Devon naval contractor signs torpedoes deal with Malaysian navy

By Western Morning News  |  Posted: September 16, 2014

By Olivier Vergnault, WMN Business Editor

A subcontractor to the naval industry has won a major contract to supply torpedo launchers to the Malaysian navy.

J+S Ltd, which employs 130 staff in the UK, have been successfully selected to supply the Torpedo Launcher System (TLS) for the new Royal Malaysian Navy littoral combat ships being constructed by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

The Barnstaple company will supply a triple tube torpedo launcher system with associated weapons handling and storage equipment across each of the six platforms.

The firm which also has a base in Aberdeen and an annual turnover of £13.5 million, said its systems can be configured to launch a wide range of torpedoes and will provide a rapid reaction defence system against underwater threats.

Delivery of the first system is scheduled for 2017 with the final system due for delivery in 2021.

Andy Toms, managing director of J+S Ltd, said: “This major contract is a big step forward in our plans to establish Malaysia as a hub for business in the ASEAN market and we are looking forward to working in collaboration with Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) to deliver a successful programme of work.

“We recognise the importance and benefits of Malaysian industrial participation and we have already engaged with a number of local companies for the supply and manufacture of goods and services relating to this contract.

“We have recently opened a J+S office in Kuala Lumpur and hope to build on existing relationships and forge new ones as we develop our business in the dynamic South East Asian market.”

Hmm, lets see how things go in the futures.
mayb try to build a long range radar version.
J+S that was unexpected.

Yup their system quite nice.
I didn't not expect sgpv select their system.
btw which any news on the decoy system?

Boustead Holdings awards torpedo launch contract to BHIC subsidiary

KUALA LUMPUR: Boustead Holdings Bhd has awarded a contract for the second generation patrol vessels/ littoral combat ships torpedo launching system to Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd’s subsidiary Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd.

Boustead Holdings said on Monday its subsidiary Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd had issued a letter of award to Contraves for the project under the government defence programme.

“The letter of awards awards to CAD contracts to supply the torpedo launching system for the littoral combat ships programme. Other details are classified,” it said.

Boustead Holdings said the awarded works constituted a recurrent related party transaction for which a shareholder mandate was obtained at the company’s AGM on April 8, 2013.

“The awarded works are not expected to have a material impact on the earnings of the company for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2013, but will contribute positively to subsequent years’ earnings of Boustead Naval Shipyard as the tenure of the awarded works is long term in nature,” it said.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Busines...HIC-subsidiary/

TLS for LCS

Marhalim Abas September 22, 2014 Malaysia -RMN

SHAH ALAM: J+S Ltd, a UK based company announced several days ago that they had been awarded the contract to supply the Torpedo Launcher System for the RMN’s LCS project.

It must be noted that previously when the contract for the TLS was announced by Boustead it declined to specify the manufacturer saying it was classified. I assumed the decision to not name the supplier of the TLS was due to intense lobbying by the firms bidding for the project and not because we were getting a super, duper, torpedo system.

Well, now we know J+S will supply the TLS to Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd, the system integrator of the LCS. However, we are nowhere near to find out the actual torpedoes which will be carried by the ships.

The J+S website stated that “the J+S family of lightweight torpedo launchers are capable of deploying NATO compatible lightweight torpedoes and can be configured to launch the US Mk 44 and Mk 46 torpedoes, plus UK Sting Ray, A244S and compatible derivatives.


An illustration of TLS and weapons handling system.

The compatible derivatives include the MU90, the lightweight torpedo chosen for other DCNS designed ships. In that sense, we can a buy a bunch of different torpedoes ( I am not sure whether this is wise though due to support and maintenance issues) and split them across the LCS fleet.


The LCS image pictured in RMN webpage.

The full release:
Barnstaple, UK, 16th September 2014 – J+S Ltd is pleased to announce they have been successfully selected to supply the Torpedo Launcher System (TLS) for the new Royal Malaysian Navy Littoral Combat Ships being constructed by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

The substantial multi-million pound contract is to supply a Triple Tube Torpedo Launcher System with associated Weapons Handling and Storage equipment across each of the 6 platforms. The J+S Ltd TLS can be configured to launch a wide range of torpedoes and will provide a rapid reaction defence system against underwater threats. Delivery of the first system is scheduled for 2017 with the final system due for delivery in 2021.

Andy Toms, Managing Director of J+S Ltd, commented: “This major contract is a big step forward in our plans to establish Malaysia as a hub for business in the ASEAN market and we are looking forward to working in collaboration with Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) to deliver a successful programme of work. We recognise the importance and benefits of Malaysian Industrial Participation and we have already engaged with a number of local companies for the supply and manufacture of goods and services relating to this contract. We have recently opened a J+S office in Kuala Lumpur and hope to build on existing relationships and forge new ones as we develop our business in the dynamic South East Asian market.”

Hat tip to DW for alerting me on the award of the TLS.

U.S. and Malaysian Soldiers conduct patrols at Pacific Pathways exercise

PV2 Darrell Enger, 2nd Platoon, C. Company, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, conducts a dismounted patrol with Malaysian Army Soldiers during Counter IED training at KDP, Malaysia, Sep. 20, during bilateral exercise Keris Strike 14. KS14 contributes to a regional peacekeeping capability in Asia, which in turn fosters important worldwide peacekeeping operations. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt.1st Class Adora Gonzalez, 25th ID, Public Affairs)

Three new KCR-40 missile boats (4th, 5th and 6th units) are launched simultaneously by Palindo shipyard


KRI Siwar (646), the fifth KCR-40 class missile boat



Its two sister ships, with AK-630 as main gun and CIWS

Looks like Company of Heroes concept Art.
Could be used as box cover for COH3

Any information about their names?

KFX to benefit from F-35 offsets

By: Greg Waldron Singapore
Source: Flightglobal.com
18 hours ago

In return for obtaining 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, South Korea will receive technologies related to its long-planned KFX indigenous fighter programme.

Following Lockheed’s announcement on 24 September that Seoul was on the verge of signing an order for 40 F-35s, state news agencyYonhapquoted a spokesman from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) as saying that the F-35 technologies will play a key role in KFX.

Under the F-35 deal – which will cover deliveries to run between 2018 and 2021 – Lockheed will transfer key fighter technologies from “17 sectors”, he says.

The DAPA spokesman adds that Seoul will build 120 KFX aircraft for deployment from 2025. South Korean officials indicate the fighter will be a twin-engined design that is more capable than advanced versions of the Lockheed F-16, but less capable than leading Western fighters such as the F-35.

Technology transfer was a major consideration in Seoul’s pursuit of a replacement for its McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms and Northrop F-5s under its F-X III requirement, which was ultimately won by the F-35.

Industry sources say Lockheed, Boeing and Eurofighter all offered attractive technology transfer packages during the contest. Boeing offered an upgraded version of its F-15E, dubbed the Silent Eagle, while Eurofighter offered the Typhoon.

At last year’s Seoul lnternational Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, Korea Aerospace Industries, which will likely build the new jet, displayed two models of the KFX, both of which bore low-observable characteristics reminiscent of the F-35.

The aircraft will be developed with help from Indonesia, which is a 20% partner in the programme.

The F-X III requirement was originally for 60 aircraft, but Seoul pared this back to 40, apparently for pricing concerns. It is believed Seoul will eventually buy another 20 F-35s to meet its initial requirement.

commercial plane? they cant even build car or even motorbike i think..

Light with mobility or heavy with protection, warfare doctrine determines how one will fight

Nowadays tanks is molded into cavalry styled strategy where it will be accompanied by infantry and ifv when it goes out,
Armored thrust? that's ww2 idiom and no longer applies to modern warfare as its only a suicide run with atgm proliferation

Ingat ride sub pergi peru... haha cross international water and kacau here and thre.  Like china and russia
How do u define light and heavy? That term mainly for ww2 only. Now any tank is called mbt. No more medium, light or heavy tank except one in china. But most also are older version or experimental unit. Western block tanks are heavy and concentrate on crew protection,  eastern block are light and concentrate on mobility. Crew protection is often secondary hahaha
Indon leopard unit are surplus dutch old stock. They get it cheaply. Why malaysia didn't it? Well, apparently even it surplus it still expensive for our overall budget but the weight is also nother limiting factor. Not to mention our love for add-on improvement will drive up even the cost

T84 is almost same weight with ours pt91m. It still based on the soviet design t72 with improvement iinm. But we have been offered the mordern T90 but i not sure why the army didn't take it instead of this pt91m.

Singapore? Only a few units are based on island. The rest i was told is at new zealand, canada, Germany.  That whre they carry out intensive training while basic training is at sg

Now thre hardly tank to tank battle. The last maybe was at iraq between us abram and iraq old soviet tanks. Now it mainly as troop support. I could see why the army would not want to spend so much on a tank that are our pioneering armoured division. I was aslo told, this few batch will be our training platform for future more advance tank. No point getting the most advance tank but do not know to use its full potential,  right?

Indonesia inducts four KCR-40 missile craft

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
28 September 2014

Four KCR-40-class anti-ship missile craft on order for the Indonesian Navy (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut: TNI-AL) were commissioned in a ceremony presided over by Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro on 27 September.

Mukti Syarif Rivai, a naval architect at PT Palindo, previously had told IHS Jane's that all four vessels had been launched into the waters of Tanjung Uncang, Batam, on 12 September.

Rivai told IHS Jane's that the vessels are named KRI Surik (645), KRI Siwar (646), KRI Parang (647), and KRI Terapang (648). As per the TNI-AL naming convention for ships assigned to patrolling roles, all four boats have been named after traditional Indonesian weapons.

Indonesian Navy commissions oiler, 'leopard carrier' LST

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
28 September 2014

Despite initial fears that it would miss an October 2014 commissioning deadline, a 120 m indigenously produced landing ship tank (LST) dubbed a 'leopard carrier' by the Indonesian Navy (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) was commissioned on 27 September.

The vessel, named KRI Teluk Bintuni with pennant number 520, was inducted into the TNI-AL's Military Sea Lift Command (KOLINLAMIL) in a ceremony presided over by Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro at Bandar Lampung in southern Sumatra. The minister described the LST as an example of the country's commitment to the indigenous defence industry and revealed that a class of four vessels is expected by 2024.

Bizarre....Why is Chiangbai Shan LPD having ship-washing contest with TNI-AL corvette KRI Frans Kaisepo?

The picture shows that the amphibious dock landing ship “Changbaishan” of the PLAN and the guided-missile frigate "Hasanuddin" of the Indonesian Navy hold the coordinated damage control drill.

Garuda Shield: Apaches take center stage in US-Indonesia exercise


Indonesian and American helicopters churn up dust during the final live-fire assault that culminated the Garuda Shield exercise in Indonesia in September. The joint national assault included Apaches, Blackhawks and Strykers.

Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes

By Wyatt Olson
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 30, 2014

PUSLATPUR MARINE BASE, Indonesia — This year’s Garuda Shield exercise in Indonesia has included large doses of jungle-training tactics and integrating Stryker operations from two armies.

But it was aviation — particularly four Apache attack helicopters shipped to the remote east end of the nation’s Java Island — that stood out in the monthlong training between U.S. and Indonesian army units.

The exercise culminated with a combined-arms, live-fire assault on imaginary insurgents that included U.S. Apaches, Black Hawks and Strykers operating side-by-side with the Indonesian army’s Russian-made assault helicopters and its own version of Strykers.


An Apache attack heliicopter fires a rocket during the final combined-arms live fire exercise of Garuda Shield in Indonesia, which winds up at the end of September. Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes

Indonesia’s armed forces, known as TNI, next year will receive the first of eight Apaches, the newest Echo version of the aircraft, with the rest expected to be delivered by 2017. Some media have reported that Indonesia’s chief of staff plans to deploy four Apaches to the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea as a hedge against China’s increasingly assertive claims in those waters.

The four Apaches brought here for Garuda Shield are being flown to the city of Surabaya for a massive military parade Oct. 7, which marks the 69th anniversary of the founding of the TNI. The event is somewhat of a last hurrah for outgoing president Prabowo Subianto, a former army general who lost in a close race to Joko Widodo — who has promised to increase defense spending in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

Although the Indonesian aviators didn’t get to actually fly the Apaches, they did take the first steps in familiarizing themselves with the aircraft.

“We started out in what we call a crawl-walk-run scenario, where we begin with the academics, something that we would consider as basic as familiarization on a medevac aircraft,” said Lt. Col. Hunter Marshall, commander of the 25th Aviation Regiment. “In terms of talking about the Apache, we’d do a classroom block, walk out to the flight line and get to see the aircraft. Then we’d work through planning, how to do missions together.”

Marshall described the Indonesian flyers as “all highly proficient aviators,” adding that if the TNI chooses its Apache pilots for that pool, “they’d certainly have a great head start.”

During air-assault planning, the Apache and its unique capabilities were always worked into the scenario, Marshall said.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jesse Brenay Sr., one of the Apache pilots who flew in the final live-fire assault, worked side by side with the Indonesian aviators. The Apache’s new technology will require the Indonesian pilots to adjust their tactics and techniques, he said.

“The way they fight will change,” Brenay said. “That’s kind of what we’re demonstrating, trying to train them up.”

The communication systems in the Apache will also better integrate them with their ground forces.

“So we’re teaching air-ground integration very heavily,” he said. “It’s kind of a new concept to them. It’s something we’ve done very well in the past 13 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, so we’re passing on lessons learned.”

Apache integration is “a big reason we’re out here,” Brenay said. “It brings them up in status in this region because their neighbors are starting to upgrade to Apache fleets, and I think they want to keep up. It’s a huge plus for them.”

Japan, South Korea and Singapore are among countries that have purchased Apaches from Boeing.

Brenay described piloting the helicopters in Indonesia as “kind of culture shock to us” because they’ve primarily flown them in the high altitude of Fort Carson, Colo.

“This is really the first time we’ve brought these Echoes down to sea level outside of Hawaii and run them through and see what they can do,” he said. “They’ve been pretty impressive.”

Another Army pilot, Capt. Josh Brown, was enthusiastic about Indonesia buying Apaches, but of greater significance than those aircraft is U.S. and Indonesian forces learning to operate efficiently together, whether that’s in combat or for humanitarian/disaster relief.

The coordination between the two armies, whether in the air or on the ground, demonstrates “how we’re going to do business in the future,” said Lt. Col. Michael Trotter, commander of 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, from Lewis-McChord, which contributed many of the elements at Garuda Shield.

“We are not going to fight another war alone,” Trotter said. “We are going to have to be partnered, whether it’s for a combat operation or when requested by a host-nation government for assistance, whether humanitarian assistance or disaster relief. We can walk away from this exercise feeling very, very confident.”

Thailand – UH-72A Lakota Helicopters

WASHINGTON, Sep 29, 2014 - The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Thailand for UH-72A Lakota Helicopters and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $89 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on September 26, 2014.

The Government of Thailand has requested a possible sale of 9 UH-72A Lakota Helicopters, warranty, spare and repair parts, support equipment, communication equipment, publications and technical documentation, Aviation Mission Planning Station, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $89 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States, by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally.

This proposed sale will contribute to Thailand’s goal of upgrading and modernizing its military forces with a new light utility helicopter capable of meeting requirements for rotary-wing transportation, while further enhancing interoperability between Thailand the U.S., and among other allies. Thailand will have no difficulty absorbing these helicopters into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The principal contractor will be EADS North America in Herndon, Virginia. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require ten contractor representatives to travel to Thailand for a period of five weeks for equipment deprocessing/fielding and system checkout.

There will be no adverse impact on the U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.