MMEA conducts trials of Fulmar UAV from first-of-class NGPC

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
20 April 2017


The Fulmar UAV, seen here mounted on KM Bagan Datuk, at the LIMA 2017 exhibition in Langkawi. Source: IHS Markit/Michele Capeleto

Key Points

* The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency has successfully completed first at-sea trials of the Fulmar UAV system
* The service is on track to operationalise its first UAV-capable patrol vessel in 2017

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has conducted at-sea trials of the Thales Fulmar fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the first of its New Generation Patrol Craft (NGPC), a service official confirmed with Jane's on 20 April.

The trials, which were conducted from KM Bagan Datuk (4541), took place over a period of about two weeks in early April 2017. Procedures that were conducted in the trials included launching and recovering the UAV under various ship operational conditions and wind speed, and training its crew in procedures to retrieve the UAV from the water should there be a failure in onboard recovery efforts.

The NGPC platform features a 3.5 m by 0.5 m catapult based launcher, situated just behind the position of its primary weapon - the SMASH 30 mm remote controlled stabilised naval gun system from Turkish defence company Aselsan. To retrieve the fixed wing UAV under normal operating conditions, the NGPC utilises a net-based impact-absorbing system deployed on the deck behind the bridge.

The Latest: US, Indonesia companies sign investment deals

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, April 20, 2017, 11:22 PM

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Latest on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Asia (all times local):

11:15 a.m. Friday

U.S. and Indonesian companies are signing 11 commercial and investment agreements during U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Jakarta that the two governments say are worth a combined $10 billion over time.

The deals include Lockheed Martin providing an advanced weapons targeting system for Indonesia's F-16 fighter jets, ExxonMobil selling 1 million tons of liquid natural gas to state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina for 20 years starting in 2025, Honeywell supplying turboprop engines to Indonesian aerospace company Dirgantara, and a $2 billion electricity metering system organized by a consortium of companies.

Pence told business leaders Friday the signings represent the "tremendous excitement" that U.S. based companies feel about investing in Indonesia.

Royal Malaysian Navy
@tldm_rasmi

Boustead Naval Shipyard and CSOC have signed to build #LMS for the #RMN. A new milestone for both nations. #15to5 is on the right track

8

Cockerill 105mm turret?

If i want a similar system, i would rather go with fnss-pindad mordern medium weight tanks..

At least it gone beyond tank on paper concept and now in prototype stage.

Pindad should join in and propose their version. It very much similar to MPF proposal.

Turkish Land Forces Inventory Fortified with Cobra-II



Performing tasks for the interior security forces, Cobra-II entered into the inventory of the Land Forces Command for the first time. Otokar started the deliveries of Cobra-II orders received at the end of the last year in line with the Land Forces Command’s requirements for reconnaissance and surveillance vehicles

The Cobra-II Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicle, developed for use by the Land Forces Command for Border Security, comprises the integration of the superior technical and tactical features of Cobra-II vehicle as a platform with high-performance electronic subsystems designed for reconnaissance and surveillance. The on-board Land Surveillance Radar and the long-range Electro-Optic Sensor System provide cross-border and long-range reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities thanks to effective software functioning in a wide variety of territorial and climate conditions.

Otokar announced in the Bulletin published in 2017 that it started to deliver Cobra-II vehicles, the contract of which was signed with the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries in June 2016, for use in interior security operations of the Turkish Security General Directorate. With its superior operation capability as well as high  level of protection provided to the personnel and firepower prowess, the number of Cobra-II vehicles will increase in the interior security operations. 

The order of 82 vehicles, the deliveries of which were initiated in December 2016, is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. As part of the €106.1 million order, the Cobra - II 4x4 tactical wheeled armored vehicles will be offered with maintenance and support services.

According to a report from Otokar, it was announced that Otokar received new orders due to the successful performance of the Ural Armored Vehicle, which was previously sold to a Gulf country. The delivery of such vehicles is expected to be completed within 2017.

The way the MMWT is configured, it a good replacement for the legacy AmX13. The chasis of the amx13 should have worn down with its massive uprated gun.

Thailand approves US$393m purchase of Chinese submarines

Monday, April 24, 2017 - 21:30

[BANGKOK] Thailand's Cabinet has approved the first of three planned submarine purchases from China worth US$393 million, a government spokesman said on Monday.

The plan to buy the three Chinese-built submarines worth 36 billion baht (S$1.46 billion) was confirmed in July, signalling warming ties with the regional superpower since relations with the United States cooled after a May 2014 military coup.

The first submarine purchase was approved last week. "The Cabinet approved one submarine purchase on April 18,"spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters, adding that a budget of 13.5 billion baht has been earmarked for the Yuan Class S26T submarine over a six-year period.

The media were not told about the purchase following a Cabinet meeting last week because it was a matter of national security, he added.

Public criticism and questions have arisen as to whether Thailand really needs new submarines. "In the current situation, where the government cannot successfully solve economic problems, buying expensive submarines is completely unnecessary," Watchara Petchthong, a politician with the Democrat Party, told Reuters.

Navy spokesman Admiral Jumpol Loompikanon said the Thai navy owned four Japanese submarines nearly 60 years ago, so new submarines were necessary to protect the country's maritime interests. "Thai people can rest assured that the navy's submarine spending will be worth it and beneficial to Thailand," Admiral Jumpol told Reuters.

Thailand's navy chief, Admiral Na Arreenich, will visit China soon to finalize the government-to-government purchase, a source at the defence ministry, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

Maritime security is a hot issue in Southeast Asia, given competing claims over the South China Sea, but Thailand is not a claimant in that dispute.

Thailand's defence budget this year is more than 210 billion baht, about 9 per cent more than the year the military took power.

REUTERS

Indonesia to receive three new 120 m LSTs by 2018

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
28 April 2017
 
Indonesian shipbuilder PT Daya Radar Utama has received a contract to construct three 120 m landing ship tank (LST) platforms for the Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut: TNI-AL), an official from the company confirmed with Jane's on 27 April.

The vessels, which will be used to transport vehicles such as the Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs) operated by the Indonesian Army, is currently estimated for delivery by the end of 2018, said Frans Tedjakusuma, a business development manager at the shipyard.

A steel-cutting ceremony to mark the start of construction on all three vessels was held on 21 April at the company's facilities in Banten, Sumatra.

Malaysia conducts trials of 30 mm naval gun from first-of-class NGPC

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
28 April 2017

 
A still image taken from a video released by the Malaysian Coast Guard, showing first test firings of the SMASH 30 mm naval gun system from KM Bagan Datuk. Source: Malaysian Coast Guard

Key Points

• The Malaysian Coast Guard has conducted test firings of a 30 mm Turkish-made naval gun system from a newly inducted platform
• Tests brings the first-of-class New Generation Patrol Craft closer towards full operational capability with the service

The Malaysian Coast Guard has conducted the first test firings of a newly installed SMASH 30 mm remote controlled stabilised naval gun system from its first-of-class New Generation Patrol Craft (NGPC), KM Bagan Datuk (4541).

The tests, which were conducted about 15 n miles west of Pulau Mentagor, off the coast of Perak, were conducted to validate the weapon's successful integration with systems on board the vessel.

These involved a single seaborne target that was set adrift from and subsequently fired upon by Bagan Datuk in single and burst modes of three rounds each. Present during the tests were engineers from Turkish defence company Aselsan, which is supplying the naval gun system to the coastguard. According to specifications provided by the company, the SMASH system is fitted with a 30 mm Mk 44 Bushmaster-II cannon that fires 200 rds/min.

Bagan Datuk is the first of six 44 m coastal patrol vessels ordered from Malaysian shipbuilder Destini Shipbuilding & Engineering under a MYR380 million (USD87 million) signed in 2015. The platform is derived from a design by Germany-based Fassmer Shipbuilding Company and will be the first vessels operated by the Malaysian Coast Guard to feature an organic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capability.

New Generation Land Vehicles to be Displayed at FNSS Stand in IDEF 2017

The FNSS stand, which will have the opportunity to touch the future of land platforms in IDEF 2017, is expecting major innovations this year.

Fuarda will be presenting members of the New Generation Armored Combat Vehicles family for the first time, and FNSS will exhibit its new products as well as modernization solutions and capabilities for land platforms at IDEF.

Preparing to introduce the new members of the pallet and wheeled vehicle family and new weapon systems to the public, FNSS invites all the IDEF to its stand.

Contracts
Press Operations
Release No: CR-082-17
April 28, 2017

Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $332,136,017 firm-fixed-price foreign military sales (United Kingdom, Egypt, India, Korea, Republic of Indonesia, Taiwan, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Poland) contract for Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor System, subcomponent production, and technical services for the Apache attack helicopter. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2018. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-17-D-0043).