Russia Completes Design Of Vietnamese Corvettes

24 Maret 1999

Russia's Northern Project Design Bureau (SPKB) has completed the design work on the KBO 2000 (Project 2100) corvette ordered by Vietnam.

SPKB and Vietnam are still finalising the corvette's combat systems, weapons fit and the start date for the ship's construction. The 2,000-tonne corvette is planned to be armed with the Uran (SS-N-25Switchblade) anti-ship and the Klinok (SA-N-9 'Gauntlet') anti-aircraft missile systems, 100mm gun, two 30mm guns and torpedo launchers. It will also feature a helicopter landing platform.

KBP-2000 : new Russia's design corvette for Vietnam (photo : Militaryphotos)

Designer General of the SPKB, Vladimir Yukhnin, said that co-operative work on KBO 2000 marks a new stage in the Russian-Vietnamese co-operation in military ship building, which has proved its effectiveness in the BPS 500 patrol boat programme.

The patrol boats are under production at the Hoshimin shipyard in Vietnam, with technical support from SPKB. The first BPS 500 is undergoing sea trials. The 530-tonne BPS 500 boats are armed with a 76mm gun, a 30mm close-in weapons system, Uran anti-ship missiles, Igla (SA N-10'Gimlet') air defence missiles and two 12.7mm heavy machine guns. The Vietnamese Navy has in service seven frigates, seven landing ships, about 100 missile, torpedo and patrol boats, mainly of Soviet design.

Sumber : Jane’s

Australia Awards ASRAAM Contract

23 Desember 1998

ASRAAM performance, figuring by AusAirPower (photo : AusAirPower)

The Australian government has finalised a A$100 million ($62.1million) contract with Matra BAe Dynamics for the supply of Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAMs) for the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18 aircraft which are being upgraded. ASRAAM will enter service in 2001 along with the AIM-120, and replace existing AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.

Sumber : Jane’s

UAV Control System Moves To The Front Line

29 Juli 1998

Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturing and systems integrating division, Malat, has sold what is believed to be the first UAV ground control station (GCS) system for forward deployed troops. Malat was unable to disclose the buyer or the value of the contract but it is known that the remote camera-guided flight-control stationis integrated to a Searcher UAV system which is operated by several countries including Israel, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

SIPRI also reported that Thailand has received Searcher UAV (photo : Global Security)

There are more than 100 medium-endurance Searcher air vehicles in operation with about 20 ground-control stations in service. The GCS is specifically designed for manoeuvre troops but the major control functions such as launch and retrieval are carried out by standard rear-deployed systems. Once the system is launched and in the operational area, control is taken over by manoeuvre troops with direction of flight controlled by camera movement. The system has rearward GCS redundancy control if there is a problem with the datalink or control from the manoeuvre GCS.

The system is largely made from commercial-off-the-shelf components with ruggedised computer. It was described by sources as being a "part of the existing system with major changes in software only". An IAI official said: "Camera-guided control is available for all our systems with operation occurring through active video terminals." The system will also be technically capable of handing camera-guided control from one platoon to another. A major advantage of the manoeuvre GCS is that, for the first time, personnel at a lower echelon can take direct control over the information they receive. This control becomes particularly important for effective real-time information gathering and immediate battle damage assessment.

Sumber : Jane’s

Mi-17 For Laos

1999

Mi-17 transport helis are operated jointly with Lao Air (photo : Airliners)

Twelve ordered in 1997, only four delivered in March 1999. The remaining eight were cancelled due to funding problems, although there are indications that more Mi-17s were subsequently supplied to Laos. Used in the utility transport role.

Sumber : Aeroflight

Thailand May Get US Fighter Aircraft

17 November 1999

Lockheed Martin F-16A, operated by RTAF (photo : Jetphotos)

The US Department of Defense has approved the sale of 18 former US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/B Block 15 fighter aircraft and associated materiel following a request from the Thai government earlier this year to supplement its existing fleet of 36 F-16A/Baircraft (Jane's Defence Weekly 17 March).

The request was dealt with under the US Foreign Military Sales programme and will still require approval from Congress. The approval includes two spare Pratt and Whitney F-100-PW-220 engines as well as 10 F-16 Block 10 operational conversion units for training.

Sumber : Jane’s

RSAF Receives Its First KC-135 Aircraft

13 September 1999

KC-135 of the RSAF (photo : Airliners)

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) received its first KC-135 aircraft at a Roll-Out Ceremony on 10 Sep 1999. The Chief of Air Force, Major-General (MAJ-GEN) Raymund Ng, received a plaque from Boeing, symbolising the delivery of the aircraft to the RSAF. The ceremony was held at the Boeing Military Programs - Wichita Division Modification Facility in Kansas.

The KC-135 aircraft is capable of refueling aircraft in mid-air. It will be used to support the RSAF's fighter aircraft and ferry SAF troops and equipment for overseas detachments, exercises and training.

The RSAF acquired four KC-135s from the United States Air Force (USAF) in Sep 1997, to replace the ageing KC-130s. The addition of these tankers to the RSAF Order Of Battle (ORBAT) marks a substantial leap in the operational capability of the RSAF. The aircraft will be stationed in the United States for the RSAF Peace Guardian detachment's training purposes , and will be brought back to Singapore sometime next year.

Since 1998, the RSAF personnel had been training with the experienced USAF under the Peace Guardian programme. Training in a realistic environment has allowed the RSAF to build up its operational capabilities and take full advantage of the KC-135s being delivered to the air force.

Sumber : Mindef

Malaysia Receives Three Indonesian CN-235s By Barter

8 September 1999

CN-235 220 for the Royal Malaysia Air Forse (photo : Airliners)

Malaysia has received three Airtech CN-235 Series 220 twin-turboprop medium transport aircraft from Indonesia, the local Bernama news agency reports.

Although no further details of the deal were released, the delivery appears to represent the first phase of a barter arrangement struck four years ago. (see article below).

Indonesia – Malaysia Swap
(Jane's Defence Weekly 4 March1995).

Indonesia has agreed to exchange with Malaysia six CN-235 transport aircraft for 1500 Proton cars plus 20 light training aircraft. The deal is worth 260 million ringgit ($102 million). The CN-235s will replace Malaysia's fleet of De Havilland Caribous.

Sumber : Jane’s