House support plans to buy Russian submarine

thejakartapost.com, Jakarta | September 29 2015 | 6:03 PM
   

(antaranews.com)

The government's plan to purchase Kilo-class submarines from Russia has received support from the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs due to sufficient budget.

According to the commission's member Sukamta, the Indonesian Military (TNI) had proposed a budget of Rp 37 trillion (US$2.52 billion) and an additional budget allocation of Rp 14.5 trillion for the Navy (TNI AL), which was the largest compared to the budget allocation for the Army (TNI AD) and the Air Force (TNI AU).

"Indonesia is a maritime country, since around 70 percent of its territory is oceanic, so sea security must be prioritized," said Sukamta on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Sukamta said the submarine was currently the most sophisticated of its kind.

"It's similar to the Sukhoi SU-35 aircraft, which the Air Force wanted to have," said Sukamta.

He then referred to the upcoming ASEAN Economic Society (EMA) that would be faced by Indonesia as well as the potential for conflict in the South China Sea.

"[Increasingly] our maritime defense and security is becoming a priority," said Sukamta.

He also called on the government to plan carefully prior to the purchase, including ensuring the submarine's size was suitable for the archipelago's marine areas, the ease of maintenance and the ease of access to spare parts.

"We don't want to buy weaponry that is not suitable for our sea defense needs," said Sukamta. (edn/kes)(++++)

Indonesia Eyes Military Budget Boost to Fund New Equipment

Boost would reverse an earlier proposed defense budget cut for 2016.

By Prashanth Parameswaran
September 30, 2015
     
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Indonesian legislature had agreed to a proposal to boost the country’s defense budget in order to fund new purchases following earlier cuts being mulled.

According to ANTARA News, Mahfudz Siddiq, the Chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR), said on September 25 that he had agreed in principle to a proposal advanced by Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu to increase the military budget by Rp37 trillion. Around Rp30 trillion of that amount, Siddiq said, would be used to purchase military equipment, with the rest going to other areas like troop welfare.

The development is not surprising. Indonesian legislators, including Siddiq himself, had expressed deep concern when it was revealed earlier this month that Indonesia may be cutting its 2016 defense budget (See: “Why is Indonesia Set to Cut its Military Budget for 2016?”). As I wrote then, some had expressed concerns that it might affect the purchase of important new hardware for Indonesia, including Su-35 jets and submarines from Russia (See: “Indonesia to Buy New Submarines from Russia”).

Indonesian defense officials, however, had indicated that efforts would be made to ensure that critical new equipment – especially for the navy and air force – would be prioritized despite the cuts. At an event at the U.S.-Indonesia Society (USINDO) earlier this month, the DPR’s Speaker Setya Nevanto had also told The Diplomat that officials were in the process of ensuring that “priority purchases” – including submarines, helicopters and planes – would not be affected. In this vein, the proposal to increase the budget and spend most of it on new equipment is an encouraging sign as it could mean fewer cuts for procurement.

More broadly, if the proposal ends up being passed by the DPR’s budget board, the 2016 defense budget would stand at Rp132.8 trillion, up from the Rp95.8 trillion allocated in the draft budget earlier this year. Beyond the amount itself, that new total figure is important because it would represent an increase, rather than a decrease in the 2015 military budget, which is over Rp102 trillion.

As I noted in an earlier piece, a decrease would have been seen as a severe blow to Indonesia’s military modernization efforts (See: “Why is Indonesia Set to Cut its Military Budget for 2016?”). As it is, despite being the world’s largest archipelagic state and its fourth most populous country, Indonesia has significantly underinvested in its military relative even to its much smaller Southeast Asian neighbors. Despite sharp increases in recent years, growing from 17 trillion in 2010 to 102.3 trillion in 2015, Indonesian defense spending as a percentage of GDP was the lowest in ASEAN at 0.8 percent in 2014, well below the regional average of 2.2 percent.

Rp14.5 T ~ USD 1 billion

Just about enough to buy two Kilo Project 636, if it's still in production...or perhaps Amur 950

PUTD AW109 in Desert Camouflage

Marhalim Abas September 30, 2015 Malaysian Army

SHAH ALAM: Air Times – a website concentrating on national issues with strong defence and national security feelers – have been published a picture of a PUTD AgustaWestland AW109 being painted in desert camouflage.

Industry sources told Malaysian Defence that the desert camouflage was an “operational requirement” from PUTD. They however declined to be specific what kind operational tasking that needed the LOH to be painted in a desert camouflage.

Since I am on shaky grounds here, I will leave it to your own imagination where the operational tasking will be. For further reading go here. Furthermore, they could turn around paint it back in the Army standard digital camo. However, from the picture above, we can assumed that once the paint job is completed, the AW109 camo will looked very similar to the livery on the two PUTD Nuri, which was unveiled at Lima 2015, earlier this year.

There is no word on however on what kind armaments will be fitted to the desert AW109. Perhaps the forward firing pods and rockets have been paid for! It is likely though the desert camo Aw109 is the same helicopter that crashed in Johor in early, 2014.

Perhaps I will get lucky when the desert camouflage helicopter goes on its test flight and I am able to snap good pictures of it.

High costs may delay Thai navy's submarine plan

Bangkok, Oct 1  IANS 17 hours ago

Thailand navy's 36 billion baht (about USD 988 million) plan to purchase three submarines from China may have to be delayed or even reviewed, navy chief Admiral Na Areenij said on Thursday.

The new navy chief insisted that submarines are a necessary capability. However, he understood that the economy is in a downturn with many limitations placed on the government in meeting the needs of people in every sector, the Bangkok Post reported.

This could affect the navy's bid for a submarine fleet, he said.

"We have to build opportunity from crisis. The navy will look to improving its knowledge, expertise and tactics. We have to increase the capability of our units under budget constraints. We may run short of funds, but we still can make improvements," Adm Na said.

"During my two years as navy chief, I will try to make the navy a place of learning and knowledge," he added.

Adm Na said if the submarines purchase plan was stalled, the navy would have an alternative to propose, but declined to elaborate, saying he is yet to discuss it with Prawit Wongsuwon, the deputy prime minister and defence minister.

The navy had submitted a proposal to acquire the submarines to the defence ministry, to be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration.

However, the proposal is still with the ministry at this stage, he said.

are these the guys that crash earlier?

New Navy chief says submarines still necessary

The Nation October 1, 2015 2:15 pm

Newly-appointed Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm Na Areekij said Thursday that submarines are still needed by the Navy to protect Thailand's sea territory.

But Na admitted that the procurement would have to be indefinitely postponed due to limited budget as the govrnment would need the money to help all sectors, especially low-income people.

South Korea, Indonesia look to sign KFX development accords

Jon Grevatt, Bangkok - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
05 October 2015

South Korea and Indonesia are expected to sign an agreement later this month to formalise each country's industrial engagement in their joint development of the Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) aircraft.

The accord will feature Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which was named as preferred bidder to complete the development of the KFX in March, and Indonesia's state-owned PT Dirgantara. KAI's KFX development partner Lockheed Martin will also be involved in the programme.

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on 6 October that KAI and the Indonesian authorities were continuing negotiations on the KFX programme before the signing of a definitive contract agreement later this month.

After being named as preferred contractor KAI has yet to sign a main contract with DAPA to develop the KFX, although this is regarded as a formality. KAI has been involved in the KFX programme to some degree since its conception in the early 2000s.

The contract to complete the development of the aircraft is valued at USD8 billion. Under the terms of a joint engineering and development agreement signed in October 2014, South Korea will pay 80% of the costs of developing the aircraft, with Indonesia paying the remaining 20%. Indonesia is also expected to procure the aircraft.

Development of the KFX will take the programme to the serial manufacturing phase, which is tentatively set to commence in 2025. South Korea is developing the aircraft to replace the Republic of Korea Air Force's ageing McDonnell Douglas F-4 and Northrop F-5 fighter aircraft. The KFX is envisaged as a single-seat, twin-engine, multirole aircraft equipped with stealth features, active electronically scanned array radar, and internal weapons carriage.

Malaysian Army chief bullish on AV8 deliveries

Dzirhan Mahadzir, Kuala Lumpur - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
04 October 2015

 
The head of the Malaysian Army expects deliveries of the IFV-25 variant of the AV8 Gempita armoured fighting vehicle to be completed by either the end of 2015 or in early 2016. Source: FNSS

The Malaysian Army expects deliveries of the IFV-25 variant of the AV8 Gempita armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) to be completed by either the end of 2015 or in early 2016, according to Malaysian Army Chief General Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor.

Gen Raja Affandi told IHS Jane's that the delivery completion date would depend on the finances available due to payment being made as each vehicle is delivered by manufacturer Deftech.

He said the programme was still within the army's planned schedule for deliveries of the AV-8 and AFV-30 variant and would start once all IFV-25s had been delivered.

The IFV-25 variant is fitted with a one-person FNSS Sharpshooter turret armed with a stabilised ATK Armament Systems M242 25 mm dual-feed cannon and an FN MAG 58M 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun (MG). Of the 257 vehicle order of 12 variants, 46 vehicles will be in this configuration.

The AFV-30 variant - of which 68 have been ordered - mounts a Denel Land Systems (DLS) two-person LCT-30 turret with a DLS stabilised 30 mm GI-30 external dual-feed linkless cannon and an FN MAG 58M MG.

Of the remaining 10 variants, the most significant number is the anti-tank version - of which 54 have been ordered - with a Denel LCT turret fitted with the GI-30 and two Denel Dynamics Ingwe laser-guided missiles either side.

Gen Raja Affandi also said that some minor changes within the AV8 have been requested as a result of experience with the vehicles already delivered and in service but that these did not affect the production schedule.

Thailand to Re-work Chinese Submarine Purchase Plan

Source : Our Bureau ~ Dated : Wednesday, October 7, 2015 @ 10:21 AM
The Thai Navy will rework funding pattern for the purchase of three Chinese submarines and resubmit the proposal to the cabinet for approval.

The purchase proposal was on the cabinet agenda last week but withdrawn amid a report the Defence Ministry wanted the navy to spread payments for the submarines over 10 years rather than seven, Thai media reported.

Thai Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon on Tuesday denied reports that the navy's submarine procurement project was being suspended or stalled.

Gen Prawit said he had asked the navy, which plans to buy three Chinese submarines valued at 36 billion baht, to rework its funding plan. The proposal would be submitted to the cabinet for consideration "when the time is right".

There were reports last week that Thailand might prefer frigates in place of submarines. Newly appointed Royal Thai Navy Chief, Admiral Na Areenij had said that the navy would propose an ‘alternative’ if the submarine plan was stalled or cancelled. Local media interpreted this to mean that that the navy would propose the purchase of frigates.

F-16V Comes to Indonesia 


The advanced F-16V configuration provides advanced combat capabilities in a scalable and affordable package. Photo: Lockheed Martin.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 7, 2015 – Lockheed Martin brought its F-16 cockpit demonstrator to Indonesia this week to highlight the F-16V, the latest version of Lockheed Martin’s venerable F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter. The F-16V offers the most advanced 4th Generation capability available on the market today, including Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) and enhancements to the aircraft’s mission computer, vehicle systems, aircraft structure, cockpit and electronic warfare system.

The F-16V is the next generation configuration that leverages a common worldwide sustainment infrastructure and provides significant capability improvements to the world’s most affordable and effective multi-role fighter. This upgrade and production configuration will be the predominant configuration for the F-16 worldwide fleet. The new avionics configuration represents the most significant F-16 upgrade to date.

With more than 4,500 F-16s delivered, the F-16V is a natural step in the evolution of the world’s most successful 4th Generation fighter. The Fighting Falcon program has continually evolved as it began with the F-16 A/B as the lightweight fighter then transitioned to F-16 C/D and Block 60 versions as customers’ requirements evolved.

Pacific 2015: Indonesia in talks with France over possible sale of Scorpene 1000 SSK

Ridzwan Rahmat, Sydney - IHS Jane's Navy International
06 October 2015


A computer-generated image of DCNS's Scorpene 1000 submarine. Source: DCNS

Key Points

• Indonesia is considering acquisition of the Scorpene 1000 diesel-electric submarine
• The purchase could help bolster Indonesia's archipelagic brownwater deterrence capabilities

Indonesian government officials are in talks with French counterparts over a possible sale of the French-built Scorpene 1000 diesel-electric submarine (SSK), shipbuilder DCNS told IHS Jane's on 7 October at the Pacific 2015 international maritime exhibition and conference in Sydney.

"The talks are going on at the government-to-government level, mostly to discuss the needs of the Indonesian Navy," said DCNS.

"So far, what the Indonesians have identified is the need for a complementary submarine fleet that can fill in the gaps of their new ocean-going submarines, and they are considering the Scorpene 1000."

The Indonesian Navy (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) currently operates two Cakra Type 209/1300-class SSKs and is awaiting the delivery of three Type 209/1400 conventional boats - widely referred to in Indonesia as the Chang Bogo class - from South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).

Indonesian media reports have also indicated that the country may be purchasing a number of 'Kilo'-class SSKs from Russia, although a contract for these has not yet materialised.

"The Scorpene 1000 is an especially suitable platform for the Indonesian Navy, given the country's archipelagic nature," said DCNS.

"The platform has been designed to operate ... in shallow waters and is very difficult to detect due to the depths associated with littoral waters."

According to specifications provided by DCNS, the 50 m Scorpene 1000 has a surface displacement of about 1,000 tonnes. It has a maximum submerged speed in excess of 15 kt, a maximum range in excess of 4,000 n miles, and a submerged endurance of up to five days. It has a dive depth in excess of 200 m, and can accommodate 21 crew (with space for up to six divers).

Work Re-started on PCU Gagah Samudera

Marhalim Abas October 8, 2015 Malaysia -RMN

SHAH ALAM: REMEMBER PCU Gagah Samudera? After almost a delay of three years, work has restarted to complete the first of two RMN new training ships. The fitting out of the 75-metre ship is being carried out at the Grade One Marine Shipyard Sdn Bhd in Lumut, Perak.

Industry sources told Malaysian Defence that work on Gagah Samudera = pennant number 271 – is expected to be completed by year end and commissioning by early 2016. If indeed Gagah is commissioned in 2016, it will mean that her entry into service is delayed for almost three years. It was supposed to enter service in RMN by mid-2013.

Gagah Samudera was launched on Dec 14, 2012 while her sister ship, Teguh Samudera – pennant number 272 – on Feb 27, 2013. Both were supposed to be commissioned within six months after their launch at the NGV Tech Sdn Bhd yard in Sinjangkang, Selangor.

However, both ships remained incomplete and uncommissioned as NGV Tech was foreclosed by Maybank sometime in 2013. NGV Tech signed the RM294 million contract with RMN for the construction of the training vessels at LIMA 2011.

Malaysian Defence had reported late last year that efforts were underway for the Defence Ministry to take possession of both ships so work on them could be completed. However, it was delayed for some months due to legal issues.

Once those were resolved both Gagah and Teguh were towed to Lumut from their berths, the RMN Hydrography Center in Port Klang and the former NGV Tech yard in Sinjankang, respectively. Gagah had been towed to Port Klang before NGV Tech was foreclosed while Teguh remained at Sinjangkang until recently.

Unfortunately, Teguh will not be completed for the time being as industry sources said only Gagah had been funded for completion and commissioning. It is believed work on Teguh will only start when funds become available, hopefully once Gagah is commissioned.

Gagah Samudera/Teguh Samudera numbers:

Length 76.5 metres
Displacement 1270 ton
Crew 45
Trainees 80
Endurance 21 days
Speed 20 knots
Twin diesel engines
X-band navigation radar
S-band navigation radar
2 RHIB.
1 30mm RWS

Note. I referred this ships as PCU – Pre Commissioning Units as per the US Navy practice – as they have not been commissioned.