U-214 Korea Selatan
One of the mystery planes, a light aircraft being ferried from Darwin in northern Australia to its new owners in the Philippines, was chased a long distance before being forced to land in Manado, a city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The other, an executive jet flying Saudi officials to Brisbane ahead of the Group-20 meeting, was ordered to land in the Indonesian city of Kupang on the island of Timor.
In both cases, fines were imposed and the planes were allowed to continue to their destinations. It is unclear whether the Indonesian pilots could have taken any hostile action, since missiles have not yet been delivered for the Russian-made jets.
Ready to rumble
But the confrontations underline a shift in military capability among the nations of Southeast Asia. A decade ago, the Indonesian air force had little advanced combat capability, as its fighters were largely grounded by a lack of spare parts due to economic stringency and arms embargoes related to human rights abuses.
Now it is flexing its muscles. Indonesia’s official defense budget has increased fourfold over the past decade to $8 billion. Meanwhile, spare parts have been found for the air force’s grounded Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters; some newer versions have been ordered; eight Boeing Apache attack helicopters have been bought; and a big naval expansion has taken place as part of a $13.2 billion, five-year modernization program announced in August 2013. The Su-30s were bought using a $1 billion credit line opened by Moscow in 2007.
The expansion appears far from over. Recently elected President Joko Widodo is making self-sufficiency and exploitation of the archipelago’s marine resources a theme of his government, and he is already talking of a further doubling of defense spending.
This stance reflects a sea change in Southeast Asian military thinking. For decades, the region’s militaries focused on domestic insurgencies, border security and, in some cases, maintaining political control. Large land armies were the principal requirement.
These days, governments in the region are more concerned about securing air and sea space so they can exercise sovereignty over marine and seabed resources, contest overlapping claims, prevent the plundering of forests and minerals, and monitor the movement of people. This requires more investment in naval and air power.
With their economies moving into the so-called middle-income bracket — higher in the case of fully developed Singapore — governments have more to spend on advanced military platforms and weapons. Southeast Asia’s defense spending grew by 5% on the year to nearly $36 billion in 2013, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, just ahead of the 4.7% increase for East Asia to $282 billion.
Meanwhile, established defense manufacturers in Europe, Russia and North America are eager to sell, with lavish export credits being made available to sweeten deals. Closer to the region, Japan and South Korea, the industrial giants of East Asia, are also entering the arms bazaar.
China’s growing assertiveness in claiming the South China Sea as sovereign territory — against counterclaims from five Southeast Asian countries — has brought encouragement from the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, and help in enhancing the capabilities of regional armed forces and coast guards.
Consequently, the region is seeing large-scale acquisitions of equipment aimed at establishing the ability to contest control and make potential rivals think twice about intruding.
Navies are acquiring or expanding fleets of quiet conventional submarines to lurk in sea approaches. Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are buying new-generation submarines, with Malaysia and Thailand considering following suit.
South Korea is building the first of 12 German-designed Type-214 submarines for Indonesia, with follow-on boats to be built in Surabaya, Indonesia. Vietnam has acquired the first of six Kilo-class submarines from Russia to help keep China out of contested waters, with low-profile financing from Japan and training from India.
To the south, Australia is considering buying advanced Soryu-class submarines built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, following a decision by the Japanese government to lift the country’s self-imposed restrictions on military exports.
“Submarines are powerful offensive weapons which can bring a dramatic jump in capability against [other countries’] submarines and ships,” said Tim Huxley, director in Singapore for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a British think tank that runs the annual Shangri-la Dialogue forum in the city-state. “They also can be used as land-attack platforms. The sort of big new subs that Singapore is going to buy could be equipped with vertical launch tubes for that kind of missile.”
Some navies are building large “flat-top” ships that can carry swarms of anti-submarine helicopters or quickly land troops on outlying islands or oil platforms. Japan set the trend with two Hyuga-class helicopter carriers, built by IHI. And the country is adding two even bigger vessels — Izumo-class carriers. South Korea is building a second Dokto-class helicopter carrier.
Australia has just commissioned the first of two helicopter carrier and landing ships, while Singapore has shown off a redesign of its existing half-deck Endurance-class landing ship as a more capable marine aviation platform.
Air force upgrades
All four of these countries are helping develop or are planning to buy U.S. company Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II strike fighter — a so-called fifth-generation plane with flight- and weapons-control characteristics far in advance of any military aircraft in service. Though the governments are looking initially at the conventional takeoff version for their air forces, the short and vertical takeoff capability of the F-35B variant would give them the option of converting naval helicopter platforms into carriers for fixed-wing aircraft.
A Boeing Apache attack helicopter is
seen at a military base in the Czech Republic. Indonesia recently bought
eight of these helicopters. © AP
While they wait for the F-35, the Australian and Singaporean air
forces are acquiring upgraded versions of their existing aircraft,
respectively the F-18 Super Hornet and the F-15SG Eagle, both made by
Boeing. The power of these latest fourth-generation fighters and strike
aircraft is enhanced by “force multipliers,” such as other aircraft
dedicated to airborne surveillance and control, and in-flight refueling
tankers that extend range and flying time.Armies have generally been reluctant to shrink their troop numbers (except in Taiwan, where the end of conscription in 2016 will see a significant reduction) and many still insist on prestige capabilities, such as medium-heavy tanks that are more suited to European or Middle-Eastern battlefields.
But where there is not already separate marine corps, some armies are designating units for the role. One of Australia’s commando battalions, based in Townsville, Queensland, will train for deployment aboard the new helicopter landing ships, and the Malaysian army is also assigning units to a marine-type role.
“They’re coming into the same sort of league as Western countries,” said Huxley. “The most extreme case is Singapore. There’s going to be no difference in the sort of front-line capabilities that Singapore and Australia have. Both of them are going to have F-35 strike fighters; both are going to have ships that can operate aviation, possibly including F-35s; both have got in-flight refueling tankers, long-range surveillance platforms and so on.”
It would be wrong to say that all this force expansion and upgrading in Southeast Asia and Australia is related to the perceived threat from China. The China factor is clearly the prime motivator for Vietnam and the Philippines, which is acquiring 10 large coast-guard cutters from Japan.
Other countries, such as Australia, Thailand and Singapore, are aligned with the U.S. but trying to balance defensive precautions against Chinese power by stepping up interaction with the People’s Liberation Army.
In late 2014, Singapore sent a large contingent from its army to China for joint exercises, while Australia hosted a small PLA unit for training near Darwin, where U.S. Marines are rotated for six months every year as part of the “pivot” to Asia announced by U.S. President Barack Obama.
The prestige factor
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations includes all the countries in the region that have territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. But the countries in the bloc have struggled to find a common line on the issue or develop a coherent strategic posture. One member, Cambodia, has sometimes acted as a proxy for China in regional forums.
In part, the growing defense spending is about prestige. Few analysts see much rationale for Thailand to acquire the three submarines its naval planners say it needs. The Indonesian army’s recent purchase of Leopard-2 tanks, manufactured in Germany by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, baffled most observers. Many saw it merely as an attempt to maintain parity of status with Singapore and Malaysia, which also boast tank forces.
In some countries, politicians see defense spending as a way to buy off the military men with equipment and keep them out of politics, though this did not work for Thailand’s recently deposed civilian Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
There is also an element of gearing up for neighborhood squabbles. Thai and Cambodian forces have clashed over territory around an ancient temple on their border. Indonesian and Malaysian patrol boats have faced off at a contested oil field off Kalimantan, not far from where Malaysian forces quelled a bizarre private invasion from the Philippines into Sabah State in 2013. Singapore is worried about the security of its water supply from neighboring Malaysia.
Southeast Asia has never been short of seething threats and rivalries to engage its military planners. The difference now is that its governments increasingly have the funds and suppliers to meet their demands. (asia.nikkei.com)
Baru baru diberitakan di asia.nikkei.com dengan judul “ Asia’s military budgets surge as armies go high-tech” yang didalamnya memberitakan tentang “Korea Selatan sedang membangun kapal selam yang pertama dari 12 Jerman tipe-214 untuk Indonesia, dengan perbaikan kapal akan dibangun di Surabaya, Indonesia.
Berita tentang berita “Korea Selatan sedang membangun kapal selam yang pertama dari 12 Jerman tipe-214 untuk Indonesia, dengan perbaikan kapal akan dibangun di Surabaya, Indonesia. Juga diberitakan australia di canberratimes.com dengan judul “Asian tigers sharpen their teeth” . Selain itu diberitakan tentang peningkatan Anggaran pertahanan resmi Indonesia telah meningkata empat kali lipat lebih dari satu dekade yang menjadi $ US 8 miliar.
BERITA DI ASIA NIKKEI LGS DISAMBAR OLEH BERITA AUSTRALIA DI canberratimes.com :
Asian tigers sharpen their teeth
(11/02/2015) Twice in recent months, a pair of Sukhoi-30 fighters has soared from their base near the old trading port of Makassar and flown far across the Indonesian archipelago to intercept unidentified aircraft.One, a light aircraft being ferried up from Darwin in northern Australia to its new owners in the Philippines, was chased for a long distance and eventually forced to land at Manado in the north of Sulawesi island. The other, an executive jet flying Saudi officials to Brisbane before the G20 meeting, was ordered to land at Kupang, in the Indonesia half of Timor.
Both cases were sorted out with fines and the planes were allowed to take off again. But beyond the reprimands, the incidents underline a shift in military capability among the nations of south-east Asia.
A decade ago, the Indonesian air force had little advanced combat capability, with its fighters grounded by lack of spare parts because of economic stringency and embargoes over human rights abuses.
Now it is showing its stuff. Indonesia’s official defence budget has multiplied four times over that decade to $US8 billion. Spares have been found for the grounded F-16s, some newer versions ordered, eight Apache attack-helicopters bought, and a big naval expansion included in a $US13.2 billion five-year equipment modernisation program announced in August 2013. The Sukhoi-30s were bought with a $US1 billion credit line opened by Moscow in 2007.
New President Joko Widodo, who is making control over the archipelago and exploitation of marine resources a theme of his government, is already talking of a further doubling of defence spending.
For decades the region’s militaries focused on domestic insurgencies, localised border security, and, in some cases, maintaining political control. The requirement was for large land armies.
These days, governments are concerned about securing air and sea space – to exercise sovereignty over marine and seabed resources and contest overlapping claims, prevent plunder of forests and minerals, and monitor people movement. This requires more investment in naval and air forces.
With their economies moving their people up to middle-income brackets or in some cases higher, governments have more to spend on advanced military platforms and weapons. South-east Asia’s defence spending grew 5 per cent to nearly $US36 billion in 2013, just ahead of the 4.7 per cent rate of increase in east Asia (to a total $US282 billion), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.
Meanwhile, established defence manufacturers in recession-hit Europe, Russia, and North America are eager to sell, with lavish export credits to sweeten the deals. The east Asian industrial nations are also entering the regional arms bazaar.
The new assertiveness of China in claiming the South China Sea as sovereign territory, over counter-claims by six south-east Asian countries, has brought encouragement and help from the United States, Japan, India and Australia in hardening up regional armed forces and coast guards.
Consequently, the region is marked by large-scale acquisitions of equipment aimed at new capabilities in sea and air control, or at least the ability to contest control and make potential rivals think twice about intruding.
Navies are acquiring or expanding their fleets of quiet, conventional submarines to lurk in sea approaches. Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are buying new-generation submarines, with Malaysia and Thailand possibly following suit.
With the Shinzo Abe government lifting Japan’s self-imposed restriction on military exports, Japan is discussing sale of its advanced Soryu-class submarine to Australia. South Korea is building the first of 12 German-designed Type-214 submarines for Indonesia, with follow-on boats to be built in Surabaya. Vietnam has acquired the first of six Kilo-class submarines from Russia to help its sea-denial capability against China in contested waters, with quiet financing from Japan and training from India.
Some navies are building large new “flat-top” ships that can carry swarms of anti-submarine helicopters or quickly land troops on outlying islands or oil platforms. Japan set the trend with its two Hyuga-class helicopter carriers of 18,000 tonnes, and is adding two even bigger carriers of the 27,000-tonne Izumo class, while South Korea is building the second of its 18,000-tonne Dokdo-class helicopter carriers.
In south-east Asia and Oceania, Australia has commissioned HMAS Canberra, the first of two 27,000-tonne helicopter-carrier/landing ships, while Singapore has shown off a redesign of its existing half-deck Endurance-class landing ship as a more capable marine aviation platform.
All four of these countries are development partners and/or buyers of the F-35 Lightning strike fighter in the United States. While so far they look at its fifth-generation capabilities for their air forces, the short/vertical take-off F-35B version would give the option of converting their naval helicopter platforms into carriers for a potent fixed-wing aircraft.
While they wait for the F-35, the Australian and Singaporean forces are acquiring upgraded versions of their existing aircraft, respectively the F-18 Super Hornet and the F-15SG Eagle. The power of these latest fourth-generation fighters and strike aircraft is enhanced by “force-multipliers” like airborne surveillance and control aircraft and in-flight refuelling tankers.
Armies have generally been reluctant to shrink their large troop numbers – except in Taiwan, where the end of conscription in 2016 will mean a significant reduction – and still insist on prestige capabilities like medium-heavy tanks more suited to European or west Asian battlefields.
But where there is not already a separate marine corps, some armies are designating units for the role. One of Australia’s commando battalions, based in Townsville, will train for deployment on the new helicopter landing ships, and the Malaysian army is also assigning units to a marine-type role.
It would be wrong to say this is all about China. In some cases, like Vietnam or the Philippines, which is getting 10 large coast-guard cutters from Japan, it clearly is. Cambodia, on the other hand, has acted as a Chinese proxy in regional forums.
Others, like Australia, Thailand and Singapore, are aligned with the United States but try to balance defence precautions against Chinese power by stepping up inter-action with the People’s Liberation Army.
In late 2014 Singapore sent a large contingent from its army to China for joint exercises, while Australia hosted a PLA unit for training near Darwin, where US marines are rotated for six months every year under the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia.
However, the 10-member Association of south-east Asian Nations is unlikely to develop any coherent strategic posture towards China, and struggles to find a common line on territorial disputes between China and its members in the South China Sea.
Partly it’s about prestige. Few analysts see much rationale for Thailand to acquire the three submarines its naval planners say it needs. The Indonesian army’s recent purchase of Leopard-2 main battle tanks from Germany baffled observers, except as a status move to keep up with Singapore and Malaysia.
Partly it’s to buy off the military men with professional equipment to master and keep them out of politics, though this didn’t work for Thailand’s recently deposed civilian prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
Partly, it’s also about neighbourly squabbles. Thai and Cambodian forces have clashed over a parcel of territory around an ancient temple on their border. Indonesian and Malaysian patrol boats have faced off at a contested oil field off Kalimantan, not far from where Malaysian forces recently quelled a bizarre private invasion from the Philippines into its Sabah state. Singapore worries about security of its water supply from Peninsular Malaysia.
South-east Asia has never been short of seething threats and rivalries to engage its military planners. The difference now is its governments increasingly have the funds and suppliers to meet their demands. canberratimes.com
JKGR
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