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2015-12-08 According to an article by Sang-Yun, Kim on the South Korean Ministry of Defense website, the South Korean Air Force is already making use of 3D metal printing technology to improve maintenance capabilities.
Since entering into an MOU with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning for the extension of 3D printing technology in May of last year, the MND is cultivating defense professionals, running parallel with 3D printing industry support in the defense and robot areas with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
With all these efforts, the introduction of the 3D printing technology is on track.
The Air Force said on November 26 that it adopted recycling and repair techniques applied with 3D metal printing technology, reducing its budget by approximately 500 million won this year as well as shortening its procurement period by 40 days.
These effects are expected to be extended by applying this technology to production and distribution of aviation parts.
The Air Force has started the development of laser cladding welding techniques to repair the HPT shroud of F-15K F110 engines with Insstek, a Korean 3D metal printing-specialized company, in July 2013.
Laser cladding is a high-tech 3D printing metal forming technique adding a layer of metal powder with a high-powered laser to produce products.
Following the two-year experiment, in 2015, our Air Force obtained a certification of safety and quality from General Electric, the engine manufacturer for the F-15K, and realized a major achievement – a 518 million won budget reduction – by repairing 14 HPT shrouds with our own technology this year.
The HPT shroud of the F110 engine requires special repair equipment and costs 40 million won per unit when purchasing a new product, as well as a 60-day procurement period.
When applying 3D printing recycling and repair techniques, however, the repair cost per unit is only 3 million won and the period of procurement is 20 days, only one-third of the time previously required.
The average annual quantity demand for this part is around 10, and the Air Force predicts it will not only continuously reduce 370 million won of budget each year but also dramatically raise the logistic support ability of the F-15K, the Korean Air Force’s main fighter.
Also, aviation parts are starting to be produced using a 3D printer.
The Air Force introduced two plastic 3D printers into the AFLC (Air Force Logistics Command) since 2013, and has already completed the production of 16 types of aviation and ground equipment trial products in total since April of this year, including AIM-9P missile nozzle caps and others, after judging the need for and validity of parts that are expected to be discontinued or hard to procure.
The Air Force is expecting to achieve 130 million won in budget reduction each year and a procurement period shortening effect of up to 15 months with mass production and distribution of the trial products as early as next year.
The Army is planning to carry out a production demonstration project by 2016 for a total of 25 parts that are hard to procure or are discontinued, using metal and non-metal 3D printing technology in the Army consolidated maintenance depot beginning this month.
The head of technical management of the AFLC, Lee Bong-se, colonel-to-be, who carried forward the production of aviation parts using 3D printing technology, said,“With the introduction of 3D printing technology, we can produce and repair high-priced overseas parts on our own, leading to defense budget cuts and a shorter procurement period. We are going to expand the production and repair of items through requirement discovery.”
2015-12-04 In late October 2015, we had a chance to sit down and talk with key members of the Air Combat Command (ACC) staff about the evolution of the air combat force and the way ahead under the influence of new technologies coming into the force.
During that visit, we discussed the then forthcoming allied exercise at Langley where the F-22, the Typhoon and the Rafale will fly together.
Now those planes have arrived from Europe for the exercise.
Six Rafales, eight Typhoons, along with two KC-135FR Stratotankers and two KC-30 Voyagers, made the trip across the Atlantic for the exercise that will last from Dec 2nd to the 18th.
The initial flights of the three aircraft together are starting today.
Second Line of Defense will be visiting Langley during the exercise and have a chance to talk with the various participants.
U.S. Service members will partner with members of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) and the French Air Force (FrAF) for the inaugural Trilateral anti-access/area denial exercise scheduled for Dec. 2-18, 2015, at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
The exercise, hosted by the 1st Fighter Wing (FW), will focus on operations in a highly-contested operational environment through a variety of simulated adversary scenarios. According to U.S. Air Force Col. Pete Fesler, the commander of the 1st FW, the intent of the exercise is to gain an understanding of the logistics, support requirements, capabilities, tactics, techniques and procedures associated with the integrated operation of coalition front-line fighters.
“The RAF and FrAF are our vital strategic partners and allies in the current fight against extremism, and will be in any foreseeable future conflict,” said Fesler. “The trilateral exercise gives us an opportunity to train together in realistic counter-air and strike scenarios. This training is critical to ensure that we have day-one interoperability for future contingency operations.”
According to Fesler, international exercises like the Trilateral Exercise have helped the 1st FW learn to work with coalition partners in the past, such as during the Western Zephyr exercise in 2015, where the 1st FW worked with the RAF to enhance joint capabilities.
More than 500 people will be involved in the exercise, consisting of approximately 225 personnel from the U.S. Air Force, 175 from the RAF and 150 from the FrAF.
According to Fesler, partnering with coalition forces for training is critical to ensuring the 1st FW and its allies are ready to execute their mission when called upon.
The exercise will not only feature the U.S.’s Raptor, but also the RAF’s Typhoon and the FrAF’s Rafale as primary aircraft. The Trilateral Exercise will be the first time these coalition aircraft have flown together. Adversary aircraft will be replicated by the U.S.’s F-15E Strike Eagles and T-38 Talons. The U.S.’s Airborne Warning and Control System, as well as U.S. and FrAF tankers will also provide support during the exercise.
82673random1.05.0
In the ACC interview cited above, the A-10 pilot in the room underscored, fifth generation really is not about its tactical effect, it’s about the operational impact of fifth generation on the entire fleet.
“Prior to the F-22, the individual pilot could only have a tactical effect.
Now the pilot can have an operational effect. I can take a much smaller package to have a larger operational effect, which can have strategic impact.
Four F-15Cs or 4 A-10s showing up does not have a strategic effect; 4 F-22s can have such an effect.”
A key reason this is true is that the F-22 is the first of the fifth generation multi-tasking aircraft.
What this means that it can change its role during a mission appropriate to the combat task.
Or put another way, the F-22 was designed for air superiority but it has redefined the operational meaning of air superiority away from a classic air-to-air role and become an operational impact aircraft enabling the entire air combat force.
The F-22 pilot in the room discussed how the aircraft has been used in the Middle East, and highlighted its flexibility – shifting from dropping weapons, to providing force protection, including dealing with ground based threats to the air combat force, to becoming the ”quarterback” in contestable airspace.
Put in other terms, the F-22 is providing the mission assurance role for the air combat force.
This transformation has simply become part of operational practice; it is the quiet transformation infusing the USAF and the air combat force.
The F-22 pilot highlighted that although sensor fusion can be considered a key attribute of fifth generation, the ability to fly where you needed to go was a real discriminator.
“It is about stealth enabled sensor fusion; it is not just about generating information in the battlespace. There are places where legacy aircraft simply can not go and survive.”
The USAF started by shaping tactical integration of the F-22s with the F-15s.
That was a key effort of the first five years of the life of the F-22.
As one the ACC participants highlighted: “We started by flying F-22s with F-15s; the F-22s went out fired their weapons, had their impact and returned home.
The F-15s then fended for themselves with not always good results in our exercises.
It did not take us very long to grasp that integrated tactics were required where the F-22 enabled the F-15s and the F-15s supported the F-22s.”
The last five years have seen this type of tactical integration broaden out from the classic air superiority role to encompass the broader force to enable the operational effects, which the A-10 pilot spoke about.
This exercise is about tactical integration of three fighters who have more than 10 operational years under their belts, and focused on more effective tactical integration.
2015-12-04 According to an article published on the Italian Ministry of Defence website, Italy is supporting the Pershmerga in the common fight against ISIS.
Italy will keep supporting the Kurdish Regional Government and institutions in their effort to counter ISIS.
This is part of Italy’s contribution to the global fight against terrorist organizations which, after the Paris attacks, have shown they can also strike in the West. Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti made this statement during her meeting with Interior Minister and Interim Minister for the Peshmerga Karim Sinjari.
Talks were also attended by top Peshmerga officers and by the High Representative of the KRG to Italy, Rezan Kader. The Kurdish delegation is going to conduct meetings with other members of the anti-Daesh Coalition.
The Interior Minister and Minister for Peshmerga Affairs of the Kurdish Regional Government Karim Sinjari with the Italian Minister of Defence.
Roberta Pinotti expressed her appreciation for the leading role assumed by the Peshmerga in the fight against Daesh.
The current situation in Iraq’s northern regioni s characterized by positive outcomes obtained on the ground by the Iraqi Security Forces and Peshmerga, as well as a decreasing threat level.
“We – together with the other members of the Coalition- will keep providing training courses to Kurdistan Security Forces”. The Minister also underscored that Italy, with its 200 trainers, is the Kurdish Training Coordination Centre’s first contributor.
Karim Sinjari thanked Roberta Pinotti for Italy’s commitment, and expressed his appreciation for Italy’s engagement within the International Coalition to fight Daesh. “Italy is a very important country for us: without your help most probably we would not be here today to tell you about the situation in our region”, the Kurdish Minister said.
Starting from January 2015 the Italian contingent has trained over 2,000 Peshmerga out of 5,000 soldiers trained by member countries of the European Coalition (Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Hungary). Training covers the sectors of mine clearing, counter-IED and unexploded ordnance, marksmanship and urban combat techniques.
Moreover, from the beginning of 2016, a team made up of 15 Carabinieri will deploy in Erbil to train the Kurdish regional Police.
2015-12-03 The British Ministry of Defense announced today was that Britain joined into the aid of France and other allies to go after the ISIS safe haven in Syria.
Parliament provided voted last nite to support the action.
As Minister of Defence Michael Fallon commented this morning: “Daesch has never respected borders in the region.
The RAF is now free to attack Daesch on both sides of the border.”
One of the six Typhoon jets is pictured taking off from RAF Lossiemouth for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. 2 Tornados and 6 Typhoons are being sent to Cyprus for operations. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3343573/Two-Tornado-warplanes-six-Typhoons-carrying-precision-guided-Brimstone-missiles-Paveway-bombs-way-Syria.html#ixzz3tFtzjkOk
Following the vote in the House of Commons last night, Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft flew their first offensive operation against Daesh terrorist targets inside Syria.
The mainstay of Daesh’s financial income is derived from exploitation of a number of oilfields that they hold.
These are overwhelmingly located in Daesh’s heartlands in eastern Syria.
Several of these oilfields have already been effectively targeted by other coalition partners; RAF aircraft and precision weaponry are well suited to attacking, with low collateral risk, this type of target.
Overnight, RAF Tornado GR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker and a Reaper, and operating in conjunction with other coalition aircraft, employed Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct strikes against six targets within the extensive oilfield at Omar, 35 miles inside Syria’s eastern border with Iraq.
The Omar oilfield is one of the largest and most important to Daesh’s financial operations, and represents over 10% of their potential income from oil.
Carefully selected elements of the oilfield infrastructure were targeted, ensuring the strikes will have a significant impact on Daesh’s ability to extract the oil to fund their terrorism.
GR4 Tornado from XV(R) Squadron dropping the Paveway III laser-guided bomb, a highly capable weapon used against hardened and concealed targets. Notably, Paveway IV is one of the key weapons integrated onto the F-35B.
Coalition air operations have already degraded Daesh’s front-line military capabilities and have assisted the Iraqi ground forces in liberating some 30% of the territory that the terrorists initially seized in that country during the summer of 2014.
By extending RAF offensive operations into Syria, our aircraft are now able to help dismantle the means by which Daesh plan, direct and sustain their campaign of terror.
Before our aircrew conducted their attacks, as is normal they used the aircraft’s advanced sensors to confirm that no civilians were in the proximity of the targets, who might be placed at risk.
Our initial analysis of the operation indicates that the strikes were successful.
Two RAF Tornados make a fly past over the base in Cyprus after completing overnight bombing raids in Syria Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3343573/Two-Tornado-warplanes-six-Typhoons-carrying-precision-guided-Brimstone-missiles-Paveway-bombs-way-Syria.html#ixzz3tFvC2ntB
It is interesting to note that the Paveway enabled Tornados were supported by the Predator for targeting support and the new A330 tanker for tanker support.
Quite obviously, with the Russian presence in the airspace, some sort of arrangement must have been put in place to deconflict RAF operations.
And quite as obviously, the Cameron government decided to make this as public an event as possible to announce the new phase of borderless strikes.
Media were all over the RAF launching from Cyprus and returning from strikes to Syria.
Every major British newspaper had photos, videos, radio reports, etc. of this event.
The British government decided to engage in the next phase in ISIS with a clear public statement, including clearly identifying the threat from ISIS as both internal and external.
And would undoubtedly be linked to UK internal security efforts as well as the tightening of EU approaches as well.
While the President argued that we needed better intelligence to strike against ISIS, the British had the intelligence to strike them where it hurts, namely in their pocketbooks.
And note that the strike was launched the same day as the Russians were documenting the movement of oil into Turkey.
RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is one of the British sovereign bases located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
It has played a key role in Operation Shader – the military intervention against IS in Iraq – with some 860 personnel involved in the mission, according to the MoD.
Its fighter bombers began attacking IS targets in Iraq in September last year, when MPs approved air strikes there.
The base’s hardware includes eight Tornado GR4s, a Voyager refuelling aircraft and unmanned Predator drones armed with Hellfire missiles. The GR4s carry a range of munitions including Paveway IV guided bombs and precision-guided Brimstone missiles.
This graphic from The Daily mail outlines the British kit being used go target terrorists in Syria.
It is important to see the civil war in Syria that has killed 300,000 people and driven millions from their homes, against the background of Syrian history.
Before its boundaries were created by a deal between the French and the British in 1916, present-day Syria was not a natural political unit at all.
It was part of a much wider Arabic speaking “Greater Syria”, which included the entire area from Palestine to the Turkish border, and from the Mediterranean as far as the Iranian border with Iraq. Uniting “Greater Syria” has been a longstanding theme of Arab politics.
The subsequent history of relations between the newly created Syria and France has been troubled.
After the First World War, France was awarded a League of Nations responsibility to administer present day Syria, with a mandate to prepare it for full independence.
Britain was awarded a similar mandate for the area that is now occupied by Israel/Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. Both mandates covered an area that had hitherto been part of the defeated Ottoman Empire.
Both Britain and France were rivals for regional influence, and both wanted to retain as much control as possible in their own hands. Neither France nor Britain moved with any swiftness to guide the territories in their charge towards independence.
In one of the most iconic images yet to come out of Syria’s civil war, a band of rebels in an outpost in Aleppo are captured in this video frame at the exact moment a tank shell slammed into them. The only survivor, in addition to the photographer, was the one in dark silhouette, closest to the camera. Global Post’s Tracey Shelton said she was filming a feature on life on the frontlines of Aleppo, camping out with the men of Noor Den al-Zenke batallion, in a two-block stretch of backstreets that had formed the final line between government troops and opposition forces. The men had been warned a tank was approaching, and were grabbing their weapons when a shell hit. CREDIT: GlobalPost/Tracey Shelton
France had to suppress a major revolt against it rule in Syria in the 1925 to 1927 period, and it used brutal tactics in that war. In 1939, France handed over part of its mandated Syrian territory to Turkey to buy Turkish neutrality in the coming war with Nazi Germany. Even at the end of the Second World War, France still wanted to hang on the Syria, and was engaged in hostilities with Syrians seeking independence as late as May 1945.
Syria finally got full independence later that year. Initially it had a parliamentary democracy of sorts, but this was gradually replaced by military regimes.
The parliamentary regime proved too weak to cope with the external threat posed by the rise of Israel. The parliamentary regime was dominated by wealthy Sunni interests, who had traditionally exercised power in Syria under the Ottomans. Their reign did not last.
After the 1948 wars with Israel, which was taking over what most Syrians would have seen as part of “Greater Syria”, the Syrian Army had to be increased in size and strength. The army’s increasing involvement in politics brought new groups into power in Syria, but it also weakened the army itself, because of factionalism and politically motivated purges.
This weakness was exposed when Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israeli occupation, when it was defeated in the 1967 War
That led, indirectly, to the takeover of the state by Hafez Al Assad, a former Army officer, of Alawite religion, who has been Minister for Defence in 1967.
He was a ruthless pragmatist and held power for 30 years. He ensured that Syria performed better in the 1973 war with Israel, than it had in 1967, although it did not regain the Golan Heights.
His regime was a police state, although it did provide order, and it improved education and infrastructure in the country.
His regime was not an overtly sectarian one, in the sense that it did not set out deliberately as a matter of policy to grant privileges to the Alawite minority at the expense of the Sunni majority.
But patronage jobs in the public service have always been a way of building a power base in Syrian politics.
When Hafez al Assad died in 2000, he was succeeded by his son, Bashir. Bashir is married to Sunni and initially favored liberalizing the regime, but gave up because of resistance from vested interests.
The eventual rebellion against him was sparked by a minor enough incident in March 2011, when some children were arrested and detained for writing anti regime graffiti on a wall in a town near the Jordanian border.
The conflict with Israel contributed, from its beginning in the late 1940’s, to the militarization of the Syrian regime. The continuing occupation of Syrian territory by Israel adds to sense of siege.
All of Syria’s neighbors are using the present civil war to pursue their own agendas.
Turkey is pursuing and Anti Kurd agenda. Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting a proxy war with one another. Israel is happy to see Hizbollah employed in Syria, rather than attacking it. Although some of the parties in the war, like Daesh, proclaim their Islamic faith, the majority of the victims of this appalling war are other Muslims.
There are so many parties involved in this civil war that even a temporary truce would be very hard to negotiate. Localized humanitarian truces may be the best one can hope for.
The threat of Daesh may grow so great that it may prompt all the regional powers, including Iran, to reach a grand bargain on all the issues that divide them and impose peace by cutting off supplies to the belligerents. That prospect seems far off at the moment.
Indeed the record of other civil wars, like that in Spain from 1936 to 1939, is not encouraging. It may be a long time before the millions of unfortunate Syrian refugees will be able to return home.
For images of the Syrian civil war see the following:
Editor’s Note: This piece by John Bruton was brought to our attention and provided by Dr. Harald Malmgren.
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance (1981–1982 and 1986–1987), and Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983–1986). He became leader of Fine Gael in 1990 and served as Taoiseach from 1994 until 1997, leading the Rainbow Coalition government of Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left.
Currently, he is Non Executive Director at Ingersoll Rand, Smart Invest, Irish Diaspora Loan Origination Fund and CEPS.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of:
1.) Ingersoll Rand (a global diversified manufacturer) since 2010, and of
2.) The Centre for European Policy Studies
3.) Irish Diaspora Loan Origination Fund since 2015
4.) Smart Invest ( a recently established venture capital fund) since 2015.
On these boards, Mr Bruton has acquired a good knowledge of the workings on public corporations operating under US SEC, and particular knowledge of diversified manufacturing and reinsurance. During his terms as a director, the share prices of Ingersoll Rand(+169%) and Montpelier re (+140%) have performed very well by comparison with peers, and the market(+98%).
He is Chairman of the Public Interest Oversight Body of Deloitte in Ireland. This has given him an insight into the auditing of public companies.
He is an Advisor to Cabinet DN (a Brussels based public affairs consultancy working with EU institutions), and, in that capacity, he is Chairman of the European Sports Forum. This enables him to maintain his knowledge of EU policymaking processes.
He is a member of the European Advisory board of Eli Lilley, a pharmaceutical company.
From 2010 to 2015, he has been President of IFSC Ireland (a body promoting the development of the international financial services industry in Ireland).
From 2010 to 2015 he has been a non-executive Director of Montpelier Reinsurance from 2010 to 2015 (A Bermuda based reinsurer recently merged with the Endurance Insurance Company),
He has a website which includes recent speeches and articles he has written.
2015-12-02 In September, Egypt announced that they were purchasing the two Mistral-calls amphibious ships which France and Russia agreed would NOT be sold to Russia earlier this year.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said this weekend that Middle Eastern countries have to band together to battle the growing terrorist threat that has engendered a “ferocious war” in his own nation. El-Sisi spoke to the Associated Press just days after he announced that Egypt was buying two French warships.
With the Islamic State group assuming control of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria at the same time Egypt has been beset by bombings and other terrorist attacks, el-Sisi has made building up his country’s military a top priority. The Egyptian leader told AP the military “has always been a factor for stability” in his nation…..
Egypt recently expressed its interest in buying two Mistral-class helicopter carriers from France after a purchase agreement with Russia went up in flames last year. Both ships were built for Russia in what would have been the first major arms deal between that country and a Western power since World War II. After Russia annexed Crimea and allegedly backed pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, however, France scrapped the deal in late 2014. Since then, it has lost millions of dollars in upkeep costs while looking for a buyer. Egypt purchased both ships Wednesday, reportedly paying $1.1 billion.
Since last year, Egypt also has ordered a Fremm multipurpose frigate and four anti-submarine Gowind-class corvette from the French shipbuilder DCNS and 24 Rafale fighter jets from the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, Defense News reported Sunday.
Analysts have indicated the increasing number of Egypt’s armament deals with France represents a concrete step by the North African country to decrease its reliance on U.S. defense capabilities.
Two Mistral-class helicopter carriers Sevastopol (L) and Vladivostok are seen at the STX Les Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire, western France, May 21, 2015. Picture taken May 21, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Of course, there is a Russian angle and one where France-Russia and Egypt can work together.
And according to a Russia Today piece published on October 20, 2015, the deal opens the way for Russia to supply the weapons which they were building for the warships, initially for themselves, but now for Egypt.
Helicopter designer firm Russian Helicopters is prepared to supply $1 billion worth of equipment and aircraft for Egypt’s Mistral helicopter carriers. The two warships had initially been built by France for the Russian Navy.
Kremlin’s Chief of Staff Sergey Ivanov has suggested the possible deal.
“Egypt plans to buy Mistrals from France, and Russia would be…a sub-contractor that will provide these Mistrals with the necessary equipment. Without this hardware the Mistral, excuse me, is just a tin can”, Ivanov said. He added that the deal would include helicopters, which together with other equipment amounts to more than $1 billion.
“Egypt is a long-time strategic partner for us, and if the customer is interested, Russian Helicopters will be ready to supply Mistrals with all the necessary helicopter equipment,” the state corporation’s press service told RIA Novosti.
The Russian firm is ready to sell Egypt its Ka-52K helicopters, the naval version of the Ka-52 Alligator combat helicopter. This model was initially developed for the Mistrals ordered by Russia from France in 2011. In September, Egypt bought 50 Ka-52’s from Russia.
Now the next power projection piece for the Egyptian military might well be the A400M airlifter.
The Egyptian Air Force is seeking up to 12 A400Ms to grow its transport aircraft fleet, according to Spanish sources.
On 5 October Spanish website AndaluciaInformaciones.es revealed an upcoming deal concerning an unspecified number of A400M airlifters for Egypt. Pilar Albiac, the executive VP of Airbus Defence & Space, was quoted as saying “that Egypt had requested delivery of A400M airlifters as soon as possible.”
On 24 November AndaluciaInformaciones.es quoted unidentified aviation sources as saying the Egyptian order will comprise 12 aircraft at a cost of €150 million each for a total of €1.8 billion.
In mid-November Egyptian Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi visited Airbus’ Seville-San Pablo plant where the A400M is assembled, along with the C295 light transport. Egypt has ordered a total of 20 C295s in several batches.
Airbus officials neither confirmed nor denied the Egyptian A400M sale.
The third A400M Aircraft delivered to the RAF arrived on a glorious sunlit evening into Brize Norton. The aircraft is the third of 22 A400M Atlas to be accepted by the UK as part of a £2.75 billion program which is on track to meet the UK’s future air mobility requirements. Credit Photo: Airbus Defence and Space
Meanwhile, Infodefensa.com quoted an unidentified industry official as confirming the deal, but saying that “the number of aircraft is much exaggerated.”
Egypt currently operates 26 Lockheed C-130 Hercules, as well as 9 DHC-5 Buffalos and is receiving 20 C295s.
Airbus Defence and Space is hoping to sign up a new A400M customer within the next 24 months, especially as the aircraft has now proven itself in real operations with France and Turkey, which has flown the airlifter into Africa and Afghanistan.
Airbus has demonstrated the aircraft in Algeria and Saudi Arabia and provided additional information on the A400M to three Latin American countries. Jordan, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates are also reportedly interested in the type.
To date Airbus has delivered 16 aircraft and hopes to deliver a larger number next year. The A400M fleet has accumulated 4 550 flight hours as of the end of September with most flying accumulated by the French Air Force. These flight hours were reached in more than 1 100 missions.
Yesterday the Spanish Air Force reached an agreement with Airbus to buy 14 A400Ms out of a commitment for 27. The 14 aircraft will be delivered by 2022 after which a decision will be made on how to proceed with the remainder of the acquisition, postponed to 2024, reports Flight Global. A decision to reduce the buy or sell the remaining 13 to other customers would have to be agreed by the manufacturer and the Spanish government, the report notes. These 13 aircraft would be sold by Spain to customers like Egypt.
The on again and off again policies of the U.S. Administration have played a role, but Egypt is seeking to protect its interests, as is every player in the current Middle East crisis.
For most of the Cold War, Egypt’s military was a Soviet client. Every war with Israel was fought with weapons that were predominantly Russian. Russian pilots, air defense troops, and other specialists even fought in combat beside their Egyptian counterparts.
All that changed with the Camp David accords.
Egypt slowly flipped, as the flood of American military aid dollars soon translated into a military whose high-end equipment was predominantly American.
Now, hostility from the current US administration after the Muslim Brotherhood was removed from power in Egypt is changing the relationship again.
Egypt is looking beyond the USA for equipment, and the Russians are seizing an opportunity to begin bringing Egypt back into the fold.
The Egyptian military’s stocks haven’t wholly been purged of Russian equipment, either, which adds plausibility to the idea. Is Egypt about to flip again? And who else is in the mix?
After the freeze on arms transfers to Egypt by the White House, Egypt turned to Russia who responded with significant arms transfers, initially for helicopters which the government is using in dealing with their own approach to counter-insurgency.
Indeed, the Russian arms transfers were part of the strategic shift in the Middle East, which was underway with the seizing of Crimea and concurrent moves in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Later, the White House lifted the arms freeze but it seemed more a case of shutting the barn door when the horses had not only left but were running in the next race,
2015-12-02 While Putin was working the Syrian opportunity in September, the Russian Prime Minister was visiting the disputed islands with Japan.
His visit paved the way for a building program on two of the four disputed islands.
As reported in The Japan Times on December 2, 2015:
Russia is constructing hundreds of military buildings on two of the four disputed islands off Hokkaido, defense minister Sergei Shoigu has said, potentially sharpening tensions with Japan.
The government construction agency is now “actively building military towns” on the islands of Etorofu and Kunashiri — known as Iturup and Kunashir in Russia — Shoigu told a meeting of military top brass, according to a ministry statement Tuesday.
The coast of Kunashir is seen in this undated photo. Russia says it is building modern military settlements on the island and another claimed by Japan.
Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have been strained for decades over the southernmost islands in the Kuril chain, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, which the Soviet Union seized following Japan’s surrender in World War II.
Some 19,000 Russians live on the remote, rocky islands.
The ministry said the new military buildings would help “raise the combat readiness of troops on the eastern frontiers of Russia.”
Altogether, Russia plans to put up 392 prefabricated buildings and other constructions on the islands, including schools, kindergartens, leisure centers and dormitories.
The statement said construction work currently underway would continue through the winter. It said the buildings would be the latest kind of rapid assembly units…..
In September, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the island of Iturup and surveyed troops there, a move that angered Japan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in September ruled out any compromise on the islands, telling Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in September that Tokyo must acknowledge “the postwar historical realities, urging Tokyo to accept historical realities…..”
2015-11-24 By Robbin Laird, Harald Malmgren and Ed Timperlake
When analysts and intelligence experts were highlighting the warming sun of the Arab Spring, there was much hope: democracy was in the air and the gap between Islam and the West might be closing.
Rather than a warming sun, close observers felt an icy chill from the events of this Fall in Paris, and an evident European strategic shift away from the agenda set by Washington.
Major changes in geostrategic forces began when the U.S. President backed off his Syria Red Line, and then pushed relentlessly his own objectives with Iran while dismissing French, Israeli, and Gulf Arab reservations to the U.S.-Iran accord.
The Russian decision to accept Assad’s invitation to intervene militarily in Syria, and enlarge its military base presence there laid down an historic marker for a significant reconfiguration of power, not only in the Gulf, but also the entire Eastern Mediterranean region.
President François Hollande will meet with Obama on Tuesday in Washington. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
The most recent attacks on Paris and spreading fears of many more to come throughout the Middle East, Europe, Russia and even the U.S. have directly triggered Russian-French and broader Russian-European considerations of collaboration against existential threats being posed by ISIS terrorism and the closely related crisis of migration reaching into the heart of Europe.
It is most important to note that when President Hollande declared a state of war with ISIS, he deliberately chose to invoke Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty, not Article V of the NATO treaty.
Article 42.7 is the “solidarity clause” that states if a member of the European Union is the victim of “armed aggression on its territory”. other EU member states have an “obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power.”
In essence, France chose to work within a European framework, without formally drawing in NATO and the U.S. direction that would entail.
Combat success by the Russian entry into Syria has led to bolstering Assad for the time being.
More significantly, it consolidated an opportunity for Russia to establish a strong, permanent land and sea Russian position adjoining Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya and the entire area encompassing Sunni-Shia and tribal rivalries and conflicts throughout the Gulf region.
Putin has dramatically altered world perceptions of Russia’s ability to project power, and thus strengthened Russian influence with all the players in that vast strategically significant geographic region.
The Russians began with a relatively high tempo of air sorties from a small force compared with a slow U.S. tempo of sorties and weapons widely seen as a trickle, or as Lt Gen Dave Deptula USAF (ret) has correctly declared, a Desert Drizzle.
Fighting a clear and decisive air campaign against ISIS infrastructure is clearly necessary. Deptula has contrasted the current airpower “drizzle” against ISIS as making little sense. His point that the life-saving morality of unleashing airpower to shut down ISIS’s ability to acquire money for their ongoing unrelenting horror is a core and crucial task, requiring immediate actions.
As one Iraqi military leader was quoted as saying about the desire to bring the Russians into the Iraqi fight:
The US-led rules, which enforces verification of targets, regularly give IS militants time to save their supplies, equipment and fighters, they said.
“This is an exceptional war and our enemy has no rules,” one of the officers said.
“How [can] you ask me to stick to the rules while my enemy is brutally killing my people every day, enslaving my sisters and destroy my towns and cities?
“Russians have no red lines, no complicated and restricted rules, so it would be easy for us to deal with them,” he said.
When ISIS took responsibility for the terrorist bomb, which took down a Russian aircraft with Russian civilians aboard,
Putin saw the way opened for a more robust response.
The Paris terrorism which followed triggered a French military response.
It became instantly obvious that both Russia and France then had a common objective to take down the ISIS caliphate cooperatively.
Military coordination became essential, but consideration of longer term regional consequences also came into play.
Putin had already initiated conversations with other interested parties in the neighborhood, including Israel, Jordan, Saudis, Turkey, ostensibly for “deconfliction” arrangements to avoid mutual accidental impediments in the airspace in and surrounding Syria.
French President Francois Hollande, left, greets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Oct. 2 , 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting the leaders of Ukraine, France and Germany in a revived European push to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.The long-awaited summit in Paris on Friday is being overshadowed by international concerns about Russia’s military intervention in Syria this week.(AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
Notably, Putin invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to Moscow in September to forge a deconfliction agreement between Israel and the Russians. The Israeli diplomatic mission to Moscow included senior Israeli military officials. Consequently, both political and military issues were on the table from the start.
Putin had also explored coordination with Iranian (IRGC) actions and leadership in the Syrian theater of operations. There should be little doubt that “deconfliction” and Iran action coordination have metamorphosed into much more substantial exchanges of intentions and intelligence.
The U.S. military remained constrained by Washington concerns about potential collateral damage that might be blamed on US forces, and the other parties functioning alongside Russia and France to take down ISIS perceived U.S. action as marginalized. This is an unintended “lead from behind” move from Washington.
Initially, the Russian Air Force introduction of a relatively small number of combat aircraft enabled establishment of an operationally secured new air base in Hemeimeem to function in parallel with the equally important Russian naval base in the Port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Coast.
Both Russia and France are now at work to degrade and destroy the vital water, electricity, and communications infrastructure of ISIS in its Raqqa capital and other bases of operations, and to destroy its revenue sources of oil production, refining, storage, and distribution.
And it is interesting to note, that according to U.S. government sources, the U.S. provided France with targets for the initial retaliatory strikes. This raises a core question: if the U.S. claims to have known those targets whey were they not hit months ago?
In this new joint effort Russia-French effort has found an opportunity to deploy and demonstrate use of its strategic, cruise missile enabled bombers, sea-launched missiles, and even subsea submarine launched missiles, making clear to the world that Russia’s military has returned from its enfeeblement after the collapse of the USSR.
The Russians are backing a sovereign government with that government’s approval.
Because of that the Russians, acting consistently with UN Security Council accords, have reset the war by inserting themselves into a lead position.
Regardless of the number and specifications of the weapons applied, it is the intangible of direct and deadly combat decisiveness that now forms the foundation for Russian expansion of their diplomatic role in the region.
In reality, Russia has displaced the primacy of the U.S. in the calculations of neighboring governments, at least for the time being.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, September 21, 2015. REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool
In this new strategic context, all of the key regional players see Russia as a force to contend with. Significantly, even a “hot line” agreement has been made between Russia and Israel, the significance of which has been totally underappreciated by world press and media. It can be assumed that Israel has taken up with Putin its deep concerns with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the supporting role of Iran. Israel will want to find means of mitigating existential threats in Lebanon.
This poses interesting strategic choices for Putin, which may entail reducing its support for Iran inspired turmoil in areas where Russia now will have, far more direct influence.
Now Russia is a legitimate player and certainly the French have approached them as such.
The French public does not want to be blamed for indiscriminate collateral damage; they would prefer that any collateral damage occur in the areas where ISIS has set up a state, and areas which finance ISIS non-state actions.
Washington had up to now been unwilling to authorize decisive and wide ranging direct attacks on the infrastructure of ISIS. Now Russia and France have been extraordinarily incentivized to go ahead.
As Professor Amatzia Baram, a leading Israeli expert on the Middle East has put it:
“IS” cannot be defeated as long as it controls territory that can produce large revenue and serve as base for operations.
“IS” has the Iraqi-Syrian desert that is providing them with some $1.5m per day worth of oil, in addition to ransom, an endless supply of archeological items and a few million Islamic tax (zakat, kharaj, ‘ushr) payers.
They are probably the richest Islamic terrorist organization in history, richer even than the dreaded Assassins of Alamut Mountain, who terrorized the Islamic world and the Crusaders between the 11th and 13th centuries.
With France, Europe and Russia moving closer together to shape an anti-ISIS strategy, including the Russians proposing military cooperation at sea as the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier comes on station to start its operations, the confluence of interest in invoking the UN might also occur.
Assad is the legitimate ruler of Syria; the UN charter protects sitting governments. And it is being credibly discussed that the Russians are more than willing to broker a deal in which Assad goes if his government stays.
Although Russia wants a consolidated long-term presence in Western Syria, it is highly unlikely Russia wants responsibility of managing tribal, ethnic, and ideological conflicts in Eastern Syria. The Sunni Gulf States want a new framework of security that limits IRGC and Shia militias from continuous disruption of their domains and neighbors.
Time is of the essence to grasp the opportunity of fluidity of the situation, with ISIS ripping apart the borders, while also making a mockery of them.
Bringing in a UN commission of some kind to have a new look at Sykes-Picot and British-French borders drawn at another time of history could enable all parties to give serious consideration to reshaping not only Syria, but the Syria-Iraq volatile mix of inherently incompatible cultures and regimes.
All engaged parties should consider reshaping the SYIRAQ boundaries in a UN sponsored Peace Process.
Dr. Amatzia Baram
Professor Baram has argued that a key way to defeat the Islamic state is by backing one tribe at a time.
A sample of the solution is already enfolding in front of our eyes.
With Allied air support, the Kurds of Iraq and Syria have already pushed IS out of large swaths of land.
In early November the Iraqi Kurds launched a renewed offensive to drive “IS” out of Sinjar, in Iraq’s north-west. They must be helped much more, but the Kurds do not have the numbers to liberate either of the two countries.
Most of the Sunni-Arab tribes of Iraq and Syria living in “IS”-occupied areas are sitting on the fence, waiting.
They are hostile to “IS” due to its super-extreme interpretation of the Islamic law, very alien to local traditions, but they are also hostile to the Alawite regime in Damascus, to the Shi’i government in Baghdad, and to the Shi’i-Persian overlords in Tehran.
If their expectations are met by the international Coalition they will fight “IS”.
Setting up a great power UN Commission to broker the redesign of Iraq and Syria based around tribes demonstrating their commitment to the destruction of ISIS, can shape a long term future where all powers can engage to support the shaping of a post-ISIS order is a worthy goal.
Historically, there have been blue helmets on the ground for UN peacekeepers; now pilots could fly with blue helmets to destroy ISIS and save civilization from Islamic extremism.
Russia would be a key player in this process; and a Franco-Russian reconciliation followed by a broader Russian reconciliation with Europe would also anchor such a process.
Otherwise the world will be left with a reticent U.S., preoccupied with domestic American elections, unable to act robustly to influence events.
The time of incrementally modified COIN strategy enthusiastically endorsed by MILIcrats has passed, overtaken by events in Russia, Europe, and the East Mediterranean and Middle East regions.
We need to stop deluding ourselves that we are winning the “hearts of minds” of whatever faction of Muslims we think are our friends for the moment.
We need to work with the Russians, the French and others to reshape the region to root out and destroy ISIS.
As President Francois Hollande put it more clearly than anyone else:
“Our enemy in Syria is Daesh, so it’s not about containing but about destroying this organization to save the populations of Syria and Iraq, but also Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and neighboring countries. It’s also to protect us, to prevent this from happening on our soil…
“Our enemy disposes of the most vile tactics to kill, but the enemy is not out of reach.”
With a newly shaped coalition focused on the destruction of ISIS infrastructure and a willingness to tolerate more robust military actions, the political framework for shaping a new configuration of the regions in SYIRAQ might be in the offing.
Editor’s Note: This article published in The Guardian highlights the sense of urgency, which the French President has about reshaping the approach dealing with Isis:
François Hollande will plead with Barack Obama to show greater urgency in the fight against Islamic State when the presidents meet in Washington next week, warning of a state of emergency in Europe.
French officials have been careful not to openly criticise the US’s strategy in Syria and Iraq but believe Obama must be made aware of the extent of the refugee crisis it has caused, a European diplomat said on Wednesday.
“The message that we want to send to the Americans is simply that the crisis is destabilising Europe,” said the diplomat, who did not wish to be named. “The problem is that the attacks in Paris and the refugee crisis show that we don’t have time. There is an emergency.”
Noting the debate raging among governments over how to handle the biggest movement of people to Europe since the second world war, he added: “It’s the foreign fighters but it’s also the migrants crisis which is dividing the Europeans, destabilising the continent, so we have to act quickly, telling the US administration the core interests of the Europeans, your best allies, are at stake.”
As Paris reels from the terrorist attacks that killed 129 people last week, Hollande will try to impress on Obama that there is a need to act now and the world cannot afford to wait for a war of attrition that might take two years. Some insiders believe that America has been slow to appreciate the effects of millions of refugees pouring out of Syria, partly because the US is an ocean away and far less vulnerable.
The European diplomat said: “That’s the reason why the French president will be in Washington on Tuesday before flying to Moscow to meet President Putin.”
France wants world leaders to redefine the strategy for taking on Isis and give it a greater sense of urgency.
This piece was first published on Breaking Defense on November 22, 2015.
It has been published as well on Front Line Defence under the title: We Need to Stop Deluding Ourselves.
Lt. General (Retired) Deptula recently published an op-ed in USA Today highlighting the need to take up Paris’s call for a quickened pace in the War against Isis.
Is it going to take the equivalent of the Paris bombings — or worse — in the United States beforePresident Obama takes decisive action against the Islamic State?
Secretary Kerry stated last week that President Obama “has directed every member of his national security team to pick up the pace and move forward with ideas for degrading and defeating Daesh more rapidly, more completely and permanently.”
That should not be difficult given that last month the president’s plan resulted in only 4 strikes a day in Syria.
That is pathetic.
For comparison, the number of air strikes during Desert Storm averaged over 1200 a day. The current operation in Syria is more appropriately named “Desert Drizzle.”
We have it within our capacity to destroy the Islamic State leading to the elimination of their sanctuary for terror.
However, to do so will require moving beyond the current anemic, pinprick air strikes, to a robust, comprehensive use of airpower — not simply in support of indigenous allied ground forces, but as the key force in taking down the Islamic State.
It will require focusing on the Islamic State as a government, not an insurgency, and for Central Command and their subordinate task force to stop fighting the last war, and start the serious use of airpower.
For over a year, US and coalition airpower has performed admirably in the mission to roll back the advances of the IS, across Iraq and Syria.
But the asymmetric advantage airpower brings to the fight is in danger of being squandered.
Air forces are being shackled with unwarranted constraints, leaving civilian populations to suffer sectarian butchery by the IS.
Their influence is now moving outside the territory of the Islamic State, and must be stopped.
In Iraq and Syria today, the US operates under a zero civilian casualty standard that far exceed the standards of international law. That policy is backfiring — it is extending the time to secure military objectives; allows more time for the Islamic State to commit atrocities; more radical Islamists to emerge out of Syria; and it yields the Islamic State the equivalent of an air defense capability they do not have to pay for, equip, or man to employ.
Moreover, this excessive caution is sparking a crisis in confidence that has invited further violence emboldening others to take action not aligned with US interests. Russian intervention in Syria is an obvious example, and the attacks in Paris are the most recent manifestation of a timid and feckless coalition strategy.
We can and must minimize unintended casualties. Nobody wants to kill civilians — except for the Islamic State. That brings into question the morality of a policy that restricts the use of airpower to avoid the possibility of collateral damage while allowing the certainty of the Islamic State’s crimes against humanity.
While unintended casualties of war must be avoided to the extent possible, those associated with airstrikes pale in comparison to the savage acts of the Islamic State.
War is not about “equality;” it’s about inflicting damage on your enemy without suffering damage yourself.
War is about creating asymmetries.
In any military engagement, there is inherent risk, and loss of life inevitable occurs.
The best way to mitigate unintentional civilian casualties—or in the case of the Islamic State (IS), intentional civilian casualties—is to render the enemy ineffective as promptly as possible.
The moral and strategic menace of the Islamic State warrants the optimal application US air power until the group is decomposed as an effective entity.
A more robust and comprehensive air campaign over the past year could have reduced the slaughter of thousands of innocents at the hands of the Islamic State. It would have prevented the migration of terrorists out of Syria, some of who may have been involved in the attacks in France.
Rapid and devastating air attacks can still liquidate the capacity of the Islamic State to wage war and prevent the spilling of more blood. Overwhelming and focused attacks to crush the Islamic State — not episodic, antiseptic bombing — will also send a signal that the US has the will, power and resolve to confront other regional threats.
The danger of attempting to conduct ‘immaculate warfare’ by over-constraining the application of airpower is self-defeating, as it perpetuates the misperception that airpower is incapable of accomplishing what it is actually very capable of delivering under the laws of war — the rapid disintegration of the Islamic State.
It is admirable that Operation Inherent Resolve air operations in the past year plus have produced precise attacks with the fewest possible number of civilian casualties.
However, humanity, justice, and civilization demand that the restrictions that are delaying and inhibiting the means to halt the evil of the Islamic State be removed, and that we optimize our asymmetric advantage of airpower.
Airmen are performing magnificently at the individual and unit level doing the most they can while encumbered with onerous rules of engagement.
America’s enemies today are exploiting our humanity to impose their terror. It is time to change strategy to optimize our advantage.
We published a piece which drew upon a Deptula briefing in 2013 which highlighted that a “no-fly” zone requires a strategic purpose to make any sense, and that it requires a substantial commitment of resources plus coming to terms with a number of strategic realities in the region.
