In picture: Chinese dream to invade the South China Sea ?

Soldiers on China's aircraft carrier Liaoning queue forming the Chinese words that mean "Chinese Dream of powerful military" on their (soldiers') way to the South China Sea for combat capability tested, showing their ambitions in the Sea.

More: PLA deputy to NPC: Dream of powerful military and dream of strong country are connected

The Navy’s Amazing Ocean-Powered Underwater Drone

If Santa can harness reindeer to fly the globe, the Navy can use "hydraulic buoyancy" to wage underwater war

While you were out shopping Sunday for those last-minute holiday gifts, the Navy pushed ahead with its own vision of an underwater sugar plum: a fleet of “long endurance, transoceanic gliders harvesting all energy from the ocean thermocline.”

And you thought Jules Verne died in 1905.

Fact is, the Navy has been seeking—pretty much under the surface—a way to do underwater what the Air Force has been doing in the sky: prowl stealthily for long periods of time, and gather the kind of data that could turn the tide in war.

The Navy’s goal is to send an underwater drone, which it calls a “glider,” on a roller-coaster-like path for up to five years. A fleet of them could swarm an enemy coastline, helping the Navy hunt down minefields and target enemy submarines.

Unlike their airborne cousins, Navy gliders are not powered by aviation fuel. Instead, they draw energy from the ocean’s thermocline, a pair of layers of warm water near the surface and chillier water below.

The glider changes its density, relative to the outside water, causing the 5-foot (1.5m)-long torpedo-like vehicle to either rise or sink—a process called hydraulic buoyancy. Its stubby wings translate some of that up-and-down motion into a forward speed of about a mile (1.6 km) an hour in a sawtooth pattern. As it regularly approaches the surface, an air bladder in the tail inflates to stick an antenna out of the water so it can transmit what it has learned to whatever Captain Nemo dispatched it to the depths.

Much of the work such gliders do is oceanographic in nature, collecting data about the water’s temperature, salinity, clarity, currents and eddies. Such information is critical for calibrating sonar to ensure it provides the most accurate underwater picture possible. But there are additional efforts underway to convert such data into militarily-handy information.

Slocum Gliders rise and fall as they traverse the ocean’s depths, transmitting what they learn via tail-mounted antennas that periodically break through the water’s surface.

The Navy’s Sunday contract announcement added a scant $203,731 to a contract it has with Teledyne Benthos, Inc., for continued “research efforts” into its Slocum Gliders (named for Captain Joshua Slocum, who sailed alone around the world in a 37-foot sloop between 1895 and 1898). “Carrying a wide variety of sensors, they can be programmed to patrol for weeks at a time, surfacing to transmit their data to shore while downloading new instructions at regular intervals, realizing a substantial cost savings compared to traditional surface ships,” the company’s Webb Research division says. The Webb unit is located in East Falmouth, Mass., and its Slocum Glider is the brainchild of Douglas Webb, a former researcher at the nearby Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

In 2009, the Navy issued a $56.2 million contract for up to 150 of the “Littoral Battlespace-Sensing” gliders to be delivered by 2014. The Navy has said it is investing in the field because such information could prove vital “for mine countermeasures and other tasks important to expeditionary warfare. . .ultimately reducing or eliminating the need for sailors and Marines to enter the dangerous shallow waters just off shore in order to clear mines in preparation for expeditionary operations.”

A NATO report last year examined the feasibility of launching Slocum Gliders from torpedo tubes instead of T-AGS oceanographic surveillance ships. “Operating gliders from submarines represents a step forward to embedding this technology into naval operations,” it said. “Unlike surface ships, submarines are stealth platforms that could transit denied areas while releasing a glider fleet.”

Navy Captain Walt Luthiger, a submariner, said an exercise using such gliders proved their mettle in yet another arena. “The environmental information provided by the gliders has proved valuable,” he told NATO public affairs in 2011, “and helped everyone in that very difficult job of finding submarines that don’t want to be found.”

Time

Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning's combat capability tested: Photo

BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has conducted more than 100 tests and training tasks since early December, when it began a training mission in the South China Sea, the navy said on Sunday.

Liaoning aircraft carrier sails in South China Sea. (Photo: China Daily)

"The Liaoning successfully performed several tests of the combat system today and organized for the first time comprehensive combat training," the People's Liberation Army navy said in a statement. "Through this operation, we tested the carrier's combat capability and tried the performance of its propulsion and seaworthiness."

This is the first time the Liaoning has made a long-distance training voyage since it was commissioned into the PLA navy last year, the statement said, adding that the mission is characterized by a large number of tests, rigorous standards, complicated circumstances as well as collaboration with multiple military units.

The ship left its homeport of Qingdao, Shandong province, on Nov 26 and anchored at a naval base in Sanya, Hainan province, three days later. On Dec 5, it set out on the training mission.

Two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, the Yantai and Weifang, participated in the mission. They escorted the carrier along the whole voyage from Qingdao to Sanya.

"The South China Sea has deep waters, strong wind and big waves, making it a suitable place for the aircraft carrier to conduct tests and training," said Senior Captain Zhang Zheng, captain of the Liaoning.

Crewmembers also have performed a series of tests on items such as the ship structure's resistance to stress, sailing speed in deep waters and stability of weapons and equipment, he added, noting that combat departments practiced exercises to defend incoming hostile aircraft, ships and submarines.

Several types of aircraft, combat ships and submarines were dispatched to cooperate with the carrier during the mission, which simulates real combat situations, according to Zhang.

After entering active service in September 2012, the Liaoning has carried out 12 sea trials and tests, including landings and takeoffs for the J-15 fighter jet.

The ship is still in the test and exercise stage, according to Senior Captain Mei Wen, Liaoning's political commissar.

"We have commanded the basic capability to operate and coordinate fighter jets and helicopters with the carrier," Mei said. "We have accumulated much experience in logistic support for the J-15 fighters and improved a lot in terms of damage control and handling of equipment malfunctions."

PLA Island Attack Drill - 100 helicopters flanked by WZ-10 attack helicopters

This clip shows a recent PLA island attack drill, in which over 100 helicopters takes place, flanked by PLA recently-commissioned WZ-10 attack helicopters

China plans to build a 110,000 ton 'super aircraft carrier' to rival US naval power

CHINA has declared it is building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of a size to rival the biggest in United States naval service in the first move of a major new arms race.

A Chinese design for futuristic aircraft carriers

Chinese website qianzhan.com cites "top People's Liberation Army" sources as saying the 110,000-ton aircraft carrier should be launched by 2020.

"By that time, China will be able to confront the most advanced US carrier-based fighter jets in high sea," the Chinese-language article reads.

The news follows rising tensions in the South and East China Seas where the most recent incident involved a near-collision with a US cruiser shadowing China's first aircraft carrier, the refurbished Liaoning which was purchased from Ukraine.

Pride of the fleet ... Crew stand on-board China's aircraft carrier "Liaoning" in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (AP /Xinhua, Zha Chunming) Source: AP

China's first homegrown aircraft carrier will be a larger version of Liaoning. The first of two such vessels is due to hit the water in 2015.

The design is reportedly based on drawings from the former Soviet Union of a nuclear-powered, 80,000 ton vessel capable of carrying 60 aircraft.

"Despite their lack of experience, Chinese scientific research personnel have the ambition to overcome various difficulties to master lots of new technologies and techniques in building China's own powerful aircraft carrier," the article reads.

America’s latest aircraft carrier, the USS Ford, undergoes final construction work before entering service earlier this year. Source: Supplied

Heraldsun

Iranian Fighter Jets Hit Air, Ground Targets in Massive Wargames

Iranian fighter jets drop bombs during the Fada’eeyan-e Harim-e Velayat 4 (Defenders of Velayat Sanctuary 4) drill which ended on December 21, 2013.

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Fighter jets of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) could successfully annihilate both fixed and mobile targets in the air and on the ground during the main phase of combat exercises in the country’s southern regions on Saturday.

The strategic Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bombers along with F-4 Phantom combat planes of the IRIAF accomplished all the tasks they were set to do during the second day of the main phase of large-scale wargames, codenamed Fadaeeyan-e Harim-e Velayat 4 (Devotees of Velayat Airspace 4), on Saturday morning, spokesman for the air maneuvers, General Hossein Chitforoush, said on December 21.
The IRIAF launched the main phase of the massive aerial drills, which involves combat exercises, in the country’s southern regions on Friday.

Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Air Force Brigadier General Alireza Barkhor had announced earlier that the ongoing wargames over the Persian Gulf were the fourth such military drills conducted by the IRIAF.

Units from all IRIAF bases are taking part in the three-phase drills. The maneuvers are part of annual exercises aimed at testing indigenous air defense systems, improving the units’ combat readiness and displaying the country’s military might and achievements, Barkhor said.

As regards the main phase of the wargames, General Chitforoush said on Saturday that the F-5 fighter aircraft, the Mirage and the Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) fighters managed to carry out operations including aerial interception and air-to-ground shooting at predefined targets until midnight Saturday.

“As of this morning, the Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) and the Mirage aircraft hit their aerial targets in long-range distances,” the General said today.

He also noted that the Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bombers, carrying home-made optimized missiles with pinpoint accuracy, could destroy ground targets and those floating in the sea.

And a few hours ago, the general added, the F-4 interceptor fighter jets fired the upgraded Maverick missiles, as well as smart rockets with pinpoint accuracy, at the naval targets successfully.
Chitforoush has stated earlier that the latest drills feature long-range flights by fighter jets without aerial refueling as well as pinpoint targeting using bombs and rockets in air-to-surface and air-to-air operations.

“Air-to-air shooting operations, shooting at aerial targets of different speeds at diverse altitudes, air-to-ground shooting and bombardment with various kinds of home-made rockets and bombs are among the other major parts of these drills that would be conducted in a large area,” the spokesman said on Friday.

The third edition of these drills was held in Iran's northwestern regions in September 2012.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Alireza Barkhor has said that the country’s Air Force is ready to hold joint air drills with Middle Eastern countries, adding that the ongoing exercises carry a message of peace, friendship and security for all regional countries.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, within the framework of the (Islamic) establishment’s policies, is prepared to stage joint maneuvers with regional states,” Barkhor said in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Friday.

 Iranian pilots and air force staffs hold the Fada’eeyan-e Harim-e Velayat 4 (Defenders of Velayat Sanctuary 4) military maneuvers in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on December 21 and 22, 2013.

 

By Mehr News Agency

A-10: Close Air Support Wonder Weapon Or Boneyard Bound?

WASHINGTON: The A-10 Warthog is ugly, tough, lethal, and fairly flexible. Its famous 30mm gun can destroy tanks or other armored vehicles with remarkable efficiency, not to mention enemy troops. Its titanium tub of a cockpit protects the plane’s pilot from most ground fire. Its pilots are trained to fly low and slow and to kill the enemy even when he is within yards of US forces. The Army and Marines love the Warthog.

In short, the A-10 appears to be the exemplar of Close Air Support, protecting Marines and Army troops when they face being overwhelmed by the enemy. Some members of Congress, with an eye on bases in their states and districts, love the plane as well and have championed legislation blocking the plane’s retirement.

Why, then, people ask, is the Air Force seriously considering sending the Warthogs to the great boneyard and their pilots to other missions? The answer is complex, but it boils down to three things: money, smart bombs, and threats.

First and foremost, retiring the entire A-10 fleet would save the Air Force $3.7 billion from 2015 to 2019. Retiring just some or even most of the A-10s wouldn’t reap nearly the same savings, because there are fixed costs in training and maintenance you can’t get rid off as long as you keep any planes.

Second, thanks to the wonder of smart bombs, most of the A-10′s mission can be done by other, less specialized aircraft. That wasn’t technologically possible when the A-10 first entered service in 1975. But in Afghanistan and Iraq, precision-guided munitions from faster-flying fighters and even heavy bombers have actually provided the overwhelming majority — 80 percent — of close air support.

Third, we’re not the only people with smart weapons. The Taliban and the Iraqi insurgents had at most a handful of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles — known in the trade as Man-portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS — but an unknown number of MANPADS were smuggled out of Libya after Qaddafi fell, and the missiles on the black market are getting more sophisticated all the time.

That’s why the Air Force has planned for at least the last 15 years to replace the A-10s with the F-35A, its version of the JSF, which will reach initial operational capability (IOC) by the end of 2016. The F-35A will not only carry smart bombs but also have new, sophisticated sensors to guide them to ground targets — and it will fly much faster and higher than the A-10 can, making it a much harder target. While the JSF can’t carry the Warthog’s massive 30 mm gun, it does have a highly accurate 25 mm gun and 182 rounds of ammunition. (I asked Gen. Robin Rand, head of the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command, last Friday if the F-35 carried enough ammunition to do the CAS mission. He said yes.)

The B and C F-35 models can be fitted with a gun pod that carries 220 rounds but the pod disrupts the plane’s stealthy profile.

The Air Force has a long history of appearing to want to abandon the Close Air Support mission and stick with fighters and bombers, though there is no sign of that from the current Air Force leaders or their immediate predecessors. This unfortunate history means many observers still distrust the Air Force rationales for shutting down the A-10 fleet.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh and his colleagues argue that in these days of declining budgets and the demands of enormous theaters such as the Pacific they must buy multi-role aircraft like the F-35 and the new Long Range Strike system. Single-mission aircraft, no matter how well suited they are to that mission, are just too expensive and limited.

Those don’t seem unreasonable arguments, on their face. But the Air Force’s history of institutional indifference to the CAS mission combines with the broadly-held belief that no aircraft can do the CAS mission as well as the A-10 to spark opposition from ground pounders and Congress in particular.

We spoke with the Army, the service with the most to lose should close air support diminish in effectiveness, and Air Force pilots who fly CAS missions to get both the official and off-the-record views. The official Army, in the form of Maj. Gen. Bill Hix, deputy director of the influential Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Army Capabilities Integration Center, was surprisingly understanding of the Air Force’s idea to shutter the fleet. But Hix also offered a nuanced critique of the current CAS capabilities, in particular the A-10′s ability to fly low and slow and deliver firepower in bad weather.

“If the [A-10] aircraft and the specifically trained pilots go away, this mission will become a distant requirement hastily met with pilots who have been brought up on OCA [Offensive Counter-Air] and DCA (Defensive Counter-Air operations], and CAS that is provided will consist primarily of fast air-dropping JDAMs and other smart bombs on targets designated from the ground and then transitioning out of the area due to limited loiter time,” Hix said in an email.

He listed some very specific conditions where the A-10 and its ordnance are awfully useful:

• When ”flying cover over outposts where attack helicopters can’t get (high altitude areas [e.g.] above 10,000 feet in the mountainous areas of Eastern Afghanistan for instance) and other USAF aircraft cannot get down/under the weather or fly in tight spaces (F-16, et al) or are too limited in numbers (AC-130).”
• When “there is little to no air-to-air/IADs [integrated air defense system] threat and its use eases the demand for artillery and ground logistics requirements to support that artillery (cannon or rocket)[:] think of the support provided by Warthog pilots during the march to Baghdad in 2003); and the 30mm [gun], which is unique and intimidating to those on the receiving end, but not as precise as the gun on the AH-64 or the AC-130.”
• He also made the crucial point, unaddressed by most in the Air Force, that the A-10 also serves as flying artillery, which is very useful in some situations. “CAS,” he writes, “is a complement to artillery and other indirect and air to surface fire support.”

Bottom line for the Army, per Hix: “That complementary mix of precision, area fires, sustained coverage, persistence, responsiveness and moral and physical effect remain important to success in ground combat; the A-10 carries a heavy complement of ordnance, while many other alternatives, like armed UAS, are more limited in their payloads; the A-10 is a good capability to have in the mix and even in limited numbers can continue to provide very useful and hard to replicate support on to ground troops.”

Note that reference to “limited numbers.” That seems to indicate the Army would accept retirement of much of the fleet but really wants the Air Force to keep some A-10s. But the Air Force makes the simple point that its big savings of $3.7 billion come only when it retires the entire fleet and gets rid of fixed overhead costs. As any student of aircraft acquisition knows, buying the planes is pretty cheap. More than three-quarters of a airborne weapon system’s costs typically come from parts, operations and maintenance.

The background view from a senior Army official was surprisingly accepting of the Air Force’s dilemma: “Tough times for all services and we have to leave it up to our counterparts to identify the best way forward to meet the CAS demands from the ground.”

Requests for air support, of course, aren’t the only thing coming from the ground. There’s also anti-aircraft fire — everything from MANPADS to sophisticated air defense missiles.

“I didn’t see the missile coming[;] my flight leader didn’t see the missile coming; my first indication of a missile launch was when it impacted my aircraft,” recalled Lt. Col. Kim Campbell, whose A-10 was hit over Baghdad in 2003. Fragments shredded much of the aircraft and cut its hydraulic control lines. But the plane’s famous titanium bathtub around the pilot kept Campbell alive, and amazingly, she managed to fly the wounded plane back to base.

Campbell argues the latest model, the A-10C, has better sensors and self-defense systems. “The A-10 has improved significantly,” she told Breaking Defense. “We’re better able to operate in these threat environments.”

But while the A-10  has been upgraded to handle some anti-aircraft threats, they still fly low and slow right into the enemy’s defenses. And in the air combat game, speed and advanced electronics are life.

To get a multi-role fighter pilot’s perspective, I spoke with an Air Force F-15E pilot (now a B-2 pilot), Capt. Michal Polidor, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a 2009 close air support mission  in Afghanistan. The F-15E was not designed for CAS but neither was the B-1 bomber, which along with the F-18 and other multirole aircraft, have provided more than three quarters of close air support since the terror attacks of 2001. Laser-guided and GPS-guided bombs and rockets have made this possible, along with intensive CAS training for multi-role pilots and greatly improved coordination with ground forces through Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs).

Polidor was called by a JTAC to support 80 troops in danger of being overrun by massed Taliban forces eager to destroy Outpost Keating, a badly positioned base in Afghanistan that the enemy threw an estimated 300 fighters at in hopes of destroying it. He strafed a switchback road and dropped a mix of four bombs. Polidor was part of a fleet of 19 aircraft, including Army helicopters, that helped the men on the ground kill half the enemy force.

Since the Strike Eagle, as the F-15E is known, usually concentrates on OCA and DCA, Polidor said he received six months of CAS training before he deployed to Afghanistan, where he was based at Bagram Air Base. That training was crucial because, in addition to strafing and bombing, PoIlidor had to set his plane up as a communications relay between the JTAC and the other aircraft. His backseater became a JTAC for 19 aircraft. According to his citation for the DFC, Polidor (on his first day of combat), ”took control of the 19 aircraft on scene and orchestrated air strikes from six F-15Es, four A-10s, two AH-64s and a B-1.”

He would not offer an opinion as to whether the A-10 should be retired or not (he is a captain, after all) but he did note that other Air Force fighters simply have to fly much faster to be safe and maintain maneuverability than does the A-10. While that means the F-15 can get to the scene more quickly, it also means it must leave more quickly and cannot fly as low and slow as can the A-10. He said an A-10 could probably execute two strafing runs for each one he can do because of that slower speed and lower altitude.

The circumstances of Polidor’s operation offer a window into just why the Air Force thinks it may be able to replace the A-10 even before the F-35A is available in late 2016. (The Marine Corps F-35B will be available earlier, in late 2015, and the Navy F-35C model by February 2019).

His aircraft executed a complex strafing run of a twisting valley road and dropped two laser-guided bombs and two GPS-guided bombs and did not injure any US or allied solders. The aircraft he and his weapons officer directed killed 72 Taliban, almost half the enemy deaths, a fine demonstration of what Gen. Hix meant when he cited the value of Close Air Support as airborne artillery. The fact that Polidor was able to execute such an array of complex maneuvers on his first day of air combat is testament to the CAS training he received.

So what does all this say about the A-10? Certainly, many of its effects can be duplicated by other, newer aircraft and usually are. Its psychological or morale effect on ground troops — fear for the enemy and jubilation for Americans and our allies — cannot readily be duplicated since the other aircraft do not fly low and slow. The A-10 is more vulnerable to sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses than the other multi-role aircraft (although recent upgrades have improved the odds) and Air Force officials believe it will be too vulnerable within 10 years.

Richard Aboulafia, one of the deans of aerospace analysts at the Teal Group, aptly summed up the A-10s prospects:

“It has faced dangerous moments before, it has faced retirement before, and it’s pulled through. You can make an argument for it either way, it’s not a dumb plane to have around by any means, it’s a very useful plane; the argument is in a time of austerity no service can afford single mission aircraft.”

The Air Force can probably retire the entire A-10 fleet in several years, but neither Congress nor the Army will be completely comfortable with that. But the $3.7 billion the Air Force estimates it could save will be very tempting to harvest, especially once we have largely withdrawn from Afghanistan and the F-35s reach IOC. Our bet: retirement starting in fiscal 2016. That leaves time to educate and mollify Congress and to demonstrate to the Army its soldiers won’t be left without effective protection.

Video: Vietnam People's Army flexes its muscles

The above clip posted on YouTube on Dec 21, 2013 showing the training and exercises of Vietnam People's Army in 2013.

Today, the Vietnam People's Navy is responsible for protecting the nation's sovereignty and economic activities at sea, and to repulse unauthorized foreign vessells intruding into Vietnamese waters. In general, Vietnam's policy has considered the modernization the Navy a priority task in the overall military modernization plan.

The Vietnam People's Navy and the Vietnam People's Air Force are the branches with the fatest modernization rates, constantly upgrading weapons, ammunition and combat capacity, the ability to master the equipment.

As stated on August 5, 2011 by Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh: "The direction of building up the armed forces is one to follow the revolutionary spirit, regularization and effectiveness and gradual modernization. Within this context, the Navy, the Air Force, the Signal Corps and Electronic Warfare will proceed directly into modernization to protect the country".

Chinese military reacts angrily to Japan swelling defence force

Tokyo deal for naval destroyers, drones and jet fighters described as aggression harking back to cold war mentality

Japanese naval ships, pictured in 2008. China slammed Tokyo's plan to beef up its military presence in the region. Photograph: Junji Kurokawa/AP

The Chinese army has criticised Japan's plans to increase defence spending, accusing Tokyo of raising regional tensions under the pretext of safeguarding national security.

Geng Yansheng, a spokesman for China's ministry of defence said in a statement posted on Saturday on the ministry website that it resolutely opposes the five-year defence plan.

Under the arrangement adopted on Tuesday, Japan would purchase its first surveillance drones, as well as more jet fighters and naval destroyers, and set up a unit of marines.

China's strongly worded statement reflects the increasingly hawkish stance taken by its military amid a bitter dispute with Japan over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Geng accused Japan of maintaining a cold-war mentality that runs counter to the trends of peaceful development, co-operation and mutual benefit.

Geng said that on the one hand, Japan claimed that it respects freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, but on the other hand, it repeatedly denied its history of aggression during the second world war, challenged the postwar international order and hurt the feeling of the people of the war-victim countries.

"As a nation that can not reflect on its history, what qualification does Japan have to speak about freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law? How can the country make contributions to the world peace?" he said.

"Japan has on the one hand claimed to strengthen international co-ordination, safeguard peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and make efforts to ensure security and prosperity of the international community, but on the other hand it sticks to the cold war mentality and beefed up military alliances with relevant countries."

Geng also accused Japan of trying to woo other countries to create regional confrontation and enflame the regional situation.

The Guardian

The UK will provide defense equipment to Vietnam

The report that Colonel Tim Below - The UK Defense Attaché, Embassy of United Kingdom in Hanoi - gave out at a press conference on the occasion of UK Navy HMS Daring destroyer's visit to Vietnam's central city of Da Nang.

On Dec 21, 2013, as the framework of activities during the HMS Daring's friendship visit, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom in Vietnam Antony Stokes to chair the press conference, announced the results of the visit as well as the last event that ends a year of a series of events celebrating 40 years of Vietnam - United Kingdom diplomatic relations.

At the press conference, Colonel Tim Below - Defense Attaché, Embassy of United Kingdom in Hanoi - said : "Vietnam and the United Kingdom have a common interest in the sharing defense interested in the issues of national security and recent development in the region. During the visit, the two countries have naval activities exchange, discuss and share their experiences in combat, search and rescue.

As a result of cooperation, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence will provide defense equipment to Vietnam in the coming time and commitment to support Vietnam's defense industry including technology transfer, training of defense workers to Vietnam. A strategic partnership relation through defense activities will take place in the next time.

After the visit of the UK Deputy Secretary of Defense, British enterprises will supply defense equipment that is specific underwater rescue equipment, enhanced combat capacity for vietnam Coast Guard, ... ".

HMS Daring Destroyer entering Tien Sa Port of Da Nang City

Can a China-Russia Axis Bankrupt the US?

Russia and China have studied the end of the Cold War and how the US ultimately defeated the USSR by bankrupting it.

By J. Michael Cole

According to Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev, 2013 was “a year of harvest” for Sino-Russian relations. It was also a year of new lows for the countries’ relations with the West — and from the look of it, things could get worse in 2014.

Much has been said in recent years about how two difficult wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a sagging economy cut the U.S. at the knees and created space for China. During this same period, China was enjoying double-digit economic growth and a relatively stable security environment, emerging as a hegemon in Asia. As the U.S. was struggling to extricate itself from, and was pouring billions of dollars into, unwinnable wars, Beijing was reaping the benefits of its “peaceful rise” by building its economy, resolving longstanding territorial disputes with neighbors, consolidating ties with smaller powers within the region, and neutralizing Taiwan as a potential source of armed conflict.

Thus, when China began flexing its muscles in the East and South China Seas, Beijing was not cowed by the U.S. “pivot,” or “rebalancing,” to Asia. For one thing, it was apparent that Washington’s renewed interest in East Asia would not — at least not in the medium term — be accompanied by a willingness to allocate sufficient capital and resources to make the pivot a credible counter to China. As Beijing and many U.S. defense experts saw it, the rebalancing was more a wish list and academic exercise than an actual strategy, let alone one that was anywhere near implementation. That is the reason why Beijing suffered little consequences when it threatened to alter the status quo within the region, such as with the November 23 declaration of its extended Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. (There is every reason to believe that a credible U.S. pivot to Asia would have deterred Beijing, which ostensibly does not seek war at this point in time, from embarking on such adventurism.)

Now by working together, China and Russia could make sure that the U.S. rebalance to Asia, if it ever materializes, remains a diluted, and therefore ineffective, affair. They could do so by enlarging the spatial scope of U.S. security responsibilities and further stretching its military’s diminished resources. A few years ago, Bobo Lo, an associate fellow at Chatham House, proposed the term “axis of convenience” to describe the relationship between China and Russia. Five years after the publication of his book of the same title, the relationship has never been more convenient. For the time being at least, Beijing and Moscow appear to have set their own territorial disputes aside, and by cooperating at the strategic level they are hoping to force the U.S. out of Asia altogether.

A substantial amount of attention has been paid to China’s Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) strategy, with the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) serving as one of its principal components, and to which we can now perhaps add the ADIZ. Less, however, has been said of Russia’s ongoing efforts to keep the U.S. out of its backyard. It is interesting to note that two weeks after China’s ADIZ announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting top military officers, stated that Russia would bolster its presence in the potentially resource-rich Arctic. Earlier that month and a little more than a week after China sprung its ADIZ surprise, the Russian navy announced that the Arctic would be its priority in 2014. As The Diplomat reported earlier this month, Russia is currently deploying aerospace defense and electronic warfare units to the area, and is now building a comprehensive early-warning missile radar system near Vorkuta in the extreme north, among other developments.

The growing presence of the Russian military in the Arctic — which stands to turn into a region of strategic importance — will surely prompt a countervailing response from the U.S. (it has already indicated plans to increase its foothold in the region). However, doing so — let’s call it a “rebalancing to the Arctic” — would further strain the U.S. military budget and thereby take resources away from the “pivot” to Asia.

Simultaneously, the Russian military confirmed on December 16 that it had deployed nuclear-capable Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems, with a range of approximately 400km, into its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and along its border with NATO members Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The news followed reports the previous weekend that satellite imagery had unveiled the presence of 10 such launchers in the exclave. Although President Putin denied the deployment on December 19, Russia has shown every indication that it seeks to expand its operations in its Western Military District, which aside from Kaliningrad also includes much of the European part of Russia.

There are questions over whether Washington can afford to substantially increase defense spending without bankrupting the country. It will find itself unable to counter both a resurgent China in East and Southeast Asia, where it has been speculated that China could eventually announce a second ADIZ, and a more muscular Russian presence in the Arctic and near the Baltic states. Either the U.S. will focus on one, or it will attempt to meet all contingencies, but do so with less-than optimal resources. With Washington feeling it has little choice but to choose the latter course of action, China and Russia will both benefit by confronting a diffuse and distracted opponent or succeed in breaking the U.S.’s back by forcing it to overspend — unless other countries like Japan and NATO members agree to greatly expand their defense spending, which appears unlikely. Furthermore, there are also doubts about whether the Japanese would agree to constitutional changes of the sort that would allow for military burden sharing of the type envisaged here.

Whether the U.S. has a “right” to be an actor in what Russia and China consider as their backyard is a question we’d better seek to answer elsewhere. But what is clear is that a weakened U.S., whose ability to meet the challenge of China’s “rise” is already very much in doubt, now seems on the brink of facing a multi-pronged challenge from a Sino-Russian axis that, if it is to be countered effectively, will require a number of “pivots.” Whether Russia’s economy can sustain a military expansion on the scale necessary to prompt a U.S. realignment is questionable, though the increasingly authoritarian nature of its leadership means that Moscow will be far less vulnerable than Washington to public discontent with huge defense spending in times of austerity.

Both Russia and China have closely studied the end of the Cold War and how the U.S. ultimately defeated the U.S.S.R. by bankrupting it. Two decades later, it looks like Moscow and Beijing are trying to return the favor.

The Diplomat

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Outstanding comment: There is no need for the Russians and Chinese to get together and bankrupt the U.S. .... the U.S. is doing a very good job at bankrupting itself by consistently electing politicians who enjoy spending money that is borrowed and will need to be paid one day (maybe).

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Hunting for U.S. arms tech, China taps legion of amateurs

Beijing “floods the zone with buyers” for smuggled American military gear, leading to a 50 percent spike in arms trafficking cases since 2010, Reuters has found.

By Duff Wilson and John Shiffman/ Reuters

VOICING REGRET: Lian Yang, above, spent nearly 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate U.S. arms trafficking laws. Today, he calls his attempt "wrong" but says the U.S. government "grossly exaggerated" what he did.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - In its quest to bypass embargoes and obtain the latest U.S. military technology, China isn't only relying on a cadre of carefully trained spies.

It's also enlisting a growing army of amateurs.

Their orders come indirectly from the Chinese government and take the form of shopping lists that are laundered through companies with ties to Beijing.

The recruits who buy the weapons and system components for those companies are scientists, students and businessmen, and they appear to be motivated more by profit than ideology. As one U.S. Homeland Security official put it, the Chinese "flood the zone with buyers" - a strategy that significantly complicates U.S. efforts to stop the flow of American armaments to China.

"When you have nation-states that go outside the normal intelligence agencies and open it up to any person … it just exponentially opens the door for bad guys," said Robert Anderson Jr, assistant director for counter-intelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Today, investigations into arms trafficking linked to China have swelled to at least 350 active cases - up by more than 50 percent since 2010, according to a Reuters review of confidential U.S. government records. The total number is likely higher than 350 because the count does not include many cases that began as regulatory inquiries or investigations into other crimes. U.S. officials also say their China counter-proliferation case load is growing at a faster pace than investigations linked to any other nation.

About two-thirds of the cases prosecuted by U.S. officials since 2005 involved people of Chinese ancestry, a Reuters analysis of court records shows. That includes Chinese citizens living in China or residing legally inside the United States, and U.S. citizens with family ties to China.

China's defense ministry says Beijing's efforts to modernize its military are rooted in research, not thievery. "Some people always accuse China of stealing other countries' technology when China makes progress in weaponry development," it said in a statement to Reuters. "Such notions are baseless."

U.S. government agents say many past cases and active investigations demonstrate how individuals who have left China - and appear to hold little allegiance to the Chinese government - have become players in Beijing's effort to procure military components.

Such was the case of Lian Yang, a 49-year-old software engineer who once worked for Microsoft Corp and had family ties to an anti-government group in China. In March 2011, the father of two pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate U.S. arms trafficking laws for buying radiation-hardened microchips and making plans to send them to China. Yang served nearly 11 months in prison and another four months under house arrest. He was released in March.

In interviews, Yang characterized his efforts as "stupid" and "wrong." But he said the U.S. government "grossly exaggerated" what he did.

Yang said a college friend in China had approached him about buying the microchips. But that friend, Yang said, was simply a businessman like himself, looking to obtain the components for another buyer - and ultimately, for the Chinese government.

A LOOK AT 280 CASES

Reuters reviewed confidential investigative records gathered by the FBI, including hours of secret recordings, transcripts and emails. They show Yang as an arms trafficking novice, motivated by money and casting about for others willing to help him for a cut of the profits.

In emails and transcripts from an FBI undercover operation, Yang spoke of the urgency to obtain the U.S.-made components for China's military and satellite programs.

"They're very firm, and they want it yesterday," Yang said on one FBI recording about his buyers in China. "They want it so badly. They have the funds."

On recordings, Yang told a family friend - who had turned government informant - that they could share in $1 million a year in profits. Later, as his plans shrank, he was working on a much smaller sale to net a few thousand dollars.

"That's your typical case, the kind you see almost every day," the FBI's Anderson said. "Here's a guy who's just trying to make a buck."

Reuters reviewed 280 arms export and embargo cases brought by the U.S. federal government during the past eight years. (The review didn't include cases involving Mexican gun smugglers, a crime that's distinct from those that jeopardize U.S. military forces). Of the 280 cases, 66 - almost one in four - involved China.

A Defense Department report to Congress this year, based on some of these investigations, said China supports its military procurement and modernization with "illicit approaches that involve violations of U.S. laws and export controls to obtain key national security technologies."

The cases reveal layers of buyers and sellers that connect to Beijing. In one recent case, investigative records contain the names of 31 Chinese companies - almost all of them state-controlled - that sought to buy smuggled military-grade communications gear. In another case, a Chinese procurement network used a series of five bank transfers between China and California to cloak a half-million dollar purchase of satellite components.

DRONE PARTS AND GYROSCOPES

About a third of the cases linked to China involved military aerospace technology, such as the radiation-hardened microchips. Arms traffickers have been caught in the last five years with military-grade gyroscopes and accelerometers, essential for China's space and missile programs; unmanned aerial vehicle or drone parts; and microwave amplifiers used for weapons guidance and radar jamming.

The individuals trying to obtain these components in the United States ranged from business people to professors, from citizens of China to permanent U.S. residents and American citizens. Many had access to technology that cannot legally be exported to China - or enough technical know-how to try to get it.

WEDDING SNAPSHOT: About a year before the FBI
began its investigation, Yang attended a wedding
where he posed for a photograph next to another
guest - former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Among the Chinese citizens recently convicted:

•A missile expert working for a New Jersey defense contractor. He took company files, including design data for missiles, rockets and drones, to a technical conference in China.

•A Shanghai broker who tried to smuggle from New York thousands of pounds of high-grade carbon fiber, which can be used for military purposes.

•A Harvard-educated businessman who set up a company in Massachusetts that he used for years to smuggle millions of dollars worth of American-made electronic warfare, missile and satellite components to Shenzhen.

A handful of Americans also have been recently convicted. A man in a small New York town tried to smuggle $100,000 worth of carbon fiber to China. An export control manager at a Pennsylvania manufacturer falsified records that allowed dozens of sensitive communications devices to be shipped to China and other nations. He later explained to authorities that he had been "too busy" to obtain the proper licenses.

"None of these guys are hardened criminals - they are businessmen," said Craig Healy, a senior Homeland Security Investigations official who directs the U.S. government's counter-proliferation center. "But they give very little thought to the consequences, that the little widget they are selling could be used at some point to kill an American or allied soldier."

The United States imposed an embargo on arm sales to China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Under the embargo, anything designed for police or military use has been banned for export to China; "dual-use" items - those that have both civilian and military applications - require U.S. government permission before they can be sent there.

THE GOODS: Lian Yang tried to obtain these:
radiation-hardened microchips, key components
for satellites.

Lian Yang's own shopping list had seven items the Chinese government wanted to buy in bulk for space and missile systems. Two items could be legal to export with U.S. government permission. Five - including the microchips - were totally restricted because of their importance to weapons systems.

"You can't operate missiles or satellites without radiation-hardened chips because the environment is so hostile in space that the electronics will be fried or disrupted," said James Lewis, an arms expert with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Somebody in China sent out a tasking: get me those chips."

CHINESE BUYER

Yang had left China for the United States in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen in 1999. He sponsored his parents, too; his mother, he said in interviews with Reuters, had been persecuted by the Chinese government for her involvement in the spiritual movement Falun Gong.

Married and the father of two boys, Yang had been earning well over $100,000 a year as a senior software engineer for Microsoft before starting his own business in 2007. His wife ran a travel agency. They owned two houses in a Seattle suburb; one was paid off and occupied by his parents.

In 2009, about a year before the FBI began the sting operation that sent him to prison, Yang attended the wedding of his wife's friends. There, he posed for a photograph next to the groom's half-sister - former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "She was very nice," Yang recalled.

At the time, Yang's wife was close to the bride and to the groom, Rice's half-brother Gregory S. Bailey. Yang's wife was the matron of honor at the wedding; one of their sons was the ring-bearer.

PROFIT MOTIVE: The case of Lian Yang was
“typical,” says Robert Anderson Jr., a
top FBI official. “Here”s a guy who’s
just trying to make a buck”

In the months that followed the ceremony, Yang and Bailey, himself an entrepreneur, worked together to sell water equipment and liquid crystal displays to companies in China - items that are legal to export.

"He represented himself as a person who had contacts," Bailey said in an interview. Both say these business efforts flopped.

Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, had nothing to do with the men's business efforts. The wedding "was the first and only time that she encountered Mr. Yang," said Rice's chief of staff, Georgia Godfrey. Rice, she added, "is not involved in or knowledgeable about his business affairs or those of Greg Bailey."

Shortly after the wedding, one of Yang's contacts in China began to give him lists of items in high demand: military components.

Precisely who was behind Yang's effort remains unclear. In court filings, federal officials say the military-grade microchips Yang sought to purchase were destined for China's satellite program. The FBI and prosecutors wouldn't elaborate. Yang said he couldn't discuss certain aspects of his activity until his probation ends in 2016.

According to a March 2010 email from Yang, the parts were meant for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the state-owned satellite and missile maker. An official with China Aerospace's satellite subsidiary, China Spacesat Co Ltd, said he was unaware of the Yang case.

In a May 2010 e-mail message, Bailey told Yang that he could get some of the military-restricted microchips on Yang's shopping list from California-based Xilinx Inc. They were radiation-hardened versions that would be illegal to send to China. Even so, Bailey wrote in the email: "I will, if needed have my team purchase 87 Xilinx units, this is the number I have available, it will be 32 weeks for any additional Xilinx products."

A Xilinx spokeswoman declined to comment.

Bailey also wrote that the LCDs - which were legal to export to China - would have to be sold first.

Bailey told Reuters that he intended only to offer the LCDs and never planned to sell the military chips, describing his proposal as "disinformation" for Yang. "Was that wise?" he said. "Absolutely not, in retrospect. But I never had any intention of doing anything illegal or anything to hurt this country and never made any provision to do so."

In an email to Reuters this month, Bailey wrote that he "never was implicated or accused of anything," and that he "proactively and voluntarily assisted the FBI" in the Yang case. He wrote that the agents told him he was "a good and loyal American."

An FBI spokeswoman in Seattle declined to comment on Bailey.

'MONEY TRAIL'

Yang and Bailey had a falling out, and Yang pursued other partners. He reached out to a man he considered "a very close family friend." Unbeknownst to Yang, the man alerted the FBI.

As Yang presented his plans to try to buy military technology that China sought, his family friend wore a wire.

DUAL USE: Carbon fiber such as this cannot be exported to China without the permission of the U.S. government. That’s because it can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

They discussed a cover story. "The money trail is a problem," Yang told the friend. "It would be from Hong Kong. We can say…"

NIGHT LIGHT: The latest night-vision technology,
such as these goggles, is among the items that
are illegal to export from the United States to China.

"Well, the money could be an investment," the friend suggested.

"Yeah, I mean, for R&D there's really no problem," Yang said.

The family friend, who had experience in international trade, played along. He told Yang that he had already approached two U.S. companies, pretending to want technology for Chinese civilian passenger jets. He said the companies told him that they don't sell to brokers and they don't sell to China.

The FBI recording captured Yang and the friend talking about setting up a Nevada front company that would claim to want the chips for research. Its purpose was, in part, to hide Yang's role - and his Chinese surname.

"When they see Chinese, they automatically suspect," Yang said, laughing.

If they succeeded, the profits could be enormous, Yang said; they could make a million dollars a year - 10 percent on $10 million in annual sales.

"That much, uh?" the friend replied. "Wow!"

To the buyers, money was no object, Yang said. But the items needed to be of military grade.

"Of course, when you have the military stuff, it's just simply better," Yang added.

"Yeah," the informant replied.

"It's simply better and more expensive."

"Sure, yeah."

"And they want the more expensive stuff."

AWAY ON BUSINESS

Andaluca is an upscale restaurant in downtown Seattle with subdued lighting and high-backed booths that are ideal for private conversation. Over dinner there in September 2010, Yang's family friend - the informant - introduced Yang to two associates. The men claimed to know people who could forge paperwork and get radiation-hardened microchips.

They were undercover FBI agents.

According to their secret recording, the agents drew out Yang on the ultimate buyers - the Chinese government - and the potential size of the deal.

"A huge amount of money," Yang said.

Using a standard undercover technique, the agents steered Yang to confirm that he understood what he was proposing to do was illegal. It's a requirement necessary to gain a conviction under U.S. arms trafficking laws.

If anything were to go wrong, one of the agents said, "We're all sitting in the same cell together. You know what I'm saying?"

"Oh," Yang replied.

"I'm not trying to be mean."

"Yeah, understand," Yang said.

Just before ordering dessert, Yang explained how he believed his effort was actually aiding the United States by helping the balance of trade. "My take on this is that we're doing a service to the country," he said. "Personally I know because I've been dealing with China for 10 years with Microsoft. Outsourcing. Buying hardware."

Then, they all got the cheesecake. Yang picked up the tab. "You're the guests," he said. "Appreciate that," an agent replied.

About three months later, on December 3, 2010, Yang gathered $20,000 in cash he had cobbled together from five banks. His China connections had not come up with upfront money after all. The cash, in addition to money Yang had already wired to an FBI front company, would cover the $80,000 price tag for a test buy of five of the microchips - a purchase that Yang thought would establish a business relationship.

U.S. agents say Yang had planned to cross the border to Canada later that day in a rental car. He had already bought a ticket from Vancouver to Beijing for the following day.

Yang met the undercover agents in Seattle. They gave him the chips. He handed them the money. Within minutes, Yang was arrested.

He was charged with conspiracy to violate the federal arms trafficking law. His lawyer negotiated a guilty plea for a reduced sentence.

Before he began his prison term, Yang said he told his young sons he would be away on business - in China.

(Edited by Blake Morrison.)

Indo- Japan strategic axis formed for encircling China ?

(Vndata- Dec 21, 2013) The first Japan - India joint naval exercise, is ongoing in the Indian Ocean, showing signs of forming a new strategic military alliance in Asia.

The four-day long exercise in the Bay of Bengal will include anti-piracy operations, gun firing, cross-deck helicopter operations and anti-submarine warfare. The war-game seeks to enhance inter-operability, enabling the two navies to undertake maritime security operations in future.

The Indian Navy will be represented by the indigenous built stealth frigate “INS Satpura”, guided missile destroyer the “INS Ranvijay” and missile corvette “INS Kuthar”. From the Japan side, two guided missile destroyers, “JS Ariake” and “JS Setogiri” will participate.

The mock war drill has harbour and sea phases of two days each. The sea phase includes Visit, Board, Search and Seizure drills frequently undertaken during anti-piracy operations and operations in anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-air threat scenarios.

Although Indian media said that the aim of this exercise is to form a new strategic axis, but in fact, this is not only once the two countries to held joint exercise. During Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit to Tokyo in 2011, India and Japan agreed on holding regular bilateral naval exercises. The maiden exercise was conducted off Japan in January 2012, which is being followed by this exercise off Chennai. And earlier in 2007, the Japanese Self-Defense Force have been involved in international maritime exercise "Marabel-07" hosted by India .

INS Satpura

In addition to conducting exercises at sea, in recent years military cooperation between the two countries is increasing.

According to the newspaper "News of Russia" (Известия), the Indian Army is proposing to buy Japanese- made high- range meteorological radar, fire control systems and photovoltaic systems on ships. Indian Army said that Japan will likely agree to sell their military equipment. If acquisitions are successful, India will install these systems in Ladakh region of Indian- controlled Kashmir.

It is the high and long range realm radar, India will use this system to not only for spying China, Pakistan and Afghanistan near the Himalayan region. This radar system is not only used for scientific research, but also for enhancing the ability to observe missiles of the nations around India, especially China and Pakistan.

Also, according to the "The Times of India", once said, military cooperation relation of the two countries (India and Japan) is continuously developing, in future, all seaports of India will open for Japan's ships, by that the shared strategic geopolitical and military resources between the two countries will be performed, opening up a new strategic axis for encircling China - the increasingly combative nation in the territorial disputes.

Video: Airfield Seizure Exercise

U.S. Marines from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5), 1st Marine Division (MARDIV) from Camp Pendleton, Calif. conduct an air field seizure aboard seven CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 364 and Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron (HMMT) 164 , Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) from Camp Pendleton, Calif., at Strategic Expeditionary Landing Field (SELF), Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twenty Nine Palms, Calif. during exercise Steel Knight 2014 (SK-14) on Dec 11, 2013. SK-14 is a large-scale combined arms, live-fire exercise integrating ground troops from 1st MARDIV, aviation and logistical support from 3rd MAW and 1st Marine Logistics Group to ensure that our nation is fully prepared for employment as a maneuver force across the range of military operations. (Official U.S. Marine Corps video by Master Sgt. Daniel F. Kauppila, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Combat Camera)