Jane's Defence Weekly (17 August)

36 Pages·2005·3.883 MB·English

COVER_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 12:09 PM Page 1
jdw.janes.com•VOLUME42 •ISSUE 33 •17 AUGUST 2005
Eyes in the sky
Airborne early warning aircraft
become the new military necessity
Pakistan tests cruise missile – p4 US$7.95
3 3
China works on carrier – p7
0 74470 57184 1

003_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 5:27 PM Page 3
EDITORIALOFFICESJane’s Information N On the cover
GCorouulspd,oSne,nStiunrerelyH oCuRs5e 2,Y16H3 BrightonRoad, orthrop G AnE-2CHawkeye 2000 inexport
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jdw.janes.com•VOL42 •ISSUENO 33 •17 AUGUST 2005
Headlines Online this week
4 Pakistan tests cruisemissile Interview
5 Uzbekistandecides todeny useofairbaseby US 34 JDWtalks toLisa jdw.janes.com
Bronson,outgoingUS
forces
Deputy Undersecretaryof
Argentina toacquire secondlanding shipdock Defensefor Technology,
6 ISAF toexpand throughout Afghanistan Security Policy and
Counterproliferation
First FRESTDPcontracts due Jane’s; 1116439
7 Is Chinabuildingacarrier?
Middle East/Africa
The Americas 20 Palestinianforces preparefor Israel’s departure HMSSpartanhas begunits finaldeployment
8 USMarineCorps seeks long-loiteringUAV NigerianAir Forcecriticises G222 deal beforedecommissioning HMSteele; 1116449
USNavy gets new ‘bunker buster’munition 21 Threebidders line upfor Omanoceanpatrol ●ThalesRaytheonSystems supports USArmy
vesselprogramme Firefinder
9 US shifts strategy innew effort tocounter
●Oman receives first F-16 Block50+
terrorism Fast responseboats boost Israeliborder
●China seeks accord withPapuaNew Guinea
protection
11 GeneralAtomics secures USArmy UAVcontract ●Kuwait to strengthenanti-armour inventory
●Turkey issues tender for acquisitionofmini
Venezuelabuys Chinese radar Business UAVs
22 Lockheedjoins withMDfor USArmy LUHbid ●First MT30 engines for LCSare set for delivery
Europe ●Reserveofficers strengthenNATOlanguage
Strongexport sales boost Elbit order book skills
12 BritishArmy againdelays fieldingofApaches
●JASSMs hit markin tests
23 Sentry support contract signed
Poland secures USmilitaryaiddeal
13 Latvia tobuy fiveDutchminehunters DaimlerChrysler halts saleofMTU Subscribe today!
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004_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 3:29 PM Page 4
4•17 August 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
HEADLINES
Pakistan tests
Staff terrorist camp in Afghanistan;
Editor Peter Felstead Pakistani officials at the time
LandForces Editor Christopher F Foss acknowledged that theyhad recov-
AviationEditor DamianKemp cruise missile eredat least two missiles. “I’m sure
MiddleEast andEuropeEditor RobinHughes theymust havelearnedfrom that . . .
NavalEditor RichardScott theyare quitegoodin reverseengi-
Features Editor MelanieBright neering,” the sourcenoted.
ActingFeatures Editor TriciaShannon Additionalassistancemayalso
Reporter:Tony Skinner havecomefromChinese scientists,
WashingtonDCBureau: ROBERTHEWSON,Editor,Jane’sAir-LaunchedWeapons and who havecollaboratedclosely with
Bureau ChiefAndrew Koch ANDREWKOCHJDWBureau Chief Pakistan on other missiledevelop-
Reporters JoshuaKucera,MichaelSirak LondonandWashington,DC ments. Chineseassistance wouldbe
AsiaPacificEditor Robert Karniol especiallyimportant in thekeyareas
ofminiaturisedjet engines andguid-
ChiefSubEditor LisaZanardo ance systems and any lessons
Senior SubEditor SusieKornell learnedfrom theTomahawkare sure
SubEditor KarenDeans to make their wayback to Beijing.
Jane’s DefenceIndustry Editor Guy Anderson Thereis also reason to believe that
ReporterJames Murphy Pakistan has been working with
GroupTechnicalEditor Rupert Pengelley Ukrainianengineers for anumber of
AerospaceConsultant NickCook years on several elements of
Business Consultant James Smith advancedmissilecapability, whilea
AdministrativeAssistant MarianChiles thirdelement inPakistan’s opaque
ProductionControllerMelanieAris missileinventoryis SouthAfrica.
e-PublishingAlexander Garrett,Ray Trott Air-launched stand-off systems in
Pakistan’s Baburcruisemissileonits launcher andbeingflight tested.Thelaunchof the the class of the Denel-developed
Publisher JonathanGrevatt missileis a“major milestone”inPakistan’s nuclear programme Empics; 1116453, 1116452 Raptor andMultipurposeStand-off
GroupManagingDirectorAlfredRolington Weaponfamilies are understood to
P be in PakistanAir Force service.
Correspondents akistanhas made public While thesehaveno direct connec-
●ThePakistaniBabur cruise
TheAmericas: thefirst test launch ofa tion to theBabur, theyareanother
missile seems to share several
Scott Gourley; JoséHiguera; SharonHobson; new cruise missile sys- technology source to draw upon.
basic similarities with theUS
Jeremy McDermott; PedroPauloRezende; tem, the Babur (also Ultimately, Pakistani officials
BGM-109Tomahawk
Cesar Cruz Tantalean knownas theHatf-VII), said, theBabur is beingdeveloped
●Pakistan’s ultimateaimmay be to
which was successfully flight- for land-and submarine-launched
field this weapononits Agosta-
Asia/Pacific: tested on 11 August.Thelaunchis applications, withalonger-termgoal
class submarines
IqbalAthas;RahulBedi; JosephBermudez; a significant step forwardforits ofmakingit suitablefor airborne
FarhanBokhari; IanBostock; YihongChang; strategicarsenal. The Babur firing occurred at a launch. ThePakistani source said
Anthony Davis; ShinichiKiyotani; Ghazi Major GeneralShaukat Sultan, previously undisclosed test range, that theintentionis to have theBabur
MahmudIqbal; Robert Keith-Reid; Wendell the Pakistan Army’s chief Maj Gen Shaukat confirmed to deployable on thecountry’sFrench-
Minnick; PhillipMckinnon spokesman, said that the weaponhas JDW. This is understood to be designedAgosta90B-class attack
a500km rangeandcanbefitted with locatedalong theBaluchistancoast. submarines, although he noted it
Europe: either aconventional or nuclear war- AUSintelligence officialnoted that does not appear themissileis small
MartinBayer; JohnBerg; Piotr Butowski; head. TheBabur is describedas a additional tests areexpected to be enough to fit into 533 mm torpedo
Thomas Dodd; TimGlogan; Grzegorz high-speed, low-level terrain-fol- conducted using that area. tubes inits current configuration.
Holdanowicz; DavidIng; HenryIvanov; lowing missile, but Shaukat Pakistani scientist Samar TheBabur’s verticallaunchmode
JiriKominek; JACLewis; GeorgMader; declined to provide specifics onits Mubarak Mund, who heads the also points to a possible ship-board
NikolaiNovichkov; TimRipley; guidance or propulsion system. Nei- NationalEngineeringandScientific configuration, which wouldbean
LaleSariibrahimoglu; Radu Tudor; ther is its payloadcapabilityknown. Commission that led theBabur pro- obvious first step for suchamissile.
TheodoreValmas; PaoloValpolini Filmfootage of the test launch gramme, told the Pakistani Ina relateddevelopment,JDW
shows theBabur beingfiredfroma newspaper TheNewsthat produc- has learned that Pakistanis actively
MiddleEast/Africa: transporter erector launcher (TEL) tion of the missile would begin negotiating withChinaandFrance
SegunAdeyemi;AlonBen-David; bya solid rocket booster fitted to the withinamonth. for the purchase of two or threenew
Nicholas Blanford; Helmoed-Römer Heitman, missile’s tail section. Thebooster TheBabur appears to share sev- submarines. These same sources say
MuhammadNajib drops awayafter a short initial phase eralbasic similarities with theUS that Islamabadaims to develop its
and themissile transitions into for- BGM-109Tomahawklandattack first submarine-launchedballistic
NATOandEUAffairs:Nicholas Fiorenza wardflight with thedeployment of cruisemissile, with the two being missileby 2006.
UN:ThalifDeen pop-out wings and a ventral air roughly the same sizeand shapeand Asenior Pakistani official told
intakefor themainengine. havinga similar wingandengine JDWthat “expansion of our subma-
e-mail theeditors:[email protected] It is unclear whether theengineis intakedesign. APakistani source rinefleet” represents thenext stage
a turbofan or turbojet power plant. withknowledge of the programme in the development of Pakistan’s
However, in 2002 Pakistan said the project beganaround 1998 strategic weapon capability. The
announceddevelopment ofa turbo- and was bolsteredbylessons learned navy willhavenine submarines fol-
jet-poweredaerial target called the fromTomahawkmissiles recovered lowing theinductionbynext year of
Nishan-Mk 2TJ that analysts viewed inPakistan. TheseUSTomahawks thelast of threeAgosta submarines
as a preliminary step to developinga hadfailed to reachintended targets acquiredfromFrance. ■
cruisemissile. inanAugust 1998 strikeagainst a Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
005_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 4:05 PM Page 5
jdw.janes.com•JDW•17 August 2005•5
Uzbekistan decides to deny
comprising China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, issued a
declaration asking countries involved in
use of airbase by US forces Afghanistan to set a timetablefor their departure
fromCentralAsia.
Uzbekistan had already instituted some
restrictions onUS use ofK2. Earlier in 2005 the
countrybannednight flights to or from thebase
JOSHUAKUCERAJDWStaffReporter as wellas landings of someheavier aircraft.
Washington,DC ●TheUShas beengiven180 days toquit its base Uzbekistan’sdecisionhighlights a split within
inUzbekistan theUSgovernment onhow to deal with the
US operations inAfghanistan willbemoredif- ●USbases inKyrgyzstanandfuel-and-go rights in CentralAsian state. WhileUSStateDepart-
ficult andcostlyafteradecisionbyUzbekistan Tajikistanare sofar unaffected ment officials described theUS positionas a
to stop allowingWashington the use of one of ●Theimpact onoperations inAfghanistanis likely preferencefor human rights over militaryexi-
its airbases, but this will not significantly tobeminimal gencies,Depart ofDefense officials continue to
affect USability to workinCentralAsia,US emphasiseUzbekistan’s status as animportant
defence officials have said. have to deal with that,” he said. USally.
InJuly theUzbekgovernment formallyasked Officials fromUSCentralCommand (CENT- In the week before Uzbekistan made the
theUS to leave theKarshi-Khanabad (K2) air- COM) said their operations inAfghanistan– announcement,USSecretary ofDefenseDonald
base, from which US forces have conducted known as Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ – Rumsfeld travelled to KyrgyzstanandTajikistan,
cargo, refuellingandcombat search-and-rescue wouldnot beharmedbyUzbekistan’smove. wherehe strengthened support for US operations
operations in support of their presence in “Operationalconcerns havebeenmitigated in thosecountries. Tajikistanallows theUS to
Afghanistan. Washingtonhas 180days to leave, and weareable to support mission requirements refuelandmakeemergencylandings.
datingfrom theannouncement. andcontinue thefull spectrum of operations in InFiscalYear 2004 theUShad suspended
“Without the use ofK2 our operations willbe support ofOperation ‘EnduringFreedom’,” said USD10.5millioninForeignMilitaryFinancing
more difficult and costly,” said Lieutenant Captain Christopher Karns, a CENTCOM (FMF) andInternationalMilitaryEducationand
Colonel Barry Venable, a US Department of spokesperson,ina statement provided to JDW. Training (IMET) funds for Uzbekistanbecause
Defense spokesman. Themissions conducted Themore significant impact couldbeadecline of problems withTashkent’s human rights record
fromK2 willnow have to be spreadamong other inUSinfluenceinCentralAsia. and in 2005 USD24.5 million – including
facilities in the region, suchas BagramandKan- Uzbekistanasked theUS to leaveafter Wash- USD11.7 millioninFMFandIMETfunds –is
dahar airbases in Afghanistan and Manas in ingtonexpresseddispleasure over anepisodein subject to certificationbyUSSecretary ofState
Kyrgyzstan. Mayduring whichUzbek securityforces killed CondoleezzaRice.
“Wehave several options,” Lt ColVenable protesters in the city ofAndijon. The formal That fundingmight also beat riskifUzbek-
said. “Probably,more thanlikely,[US troops request cameadayafter theairlift of439Andijon istandoes not allow outsideinvestigators assess
who hadbeen operating out ofK2] willgo to refugees fromKyrgyzstan to Romania, which the what happenedinAndijon,StateDepartment
Afghanistan proper.” UShelpedarrange. officials said. ■
Lt Col Venable said he did not know if The announcement also came less than a
RELATEDARTICLE:
Kandahar andBagram wouldbeable to handle monthafter theShanghaiCo-operationOrgani-
ShanghaiCo-operationOrganisation–Partners inpeace
the additional traffic from K2. “We’ll just sation, a regional security organisation (jdw.janes.com, 20/07/05)
Argentina to acquire second landing ship dock
Argentinahas decided topurchasea Orageis due to negotiations toacquireaNewport-class
second usedlanding shipdock(LSD) be transferred LSTfrom theUSNavy and theUSSLa
fromFrance, sources inBuenos Aires toArgentinaat MoureCountywas finally targetedfor
have toldJDW.Thedeal wouldinvolve theendof 2005 transfer in 2001,but that ship ran
Argentinaexercisinganoption tobuy a Jane’s/HSteele; 0117029 agroundin 2000 duringexercises inChile
secondOuragan-class LSDfollowingan and was pronounceddamagedbeyond
initialdealcompletedbetween the repair.
countries for thefirst vesselinJuly Theonly vesselcurrently operatingin
2004. anamphibious assault ship role with the
Theoption wouldbefor Ouragan ArgentineNavy is theCostaSur-class
(L9021),following theacquisitionofits transport auxiliaryARABahíaSanBlas.
sister ship,Orage(L9022).According to capabilities of theArgentineNavy:oneof ous cargo ship(LKA)BahiaBuenSuceso That vessel,however,lacks facilities to
the sources,Orageis set tobe transferred its toppriorities.Thenew vessels also was damagedand thencapturedin1982 operatehelicopters in support of the
toArgentinaby theendof 2005and improveArgentina’s abilities to support during theFalklands War.Other amphibi- traininganddeployment ofArgentine
Ouraganwillfollow at thebeginningof its forces onoverseas peacekeeping ous assets,like smaller landing ship tank marineforces.
2007.Nofigures havebeenprovided operations andother deployments. (LST) vessels andmediumlanding ships JoséHiguera
about the valueofeither transaction, Argentina’s amphibious capabilities ofUSorigin werealso retiredin the JDWCorrespondent,Santiago
althoughArgentineofficials have said the hadbeenindecline since theearly 1980s, 1980s.
RELATEDARTICLES:
priceis “outstandingly convenient”. when several vessels were retired without TheLSTCaboSanAntonio,built locally
Argentinaeyes usedFrenchequipment
WhenArgentina takes deliveryof the replacement.TheLSDCandidodeLasala toamodifiedUSDeSotoCounty-class (jdw.janes.com, 09/07/04)
twoLSDs,Buenos Aires willhave sub- (ex USSHashland) was paidoffin1981 design, was retiredin1997. Ouraganclass LandingShips Dock
stantially rebuilt theamphibious assault and soldfor scrapand then theamphibi- In thelate1990s Argentina was in (jfs.janes.com)
006_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 3:35 PM Page 6
6•17 August 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
HEADLINES
ISAF to expand
After completing ISAF’s
First FRES TDP expansionnorthwards (stage 1)
inmid-2004and westward (stage
contracts due
2) inJuly,NATOis now planning
throughout to expand southwards. “Stage 3
Twocontractors are soonexpected tobe expansion wouldcover Nimroz,
awardedcontracts for theFutureRapid Helmand, Uruzgan, Dai Kundi
Effect System(FRES)chassis Technology and the Zabul provinces,” said
Demonstrator Programme(TDP). Afghanistan Çetin.
Invitations to tender (ITTs) wereissued to Canadian troops are already
threecontractors latein 2004and were setting up a PRT in Kandahar,
returnedinFebruary. initially under CFC-A,but it will
JDWsources indicate that theBAESys- switch to ISAF as part of the
tems FRES teamandGeneralDynamics UK southernexpansion.
willeachbeawardedacontract within the NICHOLASFIORENZAJDWNATOandEUAffairs Correspondent Kandahar will also likely be
next few weeks. Brussels,Belgium theforward support baselogis-
This is somewhat later thanoriginally tics hub for ISAF’s southern
expectedandmeans that theTDP willhave expansion because it has the
tobecompressedor de-scoped.TheUK largest airfield inAfghanistan,
Ministry ofDefencehas confirmed that the ColonelKlaus Buecklein,chief
first TDPcontracts will soonbeawarded. of public information at JFC
It is expected that BAESystems willbe Brunssum, toldJDW.
contractedfor a trackeddemonstrator and ÇetinandGenBack said that
GeneralDynamics UKfor a wheeled ISAF’s expansion throughout
demonstrator.In view of the tight time- Afghanistan would require thor-
scale,anexistingchassis willbe used. ough planning with US troops
In thecaseofBAESystems’FRES team,it playing a key role as they
willbeoneof theSwedishHägglunds SEP account for most of the 20,000
(SplitterskyddadEnhetsplattform,or Modu- troops in theCFC-A.
lar ArmouredTacticalSystem)chassis,of ColBuecklein said the south-
which threehave sofar beencompleted: ern expansion would be a
two trackedandone wheeled 6 x 6. “complicated process”.
GeneralDynamics UK,meanwhile,is NATO nations will have to
expected to use theAdvancedHybridElec- commit themselves to leading
tricDrive8 x8 vehicle, which was recently PRTs and providingenablers like
demonstratedin theUKandhas already transport aircraft just as the
clocked upover 4,100 kmof roadand forces they committed for the
cross-country trials. British troops inKabulinJuly.ISAFoperates in thecapitaland thecountry’s north stage oneand two expansionare
Theaimof theFRESTDPs is to reduce and west but by theendof 2006 expects tooperate throughout thecountry rotating.
riskbeforeaMainGatedecision, withother Empics; 1116444 The UK and the Netherlands
TDPs addressingelectricarmour,electron- N plan to shift fromleadingPRTs in
ics architecture,gapcrossingandan ATO plans to ex- the north of the country to the
integrated survivability technology demon- pandits International ●ISAFcurrently operates inKabul south. UK Defence Secretary
strator. Security Assistance andinAfghanistan’s northand John Reid told parliament on
JDWsources indicate that Insys will Force (ISAF) into west 7 July that the UK would take
receive theelectricarmour TDP with southernandeastern ●ISAFKandahar is likely tobe the charge of a PRT in Helmand
Thales/BAESystems andLockheedMartin Afghanistanby theend of 2006, basefor ISAF’s expansion south province when theUK-ledAllied
eachgettinganelectronics architecture according to alliancemilitary ●Theexpansionintoallof Command Europe Rapid Reac-
TDP.Some smaller TDPs havealready been officials. Afghanistan willbe“complicated”, tion Corps takes command of
awardedby Atkins Aviation&DefenceSys- German General Gerhard according toonecommandofficial ISAFinMay 2006.
tems, whichis running theinitial Back,Commander of theAllied Other NATO countries will
assessment phase under contract to theUK Joint Force Command (JFC) Afghanistan, whichis thecurrent then take over thePRTs currently
DefenceProcurement Agency.These Brunssum, whichhas operational mission of theUS-ledCoalition ledby theUKinMazar-e-Sharif
includeacapacity and stowageTDP control ofISAF, said on4August ForceCommand–Afghanistan and Meymana in northern
(awarded to theDefenceScienceandTech- that NATO will take responsibil- (CFC-A). Afghanistan.
nology Laboratory)andahardkilldefensive ityfor all ofAfghanistanduring The 8,500-strong ISAF is Similarly, the Netherlands
aids suite(awarded toAkers Kutbrukof thecourse of 2006. currentlyincharge of theAfghan plans to set up aPRTin southern
Sweden). He was speaking during the capital, Kabul, and provincial Afghanistan with army troops,
Thelast ITT was for thegapcrossingTDP, change of command ceremony reconstruction teams (PRTs) switchingfrom thePRTcurrently
which was issued tofour companies; these from the Rapid Deployable in northern and western runby theRoyalNetherlands Air
bids are understood tohavebeen returned Turkish Corps to the Rapid Afghanistan. This is nearlyhalf Force in Pol-e-Khomri in the
lateinJuly with twocontractors expected to Deployable Italian Corps in the country, NATO’s Senior north of thecountry. ■
beawardedcontracts later in 2005. Kabul. Civilian Representative for
Christopher FFoss,JDWLandForces This would put ISAFincharge Afghanistan, Minister Hikmet RELATEDARTICLES:
Editor,London of theentirecountryandall oper- Çetin, saidduringa press confer- Counter-insurgency inAfghanistan-
ations, including fighting the ence following the change of Paving the way topeace(jdw.janes.com,
Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
TalibanandAl-Qaedaineastern commandceremony. 09/12/04)
007_JDW_17.08 8/11/05 5:04 PM Page 7
jdw.janes.com•JDW•17 August 2005•7
Is China building a carrier?
● TheChinesenavy is conducting repairs on the
ex-Russianaircraft carrier Varyag, raising the
questionof whether Beijingis seekingacarrier
YIHONGCHANG JDWCorrespondent &ANDREWKOCH JDWBureau Chief ofits own
● Much work wouldneed tobedoneon the
HongKong&Washington,DC
Varyagtomakeit seaworthy
Chinese shipyard workers havebeen repair- ● It is likely that Chinais carefully studying the
ing a badly damaged ex-Russian aircraft Varyag, with thepossibleintent of using that
carrierandhave repaintedit with thecoun- knowledge to start anindigenous carrier
try’smilitarymarkings, raising the question programme
once again of whether China is pursuing
longer-term plans to fieldits first carrier.
In thelatest developments,images show that
workers at theChineseDalianShipyardhave
repainted theex-RussianKuznetsov-class air- Left andbelow:The
craft carrier Varyag with the markings and former Russiannavy
colour scheme of thePeople’sLiberationArmy aircraft carrier
(PLA) Navy (PLAN). Additional new pho- Varyagat Dalian
tographs show that other work, the specifics of shipyard.The vessel
whichcouldnot bedetermined,appears to be has been repainted
continuingand that thecondition of the vesselis withPLANmarkings
beingimproved. andcolour scheme
JDWbelieves that PLAN technicians have
Viainternet; 1116440;1116441
also conducted thorough studies of thebasic
structure of theVaryagduring the past few years platform; such a move could,
to obtainacomprehensive understanding of the however, mark a transitional
carrier’s structuraldesign. Former PLANcom- phaseen route to afully opera-
mander General Liu Huaqing stated in his tionalcapability.
memoirs that Chinahad purchasedblueprints Another possibility is that
for thecarrier –afact that Russian sources con- China does, indeed, plan to
firmed to JDW. Moreover,GenHuaqingadded: repair the vessel to becomeits
“The competent departments of the defence first seagoingaircraft carrier or
industry employed Russian aircraft carrier useknowledgegainedfromit
designers to come to Chinaandgivelectures.” for anindigenouslybuilt carrier
GenHuaqingnoted that “meanwhile,acertain programme. The US intelli-
amount of aircraft carrier design documents gence official said such an
werealso introducedinto China, whichhelped outcome “is certainlya possibil-
[China] to make some progress in the prelimi- ity” ifChinais seekingablue-
nary research of the key equipment of [an] water navycapable of protectinglong-range ously pursuingacarrier as up to now Beijinghas
aircraft carrier.[PLA]Headquarters ofGeneral nationalinterests far fromits shores suchas sea focused onimprovingits anti-access capabilities
Staffand theCommission ofScience,Technol- lanes in theStrait ofMalacca. If this strategy inaTaiwancrisis scenario –a situationin which
ogy and Industry for National Defence were to befollowed,China wouldhave to rein- aChinesecarrier wouldbe ofmarginal value.
organised constant analysis, evaluation and state the structuralintegritydegradedbefore USdefenceandmilitary officials werealso
assessment of the related study trips,import pro- deliveryand study the structuraldesign of the sceptical,noting that fieldingaChinesecarrier
jects and preliminary research programmes.” carrier’s deck. These two activities,along with wouldbeyears in themakingandentail signifi-
Still, China’s ultimate intentions for the theblueprints and the ship itself,couldbe used to cant time and resources far beyond just the
Varyagremain unclear.One possibilityis that designanindigenous carrier.Sucha plan would vesselandits air wing. Theynoted,for example,
Beijingintends to eventuallyhaveit enter into verylikelybealong-term project precededby that China wouldhave to learnhow to conduct
somelevel of service. Amilitary strategist froma the development of smaller vessels such as integratedcarrier operations with the rest of the
Chinese military university has commented amphibious landing ships. fleet,includinghaving to acquire the requisite
publicly that theVaryag“wouldbeChina’sfirst Despite the obvious controversyaChinese escorts. It wouldalso need to learnhow to con-
aircraft carrier”. aircraft carrier wouldentail, someUS retiredand duct maritime patrols away from shore and
It is possible that thePLAN willmodify the activemilitary officials say theyarenot troubled control thosefrom thecarrier.Past Russianand
Varyaginto a trainingaircraft carrier.AUSintel- by themoveas it would siphon off resources US experiences show these are not easily,
ligence official said the vesselcouldbemade from other PLAN projects they view with cheaply or quicklyaccomplished.
seaworthyagain withenough time,effort and greater concern. Theseincludeanti-access capa- Whatever the ultimate plan, the moves
resources. However,USdefence officials said bilities for useinafutureconflict over Taiwan wouldappear to discredit China’s originalclaim
that repairing theVaryagto becomefully opera- such as fielding more diesel-electric sub- that Macao’s Agencia Turisticae Diversoes
tional wouldbeanextraordinarilylarge task. marines,anti-ship cruisemissile platforms and ChongLot Limitada purchased theVaryagwith
Thecarrier was about 70 per cent completeat the ballisticmissiles withmanoeuvring warheads theintention ofconvertingit into a ‘floating
time of transfer and sensitive portions were that navy officials project couldbecapable of casino’. ■
destroyed,includingdamage to thecore struc- targetingUS warships from sometimearound
RELATEDARTICLES:
ture, before China was permitted to take 2015. Retired US Navy Rear Admiral Eric
Alarmbells ringas Chinabuilds upits armoury ona
possession. Given thedifficultyandexpense,it McVadon,anexpert on theChinesemilitaryand
massive scale(jdw.janes.com, 09/03/05)
is questionable whether Beijing would pursue former USmilitaryattaché to that country, saidit
KievandVaryagtowed toChina(jni.janes.com,17/08/00)
theeffort only to use theVaryagas a training wouldbealittle surprisingifChina were seri- MysteryofVaryagcarrier sale(jdw.janes.com, 25/03/98)
008_JDW_17.08 8/12/05 10:51 AM Page 8
8•17 August 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
THE AMERICAS
US Marine Corps seeks
USNavy gets
new ‘bunker
long-loitering UAV
buster’munition
TheUSNavy is takingdeliveryofa
new 2,400 lb(1,088kg)‘bunker buster’
penetrator weaponcalled the
MICHAELSIRAKJDWStaffReporter Northrop GBU-24G/Bandexpects tohaveit
Washington,DC Grummanis availablefor use soon,USdefence
T
offeringa variant of officials announced.
he US Marine Corps its KillerBee TheGBU-24G/Bis designed specifically
has begun its quest to unmannedaircraft, todestroy hardenedanddeeply buried
field a long-loitering whichfeatures a facilities typicalof those that produceor
unmannedaerial vehicle blended-wing- storebiological,chemicalor nuclear
(UAV) before theend of body airframe, to weapons,according to theDefense
the decade that provides its be theUSMarine Threat ReductionAgency (DTRA), the
regimental commanders with Corps Tier IIUAV weapon’s developer.
overhead surveillance and Northrop Grumman; 1116450 Carrier-borneF-14andF-18C/Daircraft
real-timeinformation-gathering willbecapableofdeploying the weapon.
capabilities. More than486 of the 600 units thenavy is
Thecorps issueda presolicitation buyinghavebeendeliveredandfinal
notice on 5August for the UAV, deliveries areexpectedinSeptember.
whichit dubs theTier II system. It ●TheUSMarineCorps wants to identifiedyet,he said. TheGBU-24G/Bfeatures the
expects to issuea request for pro- fieldaUAV system that provides TheTier II presolicitationnotice BLU-116A/Badvanced unitary warhead,
posals by mid-September and overhead surveillanceand stated the marines will limit the whichoffers “significantly improved
announce the winningdesignbefore information-gatheringcapabilities competition to small-sizedcompa- target penetration”compared with the
the end of 2005. Fielding of the ●Themarines intend toissuea nies with fewer than 1,500 BLU-109penetrator warhead used widely
UAVis anticipatedin 2009 or 2010. request for proposals in employees. However, this caveat is today,according to theDTRA.
TheTier II system willfill the pre- September and select the winning not expected to bar theaerospace Theagency developed theBLU-116A/B
sent niche between the marines’ bidbefore theendof 2005 giants from participating–albeit as part of theCounterproliferationI
current Dragon Eye Tier I man- through creative partnership AdvancedConcept Technology Demon-
portable UAV and the RQ-2 to support theSeaBasingconcept. arrangements with the smallfirms, stration.The warhead’s designhas less
Pioneer Tier IIImedium-range sys- Missions envisagedinclude: recon- saidindustry sources. potentialfor causingcollateraldamage,
tem. naissance; precision target location Industryis already steppingfor- thereby allowingprecisionattackincon-
Notional performancecharacter- anddesignation; minedetection; ward. Northrop Grumman saidit gested,complex target areas, theagency
istics are still being honed but electronic warfare; covert sensor intends to bid theKB-3 UAV,a vari- noted.
includea rangebetween 25and50n insertion; communications relay; ant of the KillerBee family of TheGBU-24G/Balsocarries amodified
miles andflight endurancebetween signal intelligence collection; unmannedaircraft that it is market- FMU-143 fuze with threedelay modes
eight and 24 hours, according to counter camouflageconcealment ing withSwift Engineering ofSan that allow for greater flexibility in
sources familiar with the pro- and deception; biological and Clemente,California. Thelatter is programming warheaddetonation times.
gramme. chemicalagent detection; combat thedesigner of theseblended-wing- The weapon uses laser guidance
The corps has been operating searchand rescue support; informa- bodyaircraft. augmentedby GPS.
Boeing/Insitu Groups’ScanEagle tion operations; battle manage- Boeingand theInsitu Group are The totalproductioncost for the 600
A-15UAVina quasiTier II role ment; anddigitalmapping. expected to offer amore robust vari- GBU-24G/Bs is USD51.4million, the
since 2004,but saidit needs anext- It couldalso potentially serveas ant oftheScanEagle. Further,JDW DTRA said.
generation system that is embedded an escort to the marines’MV-22 understands that Aerosonde, which MichaelSirak
with its regiments and features Osprey tilt-rotorcraft,headded. formed a partnership with Lock- JDWStaffReporter,Washington,DC
more robust communications and Themarines want theUAVto be heedMartininMay,intends to bida
data-sharingcapabilities. durable,easy to transport andhave version ofits long-enduranceUAV
“Thegoalis to provide real-time alow acoustic signature,ColKelly design of the samename.
assessment to themarines on the said. TheUSAir Forceis interestedina
ground,” saidLieutenant Colonel It willcarryamodularised sensor replacement for its Desert Hawk
Frank Kelly, interim programme suite,headded. Initiallyit would force protection UAVs. Sources
manager for UAVs inMarineCorps includeelectro-opticalandinfra- indicated that theremaybe some
Systems Command. redcameras,laser target designator level of synergybetweenit and the
“Marines shouldbeable to pin- andcommunications relays. Later Tier II system,although theair force
point enemy personneland vehicles enhancements wouldincludea syn- is not as advancedinits planningas
during operations and use this theticaperture radar. themarines. ■ TheUSNavy will soonhave the
information to direct small-arms, ColKelly said themarines have GBU-24G/B‘bunker buster’munition
RELATEDARTICLES:
tanks,artilleryandair support to not yet determined how many availablefor use to strikehard-to-
Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
educe/neutralise the targets.” Tier II UAV systems they will TacticalUAVs: redefiningand refining the reachfacilities that may holdbiological,
ColKelly toldJDWthat thecorps require. There is an interest in breed(idr.janes.com,10/08/05) chemicalor nuclear weapons
desires aUAVthat can operate on arming the platform at some USAir Forceeyes ScanEaglefor convoy DefenseThreat ReductionAgency; 1116448
landandbe shipboard-compatible point,but no weapons havebeen protection(jdw.janes.com, 05/07/05)
009_JDW_17.08 8/10/05 4:37 PM Page 9
jdw.janes.com•JDW•17 August 2005•9
US shifts strategy in new
reject extremism and seek to
improve their abilities to fight ter-
ror on their territories. The
effort to counter terrorism forthcomingQuadrennialDefense
Review is expected to outline simi-
lar goals.
While the shift is a welcome
ANDREWKOCHJDWBureau Chief move, some of the officials inter-
Washington,DC viewed continue to wonder if
changes are more symbolic than
TheUSgovernment is changing global campaign plan to capture substantive. “Who is in charge
its militaryapproach to the self- ●TheBushadministrationis andkillexisting terrorists anddis- of writing the strategy? Why
described ‘waron terror’andis conceivinganew strategy to rupt their operations (see box is it being delegated to the
preparing to focus on beating counter terrorism below). military?” asked oneformer senior
terrorist groups in thebattlefor ●The strategy places agreater “This is a battle of ideas; it is official.
ideas,according to sources close emphasis oncounteringextremist going to takealong time,” said one He said that a group of senior
to a review of Washington’s ideology anddisrupting terrorist of the two military officials. “The militaryand other government offi-
strategy. activities abroad USis at war against violent extrem- cials have been pushing for the
Theinitial responseafter the9/11 ●For thefirst timemeasures will ists … terrorism is just the change since theinitialdays after
attacks was to launchmilitary oper- bedeveloped toassess the technique[thoseextremists use],” 9/11. He questioned why suchan
ations against terrorist activities, progress of the‘war on terrorism’ he said. important taskhas beendelegated
thefirst example of this being the The shift to focusing more on to SOCOM– traditionallya small,
bombing ofareas inAfghanistan The documents outline the ideology—and thus theability of specialised organisation that
whereAl-Qaeda was known to be continued need to disrupt and extremist groups to replenish largely operates out of the public
present. attack terrorist activities abroad, themselves —comes as someUS spotlight.
Almost four years later, how- prevent themfromgainingaccess officials doubt whether progress is The change, the official said,
ever, Washington is still overly to weapons ofmass destructionand being made against extremism appears to be more a realisation
fixated on winning that battle protect anddefend theUShome- worldwide. that strategies usedinlocations like
throughkillingindividual terror- land. However, theyalso placea “Are wecapturing themfaster Iraq havebeen offcourse.
ists and groups rather than strong emphasis on the need to than theyaregrowing?” one of the To ensure thenew emphasis is
defeating their ideology,according counter extremist ideology and military officials asked,noting that having thedesiredeffect,for the
to former andcurrent senior mili- separateextremists from the popu- anecdotalevidence suggests that first timemetrics willbedeveloped
tary officials. Now, the Bush lace among which they live and does not appear to be thecase. He to help policymakers andmilitary
administrationis set to alter course recruit. said, for example, that since the officials decidehow the war on ter-
andissueabroadnew strategy on Moreover, the officials said, 9/11 attacks therehavebeenat least ror is progressing.
how to fight and win what is being thejob ofdefeatingextremist ide- 32 new terrorist groups formed. Suchmethods areexpected to be
called a struggle against violent ology willbeagovernment-wide A key strategy to reverse that usedinanassessment conducted
extremism— primarilyIslamic. operation, possibly led by the trendis to determinehow to align every sixmonths, the officials said.
The new National Military Department of State rather than theUS withmoderates and others Already, themilitary’sJoint Staffis
StrategicPlanfor theWar onTer- being a Department of Defense around the world who reject forminganassessment integration
rorismandaforthcomingNational (DoD)-centred campaign, as has extremism. To do so, the US is cell to examinehow operations in
Security Presidential Directive oftenbeen thecase over the past expected to increaseco-operation Iraq, Afghanistan and the larger
currentlybeingcompleted outline four years. withgovernments and people that global struggle against terrorism
that new strategyanddetailhow TheDoDandUSSpecialOpera- are progressing. ■
the US government should go tions Command (SOCOM) will
about the task, said two military continue to playanimportant role, RELATEDARTICLE:
officers who explained the find- with SOCOM expected to be USwar on terror strategy has beenblown
ings. specifically directed to create a offcourse(jdw.janes.com, 25/02/05)
SOF:fightingonaglobalfront
sions about 2,500 marines beingdetailed
to thelatter,according toLieutenant Gen- F
Thenew counter-terrorism strategy is Yet,despitebeingmade theleadfor eralJohnSattler,commander of theFirst ru
expected to taskSpecialOperations suchmissions,SOCOMcontinues to MarineExpeditionaryForce.
Command(SOCOM) withconceiving struggle withhow tobe thelead regional Likewise, thenavy plans tocreate u
andimplementingaplanfor conducting commandinsteadofa supportedone, the mobile training teams tohelpprovidefor-
militaryoperations against terrorists militaryofficials said. eigngovernments withassistancein
around theglobe, twoUSmilitary Moreover, they said, several studies topics suchas riverineoperations and
officials whobriefed thenew strategy conductedby thecommand shows that other low-intensity operations inmar-
said. SOCOMis over-extended.Tohelp relieve According toLt GenSattler,talks are itimeareas.Senior navy officials said
The strategy outlines eight factors that that stress andallow thecommand to ongoingabout about marines being they intend tocreateabattalionof“sea
terrorists need tooperateeffectively and focus onhigh-endcaptureandkillopera- detailed toSOCOM USMC; 1116442 serviceinfantry” that will relieveSEALs
aplanis tobedevelopedfor attacking tions, thearmed services areplanning to frommissions suchas guardingoilplat-
each:leadership; foot soldiers; weapons; beginnew efforts toconduct what have forms andconductingmaritime
funds; safehavens; communications; traditionally been specialoperations force example,is planning to stand upa special interdictionoperations.
access to targets; andideological support missions. unit to trainforeignarmedforces.The Andrew Koch
andpropaganda. TheUSMarineCorps (USMC),for USMCandSOCOMarealsoindiscus- JDWBureau Chief,Washington,DC