Qatar Orders, Receives PC-21 Trainers

PC-21

Qatar is in the middle of overhauling its air force, with a competition for new fighters that has attracted interest from around the world. They’re also busy upgrading their pilot training, to serve with the newly established Air Force Academy in Qatar. In July 2012, Switzerland’s Pilatus Aircraft announced that the QEAF had joined in neighbors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia with an order for 24 of the firm’s high-end PC-21 turboprop trainers, a corresponding Training System, and “an extensive [and long term] logistics support and maintenance package.” The deal’s value wasn’t disclosed, and the exact details of the support agreement could make a big difference. As a point of comparison, however, the UAE’s deal for 25 PC-21s and associated items ran to $511 million in 2009.

How to Win Friends & Influence People, Chinese Edition

• US SecDef Chuck Hagel and Acquisition defense chief Frank Kendall met with Indian Prime Minister Modi. They have a list of potential cooperative projects, but Kendall downplayed [Reuters] expectations of any immediate major announcements. There’s indeed not much in yesterday’s official joint statement.

• Just in case, state-owned People’s Daily Online has a whole article dedicated to undermining prospects of a stronger relationship between the US and India. This patronizing tone will probably not be well received by Modi’s government. At least China finally acknowledged there had been a standoff between its troops and the Indian military in the Ladakh region, which now appears to have been resolved [Times of India].

• People’s Daily is not just patronizing but downright threatening in its editorial [in Chinese] chiding pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong [AFP]. The parallel [Quartz] with an editorial they ran before the Tiananmen crackdown is chilling, which is precisely the point.

• China is also increasingly tone deaf with Taiwan [The Diplomat].