Kuwait to Buy 30 Airbus H225M Helicopters at $1.1B | Singapore Holding Off on F-35B Purchase | Pentagon & Seoul Agree on GPS Component Transfer

Americas

• Raytheon is to provide tube-launched, optically tracked, wireless-guided (TOW) missiles to the US Army, Bahrain, and Morocco. Completion of the $129 million foreign military sales contract is expected for August 2018. TOWs are integrated on several platforms as an anti-armor system by over 40 countries.

• Howitzers in the Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program are being questioned over deficiencies with the weapon’s maximum rate of fire and problems with the automatic fire extinguisher that could potentially endanger the crew. The DoD’s inspector general raised the queries in a report released last week. 2012 and 2013 tests saw the howitzer fail the test for maximum rate of fire which led to a redesign of hardware, software and firing procedures but still failed a total of four out of eight attempts following the fixes “under non-stressful firing conditions.”

Middle East North Africa

• France and Kuwait have signed an agreement for the sale of 30 Airbus H225M helicopters. Estimated at $1.1 billion, the deal will see 24 used by the Kuwaiti Army for transport and search and rescue missions but are also fitted with machine guns to give ground troops support from the air. The remaining six will be sent for use by the Kuwaiti National Guard.

• A Heron I UAV has crashed in northern Israel. The Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) operated drone was on a test flight when it struck a building causing it to catch fire. Authorities responding to the incident said 25 people, including 13 children, suffered from smoke inhalation caused by the blaze.

• An apology of sorts has been made by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, following comments over the Iran nuclear deal, likening it to appeasement of the Nazis. The MoD called the comments “the incorrect portrayal in the media” and finished with “Friday’s statement was in no way intended to draw comparisons, historical or personal. We regret if it was interpreted otherwise.” But Israel’s MoD aren’t the only ones to hark back to 1938 when talking about Iran. Illinois’ very own Sen. Mark Kirk made the same analogy last April saying “that Neville Chamberlain got a lot of more out of Hitler than Wendy Sherman got out of Iran.”

Asia Pacific

• A move to sell a number of F-35Bs to Singapore has been put on hold by the city-state. In 2014, a letter of request was made to buy four aircraft with options for eight, with first delivery expected for 2022. A Singapore Ministry of Defense statement said that the country was currently satisfied with its fighter capabilities.

• An agreement between the Pentagon and Seoul will see the transfer of a crucial GPS component for the Taurus cruise missile, paving the way for its operation by RoKAF F-15K fighters. It’s expected that the Taurus will be delivered and in use by the end of the year. Dubbed as a “jamming proof” air-to-ground guided missile, the decision to allow Taurus exports to South Korea comes as North Korea flexes its muscles with ballistic missile tests.

• Vietnam has deployed new mobile rocket launcher systems to fortify its position on the Spratly Islands and to counter Chinese activity in the region. Beijing has been making its presence felt on the archipelago with satellite photographs showing new fortified hangers on its holdings. The area contested as $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes through the South China Sea annually with claims from Vietnam, China, and Taiwan over all of the Spratlys, while the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei claim some of the area.

Today’s Video

Coming soon to South Korea:

Bahrain to Buy Mobile TOW-RF Missiles

TOW Launch

The island Emirate of Bahrain sits in such a strategic location within the Persian Gulf, that its own armed forces serve more of a tripwire and delaying function. Their goal is to control the lanes around Bahrain, make initial entry difficult, and buy time for its foreign allies to intervene. The country serves as the headquarters for the US Navy’s regional 5th Fleet, and recently cooperated with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council to suppress internal unrest among its Shia population.

A recent request for mobile TOW short range guided missile launchers illustrates that military philosophy. While they could conceivably be used in an internal security role, this buy is more calibrated toward external defense…

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South Korea’s F-X Fighter Buys: F-35As and F-15Ks

F-15K Poster: apropos?

The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) originally planned to buy 120 advanced, high-end fighters as its next-generation platform, in order to replace its existing fleet of F-4 Phantom IIs and other aircraft. So far, it has bought 60 fighters in 2 phases. Back in 2002, the South Koreans picked the advanced F-15K derivative of the F-15E Strike Eagle for its F-X Next Generation Fighter Program, and bought 40. In 2008, a 2nd F-X Phase II contract was signed for 20 more F-15ks, with slight modifications.

As the 3rd phase loomed, the question was whether it will be a variant of their existing fleet, or something new. While the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) dreamed of developing their own “5th generation” aircraft for Phase 3, reality eventually had its say. Now, foreign manufacturers are offering the ROKAF a number of off-the-shelf options. But throughout 2013 DAPA couldn’t seem to be able to reconcile the air force’s desire for advanced technology with its budget constraints. Boeing seemed on the edge of winning with its F15-SEs as the sole contender within budget, only to be rejected by the end of September 2013. This reopened the tender with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as the likely favorite, a choice which was confirmed as 2014 unfolded.

Have Guns, Will Upgrade: The M109A7 Paladin PIM Self-Propelled Howitzer

Before: M109 & M992

The USA’s 155mm M109 self-propelled howitzers (SPH) were first introduced in 1962, as a form of armored mobile artillery that could stand up to the massed fire tactics of Soviet heavy artillery and rockets. They and their companion M992 Armored Ammunition Resupply Vehicles (AARV) have been rebuilt and upgraded several times, most recently via the M109A6 Paladin upgrade.

In the meantime, the Army has re-learned a few home truths. Artillery arrives in seconds rather than minutes or hours, is never unavailable due to bad weather, and cheaply delivers a volume of explosive destruction that would otherwise require hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bombers and precision weapons. Most combat casualties in the gunpowder age have come from artillery fire, and the US Army will need its mobile fleet for some time to come. So, too, will the many countries that have bought the M109 and still use it, unless BAE wishes to cede that market to South Korea’s modern K9/K10 system, or new concept candidates like the KMW/GDLS DONAR. What to do? Enter the Paladin PIM program.