Fighter jets and machine gun fire in the South China Sea



A cluster of fighter jets waiting to take-off on the USS Carl Vinson (Photo by Zan Azlee/Astro AWANI).

KUALA LUMPUR: I was never told where I would be taken to. The only instructions I received was to arrive on time in the morning in front of the McDonald’s in Subang Airport. And so I was there on time.

Several Americans were there, a few in military garb and the rest in civilian clothes. They greeted me and said that we will be boarding a United States Navy C-2 Greyhound aircraft.

We were going to visit the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class supercarrier ship, that is somewhere in the ocean (I later found out we were at the South China Sea).

Before boarding, several navy personnel told me to put on a helmet, earmuffs, goggles and a life vest. It was cumbersome. I fumbled. They were forced to help me.

I took a selfie photo and the image that appeared in my smart phone after I pressed the button was a Malay guy that looked uncannily like Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun.

After about an hour flying in the air, one of the navy men stood up and briefed us on the landing. It was going to be a hard impact when we reach the supercarrier.

It would be an arrested landing where a hook on the aircraft will latch on to a cable on the ship so we wouldn’t go flying off the other side and into the sea.

“Once everyone is strapped nice and tight, you will hear us yelling ‘Here we go! Here we go!”. Brace yourself right at that point,” he said.

Before I knew it, they were already screaming at the top of their lungs. I scrambled to make sure that the straps over my shoulders and waist were tight.

I held on to my helmet tight and there was a bang and I was jolted back in my seat. We had landed. We went from 250 km/h to a halt in 2 seconds. I thought I had swallowed my tongue.

I was on the USS Carl Vinson.

The floating city

Although I have covered conflict, war and other military events extensively during my career, I had never been on a Nimitz-class supercarrier before. I was excited.

We were greeted by Commanding Officer Capt. Karl O. Thomas and he explained that we are now on a floating city that has it’s own entire ecosystem.

“We have over 5,000 personnel that works the ship. We serve over 15,000 meals a day and produce over 400,000 gallons of water,” he smiled.

The USS Carl Vinson also has 63 aircraft on board and it ranges from fighter jets, reconnaissance aircraft, helicopters and transport planes.

And one of the key aircraft that calls the supercarrier home is the F18 Super Hornet. It may be possible to describe it all in words, but I feel it best to have a video so you can watch it.

7th Fleet and the Middle East

The USS Carl Vinson has a very deep history. Christened in 1979, it has been in most of the modern conflicts around the world involving the United States.

It’s most recent deployment was with the 5th Fleet in Arabian Gulf where they flew combat and reconnaissance missions against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.

“We flew strike missions supporting the people of Iraq on the ground as they try to reclaim their country. Certainly trying to remove IS and stifle their desire to create a Caliphate,” said Thomas.

They flew numerous missions into Iraq and Syria and dropped about a third of the ammunitions that were dropped into the two countries against IS.

“I don’t have a number of how many missions we flew. But we flew a lot!” said US Navy pilot Mike (a pseudonym).

“We launched about 20 to 25 combat missions into Syria and Iraq everyday,” explained Lt. Cmdr Kyle Raines.

He also added that a bulk of the missions flying in were also reconnaissance missions whereby they went in to observe and collect data to be brought back and analysed.

The USS Carl Vinson was also the ship that had the responsibility to lay the body of Osama Bin Laden to rest in the ocean with full Islamic rites.


Video by Zan Azlee



Currently, USS Carl Vinson is in the Asia-Pacific region because it’s latest deployment has been with the 7th Fleet, responsible for patrolling and securing this region.

Aside from being in the 7th Fleet, they are also working closely with partner nations doing exercises and sharing knowledge to strengthen relationships.

“Malaysia is one of them. So is Singapore, the Philippines and Japan. A lot of the nations we rely on and we work closely with to improve the maritime security,” explained Thomas.

Catapult-assisted take-off

It was finally time to go and I felt that there was more to explore on the USS Carl Vinson. I was particularly interested to see how everyday life is like on board.

But a few hours on the ship is just not adequate enough to get a proper observation of the personnel’s life on deployment. Maybe next time.

So we were again, herded into the C-2 Greyhound aircraft and this time we were briefed that the take-off is going to be way tougher than the landing.

Because of the short runway on the carrier, the plane would need a catapult-assisted take-off and we would accelerate from 0 to 205 km/h in three seconds.

Again, I had to put on the helmet, earmuffs, goggles and life vest that me look so much like Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun, and strap myself nice and snug in the seat.

Then we heard “Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!”, we were jolted and I felt my eyeballs leave their sockets, hit the back of the seat in front of me, and reentered the sockets.

We were back in the air flying across the South China Sea on the way home.

http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-new...china-sea-59902

Bangladesh Air Force Mi-17 crashed





[BDnews]

what point is this picture trying to make?

for shit and giggles. i bet idiot who made the "may may" haven't even see a tank up close

It's just a meme, dont take it too seriously i got that picture from Global military talk fb.

your posting is not worth a "LoL" effect.
off-topic some more...

Don't even understand what the joke is supposed to be. If can understand probably can see if funny la, like this suddenly like, "huh? WTF?"

In other news, RMK-11 budget to be presented by Najib on May 21

My apology

Indonesian military insists on virginity tests to determine ‘naughty’ female recruits



Indonesian military insists on virginity tests to determine ‘naughty’ female recruits

Indonesian soldiers of Special Forces Commandos march during a parade . The military is insisting all female recruits have virginity tests.
Indonesia has been urged to drop a “discriminatory and invasive” virginity tests for female military recruits, but the military insisted the practice was necessary to check whether the women are “naughty”.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the examinations – commonly carried out through a “two-finger test” by medics to see whether the hymen is intact – are a form of gender-based violence and unscientific.

The Indonesian military defended the practice, saying it was part of health check requirements for potential new recruits and it will continue the test.

“We need to examine the mentality of these applicants. If they are no longer virgins, if they are naughty, it means their mentality is not good,” Indonesian military spokesman Fuad Basya told the Guardian.

He said the test has been carried out “for a long time” and that it can determine whether the women have “accidentally” lost their virginity or were sexually active. He said those who failed the test are not eligible to join the military.

“We will continue to carry out the test because to be a military person, the most important thing is your mentality. Physical and intellectual requirements are secondary,” Basya said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Indonesian President Joko Widodo to immediately abolish the requirement.

“The Indonesian armed forces should recognise that harmful and humiliating ‘virginity tests’ on women recruits does nothing to strengthen national security,” HRW women’s right advocacy director Nisha Varia said.

It is not the first time the issue of virginity tests has drawn anger in Muslim-majority Indonesia, with the police facing criticism last year for subjecting women to the checks.

In a report last year, HRW highlighted that female police recruits were forced to strip naked before they were given the “two-finger test”.

In the latest research conducted between May 2014 and April this year, HRW interviewed 11 women who are military recruits and fiancées of military officers and found a similar practice is widespread in the military force. Basya however denied fiancées of officers were also subjected to the test.

In a “two-finger test”, the examining doctor notes the presence or absence of the hymen and the so-called laxity of the vagina in efforts to assess whether the women are “habituated to sexual intercourse”.

“I felt humiliated. It was very tense, it’s all mixed up,” an unidentified female military applicant who underwent the test in 2013 was quoted as saying in the research.

“What shocked me was finding out that the doctor who was to perform the test was a man.”

A female physician described how the young women were “totally unwilling” to be positioned like women given birth during the tests, saying it was a “torture”.

The research was released ahead of an international conference on military medicine on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali next week. HRW is lobbying support from the conference’s member countries – including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia – to pressure Indonesia to cease the virginity tests.

Parts of Indonesia are still socially conservative and value female virginity highly. In February, an Indonesian district on the main island of Java was forced to scrap a plan for virginity tests for high school girls in order to graduate after it sparked a huge public outcry.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/...female-recruits

This Pentagon map shows how China’s energy needs are driving Beijing’s military and diplomatic strategy





http://www.businessinsider.my/this-map-sho...C2t5IRFWWBzG.97

Hehe looks like the Pentagon map follows Malaysia's claim in the Ambalat area. Jangan marah...

Abu Sayyaf gunmen abduct two in Sandakan


Security personnel carrying out investigations at the restaurant in Sandakan

KOTA KINABALU: Gunmen linked to the Abu Sayyaf stormed into a popular seaside restaurant near Sandakan and abducted the manager and a customer during dinner on Thursday.

The four men, one armed with an automatic rifle with bullets strapped on his chest and another with a pistol, burst into the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant at about 7.40pm prompting the patrons to flee.

The restaurant owner, Chung Yan Tsim, said his 48-year-old sister-in-law, who manages the restaurant, and the customer, believed to be from Sarawak, were bundled off by the gunmen in the raid lasting less than a minute.

"They fled in a boat. There wore no mask and there was no shooting," Chung said, adding that the customer was sitting with his family but could not run away when the gunmen barged into the restaurant.

Security forces have gone on an immediate alert as Sandakan is only about an hour's ride on speed boat from the southern Philippines island Bakungan Besar.

A massive operation is underway to hunt the group believed to be cross-border kidnap gangs linked to the terror Abu Sayyaf kidnap groups that operate in southern Philippines.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) commander Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun when contacted said they were at the scene and taking necessary action.

He declined to say anything further.

Sabah police have been hunting for a suspected armed gang of seven men spotted at a plantation in Kinabatangan about 100kms from Sandakan earlier this month.

They were also investigating a robbery of an outboard engine at a lobster farm in Semporna on May 7.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015...kan-restaurant/

Airbus Wins $1.9 Billion Indian Military Cargo Plane Order



India agreed to buy 56 transport aircraft from Airbus Group NV for 119.3 billion rupees ($1.87 billion) to replace an aging fleet, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to modernize the country’s military.

The C-295 planes, which will replace Avro cargo planes in the Indian Air Force fleet, will be jointly built with India’s Tata Advanced Systems Ltd., an Indian government official said in New Delhi late Wednesday, asking not to be identified because of internal policy. Sixteen of the aircraft will be built at Airbus plants in Europe, and the rest in India.

The announcement comes less than a week after an Airbus A400 transport plane crashed in Spain several minutes into a test flight prior to delivery to Turkey. The incident prompted air forces across Europe to suspend use of the A400 while the investigation is underway.

Since coming to office a year ago, Modi’s government has approved military projects valued at more than $40 billion as India moves to catch up with an assertive China, which spends three times that amount in military purchases every year. Modi has allowed more foreign investment in defense and is trying to overcome a history of graft scandals that slowed purchases.

Shares of Airbus slipped 0.8 percent on Wednesday to 60.20 euros in Paris.

Howitzers, Missiles

In addition to the transport plane order, India’s Defense Acquisition Council approved other orders Wednesday valued at at least $875 million. They include 145 BAE Systems Plc M777 howitzers, Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles for six warships and 197 Russian Kamov helicopters. The helicopters will be manufactured in India.

The council also approved the construction of India’s second domestically built aircraft carrier.

The helicopters, like the local manufacture of the Airbus transport planes, are part of a plan to stoke domestic production after India surpassed China to become the world’s largest importer of weapons. Modi also is seeking to rely less on state-run companies that haven’t been effective in replacing obsolete military equipment.

Last month, Modi shelved plans to buy 126 Rafale warplanes from Dassault Aviation SA, which would have been the country’s biggest defense purchase in five decades. Under the contract, 108 of the planes would have been built in India by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Modi instead is negotiating a new contract directly with the French government for 36 such jets.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/201...or-cargo-planes

War games: Russia reveals its latest tank is controlled by a PLAYSTATION controller



The Kurganets-25 is an infantry fighting vehicle
Can transport eight troops along with a driver, gunner, and commander
Boasts a machine gun, 30mm cannon, and room for four anti-tank missiles
By Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:45 GMT, 14 May 2015 | Updated: 22:37 GMT, 14 May 2015

It is one of Russia's newest military vehicles, designed to take soldiers into battle, while having the firepower of a tank.

Yet for many in Russia's military, controlling the Kurganets-25 will be easy.

Rather than a traditional steering wheel, it uses a controller based on Sony's Playstation gamepad.

On May 9th, the Kurganets-25 made its public debut as part of a parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Russia's victory in World War II.

The new Russian armoured vehicle platform uses a device similar to a Playstation controller, the manufacturer's vice-president told Russian media.

The new Kurganets-25 infantry fighting vehicle uses a 'console similar to a Sony Playstation gamepad,' Tractor Plants vice-president Albert Bakov told state owned outlet Sputnik.

'I spent two years on convincing the designers to make the console similar to a Sony Playstation gamepad, to make it easier for a young soldier to familiarize himself with it,' Bakov said.

According to Bakov, the idea of left-right coordination, as well as the fact that the gamepad form has been perfected for decades made it a good choice.

The gamepad design is also safer and takes up less space than a steering wheel.

'As it turns out, a steering wheel is dangerous for the rib cage during an impact and when climbing out. It takes up more space but provides nothing,' Bakov added.

The Kurganets-25 is an infantry fighting vehicle, which is a category of machine halfway between an armored truck and a full-size battle tank.

The Kurganets-25 infantry fighting vehicle (Object 695) is currently undergoing trials in the Russian army and mass production is expected to start in 2016.
The Kurganets-25 infantry fighting vehicle (Object 695) is currently undergoing trials in the Russian army and mass production is expected to start in 2016.

Although the specifications of the vehicle are still secret, it is believed it can transport eight troops in the back, while a three-person crew of driver, gunner, and commander operate the vehicle.

It promises a top speed of 50 mph on its treads, and it has some amphibious ability.

On top of the vehicle is a turret, which looks like it has a machine gun, a 30-mm cannon, and room for four anti-tank missiles.

The Kurganets-25 infantry fighting vehicle (Object 695) is currently undergoing trials in the Russian army and mass production is expected to start in 2016.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...controller.html

Too bad, after more tight security in Semporna Abu Sayyaf gunmen change direction Sandakan. esscom maybe ease a bit in Sandakan。
seriously we need built outpost near border so we can get early warning intruder and seal off the sea went needed.

This post has been edited by waja2000: May 15 2015, 09:42 AM

Looks like still no QRF using helicopters for fast response.