Free Republic

Asians Look To Counter Chinese Submarine Presence May 20, 2011 By Leithen Francis SINGAPORE — Concerns over China’s growing submarine fleet are leading Asian nations to invest in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. The Malaysian Navy uses six Westland SuperLynx helicopters for ASW, but wants ASW helicopters with more capability and plans to buy six, a senior official from the navy tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of this week’s Imdex naval defense show in Singapore. The government has included the requirement in the country’s 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015, he says. The official says the navy wants medium-lift helicopters that have...

British Anti-Submarine Warfare Force In Flux Jan 21, 2011 By Robert Wall YEOVIL, England — Concerns are mounting in the U.K. that anti-submarine warfare (ASW) skills are beginning to erode because of competing operational demands and equipment decisions. The fear, voiced by government and industry officials, goes beyond the decision last year to cancel the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft project. Some high-end skills to hunt submarines are no longer getting adequate training, warns an industry official. Additionally, the community is having to contend with the evolution of the threat and the emergence of diesel-electric submarines operating near the coast...

Remember about a couple of years ago when news of drug smugglers using so called “semi-submersibles” was all the rage? Those craft can almost completely submerge themselves to evade interception. Still, the vessels don’t go all the way underwater and can be spotted from ships or aircraft and have been intercepted a number of times. Since then, the high seas cat-and-mouse game between governments and drug smugglers has become more intense now that the cartels have built actual submarines. It sounds like these vessels are capable of staying underwater long enough to warrant the use of P-3 subhunters to find...

The U.S. Navy took delivery in January of 10 newly configured P-3C Orions installed with an upgraded acoustic system — the Acoustic Receiver Technology Refresh (ARTR) — that enhances the aircraft’s ability tenfold to receive and analyze sonobuoy data, a basic P-3C mission requirement. The upgrades will help bridge the technology gap between the Orion and the service’s next generation maritime patrol and anti-sub warfare (ASW) aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, creating a more common and efficient fleet. The Navy also is establishing common signal processing code and hardware for the two fleets. The acoustic technology upgrades are vital for the...

Running Silent, Running Deep Around Taiwan Tag it:Written by Jens Kastner and Wang Jyh-Perng Thursday, 06 January 2011 Anti-sub capability gives the Chinese navy the ability to escape into blue water With Chinese naval nuclear-powered submarines beginning to slip unchallenged through American and Japanese surveillance cordons, China appears well on its way to gaining absolute control over everything that lies within a 500 nautical miles radius of its coasts, military analysts say. A major part of the reason for that, they say, is that Taiwan’s surveillance capability is woefully inadequate. That means not only will US Navy carrier battle groups...

The first of a dozen anti-submarine aircraft are set to go into service in Taiwan next year, local media reported Sunday, as East Asian governments look to counter an increasingly assertive China. Washington agreed in 2007 to sell the refurbished P-3C Orion patrol aircraft, along with three non-operational machines for spares, and "the first ones will be delivered beginning next year," the Taipei-based China Times said. "The surveillance range of Taiwan's anti-submarine fleet will expand tenfold after the P-3Cs join the navy," it quoted an unnamed military source as saying. Taiwan's navy declined to comment on the report. The P-3C...

Navy asked to explain apparent ship plan delay BLAST FROM THE PAST:：A KMT legislator wondered whether an apparent lack of determination to complete a project was the result of the Lafayette frigate scandal By Rich Chang / Staff Reporter Tue, Dec 14, 2010 - Page 3 The navy yesterday was asked to justify an apparent decision to delay plans to launch a program to build submarine chasers to increase the nation’s coastal defense capabilities. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) told a Foreign and National Defense Committee meeting at the legislature that while the navy had assigned budgets...

Romeo likely to be navy's new helicopter December 14, 2010 - 2:29PM .AAP Australia's new naval helicopter is likely to be one which is used extensively by the US Navy - the Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin MH-60R (Romeo), a new study says. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Andrew Davies said the government could announce a final decision between the Romeo and the European NFH-90 (Nato Frigate Helicopter) early next year. Dr Davies said since the tender competition was launched in February, events had tended to favour the Romeo, with 76 aircraft in US Navy service flying more than 50,000 hours with a...

Two Russian ASW jets interrupt U.S.-Japanese drills Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft © RIA Novosti.Vitaliy Ankov A joint U.S.-Japanese military exercise in the Sea of Japan was suspended when two Russian Il-38 May anti-submarine aircraft flew over the area, the NHK channel said on Wednesday citing the Japanese defense ministry. The biennial Keen Sword drills were suspended amid fears that the Russian aircraft may obtain top-secret data, the channel reported. Around 34,000 Japanese military personnel with 40 warships and 250 aircraft joined more than 10,000 U.S. troops with 20 warships and 150 aircraft in the drills in the Sea of Japan, off...

The first P-3 Orion aircraft modified by Airbus Military for the Brazilian Air Force was inspected today by Brazilian Minister of Defence, Nelson Jobim, during his official visit to Spain. The aircraft is the first of a fleet of nine which will undergo a complete systems modernization programme, including the installation of Airbus Military´s Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS). As well as FITS, the aircraft will benefit from a powerful new suite of mission sensors, communications systems, and upgraded cockpit avionics. The engines are being updated and, depending on the condition of each individual aircraft, the structures are being renovated...

Pakistan Navy Inducts Advanced Chinese Anti-Submarine Helicopters Monday, 08 November 2010 18:20 Defence Supplied by China, the helicopter is configured to carry torpedoes and is fitted with state-of-the-art pulse compression radar, low frequency dipping sonar, radar warning receiver and Doppler navigation system. KARACHI, Pakistan—The second batch of four Z9EC Anti Submarine helicopters, and the first Information and Electronic Warfare Jet aircraft were formally inducted in Pakistan Navy Aviation fleet on Thursday. The induction ceremony was held at PN Aviation Base PNS Mehran. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral, Noman Bashir was the chief guest. The Z9EC helicopters have been acquired...

South Korea and the United States will stage large-scale anti-submarine drills in the Yellow Sea after the United Nations takes action against Pyongyang for sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, Yonhap news agency said. "The joint drills will be carried out after the U N Security Council takes measure against North Korea," the agency quoting Col. Lee Bung Woo said. The United States’s 97,000-ton USS George Washington, an Aegis-equipped destroyer, and a nuclear-powered submarine are reportedly participating in the joint naval drills and a 4,500-ton destroyer, a submarine and F-15K fighter jets will take part from the South Korean...

US and Japanese naval forces have successfully completed the Undersea Warfare Exercise (USWEX) in the western Pacific Ocean. The American nuclear-powered super carrier, USS George Washington (CVN 73) participated in the exercise held from June 21 to 25. The exercise was conducted by elements from Commander, Battle Force 7th Fleet (CTF 70), Commander, Patrol & Reconnaissance Force, 7th Fleet (CTF 72), Commander, Submarine Force, 7th Fleet (CTF 74), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and components from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). "This year during USWEX we continued to strengthen interoperability between the US Navy and...

US aircraft carrier will join a major anti-submarine naval exercise with South Korea next week in a show of strength to North Korea after the sinking of a warship, reports said Wednesday. South Korea, which accuses the North of torpedoing its ship Cheonan in March with the loss of 46 lives, is also mounting a diplomatic drive at the United Nations but indicated it would not seek new sanctions. The USS George Washington will leave its base in the Japanese port of Yokosuka around Saturday and arrive in the Yellow Sea early next week, Yonhap news agency quoted a military...

War tensions have been high since last week's announcement by the South Korean government that a 60-foot North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean corvette and killed 46 sailors at the end of March. The South Koreans stated that a Yeono-class (alternatively spelled "Yono") midget submarine fired the torpedo in March. (They also field a larger midget submarine, the Sang-O, that fits 15 sailors. At least one of these subs was also on patrol when the attack happened, according to an international team of investigators looking into the incident with South Korea.) The attack occurred in...

Airbus Military successfully conducted the first torpedo launch from one of its C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA). This represents an important milestone in the development of the antisubmarine version of the C295 MPA. It is also a significant entry for Airbus Military into the market of Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft, currently dominated by veteran aircraft such as the P-3 Orion and the Atlantique. The C295 MPA/ASW includes two under-wing pylons for the installation of torpedoes and other external loads. It also incorporates a Store Management System (SMS), integrated with the Airbus Military Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS), to control...

Meanwhile the South Korean military plans to beef up security in the waters near its maritime border with North Korea. Reports indicate the South Korean Navy will conduct more anti-submarine drills in the West Sea where a warship sank in March. claiming the lives of 46 sailors. Seoul's National Defense Ministry also plans to request government funds to improve underwater surveillance by modernizing sonar devices and naval radar systems. And more joint anti-submarine warfare exercises between South Korean and US forces could take place in the East and West Seas. In a report to President Lee Myung-bak South Korean defense...

Russia could build a satellite for the detection and tracking of submarines from space, a defense industry spokesman said on Thursday. Vladimir Boldyrev, of the Kosmonit science and technology center, said the group had developed a space satellite module that could carry out remote sensing of the sea and "detect submerged submarines." "Hopefully, it will be tested in space as early as 2011," he said, adding that work on the module started over a decade ago. He offered no indication as to when the new satellite would enter service with the Russian Armed Forces. Boldyrev added that the dual-use module...

"Four ships of this class are under construction at GRSE, Kolkata. The first ship is expected to be commissioned by mid-2012 and will be closely followed by the other three ships with the last expected to be commissioned by early 2015," a naval official said. The corvette, a small fast-moving ship, was ordered in 2003 and the production is delayed by two years. The official said the 3,100-tonnage ship would be fitted with the latest indigenously developed sonars to detect submarines. "The torpedo tubes, and scutter (torpedo decoys) launchers contribute to its anti-submarine punch. In addition, the ship will also...

A mixed task force from the Russian Pacific Fleet started on Wednesday a series of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills in the Sea of Japan, a fleet spokesman said. "Two task forces comprising missile destroyers and diesel-powered submarines are taking part in the drills in line with a regular training program," Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov said. The exercises involve a number of search-and-destroy missions, simulated torpedo attacks and live-fire drills with on-board artillery and air defense systems. The Admiral Tributs and Admiral Vinogradov destroyers, which carried out patrol missions in the Gulf of Aden as part of international efforts to...