Zoklet.net - Mission Support

Purple Pony in the MEAO

tuer502gt — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:42:44 GMT

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HMAS Toowoomba�s Boarding Party members conduct training from Ridged Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIB�s), while operating in International Waters in the Middle East Area of Operations.

The Royal Australian Navy�s �Purple Pony�, HMAS Toowoomba, is mid-way through her six-month deployment, patrolling the expanses of the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, and Indian Ocean.

The ANZAC Class Frigate is currently assigned to Operation SLIPPER in the Middle East and is predominantly assigned to the Australian-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) to maintain maritime security and conduct counter terrorism activities.

By patrolling known drug smuggling routes and conducting boarding operations the RAN and its coalition partners are raising the CTF 150 (counter-terrorism) profile, which will hamper the efforts of terrorist organisations and insurgent forces that are funded by the smuggling of narcotics.

In three months of operations, Toowoomba has conducted five Flag Verification boardings, three Approach Assist Visits and relentlessly gathered intelligence via her sophisticated surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

Australia�s ongoing contribution to the United States-led Combined Maritime Force (CMF) is an invaluable addition to the global war on terror.

HMAS Toowoomba�s focus is to enforce maritime security in the MEAO as part of the multi-national CMF.

HMAS Toowoomba�s Commanding Officer, Commander Brendon Zilko spoke of the respect the United States Navy has for the Royal Australian Navy and Toowoomba.

�Australia and the United States have always worked closely in this area of operations, with the Americans appreciating our contribution. They see the Royal Australian Navy as an extremely professional and capable outfit and admire our capability�, CMDR Zilko said.

Recent port visits to Muscat, Salalah, Abu Dhabi, Karachi and Dubai have also allowed international relationship building and supporting the International Defence Expo in Abu Dhabi and participation in Exercise AMAN 13 has been a cruise highlight.

Toowoomba�s Operations Officer LCDR Jason McBain said EX AMAN was a multinational exercise this year held in Pakistan involving Ships from the UAE, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Turkey and the UK.

"Exercise AMAN allows like minded nations to operate together to develop their interoperability and promote regional security and stability," LCDR McBain said.

HMAS Toowoomba is the 30th rotation by a RAN ship to the MEAO since 2001.

During her six-month deployment HMAS Toowoomba, and other coalition vessels, provide deterrence to those involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs, the proceeds of which are used to fund terrorist activities.

http://www.defence.gov.au/defencenew.../apr/0417a.htm

HMAS Toowoomba (FFH 156)

Defence White Paper 2013

tuer502gt — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:38:19 GMT

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The Government brought forward delivery of the new White Paper by one year from its original 2014 timetable to address a number of significant international and domestic developments influencing Australia’s national security and defence posture internationally and domestically that have emerged since the 2009 Defence White Paper.

http://www.defence.gov.au/WhitePaper2013/

2013 White Paper PDF

Essentially the ADF is now more focussed on India in addition to China as the primary threats in the region from a military perspective in agreement with American posturing and that of allied countries such as Japan, where Australia has recently sent a Frigate to participate in front line operations such as anti-ballistic missile shields and the ROK, where Australia sent troops to participate for the first time in joint training exercises as part of Foal Eagle.

They are not focussed on economic or political matters, just the war movements in this release.

Director Honored at Ellis Island Ceremony | DIA

tuer502gt — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:51:02 GMT

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DIA Director LTG Michael Flynn received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York May 11. The medal pays tribute to America's unique history of diversity and is presented to American citizens for outstanding contributions to their communities, the nation and the world.

http://www.dia.mil/public-affairs/news/2013-05-14.html

He is the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

US Sees China Missile Launch as Test of Muscle

tuer502gt — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:39:37 GMT

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The U.S. government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Wednesday.

China launched a rocket into space on Monday, but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The object re-entered Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean.

�We tracked several objects during the flight but did not observe the insertion of any objects into orbit and no objects associated with this launch remain in space,� said Lieutenant Colonel Monica Matoush, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The rocket reached 10,000 km (6,250 miles) above Earth, the highest suborbital launch seen worldwide since 1976, according to Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

China has said the rocket, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China, carried a science payload to study the earth's magnetosphere.

�I want to emphasize that China has consistently advocated for the peaceful use of outer space and opposes the weaponization of outer space as well as an arms race in outer space,� Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing.

Possible anti-satellite payload

However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. intelligence showed that the rocket could be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory. Neither the U.S. official nor the Pentagon released details of what the Chinese rocket carried into space.

�It was a ground-based missile that we believe would be their first test of an interceptor that would be designed to go after a satellite that's actually on orbit,� said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, declined to comment specifically on the rocket launch, but said China was clearly taking a more aggressive posture in space.

�Any time you have a nation-state looking to have a more aggressive posture in space, it's very concerning,� Rogers said at a Reuters Cybersecurity Summit.

The United States remains concerned about China's development of anti-satellite capabilities after Beijing shot a missile at one of its own defunct satellites in orbit in 2007, creating an enormous amount of debris in space.

Monday's rocket launch was similar to launches using the Blue Scout Junior rocket that were conducted by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s for research on Earth's magnetosphere, McDowell said in an emailed response to questions.

He said all the previous suborbital launches above 10,000 km had been conducted by the United States. All China's previous missile tests went to less than 2,000 km, although Beijing had launched orbital vehicles higher, including to the moon, he said.

Most scientific suborbital launches are at most 1,500 km or so, McDowell added. The 1976 launch was Gravity Probe A, when NASA and McDowell's institute worked together to launch an atomic clock to 10,280 km.

Monday's launch came less than a week after U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter unveiled what he called a �long overdue� effort to safeguard U.S. national security satellites and develop ways to counter the space capabilities of potential adversaries.

U.S. military space officials are taking steps to improve the resilience of national security satellites in orbit, the defense official said. These include using new wave forms to make it more difficult for adversaries to jam signals from space, putting U.S. sensors on commercial satellites and using terrestrial high-frequency communications.

Last week, the Pentagon released an 83-page report on Chinese military developments that highlighted China's increasing space capabilities and said Beijing was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-se...e/1662191.html

N. Korea thought to have 200 mobile missile launchers: report

tuer502gt — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:29:57 GMT

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SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea could have as many as 200 mobile missile launchers, a report showed Friday, nearly double the number previously estimated by Seoul authorities.

According to the report submitted to the U.S. Congress by the Pentagon, North Korea appears to have accumulated up to 200 so-called transporter erector launchers (TEL), including up to 100 for short-range Scud missiles, 50 for medium-range Nodong missiles and 50 for long-range Musudan missiles, the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) said.

South Korea's military and intelligence authorities previously estimated that the communist country appeared to possess a maximum of 94 mobile launchers.

It is the first time that South Korea or the U.S. has made public the number of North Korean TELs in an official document.

"The U.S. report shows that North Korea is bent on expanding its missile program despite its continued economic difficulties," said Kim Sung-kurl, a researcher at KIDA. "It is especially focused on certain asymmetric areas that can pose a threat to South Korea and U.S. forces stationed in the South."

It also appears that the North is strengthening its military capabilities in an attempt to tame internal dissent and preserve its regime, he said.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nort...01300315F.HTML

US Navy Makes Aviation History With Carrier Drone Launch

tuer502gt — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:59:21 GMT

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ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH � The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by launching an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, taking an important step toward expanded use of drones by the American military with an eye on possible rivals like China and Iran.

The bat-winged X-47B stealth drone roared off the USS George H.W. Bush near the coast of Virginia and flew a series of pre-programmed maneuvers around the ship before veering away toward a Naval air station in Maryland where it was scheduled to land.

�This is really a red-letter day. May 14 we all saw history happen� said Rear Admiral Ted Branch, the Atlantic naval air commander. �It's a marker ... between naval aviation as we've known it and the future of naval aviation with the launch of the X-47B.�

Because of its stealth potential and a range nearly twice that of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the X-47B and its successors are seen as a potential answer to the threat posed by medium-range anti-ship missiles developed by China and Iran, defense analysts said.

The missiles and other so-called anti-access, area-denial weapons would force U.S. aircraft carriers to operate far enough from shore that piloted aircraft would have to undergo refueling to carry out their missions, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

But with a range of 2,000 nautical miles, an unmanned jet like the X-47B could give the Navy both a long-range strike and reconnaissance capability.

�That makes it strategically very important,� said Anthony Cordesman, a senior defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He described the drone as �essentially a really long-range stealth system.�

�As we rebalance to the Pacific, the Navy is going to increasingly need range,� said Brien Alkire, a senior researcher at RAND's Project Air Force. �That's something an unmanned system can bring them that they don't really have right now and give them the ability to operate from a good standoff range.

The X-47B, one of only two demonstrator models made by Northrop Grumman Corp, carries the equivalent of two precision-guided bombs. It was catapulted from the aircraft carrier on Tuesday using the same sling-shot system that sends manned aircraft aloft.

LANDING ON BOARD

It is scheduled to undergo two weeks of testing aboard the carrier leading up to a landing on the ship, in which a plane's tailhook grabs a wire that will slow it and keep it from plunging overboard.

While the carrier takeoff represented a significant milestone, defense analysts are focused on the next step, when the Navy attempts to use what has been learned with the X-47B to develop an unmanned aircraft for actual operations.

�The X-47B is a great story,� said Mark Gunzinger, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think-tank. �It's a milestone and a step forward for unmanned, carrier-based aviation. But I think the real story is what's next. How do we operationalize this capability?�

Future variants of the drone could probably be designed for full-spectrum broadband stealth, which means it would be hard for radar to locate it, analysts said. That level of stealth would be one of the drone's major defenses.

U.S. drones currently in use in places like Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, like the Predator and Reaper, are not up against any air defenses and are not stealthy aircraft.

Because of its long range and the Navy's need to have it take off and land, day and night, from an aircraft carrier, the X-47B has been designed to operate with far greater autonomy than the remotely piloted aircraft currently in use.

That has raised concerns among some organizations worried about the heavy U.S. reliance on drones in warfare and the rising use of autonomous robots by the American military.

Human Rights Watch, in a report launching its recent campaign against �killer robots,� cited the X-47B as one of several weapons that represent a transition toward development of fully autonomous arms that require little human intervention.

A follow-on program - known as the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System, or UCLASS - is expected to build on what was learned with the X-47B to produce operational aircraft.

An initial request for design proposals is expected to be issued by the Navy some time this month. Other aircraft makers, from Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to General Atomics - are expected to compete to participate.

http://www.voanews.com/content/drone...y/1661969.html

3D Printing guns.... Discuss

laber_one — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:39:56 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22464360

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Downloads for 3D-printed Liberator gun reach 100,000

The blueprint used to produce a 3D-printed plastic gun has been downloaded about 100,000 times since going online earlier this week, according to Forbes.

Defense Distributed told the news site it was surprised by the amount of interest its Liberator gun had generated.

Earlier in the week, the company demonstrated the firearm being fired

But even before any more guns come off the DIY printing presses, there are moves afoot to ban it.

Metal detectors

Californian senator Leland Yee said he wanted a law passed to stop the manufacture of 3D-printed guns.

"I plan to introduce legislation that will ensure public safety and stop the manufacturing of guns that are invisible to metal detectors and that can be easily made without a background check," he said in a statement.

According to Defense Distributed, most of the 100,000 downloads have been in the US, followed by Spain, Brazil, Germany and the UK.

The blueprint has also been uploaded to file-sharing site the Pirate Bay, where it has become the most popular file in the site's 3D-printing category.

Firing pin
It took Defense Distributed eight months to produce the firearm, which was assembled from separate components produced on an $8,000 (�5,000) 3D printer bought from auction site eBay.

While downloading the blueprints may not be illegal, owning a firearm is, according to the UK's Metropolitan Police.

"To actually manufacture any type of firearm in the UK, you have to be a registered firearms dealer (RFD)," it said in a statement.

"Therefore, unless you are an RFD, it would most definitely be an offence to make a gun using the blueprints. It may be legal for an RFD to manufacture a gun this way, as long as they had the necessary authorities."

One of the biggest headaches for law enforcers is the fact the gun is made from plastic - with only the firing pin made from metal.

New York congressmen Steve Israel and Chuck Schumer have sponsored legislation aimed at adding a 3D-printing provision to the US Undetectable Firearms Act, which requires all guns to be detectable.

What are your thoughts on this, being from the UK I'm pretty anti-gun's as I don't see why anybody in this country would require one, other than for sport.

So reading that people are on the brink of being able to print guns in their home worries me slightly...

The myth around China�s growing military supremacy

tuer502gt — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:29:06 GMT

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If global military expenditure is anything to go by, this will be a century of khaki and camouflage. But Antony Funnell discovers the hyped threat of China's growth should be put into perspective. While its military expenditure is second to the US, the gap between the two nations� spending (and technology) is enormous.

http://soundcloud.com/abc_rn/military-expenditure-and-the

There is a familiar Western narrative accompanying China�s military growth, which fixates on its rivalry with the United States. Western media often falls prey to portraying every Chinese military development as further proof of an imminent Sino threat to America�s global hegemony.

This was in evidence last week with the release of an Australian Government White Paper on Defence.

�We welcome China�s rise... the government does not approach China as an adversary,� said Prime Minister Julia Gillard, trying to play down the China�US rivalry angle. But much of the coverage given to the White Paper�s launch still centred on the idea of an impending global super-power conflict and whether Australia would eventually have to choose which side to support.

It isn�t just the media that likes to talk up the idea of US�China competition. In 2009 the head of the United States Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard, told reporters in South Korea: �I would contend that in the past decade or so, China has exceeded most of our intelligence estimates of their military capability and capacity every year. They've grown at an unprecedented rate in those capabilities.�

Twin fears are at the heart of the China�US rivalry narrative: fear of future global affairs being dominated by a giant totalitarian police state; and fear that the United States, for so long the self-styled protector of democratic freedoms in the world, is fast losing its strength.

There are also, of course, those who simply like to talk down the USA and its power, either because they object to it, or because they�re part of a long tradition which the BBC�s former Washington correspondent Nick Bryant calls American �declinism��a fashion for constantly predicting the end is nigh.

So, when the great floating airbase that is the carrier Liaoning manoeuvred for the cameras off China�s northeast coast in November 2012, its launch was immediately interpreted once again as a sign of Beijing�s fast growing military rivalry with the United States.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China spent US$166 billion on its military in 2012, equivalent to about 9.5 per cent of global military spending. In that same year the US spent US$682 billion, accounting for just under 40 per cent of total global expenditure.

But the Liaoning is a perfect example of just how wrong the commentariat can be when it comes to the world�s most populace nation and its development. You see, the Liaoning isn�t China�s latest full-length aircraft carrier, it�s the country�s only aircraft carrier. And it isn�t even new. The Liaoning is a refurbished ex-Soviet vessel first launched in 1988 and known variously in the past as the Riga and the Varyag.

Once you account for that fact, the new pride of the Chinese fleet looks far less like a threat to American naval supremacy than an admission of just how dominant the US military remains.

�Not in the same league� is the way Dr Sam Perlo Freeman from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) describes China�s military strength and sophistication in relation to its US counterpart.

That�s not to deny that China�s military strength has been increasing dramatically. The latest figures released by SIPRI indicate that Beijing increased its military spending in 2012 by 7.8 per cent. But everything associated with modern China�from its economy to its level of homelessness�has been on a rapid rise over the past few decades. And any attempt to suggest that China will soon be on the verge of rivalling American military might seems fanciful once you examine SIPRI�s country by country breakdown of global military expenditure.

According to the Institute, China spent US$166 billion on its military in 2012, equivalent to about 9.5 per cent of global military spending. In isolation that sounds impressive enough, until you look at the corresponding expenditure figure for the United States. In that same year, the US spent US$682 billion, accounting for just under 40 per cent of total global expenditure. And while the Obama administration is now engaged in a series of budget cuts that will affect the size of the US military budget in coming years, it�s worth pointing out that the US military has grown enormously in the last decade. In 2013 its budget is 69 per cent greater than it was in 2001 in real terms.

In other words, while it�s true that China is now second only to the United States in military expenditure, the gap between the two nations� spending levels is enormous.

�The ratio may continue to go down but the US's overwhelming lead is not going to change in a hurry,� says Dr Perlo Freeman.

The difference between the capabilities of the armed forces of both nations is also significant.

�The United States has 11 aircraft carriers, fully fledged with full battle groups around them,� Dr Perlo Freeman says. �The Chinese have one which is largely a training platform decades behind in technology and they've just started building another. So again, the technological capability gap is closing, but it is considerably larger even than the military spending gap,� he says.

�From China's point of view, they are not trying to match the United States, they know they can't any time in the next couple of decades, what they are perhaps aiming for is a situation where in the event of a localised conflict, for example over Taiwan, the US couldn't have it all its own way,� says Dr Perlo Freeman. �They�re spending on things like anti access area denial capabilities that the United States are quite worried about that would prevent the US's overwhelming naval forces from operating freely in the area around China, around China's coasts and areas like the South and East China Sea.�

Writing in the prestigious journal Foreign Policy in early 2010, Drew Thompson, the director of China Studies at the Nixon Center, made a similar point: �The PLA's global range is much more limited. As of last June, the United States had 285,773 active-duty personnel deployed around the world. But China operates no overseas bases and has only a handful of PLA personnel stationed abroad in embassies, on fellowships, and in UN peacekeeping operations.�

China might not have the global reach of the United States, and it might not be gearing up for a gladiatorial battle with the Americans anytime soon, but according to SIPRI, it�s clear that the growth in the size and complexion of the Chinese military is having a significant effect on the Asia Pacific region. A point not lost on Australia�s Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who said in releasing her government�s new Defence blueprint last week: �We also recognise that China�s rise and its subsequent military modernisation is changing the strategic order of our region.�

According to SIPRI�s latest research, military expenditure in Asia rose by 3.3 per cent in 2012 with most countries in the region increasing their military spending substantially. �Perhaps the most worrying trend there is the China/Vietnam situation,� says Dr Perlo Freeman, who expects expenditure levels to continue to rise. �Vietnam's increases in military spending are very clearly directed towards China. They are spending a lot on major naval equipment. It is, if you like, a sort of asymmetric arms race between the two in the South China Sea.�

Rory Medcalf, the director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, agrees that the Asian Century might not be all about peace and prosperity.

Image: China's first aircraft carrier, a former Soviet carrier called the Varyag. It was recommissioned the Lioaning by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in 2012 (AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty Images)

�There is a potential downside to the increasing economic weight and development of Asian powers and that's because now these countries can afford much bigger militaries,� he says. �These countries already have continuing strategic tensions and rivalries, and some of these tensions are actually worsening as these countries become more wealthy.�

And China is increasingly the focal point of much of the growing tension, he says.

�It's an unfortunate reality that most of the serious strategic flashpoints in Asia do have something to do with the rise of China,� he says. �They are around China's maritime periphery in particular. Really if you look everywhere from Korea down through the East China Sea, South China Sea, and even around to the China�India border, there is almost a ring of tension around China. I think there is a great degree of strategic mistrust between China and other powerful states in Asia.�

Mr Medcalf says fear of China�s future intentions in the greater Asian region is now manifesting itself in a series of new treaties between China�s neighbours and also between Asian nations and the United States.

�I do see a tendency of other countries to balance against Chinese power, to join forces in one way or another. This does not amount to formal alliances. We're not seeing NATO in Asia, where all sorts of countries band together in a grand alliance, committing to defend one another against a potential challenge from China. But we are seeing a more complex and sophisticated form of balancing. We are seeing countries strengthen their alliances with the United States one by one. So we're seeing the United States and India, we're seeing the United States and Singapore, the United States and Vietnam, for example, developing these relationships that are one or two steps short of an alliance.�

Last year, Barack Obama signalled a new direction for American foreign policy�the so-called pivot to Asia. And according to retired US Lieutenant Colonel David Barno, defence relationships are already shaping up as a significant component of that �pivot�. To that end, he says, the draw-down of American troops in the Middle East is being counter-balanced by a military refocus on Asia.

�We're seeing the front end of that already,� Lieutenent Colonel Barno says. He once headed Combined Forces Command Afghanistan and is now a senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. �We're seeing the deployment of some additional literal combat ships, the LCS as they're called�in Singapore we have three new US Navy ships based out there. We've seen the commitment now for Australia to host up to 2,500 US marines in Darwin on a rotational basis and there's a couple of hundred marines up there now.�

�At the same time we still have 60,000 Americans fighting in Afghanistan, so there is still a very large conflict under way that is consuming a lot of American military manpower. So you can expect to see this shift in the Pacific play out over the next several years, not to abruptly arrive on scene on 1 January next year or any time near that.�

Hand in hand with a significant growth in world military expenditure over the past decade has been a corresponding increase in the global arms trade and once again, China and the greater Asian region are a significant focus. In 2012, China displaced Great Britain to become the fifth biggest supplier of arms in the world.

Dr Paul Holtom, the director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's Arms Transfers Program, says that traditionally the US, Russia, Germany, France and the UK comprised roughly three-quarters to 80% of the global arms trade, but in recent years China has emerged as a major player.

�What we've seen in recent years, and this comes out in the five-year period for 2008 to 2012, is a dramatic increase by China in terms of the volume of arms exports,� Dr Holtom says. �The last time we saw China in the top five was back at the end of the Cold War thanks to the Iran-Iraq war. And actually when one looks at all the major exporters, a large share of their exports are to Asian states.�

In fact, according to SIPRI�s research, between 2008 and 2012 the Asian region accounted for almost half of the global imports of major conventional weapons, while over the same period the volume of Chinese arms exports rose by 162 per cent.

However, Dr Holtom says it would be a mistake to read the growth of the Chinese arms industry in purely military terms. �They see it in terms of building political relationships,� he says. �Also we believe that it's connected with gaining access to resources and markets as well, in commercial goods, and not purely military either.�

Overall the volume of international trade in major conventional weapons has grown by 17 per cent over the past decade and that escalation has led to increasing calls for greater regulation. In April of this year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting an international treaty to regulate the global arms trade. One hundred and fifty-four nations supported the UN Arms Trade Treaty, with only North Korea, Iran and Syria voting against it.

But even before the treaty is formally enacted, there are already doubts being expressed about how effective it can be.

Dr Binoy Kampmark is among the doubters. He�s a specialist in law and international relations at RMIT University in Melbourne. He points out that while 154 nations supported the treaty, there were 22 abstentions during the UN vote. And chief among those abstaining were two of the world�s five major exporters�China and Russia.

�If the major exporters are not included in the arrangements, then the treaty has no teeth,� Dr Kampmark says. �I might also point out that along with China and Russia, major exporters, we've got the other side of the coin, we've got major importers. India, for example, abstained as well.�

But Dr Kampmark also predicts that the US may also have difficulties ratifying the Arms Trade Treaty, even though the Obama administration supports it and United States officials voted yes during the April vote.

�The issue there is an issue that the United States has had with international treaties in its history,� Dr Kampmark says. �There always has been a groundswell of domestic opposition to various international treaties, and the trade treaty that has been passed in the General Assembly is no exception. There has been very vocal opposition in the Senate to this, and of course the Senate is the body that will ratify the treaty. It's fine for President Obama to be appending his signature to an agreement, but to make it part of US law and to make US citizens bound by it, there will need to be a formal ratification process in the Senate, and of course let us not forget that a very vocal group against the treaty is the National Rifle Association which sees this as curtailing or possibly curtailing the entitlement to bear weapons.�

Whether or not Dr Kampmark is correct in his analysis won�t be clear for at least a month or more. Fifty countries need to formally sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty before it can officially take effect. That process of ratification is due to get underway from 3rd June.

Antony Funnell presents Future Tense where you can download this program as a podcast.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/...diture/4672124

Apache Guardian

tuer502gt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:25:15 GMT

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South Korea has selected Boeing's AH-64E Apache Guardian as the attack helicopter to be used by its Army.

The Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration held its 66th defense projects steering committee meeting Wednesday chaired by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and made this decision.

Under the 1.8 trillion won project, Korea will introduce 36 large-sized attack choppers from 2016 to 2018.

The defense deal is to secure deterrence against North Korea's conventional combat power. The helicopters will be used to strike down tanks and hovercrafts carrying North Korean special forces.

Boeing's Apache competed with the U.S. Bell's AH-1Z Cobra and the Turkish Aerospace Industry's T-129B. The Korean Army first made the procurement request in 2008 as determined during a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting.

The three models were all tested as fit for combat in terms of performance. Therefore a negotiation team at the procurement administration has been negotiating with the bidders up until last month concerning four areas of technology, offset, terms of contract and cost.

The Apache was chosen as the final winner, scoring high in performance and interoperability.

Also believed to have factored in the selection was the fact that U.S. is pushing to deploy one more Apache battalion with the U.S. Forces in Korea.

As for offsets, the U.S. agreed to provide 25 technical transfers and six counts of logistical support among others.

The Apaches will replace the Korean Army's aging helicopters and help defuse a vacuum in combat power. The procurement administration says South Korea will now be able to swiftly respond to North Korea's local provocations and counter threats posed by the North's armored units.

Dubbed the "tank killer," the Apache Guardian is a formidable force against armored units.
Armed with Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods, the Apache can incapacitate enemy tank units.

Hellfire missiles, through aiming radar, can strike down enemy tanks and bunkers as far as from eight kilometers away.

Sixteen Hellfire missiles can be installed on an Apache which is also equipped with the 30-millimeter M230 Chain Gun. Precision strikes are also possible during night time using the sophisticated TADS/PNVS sensor.

The Apache Guardian is the latest version of the Apache model. The Longbow Fire Control Radar can also be installed on the Apache Guardian. The radar enables simultaneous detection of 256 targets and automatic designation of aimed targets in order of priority. The information is then conveyed to the pilot.

But this radar system is very costly and won�t be installed on all helicopters.

http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/hot_is...age=&No=107650

Ban lifted, but few women apply for combat roles

tuer502gt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:06:42 GMT

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Only a handful of women have applied to take on direct combat roles in the military since the ban on frontline female soldiers was lifted in January.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-2...-roles/4650772

they're probably not allowed to/under orders not to apply for lateral transfers/have to fulfill their ROSO.

Harry to be deployed with Aust army

tuer502gt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:18:13 GMT

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The Defence department has begun planning for Prince Harry to spend six months on secondment with the Australian Army.

The Department of Defence, British Army and Clarence House in London are discussing where and when the deployment would occur, and whether Prince Harry would serve on the frontline, News Ltd reports.

The 28-year-old Apache attack helicopter co-pilot could be formally embedded with an Australian army unit or make an extended visit as an observer under the plan.

He has reportedly said he is keen to serve alongside Australian soldiers.

Prince Harry, who is a captain in the Cavalry Regiment, has already had two deployments in Afghanistan.

The prince is unlikely to get another turn flying in Afghanistan again before all foreign combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014. - AAP

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories...aspx?id=866634

Are they gonna use him in intelligence or something?

There are no Apache's in Australia. Are they gonna put him in a Tiger? They could stir a lot of shit.

Belgian buglers' nightly tribute to Flanders fallen

tuer502gt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:55:20 GMT

Quote:

Every night at 8:00pm, the haunting sounds of the bugle playing the Last Post can be heard from the Menin Gate in the Belgian town of Ypres.

The buglers emerge each night in remembrance of Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives in the battles of Flanders during the Great War.

The road that runs underneath the arch of the imposing Menin Gate is closed each night for the tribute, and a minute's silence is observed.

Barbara Wood from Sydney is touring the battlegrounds where her great-uncle fought, and a visit to the Menin Gate has been integral to the experience.

"It's been amazing. We've actually come three nights in a row and it's just very moving," she said.

"To see all the names around and that, it's just been an unbelievable experience."

The Last Post has been played at the gate every night since July 1928, except for a short period of German occupation during World War II.

Each of the buglers is a volunteer, making the tradition's longevity all the more remarkable.

Raf Decombel, 48, says he does it because it is the right thing to do.

"It's important, even for the further generations, that they remember that war never gives a solution," he said.

"But the most important thing is that they can do it every day again as they came here to fight for freedom and for the restoration of peace."

Benoit Mottrie, chairman of the Last Post Association, says the nightly rendition is a way to thank the soldiers who rescued the people of Ypres.

"For the first time the Last Post was sounded by four buglers of the Somerset Light Infantry and this made such an impact on all the people attending and also on the Ypres citizens, who were looking for a way to thank your guys who came over to rescue us," he said.

"So we wanted a way to continue to honour them."

He says the ceremony often attracts large crowds wanting to pay their respects.

"We don't want to be a tourist attraction; we're there to remember and honour the fallen. And so we like to have the right atmosphere under the gate," he said.

"We try to have the silence during the ceremony and certainly during the minute of silence.

"You see that all people respect that idea and that's very good."

The 30,000th playing of the Last Post will happen midway through 2017.

Mr Mottrie says the Gate may not be big enough then to contain the crowds.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-2...anders/4650448