US launches push at UN for action against Iran




UNITED NATIONS: The United States will in the coming days discuss several options for UN Security Council action against Iran such as sanctions for violating the arms embargo on Yemen, Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Tuesday (Dec 19).

During a council meeting on Iran, Haley drew a list of possible measures that immediately drew strong reservations from Russia, which has friendly relations with Tehran.

The United States has accused Iran of arming rebels in Yemen, providing missiles that have been fired at Saudi Arabia, a key US ally.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia shot down over Riyadh a ballistic missile fired by the Huthi rebels, in a strike that Haley said "bears all the hallmarks of previous attacks using Iranian-provided weapons."

The missile attack on Riyadh should be a "flashing red siren for this council," she said.

Haley suggested strengthening a 2015 resolution endorsing the landmark Iranian nuclear deal or adopting a new measure barring Iran from developing missiles.

Under the current resolution, the council calls on Iran not to undertake any launches of missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but there is no ban on missile tests.

"We could explore sanctions on Iran in response to clear its violations of the Yemen arms embargo," said Haley, who also suggested targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard for action.

"In the coming days, we will continue to explore these options and others with our colleagues," Haley said.

Russia quickly signalled that it would not endorse Haley's proposals.

Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said it was time to "abandon the language of threats and sanctions" and opt instead for dialogue to "concentrate on broadening cooperation and trust."

Last week, Haley presented what she called "irrefutable evidence" that Iran had supplied the rebels in Yemen with missiles that she put on display at a Washington military base.

Iran dismissed the accusations as false and said they were intended to divert attention from the devastating war being waged in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition.

The UN report said UN officials had examined debris from missiles fired at Saudi Arabia which pointed to a "common origin" but there was no firm conclusion as to whether they came from an Iranian supplier.

UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman told the council that the United Nations was "not yet in a position to confirm whether those missiles were Iranian Qiam-1 missiles" transferred in violation of UN resolutions.

Source: AFP/de
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/...st-iran-9512204

Philippine navy chief sacked in surprise move



MANILA: The commander of the Philippine Navy was abruptly sacked on Tuesday (Dec 19) in a surprise move which a legislator and news reports linked to a dispute about a contract for warships.

Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado was replaced by Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad in compliance with "the instructions from higher authorities", said military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo.


"The reason for this change of command will be explained in due time," Arevalo said in a statement.

The navy spokesman, Captain Lued Lincuna, likewise referred queries about Mercado's sudden dismissal to "higher authorities".

Mercado was reassigned to a subordinate post.

The head of the Philippine military, as well as the army, navy and air force chiefs, are appointed by the president.


President Rodrigo Duterte, who was scheduled to speak at the military's 82nd anniversary Wednesday, has not commented publicly on Mercado's dismissal.

House of Representatives member Gary Alejano, spokesman for a political party made up of former military rebels, called on Congress to launch a public inquiry into the navy chief's dismissal, which he described as "highly unusual and unceremonious".

"I suspect that this has something to do with the lingering issue of the Navy's frigate acquisition project," Alejano said in a statement.

The government last year signed a contract with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries to build two frigates for the Philippine Navy.

Alejano said his party is aware Mercado had opposed the Hyundai deal, though the legislator gave no other details.

"This is an important issue considering that this involves around 18 billion pesos ($358 million) of the (military) modernisation fund," he added.

Media reports said Mercado had been critical of the "combat management system" that was to be installed in the warships.

The Philippine Navy has become run down in recent decades and even featured US craft from World War II until Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino begun a modest modernisation programme in 2010.

The project, which included acquiring two former US coast guard cutters and three landing craft from Australia, was prompted by a dispute with China over waters and islands in the South China Sea.

But Duterte has since backed away from asserting his country's maritime claims and focused on repairing ties with Beijing.

Source: AFP/de
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapa...se-move-9511360

Bell V-280 Valor First Flight.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3009288.html

https://quwa.org/2017/12/19/indonesia-recei...ack-helicopter/

http://www.janes.com/article/76539/malaysi...ol-requirements

The p8 poseidon was like

I will put a bentley just for comparison purpose between bmw, volve and other cheaper alternative

Suprising no kawasaki p1

Poseidon is a wet dream..

Seoul says any delay in joint military exercises with US for 2018 Winter Olympics depends on Pyongyang



SEOUL (REUTERS) - Any delay in joint military drills with the United States would depend on North Korea’s behaviour during the 2018 Winter Olympics, officials in Seoul said on Wednesday (Dec 20), while a halt to group tours from China suggested Beijing is still wary.

South Korean President Moon Jae In is seeking to soothe relations with China and the North before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February and suggested on Tuesday he was prepared to postpone the drills with the United States.

Pyongyang sees the joint exercises as preparation for war, while Beijing is still angry about the deployment of a US anti-missile system, commonly known as Thaad, by South Korea.



China believes the system’s powerful radar can see far into its territory, but Seoul argues it needs it to guard against the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.

Seoul has proposed the potential delay in drills to Washington, which was also discussed during a summit last week between Mr Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping, an official from the presidential Blue House in Seoul said on Wednesday.

China has in the past proposed a “freeze for freeze” arrangement under which North Korea would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a halt to the exercises. However, Washington has rejected the idea and Pyongyang has shown little interest in negotiations.


US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Ottawa on Tuesday he was unaware of any plans to “alter longstanding and scheduled and regular military exercises”.

North Korea has stepped up its missile and nuclear tests to an unprecedented rate this year, and any new provocation from the North would “inevitably have an impact” on the exercises, the Blue House official said.

“It is a display of the president’s strong message that North Korea must not conduct any provocation (during the Olympics),” the official told reporters.

North Korea has been hit with increased international sanctions over its missile and nuclear tests this year.

Japan’s Asahi newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unidentified person connected to South Korean intelligence, that North Korea was conducting biological weapons experiments to test the possibility of loading anthrax-laden warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Asahi report said the US government was aware of the tests, which were meant to ascertain whether the anthrax bacteria could survive the high temperatures that occur during warheads' re-entry from space.



Reuters was unable to verify the report independently.

The United States has given China a draft resolution for tougher UN sanctions on North Korea and is hoping for a quick vote on it by the UN Security Council, a Western diplomat said on Tuesday. However, Beijing has yet to sign on.

Details of the draft given to China last week were not immediately available, but the United States is keen to step up global sanctions to pressure North Korea to give up a weapons programme aimed at developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

China resumed at least some restrictions on group tours into the South, South Korea’s inbound travel agency said on Wednesday. The issue broke out last year as part of China’s retaliation over the South’s Thaad deployment.

“I was told by my boss this morning that our Chinese partners (based in Beijing and Shandong) said they won’t send group tourists to South Korea as of January,” the official from Naeil Tour Agency told Reuters by phone. The move was probably due to visa refusals by Chinese authorities, the official said.

Neither China’s foreign ministry nor national tourism administration responded immediately to a request for comment. Beijing has never officially confirmed a ban or restrictions on tourism.

The move against tour groups came despite Mr Moon’s recent visit to China, which showed some signs of a thaw in relations since the Thaad row broke out.

Three representatives at Beijing travel agencies told Reuters that they were not currently organising group tours to South Korea.

“The tourism administration issued a notice last week saying individual trips were fine, but not group trips,” one agent said.

Another confirmed that the tourism administration had issued the notice, while a third said: “At the moment we have no group trips to South Korea.”

A travel agency in the northern province of Shandong also said they could not organise group trips. Three others said they could, but with restrictions such as the number of people in the groups.

One source in China said the reason for reinstating the ban was to rein in overly aggressive tour operators who had been rolling out package deals to South Korea too quickly in the eyes of the authorities.

The Blue House official told reporters South Korea’s Foreign Ministry had concluded that China had not yet officially lifted the visa ban for group tours, but that there could be a delay between official moves to lift restrictions and tour operators being informed.

Indonesia cancels major reshuffle of generals in unprecedented move



JAKARTA - In an unprecedented move, Indonesia's newly installed armed forces (TNI) chief, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, has revoked a major reshuffle of more than 30 senior generals ordered by his predecessor, General Gatot Nurmantyo.

"There needs to be change in the armed forces commander's decision on Dec 4, 2017 on the reshuffle of positions within the TNI," Air Chief Marshal Hadi said in a decree signed on Tuesday (Dec 19).

Analysts say the move to revoke the earlier decree issued on Dec 4 by Gen Gatot to install his allies in key positions in the TNI is aimed at curtailing his influence in the armed forces.


Among the appointments that were cancelled were the Army's Strategic Reserve Forces (Pangkostrad) commander, the Sumatra territorial commander and the chief of the TNI intelligence unit.

In a separate decree, also signed on Dec 19, Mr Hadi appointed two-star air marshal Kisenda Wiranata Kusuma as the chief of the TNI intelligence unit. Scores of other high-ranked officers were appointed to fill various posts.

General Gatot reaches the official retirement age of 58 only in March next year. He was appointed to the top TNI post by President Joko Widodo in 2015.



Some said that his early retirement was a response by the Jokowi administration to speculation that the four-star general has higher political ambitions and had manoeuvred himself into a position to run in the next election due in 2019.

General Gatot was widely reported to have enjoyed cozy ties with politicians of the opposition camp while helming TNI.

On Sept 27, General Gatot attended an in-house talk by the Islamic leaning Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an opposition party whose cadres have been the staunchest critics against President Joko's reform policies. Tempo.co reported that at the Sept 27 event, General Gatot praised PKS as a political party that "consistently exerts efforts to guard the nation's unity".

Active generals traditionally stay out of politics in Indonesia.

At the 71st anniversary of the TNI last year (2016), General Gatot raised eyebrows when he issued a statement calling for the reinstatement of TNI soldiers' political rights.



General Gatot made the decision to reshuffle top ranks within the military just days before Air Marshal Hadi was sworn in as the TNI chief, or Panglima, on Dec 8. Parliament had approved his promotion by Mr Joko almost unanimously.

The strong trust and affinity between the Indonesian President and his new TNI chief is said to have been forged years ago when Air Marshal Hadi was commander of the air base in Solo in Central Java, where Mr Joko was the city's mayor from 2005 to 2012.

Observers say Mr Joko can expect undivided loyalty from his new top military commander.

Hadi Tjahjanto act fast
Jokowi now hold grip both Police and TNI, damn this guy look weak but play his "chess" so well

P1 nobody buys outside Japan + of all mentioned, P1 flies with 4 engines.

P8 mcm bermimpi basah ni....tp klu betul...wow

bole mimpi jeeee.. hahahaha

another one

ko gi kedai Huawei je laaa

Maritime patrol only or with ASW capability?
All 3/4 candidate got 2 version, but Poseidon only come with ASW config. so there's a possibility boieng offer a cheaper poseidon without asw suite .

ok need ASW too

This post has been edited by pcboss00: Dec 21 2017, 04:29 PM

Janes reported that the Indonesian Army plans to have a total of 16 units AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters. Contract for the initial 8 units with option for another batch.


(Photo credit to ways_shiva)



http://www.janes.com/article/76558/indones...los-says-report

This post has been edited by azriel: Dec 21 2017, 09:09 PM

Israeli Military Capabilities, Scenarios for the Third Lebanon War

Will m109a5 procurement from Us be affected as a result of our vote against Us in UN meeting?

US already saying that they will take ' name' the country that voted against them and will probably cut the financial aid..

According to this websites, in 2018, malaysia will received around 2.4 m USD

https://www.foreignassistance.gov/explore/country/malaysia

probably even will effect the FMA too

This post has been edited by atreyuangel: Dec 22 2017, 02:33 AM