Armed Forces personnel rescued by Fire Department after fainting in Gunung Lambak



KLUANG, June 5, 2015:

An Armed Forces personnel sustained light injuries after he fell just 200m short of reaching the peak of Gunung Lambak, here during a routine training exercise this morning.

The 25-year-old Lance Corporal from the Terendak Army Camp in Malacca fainted prior to falling down, causing the army team to call in the Kluang Fire and Rescue Department to get the victim downhill to safety.

It was learnt that the army team had to call for assistance after they encountered problems getting the victim to safety due to his weight.

Kluang Fire and Rescue commander Akob Sedek said the fire station immediately dispatched two teams after receiving a distress call at 9.11am.

“The teams reached the location at Gunung Lambak at 9.40am and rendered emergency assistance to the victim,” he said today.

Akob said a total of 12 Fire and Rescue personnel were involved in the operations that ended at about 11.30am.

He said the victim, who was stable, was then brought down the hill.

The victim, who weighed more than 100kg, had since been warded in Kluang Hospital for observation.

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/06/...-gunung-lambak/

Taiwan Coast Guard Launches New Ships As South China Sea Tensions Rise



Taiwan's coast guard on Saturday commissioned its biggest ships for duty in the form of two 3,000-ton patrol vessels, as the island boosts defences amid concerns about China's growing footprint in the disputed South China Sea.

The new vessels will be able to dock at a new port being constructed on Taiping Island, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, before the end of this year.

Taiwan's coast guard has had direct oversight of the 46-ha (114-acre) island, also known as Itu Aba, since 2000.

"Taiping Island's defence capabilities will not be weak," said Wang Chung-yi, minister of the Coast Guard Administration, referring to recent upgrading done on the 1,200-metre (yards) long airstrip on Taiping and the building of a new port, which he said could be completed as early as October this year.

"As far as Taiping Island is concerned, we still maintain not so much a military as a civil role," Wang told Reuters in an interview in Taipei. Taiwan will not create conflict, but if it is provoked "we will not concede," he said.

Unlike the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan has largely avoided becoming ensnared in public disputes with China over the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims.

Rival claims by Taiwan and China go back to before defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with the Communists in 1949.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province to be retaken one day and bans actions that would confer sovereignty, such as negotiating territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou boarded one of the new ships on Saturday, observing rescue drills in waters off the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung.

One of the vessels will be sent to the South China Sea, while the other will be assigned to waters north of Taiwan where it has overlapping claims with Japan.

Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday that Group of Seven leaders meeting in Germany on Sunday would express their concern over any unilateral action to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas.

China has been criticized for extensive reclamation work and moves to turn submerged rocks into man-made structures. The United States last week said Beijing had placed mobile artillery systems in contested territory.

http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/29-4-...sions-rise.html

11 dead, most climbers safe after quake hits Malaysia peak









http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/05/asia/mal...kinabalu-quake/

Russia, China Not to Accept America’s Vassalage Status Despite US Pressure



The bipolar world ended with the end of the Cold War, the US attempt of a unipolar world has ended up in fiasco, but what is now being suggested as true pluralism and consensus in international relations, is seen by the US as "uncertainty" and "danger", which must be ended by force, the newspaper correspondent Rafael Poch wrote in his blog.

Washington is now committed to blocking the rise of two large nuclear-armed countries, the journalist says, echoing US economist and a columnist Paul Craig Roberts who served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration.

To restrain Russia, the US has created the crisis in Ukraine.

China is now confronted with the Pivot to Asia and the construction of new US naval and air bases to ensure Washington’s control of the South China Sea, now defined as an area of American national interests.

An aide places the Presidential seal on the podium prior to US President Barack Obama speaking during a campaign event at Kissimmee Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida

Just last week US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the US New Maritime Security Initiative at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security summit held annually in Singapore.

It comes as ‘the next phase’ of the US rebalances to the Asia-Pacific.

As it is done with Russia, the bloggers explains, the US regularly resorts to the provocative practice of sending aircraft and warships on patrol just within the limits of the areas of its adversary, which generates constant tensions in the regions.

Washington however needs to understand that neither Russia nor China will yield to the US pressure and won’t accept the vassalage status prepared for them by the US, as did Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

http://sputniknews.com/world/20150606/1023034681.html

This speedy stealth gunboat is right out of Bond, and right out of Youghal





http://www.independent.ie/business/technol...l-31283402.html

Twitter Users Find Ukrainian Buk-M1 System After Kiev Denies Existence



Twitter users found a June 6, 2014 announcement on the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense website (archived copy) detailing the handover of a Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine's military from a Kharkov repair facility.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's advisor denied on Thursday that Ukraine possessed any Buk-M1 systems at the time of the July 17, 2014 Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash. On Tuesday, surface-to-air missile system manufacturer Almaz-Antey presented a report which indicated that a Buk-M1 missile, operated by the Ukrainian military, was likely responsible for the disaster.

"The first Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile system repaired in Ukraine will enter combat duty as soon as possible. The signing of the act to accept the system from repairs shows that domestic industry has mastered repairing surface-to-air systems of this type," the Ukrainian surface-to-air missile forces commander, Major General Dmitro Karpenko told the publication.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense website also details that this was the first Buk-M1 missile system repaired in Ukraine.

"The difficulty was in that unlike many other types of weapons and military equipment, the surface-to-air missile system of this type has never been developed, manufactured or repaired in Ukraine before," the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense website said.

On Friday, a Russian Ministry of Defense representative said that the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko advisor's statement was "completely absurd," adding that "Such outright lying by a high-ranking official is simply inappropriate."

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150607/1023057320.html

U.S. Department of Defense contracts Jeanerette company to build patrol boats for Vietnam’s Coast Guard



Though they may not be fully aware of it, the 248 employees of south Louisiana boat builder Metal Shark will play a role in a geopolitical chess match between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in late May pledged funding to purchase Metal Shark Defiant 75 Class patrol boats for the Vietnam Coast Guard. Last year, Vietnamese sailors had one of their patrol boats rammed by a Chinese ship, and they routinely play cat-and-mouse games with the communist country.

Metal Shark Vice President Greg Lambrecht said last week the company hopes to begin building the boats in July. Lambrecht would not say what the dollar amount of the contract was or how many of the 40-knot cruising Defiant 75 boats the company would build.

A story by Reuters said the contract was for $18 million.

Once America’s enemy, Vietnam is now a U.S. ally and one of the countries with interests in claiming the many islands that dot the South China Sea.

The U.S., like Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, has an interest in keeping an increasingly aggressive China in check, U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany said last week.

“As this region becomes more contentious, Louisiana is playing an outsized role in representing American interests and helping our friends with their security needs,” said Boustany, a Republican from Lafayette.

According to Bloomberg, the vast South China Sea is the transportation route for $5.3 trillion in cargo each year and has estimated reserves of 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of gas.

On Wednesday, Metal Shark employees at the Jeanerette facility tended to the day’s business: bending aluminum at precise angles with a 150-ton press; cutting lines and curves in aluminum sheets with computer guidance; wiring up consoles that will be easily installed; and mixing paint to meet specifications. Every square foot of the facility was in production, and every hand at the site was busy.

Nineteen miles from the Jeanerette yard, 65 Metal Shark craftsmen built bigger boats at the company’s Franklin facility, which is next to a dock on the Charenton Drainage and Navigational Canal. The canal has access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Lambrecht said the Franklin facility will handle the Vietnam order, which is still in the contracting stage.

“We’re the first defense equipment provider to enter that market,” Lambrecht said. “It’s exciting for us. That market is one of our growth markets.”

The Gravois family started Gravois Aluminum Boats in 1986 at the Jeanerette facility, selling boats to Gulf fishermen. In 2006 the company signed its first military contract to build and deliver 90 boats, and the company took on the name Metal Shark.

Metal Shark now produces 150 to 200 boats a year, and is the preferred small patrol boat builder for the U.S. Coast Guard. It also builds for the Navy, Army, Air Force, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and for the state’s sheriff’s offices.

And it builds patrol boats for foreign governments and sends training teams internationally, including to Vietnam.

“It’s exciting to see a South Louisiana company like Metal Shark playing such an important role helping navies and coast guards in the South China Sea stand their ground against Chinese expansion,” said Boustany, who has visited the region.

The Metal Shark Defiant 75 Class, the vessels that will be sold to Vietnam, will be constructed at the Franklin facility, a more expansive locale that Metal Shark opened about a year ago, Lambrecht said.

http://theadvocate.com/news/12568518-123/u...fense-contracts

National scene: Foreign aircraft caught in RI airspace

The Indonesian Air Force has so far this year intercepted nine foreign aircraft illegally flying over Ambalat-Karang Unarang airspace in East Kalimantan.

Tarakan Air Force Base commander Lt. Col. Tiopan Hutapea said on Sunday that the military jets, helicopters and drones were from Malaysia and had entered Indonesian territory without proper documentation.

“Right after we detected them on our radar, we asked them their identities and told them to fly out of Indonesian airspace,” he said, adding that all the aircraft had complied.

Last year some 14 trespassing airplanes were detected by the Tarakan air base, according to Tiopan.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, who was visiting the border area of Seimanggis on Sunday, said that border violation issues were now under the remit of the Foreign Ministry. “The Foreign Ministry has coordinated with relevant parties. We hope [the violations] won’t occur again in the future,” Ryamizard said.

http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/0...i-airspace.html

Malaysia to protest over China Coast Guard 'intrusion' – navy chief



Malaysia to protest over China Coast Guard 'intrusion' – navy chief

Navy Chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar says that since late 2014, intrusions by Chinese ships into Malaysian waters has been a daily affair with Kuala Lumpur protesting to Beijing each time

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia will lodge a diplomatic protest against an alleged incursion by a Chinese Coast Guard ship into its waters off Borneo island in the disputed South China Sea, a top naval official said Tuesday, June 9, amid a continuing standoff with the vessel.

Navy Chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar said that since late 2014, intrusions by Chinese ships into Malaysian waters have been a daily affair with Kuala Lumpur protesting to Beijing each time.

Abdul Aziz told Agence France-Presse the Chinese vessel involved in the latest incident remained in Malaysian waters.

"We are maintaining our presence there. We are shadowing the vessel continuously. It is a case where they want to maintain their presence there but at the same time we are there to make sure and tell them that this is our waters," he said.

"We have been submitting (diplomatic protests). Every time we detect them... every time we sight them we challenge them (to indicate) that they are in our waters. At the same time we lodge a diplomatic protest," he added.

The latest incident is near the Luconia Shoals, an area of the South China Sea just outside the Spratlys, a reputedly oil-rich island chain claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Abdul Aziz said the Chinese incursion had taken place very close to the Malaysian coast.

Luconia Shoals lies just 65 nautical miles (120 kilometers) north west of the oil-rich town of Miri in eastern Sarawak state.

Abdul Aziz said in the latest incident attempts to communicate with the Chinese vessel to state that it was in Malaysian waters met no response.

"We are on Channel 16. We are communicating through VHF communications. We are telling them this is our waters. (But) they do not respond," he said.

Beijing, which claims the South China Sea almost entirely, has built 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of artificial islands in the Spratlys, including those with facilities that appear to have a military purpose.

Regional alarm is growing at moves by China to stake its claim to most of the sea, including its large-scale island-building program.

The Philippines and the United States have urged China to halt reclamation.

Malaysia, which has close economic ties with China, has traditionally downplayed tensions in the South China Sea and steers clear of criticizing China's actions in the energy-rich waters.

But Abdul Aziz said that since September 2014 there had been an increase in intrusions by Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

"We protest every time. We see them every day," he said. – Rappler.com

http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-...guard-intrusion

This post has been edited by BorneoAlliance: Jun 9 2015, 06:42 PM

Malaysia Toughens Stance With Beijing Over South China Sea





http://www.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-tough...-sea-1433764608

Russia says it will build on Southern Kuril islands seized from Japan





http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/...oscow-tokyo-abe

Russian Military News: Ratnik-2 Future Soldier Gear Includes New Machine Gun, Androids





http://www.ibtimes.com/russian-military-ne...ndroids-1957109

SIPRI's new report indicates world's biggest military spenders



SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) has recently unveiled a new report about military spending around the world.

Top 10 Military Spenders in the World

10. Brazil

Military Expenditure stands at $36.2 billion per year and it represents 1.4% of Gross Domestic Product in the country. In one year it has reduced its military spending by 3.9%. It imports $254 million and exports $36 million. Military spending increased rapidly during the 2000s, mainly due oil revenues increasing. It decreased by 4% in 2013. It is the military force that maintains order within the country and not just the police force.

9. India

India's military spending for the latest available figures (2014) stands at $49.1 billion per annum, meaning a 2.5% share of GDP. Spending only decreased by 0.7% by comparison with 2013 and total imports represent a value of $5.6 billion (which is the highest figure in the word). Exports stand at a value of $10 billion. India is one of the highest spenders in the world on its military force. This is more than likely for its need to show outwardly that it is wealthy enough and capable enough of providing protection against Pakistan.

Also read: Aircraft carriers secure US dollars best

8. Germany

Military expenditure in this country is worth 1.4% of GDP and works out to $49.3 billion per year. There was no change by comparison with 2013 and total exports stand at $972 million, making it the world's 6th largest arms exporter. It is 36th highest importer only in the world of arms, worth a value of $129 million. Since World War II Germany has being passive in world conflicts and its main role today is arms seller. Whereas the majority of countries in the world dropped their military spending when the financial crisis hit, Germany increased it by 2% as from 2008, until 2013.

7. United Kingdom

The UK spends $56.2 billion, representing 2.3% of GDP. As a percentage of GDP this is the 34th highest country in the world. Between 2013 and 2014 there was a 2.6% drop in military spending due to the consequences of the financial crisis still and austerity measures. It exports are to the value of $1.4 billion and it is the 5th highest arms seller in the world. It imports $438 million in military equipment and that means it is the 15th highest importer in the world.

6. Japan

Japan spends 1% of its GDP on military and it is worth $59.44 billion. It imports $145 million-worth of military equipment today. Territorial disputes have led the country to arm itself more in case of need for defense against China.

5. France

France spends $62.3 billion on military and it stands at 2.2% of GDP, making it the 39th highest country in the world. Spending decreased from 2013 by 2.3%. It exports a total of$1.5 billion and is currently the 4th largest exporter of military equipment in the world.

Also read: Hiding the US-NATO military overkill

4. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia spends $62.8 billion on arms and the military and it represents a total of 9.3% of GDP (the 2nd highest figure in the world). Between 2013 and 2014 it increased military spending by 14.3%. There is the overriding worry in the country that political turmoil and terrorism will overflow into the country from neighboring Yemen and Iraq.

3. Russia

Military expenditure stands at $84.9 billion per year in this country and it represents 4.1% of GDP making it the 10th highest in the world. It exports $8.3 billion per year and this is the world's number one arms seller. By comparison it is the 33rd highest arms importer only.

2. China

Military expenditure here is worth $171.4 billion, and it is worth 2% of GDP. It increased spending by 7.4% between 2013 and 2014. Military spending is representative of economic growth usually. The better the economy, the higher the spending. Or is it the spending on the military that fuels the economy?

Also read: China and Russia catch up with USA in rearms race

1. United States

The USA spends $618.7 billion on the military and that is the 14th highest percentage of GDP (3.8%). It saw its military budget decrease between 2013 and 2014 by 7.8%. It is the2nd highest exporter in the world and its market is worth $6.2 billion. It is the 8th highest importer in the world and imports to the tune of $759 million. Military spending was cut due to austerity measures as well as the withdrawing of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/09-06-...ary_spenders-0/

Shahidan denies PM to meet with Chinese premier soon



KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim has denied a claim by a news portal (Wall Street Journal) that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would meet the Chinese president in the near future to discuss the intrusion by a Chinese ship in the Borneo waters.

Shahidan said he had never issued any statement that the prime minister would bring up the issue on the intrusion directly to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

He also said that he was not a member of the National Security Council (MKN) as reported, but was merely looking after the affairs of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

"I deny that Najib will do so. I also emphasise that I am not a member of the MKN but the minister looking after enforcement in the national waters," he told journalists at his office in Parliament, today.

Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysia would protest the intrusion by a ship from the Chinese navy patrol team in the northern area of Borneo Island.

http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-new...mier-soon-62020

Navy briefs industry on special ops technologies



WASHINGTON, 9 June 2015. U.S. Navy leaders will brief industry later this month on an upcoming research project to develop new enabling special ops technologies for mine warfare; naval special warfare; expeditionary prepositioning and logistics; navy expeditionary combat.

Officials of the Naval Special Warfare program office in Washington will conduct the industry briefings in anticipation of an upcoming broad agency announcement (BAA_15-NR-6280) for the Confronting Expeditionary and Naval Special Warfare Capability Challenges project.

Navy leaders will ask industry for white papers that identify technologies that can enhance and accelerate expeditionary warfare and naval special warfare (NSW) capabilities for rapid insertion into a Navy program of record.


Navy experts particularly are interested in technologies that companies can develop and prototype over the next two years to Technology Readiness Level 7 -- or ready to demonstrate prototypes in operational environments.

Mine warfare involves technologies that can help detect and destroy enemy sea mines, or that can extend the endurance of off board sensor platforms.

Naval special warfare involves technologies for multi-intelligence multi-spectral sensors that enhance situational awareness for manned and unmanned surface ships and submarines in shallow coastal waters or in harbors. Navy officials are interested in power and energy systems, daylight and night vision, and multi-sensor capabilities.

Expeditionary prepositioning and logistics involves packing technologies that reduces the volume of military equipment from the sea base to the individual user.

Navy expeditionary combat, meanwhile, involves technologies that improve the warfighter’s ability to attack targets, identify threats, solve complex problems, and adapt to situations faster than an adversary. Navy officials are interested in technologies that enhance the ability to operate in harbors, rivers, and that improve tactical multi-intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/...pecial-ops.html

Russia's Adaptable New Tank Design



In developing its new Armata tank, Russia has taken an increasingly popular design approach: It has given the new vehicle flexibility to either carry a driver or operate remotely.

With the growing popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles in the war against militant Islam, countries throughout the world are attempting to apply the technology of unmanned aerial vehicles to sea and land equipment and to more fully equipped and versatile kinds of aircraft. Such vehicles could have capabilities beyond the unmanned aerial vehicle's limited role of surveillance and attacks on small targets.

However, while unmanned technology offers undeniable design advantages, the networks these systems rely on are vulnerable to destruction or infiltration by the enemy. In addition, proponents of manned technology say that a human element makes any given platform more effective. Both systems have disadvantages, and each one offers something the other does not.

Given the drawbacks and strengths of each, the best approach may not be to commit fully to either technology. Russia's Armata tank represents a trend in vehicle design, led by the United States, to design hybridized systems that combine the best elements of manned and unmanned vehicles. The U.S. military has been incorporating both manned and unmanned technology into its designs, and several other countries are considering similar options for future platforms.

Tanks like the Armata are merely the beginning of an entirely new crop of vehicles. Militaries are generally designing newer platforms to be more automated, and most vehicles now consistently use fly-by or drive-by wire systems rather than analogue systems. Advanced sensor suites, which help guard against ever-evolving and proliferating weapon systems, have become commonplace.

Designers network every new vehicle they create to take advantage of communications and friendly-force tracking technologies. They also improve intelligence, surveillance and target acquisition capabilities to improve situational awareness. Coupled with the networks and infrastructure already in place, it is only a small step or two from these capabilities to remote operation.

https://www.stratfor.com/sample/thank-you/i...sign?sid=600715