Most probably not. The A-10 was built around the Avenger cannon. You could say the A-10 plane was solely built so that the cannon can get airborne. The rest is just a bonus.

IGP: FRU to be expanded to Sabah & Sarawak, if necessary



The police will consider beefing up its Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) especially in West Malaysia if it is deemed necessary. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said that at the moment, the FRU has 21 units with more than 2,400 personnel.

"If there is a necessity, we will expand (the units) to Sabah and especially Sarawak, and also other states to ensure that issues relating to public peace and order are under control nationwide.

"We will consider (expanding) if necessary, but it would be based on allocation, not only in term of manpower but it also logistically," he told reporters after officiating the FRU's 62nd anniversary celebrations at the unit's headquarters in Cheras, here today.

Fuzi said he would be sending a proposal to the Public Services Department to request for personnel and would be sending another proposal to the Home Ministry to request for updated logistics. He however did not elaborate on the number of personnel the force planned to request for, saying it would be based on the approved allocation. Fuzi said the FRU needs to be improved with updated equipment to better handle situations and also for the upcoming general election.

"We need (to stock up) on gas masks, shields, and also vehicles equipped with latest technologies... we are facing the election so we need these logistics," he said.

Out of the 21 units in the FRU, one of the troops, said Fuzi, comprised of more than 80 women.

"The women's unit (in FRU) was formed 47 years ago, but the number is still small. From the number, we might add more if needed. The role of the women's unit is to deal with female demonstrators or detainees if necessary," he said.

The women's unit was deployed at the recent KL SEA Games to conduct checks among female visitors as well as to conduct surveillance. Asked about the FRU's preparation for the upcoming general election, Fuzi said the team has undergone continuous training to ensure they are prepared. So far, three exercises have been conducted and several other exercises would take place to prepare them for the election.

Meanwhile, FRU Commander Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ishak said that at the moment, there were no FRU personnel in Sabah and Sarawak.

“We have placed one water cannon each in Sabah and Sarawak but it is under the purview of the General Operations Forces.

Wan Abdullah said it would be more effective if there were FRU personnel in Sabah and Sarawak to handle any sudden issues. Currently, personnel from the federal headquarters are flown in to Sabah or Sarawak for crowd control if any major events are scheduled.

inb4 whiners saying "federal gov don't care about S&S. Why no extra police/army/FRU here?"

Kasi salah, tak kasi salah jugak......

Sarawak ready to fund loans to MMEA to purchase a mothership to better safeguard Sarawak waters


Datuk Patinggi Dr Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Abang Openg visiting the bridge of the KM Sri Aman

KUCHING - The state government is ready to provide loans to fund the purchase of an operational mothership for Maritime Malaysia (MMEA) of Sarawak Region in an effort to increase the effectiveness of maritime enforcement operations in the state waters.

Sarawak Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi. Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Abang Openg said the advance funds through the Sarawak Development Bank (DBOS) will be used for the purpose of building the vessel.

According to him, the cost of constructing a vessel acting as a maritime operational control center is expected to cost about RM200 million.

"It should be noted that Sarawak waters are 239,605 square kilometers or cover about 39 percent of the 660,000 square kilometers of the entire waters in Malaysia.

"So, the state government is ready to assist with the channeling of advances, but then the Federal Government will have to repay the financial loan through DBOS," he said at the welcoming ceremony of the KM Sri Aman at the Tun Abang Salahuddin Maritime Complex, Muara Tebas here yesterday.


MMEA NGPC KM Sri Aman

KM Sri Aman, 44 meters wide and 7.7 meters wide, is a high-tech vessel constructed using local expertise.

The vessel also has the capability to perform the task of controlling oil spills as it has an artificial oil spill control equipment from Denmark as well as being used in general operations, maritime enforcement and logistics.

The advantages of KM Sri Aman compared to other maritime vessels are the on-board deployment of drones that can fly up to six hours with a 800 kilometers (km) flight distance.

KM Sri Aman is also reinforced with a modern and high-powered armament in the Aselsan Smash 30mm cannon with a shot rate of 200 shells per minute with an effective distance of 15 to 20 km.

Must be some big-ass 20mm shells there.

This is like opening shop grille say thieves plis take what u can we will see how our security level. Low tier thief also can steal stuff like that.

The best thieves steal stuff when grille is closed.

Obviously fatty Kim punya salah hack sana sini. Never the fault of sleeping maintenance crew.

US Desert BDU ('chocolate chip camo') was developed way back in 1970s though, in anticipation of needing to land US troops to support Israel.

However the designers picked the wrong desert landscape to model their camo in. The designers picked US deserts in Nevada and New Mexico as the basis of their design, which is very different from deserts in the middle east. So even though technically the camo is for use in the desert, the camo still stuck out like sore thumbs in Iraq.

500 RELA personnel deployed to assist in monitoring ESSZONE starting January 2018



Lahad Datu: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said 500 Rela members from the Volunteer Department will be deployed in a pioneer project to assist in monitoring the security in Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) from Jan 2018.

"The mobilisation of 500 Rela members has already begun," he told a press conference during a working visit of the 17 Battalion, General Operations Force (PGA), here, Thursday.

Earlier, Ahmad Zahid and Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman heard a briefing by Commander of Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), Datuk Hazani Ghazali, and Rela Director-General Zulkifli Abidin.

Ahmad Zahid said the purpose of his visit was a follow-up on the decisions made in the two Esscom Advisory Board meetings to ensure that security in Esszone was under control.

"We discussed about some actions to curb cross-border crimes as we cannot give any space to cross border criminals."

Ahmad Zahid and Musa were satisfied with the security level of areas under Esscom.

In September, Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said the Government has agreed to mobilise 6,148 Rela members to assist in monitoring the security in 10 districts in Esszone.

sos

RELA better use for low-level grunt work like catching PATI.

Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin.

It is me or does RELA seem strangely far more inclusive than ATM?

See so many non-malay top officers here and there.

Malaysian Armed Forces aim for 10% enrollment from other races annually



PORT DICKSON: The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) wants to see more recruits comprising various races in the force.

Armed Forces chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor says ATM is targeting an increase by 10% annually.

He also wants to see more of them enrol with the Royal Military College (MTD).

He said he was confident of achieving the target, set as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the armed forces, with the support of relevant parties and the media.

“The involvement of other races in the ATM is so we can share the responsibility of defending the sovereignty of the nation.

“So we are seeking 10% participation of youths from various races to join as members of the armed forces and enrol in MTD,” he told a press conference at the passing out parade and pining of ranks for cadet officers at Segenting Camp, Port Dickson here, today.

Also present were army chief General Zulkiple Kassim, navy chief Admiral Ahmad Badaruddin and air force chief General Affendi Buang.

sos

Care to elaborate?

Aiya, non-malay numbers very small in the armed forces. How many percent you think is capable to be promoted from lower/mid ranks from numbers that small?

Going by the numbers of non-malays currently in service, I 'd be surprised there is more than 5% of them in the higher ranks. This is true in almost any working environment, not just the military. Military promotion operates just like any other job promotion; influence, favoritism and work politics will still take into effect. This isn't a video game where you level up automatically.

Traditional chinese people even have a saying, "good iron don't get made into nails, good men don't make soldiers".

Take that however you want.

People complain why so little non-malay top military officers, but with so little non-malay recruits from lower ranks in the first place to promote from, what do people actually expect? Join straightaway become top officer?


This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 19 2017, 07:53 AM

Doesn't military lifestyle itself discourage spending of wages? As an outsider looking in, it seems pretty much anything a soldier, especially single low-ranking soldiers, necessities in life is provided for by the military (food, clothes, housing...). Plus the tough daily routine gives so little free time or energy left to go lepak2 or something like that.

Honest question: how does a soldier spend his wages in comparison to a civilian, actually? To me, the general feeling is it's as if a soldier won't get much free time or actually need to spend that much money on necessities anyway.

HMS Queen Elizabeth found to have significant leaks during sea trials, may cost millions of Pounds to repair



Launched just weeks ago, the Royal Navy’s new £3.1billion aircraft carrier has a ‘significant’ defect – and could cost millions to repair. Top brass on the HMS Queen Elizabeth said the crew found the fault – which affects an inflatable seal around one of the propeller shafts – during sea trials.

It is now causing the carrier to take on 200 litres of water every hour. The UK’s largest warship, which is currently in Portsmouth, may have to be moved to a dry dock for repairs. Insiders blamed the leak on Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), the partnership that built the vessel.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘An issue with a shaft seal has been identified during HMS Queen Elizabeth’s sea trials; this is scheduled for repair while she is alongside at Portsmouth.

‘It does not prevent her from sailing again and her sea trials programme will not be affected.’ An ACA spokesman told The Sun: ‘It is normal practice for a volume of work and defect resolution to continue following vessel acceptance.’



Lucky found out during trials already. If not...
Then again, this is the point of sea trials, right?

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 19 2017, 02:31 PM

UK National Security Adviser bombshell: No more money will be spent to protect the UK



Theresa May's national security adviser last night suggested there would be no new money to protect the country despite his alarming warnings of the soaring threats facing the UK.
Mark Sedwill said the threat from Russia was worse than ever imagined as he compared the effect of cyber-attacks on the UK to bombing raids during World War 2.

Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry, he also warned the terrorist threat had 'diversified and dispersed', partly because of the military success in Iraq and Syria. But despite the rising threats, he suggested a crucial ongoing review of Britain's security and defence capability would not result in any more cash for the military and spies. This prompted suggestions from MPs that there would be a 'trading-off' of some defence capabilities in which ships would be scrapped to meet other more modern threats such as cyber.

MPs and Lords responded by telling him the Government needed to 'wake up' to the 'enormous scale' of the threats facing Britain and not underestimate an assertive Russia. Mr Sedwill is carrying out a wide-ranging review examining the state of UK defences, due to be published early next year. Yesterday he admitted for the first time it was a 'fiscally neutral exercise'.

'This exercise is looking at how we can make best use of the resources available to us now against the threat picture', he said.

The review has prompted concerns from former military chiefs that Britain's armed forces could be 'hollowed out' to enable the UK to focus on more 'modern' threats such as cyber.

Mr Sedwill hinted that the UK could be forced to rely on its allies to fight future wars, saying: 'One of the capabilities the Russians don't have is allies.'He said: 'If you put together the British, French and German defence budgets… it is about twice the Russian defence budget. 'We can't just compare to our own historic experience.'

Earlier this month it emerged French military chiefs were drawing up plans to let the Royal Marines borrow their warships if UK vessels are axed.

His comments came as ministers are deciding whether to scrap the navy's amphibious landing fleet to help plug a £20billion funding black hole.



British Armed forces go bye bye

UK sells HMS Ocean to the Brazilian Navy for £84 Million in a desperate bid to keep the armed forces afloat



Britain has sold the Royal Navy's flagship to Brazil for £84million, it has been reported. HMS Ocean will be recommissioned within the Brazilian navy following the multi-million pound deal, which leaves Britain without an aircraft carrier for the next few years.The Royal Navy's new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth is not expected to be fully operational until 2020.

Experts fear the sale agreed by top brass will reduce Britain's ability to conduct military operations. However naval bosses claim the money is desperately needed to plug an estimated £20billion black hole in defence finances.

The UK Defence Journal reported that a source from within the Brazilian defence community, Roberto Lopes, confirmed a deal had finally been struck.

Among those to express their dismay at the news was Nia Griffith MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. Posting to Twitter, she wrote: 'Hugely disappointing if this turns out to be true, HMS Ocean undergoes a refit, then sold for just £84 million.

'Govt have refused to engage on issue of amphibious capability for months, Tories talk a good game but they're consistently hollowing out our defence capabilities.'

HMS Ocean, which cost £150 million when it entered service, is equipped with Wildcat and Merlin Mk3 helicopters. The ship underwent a £65million refit in 2014, leading naval sources to question why money was spent refurbishing the ship, only for it to be sold for £15million more.

Its replacement, the much-feted £3.1billion HMS Queen Elizabeth, was launched late last year but is trill undergoing tests and sea trials and will not be fully combat ready for at least another two years.

This follows the scaling-back of military exercises and reduction in size of the Army, down to 79,407 full-time soldiers, according to latest figures.

The slowdown in UK military activity has also convinced Army chiefs to sell 700 support trucks, 100 pick-up trucks, 100 Vector light protected patrol vehicles, 50 Snatch Land Rovers and as yet unconfirmed numbers of Spartan, Scimitar, Samson, Sultan and Samaritan combat reconnaissance vehicles, as well as Gazelle and Lynx helicopters, which were flown by the Army Air Corps and Royal Navy.