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The US Government has notified the Congress of a possible deal to sell 22 more Harpoon Block II anti-shipping missiles to the Indian Navy, this time for its four HDW German made Shishumar class submarines.
Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which manages the government to government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, said July 1 that it had notified the Congress as required by law, and that the maximum price of the deal could be $ 200 million inclusive of containers, spare and repair parts.
It was pointed out that the missile, built by Boeing, had already been sold to India for deployment on Indian Air Force’s Jaguar aircraft as well as the Boeing P8-I that India is buying.
Acquired in the mid-1980s, the submarines are apparently under upgrades. With some new systems and missiles, their lives could be extended by about 10 years by which time the Indian Navy’s new Scorpene boats built in collaboration with the French, and perhaps some more, would be operational.
IAF has a Jaguar maritime strike squadron with anti-shipping as its major role while four P8-I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) – designated so by the Indian Navy – are already on duty from their southern Indian base of INS Rajali at Arkkonam. Two of them had in fact also taken part in the search for the missing Malaysian MH 370 jetliner in the area allotted to them.
India had placed an order for eight P8-Is in 2009 shortly after the Pakistani terrorists attack on Mumbai in November 2008, and of these, four have already been delivered. Two more are due in the coming weeks as per schedule.
Overall, the Indian Navy is looking for 20 to 30 of these highly sophisticated maritime surveillance aircraft. Built on a Boeing 737-800 platform with Boeing 737-900 wings for stability at low altitudes, the hybrid aircraft are designed to hunt and kill hostile submarines.
Besides the latest Harpoon Block II anti-shipping missiles, these aircraft have Raytheon’s highly sophisticated AN/APY-10 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for tracking ships, submarines and small coastal vessels even on high speed, Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Warfare Self-Protection (EWSP) suite, BAE Systems countermeasures dispenser system, Smith Aerospace’s Flight and Stores (or Weapons) Management System, and GE-SAFRAN’s powerful CFM 56-7 engines.
Harpoon missile firing, Block 1/C Harpoon firing off USS Leahy, harpoon ship launch. Credit: USN
Notably, these aircraft and their sophisticated weapons are being delivered to India just about the same time as to the US Navy. In fact, Boeing’s then Vice President and Country Head for Boeing’s Integrated Defence Systems ( India ), Dr Vivek Lall, had described the deal as “unprecedented” as this was the first time that the US was sharing the technology developed for US armed forces with another country at the same time. The Block II Harpoons are integral to this aircraft.
Harpoon has different variants, for aircraft, ships and submarines.
In the current notified requirement for the submarine variant, India has requested 12 UGM-84L Harpoon Block II Encapsulated Missiles, 10 UTM-84L Harpoon Encapsulated Training missiles, 2 Encapsulated Harpoon certification training vehicles, containers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support.
The estimated cost is $200 million, DSCA said in a press release.
It also said that the “proposed sale of Harpoon missiles will not alter the basic military balance in the region” and “there will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.”
Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor personnel to India. However, U.S. Government or contractor personnel in-country visits will be required on a temporary basis for program, technical, and management oversight and support requirements for approximately five years.
The principal contractors will be the Boeing Company in St Louis, Missouri; and Delex Systems Inc., in Vienna, Virginia.
DSCA pointed out that “in accordance with the Indian Defense Procurement Policy, a contractor may be expected to conclude offset agreements with the Government of India but no offset agreement is currently known to have been proposed in connection with this potential sale.”
2014-07-05 At a presentation in early June 2014 to the Airbus Defence and Space Trade Media briefing held in Spain,the head of the A400M Program within the company, Rafael Tentor-Aunon, noted that 90% of the flight-testing is now done with 6343 flight hours and 2278 flights conducted.
And in a separate briefing by Eric Isorce to the Trade Media even, the status of A400M flight status through early June 2014 was provided.
The 10% of flight-testing that remains really was focused on further enhancements of what the aircraft will provide for a combat force.
A key one is clearly air-to-air refueling as both tanker and receiver.
An additional aspect is the testing night vision operations which are an important element of 21st century combat capability.
And finally, finishing the testing of defensive aids for the modern airlifter needs to be able to land near the point of attack to provide support for 21st century operations.
In short, the A400M is now in service, and its in service experience will now inform the further development of the aircraft as a key enabler of operations.
It will be less about developmental flight testing, and moving to support of the aircraft and evolving its capabilities through real world experience.
The videos below provides a visual perspective on various aspects of the test program to date.
A400M Self-Protection Testing
Airbus Military’s A400M airlifter has successfully demonstrated the release of decoy flares, marking a key development step for this new-generation aircraft’s self-protection systems.
The flares are designed to mislead heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles, particularly surface-to-air missiles (SAM).
They are a key element in the A400M’s self-protection systems due to the airlifter’s ability to operate from short and unpaved airstrips close to the scene of military action, where SAMS may be fielded by an enemy.
18 June 2013
Testing Paratrooper Operations
The A400M was originally conceived of in a world where lifters were trucks to carry cargo and troops from point A to B.
This world has totally been transformed by operations in the past decade, during which the A400M was being developed and readied for its roll out into operations.
With the last decade of experience and the revolution in air dropping, the air lifter is an integral part of the kind of expeditionary logistics, which insertion forces clearly need to operate with for 21st century operations.
The ability to carry troops and equipment, which can exit the aircraft from the side and back, respectively, provides an interesting operational capability as well.
25 April 2014
A400M Load Out Testing
These loading tests were conducted at Boscombe Down, UK. 3 -4 July 2013.
With a maximum payload of up to 37 tonnes (81 600 lb) and a volume of 340 m3 (12 000 ft3), the A400M can carry numerous pieces of outsize cargo including, vehicles and helicopters that are too large or too heavy for previous generation tactical airlifters, for example, an NH90 or a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, or two heavy armoured vehicles for military purposes.
It can also carry a heavy logistic truck, or a rescue boat, or large lifting devices, such as excavators or mobile cranes needed to assist in disaster relief.
The A400M can also carry 116 personnel, or paratroops. Because of the width of the A400M’s fuselage, they can be seated in four rows, all along the two sides of the fuselage, and back to back along the centre-line, with enough space in between the facing rows.
With its maximum payload of 37 tonnes (81 600 lb) allowing to airlift an heavy mobile crane, four personnels and three military pallets, the A400M has an operating range of 1780 nm (3300 km).
Once on the ground, the A400M is designed for very rapid and autonomous cargo loading or unloading without any specialized ground support equipment.
Fitted with on-board 32-tonne capable powered winch and an (optional) five tonne / 11,000 lb capable crane to load directly from ground level, the cargo hold is optimised for single loadmaster operation from a computerised workstation, where the loadmaster can pre-plan loading from a loads data base.
Furthermore, the A400M’s landing gear can “kneel” down in order to reduce the angle of the ramp facilitate the off- and on-loading of material.
This allows loading and unloading without ground assistance at the most remote and austere strips, minimising vulnerable time on the ground.
This reduces the aircraft’s vulnerability to hostile action, hence increasing its survivability.
The A400M can also conduct cross-loading with other strategic transports without the need to reconfigure loads in ‘hub and spoke’ operations.
A View of the A400M Landing
The A400M multi-vision system is highlighted in this video.
The two-pilot flight deck crew will have the benefit of an integrated, digital avionics system in the cockpit and a fly-by-wire control system.
Additional systems will provide a night-vision-compatible glass cockpit complete with two head-up displays supported by at least five multi-function displays that will allow state-of-the-art avionics developments to be incorporated to the flight-deck design, so greatly reducing crew workload.
18 January 2013
A400M Loading NH-90 Helicopter
In this video the A400M is seen loading the NH-90 in a time lapse video.
The A400M combines the landing characteristics of a C-130 with the ability to carry outsized equipment like the C-17.
18 June 2012
A400M Formation Flying
Five Airbus Military A400M flight test aircraft in Toulouse are taking off together and doing some formation flying. The Airbus Military Flight Test team then broke formation and then each aircraft continued its specific flight test activity.
2014-07-04 Logistic Support Vessel 2 – U.S. Army Vessel CW3 Harold A. Clinger, manned by a 163rd Transportation Detachment crew, got underway from its homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on July 2 to conduct the first of eight surface lifts between Kaneohe Bay and Kawaihae Harbor in support of 3rd Marines as part of the biennial Rim of the Pacific 2014 exercise.
LSV-2 will also partner with 25th Infantry Division’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, for casualty evacuation operations and a shipboard aerial resupply with the New Zealand Navy, and conduct Logistics over the Shore operations during RIMPAC 2014.
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gaelen Lowers, 8th Theater Sustainment Command Public Affairs/Released), July 1, 2014
According to the Facebook page of CW3 Harold A. Clinger:
Mission
Transports cargo throughout a theater of operations or along inter-theater routes not otherwise serviced by the Military Sealift Command. The Logistic Support Vessel (LSV) will also assist in roll-on/roll off or Logistical-Over-The-Shore (LOTS) operations. The LSV has the capability to deliver up to 850 short tons of cargo to bare a beach with a gradient of 1:30 or better.
Description
CW3 Harold C. Clinger
Harold C. (Spike) Clinger was born May 26, 1951 in Brookville, Pennsylvania. In September, 1976 he joined the U.S. Army and was appointed a Marine Warrant Officer in February, 1980.
As the OIC of the Marine Engineering School at Ft. Eustis, Virginia, he designed the task list used worldwide as teh basis by which all marine engineers are trained.
On February 28,1986 CW3 Clinger and his entire crew of five Korean nationals were killed when a D-long pier they were operating, off the coast of Kangnug, broke up in heavy seas. CW3 Clinger was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on March 10,1986. He is survived by his wife, Wendy and son, Richard.
CW3 Clinger’s award include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Force Enlisted Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and two (2) Air Force Good Conduct Medals.
Army watercraft, divers, sustainment troops to participate in RIMPAC 2014
June 30, 2014
By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Ferguson, 8th Theater Sustainment Command
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (June 30, 2014) — Hawaii-based Army watercraft assets, divers and sustainment troops are set to play major roles in surface/vertical lift, casualty evacuation, and Logistics over the Shore operations during the biennial Rim of the Pacific 2014 exercise, June 26 through Aug. 1.
The 8th Theater Sustainment Command troops will join the 22 nations, 49 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participating in the world’s largest international exercise, designed to provide unique training opportunities and strengthen the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring safety of sea lanes and security in the world’s oceans.
Logistic Support Vessel 2 – U.S. Army Vessel CW3 Harold A. Clinger’s 163rd Transportation Detachment crew run through drills while underway from the boat’s homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on June 2 en route to conduct the first of eight surface lifts between Kaneohe Bay and Kawaihae Harbor in support of 3rd Marines as part of the biennial Rim of the Pacific 2014 exercise. LSV-2 will also partner with 25th Infantry Division’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, for casualty evacuation operations and a shipboard aerial resupply with the New Zealand Navy, and conduct Logistics over the Shore operations during RIMPAC 2014. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gaelen Lowers, 8th Theater Sustainment Command Public Affairs/Released)
Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Roth, the 8th Theater Sustainment Command’s Sea Operations lead, said that nearly 70 percent of the world is water and 80 percent of the world’s population lives on or near a coast, so freedom of movement is essential, especially in the Pacific region.
“The global maritime environment is too large and too complex for any one service or nation to safeguard and respond to situations in and around it alone,” he said.
Rim of the Pacific 2014 will exercise a wide range of capabilities and situations, from disaster response and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. It will also feature a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief event to facilitate training and certification for expeditionary forces to respond to foreign disasters. During the exercise, the 524th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will set-up and validate its Early Entry Command Post’s ability to monitor, battle track, and provide mission command in an austere environment.
A 163rd Transportation Detachment crew will man Logistic Support Vessel 2, named the U.S. Army Vessel CW3 Harold A. Clinger, for long range escort and harbor approach operations with the Navy and Coast Guard, and provide eight surface lifts between Kaneohe Bay and Kawaihae Harbor, in support of 3rd Marines.
The vessel will also partner with 25th Infantry Division’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, for casualty evacuation operations and a shipboard aerial resupply with the New Zealand Navy.
During Logistics over the Shore operations, the 7th Engineer Dive Detachment will conduct port reconnaissance and the LSV-2 crew will exercise working in unimproved port conditions, as the 545th Transportation Harbormaster Detachment provides command and control to train and validate the unit’s Harbormaster Command and Control Center for employment in remote and unpredictable environments.
And a more general look at the “floating” US Army can be seen in this article:
By Cpl. Jeffrey Daniel, 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Public Affairs
KUWAIT NAVAL BASE, Kuwait (Jan. 26, 2012)
The 824th Transportation Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Morehead City, N.C., recently arrived in Kuwait to start their yearlong deployment. Its home away from home has a unique feature.
It floats.
The 824th’s floating home for the next year is the Landing Craft, Utility, 2002 — United States Army Vessel Kennesaw Mountain, a 174-foot-long watercraft.
The crew is made up of 17 Soldiers. Its mission is to carry materiel throughout the Persian Gulf. The crew is made up of seven Soldiers on the deck side, seven watercraft engineers, two cooks, and a medic.
Since the crew just arrived, it had to do an extensive check of the vessel’s safety and mechanical equipment, and complete one mission with the Kennesaw Mountain’s previous crew.
In between missions the crew will polish its vessel-operation skills and makes sure its licensing requirements are met. This will enable the crew to be in a constant state of readiness, and ensure it’s ready for any mission.
Early in the morning of Jan. 20, the crew loaded the food order that just arrived into the galley and prepared to depart for a day of training and licensing exercises. Just after 9:00 a.m., Sgt. Robert L. Wallace, the vessel’s boatswain, blew the horn to alert anyone within earshot that the Kennesaw Mountain was pulling away from the pier at Kuwait Naval Base.
Wallace, a North Carolina state trooper in civilian life, joined the unit in July 2006. Wallace manipulate the controls on the vessel’s bridge to pull the Kennesaw Mountain away from the pier, turn it around, and depart the harbor. Even though Wallace was under the watchful eye of the skipper and first mate, he handled the vessel like a pro.
Wallace, like many of the other Soldiers on board, have a common story. They had no idea the Army had a fleet of watercraft until they went to the Military Entrance Processing Station.
“We are the Army’s best kept secret,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kenneth “Neil” Styron Jr., the vessel’s chief engineer. Styron spent six years as an enlisted Soldier before becoming a warrant officer.
Styron said most people, even Soldiers, don’t realize the Army has watercraft. His big grin shows his appreciation for finding this unique opportunity to continue serve the United States as an Army Reserve Soldier.
Sgt. 1st Class Ronald E. Buffkin is the vessel’s first mate. He served with the Navy in the mid-’70s and was out of the military for 18 years before finding out about the Army Reserve unit near his home that operated watercraft. He has been with the 824th since 1996.
Buffkin said he’s reluctant to be promoted to the next level, since master sergeants have to come off the LCU and become part of the land-based crew.
“We have a saying,” said Buffkin. “If it ain’t got water under it, we don’t want anything to do with it.”
Pfc. Tyler M. Morrow, 18, a vessel engineer, is the youngest and least-experienced Soldier on board the Kennesaw Mountain.
“I volunteered for this deployment while I was still in AIT [advanced individual training],” said Morrow. “With all the training, I have only been home for maybe three weeks since I shipped off to basic training.”
Morrow recited the all-too-familiar story about how he didn’t know what job he wanted to do in the Army. His recruiter sent him to MEPS, where the position of watercraft engineer was offered. When Morrow told his recruiter what military occupational specialty he chose, the recruiter had to look up the job to see if it actually existed.
Even the Kennesaw Mountain’s skipper said many Soldiers don’t know about the Army’s watercraft.
“The Army has more boats than the Navy,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tom Heald. “Most people don’t realize the size of our fleet.”
In addition to having a job that most people don’t know about, the crew has another similarity: they love what they do. Most of the crew has lived around the coastal Carolinas for years. Many have had family in the marine industry.
“A lot of people on here enjoy their jobs and love to talk about it,” Styron said.
Buffkin agreed.
“Most people in this field, you can’t run them off,” he said.
As Heald watched, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Close, the 1st Theater Sustainment Command’s maritime mobility noncommissioned officer, performed an anchor maneuver. The procedure was part of Close’s licensing process.
“It doesn’t matter if we are licensing or delivering something, we are out here doing what we love,” Heald said.
Close and Wallace worked on their licensing packets during this trip. They both hope to advance their skills to take them to the next level of Army watercraft operation.
“The boat field is run by license type instead of rank,” explained Spc. Devan C. Foley, one of the Kennesaw Mountain’s deckhands.
That means if a specialist has a higher-grade license than a staff sergeant, while on the boat, the specialist is in charge.
Foley, who is also a Landing Craft, Mechanized, 8000-series operator, known as a Mike boat, assists with all deck operations including emergency drills, cargo loading and unloading, and battle stations.
“The Mike boat is run by all NCOs,” Foley explained. The size of the vessel dictates the size of the crew. The Army’s largest watercrafts are the Logistic Support Vessels, which feature a crew of 32 versus the three-person crew of the Mike boat.
During a day of training and licensing, Foley was on deck with three others performing their tasks as proficiently as possible.
Styron said that about 90 percent of the crew has worked together before this deployment.
“Unlike most Reserve units, during [Annual Training], we do real-life missions, and they usually last about 28 days,” he said.
Styron recounted the missions the unit has had: Haiti, moving cargo to and from the Caribbean, and using one of company’s vessels to aid in the recovery operation to raise the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad.
After the crew took the Kennesaw Mountain beyond Kuwait Naval Base’s high-water barrier, it opened up the engine to allow the engineers to check some work that was recently completed on the vessel.
Over the loudspeaker, a voice bellowed.
“Man overboard, man overboard, blue coveralls, port side.”
The young but efficient crew raced into action. Out of nowhere, the deck was full of crewmembers, all pointing in the same direction.
“Everyone points in the direction of the person in the water so we don’t lose sight of them,” explained Foley as got his recovery gear ready to pluck the figure out of the water. The medic stood by, ready to administer any lifesaving skills the swimmer would need.
The deck listed as the Kennesaw Mountain turned to rush back to where the floating figure bobbed in the waves. As the vessel approached, the deck crew moved to its recovery positions to pull the figure out of the water.
The first pass was successful. As the lifeless figure was pulled onto the grey steel deck, there was a quick laugh as everyone joked with the medic about what to do next to “Oscar,” the mannequin.
Even though the day’s event was only a drill, the crew took it seriously, for going overboard could happen to any one of them.
On the bridge, Wallace and Close took turns at maneuvering the Kennesaw Mountain as the man-overboard drill was repeated until the skipper and first mate were satisfied.
Next, Wallace and Close started the duty performance test.
“The licensing process is very extensive,” Buffkin said. “There are 22 tasks that must be evaluated.”
Heald placed an electronic imaginary X on the Electronic Charting System and told the expected licensees to drop the anchor on the X. Close went first. As he maneuvered the boat into position, Buffkin and Heald fired questions at Close, adding stress to an already difficult task. Close called out for wind direction and checked the water depth to determine how to best approach the target without damaging the boat. Close performed as if he had been born to the job. As the deck crew spotted the tension of the anchor chain and reported to Close, he smiled and said his token phrase, “All right.”
On board, lunch time is worked into the skipper’s master plan for today’s exercises. While at anchor, Heald can afford to have only one Soldier on the bridge to perform anchor watch. The Kennesaw Mountain has two Army cooks on board; Wallace explained the crew can place an order for just about anything.
“We don’t have access to a post exchange or morale, welfare and recreation facilities, so we stay well stocked,” Wallace said.
“We do what we can to give the cooks a break and have the crew eat in the chow hall while in port if possible,” Heald added.
The cooks provide three hot meals a day. That day’s lunch included fried chicken, mixed vegetables, rice with gravy, and a cinnamon streusel cake for dessert.
“After eating food this good, it’s hard to go back to eating at the chow hall every day,” Close remarked.
Close and Wallace both passed their anchor test. Next, they had to simulate a beach landing.
Heald said the LCU is much like a barge. Its depth in the water, or draft, is very shallow. The Kennesaw Mountain is capable of landing on a beach to load or offload cargo.
For this day’s training, however, the LCU pulled up to a large concrete ramp. Wallace went first; Close stood at the front of the vessel, assisting the deck crew. Close used a radio to call distance reports up to the bridge, letting Wallace know how far he was from the ramp.
As the LCU neared the shore, the ramp was lowered slightly to help the bridge crew see where it was going. As young as Morrow is, he was well-versed in operating the ballast tank system, which is how they raise the nose to aid in a beach landing.
As the vessel approached the ramp, its bow rode high in the water. Just as the LCU stopped, the huge ramp was lowered, and fell within a foot of the waters’ edge. The crew raised the ramp, and Wallace, on the bridge, threw the Kennesaw Mountain into reverse, swinging the boat’s bow around and heading back towards the sea. Close, during his turn, was just as successful.
The last duty performance test for that day’s trip was bumper drills. The crew repeatedly pulled the LCU alongside a dock to show proficiency in using all the tools in the vessel’s maneuvering arsenal. That arsenal includes two screws, double rudders, and a bow thruster, which allows 360-degree movement of the bow.
Close and Wallace both passed their tests and the Kennesaw Mountain headed back portside.
The crew of the Kennesaw Mountain takes great pride in its job. Each Soldier knows their mission will be completed with professionalism and pride.
From the youngest to the oldest, each crewmember has found their way into a little-known Army profession.
The response to Russia’s seizure of Crimea has been disbelief, denial or condemnation.
The reality is that the Russians are a nationalistic power whose leader sees the post-Soviet order as illegitimate as many Germans saw the Versailles settlement after World War I.
Clearly, Putin understands that both cooperation and competition are essential in the 21st century, but he is focused on maximizing Russian resources – natural and technological – to shape a more powerful position for Russia in the period ahead.
Sanctions as a response are so-late 20th century and do not recognize that the interest groups in the West which benefit most from working with the Russians will work hard to deflect the impact of such sanctions.
No greater example of this could be a former Chancellor of Germany who is a beneficiary from the Russian energy complex travelling to Russia in the height of the first phase of the Ukrainian crisis. Former German Chancellor Schröder celebrated his 70th birthday with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of April. Putin welcomed his friend at a reception organized by Nord Stream AG, a pipeline operator controlled by Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom. Mr. Schröder is chairman of Nord Stream’s shareholder committee.
Russian tanks and soldiers storm a Ukrainian air force base in Belbek near the Crimean city of Sevastopol on March 22, 2014. (Viktor Drachev / AFP/Getty Images).
A seminal Latvian report on the Russian rethink and reshaping of their approach to military power as an integral element of augmenting their “soft” power underscored how the West needs to get realistic with regards to Putin and the nationalistic Russians but feared that the growing stake which the West has in Russia will simply blunt the West’s ability to understand its own interests.
As the author of the report on Russia’s New Generation Warfare noted,
“Economic interests are more important to some politicians than moral issues. One example is a document from the United Kingdom’s government stating that there should not be trade and financial sanctions against Russia so as not to harm the City of London.”
One of the greatest failures of Western strategic thinking and of the strategic class is to assume progress for the inevitability of globalization when history does not operate that way. There is no inevitability of progress; there is the certainty of conflict, entropy, collapse and development.
The 21st century is not one of the making of thought of Condorcet but of one where progress can be forged only in the midst of conflict and for the democracies this always is a challenge to manage an effective way ahead where dictators and authoritarian regimes persist in their efforts to set global agendas to their benefit, by taking actions, not simply talking at conferences.
As Putin rewrites the map and inserts his interpretation of Russian interests into the Western calculus, Western states need to rethink and rework a number of core agenda items to ensure that Putin and like-minded Russians understand that aggression has a significant cost. Simply generating sanctions as a substitute for more fundamental shifts in policy will be seen as a short-term and short-sighted solution that will go away as vested interests in the West succeed in their rollback.
To be effective, key Western states need to take hard decisions and to shape new strategic realities, which the Russians will themselves need to adjust to in order not be marginalized in the global competition.
The Mistral Case
One example of a hard decision would be for the French to reverse their sale of amphibious ships to the Russians. The Russians are the throes of buying 2-4 Mistral ships from the French.
But these amphibious ships will include ice-hardened versions, which certainly the Nordics and the Balts understand where they will be used, and as these countries focus on deepening their joint defense, adding new capabilities to the Russians who are precisely the threat makes little sense.
The level of anger in the Nordics is very high. While the Northern Europeans, and the Baltic states in NATO are focusing on dealing with the direct threat of Russia to the North of Europe, it makes little sense for France to simply provide new warships for the Russians to be used precisely in this region.
The US Mistral: Dealing with Space Dependencies
In many ways, U.S. space policy and its dependence on the Russians is the functional equivalent of the Mistral challenge.
Dependency is significant in terms of the engines used by one of the two key rockets used by the Pentagon, and indeed in the views of many experts, the better of the two rockets.
The Soyuz space capsule approaches the International Space Station. Credit Photo: NASA
Also, with the retirement of the Space Shuttle, only the Soyuz is available currently for moving humans to the Space Station. And with the Russians in a central place in Space Station policy, the Russians can play havoc with the U.S. equity in the Space Station. This was not a Russian trick but deliberate US policy.
Reversing course is doable but costly.
But in the presence of Russian map-making, it is essential.
And past decisions such as NOT building a domestic variant of the RD-180 engine, not pursuing an effective alternative to the Space Shuttle, and not working with the Europeans on ATV as a player in an alternative Space Station policy are all parts of taking a relaxed view of Russian involvement in a number of strategic areas for US space policy.
Such a relaxed view, which really was done because of the absence of U.S. effort and investment, will only aid and abet further Russian map making. And the current Administration which clearly committed itself to a “re-set” of policy towards Russia as opposed to make tough decisions about building real space capabilities, needs to stop the rhetoric and get on with policies to build real capabilities.
And one can hope that a side bar debate about the role of Space-X in the nation’s launch future is not used a diversion from getting on with central decisions about whether the US intends or not become a 21st century space power, rather than operating as a custodian for what we did in the 20th century.
The 21st century is not the 20th; and this is not the replay of the Cold War.
It is something profoundly different than what the US policy community is focused upon. The Russians are not accepting the nice divide between soft and hard power, which folks who believe in the inevitability of globalization eliminating military conflict continue to push.
Rather the Russians under Putin understand that carrots and sticks and pressures combined with tactical flexibility can advance a national agenda.
Particularly when your competitors unilaterally eliminate core capabilities in key sectors, like the US has done in space, you can use their weaknesses to your advantage.
This is about power; in which military power used as a leverage tool can be very effective.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this piece appeared in Space News:
2014-07-03 New Delhi. INS Sahyadri, one of India’s latest indigenously designed guided missile stealth frigate, has reached Pearl Harbor for the multilateral RIMPAC (Rim of Pacific) exercise with the US and other navies.
This is the first time that an Indian warship is in the US waters for an exercise. The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army have though interacted with the respective US forces both there as well as in India to enhance wargaming perspective.
According to a Ministry of Defence statement here, INS Sahyadri reached Pear Harbour on July 1 for a month long engagement.
INS Sahyadari. Credit: India Strategic
During the stay there, the ship’s crew would be participating in harbour exercises, professional interactions, military symposiums, sports events and social fixtures being conducted as part of the Harbor Phase of RIMPAC 14.
Subsequently, during the Sea Phase, the ship will participate in various exercises with navies from different countries, covering the entire gamut of maritime operations including anti-surface, anti-submarine, anti-air and Carrier Strike Group operations. Live firing is also done as part of the exercises.
INS Sahyadri’s participation in RIMPAC-14 will serve to reinforce naval ties with USA and other participating countries, as well as contribute immensely towards enhancing interoperability with friendly navies.
The vessel covered a distance of over 5000 nautical miles (9000 Km). Commanded by Captain Jyotin Raina, she is manned by 25 officers and 255 sailors of different specializations/ branches. Based in Vishakhapatnam as part of the eastern Naval Command, she had a brief halt of three days en route in Darwin, Australia from June 10 to 13.
The multi role stealth Sahyadri, a Shivalik class ship, boasts of an array of weaponry in her arsenal. Long-range anti-ship missiles, medium and short range surface to air missiles augmented by powerful guns of different calibers provide a formidable shield against all types of threats.
Two integral multi-role helicopters carried by the ship act as force multipliers in all maritime scenarios due to their versatility and long range. She was commissioned just about a year ago on 21 July 2012.
INS Sahyadri has weapons and sensors from various sources, including from France, Russia and Israel.
There is also an interesting piece of equipment from the US which makes deafening noise to hit any intruder who comes near her.
India’s state-run BEL has developed a special radar for the Navy to help integrate secure communication between various naval assets.
Reprinted with the permission of our partner India Strategic.
The Indian Navy Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate INS Sahyadri (F 49) transits Pearl Harbor as it arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,00 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
RIMPAC 2014 is the 24th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
2014-07-03 In a recent piece by Admiral James “Ace” Lyons, former Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, focused on what he sees as a Kurdish opportunity.
There is no question that modern-day Iraq is a fractured state. This should come as no surprise, since its basic historical foundation was always weak.
It was created in 1920 by the British and French after World War I as they carved up the old Ottoman Empire. Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s efforts to encourage the various political factions to put aside their sectarian and ethnic grievances, which go back hundreds of years, to prevent Iraq’s disintegration has little to no chance of success as Iraq has descended once again into a Sunni-Shiite civil war. Without putting “boots on the ground” (other than special forces), the dynamics of the current mess must be changed in a way that contributes to our long-term strategic interests. One political action that we could take would be to support a long-sought Kurdish objective of a sovereign state that would be a loyal U.S. ally in a sea of turmoil.
We need to face reality. The Nouri al-Maliki Shiite-led government in Baghdad is no friend of the United States. At this point, Prime Minister al-Maliki, a tool of the Iranian government, has squandered the political opportunity that was given him by the United States, which was bought and paid for with the blood and sacrifices of American and coalition military forces. As Massoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, told Mr. Kerry in a clear message, “We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq.” For Kurdistan, this could be a long-awaited opportunity.
The Obama administration has put out “feelers” on how we might cooperate with Iran on Iraq’s unraveling. This makes absolutely no sense. Iran has been at war with the United States for more than 34 years and has caused the loss of thousands of American lives, including more than one-third of our military killed or permanently injured in the Iraq war. We should never forget Tehran’s role in supporting the Sept. 11 hijackers.
The fear that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the richest terrorist group in history, may annex a central swath of Iraq and Syria, and declare a caliphate, is real. While this should be of concern, the region already has one in Iran. That nation is the recognized world leader of state-sponsored terrorism and is on the cusp of achieving a nuclear-weapon capability.
The ISIS rapid advance in conquering territory in central Iraq and the city of Mosul opened a direct path to the oil-rich Kirkuk province and Kirkuk city. With the Iraqi army units deserting their installations, the Kurdish military Peshmerga once again answered the call and moved quickly to secure deserted Iraqi army facilities and the Kirkuk oil fields. They also provided protection from ISIS terrorists to Kirkuk city and surrounding Kurdish-dominated towns and villages. This move expanded the Kurdish semi-autonomous region by more than a third. Peshmerga forces are now defending a new 620-mile border against the ISIS army. It has also altered the political landscape, which will not be easily reversed. Clearly, the time for an independent, sovereign Kurdistan has never been more necessary.
The bold move by the Peshmerga to prevent ISIS fighters from capturing Kirkuk and the oil fields should be welcomed by the Obama administration. The Kurds are a proven friend in the region. In the run-up to the 1991 war in Kuwait, they cooperated closely with the United States. In the 2003 Iraq war, when Turkey refused to cooperate with the United States, the Kurds once again stepped up and cooperated with the U.S. After Baghdad was liberated, they backed the American-led effort to establish a constitution, a functioning central government and the rule of law. They have been a reliable partner.
Regrettably, this long and tested partnership has stalled for questionable reasons over the past several years. Ever since Mr. al-Maliki, an Iranian puppet, became prime minister, U.S. administrations have supported the Baghdad central government’s increasingly confrontational approach with the Kurdish region over core issues. These involve a fair share of oil revenues, control of new oil discovered in their region, and protection from historic injustices perpetrated byBaghdad. The Obama administration, in the current crisis, should recognize that the Kurdish Peshmerga now stand as the only viable military force confronting the ISIS juggernaut in the northern part of Iraq.
More importantly, the Peshmerga also stands as the only partner in the region whom we can fully trust. While Baghdad is struggling to form a government, the Kurds have just formed a unity government. It is a functioning, secular democracy with those values deeply imbedded in Kurdish society. This is the essential element for creating a democracy, but it was unattainable by Baghdad.
The Obama administration should provide political and material support to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region to ensure that it can continue to deter and, if necessary, fight ISIS. The administration should also rebuild our relationship with the Kurds to ensure we have a long-term ally in the region — one that is increasingly politically sophisticated, economically sound and shares our core values.
Clearly, it is time to support a viable, economically stable, sovereign Kurdish nation. Another strong, reliable democratic ally of the United States in this region would be most welcome, and it makes sense strategically. An independent, sovereign Kurdistan will certainly not be welcomed by Iran. It is thought that Kurdish relations with Turkey over an sovereign Kurdistan can be managed with U.S. assistance, particularly in view of Turkey’s significant economic investment there.
As an Officer of the U.S. Navy for thirty-six years, most recently as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the largest single military command in the world, his initiatives contributed directly to the economic stability and humanitarian understanding in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions and brought the U.S. Navy Fleet back to China.
He also served as Senior U.S. Military Representative to the United Nations. As the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations from 1983 – 1985, he was principal advisor on all Joint Chiefs of Staff matters and was the father of the Navy Red Cell, an anti-terrorism group composed of Navy Seals he established in response to the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut. Admiral Lyons was also Commander of the U.S. Second Fleet and Commander of the NATO Striking Fleet which were the principal fleets for implementing the Maritime Strategy.
Admiral Lyons has represented U.S. interests with military and civilian leadership worldwide – including China, Japan and other Pacific Rim countries, the European continent and Russia. As Fleet Commander he managed a budget of over $5 billion and controlled a force of 250,000 personnel. Key assignments preceding Flag rank included Chief of Staff, Commander Carrier Group Four, Commanding Officer, USS Richmond K. Turner (CG-20) and Commanding Officer, USS Charles S. Sperry (DD697). He has been recognized for his distinguished service by the United States and several foreign governments. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has received post graduate degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and the U.S. National Defense University.
2014-07-02 Two F-35B aircraft flew in close formation for the first time in short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) mode, also known as Mode 4, on Feb. 11, 2014, at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
Recently, we talked to instructors at MAWTS about their work with the F-35 at Yuma Air Station.
According to MAWTS, the 121 squadron has been participating in the exercises run for the Weapons and Tactics Instruction Course (WTI) courses , which are done for training and tactics development.
MAWTS does two a year.
In these courses, air is working within the MAGTF approach and Marine ground forces participate in the WTI courses as well.
In the Fall of 2013, 121 participated in three WTI events and in the last course during the Spring of 2014, 121 participated in six events. To date the F-35Bs in the WTI events have performed SCAR (strike coordination and reconnaissance), escort and area defense missions.
The current planes are operating with Block 2A software and the Block 2B software arrives later this year for the preparation for the IOC in 2015. What this means is that the plane operating today with MAWTS is more limited than what will come later in the year. While Block 2B is largely a software upgrade, there are some planned hardware mods as well.
The F-35 is operating with other Marine Corps air as the blue team against red aggressors in various exercises.
This means that already the Marines are working the question of 5th generation aircraft working with 4th generation to shape tactics and training for more effective air operations.
In this photo, the 8 planes involved in the training for an 8 ship flight are shown. All the plane captains [crew chiefs] are seen standing by their jets. The pilots are in the cockpits. The jets are running. Credit Photo: by Lt Col Gillette, F-35B IP and executive officer at the VMFAT-501 and now CO of the first operational F-35B squadron.This has meant as well that the combat systems on the F-35 have already demonstrated an ability to enhance the impact of F-18s and Harriers on air combat operations.
As one of the MAWTS instructors put it:
We are able to employ the F-35 as a kind of information manger using its combat systems to be able to employ the air ordinance carried by the other airplanes which allows us to conserve our ordinance on the F-35 until we actually need to use it.
This has already led to interesting results when doing things like the defense of Yuma exercise where the F-18s were enabled to do things they can not normally do against incoming USAF aircraft as the Red Force.
In this WTI event – Anti-Air Warfare 2 – the F-35 participated with 4th generation fighters from MAWTS against a Red Force, which included F-15s and F-16s. Because of the F-35’s combat systems, the participating 4th generation fighters were significantly more effective. Right now, the F-35 can be used to generate sensor data, which enhances the capability of the 4th generation fleet, limited by the current need to pass that data via voice means; and the F-35s ability to operate more freely in the battlespace than can 4th generation aircraft.
And in a discussion with the CG for 2nd Marine Air Wing, and a former CO of MAWTS, BG Hedeland underscored the importance he saw to the MAWTS-Squadron role out of the F-35.
The natural attraction between an organization that really does have –the plane and MAWTS-1, which owns the standards piece, is the natural focus on integration.
The ADT&E Division within MAWTS-1 will be hungry for operational capability of the JSF.
The F-35 out there is a natural magnetism between those in 121 that want to kill the enemy sooner and those at MAWTS-1 who want to shape the standards for doing it.
It’s not happenstance that the CO of 121 right now is a former MAWTS-1 instructor that, that worked for me when I was the CO out there.
Lt. Col. Gillette was in the F-18 Division when I was the CO out there.
If his guys think that they can live a day without dealing with the guys with the chicken patch on (MAWTS), they’re going to be out of their minds.
Their relationship is absolutely vital, vital to getting as much out of that squadron as we can both before they deploy but, but once they do deploy.
2014-07-02 India launched five satellites of four foreign countries from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre June 30 on a single launch, successfully putting them into their designated orbits in about 20 minutes.
This is the first time that a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse indigenous rocket of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), carried only foreign satellites, taking their tally to 40 since it launched the first foreign satellite in 1999.
India ’s space program began in 1975, and except for heavy satellites, for which ISRO depends upon the European Ariane, India uses its own propulsion systems. So far, India has launched about 100 missions with satellites.
India is yet to perfect the cryogenic technology required for launching heave payloads into space but there is some success with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) program whose Mark III version is under development.
India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at hand to witness the launch. Apparently inspired, he described the mission success as “global endorsement of India ‘s space capability” adding that it made every Indian proud.
The Prime Minister at the Launch site. Credit: India Strategic
Mr Modi, who has initiated a campaign right from his swearing-in ceremony in May 2014 for good relations with neighboring countries, offered to build a SAARC Satellite to benefit them.
“Today, I ask our space community to take up the challenge of developing a SAARC satellite – that we can dedicate to our neighborhood as a gift from India.” This, he said, should have “a full range of applications and services” including for satellite-based navigation system. The footprint of the satellite should be appropriately enhanced.
Notably, Mr Modi has been pushing for reforms with Skill, Scale and Speed as his government’s mantras. He used the occasion to reiterate his emphasis on technology for the good of the common man. “I believe technology is fundamentally connected to common man. It can transform his life.”
The main satellite on board the 44.4-meter tall PSLV-C23 rocket was the 714-kg SPOT 7 (Earth Observation Satellite) of Airbus Defence and Space.
Equipped with high resolution imaging cameras and sensors, this satellite has been placed diametrically opposite to its earlier twin, SPOT-6, also launched from this southern Indian space station on 9 September 2012.
The other four satellites belonged to Germany , Singapore and Canada (two).
The first satellite to be ejected from the PSLV was SPOT-7. After that, German AISAT, Canadian NLS7.1 and NLS7.2 and Singapore ’s VELOX-1 were placed in the orbit.
PSLV2. Credit: India Strategic
Airbus, which had a team at the space station to coordinate and monitor the launch, said that SPOT-7was being placed in a 655-km sun synchronous orbit.
India began its space program in 1975 with very modest beginnings and the scientists of those days even carried components on bicycles. There was assistance from the United States initially, and then from the erstwhile Soviet Union which also facilitated the first space journey of an Indian, Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma of the Indian Air Force (IAF), in April 1984.
Sq Ldr Sharma received extensive training at IAF’s test pilots school, Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) before being sent to Baikonur cosmodrome for the launch. He spent nearly eight days in the Salyut-7 space station along with two Soviet cosmonauts.
ISRO has an international marketing arm, Antrix, to outsource space launch missions and some technology.
ISRO has sent missions to the mars and moon, found evidence of water with the help of a Raytheon radar on the moon, and is now preparing for a manned mission there.
There are many challenges towards a human flight, requiring capability in long range propulsion, and onboard control, connectivity and survival systems.
Reprinted with the permission of our partner India Strategic.
The workhorse of India’s space programme, the PSLV made its maiden flight in September 1994 with a failed attempt to orbit the IRS-1E remote sensing satellite. For the SPOT-7 mission, flight C23, the PSLV will fly in the Core Alone (PSLV-CA) configuration.
The Core Alone variant of the PSLV first flew in April 2007, with Monday’s launch marking its tenth flight.
The rocket consists of the same four stages as the standard PSLV, but without the six PS0M boosters which the standard configuration attaches to the first stage.
The flight of PSLV C23 began with the ignition of the first stage’s solid-fuelled S-138 motor at the T-0 point in the countdown, propelling the rocket into the sky above Sriharikota.
The powered phase of first stage flight lasted around 102 seconds, with separation occurring at 110.6 seconds after liftoff.
The second stage ignited two tenths of a second after staging, at the start of a burn which lasted around 150 seconds. Separation of the payload fairing occurred at the 176.7-second mark, with the PSLV at an altitude of 131.5 kilometres (81.7 statute miles or 71.0 nautical miles) – taking it clear of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The second stage, which is liquid-fuelled and powered by an L-40 Vikas engine burning unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide, separated 262.2 seconds into flight, making way for the solid-fuelled third stage to fire 1.2 seconds later.
The motor used on the third stage, an S-7, utilized a burn time of 110 seconds.
Ignition of the fourth stage occurred eight minutes, 51.2 seconds after liftoff, ten seconds after the rocket jettisoned its spent third stage.
The PSLV’s fourth stage was powered by a pair of L-2-5 engines, fuelled by monomethylhydrazine and mixed nitrogen oxides. Its single burn lasted eight minutes and 25.5 seconds, placing the satellites into their planned orbit at 655.1 by 657.7 kilometres (407.0 by 408.7 miles, 353.7 by 355.1 nautical miles), with inclination of 98.23 degrees.
SPOT-7 was the first of the payloads to separate, thirty seven seconds after the end of powered flight. Forty seconds later AISat-1 was released, with CanX-4 and 5 being deployed thirty and sixty seconds after that.
The final separation event was for VELOX-1-NSAT, twenty five seconds after CanX-5. The PSAT spacecraft was deployed from NSAT at a later date.
The venue for the launch of PSLV C23 was the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island…..
Two orbital launch complexes are currently used at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The First Launch Pad is primarily used for PSLV launches, while the newer Second Launch Pad serves a mixture of PSLV and GSLV missions.
The second pad is currently being prepared for a suborbital launch which will mark the maiden flight of India’s newest rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.III. That mission is currently scheduled for late July or early August.
India’s next orbital launch will be made at an unspecified date later this year, with a PSLV carrying the third satellite in India’s IRNSS navigation system. Another such launch is also believed to be scheduled for the end of the year.
Editor’s Note: In a March 2010 piece we looked at the consequences of multi-polar space for US space policy.
As the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama launches its space policy — both civil and military — the space context within which the policy will be affected is changing rapidly.
By 2020, several nations will have new capabilities in space, along with civil capabilities, rivaling today’s sensing and communications capabilities possessed by the U.S. military.
And with the barriers to entry for space operations going down, multipolar space — or several global players shaping core space capabilities — will be a fundamental reality by 2020.
No matter what the United States does, multipolar space will create new policy realities. There will be alternatives to working with the United States for human and robotic space explorations.
There will be alternative constellations to U.S. global positioning systems. And Europe, India, China and Japan will all have significant space assets, which can operate as magnets attracting the iron filings of space activities.
Space will become a multiple Venn diagram of activity.
Yet the U.S. space debate is caught on dead center and seems to assume hegemony or a U.S.-centric “multinationalism.”
The reality by 2020 will leave such assumptions in the dustbin of history.
![In this photo, the 8 planes involved in the training are shown. All the plane captains [crew chiefs] are seen standing by their jets. The pilots are in the cockpits. The jets are running. Credit Photo: by Lt Col Gillette, F-35B IP and executive officer at the VMFAT-501](https://sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/8_Ship_Post_Flight-300x168.jpg)
