03 Januari 2020
BRP Gabriela Silang 8301 (all photos : Christophe Dedieu)
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s newest and largest vessel, which will be known as BRP Gabriela Silang is expected to arrive from France in February 2020.
An earlier report from PCG says that the said vessel will start voyage to Philippines today, December 30. A change of flag ceremony was held on December 18 marking the turn over of official ownership to the Republic of the Philippines.
The vessel, an 83-meter offshore patrol vessel, was built by French shipbuilder OCEA.
“The ship is designed for voyage and operations in rough sea condition,” PCG said.
PCG noted that BRP Gabriela Silang will be put into service for sustainable presence at sea to increase the PCG patrols in the Philippine Rise and West Philippine Sea since it has a maximum range of 8,000 nautical miles and can patrol up to 22 days long at sea.
(Mintfo)
02 Januari 2020
Vietnam T-90S/SK tank (photo : KienThuc)
T-90S/SK of Vietnam and Leopard 2 SG owned by Singapore are now considered as two of the most modern main tanks in Southeast Asia. The two types of tanks themselves have a few more points than each other in terms of features and combat efficiency.
First, in terms of price, the T-90 tank version is said to average around $ 4 to $ 4.5 million each. While the price of a Leopard 2 version of 2A4 is about $ 6 million, other versions can be twice as expensive.
In terms of fuel consumption, the T-90 main tank won completely when it cost only about 2.9 liters of fuel per kilometers to move while with Leopard 2 it was 3.75 liters/km. The consumption of more fuel will put more burden on the logistics system when fighting on a large scale.
In addition to consuming more fuel, Leopard 2 will also have a shorter journey when only traveling 400 km (on flat roads) before depleting the fuel tank. Meanwhile, this number of T-90 will be 550 km.
One of the problems that makes Leopard 2 consume more fuel than the T-90 is because it has a large engine, up to nearly 1500 horsepower. Whereas the T-90 uses only 840 horsepower versions or 1130 horsepower maximum.
The reason why only a lower-capacity engine is needed is because the T-90 is much "lighter" than Leopard 2. Specifically, while Leopard 2 weighs 68.7 tons, the T-90 weighs only 53 tons.
Singapore Leopard 2 SG (photo : Reddit)
In terms of secondary fire, the T-90 also completely overwhelmed with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun on the roof of the tank. Meanwhile, both Leopard 2 similar machine guns are only 7.62mm in size.
The main gun of the T-90 is 125mm caliber with a reserve of 43 bullets. While it is not understood why, Leopard 2's main cannon used only 120mm ammunition, but only brought 42 storage.
In terms of armored capabilities, Leopard 2 tanks are armored 1500 mm thick (converted) at every position on the vehicle. Whereas with the T-90, this number ranges from 1150 to 1550 mm.
The T-90's cannon is slightly more penetrating when it penetrates uniformly 600mm rolled steel at a distance of 2000 meters, whereas with Leopard tanks, the same firing distance penetrates only 560mm of rolled steel copper.
Thus, we can see that the Leopard 2 tanks of Singapore and T-90 that Vietnam is using are equal in overall. When going into details, the T-90 tanks are more capable in field operations, while Leopard 2 has more uniform body armor.
(KienThuc)
02 Januari 2020
Yak-130 and Sukhoi Flanker family (photo : Aleksey Vlasov)
It has been said that while the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) is happy with its South Korean made KAI T-50i Golden Eagle Advanced Jet Trainer/ Lead-in Fighter Trainer (AJT/LIFT), there has been indication that the aircraft might not be able to address training needs of future pilots destined to fly its yet to be procured KNAAPO built Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flanker multi role combat aircraft (MRCA).
The T-50i was developed based on the design of LockheedMartin F-16 Fighting Falcon hence it is a natural options for countries which operate the F-16 and its spin off variants including the soon to be developed KAI KF-X fifth generation fighter.
Using Western made or Western inspired AJT/LIFT platform still works well with Russian jet operators. The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) uses the Aermacchi MB-339AM to train Mig-29 pilots while Alenia MB-339CM to train Su-30MKM pilots. Despite its vintage design that stems back to the development of MB-326 jet trainer, an obviously of late 1950’s design, the adoption of open architecture and flexibility of its cockpit design means that the Italian trainers could be used to train most of the pilots that flies 4.5 generation combat aircraft.
Su-35 is single seater, T-50i as LIFT platform doesn't match with Russian system (photo : Randommization)
MB-339 and its further development, the Russo-Italian Yak/AEM-130 were conceived with the realisation that the cockpit layout should be as general as possible so that any pilots could transition from it into any sorts of aircraft.
Despite both the Russians and the Italians parting ways which spawned the respective Irkutsk built Yakovlev Yak-130 (NATO Reporting Name: Mitten) and Leonardo M-346 Master, they still maintain the concept of open architecture which allows both of the aircraft to penetrate larger market.
The Yak-130 is the leading contender in the RMAF Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project, followed closely by the M-346 and the FA-50.
Yak-130 and its equivalent might soon becomes the region’s standard training platform after Myanmar and Laos proudly inducted the aircraft into their services. The Singaporean is the only operator of the M-346 in the region.
These aircraft will butt heads with the T-50/FA-50 currently in service with Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It will all now depends on whether Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia will eventually bought the Yaks afterall.
(MFH)
02 Januari 2020
BRP Jose Rizal FF-150 (photo : MaxDefense)
MANILA -- BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), the country's first missile frigate, performed well during its second sea trials, which took place last December 15 to 18.
"The second sea trials (were conducted) with satisfactory results," said Philippine Navy (PN) public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, in a message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday.
During the testing period, Roxas said systems like the ship's propulsion console, freshwater generator, and steering gear were tested. Also, the frigate's propulsion system was tested and checked for vibration.
Likewise, the ship's turning circle when at the maximum design speed of 25 knots and rudders being shifted to "hard left and hard right progressive speed" was determined, the PN official added.
Roxas said the BRP Jose Rizal was made to undergo zigzag and spiral maneuvers along with crash stop ahead (full astern to full ahead) and crash stop astern (full ahead to full astern) along with another vibration measurement test.
The ship's S and X band radars, which are for surveillance and targeting applications, were also tested along with the frigate's fuel consumption at 85 percent of "maximum continuous rating" or maximum speed.
BRP Jose Rizal has a maximum designed speed of 25 knots and a cruising speed of 15 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles. The first sea trials, which were conducted in the waters of Ulsan, Busan, and Mokpo last November 23 to 27, had the frigate performing well even at Sea State Condition 4 where waves are known to reach between four to eight feet.
It was conducted to check the ship's performance and general seaworthiness. "(Present during the 2nd sea trials) are PN representatives, (ship-builder) Hyundai Heavy Industries QM (quality management) technicians, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) engineers and Lloyd's Register of Shipping inspector," Roxas earlier said.
For the third and fourth sea trials, which are still to be scheduled, this will be more on testing the ship's various weapons systems, she added.
The sea trials are the last phase of construction before the frigate’s delivery to the Philippines scheduled tentatively in April or May 2020. This took place six months after the vessel was launched at the HHI shipyard for the first time in Ulsan last May 23.
"The PHP8 billion warship is a big-ticket acquisition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that is poised to be the benchmark of PN’s transformation journey," Roxas earlier said.
Incidentally, BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), the sistership of BRP Jose Rizal, was launched in the same facility last November 8.
The contract for the two ships is placed at PHP16 billion with another PHP2 billion for weapon systems and munitions.
These ships are capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) Operations and it is fully equipped with Surface-to-Air and Surface-to-Surface Missiles, torpedoes, launchers, and weapon systems.
The activity signifies that the PN is inching closer to its dream of acquiring highly capable warships.
Its crew and maintenance personnel are currently undergoing training in South Korea.
Roxas said the BRP Jose Rizal provides leverage for the Navy’s bid of becoming a stronger and more credible force that the Philippines as a maritime nation can be proud of.
(PNA)
01 Januari 2020
Black Eagle ketika belum dilakukan pengecatan (photo : Putut Reza)
Drone Mata-Mata Made in RI 60% Komponen Masih Impor
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Indonesia terus meningkatkan kemampuan membuat drone untuk keperluan pertahanan dan keamanan mulai dari urusan mata-mata hingga kombatan atau pertempuran. Pada Senin (30/12) drone bertipe Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) yang bernama 'Black Eagle' atau Elang Hitam memasuki tahap roll out atau keluar hanggar di PT DI, Bandung.
Drone prototipe pertama ini merupakan hasil produksi konsorsium yang terdiri dari BPPT, Kemenhan, TNI AU, PT DI, PT Len, dan ITB. Deputi Bidang Teknologi Industri Rancang Bangun dan Rekayasa BPPT Wahyu Widodo Pandoe mengatakan tak semua komponen drone MALE dibuat di dalam negeri.
"Komponen lokal 40%, target kita harus di atas 60%," kata Wahyu kepada CNBC Indonesia, Senin (30/12).
Spanyol dan Turki
Ia mengatakan beberapa komponen drone MALE yang masih harus diimpor adalah flight control system, weapon system dan lainnya.
"Flight control system dari Spanyol, untuk selanjutnya akan dibuat oleh PT Len, kalau komponen body pesawat 100% di dalam negeri, yang belum weapon system kerja sama dengan pihak luar. Kita penjajakan kerja sama dengan Turki," katanya
Drone MALE ini mampu terbang selama 24 jam dan mencapai ketinggian 30.000 kaki, drone ini membawa kamera dan radar. Pesawat ini untuk pengawasan perbatasan yang difungsikan untuk pertahanan dan keamanan wilayah.
BPPT juga sempat mengembangkan drone tipe Alap-Alap PA-06D lebih kecil dengan bentang sayap 3,2 m, berat maksimum saat takeoff (payload) 31 kg, lama terbang hanya 5 jam.
Selain itu, ada drone Wulung mampu terbang dari pusat take off hanya radius 100-120 kilometer (km), dan mampu terbang hanya selama 4 jam non stop. Wulung mampu terbang dengan ketinggian 8.000 kaki.
01 Januari 2020
PAL offered new design on its SSV 123m (all images : PAL)
Opening Bidding
For the Landing Docks Acquisition Project which conducted the Bid Submission and Opening last 26 November 2019, the lowest bidder was local shipbuilder Megaship Builders Inc., which is joint-ventured to a Malaysian shipbuilder, Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards Sdn Bhd.
The problem is, Megaship Builders or even its joint venture partner Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards has never built a Landing Platform Dock-type ship before. Both companies appear to have no experience either in installing, integrating and supporting military equipment and subsystems.
But they were able to join the bidding because the Philippine Navy's TWG simply required bidders to have experience in building ships of around 7,000 tons or higher displacement, without specifying on the type of ship they built before.
In short, it is the Philippine Navy's fault that such was able to join and even become the lowest bidder for the project due to their vague and incomplete details on the technical specifications and requirements.
Post Bidding
While Megaship Builders Inc. - Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards JV was the lowest bidder for the Landing Docks Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy, it appears that they might have hit a wall during the Post Qualification Inspection (PQI) stage which was conducted this month.
And based on information MaxDefense received after posting the news on Megaship Builders - Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards JV being the lowest bidder for the project, it appears that they failed the Post Qualification Inspection (PQI) due to financial and technical reasons, which may have included their lack of experience in building an LPD-like vessel or military transport vessels of similar size and design.
If the joint venture was Post-Disqualified, it means that the second lowest bidder will be given the chance to steal the show. And in this case, the second lowest bidder is Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL (Persero), which was the builder of the Tarlac-class LPD already in use with the Philippine Navy.
It now remains to be seen if PT PAL will be able to pass the Post Qualification Inspection to be conducted by the DND-Bids and Awards Committee (DND-BAC) and Philippine Navy Technical Working Group (TWG).
PT PAL previously passed the PQI for the Strategic Sealift Vessel (SSV) Acquisition Project, which means PT PAL has experience in how PQIs are done, and how to pass it.
Should PT PAL pass the PQI, it would become the basis for the release of Notice of Award (NOA), which in turn will lead to PT PAL receiving the contract for the project.
A win by PT PAL is also advantageous to the Philippine Navy, as both parties already had previous working experience in building similar ships, and PT PAL's offered design is actually an improved version of the Tarlac-class. This means the retention of design which will make commonality and logistics support simpler and more efficient, compared to having a different LPD design from the existing ones the Philippine Navy already operates.
MaxDefense just hopes that the Philippine Navy would be able to improve further on the ship's design, considering they failed to include improvements on helicopter deck capacity to allow future helicopters of the Philippine Air Force, which may include medium and heavy lift helicopters like the Russian Mi-17 Hip and American CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
Here is images from video posted by PT PAL of what it could be offering to the Philippine Navy. Take note that items not included in the technical requirements will not be delivered by the winning shipbuilder, including the 76mm Super Rapid main gun, CIWS, etc.
(PHDefenseSource)
01 Januari 2020
NC-212i buatan PTDI yang diincar BPPT (photo : ririiw)
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG -- Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi (BPPT) berminat dan berencana untuk membeli pesawat terbang dari PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) melalui penandatanganan surat pernyataan minat. Pesawat itu secara khusus akan dibuat untuk membantu pelaksanaan hujan buatan.
"Sekarang ini sudah kita punya niat untuk diadakan pesawat pada tahun 2020-2021 itu untuk menyemai awan dengan garam supaya bisa melakukan percepatan hujan buatan," kata Kepala BPPT Hammam Riza di dalam acara Roll Out Pesawat Udara Nir Awak (PUNA) atau Drone tipe Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) di PT Dirgantara Indonesia, Bandung, Jawa Barat, Senin (30/12).
Penandatanganan surat pernyataan minat itu dilakukan oleh Kepala BPPT dan Direktur utama PT Dirgantara Indonesia Elfien Goentoro di PT Dirgantara Indonesia di Bandung pada Senin. BPPT mengalokasikan anggaran Rp 260 miliar untuk membeli pesawat NC212 itu.
Dia berharap kontrak akan segera ditandatangani pada 2020 sehingga proses pengadaan pesawat terbang khusus untuk misi hujan buatan dapat dilakukan pada 2020 hingga 2021.
BPPT sejak tahun 1993 telah mengoperasikan pesawat NC212 buatan PT Dirgantara Indonesia untuk melakukan teknologi modifikasi cuaca mendatangkan hujan buatan. Sementara untuk melaksanakan misi hujan buatan, BPPT membutuhkan pesawat dengan konfigurasi hujan buatan (rain making).
NC-212 Thailand (photo : thalea)
Hammam mengatakan selama ini pergerakan BPPT terbatas untuk menyemai awan dalam upaya menciptakan hujan buatan karena hanya memiliki satu pesawat yang sudah beroperasi sejak 1993. Sementara, Thailand memiliki 20 pesawat untuk melakukan hujan buatan.
Untuk pengendalian kasus-kasus kebakaran hutan dan lahan yang terjadi sebelumnya, BPPT banyak mengandalkan pesawat dari TNI Angkatan Udara dengan meminjam pesawat mereka. Untuk memenuhi kebutuhan pelaksanaan teknologi modifikasi cuaca ke depan, BPPT akan menjajaki dan mengkaji pesawat terbang buatan PT DI yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan pelaksanaan teknologi modifikasi cuaca.
Direktur utama PT Dirgantara Indonesia Elfien Goentoro mengatakan pesawat NC212 dapat mengangkut 3 ton sehingga bisa membawa banyak bahan yakni garam untuk proses penyemaian awan. "Kalau saya sebagai pembuat mudah-mudahan bisa kontrak bulan depan," ujarnya.
Dalam surat pernyataan minat itu, PT DI menyatakan sepakat melaksanakan pelaksanaan aspek teknis dan non teknis jenis pesawat terbang dengan konfigurasi hujan buatan.
(Republika)
