.